On the Ark.

Lin Ye subconsciously raised his hand, wanting to stop Skadi, but the door closed in response.

This is too much...

Lin Ye was at a loss for words to express his feelings when he heard a crisp "click" sound. He instinctively turned his head and saw Exusiai standing next to him, taking a picture of him with her phone, a happy smile on her face.

"What are you doing?"

Exusiai puffed out her chest and said confidently, "Take a picture."

"I'm just asking why you're taking pictures?"

"What's it to you?" Exusiai, in a cheerful mood, even had a brighter halo around her head. "I just suddenly wanted to take a picture."

Exusiai had actually planned to take the photos and send them to Mostima. She had previously intended to tell Mostima that Dr. Lin Ye was a married man. However, Mostima's phone was always switched off, making it impossible to contact her. She had to hold back, thinking she would tell Mostima when she saw her. But she was afraid Lin Ye wouldn't admit it, and women in love are generally a bit...no, they only have one thought. To prevent Mostima from disbelieving her, Exusiai decided to gather evidence beforehand.

That was the evidence just now.

Looking at that expression and listening to that tone, and thinking about the grievances she had recently suffered, Exusiai felt a sense of exhilaration, as if she had successfully taken revenge.

Looking at Exusiai's smug expression, Lin Ye couldn't help but roll his eyes. He wasn't stupid; how could he not guess what Exusiai was thinking? He just couldn't be bothered to pay attention. However, Exusiai persisted, coming closer and saying with a grin, "Lin Ye, how are you feeling right now?"

"How does it feel?" Lin Ye glanced sideways at Exusiai.

"So, after the truth came out, how did you feel?" Exusiai asked. "Didn't you need to try and explain it to your girlfriend?"

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly: "Why are you so sure I'm just making excuses? You unlucky angel, how dare you slander me out of thin air. And..."

He turned around, glanced cautiously at the closed door, and then sighed softly.

"Where the hell would I get a girlfriend?"

"Look at you, you're just making excuses now. And who's the unlucky angel? I'm very lucky." Exusiai snorted. "You still say she's not your girlfriend? Why are you so flustered if she's not your girlfriend? Your face has changed color."

Exusiai's words really left Lin Ye speechless; he didn't know how to explain.

Fortunately, the receptionist intervened and saved the day.

"You guys..." The receptionist, who had witnessed the entire farce, couldn't help but ask, "Is this a comedy performance?"

Where do you see this as a comedy? It's clearly a tragedy!

Lin Ye couldn't help but sigh, and then said to the receptionist, "No, we're here on important business."

"Oh, okay," the receptionist nodded repeatedly. "I understand."

As she spoke, her gaze lingered between Lin Ye and Exusiai.

"Which of you two came to see the doctor? What's wrong?"

"Uh, it's me... um?" Lin Ye sensed something was off and paused, "See a doctor? No, isn't this a pet hospital? Why can you treat people?"

"Hey," the receptionist waved her hand and said with a smile, "Everyone needs to eat, right? In this day and age, even people can't survive, let alone pets. How can you make a living just by treating pets? You definitely need to have a side job. Sir, since this is your first time here, let me introduce ourselves. Although we can't treat all kinds of illnesses like a regular hospital, we can handle minor ailments without any problem, and the fees are definitely less than at a regular hospital."

The receptionist's words made Lin Ye's eyelids twitch.

Why, less than two years after he left, has "I Love My Pet," which was once quite well-known in Chernobog, turned into... a shady little clinic? What kind of development is this?

"So, what kind of vet do you two need?" The receptionist started to speak, then realized something was amiss. "Wait a minute, your behavior just now clearly indicated you didn't know we offer vet services here. So, are you still looking for your pet? But where is your pet? Could it be...?"

The receptionist's eyes became wary.

"Were you sent by a major hospital?"

Seeing that the farce was becoming increasingly absurd, Lin Ye had no choice but to reveal his identity.

To his surprise, the receptionist had heard of him before, and her eyes immediately lit up.

"Oh, oh, oh, you're the one the director mentioned!" The receptionist pointed at Lin Ye, a little excited. "Dr. Lin Ye, who can sterilize animals without anesthesia, is known as the 'walking sleeping pill,' the 'sterilization master,' and the 'banner collector'!"

Exusiai looked at Lin Ye in surprise: "You have so many titles?"

Lin Ye: "..."

"I also heard that after you left, the stray cats and dogs near the hospital howled for a whole week! The local residents all thought they were in heat..."

"Enough, enough." Lin Ye had to interrupt the receptionist to avoid affecting his tall and imposing image in Exusiai's eyes. "I'm here to see the Dean. Where is the Dean?"

"The hospital director isn't here; he's out on errands, but he'll be back soon." The receptionist suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, someone was asking about you at the hospital a few days ago."

Lin Ye was somewhat surprised: "Ask me about me? Who is it?"

"A man left you something very strange. Wait a minute, let me look for it..." The receptionist rummaged through the drawer, "Ah, it's right here."

She placed a small piece of ice in Lin Ye's hand.

"Ice cubes?" Exusiai leaned closer, looking at them with interest. "Is this some kind of love token? But why is it a gift from a man?"

Lin Ye rolled his eyes at Exusiai, annoyed: "Can you stop spreading rumors about me?"

After speaking, he also focused his attention on the ice block. From the outside, it was just an ordinary ice block, about the size of a walnut, but it was somewhat cloudy, making it impossible to see inside. When held in his hand, it felt comfortably cool.

"This ice is strange," the receptionist said. "It won't melt even without a refrigerator."

It won't melt without a refrigerator?

Lin Ye then realized what was happening, but before he could speak, he suddenly felt the ice in his hand become slippery and lighter. He looked down and saw that the ice was slowly melting in his palm.

"Huh?" The receptionist noticed the change in the ice and instinctively covered her mouth. "It melted?"

In less than ten seconds, the walnut-sized ice cube was completely melted into water.

In Lin Ye's hand, there was only one moist red candy left.

……

……

Author's BB: Uh, it seems like I'm almost 50 chapters behind... Even when there were events before, the rewards weren't that many, what's going on? =-= Of course, since I've already said it, I will make it up to you. I won't be going out during the Chinese New Year!

Just a friendly reminder to everyone to wear masks when you go out. I felt a bit unwell when I woke up this morning, which scared me to death. Then I realized it's the humid season in Guilin; there was fog outside and moisture inside, so it was really stuffy.

Chapter 483 The Changing City of Chern (Second Update)

"This is...candy?"

Exusiai and the receptionist both came over.

"It seems so." Lin Ye picked up the candy, examined it carefully, and said, "Yes, it is indeed candy."

"Hiding candy in ice?" Exusiai tilted her head and said, "That's quite creative."

The receptionist's focus was elsewhere. She said, puzzled, "No, how come the ice melted so quickly? I've had it in the drawer for days and it didn't show any signs of melting. Why did it melt as soon as it got into your hands?"

"It's simple, this isn't ordinary ice," Exusiai explained helpfully. "This is clearly Originium Arts."

"Originium...Arts?" It's impossible for anyone in the Terra world not to know about Originium Arts, but there's a difference between having heard of them and having actually experienced them. The receptionist clearly belonged to the former category; she had only heard of them but hadn't delved into them or had any real experience. This was normal; Lin Ye's knowledge of Originium Arts before joining Rhodes Island wasn't much greater than the receptionist's.

However, this was the first time he had ever seen an ice-attribute Originium Arts. After thinking it over and over, he still couldn't figure out who had given him this thing, so he asked the receptionist for more details.

"It was a man who came to see you, no, he came to ask about you." The receptionist gestured with her hands. "He was about this tall and this fat. He was wearing a mask so I couldn't see his face clearly."

Well, a completely worthless description.

Lin Ye asked somewhat helplessly, "Did he say who he was? Why did he come looking for me?"

"No," the receptionist shook her head and said, "I asked for his name, and he said his name is Afu. Afu is definitely not a proper name, it's just a nickname. He didn't tell you why he came to see you, but he left the ice cubes behind, so you knew when you saw the ice cubes."

You can tell just by looking at the ice? How could I possibly know that?

Lin Ye was speechless. He thought, "Why can't we just say things clearly? Why make it sound like we're meeting underground?" Besides, the fact that the other party could find his way here meant they were someone connected to Lin Ye before he joined Rhodes Island. They probably didn't know he was at Rhodes Island; otherwise, wouldn't it have been easier to just go directly to Rhodes Island and find him?

So, the man he met while working in Chernobog gave him a candy wrapped in ice... Lin Ye really couldn't imagine who it could be. Could it be the owner of one of his pets who had been treated and had switched from sending a banner to sending candy? That possibility was too low.

As Lin Ye thought this, his hands didn't stop. He tore off the candy wrapper, revealing the bright red candy inside. He stared at the candy, and then, as if out of control, he brought it to his mouth. But the next second, his hand was grabbed by Exusiai.

"Hey, you're not thinking of eating this, are you?" Exusiai said. "Aren't you afraid it's poisonous?"

"Too poisonous? That's an exaggeration."

“You don’t even know who gave it to you, so how do you know if it’s poisonous or not? What if it was sent by your enemy?” Exusiai said. “Even if it wasn’t, do you know how long this candy has been sitting there? Aren’t you afraid of getting a stomachache?”

Lin Ye thought about it and felt that Exusiai's words made sense, so he suppressed the urge to lick it and repackaged the candy.

"Didn't the person who left this candy say anything else?" Lin Ye turned his gaze to the receptionist and asked, "Did they just say that I would understand as long as I saw this candy?"

The receptionist nodded: "Yes, he just said he'd see for himself, and he seemed to be in a hurry, like he had something else to do. He left the candy and then rushed off."

He left behind a piece of candy encased in ice and hurriedly departed. This scene felt so much like that of a fugitive… But Lin Ye didn't know any fugitives, only a bunch of pleasure criminals, like the one next to him. Had he forgotten something?

Just as he was racking his brains, the receptionist spoke up again: "Ah, Dean, you're finally back."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned around and met the eyes of the dean who had just entered. When the dean saw Lin Ye, he was also slightly taken aback, then his face immediately lit up with joy, and he strode forward and gave Lin Ye a bear hug.

"Dr. Lin! You're finally back!" the hospital director said excitedly. "Are you coming back to work? That's great! I knew you'd come back! I've even saved the vice-director's position for you. Come on, change your clothes, you can start work now."

Lin Ye was even more bewildered. He hadn't even had a chance to exchange pleasantries before the dean suddenly gave him a tight hug, almost catching his breath. Fortunately, the receptionist came to his rescue, explaining that Lin Ye wasn't back for work. The dean then released Lin Ye with a disappointed expression.

"Just came back for a visit? Okay, okay, I misunderstood." The dean sighed. "I thought you had left that pharmaceutical company and were planning to come back to work for me."

Lin Ye chuckled awkwardly, "I don't have that plan yet."

"Hmm...it really shouldn't be like this. There's definitely a better future outside than here." The dean noticed the Exusiai standing next to Lin Ye and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? Is this your girlfriend? You actually found an Exusiai from Laterano as your girlfriend. As expected of you, Dr. Lin Ye!"

"This...it's really not." Lin Ye explained for her before Exusiai could speak, "They're just colleagues."

"Oh, just colleagues, so that means not for now."

“It won’t be like that in the future either.” Exusiai crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “The one outside is, and it’s only ‘temporarily’.”

The dean immediately looked bewildered.

Lin Ye immediately changed the subject: "Well, it seems like business at the store isn't very good right now."

The dean's expression shifted from bewilderment to dejection: "Who says otherwise? Chernobog is not the same Chernobog it used to be. The screening of infected people has become increasingly strict. In the past, infected people would be sent to the hospital for treatment, but now... even those in the early stages are taken away directly."

"Take him away directly?" Lin Ye asked. "Take him where?"

"Who knows?" The dean took out a cigarette. "So right now, people in Chernobog are in a state of panic. Everyone is afraid of getting sick, so how could anyone possibly want to keep a pet?"

Lin Ye was silent for a moment, then asked, "Dean, do you remember my neighbors? Aesop and Ilan, the siblings..."

"died."

Lin Ye's eyes widened: "What?"

The dean glanced at Lin Ye, sighed softly, and repeated, "Dead."