On the Ark.

Chūmaru turned to look at Lin Ye, asking with a strange expression, "Are you really a medical operator?"

Lin Ye did not answer, but simply withdrew [Maple], picked up the black talisman that had been split in two at his feet, and strode towards the shore, calling out the names of Frost Leaf and Magellan.

But to his surprise, he received replies from both of them the very next second.

"Dr. Lin Ye?" Magellan rushed out of the passage he came from. "What happened? How did the underground river become like this?"

Frostleaf followed behind Magellan and saw the scene before her; her expression changed as well.

When Lin Ye saw the two of them come out like that, he was stunned: "What happened? Where did you two go?"

"Where did you go?" Magellan didn't understand.

"Hey you guys," Chōmaru said, following Lin Ye ashore, "isn't it a bit much to just walk away like this? Even if you're just going to the toilet, you should at least say something."

Shuangye frowned slightly: "Didn't you tell us to go further away?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

"What exactly happened?" Lin Ye had a vague feeling that they had been tricked again.

Seeing Lin Ye and Chanmaru's expressions, Shuangye and Magellan also realized that something was wrong.

So Frostleaf glanced at Magellan, signaling for her to speak.

Magellan nodded, then said to Lin Ye, "I received your communication instructions five minutes after you went into the water."

"mine?"

“Yes,” Magellan said. “It was you, Dr. Lin Ye. You told me and Shuangye to retreat ten meters to monitor the route we came from, in case anything went wrong during our retreat. As for supporting you, retreating ten meters wouldn’t affect my control of the drone, so Shuangye and I retreated ten meters as you requested. Until just now, my drone lost response, and at the same time, I heard the noise you guys were making… That was you guys making noise, right? So Shuangye and I came out again.”

Lin Ye took a deep breath and then shook his head: "I have never said such a thing to you."

No, nothing?

"Yes, I'm just asking you to support us with drones."

As Lin Ye spoke, he glanced behind Shuangye. Ten meters was indeed a very short distance; from Lin Ye's current position, it was practically right in front of him. Magellan and Shuangye probably thought the same, so they didn't question Lin Ye's request. If Lin Ye had directly asked them to return to the island, he would have been exposed immediately.

However, ten meters from this angle wasn't a problem, but it was a big problem for the three people in the middle of the river. Because of the angle, Lin Ye and the others couldn't see Magellan and Shuangye, who had retreated ten meters, and naturally assumed that something had happened to them again.

"Didn't you hear us talking?" Blue Poison asked. "We've been talking ever since we went underwater. If Dr. Lin Ye sent you a voice message privately, you couldn't possibly not have noticed."

Magellan shook his head: "I didn't hear what you said. From what we saw, after you went into the water, you walked forward quietly. When Dr. Lin Ye spoke to me on the phone, I even saw him standing in the middle of the river waving at me, which is why Shuangye and I retreated."

The three who went into the water exchanged glances, clearly understanding each other.

Magellan and Frostleaf weren't stupid either, and they realized what was going on.

"So that means," Shuangye said coldly, arms crossed, "we've been hypnotized again?"

“That’s the only possibility.” Blue Poison nodded. “I was right behind Doctor Lin Ye the whole time. I didn’t hear what he said, nor did I see him wave to you.”

“Neither do I,” Magellan echoed.

"...But wasn't the spell canceled out before?" Magellan asked.

“We haven’t found the source of the spell or the caster, so how can we possibly undo it?” Blue Poison said softly. “This is indeed a very powerful spell; I’ve never seen one this powerful before. A slight mistake could lead to being hit. For safety’s sake, I think we should all keep at least three meters apart.”

Blue Poison's words made Lin Ye feel a little uneasy.

The source of the spell or the caster could not be found?

This means that they are very likely being watched by someone or some creature.

The thought of this sent a chill down his spine.

“Um, gentlemen,” Magellan said in a low voice, “Although I don’t know what you just did, my drone seems to be damaged.”

Lin Ye snapped out of his daze: "It's damaged?"

“Yes, all three drones have stopped responding.” Magellan sighed, looking somewhat distressed. “It all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to get them back.”

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly.

Because Magellan's drones were probably... no, they were definitely destroyed by him. Perhaps "destroyed" isn't the most accurate word, but they were still affected by his "dogmatic stance."

"You don't have a single drone anymore?" Frostleaf asked Magellan.

"There are two more, but they're still in town."

Lin Ye pondered for a moment, then sighed, "Let's go back."

"go back?"

"Well, it's about time. We definitely won't find Skadi tonight." Lin Ye was a little disappointed, but he didn't show it. He said in a calm tone, "Besides, without the drones, it's too dangerous to continue searching. It's better if we wait for the Ursus soldiers to come."

There was one more thing Lin Ye didn't say.

【Maple Dogmatic Stance】is the strongest trump card Lin Ye can use right now, and it can only be used once. However, he used it in this place, not only failing to find Skadi but also destroying Magellan's drones, without even obtaining any useful information.

It's like when playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), and the opponent plays a three, he immediately follows up with a royal flush.

That's really stupid.

……

……

Author's note: I stayed up all night last night... There might only be this one chapter today, so don't wait up tonight. This part of the story is also finished.

Chapter 325 Speculation (3K)

As Lin Ye left the island, his heart was constantly in suspense, not only for Skadi, who still hadn't been heard from, but also for his group. Magellan's drones were gone, and he had used his most powerful trump card. Who knew what might happen if they encountered something on the way back?

Fortunately, they didn't encounter anything strange on the way back. They didn't know if it was luck or if there really was nothing left. Thinking about it carefully, the strangest place on the island was the underground river; they hadn't encountered anything else before that. And since Lin Ye had destroyed that river, maybe there really was nothing left.

Who knows, if we continue the investigation, we might find Skadi?

Such a thought flashed through Lin Ye's mind, but he dismissed it in an instant.

He couldn't let the whole team risk their lives just because of Skadi. Even setting aside the lack of concrete evidence that Skadi was still on the island, they had to return tonight, even if she were still there. Lin Ye was well aware that his performance tonight hadn't been good; he'd been unreasonably impatient at times, unsure if it was due to excessive worry about Skadi, the influence of the island's mysterious forces, or both.

In this situation, he is absolutely incapable of leading the team, so returning home is the most feasible and only option.

Leave the underground river, leave the cave, find the ship they came from, and then leave the island.

Compared to their experience in the cave, their return journey was incredibly smooth, as if they were on a vacation. The small boat rocked gently on the sea, slowly drifting back to the town of Harlan amidst the gradually easing rain.

When the ship stopped and they stepped onto land, Lin Ye felt a little dazed. Even though they had only been gone for a few hours, he was so tired that he wanted to fall asleep immediately.

"It'll be dawn in an hour and a half," Blue Poison said, checking the time. "Our return journey will be just in time."

"Let's go back now," Lin Ye said. "It's so late, we definitely won't be able to sleep. The others will probably come to wake us up as soon as it's light, so be careful on the way back and don't get caught. Otherwise, it'll be hard to explain what we're doing out here at this hour."

Everyone nodded, then followed Lin Ye stealthily back to the tent. Even though they were returning to their own place, they moved as cautiously as thieves, thankfully without being discovered. Several Ursus military outposts were set up at the entrances and exits of Harlan town to prevent unauthorized entry. Since they hadn't brought many people with them, they naturally couldn't focus on the coastline area.

Back in the tent, Lin Ye really wanted to find a sleeping bag and fall asleep immediately. But he knew that wouldn't work, so he forced himself to stay awake and said to the others, "It's almost dawn. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll set off as soon as it's light. Silver Sword mentioned yesterday that we're going to set sail today."

"Huh?" As soon as he got back into the tent, Chanmaru, who was lounging like Ge You in a relaxed position, tilted his head. "We're going out to sea again?"

"Didn't you attend yesterday's meeting?"

"Who would listen to that kind of stuff?" Chūmaru said. "But it doesn't matter, as long as you guys listen, what should we do next?"

Magellan said, "If it's a joint operation, the investigation will be much easier, but we won't be able to communicate as freely as we did before. So I suggest we integrate the information we get tonight before dawn, otherwise all our efforts last night will have been in vain."

Lin Ye sensed a hint of resentment in Magellan's words, after all, her precious drones had been destroyed last night, and all three of them at once.

Everyone except Frostleaf, who was not very talkative, agreed to Magellan's proposal.

“This is probably the biggest takeaway,” Lin Ye said first, taking out Skadi’s communicator and placing it in front of everyone. “It proves that Skadi did indeed lose contact on that island.”

Blue Poison nodded: "Yes, and the reason for Miss Skadi's disappearance has also been found. It is highly likely that, like us, she was hypnotized by magic. This can be heard from the recording of Miss Skadi's conversation with Dr. Kal'tsit. Miss Skadi's last words before she disappeared were calling out the name of Dr. Lin Ye, who was in Kjerag at that time."

"So Skadi also saw Doctor Lin Ye on the river surface?" Chūmaru asked with some doubt. "But what happened after that? Did she rush into the underground river like Doctor Lin Ye? But didn't you say before that Skadi was the strongest deep-sea hunter? How could she have fallen victim to something like Doctor Lin Ye?"

Chōmaru's question was also Lin Ye's question: How could Skadi fall for the trap so easily?

Blue Poison quickly provided answers to their questions.

"Dr. Lin Ye, I wonder if you've seen Miss Skadi's file?" Blue Poison asked.

Lin Ye shook his head: "No, I just heard Amiya mention it a little. What do you want to ask about?"

"Hmm... how should I put it?" Blue Poison hesitated for a moment, "Miss Skadi isn't actually very good at this."

"In this respect?"

“It’s about Originium Arts, or rather, magic.” Blue Poison sighed softly. It seemed she hadn’t originally intended to say this, but she knew that concealing it at this time wouldn’t be good for Skadi, so she said, “You should know about Miss Skadi’s unique physical condition, so she doesn’t know any Originium Arts, and she lacks knowledge of most of them. Although the hypnosis we encountered last night might not have been Originium Arts, I don’t think Miss Skadi would be very good at dealing with it either. What she believes in is actually like her fighting style: there’s nothing that can’t be solved with one sword, and if there is, then two swords will do.”

This was the first time Lin Ye had heard such a statement.

Chūmaru asked, "Are you saying that Skadi's resistance to Originium Arts or spells might be the same as that of an ordinary person?"

"To be honest, she's not even as good as an average person." Blue Poison smiled awkwardly. "So, it's quite normal that she can use our hypnotic techniques to hypnotize Miss Skadi."

"So, you believe Skadi was indeed affected?"

“Yes.” Blue Poison nodded. “And she’s all alone; no one can remind her.”

Lin Ye didn't know what to say, and could only sigh softly in the end.

Since he's weak in this area, why does he keep acting alone? He's such a worry, and I wonder where he is now.

Chanmaru glanced at Lin Ye, then at Lan Du, before slowly sitting up straight and saying gently, "You might not like what I'm about to say, but I think it's better to say it anyway."

"Go ahead and say it." Lin Ye had already guessed what Chanmaru wanted to say.

“Since you’ve said it’s highly likely Skadi was affected,” Chūmaru said, “then what do you think the probability is that she’s still alive?”

One sentence silenced everyone.

Lin Ye had initially believed that Skadi was invincible and without any weaknesses, so even though she was missing, he subconsciously assumed she was safe. But now, he knew Skadi's greatest weakness from Blue Poison, and he also knew that Skadi was about to face that very weakness.

She was clearly hypnotized, and the hypnosis occurred a week ago.

What good is a hypnotized person, no matter how powerful? Just look at the skeletons sinking in the underground river. A week is enough time for far too many things to happen. And no matter how you look at it, Skadi seems... likely doomed.

Lin Ye felt a bit stuffy inside the tent.

Magellan coughed twice, then said, "I think we shouldn't be so pessimistic. After all, we haven't found Miss Skadi's, uh, um..."

"A corpse." Lin Ye sighed. "At a time like this, there's no need to be shy about it."

“…I understand, I just don’t want everyone to be so pessimistic,” Magellan said. “Besides, we haven’t found Miss Skadi’s phone either, have we? I think that phone should be very telling.”