On the Ark.

Blue Poison then said, "It's impossible for Dr. Lin Ye to be Miss Skadi's enemy, and there's no evidence to suggest that what she saw was definitely an enemy. It could also be someone she's been thinking about lately."

Chanmaru looked at Lin Ye with some curiosity: "You mean, Dr. Lin Ye has been quite concerned about that man named Mei something lately?"

Lin Ye wanted to refute it, but he felt that what Lan Du said was true, so he didn't refute it.

Blue Poison looked at Lin Ye, clearly wanting to ask something.

“That Mephistopheles is a terrifying person.” Lin Ye could only sigh and honestly said, “He is also my enemy. I had a chance to kill him when I was in Kjerag, but I failed and he got away. I have been thinking about him a lot lately, of course, because I’m afraid he will seek revenge. But if you have to say who I care about the most recently, that’s not an exaggeration.”

"In that case, it's clear that Miss Skadi has been paying attention to you recently."

Lin Ye was stunned.

"So where did Skadi go?" Chūmaru didn't give Lin Ye much time to think and asked directly, "If she was also hypnotized."

At this moment, Shuangye, who hadn't spoken for a long time, spoke softly: "Do you remember that when Doctor Lin Ye was hypnotized, he wanted to run into the river?"

“Yeah, it’s like he’s gone mad.” Chūmaru glanced at Lin Ye. “We couldn’t stop him.”

Shuangye said, "You can stop Dr. Lin Ye, but at that time, I don't think anyone could stop Miss Skadi, right?"

Lin Ye turned to look at Shuangye, his face full of disbelief: "You mean, Skadi went straight into the underground river?!"

Blue Poison immediately shook her head: "I don't think so. Miss Skadi is the most powerful deep-sea hunter. How could she fall into her trap so easily?"

Chōmaru said, "But you just said that Skadi called out Dr. Lin Ye's name before she lost contact. Dr. Lin Ye also called out that guy's name, something like 'Mold'."

"I clearly didn't call out," Lin Ye said, somewhat annoyed.

"I still don't think Miss Skadi would..."

The three were about to argue when Shuangye interrupted them again.

"Instead of arguing so much, why don't you turn around and take a look?" Frostleaf's voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something. "Is that person standing in the river Skadi?"

Everyone was stunned.

The next second, several searchlights looked in the direction that Shuangye was pointing.

They saw a dark female figure standing quietly in the middle of the river, about fifty meters away.

……

……

Author's note: 6,000 chapters completed, still 33 chapters to go (writing this type of chapter late at night is quite enjoyable).

Chapter 322 Frosty Leaf's Warning (3K)

If it weren't for Shuangye's reminder, no one would have noticed the woman's figure in the middle of the river.

When did she appear there? No one knows, because Magellan's drones hadn't detected her before... no, perhaps they had, but the hypnotized people couldn't notice her at the time.

"Is that Skadi?" Frostleaf asked.

"I don't know, I can't see clearly."

They couldn't see clearly. Although the woman was only about fifty meters away, half of her body was hidden in the water because she was standing in the middle of the river. And for some reason, their searchlights couldn't shine directly on the woman's face; they could only barely make out her blurry figure.

Lin Ye's heart jumped into his throat. He immediately turned to Magellan and said, "Send the drone over there to take a look."

Magellan nodded: "No problem."

The three drones immediately took off and flew towards the center of the river.

Everyone rushed to Magellan's side, ready to see if the other person was Skadi.

The drone was incredibly fast, covering dozens of meters in just a few seconds. Its searchlight shone out, and its camera captured images and transmitted them to Magellan's microcomputer screen. Everyone held their breath, watching as the woman's face was about to be revealed, when suddenly a dull thud was heard.

In the footage, the woman's body swayed twice, then, as if unable to maintain her balance, she fell directly into the river. When the searchlight shone on her, only a small splash could be seen.

"Damn it!" Lin Ye couldn't help but curse, "How could this happen?!"

"Miss Skadi fell into the river?"

"It's not certain yet whether it's Miss Skadi."

"Who else could be here but Miss Skadi?"

"Enough of this nonsense, Magellan. Lower the drone a bit. Let's see if we can capture any useful footage."

Magellan nodded repeatedly: "Okay."

The drone slowly descended, eventually hovering less than a meter above the river's surface. Even so, the searchlights couldn't penetrate the center of the river; only murky water remained beneath the surface.

Lin Ye couldn't hold back any longer and rushed to the riverbank, shouting Skadi's name, but unfortunately, he received no response.

"I knew things might be weird tonight," Chūmaru said, somewhat troubled. "But I didn't expect it to be this weird. I just can't understand it."

Frostleaf glanced at Chūmaru and said indifferently, "You are clearly a demon, yet you use the word 'weird'. That's quite funny."

"We Oni are upright and honorable; if we encounter someone we don't like, we just chop them down," Chūmaru said softly, turning to look at the underground river. "It's so frustrating to feel powerless like this. By the way, I've never seen Skadi before. Are you sure that was Skadi just now?"

"How could that be? It's already quite a stretch to be able to tell it's a woman. Of course, it could also be a thin man," Frostleaf said in a low voice. "But since he could appear in a place like this, who else could it be but a Deepsea Hunter like Skadi?"

Lin Ye turned to look at Chanmaru and Shuangye and said, "We need to go take a look."

"Huh?" Chūmaru looked surprised. "Are you kidding me? You want to go down to a place like this?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"It's not that it's impossible, but whatever, I'll do as you say." Chūmaru shrugged.

Lin Ye then looked at Blue Poison.

Blue Poison nodded and said, "We really don't have any other choice. We've already come this far. What if that was Miss Skadi? She's probably reached her limit after enduring a week in this place. We can't just stand by and watch her die."

Lin Ye said softly, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me." Blue Poison smiled. "Miss Skadi was our colleague and our mission target. Rescuing her was the best we could do. Why should I thank you?"

Lin Ye took a deep breath, shook his head, and offered no explanation.

Magellan asked, "Shall we go down together?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment, then shook his head: "There's no need for them all to go down. Magellan, do your drones have attack capabilities?"

“Of course,” Magellan said with a touch of pride. “All my drones are equipped with weapons, enabling them to provide fire support and precision strikes.”

“That’s it,” Lin Ye said. “You stay on the shore and control the drones to provide support for us.”

"No problem."

Lin Ye then said to Shuangye, "Shuangye, you stay here to protect Magellan."

"Protect me? Why?" Magellan asked, puzzled. "No need, I can manage perfectly well..."

“We still don’t know what’s in the underground river.” Even though Lin Ye wanted to rush down to find Skadi right now, he knew that in this unknown and dangerous environment, acting rashly without adequate preparation would only be suicidal. So he patiently explained, “That’s why we really need your drone support. Me, Chūmaru, and Blue Poison will go down—three people in total. You have three drones, so you can have one follow each of us. But then you won’t be able to protect yourself, so let Frostleaf stay with you.”

“Yes, is that so? Okay then.” Magellan nodded. “I understand. I will protect you with my drones.”

Lin Ye looked at Shuangye: "Shuangye, you stay here to protect Magellan, but you'd better take off your headphones. Don't listen to music at a time like this."

Frostleaf slowly took off her headphones: "I don't really care, but Dr. Lin Ye, this operation isn't your responsibility, is it? I'd like to ask, do you have any experience in commanding operations? Is it really appropriate for you to replace Blue Poison Operator and command us, who have rich combat experience, at a time like this?"

Lin Ye was momentarily speechless.

Blue Poison then came to Lin Ye's rescue: "I think there's nothing wrong with Dr. Lin Ye's arrangements. Dr. Kal'tsit also said that when necessary, we should listen to Dr. Lin Ye."

“Hmm… I was just saying it casually, but there’s definitely no problem with this arrangement.” Shuangye walked over to Magellan and sat down. “Then I’ll protect Miss Magellan. But Dr. Lin Ye, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say.”

"You say it."

“I will obey Dr. Kal'tsit, and I will follow your orders when necessary,” Frostleaf said softly, resting her hand on her battle axe. “But please don’t abandon us in order to rescue Skadi.”

Lin Ye was stunned.

Magellan tugged at Shuangye's clothes and whispered, "Shuangye, how could you say that about Doctor Lin Ye? Doctor Lin Ye is clearly not that kind of person."

"I don't know what kind of person he is. I only believe what I see." Shuangye looked at Lin Ye and said slowly, "Just now he drew his sword at Chōmaru, but Chōmaru only wanted to stop him from going into the river to his death. If his guard gun hadn't been out of bullets at that time, I think he would have shot Chōmaru."

Blue Poison said, "That's because it was affected by magic."

“I know, but who knows if there will be a next time?” Shuangye said. “As the commander, I am the one most easily controlled by magic. Forgive me for speaking frankly, but it’s terrifying. I would rather die on the battlefield than die in a place like this, especially from a black shot that came from who-knows-where.”

"Frostleaf!" Magellan was getting angry. "You've gone a bit too far."

"Let her speak," Lin Ye interrupted Magellan, saying softly, "Just let her speak."

“I’ve said what I wanted to say,” Frostleaf said. “I’m not like Skadi, I’m not an unparalleled deep-sea hunter, but I don’t want to be a pawn either. That’s about it, Dr. Lin Ye. I will protect Magellan, and the rest is up to you.”

Lin Ye looked at Shuangye.

To be honest, he never expected Shuangye to say such a thing. His first impression of Shuangye was that she was quiet, obedient, and like a nightingale, but he never imagined she would have such sharp words and an unusually sensitive heart. However, considering Shuangye's experience as a "child soldier," being sent to the battlefield at a young age, Lin Ye felt that he could understand her.

"Don't worry," Lin Ye said softly. "Before I came here, I promised Kal'tsit that I would bring all of you back safely. It is true that I want to find Skadi, I really want to, but please believe me, I will not abandon any of you here because of Skadi, absolutely not."

Shuangye glanced at Lin Ye, then lowered her head and did not reply.

Lin Ye knew that words alone wouldn't be enough to move this battle-hardened girl; he would have to rely on actions to gain her trust. So, after giving Magellan a few more instructions, he returned to the riverbank with Chūmaru and Blue Poison.

Chōmaru looked at Lin Ye and winked, "How was it? Getting roasted by a little girl, didn't you feel good?"

Lin Ye's initially somber and tense mood eased somewhat under the exaggerated expression of Chōmaru. He smiled and said, "There's nothing to say. Shimoba just said the right thing."

"Ha, you're quite generous. But that's fine too, I don't want to work for stingy people." As he spoke, Chūmaru stepped into the river first. "In that case, I'll go first."

Lin Ye nodded: "Thank you."

Blue Poison said to Chūmaru, "You're in too much of a hurry. At least let me see if the water here is poisonous."

"Oh, I forgot, but it's already down here. Just tell me, is it poisonous?"

Blue Poison examined it, then shook his head: "No poison."

"It's good that there's no poison... Oh, right, I remember you drank some water from here earlier." Chūmaru turned to look at Blue Poison. "What are your thoughts now?"

"What thoughts could I possibly have? My body is immune to poison."

"It's not a matter of whether it's poisonous or not," Chūmaru said. "It's that this river is very dirty and disgusting, isn't it? Can you really drink it?"

Blue Poison remained silent for a while.

"You're so annoying."

……