On the Ark.

When Lin Ye sensed the change in everyone's gaze, he really wanted to strangle the white-faced owl beside him.

He's utterly useless at everything, but a master at causing trouble. He always stabs people in the back, but this time he actually did it to his face… oh, it seems he always does it to his face, Operator Shining is fearless.

Lin Ye stared intently at the white-faced owl, but the latter's expression remained unchanged, its golden pupils seemingly carrying a hint of innocence and confusion... What the hell do you have to be confused about? Are you really clueless or just pretending?! Wait a minute, how could a programmer who's online all day not understand this kind of thing?!

Thinking of this, Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly. He was now regretting not having been more assertive and refused White Owl's offer, not having stood firm on his hiring requirements. However, this hindsight was useless now; everyone's eyes were on him. He took a deep breath and tried to explain stiffly, "Um, White Owl misunderstood. Skadi isn't my girlfriend."

Before she could finish speaking, White Owl chimed in, "Is that not true? But Operator White Owl often detects you and Miss Skadi doing... um... in the office in the early morning."

The white-faced owl couldn't continue speaking because Lin Ye, unable to bear it any longer, had already grabbed her face, his black pupils filled with murderous intent.

He said coldly, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll pluck your feathers off."

The white-faced owl tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and decided that losing feathers over something like this wasn't worth it, so she chose to keep quiet, adopting a docile demeanor. However, she had already said what she should and shouldn't have said, and her docile act combined with Lin Ye's fury was seen by everyone as an attempt to cover up the truth, further confirming the white-faced owl's earlier words.

"It's with Skadi." Saria exclaimed in surprise, then showed an expression of admiration, and even gave Lin Ye a thumbs up. "As expected of you, Dr. Lin."

Hamer gave Saria a shove in the back, somewhat annoyed: "No one will think you're mute if you don't speak!"

"Skadi... is that the one you mentioned to me last time?" Shining said, recalling the conversation. "Has things progressed this quickly?"

The nightingale pursed her lips and remained silent.

Exusiai sensed something was amiss, turned to look at Lin Ye, frowned and muttered, "Skadi, who's that... wait!"

She suddenly realized something and pointed her finger at Lin Ye's nose.

"You have a girlfriend and you're still flirting... ugh."

Before Exusiai could finish speaking, Lin Ye quickly covered her mouth.

Good heavens, what's going on today? He didn't do anything wrong, why are they treating him like this!

Lin Ye was roaring inwardly, but he still managed a forced smile on his face: "Excuse me, wait a moment. This young lady seems to have some misunderstanding about me. I'll go and explain to her."

After saying that, Lin Ye forcibly walked out of the medical department with Exusiai. It was fortunate that his physical strength had increased many times over the past year; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to even carry Exusiai. Everyone in the medical department watched helplessly as Lin Ye dragged Exusiai away, saying nothing. After Lin Ye left, the entire medical department fell into a deathly silence.

After more than ten seconds, someone sighed leisurely, "Dr. Lin Ye is truly a man of few words."

Meanwhile, Lin Ye had just dragged Exusiai out when he felt a sharp pain in his finger. Exusiai had bitten him hard, and Lin Ye immediately let go in pain.

"What are you doing!" Exusiai glared at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye glared at Exusiai: "I told you not to spread rumors about me."

"Where did I spread rumors?!" Exusiai said. "Isn't what I said true? You already have a girlfriend, yet you still want to seduce Mostima."

"When did I ever flirt with Mostima!" Lin Ye said. "Absolutely not!"

"Nonsense!" Exusiai said through gritted teeth, "Mostima already gave you the Guardian Gun!"

"That was something I swapped with her."

"Heh, Mostima has even handed over her magic to you." Exusiai sneered.

“That was her…” Lin Ye was about to say that it was her own choice, but then he felt that it was too tactless and would probably hurt Mostima, so he immediately changed his words, “I asked her to do it, so I owe her a favor.”

Exusiai never expected Lin Ye to be so shameless! How could he say such scumbag things! Enraged, she had no choice but to use her trump card: "Mostima also kissed you!"

“That’s her…” Lin Ye was about to explain, but quickly realized something was wrong, and then his eyes widened, “How the hell do you know?!”

"Heh." Exusiai chuckled coldly without speaking, but a sharp pain shot through her heart. She never imagined that Lin Ye, whom she had first seen a year ago and thought seemed harmless with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, would do such a thing. She should have just shot him dead back then. That way, Mostima wouldn't have suffered such a fate…

Seeing Exusiai's expression, Lin Ye realized she must have seen the photo, and he felt a headache coming on. But there was no other way; he had to explain. Although he didn't know if Exusiai would believe him, he could only emphasize that he and Mostima had no relationship for the time being.

But Exusiai immediately bristled: "It's only temporary?! It's over. I'm going to call Mostima right now and tell her you have a girlfriend!"

"Fine, fine, go ahead and hit me," Lin Ye said. "Just don't spread rumors about me on Rhodes Island."

Exusiai's eyes widened: "Why do you seem so indifferent?"

"I'm innocent, I have nothing to hide," Lin Ye said helplessly. "Whether you believe it or not, I don't have a girlfriend. I've been single since birth... Never mind, there's no point in talking about this now. I just want to deal with the secret medicine. You've seen how important it is. Can we put all the other misunderstandings aside for now?"

Exusiai was kind after all. After thinking it over carefully, she felt that what Lin Ye said made a lot of sense, so she reluctantly agreed. However, she still decided that she would tell Mostima about this later.

Well, on another note...

Once Mostima finds out about this, regardless of whether she has a relationship with Lin Ye or not, it will all be over in the end!

Thinking about it this way... it doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

On the contrary, it should be a great thing!

Thinking this, Exusiai, who had initially felt very angry, suddenly felt pleased again.

Sensing her change in mood, Lin Ye couldn't help but shake his head, thinking that women were indeed fickle. But he didn't dare say it aloud, and simply returned to the medical department with Exusiai. At this time, everyone in the medical department tacitly avoided mentioning what had just happened, and instead shifted the topic back to the secret medicine.

“Bounty hunters do indeed have special channels,” said Lin Guang, who was quite familiar with bounty hunters. “It seems that there are also bounty hunters in the Eastern Kingdom. If we ask them for help, or directly issue a commission, we should be able to buy this medicine in the Eastern Kingdom.”

Lin Ye coughed lightly twice and said, "In that case, I'll call Skadi later and ask her."

Exusiai also said, "I will call back and ask the boss."

"It's troublesome."

"It's alright, Penguin Logistics is Rhodes Island's partner after all," Exusiai said energetically, showing no trace of her earlier anger; even the halo above her head seemed to brighten a bit.

Lin Ye glanced at her, wanting to say something, but held back.

“In that case,” Shining said softly, looking at Lin Ye and Exusiai, “I’m entrusting Liz’s leg to you. This child has suffered too much. I hope her life will be easier in the future.”

……

……

Author's rant: It suddenly got colder, and I feel like I can't even move my fingers to type. I have to go to driving practice tomorrow, and driving in this weather is just awful~ I guess I'll only be able to get back to 6K+ to pay off my debts around the Lunar New Year. It's tough.

Chapter 471 Ouch! Which bastard stepped on my tail? (3K)

After leaving the medical department, Lin Ye called Skadi directly and explained the situation to her. Skadi replied, "I know, I'll handle it," and then hung up. If Lin Ye didn't already know Skadi's personality well enough, he would have thought that Skadi was just too lazy to argue with him.

Since Skadi had already agreed, there was no need to worry too much. Skadi wasn't some timid, unreliable person; in Lin Ye's mind, she was number one. So he decided to entrust the bounty hunter channels to Skadi, while he went the other way and directly contacted Nightblade, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

At that moment, Yato was also on Rhodes Island and was quite surprised to receive Lin Ye's call. Learning that Lin Ye needed to speak with him, Yato pondered for a moment and then invited Lin Ye to meet him at the training ground after dinner, just like before. Lin Ye also felt that face-to-face meetings were better, so he agreed. After spending the entire day slacking off in his office, he went to the training ground after dinner.

When he arrived at the training ground, he saw Yato already waiting for him.

"Long time no see, Lin Ye." Upon seeing Lin Ye, Night Blade revealed a faint smile. "You're just a psychologist, yet you're busier than us combat specialists."

Lin Ye smiled and said, "It's all just busywork."

“If I hadn’t learned about your ordeal in Lungmen from Old Lin, I probably would have believed you,” Night Blade said. “How should I put it, Doctor Lin Ye? I don’t know if someone is targeting you or if you’re just having bad luck. It seems like every time you leave the island, you encounter something dangerous like this.”

Hearing Yato's words, Lin Ye could only smile wryly: "There's nothing I can do. I guess I'm just unlucky."

"Hmm...it seems you were right to choose to practice swordsmanship back then," Yato said with a smile. "What's up? Is there something you need?"

Lin Ye then told Ye Dao about the secret medicine, and Ye Dao looked surprised after hearing it.

"That medicine can actually cure Liz's leg?"

“Yes.” Lin Ye nodded. “But we don’t have enough medicine right now, so I wanted to ask you if there’s any way to buy some.”

"Hmm...you came to find me because you heard that the secret medicine came from the Eastern Kingdom, right?"

"Correct."

“But unfortunately, I’ve only heard of that secret medicine,” Yato said. “I’ve never seen it.”

Lin Ye was slightly surprised: "You haven't even seen this before?"

“Yes.” Yato nodded and said, “Because they are very rare, or rather, almost never appear on the market. Ordinary people in the East have never even heard of them; only those ancient families have some.”

"...For example, the Guigu family?"

"Oh?" Yato was somewhat surprised. "You actually know about the Onigu family?"

"Yes," Lin Ye said somewhat helplessly, "I've heard about some things by chance, but I don't really know anything about them."

“I see.” Yato nodded again. “Indeed, if it’s the Guigu family, it’s not surprising that they possess some.”

"Own some?" Lin Ye was puzzled. "This medicine is quite effective, so why don't these aristocratic families sell it for money? The pharmaceutical industry is incredibly profitable these days. Don't the aristocratic families of the Eastern Kingdom understand that?"

Yato shook his head: "How could they not understand this? It's just that they have very few of them, not even enough for their own use, so how could they possibly use them for business?"

Lin Ye was even more puzzled: "Why is that? Is it because the medicinal herbs are too rare?"

“No,” Yato said calmly, “because they don’t have the formula at all. This medicine is not produced in the Eastern Kingdom, but in the Yan Kingdom.”

"...Yan Kingdom?!"

“Yes. This secret medicine seems to be a special medicine for the Yan Kingdom’s royal family, and only a very small number are sent to the Dong Kingdom as gifts,” Night Blade said. “So, if you want to obtain this secret medicine from the Dong Kingdom through trade, your chances are not very high.”

Lin Ye immediately felt a headache coming on. He hadn't expected that the medicine wasn't produced in the Eastern Kingdom, but rather by the royal family of the Yan Kingdom. The royal family of the Yan Kingdom was a far more mysterious and powerful force than the aristocratic families of the Eastern Kingdom, and given the vast distance between them, buying medicine from them would be virtually impossible.

Yato saw through Lin Ye's thoughts and said, "You don't need to be too discouraged. Although that kind of secret medicine is indeed rare, since it can flow here, there must be a way. How about this, I'll try to ask around for you. There are quite a few Oni clans coming here from the Eastern Kingdom. Maybe someone will have it. You can buy it from them, but the price will be a bit high."

Lin Ye nodded and said, "It would be good if we could buy it."

Anyway, it wasn't him who paid for it.

Yato smiled. "Leave it to me. Is there anything else?"

"Uh, that's all," Lin Ye asked. "If you have anything else to do, I'll be going now."

"No rush." ​​Yato shook his head and said, "We've come all this way, won't you let me see how much you've grown during this time?"

Lin Ye was stunned.

Yato slowly drew his black steel sword: "It's been about seven or eight months since we last sparred. As your teacher, or rather your former teacher, I'd like to see if your swordsmanship has deteriorated during this time. Hehe, that's a joke. I know you're not the same person you were back then. The Ranger told me that you might be even stronger than me now."

"Uh." Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly. "That's just old Lin talking nonsense."

"Whether you're just talking nonsense or not, we'll find out in a match," Yato said with a smile. "Or perhaps, you don't want to have another spar with your former teacher?"

"Of course not." Lin Ye immediately denied it, then took a deep breath, "You were not just my teacher before, you have always been my teacher, it's just... okay."

Lin Ye roughly understood what Night Blade meant.

"Then please go easy on me." He said, taking off the [Maple] sword from his back. "Let me go get a training sword."

"Change swords?" Yato frowned. "What, are you afraid of hurting me?"

"No... it's just that my sword is sharper."

"Sharp? How sharp can it be?" Yato naturally didn't believe it. She assumed Lin Ye was just being lenient with her, so she smiled and said, "The importance of a sword to a swordsman is self-evident, isn't it? You've been using this sword all this time, and now you're switching to a training sword. How can you possibly unleash 100% of your combat power? Do you think I'm going easy on you, or do you want me to go easy on you?"