On the Ark.

“But I have the weapon she gave me.” Lin Ye unfastened the [Maple] from his waist and placed it on the table, saying, “I think I’ve mentioned it to you before, this is the weapon she gave me.”

Skadi looked at the [Maple] on the table without saying a word.

Lin Ye was thinking about the scene when Messiah gave him [Maple], even though he hadn't planned to accept it at first, until Messiah used [Maple] to cut his black steel sword.

“She even saved my life,” Lin Ye said. “She did me a great favor. If something really happens to her, I will definitely try to help her. Although I don’t know how I can help a god, I can’t just stand by and watch.”

Skadi nodded and asked, "So when do you plan to leave?"

“There’s no need to rush. Let’s wait for news from over there,” Lin Ye said. “Didn’t Chu Xue just say that it’s very difficult to get into the Holy Mountain at this time of year? The heavy snow often blocks the mountain for several weeks to a month, and it’s only just begun. I can go to that town called ‘Sap’ first. I’ll be back in two or three days anyway.”

“Is that so? Then I understand.” Skadi nodded again, and then said, “If you’re going to Karan, remember to let me know, I’ll come with you.”

"Huh? You're coming too?" Lin Ye looked at Skadi with some doubt and asked, "You can, although it's not up to me. Don't you have to work anymore? I thought you were going to leave the island again after you came back."

“No need,” Skadi said in a flat tone. “I do things I want to do sometimes.”

……

so cold.

Even though so much time has passed, why can't I get used to this chill?

The girl, trapped in darkness, hugged herself tightly, trying to draw some warmth from it, but the response she received was only a chilling frost.

"Big sister, big sister?"

Someone called to the girl in the darkness. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a man with a worried expression squatting in front of her.

"Are you alright?" Afu asked.

Froststar shook her head and forced herself to sit up straight: "It's nothing, I'm just resting."

"But you don't look very well."

“I told you, I’m fine,” Frostnova said. “Did you do what I asked you to do?”

“How could I not do what my elder sister asked me to do?” Afu sat down next to Frostnova, trying to appear calm even though he was freezing. “I’ve already thoroughly investigated that town called ‘Sap’.”

"Hmm, did you encounter any trouble?"

“No,” Afu said. “Just like Dad said, that place is a mess, and you can’t see any Ursus regulars at all.”

"What about the infected people?"

“There are quite a few infected people,” Afu said. “I asked around, and at least half of the people living there are infected.”

"What about the remaining half?"

"They're fugitives, smugglers, and things like that."

“Is that so?” Froststar said softly. “It seems just as Father said, it is indeed a suitable place for us to live. As long as we can eliminate the fugitives and smugglers there, we can build a foothold for the Infected.”

Afu scratched his head and said, "That makes sense. The infected people who end up in that place are quite pitiful. And those fugitives don't treat the infected people like human beings. So if we could really clear out those fugitives, it would indeed be a great place, but..."

Froststar looked up at Afu: "But what?"

“It doesn’t seem that simple,” Afu said. “First of all, that place is already in chaos, and I’m not sure if we can establish order, but Dad should be good at this. Also, I heard there’s a bounty hunter branch there, and occasionally some very skilled bounty hunters go there to take on missions. I wonder if that will be an obstacle for us. Finally, and most importantly, someone has already done what we wanted to do.”

Froststar frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

"I heard that the town already has a nominal administrator."

"Is it an infected person?"

“Of course not, he’s also a fugitive,” Afu said. “But not an ordinary fugitive. I heard he escaped from the army and is quite capable. After arriving in Sap Town, he quickly integrated the criminals there, but the status of the infected remains largely unchanged.”

Froststar calmly said, "In that case, we already have someone we need to get rid of."

“Big sister, if you go, there’ll definitely be no problem. We’ll help you too. No matter how powerful the fugitive is, he can’t be a match for you,” Afu said with great concern. “But your current physical condition isn’t suitable for high-intensity combat, is it? So I suggest you ask Dad for help, or Talulah…”

“No need.” Frostnova interrupted Astolfo directly, saying calmly, “Dad has his own goals too. As for Talulah… if we take over Sap Town, it will be our territory. If Talulah gets involved, things will be different. This place is very valuable, and I don’t want to give it to others. I said I would find you a place to settle down, and now I will do it myself.”

"But……"

“Stop talking, I’m not that easy to fall,” Frostnova said. “At least, I won’t fall until I’ve done what I’m supposed to do, and no one can bring me down.”

Afu felt helpless about Frostnova's insistence, but Frostnova's words reminded him of something, and he immediately said, "Big sister, I went to Chernobog again halfway through."

Frostnova's brows furrowed immediately, and she said sharply, "What are you doing there? Don't you know Chernobog's attitude towards the Infected?!"

“I know… but this is your wish, sister. You’ve helped us so much. If I don’t do something, how can I continue to stay by your side?” Afu shook his head and said, “Never mind that, sister. I’ve found a clue about the person you’re looking for.”

Froststar's expression changed immediately.

“But he’s not there anymore,” Afu said. “However, I’ve left your keepsake there, so you still have a chance to see him again, sister. So, whatever you do, please live well and wait for the day he comes looking for you.”

Chapter 481 The Photo Reveals the Truth

A year and a half later, when Lin Ye returned to the streets of Chernobog, he was filled with emotion.

This was the first city he stayed in after arriving on Terra, and also the place where he spent the most time—almost twice as much as he had on Rhodes Island. Although life here was rather monotonous and far less interesting than on Rhodes Island, Lin Ye still made quite a few memories here. When walking on those familiar streets, Lin Ye often had the illusion that he was going to work at a pet hospital.

However, compared to a year ago, although the streets haven't changed much (after all, the Chernobog city government doesn't have the money to repair the roads), there are far fewer pedestrians on the streets. Moreover, the vast majority of them are wearing masks, carrying some self-defense tools, and hurrying past others when they see them, which makes Lin Ye feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Is this Chernobog?" Exusiai, walking behind Lin Ye, looked around and murmured, "It looks so desolate."

Since few Lateran people come to this place, Exusiai, with her halo, attracted the attention of many passersby.

Lin Ye said, "Chernobyl's economic situation has never been very good, but it wasn't too bad when I left."

Exusiai pursed her lips and said, "You mean, Chernobog's economy will collapse as soon as you leave?"

“I didn’t say that.”

Because of the ominous feeling evoked by the first snowfall, Lin Ye felt that he might have to go to Kjerag with her to find the Messiah at any moment. Kjerag was far from Rhodes Island, and a round trip would take at least a month, thus delaying the matter of the secret medicine. Therefore, Lin Ye decided to settle the matter of the secret medicine before news from Kjerag returned. After all, Rhodes Island and the town of "Sap" were only a day or two apart, and he could return to Chernobog along the way.

So, after paying a large dose of blood at Warfarin's, Lin Ye left Rhodes Island with trembling legs.

The only people accompanying Lin Ye were Skadi and Exusiai. This was arguably the fewest people Lin Ye had ever accompanied on a trip since joining Rhodes Island. After all, Rhodes Island had just relocated, and the workload after the relocation had increased exponentially. Everyone was working overtime, which, in the game's terms, would mean being unable to leave work even if their concentration was off.

So, the only people accompanying Lin Ye this time were Skadi, who didn't have to deal with any infrastructure matters, and Exusiai, who had just registered on the island and hadn't been assigned a formal job yet. They were truly a "three-person idle group," which was also because the task itself wasn't difficult—just going to the bounty hunter branch to inquire about the situation and then posting the request. In fact, one person could have handled it. If Lin Ye hadn't wanted to return to Chernobog, the only person on this trip would have been Skadi.

It was precisely because Lin Ye was leaving the island that Kal'tsit added Exusiai's name to the travel list, naturally to ensure Lin Ye's safety. Although Kal'tsit didn't think anything could go wrong with such a simple mission—she knew what kind of place "Sap" town was, in her opinion, just a gathering place for thugs. Those guys were completely insignificant compared to Skadi, and even combined, they might not be able to defeat Skadi—she still let Exusiai travel with her just to be on the safe side.

Although this decision wasn't exactly what Exusiai wanted, she was willing to go on missions with any operator on Rhodes Island except Lin Ye. However, she couldn't refuse Kal'tsit's request; after all, refusing her superior right after joining the company would be incredibly rude. So, even though she was reluctant, Exusiai came along, and as Lin Ye's bodyguard, this made her even more unwilling.

Exusiai had originally resolved not to speak to Lin Ye during this trip, no matter how much he teased her. However, when she realized that Skadi, who was traveling with her, was completely ignoring her, and that not speaking to Lin Ye would mean being mute for three or four days, she finally gave in and had a rather unpleasant chat with him.

“Chernobog should be considered one of the more famous cities in Ursus, right?” Exusiai asked. “Yet it’s become so desolate. What about the other cities? What about the capital of Ursus?”

“I haven’t been to other cities either,” Lin Ye said. “But the capital should be much better, after all, it’s the capital, and the emperor lives there. But Ursus isn’t really known for its economy, but for its military strength, right? Simply put, it’s good at fighting.”

“War is so boring,” Exusiai said. “It seems Ursus is not as good as Lungmen.”

“What you said makes sense. If I had a choice, I'd prefer to live in Lungmen rather than Ursus.” Lin Ye thought for a moment and then asked, “By the way, what’s Laterano like?”

Nengtian stared at Lin Ye with a rather wary look: "Why are you asking this?"

"I was just asking, it's just chatting." Lin Ye was speechless at Exusiai's wariness. Sigh, she used to be such a cute little angel, always smiling when talking to him. Now, she treats him like a thief.

Exusiai pursed her lips and said, "Our hometown isn't any good. It's rotten and dilapidated. You absolutely mustn't go there."

"Okay, okay, I won't go, I won't go."

"What an insincere promise... Never mind, where are we going now?" Exusiai asked. "You said you used to live here?"

"I work here," Lin Ye said with a smile, "and now I want to go back and take a look."

What did you do before?

"doctor."

"Oh, so we're going to the hospital now?"

Lin Ye nodded: "Yes, to the hospital."

Twenty minutes later, when the three of them stood in front of the pet hospital, Exusiai looked up at the flashing "I love my pet" LED light and felt completely unwell: "This is the hospital you were talking about?"

“Yeah.” Lin Ye had already guessed Exusiai’s reaction and shrugged. “A pet hospital is a hospital too.”

After saying that, Lin Ye pushed open the hospital door and walked into the place where he had worked for two years and left behind countless "glories".

"Hello, welcome to 'I Love My Pet'."

As soon as Lin Ye entered the room, he heard the receptionist's listless welcome. Looking in the direction of the voice, Lin Ye realized he didn't recognize her. Thinking about it, it made sense; he'd been gone for almost two years, so it was normal for someone new to come. He initially considered explaining his purpose, but then felt that simply stating it wouldn't be very meaningful. He remembered he still had the company's license plate; the owner hadn't taken it back, saying he wanted to keep it as a souvenir. So he figured it would be perfect to take it out now, wave it in front of the receptionist, and say he was there to work—that would be quite amusing.

Thinking this, he took out his wallet and put the license plate inside.

However, just as he was looking for his license plate, Skadi's voice rang out behind him: "Lin Ye, you dropped your photo."

"Oh, oh." Lin Ye came back to his senses and subconsciously turned around.

Then they discovered that Skadi was looking at the photo, her brows slightly furrowed.

New Year's Bounty

I ate out tonight and got home quite late. I barely managed to write the minimum guaranteed chapters, and then I saw someone asking about the bounty system, so I thought I'd open one, since it's part of a promotion. I didn't originally want to open one because my book isn't as good as others; I never get many negative comments even when I open a bounty. At most, I'll owe about twenty chapters, and then I slowly pay them back. Besides, my update speed isn't fast to begin with, so I was thinking of just letting it go.

But seeing everyone else doing this today, and my book's performance not even making it onto the power rankings, I feel a little embarrassed. So I'll just follow the trend and do one too. This time, I'll lower the bounty requirements: 200 blades or 20,000 coins in rewards will get me one extra chapter (2000 words), and 400 monthly tickets. I still have ten chapters left to pay back, plus the five I promised at the end of the year, that's fifteen chapters in total. Currently, I have 24502 blades, 163 million coins in rewards, and 49440 monthly tickets. The bounty will continue until the event ends, that's about it~ (The previous bounties were mentioned at the end of the chapters, and some readers might have skipped the subscription and missed them, then kept asking, so this time I'm doing a separate chapter).

I'll definitely be writing about Nian. Those who know me know that my emphasis on a character's portrayal is largely based on my personal preference! And right now, my preference for Nian is at its peak! I've already planned out her storyline, but I'll put it in the next volume. As for whether we'll see her sooner, well, that's for you to discover.

Chapter 482 Sugar in the Ice (First Update)

When Lin Ye saw Skadi pick up the photo, he was finally certain that his recent period of bad luck was not just a figment of his imagination.

How the hell could this be seen?! Why?! Why did he have to reach for the wallet?! He could have just explained his purpose to the receptionist, wouldn't that have been enough?! Why did he have to do all this weird stuff? Was he bored out of his mind?

Oh, it seems like they really are bored out of their minds.

“Uh, Skadi.” Lin Ye immediately stepped forward, wanting to explain something, “You’ve misunderstood, this is just…”

Before he could finish speaking, Skadi raised her hand to stop him, signaling him to be quiet. Then, she narrowed her eyes slightly and read the small note Mostima had left on the photo. After reading it once, she felt something was off, so she read it a second time. After the second time, she felt something was still missing, so she read it a third time. Only then did she roughly understand the meaning. She returned the photo to Lin Ye and said, "You've lost something."

"Uh." Lin Ye suddenly didn't know how to explain, so he could only say awkwardly, "Don't misunderstand, this is just..."

“Misunderstanding? There’s no need for that.” Skadi shook her head. “Your private matters are none of my business.”

After saying that, she turned and left, waving her hand as she went.

“I’ll wait for you outside. I don’t like the smell in here,” Skadi said. “It’s making me feel stuffy.”