On the Ark.

“Rhodes Island’s medical operators should all have considerable Originium Arts skills,” Mephisto said. “As you can see, this woman is about to explode. I’d like to ask you to help me guide the Originium power within her so that she explodes a little later. However, when she finally explodes, I hope it will be powerful enough to cover a small mountain. What do you think?”

Susuru couldn't speak; she could only stare blankly at Mephisto, as if she were seeing a demon.

That's how the Shivaesh family mansion was taken over without anyone noticing.

Mephisto led all the members of the Yeti Squad to deal with the remaining guards of the Shivaesh family with almost no effort. Meanwhile, Faust stood guard outside, quietly perched on a large tree, observing the surrounding movements.

Mephisto's plan was that he wouldn't need to take action for the time being; he only needed to use heavy crossbows to take out those who tried to approach the Shivaesh family one by one. The later their actions were discovered, the more advantageous it would be.

But Faust never imagined that his supposedly superior stealth abilities would make him a target.

White light emanated from above.

Sensing danger, Faust quickly jumped down from the tree, and the tree fell down the moment he landed.

He looked up and saw the "Silver Wolf," bathed in moonlight, slowly walking towards him.

……

……

Author's Note: Ah, finally back in Hangzhou. The past few days were my grandma's 70th birthday (coinciding with the founding of the People's Republic of China!), and as the eldest grandson, I was busy for two days, so updates were a bit lacking, and the subscription numbers plummeted 233, but it was definitely my own fault~ Thankfully, it's finally finished, and I can properly wrap up the Kjerag arc. I won't be going out during the National Day holiday; once I'm in good shape, I'll start the Skadi arc. Hopefully, the subscription numbers will slowly recover by then~ This chapter is 3000 words, and I still have 5000 words to write today. I'll try to finish it before midnight. That's all~

Chapter 284 Lin Ye's Counterattack

How did she find me?

Although Faust remained outwardly calm after being attacked, he was inwardly very puzzled. This was because he possessed a unique ability to use high-quality optical camouflage, allowing him to achieve near-perfect stealth.

This allowed Faust to become the most outstanding sniper and assassin within the Reunion Movement. Although his mission success rate wasn't 100%, he was never discovered, let alone caught after being discovered. If his reaction had been slower, his fate would probably have been similar to that of the tree behind him that had broken into three pieces.

Under the moonlight, the silver wolf wielding two swords slowly walked towards him.

He squinted at the other person. He recognized her; he had seen her just an hour ago. He knew she was from Rhodes Island, named Lappland, and an exceptionally powerful Guardian. A week ago on the Holy Road, before the God of Kalan made her move, she had single-handedly slaughtered several members of the Yeti Squad. This forced the Yeti Squad to use even greater power to counter her, triggering a landslide and ultimately leading to the arrival of the God of Kalan.

Therefore, in their minds, Lappland was probably the strongest enemy besides SilverAsh among their targets. Since they wouldn't attack SilverAsh, Lappland became the most troublesome foe. So, to eliminate her, Faust had fired ten arrows at Lappland an hour earlier. Logically, after the first two hit, he shouldn't have wasted so many, but to be on the safe side, Faust fired eight more to ensure Lappland's death.

However, the woman was still alive and found herself in just one hour.

This also proves that his and Mephistopheles' judgment was correct; the other party was indeed a formidable and troublesome enemy.

But how exactly did she detect him while he was in stealth mode? Faust didn't have a reliable answer yet, but he noticed that the other person seemed to be a Lupo.

Could it be...?

Lappland didn't give Faust time to think and charged straight at him.

Faust immediately put on his hood and entered stealth mode, his body almost becoming one with the environment. Then he quickly retreated and ran into the woods.

After all, he was just a sniper, while his opponent was a powerful melee operator. If he were to get close, his advantage as a sniper would be gone. He also wanted to test his earlier guess.

For Faust in stealth mode, the forest is a natural battlefield. He can rely on his near-perfect optical camouflage to become a death god hidden in the night, because it is a place where even moonlight cannot penetrate.

Come on, let me see how you found me.

Faust watched as Lappland caught up, then slowly retreated into the darkness, raising his crossbow at Lappland.

However, what he didn't know was that while he was entangled with Lappland, another person secretly entered the Shivaesh family's mansion.

……

Susuluo was forced down onto the table.

Mephisto clapped his hands and said to Sussuro with a smile, "Thank you for your help, Rhodes Island's medical operator. Tsk, I must say, Rhodes Island is really excellent at training medical operators, although it is still far behind me."

Susulu was terrified, but she didn't show it. Instead, she pretended to be calm and asked, "You know us very well. Who exactly are you?"

"Who am I? Ah, that's a good question, but I won't tell you." Mephistopheles touched Sussuruo's ear and said with a hint of regret, "To be honest, you look quite like an old friend of mine. That old friend became my first experimental subject to help me complete my research. I still remember her to this day, but unfortunately, I have no way to repay her. Since that's the case, I'll use it on you. I'll let you die a quick death, just like some of your colleagues."

Susuluo's eyes widened: "What did you do to my colleague?!"

"Nothing much, just put them to sleep, to sleep forever," Mephistopheles said calmly.

After speaking, he watched Susuluo's changing expressions with great interest. He had always enjoyed such things since he was a child; watching someone go from hope to despair, from joy to pain, was a very entertaining thing for him. So even at this critical moment, he was still enjoying it immensely.

It wasn't until the butler, Green, reminded him, "Shouldn't we be heading out? There's only one path up the back mountain, through the back gate of the courtyard, and the two young ladies and Horn Peak are up there."

"I see."

Mephistopheles put the headset back on, intending to let Faust in so they could go up the mountain together and deal with Horn Peak and First Snow, but to his surprise, the communication failed.

What's going on?

He muttered to himself and tried several more times. One of the calls went through, but was quickly disconnected. This made Mephistopheles realize that Faust had met his match.

"How is that possible? Who else in Kjerag could find Faust?"

Mephistopheles, though puzzled, remained outwardly calm. Regardless of who Faust encountered outside, even if SilverAsh returned, he couldn't send anyone out to help. He needed to capture Cliffheart as quickly as possible to gain more room for maneuver. So he gave a signal to one of the Yeti Squad members, who immediately picked up the unconscious Eileen.

“Then let’s finish this quickly.” Mephisto looked at Eileen and said with some regret, “I originally wanted to save this bomb for last, so that the Sherag people would remember us. But now it seems we have to use it ahead of time. Lead the way. No one can get up the mountain before we deal with those few people on it.”

Butler Green nodded and led Mephisto and the Yeti team toward the back of the mountain.

Meanwhile, Sussuruo was being held captive by a member of the Yeti Squad. After everyone else had left, this member of the Yeti Squad pulled a sharp dagger from his pocket.

At that moment, Susuluo felt that her life had come to an end, so she closed her eyes in despair.

But instead of the knife falling, she heard several crisp sounds, and then the pressure on her disappeared.

She opened her eyes to find the Yeti squad members who had tried to kill her lying on the ground with two conspicuous holes in the back of their heads.

"Damn it, it's so loud. I should have asked Swire for a silencer."

A familiar voice sounded behind Su Suluo. Su Suluo quickly turned around and saw Lin Ye standing behind her.

Su Suluo immediately showed a look of surprise: "Dr. Lin Ye, you..."

"Don't talk here yet." Lin Ye grabbed Su Su Luo and ran to the room next door. After waiting in the room for a while, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Mephisto had not brought anyone back.

Su Suluo lowered her voice and said, "Dr. Lin Ye, you're still alive?"

Lin Ye rolled his eyes: "Otherwise, what's standing in front of you is a ghost?"

"And what about Miss Lappland?"

Lin Ye asked, somewhat puzzled, "Didn't you see her?"

Susulu shook her head.

Strange, where did this husky go... wait, where did Lappland go? Wasn't she chasing someone? She clearly limped here herself, how could she not be here?

"Dr. Lin Ye, are you injured?" Su Sulu noticed Lin Ye's discomfort.

"I'm not seriously injured, but I'm definitely exhausted," Lin Ye said with a wry smile.

Whether it was due to the location or [Maple]'s fault, this "Leaping Wave Strike" had taken a huge toll on Lin Ye's stamina, and he still hadn't recovered. He couldn't even hold his gun very steadily, which is why he only dared to fire after walking behind the Yeti Squad members, because he was afraid of missing due to exhaustion. Although he often misses even when he's full of energy.

"Is there any medicine that can restore strength in a short time?" Lin Ye asked Su Suluo, "Similar to a stimulant."

“This… I really don’t have any,” Susuru said. “But Miss Chuxue’s Sacred Bell should be fine.”

"Oh right, I almost forgot, where is that sacred bell?"

"Miss First Snow has been taken away."

Lin Ye: "..."

Sussuro realized she had said something pointless in her extremely tense state, so she quickly added, "Miss Eileen is in their hands."

"Tsk, I knew it, they're after Eileen... Wait, at a time like this, why would they still be after Eileen?"

Susuru said softly, "Because they modified Miss Eileen's body, Miss Eileen is now in danger, or rather, because of her existence, all of us are in danger."

Lin Ye was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Sussuruo briefly explained that when Eileen's body was filled with a large amount of uncontrollable Originium energy, Lin Ye almost ground his teeth to powder.

"Those beasts." Lin Ye took several deep breaths before he could barely calm himself down. "We can't let them succeed. Did you bring your phone?"

Susulu nodded repeatedly.

"Very good, call Frostleaf first, then SilverAsh."

"I understand... And what about you?"

“Me? Of course I’m going up,” Lin Ye said. “I can’t just watch Chu Xue and Ya Xin get surrounded by a bunch of people. I have the Guardian Gun now, and the [Maple] that Messiah gave me. It’s no problem for me to be a troublemaker.”

That being said, Lin Ye now longs for a powerful figure like Messiah or Skadi by his side, since even with [Maple] and Vector, he's still no match for top-tier combatants. But even so, he can't just sit idly by. Susuru clearly understands this, so she doesn't try to dissuade him, only telling him to be careful with a worried expression.

Lin Ye took a deep breath, left the room, and then froze.

Because Mephistopheles was sitting at the table waiting for him.

Chapter 285 It's you!

Lin Ye was slightly stunned when he saw Mephisto, because the other person gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Until he recalled his recent dream, in which the face of the boy who had not yet grown up slowly overlapped with that of the grown-up Mephistopheles.

In other words, after meeting so many times in dreams, they finally met in reality.

“Mephisto…” Lin Ye called out the other person’s name in a deep voice.

Mephistopheles raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: "Oh? You actually know me?"

Lin Ye did not speak.

He recognized Mephisto because he had seen the young Mephisto several times in his dreams, and the adult Mephisto wasn't much different from the young one, at least in terms of height and appearance. This instantly reminded Lin Ye of the perverted boy who smiled at a corpse in a dark alley. But Mephisto didn't recognize him because he was a "nightmare" that never appeared in Mephisto's dreams.

“Don’t want to talk? That’s fine.” Mephisto nodded slightly. “To be honest, I do admire you a bit, especially when it comes to vitality. Few people I want to kill can escape my grasp, but you’ve escaped three times in a row. Each time you were on the verge of death, it seemed like a woman would come to your rescue. The first time it was the Deep Sea Hunter, the second time it was the god of Kalan, and the third time it was that Lupo tribesman.”

Lin Ye's eyelids twitched.

He knew about the second and third times; Messiah had warned her. But what was with the first time? Deep Sea Hunter—was she referring to Skadi?

And the time Skadi saved him...

"The Reunion Movement." Lin Ye finally guessed the other party's origins. "You actually extended your reach into Shelag."

"If Rhodes Island can come here, why can't Reunion?" Mephisto said calmly. "You are interested in the financial resources of the Kallan Trade, and so are we, only our methods are different."

Lin Ye said coldly, "Don't lump me in with you guys."

“I understand how you feel. From your perspective, we are indeed enemies.” Mephisto slowly revealed his signature smile. “But so what? Enemies are enemies. I don’t want to think about so many things. I just want to know, what makes you dare to appear before me like this? As far as I know, the Deepsea Hunter isn’t here, and the God of Kalan is far away on the Holy Mountain, never interfering in the affairs of Sheragne. As for that Lupo, she was injured by my subordinates. Even if she’s still alive, she can’t fight, can she?”