On the Ark.

Chapter 484 I Could Have Saved Her (Third Update, 59 Updates Still Expected)

"call……"

The dean let out a long breath, and white smoke swirled in front of him like a curtain.

"It was probably a month or two after you left," the dean said slowly, his tone tinged with undisguised weariness and desolation. "The situation started to worsen. It was already bad enough, given the riots. But it got even worse after that. The conflict between the infected and the non-infected reached its peak a month or two after the riots. The infected believed that the non-infected were still persecuting them and wanted to kill them all. The non-infected, on the other hand, believed that since there had been a first riot, there would definitely be a second one, and nobody wanted to be inexplicably turned into an infected person."

The dean's words reminded Lin Ye of Aesop and his sister Ilan. Ilan had become infected because she trusted a stranger, which changed the fate of her entire family.

"Was it around that time that Aesop and Ilan had their accident?" Lin Ye couldn't help but ask.

“No, not yet.” The dean shook his head and said, “Listen to me slowly. That period wasn’t actually very long, but it was so oppressive that it felt like an eternity. The shop’s business started to be affected around that time. Apart from regular get off work hours, not many people in Chernobyl were willing to spend their time on small things, like getting their pets vetted and cared for. You’ve worked here for over two years, so you should know that our main clients are people with a certain level of financial means. After all, people who don’t have money won’t keep pets.”

Lin Ye nodded.

"Many of these wealthy people chose to leave Chernobog at that time and settle in a more suitable place. For example, Lungmen, Victoria, or other cities in Ursus. With their departure, our business naturally plummeted, and with business plummeting, we couldn't pay salaries. At that time, doctors handed in their resignations one after another, and I couldn't keep them. I could only watch them leave," the dean said slowly. "Those who left either stayed in this city and changed careers, or left like you. But I couldn't leave. This is my home, and I can only continue to operate and provide services to a few old clients. As for the woman at the door, she is my niece. I don't pay her much. You could say she's here to help me."

Even without the hospital director saying much, Lin Ye could tell that the hospital was far inferior to what it was a year and a half ago. Back then, they were the best pet hospital in Chernobog, working overtime even on holidays. Sometimes, Lin Ye still had two spaying/neutering surgeries to perform at nine or ten at night.

But what about now? Although it's not a holiday, Lin Ye and the director have been sitting here chatting for almost half an hour, and still haven't seen a single customer come in. That speaks volumes. No wonder the director has to take on other jobs in private; after all, the income from the pet hospital alone is no longer enough to support him.

"So it's better that you didn't come back." The dean looked up at Lin Ye. "You shouldn't have come back. Chernobog is not the Chernobog it used to be."

Lin Ye said, "You still haven't told me what happened."

"Don't be in such a hurry. I need to say everything I need to say." The dean sighed. "In the month or two following the riots, the streets were full of military and police, randomly checking pedestrians to see if they were infected. If they were, they would be taken away and sent to..."

"In the hospital?"

The warden rolled his eyes: "In prison."

"In prison?! What right do they have to do this?"

"Because the hospitals couldn't accommodate so many people, and non-infected people wouldn't go to hospitals with infected people," the director said. "So they threw all the infected people into prison, even those whose condition was under control or whose infection rate was low, treating them all the same. Of course, at that time, the Chernobyl government claimed that once a suitable place to settle them was found, they would immediately relocate the infected people."

"...but they didn't do that?"

“If they really did that, why would I be sitting here talking to you about this?” The dean suddenly lowered his voice. “Besides, Lin Ye, I’ve always had this feeling that the city government seems to be intentionally fueling the conflict between infected and non-infected people. At least many of their actions are heading in that direction.”

Lin Ye was silent for a moment, then asked, "And then?"

“Then… that night,” the dean said. “This situation lasted for about six months, which was about a year ago. One night, Chernobyl was suddenly hit by a torrential rain that washed away the prison walls.”

"The prison walls can be washed away by rain?!"

“That’s what the city government said anyway,” the director said. “The city government also said that the infected in the prison tried to escape that night and attacked the guards, and planned to re-enter Chernobog. In order to protect the residents of Chernobog, the city government ordered all military and police to attack the infected in the prison.”

Lin Ye's pupils narrowed slightly, and his mouth involuntarily opened as if he wanted to say something, but before he could speak, the dean nodded and said.

"Just as you guessed, the Elaine family disappeared that night," the director said softly. "Originally, Elaine was just being held in prison, and her father, mother, and brother Iso took turns visiting her. When they learned of the prison riot, the whole family rushed to find Elaine, but none of them returned."

"They...are all dead?" Lin Ye felt a dryness in his throat.

“I can’t think of any other ending,” the warden said. “The riot that night didn’t actually last long, just like the one you experienced. The infected were no match for the fully armed Ursus police and military; it was quelled in one night. I heard the entire prison was filled with the bodies of the infected, and they were gathered up and cremated first thing the next morning…”

At this point, the dean sighed deeply again and then stopped talking.

Lin Ye slowly touched his forehead and then said softly, "I could have saved her."

"What?" The dean didn't hear clearly.

“I said, I could have saved her.”

"Don't be ridiculous, how could you possibly save her?" The dean patted Lin Ye on the shoulder. "Just take care of yourself."

Just take good care of yourself?

Lin Ye slowly closed his eyes.

No, he could have saved her.

We can save her if we bring her to Rhodes Island.

All we need to do is bring her to Rhodes Island.

As he thought this, Lin Ye couldn't help but clench his fists, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

……

……

Author's note: I owe 60 chapters, I'll pay back one, so I still owe 59 chapters.

Okay, I definitely underestimated this event. There were hardly any people bidding on the previous bounty events. Looks like I won't be able to go anywhere for the Chinese New Year this year.

Also, you should be able to see a slight shift in style in these three chapters today. Some readers have commented that the main plot has finally emerged after 1.2 million words, which isn't entirely wrong. However, it's the main plot of this book, not the game's. This book won't follow the game's storyline. For Lin Ye, the main plot of this book is simply having a clear goal and something he needs to do—that is, growth. This growth isn't just about strength, but also about character (some readers are right, Lin Ye can't just be chasing girls in the Ark world, although girls are still the most important element in this book, lol).

Chapter 485 Let Me Hug You (First Update)

After leaving the pet hospital, Skadi clearly sensed that Lin Ye's mood was a bit off.

The "cheeky" expression that used to grace his face was gone, and he no longer would occasionally come up to her and chatter with meaningless chatter. Now, all he showed was desolation, a desolation that was visible in his eyes. Skadi hadn't seen Lin Ye with such an expression in a long time; the last time was a year ago, when she had just met him. Back then, Lin Ye had shown that same expression for a girl named Liz.

Leaving the pet hospital, the three seemed lost and directionless, walking slowly through the streets of Chernobog. Lin Ye walked in front, with Skadi and Exusiai following behind him. Several times, Exusiai tried to ask Lin Ye where they were going next, but Skadi stopped her each time, so the three walked in silence. It wasn't until they passed a flower shop that Lin Ye belatedly stopped, staring blankly at the white flowers inside.

……

Ilan and Aesop were the first people Lin Ye met after arriving in this city. The two children didn't treat Lin Ye like a stranger at all, and often ran to his place to play after he got off work. They added a lot of color to Lin Ye's boring life, so one of the important purposes of Lin Ye's return was to see the siblings. He even thought about what gifts to buy for them before entering the city.

At that time, Lin Ye could never have imagined that all he could give now was a bouquet of white flowers.

And they didn't even know where to send them. Chernobog certainly wouldn't erect a monument for those "riot infected" who died in prison. Ilan and Iso's parents probably wouldn't prepare graves for the family in advance either. So, Lin Ye, holding the white flowers, wandered around and eventually could only return to the rented house from back then. But because the house had already been rented out by the dean, he couldn't even go in now. He could only stand downstairs in the rented house, staring blankly, and then listening to the stray cats meowing at him as they passed by.

At this point, Exusiai finally couldn't hold back any longer and said, "It's getting dark, are we still going to stand here?"

Lin Ye then came to his senses, apologized, placed the white flowers he had just bought from the flower shop on the steps of the stairwell, and then clasped his hands together and bowed twice, although he didn't know what the meaning of bowing twice was.

“There’s a hotel nearby.” After praying, Lin Ye said to Exusiai and Skadi, “Let’s stay there for one night, and then go to that town called ‘Sap’ tomorrow.”

This is the only option; leaving the city at this time is undoubtedly unrealistic.

So Lin Ye left with Skadi and Exusiai.

The white flowers were left on the stairs, gradually fading in color as the sun set.

……

The decline in Chernobyl's economy over the past two years is evident in every aspect. For instance, hotel room prices. In Lin Ye's memory, the hotel he chose was considered mid-to-high-end in Chernobyl, and its price reflected that. One night's room cost almost ten days' wages. Now, however, the price has nearly halved, yet even so, he sees very few guests. The receptionist is listlessly dozing, prompting Exusiai to grumble again, "This isn't a big city; it's just an ordinary town."

After all, Exusiai came from the economically developed Lungmen, and before that, she lived in Laterano, which is heaven (after all, it's where angels live). Two years ago, Chernobog could be somewhat compared to it, but now Chernobog is really no different from an ordinary town. The only difference is that it is at least a mobile city, but that's all.

Two rooms were naturally booked: one for Lin Ye, and one for Exusiai and Skadi.

Lin Ye was a little worried that Skadi would object, since Skadi had always disliked sharing a room with strangers. But if Skadi shared a room with him again at this time, and Exusiai was left alone in her own room, Exusiai might misunderstand him again. Although Exusiai already had enough misunderstandings about him, Lin Ye felt like he was already overwhelmed with guilt.

Fortunately, Skadi didn't say anything, and took the key and went back to her room with Exusiai.

This relieved Lin Ye slightly, as he also wanted to be alone for a while tonight. However, he had only been back in his room for a short time when there was a knock on the door. He ran to open it and found Skadi standing outside.

"Skadi?" Lin Ye asked, "Is there something you need?"

Skadi looked at Lin Ye and asked, "May I come in?"

“Uh, of course, no problem.” Lin Ye stepped aside to let Skadi into the room. By the time he closed the door, Skadi was already standing by the window, her back to him, gazing at the night view of Chernobog.

"Is there something you need?" Lin Ye walked towards Skadi and said with a smile, "Is Exusiai's aura too bright for you? She seems to have an eyepatch. If you don't want to speak, I can..."

Skadi glanced back at Lin Ye and said, "You're in a bad mood."

Lin Ye's smile froze.

"Why?" Skadi asked.

Lin Ye scratched his head: "It's nothing, I'm just a bit annoyed."

"Because of that little girl?"

"You know it all?"

“Yes, I heard you.” Skadi crossed her arms and leaned against the window, saying slowly, “You’re regretting it, regretting not bringing that little girl to Rhodes Island.”

"You could have guessed that."

“I heard it too,” Skadi said calmly. “My hearing is quite good; I could hear your conversation with the Dean even from outside.”

“Okay.” Lin Ye smiled helplessly. “Indeed, I was thinking at the time that if I could bring her to Rhodes Island, it would change the fate of her family.”

That's what I thought back then, but what about now?

"I feel much better now," Lin Ye said, trying to sound relaxed. "Don't worry, I've recovered."

"really?"

"Really."

Skadi sighed softly.

“So humans are really contradictory,” Skadi said. “They’re clearly heartbroken, but they have to pretend they don’t care. Isn’t that exhausting?”

"No, I've really recovered," Lin Ye tried to deny.

Skadi looked up at him, her red pupils reflecting Lin Ye's feigned composure.

"Do you need me to lend you my shoulder to lean on?" Skadi asked.

Lin Ye felt that the sentence sounded familiar.

"Of course not," Lin Ye said with a smile. "How could a grown man like me..."

Is that so?

Skadi interrupted Lin Ye, thought for a moment, and then slowly stepped forward and gently hugged Lin Ye.

"Then let me hug you," Skadi said softly.

Chapter 486 The Reason to Live Again (Second Update)

Lin Ye's heart gradually calmed down after Skadi hugged him.

In terms of height, Skadi was actually a full head shorter than Lin Ye, yet in Lin Ye's mind, she was a noble and powerful figure. It wasn't until they embraced that Lin Ye realized Skadi wasn't actually that tall; with her wide-brimmed hat off, her head only touched Lin Ye's chin. If Lin Ye lowered his head slightly, he could clearly smell the fragrance of Skadi's hair.

"Are you... trying to comfort me?" Lin Ye asked with a smile after calming down.