On the Ark.

"Huh?" Lin Ye didn't hear clearly. "What did you just say?"

“I mean, we should be the ones saying thank you to you.” Ansel also stood up from his chair, but he wasn’t tall, so he had to look up to see Lin Ye’s eyes.

Lin Ye gripped the medicine bottle tightly. Despite his relaxed demeanor, he was incredibly nervous inside. He didn't know if he had accomplished something great, caused a major disaster, or failed at everything. All he knew was that he had pulled Nightingale out of the endless vines, and then…

"What happened to her?" Lin Ye asked in a low voice, "That Nightingale..."

Ansel was somewhat surprised to see the tension in Lin Ye's eyes.

Ansel found it difficult to reconcile the image before him with the one he had displayed seven or eight hours earlier, who had shouted at everyone to shut up and then touched the power of the demon with his own body.

He's an incredible person.

“Yes,” Ansel said softly, “thank you. Because you successfully saved the Nightingale.”

At that moment, Lin Ye felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart.

He looked at Ansel, intending to flash a confident smile and then nonchalantly say something like, "It's alright now." But when the moment came, he found himself unable to smile. There wasn't much joy in his heart, only a sense of relief that everything had finally settled down, and…

"Can you take me to see her?" Lin Ye asked.

……

They were back in the intensive care unit.

Lin Ye hadn't held out much hope of seeing Nightingale quickly, but to his surprise, Ansel readily agreed and led him away from the medical room towards the intensive care unit. There were already quite a few people around the ICU, mostly unfamiliar faces to Lin Ye, presumably Rhodes Island operators who had rushed over after receiving news of Nightingale. Lin Ye initially tried to look among them for anyone he recognized, but after a quick scan, he gave up.

There probably won't be any acquaintances left; most of the guys I know are probably still with Nightingale.

However, as he walked to the edge of the intensive care unit, someone patted him on the shoulder.

Lin Ye turned his head and saw a tall, burly man, giving him a thumbs up.

"Well done," the burly man said with a smile. "I'll remember your name, Lin Ye. Rhodes Island welcomes you."

……

"Who was that just now?" Lin Ye asked Ansel.

“ACE,” Ansel replied simply. “He is a pure human, just like you. You two should get along very well in the future.”

Is that so?

“Well, that’s all for the future. Before that…” Ansel led Lin Ye back to the place where they had previously monitored Nightingale, and then paused for a moment.

Because there is no one here.

"The nightingale is not here."

The two turned around and found Shining standing behind them.

Shining looked at Lin Ye and said softly, "Thanks to you, Nightingale will no longer be trapped here."

……

Lin Ye saw Nightingale in another room of the intensive care unit. This room was far less extravagantly decorated than the intensive care unit, which was filled with ornate white furniture and countless instruments and cameras. It was just an ordinary room, where the pure white little devil sat in a beanbag chair, taking small bites of bread, her white legs covered in breadcrumbs.

According to Shining, although Nightingale had recovered from her worst period, her mental state remained unstable, and her memories showed no signs of returning. When they approached, Nightingale would still resist due to tension and fear. However, her mental state showed no signs of further collapse, so they didn't want to subject her to any more stimulating drugs to a period of dormancy. Therefore, they brought Nightingale here, leaving her alone while waiting for Lin Ye to awaken.

Lin Ye watched from outside the room for a while before pushing the door open and entering.

The nightingale raised its head, and their eyes met.

Just as Lin Ye was pondering how to begin, Nightingale spoke first.

"Liz".

"Huh?" Lin Ye didn't hear clearly.

“Liz,” Nightingale spoke again, her voice as soft as sticky rice, “that’s my name.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Pineapple Buns

"Liz?"

This was the first time Lin Ye had heard Nightingale's name; it seemed Rhodes Island operators all used codenames. But since Nightingale could say her own name, did that mean her memories had returned?

So Lin Ye tried asking, "Do you remember things from before?"

"The past...?" Nightingale's brows furrowed with a mixture of confusion and struggle before she shook her head and said lightly, "I don't remember the past."

"Don't you remember anything?"

“Remember my name,” Nightingale said, looking down at the bread in her hand. “And the pineapple bun.”

"……What?"

“I remember Liz.” Nightingale took another bite, her mouth covered in orange crumbs. “I also remember the pineapple bun.”

Hmm, this answer has a strange philosophical flavor. In Lin Ye's view, philosophy is something you can't understand, but you think is very profound.

Okay, just kidding.

It seems Nightingale's condition is just as Ansel and Shining described. Although her mind has temporarily stabilized, she hasn't regained her past memories, only remembering her own name and the food in her hand. Lin Ye then recalls that at this time yesterday, Shining also went to the cafeteria to get some pineapple buns, presumably to visit Nightingale. It seems Nightingale has a real fondness for pineapple buns; even Shining can't remember them, yet she still remembers this one.

Lin Ye didn't know what to say, after all, the thinking of a mentally ill person couldn't be judged by common sense. In his previous life, he had seen news reports of a person who had been in a vegetative state for half a year jumping out of bed the moment they heard their friends playing mahjong. Their back didn't hurt, their legs didn't ache, and even their nerves seemed to have returned to normal.

Okay, I've gotten the wrong idea again.

He had come in to further stabilize Nightingale's emotions and try to persuade her to cooperate with the other medical operators in her next treatment, since Nightingale couldn't remember anyone and showed obvious fear and rejection towards the other operators. To avoid ruining this hard-won situation, the operators decided to let Lin Ye try. Sure enough, while Nightingale rejected all the operators, including Shining, she didn't reject Lin Ye, and even proactively told him her name.

All of this was captured by the cameras above their heads and then observed by the agents in the monitoring room.

"As expected, Nightingale didn't reject Lin Ye." The Ranger exclaimed. "Lin Ye succeeded. You were right after all, Shining. If it weren't for your persistence, we don't know when we would have been able to get Nightingale to take this step."

Shining didn't speak, but turned to look at Nearl, who was leaning against the wall.

"Nearlight," Shining said, "I'm sorry."

Lin Guang looked up: "Why are you apologizing to me?"

"I shouldn't have drawn my sword at you."

“…You haven’t even drawn your sword yet.” Lin Guang felt a tightness in his chest. “Besides, it was all just wishful thinking on my part from beginning to end. It was just that I refused to believe Lin Ye.”

Hearing Lin Guang's words, Zi Lan became anxious: "But what about Lin Ye's job entrance test..."

Lin Guang raised his hand to stop Zi Lan from continuing: "That's enough. Lin Ye's background and what he did last night are two different things. He helped Nightingale and did something that none of us could do. There's nothing to deny about that."

"Radiant Knight..."

“I will apologize to Lin Ye.” Lin Guang turned and left. “I will reflect on my arrogance, but I will also remain vigilant towards him until I have thoroughly investigated his talent and past. That’s all. I’m tired. I’m going to rest now.”

Zilan instinctively tried to catch up with Linguang, but was stopped by the forest ranger.

“Let her go and have some peace and quiet,” the ranger said. “Some things are simply beyond the control of bystanders.”

"But regarding Lin Ye's talent, we have all of them here except for Shining..."

“Nearlight’s blame has never been on Nightingale,” the Ranger shook his head and said. “Her blame lies in the fact that because of her insistence, Nightingale almost missed the best opportunity to be rescued… Am I right, Shining?”

Shining still didn't answer the Ranger. She simply turned her head, looked at Nightingale and Lin Ye on the monitor, and said softly.

"Liz".

……

At this moment, Lin Ye had no idea what the agents in the monitoring room were thinking about writing, because he was now facing a rather tricky problem.

That is, Nightingale seemed unable to remember his name no matter what. No matter how many times Lin Ye repeated it, Nightingale always called him "Pineapple Bun".

"My name isn't Pineapple Bun." Lin Ye believed that since psychological counseling was going to be conducted, at least Nightingale should remember her name, so he kept emphasizing, "My name is Lin Ye. Watch my mouth, Lin—Ye—"

"Lin—Ye—" Nightingale mouthed Lin Ye's name with some difficulty, but with great effort, like a child earnestly learning to speak.

"Yes, Lin Ye." Lin Ye smiled with satisfaction. "Did you remember?"

“I’ve got it, pineapple bun.” Nightingale nodded.

Lin Ye's relieved smile froze on his face once again.

"Lin—Ye—" he repeated again, "Watch my lips, Lin—"

"Forest--"

"night--"

"night--"

"Did you remember?"

"Got it, pineapple bun."

Lin Ye was so angry his teeth ached, and then he started to worry. He wondered if he'd turned this girl from amnesia into a mentally challenged person. It didn't seem impossible. Even at the vet, the most aggressive dog became a docile pug after he calmed it down. If Rhodes Island knew he'd turned their most prized girl from amnesia into a mentally challenged person, would they execute him on the spot?

Just as he was thinking this, the headset that Ansel had given him earlier rang.

"Lin Ye, the special medicine for Nightingale's condition has been prepared. Come and get it," Ansel said to Lin Ye. "Then try to feed it to her."

"A miracle drug?"

“It’s just a small dose of tranquilizer, but this level won’t harm her body,” Ansel said. “I know she’s slept for a long time, but there’s nothing I can do. She’s still too weak, and before you woke up, Nightingale had been in a very unstable mental state for seven consecutive hours. Although she’s much better than before, she still needs to rest.”

Lin Ye nodded: "I'll go get it right away."

So joining Rhodes Island is definitely a promising career path. Before, at the vet clinic, the most you'd get was anesthesia for a big dog; now you can even feed demons medicine.

That's awesome!

However, just as he was about to get up and leave, Nightingale suddenly reached out and grabbed Lin Ye.

Lin Ye lowered his head and then saw panic in Nightingale's clear eyes.

"Where are you going?" Nightingale asked. "Don't... leave me behind..."

Chapter Thirty: Advice from a Seasoned Pet Owner

So, is this still the final result?

Lin Ye looked down at Nightingale, who was sleeping on his lap, and sighed heavily. He then slowly leaned back, stretched, and turned to look at the wall clock, which showed that it was already seven o'clock in the evening.

"It's been so long," Lin Ye muttered. "The demon's energy is just too much, almost like a husky."

Four hours ago, Ansel had signaled to Lin Ye that he could leave to get the calming medication, but Nightingale stopped him as he was about to go. And then, nothing more happened. Lin Ye stayed with the newly awakened demon until, ten minutes ago, she slowly fell asleep against his lap.