On the Ark.

"Yes, it's Zilan who gave me this new job."

"This stamp can't be used randomly?"

"...Well, more or less. Zilan asked me to observe Lappland to see if she has any mental issues and whether she can become a Rhodes Island operator." Lin Ye sighed. "But I don't know anything about her right now, and rashly approving her decision would definitely..."

"I see, it seems it really was my problem." Skadi nodded and was about to leave. "Then I'll go and take care of it."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment, then grabbed Skadi: "What are you going to do?"

Skadi turned to look at Lin Ye and said seriously, "Cut her down."

"...What?!" Lin Ye exclaimed in shock, "Why did you cut her?!"

“If we kill her, we won’t need to worry about whether she’s qualified or not.” Skadi looked at the internship agreement in Lin Ye’s hand. “That way, Zilan won’t make things difficult for you. I will take responsibility for my own mistakes. Don’t worry, I won’t kill her. I just need to make her compromise.”

Skadi rarely spoke such a long sentence. Although her voice was soft and her pace was slow, and she spoke very casually, Lin Ye was terrified.

"You're not kidding, are you..." Lin Ye had just opened his mouth when he realized he had asked a pointless question. Skadi was not the type to joke, so he quickly shook his head. "It's not that serious, not at all. If I really wanted to, I could just talk to Zilan. Even if Lappland didn't want to, there was nothing she could do. You don't need to solve the problem this way."

Is that so?

"Or else?"

Skadi thought about it and seemed to agree with Lin Ye's point, so she temporarily gave up the idea of ​​"persuading" Lappland.

"Then why don't you go find Zilan?" Skadi asked again.

“There’s no need for that. The agreement is already with me anyway. If I think she’s okay, I’ll give it to her. If she really has a problem, then I won’t give it to her,” Lin Ye explained. “It’s actually the same as stamping it.”

“I see.” Skadi nodded. “Then why did you agree to help Lappland get close to that guy…”

“Texas,” Lin Ye reminded her, then smiled. “If I hadn’t said that, she probably wouldn’t have been willing to give me this agreement. And most importantly, I now have an excuse to get close to her.”

Skadi was somewhat puzzled: "Approach her? Isn't it about approaching Texas?"

“Why get close to Texas? Texas isn’t my job target,” Lin Ye said. “Zilan gave me a month. I need to determine within this month whether Lappland has any mental deficiencies, so of course I need to get close to her. So, giving her a topic that will interest her enough to get her to willingly hand over the agreement to me, and also giving me a reason to get close to her, is a win-win situation.”

After saying that, Lin Ye smiled, and then noticed that Skadi had been watching him thoughtfully.

"What's wrong?" Lin Ye asked.

“No.” Skadi shook her head. “It’s just that I suddenly realized your brain seems to be working pretty well.”

Lin Ye's smile widened. Just as he was about to say something pretentious like, "This is just basic stuff," there was a knock on the office door. He thought it was Lappland returning, but when he turned around, he saw it was Chu Xue.

"Dr. Lin."

Chu Xue's expression wasn't very pleasant; she looked quite worried.

"First snow? Is something wrong?" Lin Ye wondered to himself, wondering if they had run out of catnip.

“Dr. Lin.” Chu Xue glanced at Skadi, her expression hesitant. “Could I ask you…”

"Ok?"

Chu Xue took a deep breath and then slowly said, "Come back to Shelag with me."

Lin Ye was stunned.

……

Fifty kilometers west of Chernobog, on a desolate trail, the autumn leaves carpeted the road.

A riot control vehicle suddenly blocked the middle of the road, and people in riot control uniforms lay sprawled on the ground, their blood staining the withered yellow leaves.

Mephistopheles, leaning on his cane, stepped over one of the corpses and walked toward W, who was standing next to the riot control vehicle.

“I’ve always felt that these kinds of operations are pointless,” Mephisto said. “How much money can an armored truck actually carry? People are killed, money is taken, and effort is wasted, but the fundamental problem isn’t solved.”

W opened the rear door of the carriage and looked at the stack of briefcases inside. Some of the briefcases had been damaged in the previous collision, and banknotes were scattered all over the floor.

“You shouldn’t be telling me this,” W said calmly. “It’s Talulah’s order.”

“I never doubted the boss, but I think this efficiency is just too low.” Mephisto stood down next to W. “We need money, lots and lots of money. One armored truck won’t do, two won’t do, ten won’t do. And this will eventually alert Ursus, but we’re not at the point of war with Ursus yet.”

W turned to look at Mephisto: "What are you trying to say?"

“You should know what I’m going to say,” Mephisto said with a smile. “We might be able to find a more stable withdrawal channel, such as… Kallan Trading. You should have heard of that name. It’s more like a country than a conglomerate. It controls all of Sherag’s wealth. If we can get this money, we’ll never have to rob armored trucks again. This money is enough to support Boss to achieve her ultimate dream.”

“The idea is good,” W said, “but I’ve heard that the Kalan Trade has a very special leader, and Big Sister doesn’t think he’ll support us.”

Mephistopheles tapped the ground with his cane and smiled slightly. "If he's unwilling to support us, then let's find a leader who is. A thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole, and there's more than one ant hole in the Kalan trade."

W glanced at Mephisto: "It seems you not only have an idea, but also a plan. So why tell me instead of Talulah?"

“In fact, I’ve already spoken to the boss,” Mephisto said. “The boss has agreed to my plan.”

W looked at Mephisto with some surprise: "How is that possible? Talulah said that the focus should be on..."

“No need to change the center of gravity.” Mephisto slowly raised his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips. “We only need to use a very small amount of force to achieve the effect of moving a great weight with a small force.”

“That’s the Karan Trade,” W said, staring at Mephisto. “You’ve said it yourself, there’s a whole country behind it.”

"As I've said before, a thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole, and I've already made contact with the ant holes, and there are several of them."

"...It seems your actions last time have made Talulah trust you even more."

“No, not just last time.” Mephistopheles smiled. “I have proven countless times that whatever I want, I can get no matter what.”

"Like that little girl named Ifrit?"

Mephistopheles' expression froze.

Observing Mephisto's changing expression, a faint smile slowly appeared on W's face: "Mephisto, I advise you not to treat everyone else as an idiot."

“I never treat people like idiots.” Mephisto’s expression quickly returned to normal. “But I do believe they are all inferior to me, and this time I will prove it to you, W. I will show you how I can overthrow a corporation… no, a country with just a few people.”

W turned and left, then waved his hand and said, "Then I hope you succeed."

Mephistopheles watched W's retreating figure, about to say something, when he suddenly felt the surrounding temperature drop considerably.

He looked down and noticed that the fallen leaves at his feet were covered with a thin layer of frost. He immediately realized something, turned around, and saw a woman dressed in "snow white" walking slowly towards him.

“Froststar,” Mephisto said slowly, “do you perhaps still intend to go into Chernobog to find your ‘benefactor’?”

Chapter 215 Mephisto, even Talulah can't save you, I'm telling you.

This is a woman who has emerged from the wind and snow.

Mephistopheles narrowed his eyes slightly as he sized up the other person.

He knew very well how powerful the woman codenamed "Frostnova" was. Despite having joined Reunion less than two years ago, her rise through the ranks had been meteoric. She was arguably the fastest-rising executive in the entire organization, and Mephisto couldn't think of anyone in the entire organization who could definitively surpass her in strength. He had never seen anyone like her before; even doing nothing, she was a terrifying force, like a walking natural disaster.

But he was not afraid of the other person, or rather, he was not afraid of anyone. As the other person stared at him with cold eyes, he leaned on his cane and took two steps forward.

The cane struck the frozen leaves, producing a sharp, crisp sound.

"Judging from your expression," Mephistopheles smiled slightly. "Did I guess right?"

Frostnova stared at Mephisto, then slowly asked, "Who told you that?"

As she spoke, the temperature around her seemed to drop a little.

“This shouldn’t be a secret, right? Or rather, it’s not a secret you’re deliberately trying to hide.” Mephisto exhaled, feeling as if he were in the dead of winter even though it was only autumn. “I know the past of most people in the organization. Most of them have similar stories: abandoned, disliked, and hated. Of course, that’s why we’ve come together.”

Froststar said coldly, "What do you want to say?"

“What I want to say is that your story, in my opinion, falls into the more interesting category.” Mephisto smiled and took two steps toward Frostnova. “The Big Sister once said that we would never betray each other, and we would never fear death. Because we all clung to each other when we were abandoned by everyone, when all hope was lost, like grasping at the last straw. But you are different. Before you even joined the organization, you had already found a straw to grasp at, that is, your benefactor?”

Froststar didn't speak, she just looked at Mephisto.

"Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that." Mephisto shrugged. "We're comrades, aren't we?"

Frostnova said, "I don't have a companion like you."

“Is that so? Then consider it wishful thinking on my part,” Mephisto said. “After all, I consider all members of the organization as comrades.”

Frostnova's lips curled slightly, but she didn't speak, as if she were mocking her.

Mephistopheles pretended not to see: "Actually, as a companion, I need your help."

Frostnova glanced at Mephisto and shook her head: "I can't help you, even if it's Talulah's order."

Having said that, Froststar prepared to walk past Mephisto.

Mephistopheles chuckled and said, "What if I said I could also help you in a little way?"

Froststar walked past Mephistopheles without turning her head, and a series of "crunch" sounds rang out as frozen, withered leaves were crushed underfoot.

Mephistopheles didn't turn his head, but looked straight ahead and said calmly, "I can help you find your benefactor."

The crisp sound stopped.

“You should know what Chernobog is like,” Mephisto said. “If infected people rush in recklessly, there’s only one outcome. Unless you plan to take Chernobog, it’s better not to go in on your own… Besides, in your current state, you’ll probably be spotted by Chernobog’s military and police before you even enter the city.”

At this moment, Frostnova finally spoke slowly: "I never said I was going to Chernobog."

"Tsk, don't treat me like an idiot. I've already said all this, why not just listen to what I have to say?" Mephisto turned around, looking at Frostnova's retreating figure. "I know you definitely won't go into Chernobog to look for someone yourself. But if you're asking someone else... I think you should ask me instead. I'm quite experienced in finding people. You should also know that finding a specific person in a city of hundreds of thousands in a short period of time requires considerable skill."

Froststar fell silent once again.

Mephisto sighed softly. "I'm telling you, don't you trust my abilities? I admit your men are extremely capable fighters, but when it comes to finding people, do you really think they're good at it? And are you really willing to watch your men enter a city like Chernobog that's hostile to the infected? If it were me, I couldn't bear to. But if you're willing to entrust this matter to me, all I need is a name, just one name, and I can bring him to you."

Frostnova remained silent, but Mephisto knew she was deep in thought, so he didn't press her. He simply smiled and watched Frostnova's retreating figure, waiting for her reply.

After an unknown amount of time, Frostnova spoke again: "What do you want?"

Mephistopheles smiled again; he knew he had succeeded.

“I need to go to Sherag,” Mephisto said. “It’s not within our area of ​​operation, but I need a certain amount of combat power to increase my chances of success.”

Froststar understood Mephisto's meaning: "You want me to come with you?"

“That won’t be necessary. This event is quite easy; we don’t need someone with your combat prowess,” Mephisto said. “I only need your Yeti Squad.”

Frostnova finally turned around, staring at Mephisto with icy eyes: "Isn't your appetite a bit too big?"

“I didn’t mean anything by it.” Mephisto smiled and shook his head. “Your squad is still your squad. It’s just that Kjerag is a place covered in snow all year round, and winter is coming soon. That’s the Yeti Squad’s home ground, so I need your help. If the whole squad isn’t enough, half will do. Once I’ve completed the task the boss gave me, I’ll return them to you immediately. I’ll return whatever number you borrowed.”

Frostnova stared at Mephisto, who in turn smiled back at her. After a few exchanges, Frostnova finally relented: "Only one-third."

“No problem, one-third it is.” Mephistopheles nodded readily. “I will return all these people to you.”

"You'd better be able to do that."

“Of course, I never lie,” Mephistopheles said. “Now you can tell me the name, the name of your benefactor.”