On the Ark.

Lin Ye thought for a moment and declined Chu Xue's offer. Although he missed hot baths and a soft bed, it was his last night, and it was best not to make any mistakes. Anyway, after getting through tonight, he could just spend a few more nights on the train before returning to Rhodes Island, so one more night wouldn't make a difference. He left with the meat, but as he left, he was still pondering whether there was any way to try and repair Chu Xue and SilverAsh's relationship in these final moments. After all, once he left, there probably wouldn't be another chance.

But what Lin Ye didn't expect was that his conversation with Chu Xue was being watched by someone.

Faust lowered his telescope and said, "That man and the target don't seem to live in the same place."

Mephistopheles looked up.

He looked as if he hadn't slept in a long time; his eyes were lifeless, his face was pale, and he was staring at the heavy dark circles under his eyes.

"Proceed according to the original plan," he said slowly, his voice hoarse. "Find that guy."

"clear."

Mephistopheles looked up at the setting sun and said softly, "Tonight is our night of revelry."

……

……

Author's note: I forgot to mention yesterday that the bounty is closed. Including those that have been paid back, I still owe forty chapters.

Chapter 281 Detonating Sherag?!

When Lin Ye returned to the temple with the meat, snow began to fall again from the gradually darkening sky.

As soon as they entered the house, Lappland rushed over, circling around Lin Ye like a dog waiting for its owner to come home, wagging its tail rapidly. But Lin Ye knew she wasn't waiting for him, but for the prey in his hands. Eileen was also by her side. After spending a few days together, Eileen's expression when facing Lappland and Lin Ye had become much more natural.

"Hey, it seems like you bought more meat today than the other day?" Lappland noticed this.

“Yes, after all, it’s our last night in Shelag.” Lin Ye waved the meat in his hand and explained, “So we bought a bit too much. We’ll hardly be able to get such fresh meat after we leave.”

Because of the Messiah's protection, Kjerag is free from natural disasters and Oripathy, making its meat the freshest and healthiest it can be. It tastes far better than the synthetic meat eaten on Rhodes Island, and for a Lupo like Lappland who loves meat, it's an irresistible temptation. More than 70% of the meat Lin Ye buys every day ends up in Lappland's stomach. Unfortunately, this girl only eats, leaving all the chores to Irene, which leaves Lin Ye quite helpless.

"Start a fire! Start a fire! Start a fire!" Lappland instructed Eileen again.

Eileen had long been obedient to Lappland, acting like a dutiful follower. As soon as Lappland spoke, she immediately sprang into action, but was stopped by Lin Ye.

She looked at Lin Ye with some confusion.

Lin Ye said, "Let's eat indoors tonight."

Although eating barbecue in the snow is a very pleasant thing, it's not a good feeling to be frozen like a dog every time. So Lin Ye suggested eating in the temple to avoid the wind. Lappland and Eileen had no reason to refuse and nodded in agreement.

Twenty minutes later, the aroma of roasted meat wafted from the temple.

Eating barbecue in a place dedicated to the gods—if Chuxue saw this scene, she might fly into a rage, although Lin Ye thought Messiah wouldn't mind.

Speaking of which, this temple also houses a stone statue of the god Kalan. Although Kalan is indeed the Messiah, the statue in the temple differs greatly from the Messiah's appearance. The sculptor must have never seen the Messiah, so he depicted her as a kind-faced, holy, middle-aged woman, somewhat resembling a past-life Guanyin Bodhisattva. After all, this image aligns more closely with the Sherag people's idealized image of the god Kalan than the Messiah's actual form. Therefore, considering this aspect, perhaps the sculptor did it intentionally.

"Hiss." Before the meat was even cooked, Lappland grabbed a piece and stuffed it into her mouth. Her teeth were bleeding from the meat, but she was still very happy. "I wish I could eat meat every day."

Lin Ye couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking to himself, "You've been eating my food these past few days, of course you've been enjoying it." He'd spent all the money he'd earned from Eileen when he came to Sherag just on meat these past few days.

Speaking of Eileen, after eating barbecue for three consecutive days, she also learned how to grill meat, and her progress was rapid. On the first day, the meat was either completely raw or burnt; on the second day, it was medium-rare; and on the third day, it was just right. At least in terms of talent for grilling meat, she was far superior to Lappland, who had eaten barbecue for many years. But this might also be the reason why Lappland didn't care whether the meat was raw or cooked. Lin Ye suspected that even if the meat was completely raw, Lappland could still eat it without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Eileen was grilling very diligently. After Lappland ate three pieces of undercooked meat in a row, she finally finished grilling one piece. However, she didn't eat it herself, but handed the meat to Lappland under Lin Ye's surprised gaze.

Lappland was also taken aback: "What are you doing?"

Unable to speak, Eileen could only pass the roast meat to Lappland again.

"For me?"

Eileen nodded.

"Why?" Lappland asked, puzzled.

Eileen handed the roast meat to Lappland, then took out a cardboard and pen from behind her back, which she had asked Lin Ye to buy earlier. She wrote something on it.

"You taught me that to survive, one must earn a living through one's own efforts."

After showing it to Lappland, she wrote a few more words, this time for Lin Ye to see.

"And Dr. Lin, it's very lucky to have met you."

Seeing the words on the cardboard, Lin Ye felt a warm glow in his heart, as if his efforts over the past few days had finally paid off.

Lappland didn't share that sentiment. She was simply surprised, because in her view, she had merely ordered around a timid Feline girl, yet she had received the girl's gratitude in return. After all, when she ordered around Texas, Texas never thanked her; she would only roll her eyes at her.

Hmm, from this perspective, this little girl seems cuter than Texas... no, Texas is the cutest.

Lappland thought to herself.

Lin Ye smiled and said to Eileen, "It's because you didn't give up. Everything will be even better when we get to Rhodes Island."

Eileen nodded, then quickly wrote something on the cardboard and showed it to Lin Ye: "I will repay you."

"That's easy to talk about."

Lin Ye didn't care about repaying her, but Eileen valued it very much.

Lappland ate the meat that Eileen had grilled for her, and Eileen was a little nervous.

"Hmm..." Lappland's brows furrowed at first, making Eileen's heart skip a beat, before slowly relaxing. "Hey, the meat you grill is definitely better than the meat I grill."

Eileen's face immediately lit up with joy; this was the first time Lin Ye had seen such an expression on her face since they met.

Then Eileen lowered her head again and scribbled something on the cardboard, as if she wanted to say something to Lappland.

Lin Ye was worried that Lappland would eat all the meat if they kept going back and forth, so he reminded Eileen, "Let's talk about it after we finish eating..."

He froze before he could finish speaking.

As Eileen's body suddenly stiffened, Lin Ye saw frost-like lines rise from under her neck and quickly spread to her face.

"Eileen?" Lin Ye stood up immediately. "What's wrong?!"

"What? What happened?" Lappland, who was a beat slow to react, heard Lin Ye's words and looked at Eileen with some curiosity. Then she was stunned by Eileen's condition. "What is this?"

Before she could finish speaking, the house suddenly began to shake.

Lin Ye's expression immediately changed; his first thought was an earthquake.

However, the temperature inside the room dropped by dozens of degrees in an instant, and the chill seemed to penetrate through the clothes and pierce into the bones.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

All five windows inside shattered simultaneously, letting in a storm of shattered ice. The ice, propelled by the raging airflow, acted like the sharpest knives, easily piercing Lin Ye's clothes and flesh. He had to cover his head with his hands to protect it. Then he heard the clear sound of a sword being drawn, and felt the pressure of the storm lessen. He opened his eyes and saw Lappland standing in front of him, the light blades from her twin swords surging into the storm, crushing the ice into powder.

Thankfully, there's Lapland...

Lin Ye thought to himself, then realized something was amiss.

Wait, where's Eileen?!

Lin Ye was about to go look for Eileen when he heard a series of crisp sounds behind him. He immediately turned around and looked, then his eyes widened.

"Lappland, the house is collapsing!" Lin Ye shouted.

Then he heard the sound of flesh tearing apart.

He turned back and saw that Lappland's abdomen had been pierced by a black arrow, and blood splattered all over him from the wound.

Lapland stopped swinging her sword.

Lin Ye looked up and saw more arrows flying towards him and Lappland.

Twenty seconds later, the temple dedicated to the god of Kalan collapsed completely with a loud bang.

……

"I didn't expect her to be here." Mephistopheles looked at Eileen lying on the ground, covered in blood, and said softly, "It seems that the saintess's compassion is only this much."

Eileen was unconscious. Faust, who had dug her out of the rubble, bent down and pulled open her clothes, revealing frost runes covering her skin beneath.

“What should we do now?” Faust turned to Mephistopheles. “The original plan has failed.”

"The plan to detonate her as a magical bomb at Shiva's house has failed, so let's try a different approach," Mephisto said calmly. "If there's no other way, we'll just have to use her as a regular bomb. In any case, we're going to use her to detonate Sherag today."

As he spoke, he looked up at the snowflakes dancing in the sky and murmured to himself.

Even if this is God's territory.

Chapter 282 What can I do?

boom.

The collapsed temple roof shattered into several pieces amidst the sounds of wielding knives.

When the cold snowflakes landed on his face, Lin Ye finally felt a real sense of relief, but the next second, exhaustion washed over him like a tidal wave, almost causing him to collapse again. He had to use [Maple] to support his body and then gasp for breath.

He used [Maple] while in the Leaping Wave state to cut through the roof, because Lappland was lying in his arms, bleeding profusely.

Before the house collapsed, two black arrows pierced Lappland's body, severely injuring her as she was focused on battling the blizzard. But the attackers clearly didn't just intend to injure her; a total of ten arrows were fired at Lappland, each aimed precisely at a difficult target. If all ten had hit, Lappland would have died instantly, and Lin Ye, standing behind her, would have certainly perished as well. Fortunately, the last eight arrows missed Lappland, being deflected less than twenty centimeters away.

Lin Ye slowly released his left hand, and the black amulet slipped from his palm, the power stored inside dissipating completely.

This is Shining's "Dogmatic Stance," a talisman Nightingale created from Shining's and her own abilities. Lin Ye has always worn it at his waist and reacted quickly enough in the most critical moment to unleash "Dogmatic Stance." "Dogmatic Stance" truly lives up to its reputation as the Sarkaz Sword Saint's power. Even though it can only unleash one-tenth of its full power stored in Originium, that one-tenth blocked the remaining eight arrows and, in the subsequent collapse of the building, blocked the majority of the large rocks.

If Lin Ye had blocked the arrow but was ultimately crushed to death by the roof beam, that would have been far too pathetic.

Although I'm already quite pathetic.

"Lappland!" Lin Ye called out Lappland's name. "Can you hear my voice? Lappland?!"

Lappland's injuries are quite severe; for a race with weaker physical constitutions, such an injury would be fatal. But for the Lupo, it might not be as bad as it seems.

Sure enough, at Lin Ye's call, Lappland slowly opened her eyes.

“What happened…” Lappland murmured, “Who attacked us?”

"I don't know," Lin Ye said helplessly. "I didn't see anyone. What's wrong with you?"

"……I am fine."

Lappland tried to get up, but the injury to her back was still clearly affecting her.

"Don't move around," Lin Ye said hurriedly. "I'm looking for the medicine. I have the medicine in my bag... Damn it, where did my bag go? It was right next to me before."

Lappland didn't wait for Lin Ye to find the medicine; she used her knife to support herself and slowly stood up. But because of her movement, the blood flowing from her waist and abdomen flowed even more rapidly.

"What are you doing!"

“How can you possibly treat your wounds in peace when you don’t even know where the enemy is?” Lappland said.