On the Ark.

“You should take a rest,” Lin Ye said with a smile. “Stay on the island for a few more days this time. I’ll talk to Kal’tsit about it.”

Skadi turned to look at Lin Ye, and then said softly, "Okay."

Chapter 348 Welcome to Rhodes Island

After a half-day rest, Lin Ye discussed the matter with everyone, and with Kal'tsit's consent, Rhodes Island became the first organization to withdraw from the joint operation. After all, they had already achieved their objective: successfully finding Skadi, and according to Skadi, there was no treasure on the island, making it not worth digging further. But even if there were treasure, Rhodes Island didn't believe they could get a share from the reinforced Ursus military.

Although Skadi was found, the joint operation targeting the "Deep Sea Treasure" ended in a dismal failure. The Ursus military's special forces team suffered two-thirds casualties, the Sunset Merchant Guild's mercenaries lost four-fifths, and half of the Lungmen Guard failed to return to land. The only groups that didn't suffer losses were Rhodes Island and the Originium Arts Research Institute. However, the Originium Arts Research Institute only had Skyfire, making them easily overlooked, while Rhodes Island's situation was different.

“Although you guys rescued everyone, there are some things that are hard to say to each other’s faces,” Swire said as Lin Ye was about to leave. “But they do believe that Rhodes Island’s zero casualties were due to some hidden intelligence, so they definitely hold a grudge against you.”

Lin Ye asked, "Who are they referring to?"

Swire rolled her eyes at Lin Ye and said irritably, "You jerk, you just want to know if our Guard Bureau is also among those who have grudges against you, right? Why beat around the bush?"

Lin Ye chuckled awkwardly, not expecting that his little scheme would be so easily seen through by Swire.

“We, the Guard, are not ungrateful people.” Swire crossed her arms. “Without you, we, the entire Guard, would have perished at sea. I know that very well. Although I can’t guarantee what the team members are thinking, I can at least guarantee that they won’t show any dissatisfaction on the surface.”

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly: "...So you're still dissatisfied."

“There’s nothing we can do about it.” Swire glanced at Skadi standing behind Lin Ye. “After all, you hid the Deepsea Hunter who was extremely important to our operation from the beginning. She didn’t show up at all during our operation, and only appeared after everything was over. Do you think Ursus and the Sunset Merchant Guild didn’t think about that?”

Lin Ye was somewhat helpless about Swire's statement, while Skadi, the person involved, seemed to have heard nothing, lazily basking in the sun, looking completely indifferent.

“Of course, the most important thing is that we paid such a high price, but we didn’t find anything.” Swire said angrily, “I told Mr. Wei before we came that this is not our territory and there is no need to risk our lives for those illusory ‘deep-sea treasures’, but Mr. Wei did not listen… If only I had stuck to my point of view back then.”

Lin Ye could tell that Swire was still very remorseful about the deaths of her subordinates. Perhaps no responsible leader would want to see their men die in such a way? Swire was especially so, which explained the resentment she felt towards Lin Ye in her earlier words. After all, Lin Ye had withheld some information from the Guard Bureau, especially regarding Skadi. But he had no choice, and Swire understood this, so after a couple of complaints, she didn't bring it up again.

Lin Ye then changed the subject: "Didn't the Ursus people come to the island again these past few days? Didn't they find anything?"

“What can they find? Just corpses,” Swire said. “They’ve practically hollowed out the entire island and brought it all back to Ursus, but they’ve found nothing. So be careful, those guys from Ursus aren’t exactly known for their good temper, and they might just take their anger out on you.”

Even without Swire saying much, Lin Ye could sense that the new Ursus squad leader's tone was noticeably harsh. This was also why Lin Ye decided to lead his team away as soon as possible. After Ursus reinforced their troops, they took over this sea area and were digging day and night on the island, probably hoping to find an island full of pure Originium like they had done decades ago. However, Skadi, who had thoroughly explored the island, clearly stated that there was no treasure beneath it. Lin Ye feared that after paying such a high price and finding nothing, the Ursus would ultimately blame them, so it was best to make a clean getaway.

Even though he had sensed it beforehand, Lin Ye still thanked Swire for her reminder and subtly hinted that there might not be any treasure beneath the island.

"Do you think I don't know whether there's treasure or not?" Swire glanced at Lin Ye and said, "Don't forget we also have an oceanography expert."

Lin Ye asked, somewhat puzzled, "Then why aren't you leaving yet?"

“I must find all the bodies of my men,” Swire said softly. “As their commander, how can I allow them to perish at sea?”

With just one sentence, Lin Ye held Swire in even higher regard. His initial impression of Swire was that of a spoiled and willful rich girl, who, at Chen's suggestion, seemed to have paid her way into the Guard Bureau. However, this first impression changed with each encounter, and now Lin Ye truly admired Swire.

It wasn't because of her money, of course.

"In that case, we'll be going now." Lin Ye said goodbye to Shi Huaiya, "I'll treat you to dinner next time."

"Treat me to dinner? Forget it, you can't afford it." Swire said casually. "I'll treat you instead. By the way, Lin Ye."

"Ok?"

"I owe you another life." Swire waved her hand as she turned to leave. "I will repay this debt."

Lin Ye watched Swire's retreating figure and couldn't help but smile, then softly said, "Okay."

Then it was time to return.

But soon Lin Ye encountered something that surprised him again.

They came here as a group of five, but returned as a group of seven. Not only was Skadi back with her team, but Skyfire from the Originium Arts Research Society was also waiting for them by their car. When she saw Lin Ye arrive, she crossed her arms and said, "I suddenly think your Rhodes Island is quite an interesting organization, so I was thinking of going to check it out. If it's alright, I might also submit my resume or something. Is that alright?"

Lin Ye never imagined that one day he would say those words to someone else.

He smiled and said, "Of course, no problem. Welcome to Rhodes Island."

……

……

The author's rant: The new volume is coming up, let me think about how to write it.

Chapter 349 Skadi Wants to Ask for Leave

After bidding farewell to Swire, Lin Ye and his group returned to Rhodes Island as quickly as possible. The journey there had been delayed by weather conditions, but the return trip was smooth and took only a day and a half. This was also the first time Lin Ye had returned to the island during the day; previously, it was always in the middle of the night.

As soon as Lin Ye got off the train, before he could even go back to his dorm to put down his luggage, he was summoned to Kal'tsit's office by phone, along with Skadi. Having no other choice, Lin Ye handed his luggage to Blue Poison, asking her to take it to his office first, and then went with Skadi to find Kal'tsit. Magellan, meanwhile, took Skyfire to the personnel department to find Zilan.

On the way there, Lin Ye jokingly said to Skadi, "I hope Kal'tsit won't pull any more tricks on us."

"Playing pranks?" Skadi clearly didn't understand the meaning of this word.

“Uh…” Lin Ye thought for a moment and explained briefly, “It’s about arranging work.”

Don't you want to be assigned work?

“No normal person would want to… But that doesn’t seem quite right either. Actually, I do love my job.” Lin Ye coughed twice. “But you can’t work all the time. Even the most diligent person needs rest, just like even the most sophisticated machine needs maintenance. But we’ve only just returned, so Kal’tsit probably won’t assign us any new work. She’ll probably just ask about the operation.”

Skadi nodded and casually said, "Maybe."

This made Lin Ye feel a little bored. He clearly wanted to joke with Skadi, but it seemed that Skadi didn't get his point. But there was nothing he could do about it; in this world, no one could keep up with his train of thought.

Upon arriving at Kal'tsit's office, they found her sitting in her office chair, waiting for them.

Upon seeing them enter the house, Kal'tsit said directly, "I'm sorry, although I would love for you to have some time to rest, I need to know as soon as possible what you went through in that town."

Lin Ye sensed something was off about Kal'tsit's tone and asked, "What's wrong?"

“The video conference just ended an hour ago,” Kal'tsit said. “The Ursus side is taking a very tough stance. That general seems to be in a bad mood, as if Rhodes Island has betrayed them.”

It really is Ursus...

Lin Ye had already considered this when he returned. He suspected that when Ursus completely hollowed out the island and found no "deep-sea treasure," they might turn their anger on Rhodes Island. Swire had previously mentioned this to Lin Ye: they possessed Skadi, the most powerful and experienced deep-sea hunter. However, Skadi hadn't shown herself throughout the entire ordeal, only returning after everything was over. Ursus suffered heavy losses, even their squad leader, Silver Sword, perished at sea, while Rhodes Island suffered no losses. It was hard not for Ursus, as their partner, to consider this possibility.

It wasn't just Ursus; the Sunset Merchant Guild and the Lungmen Guard likely shared the same idea. However, the Sunset Merchant Guild had a grudge against Rhodes Island, so there was little to discuss, while the Lungmen Guard was suppressed by Swire. But Ursus, the most powerful faction, was beyond their control.

Kal'tsit asked Lin Ye, "Is there really nothing under that island?"

Does mud count?

"What do you think?"

“That means there’s nothing there,” Lin Ye said. “By the time we were on our way back, the Ursus people had probably hollowed out the island. If there really was something there, they wouldn’t be so angry, would they?”

"So you already knew there was nothing under that island?"

Lin Ye nodded.

Kal'tsit sighed: "Then you should have stayed there a few more days."

"Huh?" Lin Ye asked, puzzled. "Since we all know there's nothing left there, why didn't we come back sooner? If we stay there, won't the Ursus people cause trouble for us when they can't find the treasure?"

“With the four parties cooperating, the Sunset Merchant Guild and the Lungmen Guard Bureau are both there, and we are the weakest of the four… not to mention the Originium Arts Research Association, which only sent one person. Ursus, as a nation, how could they possibly cause us trouble?” Kal'tsit said slowly. “If you had stayed there a few more days and appropriately shown that you were still interested in those treasures, Ursus wouldn’t have thought much of it. They would probably have just assumed that you survived because of good luck, or that you had some kind of trump card to save your lives. But you came back early and withdrew before they could hollow out the island. Do you think they wouldn’t think that we already knew there was no treasure, or that we had already moved the treasure?”

Lin Ye was a little confused. He really hadn't thought about it in this way. He was just thinking that it would be better to run away as soon as possible before they caused trouble in Ursus.

"What should we do then? Did Ursus say anything?"

“They didn’t say anything, after all, they have no evidence.” Kal’tsit shrugged. “However, they have already suspended cooperation on several of our major projects, so overall, there are still some losses.”

"This... I'm sorry," Lin Ye said apologetically. "It's my fault, I didn't think that much about it."

Kal'tsit shook her head: "I called you here not to blame you. After all, you did a great job with the task I assigned you. Dealing with Ursus is not your area of ​​expertise, and you have no experience in handling this kind of thing. So, strictly speaking, the responsibility for this matter lies with only one person, and that is me. It was my oversight, and you don't need to apologize."

Hearing Kal'tsit's words, Lin Ye breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Alright."

"But learn from your mistakes, Lin Ye," Kal'tsit said calmly. "Next time something like this happens, it's better to think it over more carefully."

Lin Ye said with a wry smile, "Will there be a next time? I thought this was the last time. I don't think this kind of diplomatic work suits me well. I'm clearly a doctor, and I'm completely incapable of this kind of work..."

"I can offer you a higher salary."

"...I really should continue to study hard; there are still many areas where I need to improve," Lin Ye said earnestly.

Skadi turned to look at Lin Ye, and for some reason, she felt that Lin Ye was being a bit cheeky at that moment.

Kal'tsit smiled, her tone much more relaxed: "Just kidding, Lin Ye. You did a great job this time. Faced with such a difficult mission, you not only completed the mission objective and brought Skadi back, but also avoided any casualties, and even brought back a very capable researcher from the Originium Arts Research Institute... So, would you be interested in working part-time in the Human Resources Department?"

"Let's not go with this."

“That’s true, you already have a lot of work.” Kal’tsit nodded. “Think about it, in the six months since you joined the company, you’ve hardly had any rest. So take a good rest this time. I won’t assign you any difficult tasks next time.”

"Thank you."

“This is what you deserve. Also, don’t think too much about Ursus, because you really shouldn’t have let the people of Ursus know about the [Blade of God].” Kal’tsit picked up her teacup. “As for the cooperation lost in Ursus, I will make up for it elsewhere. Just get some rest, Lin Ye.”

Lin Ye didn't know if there was any etiquette for serving tea and seeing guests off in the Terra world, but he knew the conversation was over and he should indeed leave. However, before he went out, he noticed that Skadi was still standing there, not moving.

"Skadi?"

Skadi glanced at Lin Ye and said, "I have some things to attend to."

"Okay." Lin Ye nodded, then said goodbye to Kal'tsit and went out.

Kal'tsit put down her teacup and looked at Skadi standing in front of her: "What is it? Are you going to give me a mission report now?"

“No,” Skadi shook her head. “I need to ask for leave.”

"Are you taking leave?" Kal'tsit looked surprised.

"no?"

“Of course not. You’ve done so much for Rhodes Island, so taking leave is no problem at all. I’m just a little surprised that you would ask me for leave.” Kal’tsit crossed her arms, rested her chin on her hands, and asked with interest, “So, may I ask what you want to do?”

Skadi turned her head, glanced at the spot where Lin Ye had just been sitting, remained silent for a moment, and then said softly.

"This is my own business."

Chapter 350 Lin Ye, You Can't Be This Short (3K)

After Skadi left Kal'tsit's office, she found Lin Ye still waiting in the corridor.

"Didn't you go back?" Skadi asked Lin Ye.

"Ah, I just remembered, I asked Blue Poison to put my luggage in the office for me." Lin Ye scratched his head and said, "So I need to get my luggage first before I can go back to the dorm. And since you also need to go to the office, I'll wait for you."

“Is that so?” Skadi nodded. “Then let’s go.”

The two walked side by side.

Skadi was actually a head shorter than Lin Ye, but for some reason, Lin Ye often felt that Skadi was much taller than him, especially when they were in the sea. Was this what they called aura? Had Skadi's aura already overwhelmed him?