On the Ark.

“Yes,” Skadi said, “but I still think it suits you well, so I bought it.”

Lin Ye's smile gradually disappeared.

Chapter 476 The Cheeky One

Lin Ye suddenly felt that he could experience what Exia felt like.

It's that feeling where you start to laugh but then you can't laugh anymore.

Skadi noticed Lin Ye's smile gradually disappearing and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Is there anything... wrong?

Lin Ye really didn't know what to say. He had been wandering the world for so many years. He wouldn't say he put "righteousness" first, and while he might occasionally be a little clever, he certainly didn't consider himself a truly wicked person. To be honest, he had always felt that his parents had raised him very well. Apart from not teaching him how to get along with the opposite sex, they had explained the principles of being a good person very thoroughly.

But why is that how Skadi sees him?

Lin Ye suddenly felt a sense of desolation, and then he felt really unwell.

Skadi sensed Lin Ye's change in mood, her brows furrowing slightly as she asked, "Don't you like this mask?"

Lin Ye didn't want to talk about it, but he felt that keeping it to himself was pointless. If Skadi was really dissatisfied with him, it would be better to ask directly. So Lin Ye asked bluntly, "Is this how you see me?"

Hmm... I feel like there's something odd about that sentence.

But since you've already asked, there's no point in dwelling on it.

When Lin Ye asked the question, he still held onto a glimmer of hope, wishing Skadi would laugh and say something like, "Of course not, I was just joking. How could you possibly be that kind of person in my mind?" However, to his disappointment, Skadi simply nodded and admitted, "Yes."

Lin Ye's face immediately turned ashen.

But Skadi hadn't finished speaking. She slowly said, "It's that kind of cheeky feeling."

“…Huh?” Lin Ye was stunned.

A cheeky feeling?

Despicable person?

A villain?

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly, and he roughly understood what it meant.

It must be that the shop owner's accent was off, causing Skadi to misunderstand! She heard "the villain" as "the scoundrel," which is why Skadi bought the white mask—it was all because of that misunderstanding!

Thinking of this, Lin Ye immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, I'm not some great villain, just a scoundrel.

It's alright, it's just that he's cheap.

Hmm... something still feels off.

Just as Lin Ye was about to ask, Skadi spoke up slowly again: "Because it's cheeky, it gives people a very interesting and cute feeling, so I bought this color. If you don't like it, you can exchange it with me for another one. I also have a black one here."

Mischievous, yet cute?

Lin Ye suddenly understood something. Looking at Skadi's serious expression, he felt his heart beating faster.

Was Skadi subtly praising him for being cute? No, it wasn't subtle anymore; it was a direct compliment! But how could you use the word "cute" to describe a man? He should be tall, strong, dashing, handsome, and sunny, etc. So he really wanted to correct his image in Skadi's mind, but the words he had prepared came out as a stammer: "No, no need. I really like this mask. Hehehe, I just love white. It's such a nice gift."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Ye's face was curiously poked by Lappland.

"Quack doctor, why is your face so red?" Lappland asked. "Do you have a fever?"

"Get lost, you're the one who's being horny." Lappland's words gave Lin Ye a perfect outlet for his anger. He immediately glared at Lappland and said, "Go take your medicine right now."

"I've finished my medicine."

"Then let's eat it again!"

"Ugh, I'm not eating it," Lappland muttered. "Your face is already red, and I didn't say anything wrong."

Lin Ye pretended not to hear and simply put the mask away carefully. Sigh, if only the mask were smaller, he could put it in his wallet and carry it with him. After all, it was a gift from Skadi. For now, he could only keep it safe in his bag and take it with him next time he went out. Thinking this, Lin Ye couldn't help but wonder if it was because he had hardly interacted with girls in his previous life that he cared so much about things given to him by girls, carrying everything with him at all times.

For example, Nightingale's black and white amulet, Messiah's [Maple]... these two don't seem to be things he absolutely has to carry with him. But the rest are the same; the picture of Messiah is still his phone's screensaver, Mostima's picture is in his wallet, and now Skadi's face has been added to the list.

Wait a minute, doesn't his behavior seem a bit like that of a scumbag?

Lin Ye couldn't help but ponder.

Carrying a bunch of gifts from girls might seem like a bit of a jerk, but aren't real jerks the kind who toy with women's feelings? But he doesn't at all; after all, he's still... ahem, a pure person. So he definitely doesn't qualify as a jerk; at most, he's just popular with the opposite sex. Yeah, that's it, no doubt about it.

Having settled the matter of the gift, Skadi then turned to business.

“You called me yesterday,” Skadi said. “Did you mean you wanted to use the bounty hunters’ special channels to procure medicine?”

Lin Ye nodded and said, "Yes, because that medicine is quite special. Even Penguin Logistics can't buy it. And I heard from White Owl that bounty hunters seem to have special channels, and even have branches in the East..."

“You don’t need to explain so much to me.” Skadi shook her head, interrupting Lin Ye, and said calmly, “You just need to tell me what kind of medicine you need to purchase, I don’t care about anything else.”

Well, that really does have Skadi's style of replying.

Lin Ye smiled and then told Skadi about the secret medicine, including the background information he had heard from Yato.

Skadi wrote it all down, and then said, "I'll go ask."

"Shall we make a phone call?"

Skadi shook her head: "That won't work. We have to ask in person. The bounty hunters have five branches in this area, and although they are far apart, they share information. We just need to post the commission at the nearest branch."

Is that so?

“Hmm. Actually, you should have called me a few days earlier. I was in a branch office then,” Skadi said calmly. “But you never called me, and I didn’t know what you wanted, so I had no choice but to come back.”

Um, there's something odd about that sentence.

"Okay, I'll let you know next time if anything comes up."

Skadi nodded.

"So, do you still want to go back to the previous branch?"

Skadi shook her head: "No, we can go to another one, the closer one."

Lin Ye casually asked, "Where is it?"

Skadi gave the location name.

Lappland, who was listening nearby, widened her eyes: "How come it's there?!"

Chapter 477 I Don't Want Anyone But Him (4K)

Kal'tsit put down the documents in her hand, looked at Lin Ye standing in front of her, her lips twitched slightly, and then said in a very helpless tone, "You've only been back for a few days, why are you thinking of leaving again? Is Rhodes Island really that hard to keep you?"

Lin Ye smiled awkwardly: "There's no such thing."

"Of course there is." Kal'tsit placed the file on the table and then tapped the surface lightly with her fingers. "I've heard about what happened to you in Lungmen. Although I don't know how dangerous that battle was, it definitely had nothing to do with safety. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been lying in the hospital for so many days. Can't that calm you down?"

"...That was just an accident."

“An accident?” Kal'tsit said. “If that was just an accident, then you’ve encountered far too many accidents in the past year. I don’t know if this is our problem or yours. A year ago, we sent you to Lungmen to take care of Ifrit, and you ran into terrorists. Six months ago, we sent you to Kjerag for diplomacy, and you encountered the coup in Kjerag. A month ago, we sent you to Lungmen to discuss business, and you still got caught up in political struggles. I really don’t know what to say. There’s a Chinese idiom called ‘a cursed star,’ and I think it’s quite fitting for you.”

Even the usually composed Kal'tsit spoke at length, which shows just how much she had to complain about Lin Ye. Lin Ye, too, initially just felt he was unlucky, but after hearing Kal'tsit's account, he realized it was more than just bad luck. Over the past year, he seemed to have encountered countless inexplicable events. He wondered if fate thought his past life was too dull and made this one a little more exciting—though not the kind of excitement Lin Ye desired.

In that sense, the idiom "a lone star destined for misfortune" is quite apt.

Of course, Lin Ye would never admit that his fate was bad, because he knew that if he agreed, Kal'tsit would take the opportunity to say, "In that case, you should stay on the island and leave the rest of the work to others," which would not be good.

So Lin Ye tried to change the subject: "You just said this incident was a political struggle, what do you mean? Isn't this just an ordinary kidnapping case?"

Kal'tsit raised an eyebrow: "You really think so?"

"That's not it."

"Tsk, stop pretending." Kal'tsit said calmly, "I don't believe you didn't sense anything. After all, you were a witness to this event. Didn't you feel anything unusual at all?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment and said, "I think the most unusual thing was that rain, which happened to have the entire Royal Guard Bureau transferred away. If the Royal Guard Bureau had been in charge of security that night, Eyjafjalla wouldn't have been in trouble."

“Natural disasters don’t have the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary,” Kal’tsit said. “No one can control when they come, nor can anyone control when they go. The word ‘control’ is used to describe people. For example, why would Lungmen continue to hold a seminar under such a level of flood? Why would those thugs know the location of the seminar? And why would they wear Yan Kingdom clothing but claim to be from Ursus?”

Lin Ye didn't speak, but listened quietly.

But Kal'tsit didn't explain further, only sighing softly: "Of course, all the speculations about the truth so far are inaccurate. We don't have enough evidence. Compared to Ursus and Lungmen, we are just minor characters."

But Lin Ye still sensed something: "You mean, this kidnapping case is from Ursus..."

Kal'tsit gestured for Lin Ye to be quiet.

"I told you, we have no evidence," Kal'tsit said slowly. "Neither does Lungmen, but that doesn't stop us from taking precautions against Ursus. Doctor Lin Ye, while I'm grateful that you stood up that night to save the Ranger and Eyjafjalla, have you considered what would have happened to you if you had been kidnapped, if Ursus had discovered the secret in your blood? What would Ursus have used you for?"

Lin Ye frowned: "Are you asking me to stand by and watch someone die?"

“Of course not. As I just said, I’m very grateful that you saved the Ranger and Eyjafjalla, but without a doubt, you are more important to Rhodes Island right now,” Kal'tsit said. “So, in order to prevent these controversial issues from happening frequently, I think we should nip them in the bud. What do you think?”

Well... Kal'tsit still managed to take control of the conversation.

Lin Ye's visit to Kal'tsit this time wasn't primarily about reporting on his work; his main goal was to gain her permission to leave the island again. Kal'tsit clearly understood this, so their conversation revolved around the question of "whether it's safe to leave the island." Currently, Kal'tsit clearly holds a significant advantage, given that Lin Ye's trips to the island almost always involve some degree of danger to his life.

“To be honest,” Kal'tsit said slowly, “after Warfarin learned of what happened to you in Lungmen, she immediately came to me, hoping that this time I could step in and prevent you from going out. To be honest, I’ve had that thought too, more than once. But I don’t consider myself a person who goes back on their word. I promised you last time that I wouldn’t restrict your personal freedom, so I don’t want to go back on my word now. But I also hope that you can sometimes think about me and not be too willful.”

Lin Ye could understand Kal'tsit's predicament. He was well aware that if other research companies (such as Rhine Labs) or other countries (such as Ursus) knew about the "L cells" in his blood, he would be imprisoned as an experimental tool until his death. Of course, he might also be kept like a stud, living a life of idleness and sexual exploitation. Therefore, Kal'tsit was quite understanding in some ways.

However, even the most understanding individuals still harbored the intention of using Lin Ye as a test subject. This was precisely what terrified Lin Ye; in his previous life, he died such a miserable death, and in this life, he was terrified of dying in that same way again. Before learning of the existence of "L cells," Lin Ye still enjoyed the idyllic life on the island, earning a wage while basking in the sun every day. That was because he knew he could leave at any time, and having a place to slack off in this chaotic world was already a great blessing.

However, after learning about the existence of "L cells," Lin Ye clearly felt a change in his mindset. He no longer liked spending his days on the island, just eating and waiting to die, because he was afraid that he would spend the rest of his life like that. That kind of life wouldn't be called slacking off, but rather imprisonment.

So even though he knew Kal'tsit had been very lenient with his decision to leave the island, he still felt it wasn't enough. He was terrified that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to leave again, especially after Warfarin repeatedly mentioned that "solving the current problems within ten years would be considered fast." For someone as immortal as Warfarin, ten years might be just a blink of an eye, but for Lin Ye… even in his previous life, he only had two decades. Therefore, he would absolutely not waste the best years of his life being used as an experimental subject.

To be honest, he would rather be fighting and killing in various places than live a peaceful life on Rhodes Island.

So he still tried to persuade Kal'tsit: "I'm not going to Lungmen this time, I'm just going to a nearby bounty hunter branch."

“I know.” Kal’tsit nodded and said calmly, “I’ve heard about the Eastern Kingdom’s secret medicine and I know your plans. What I want to say is that the latest bounty hunter branch is on the border of Ursus. I think after everything that’s happened, you shouldn’t want to get close to Ursus anymore.”

“You said it yourself, it’s just the border of Ursus, not the capital,” Lin Ye said. “Besides, Skadi is involved this time…”

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

Lin Ye thought about it and felt that saying "Skadi will protect me this time" would be too unpretentious and would make him seem like a freeloader, which was not good. So after a little thought, he changed his words.

“Skadi is coming with me this time. We'll look after each other, so everything will be fine.”

Kal'tsit's lips twitched slightly: "You and Skadi... are looking out for each other?"