On the Ark.

"Big sister, shouldn't we stop protecting this ungrateful brat?" Afu said.

Froststar shook her head, not replying to Afro, but turning to look at Aesop, whose face was streaked with tears. She was silent for a moment, then said, "Was your sister harmed by the Infected?"

"Otherwise what?!" Aesop cried as she spoke, "If you hadn't turned my sister into an infected person, she wouldn't have been locked up. Dad wouldn't have died, and Mom wouldn't have gotten sick..."

"You brat, can't you understand human language? We're here to help you..." Afu was interrupted by Froststar halfway through his sentence.

“That’s enough, Afu,” Froststar said softly. “The people who harmed their family are infected, and we are infected too. Children this age can easily think the same way.”

"But……"

“Think about us from back then,” Frostnova glanced at Astolfo, “How different were we from him?”

Afu was speechless.

Frostnova sighed softly, then waved her hand, and the ice binding Aesop's body melted instantly. Freed, Aesop didn't rush towards Frostnova as he had before. Frostnova's ice hadn't harmed Aesop; instead, it had calmed the impulsive Aesop somewhat. He realized that his opponent possessed the strange ability to kill him instantly, and the fact that he was still alive meant that Frostnova didn't want to kill him, at least not yet.

“I understand you.” Frostnova looked at Aesop and said softly, “If I had the same experience as you, I would also hate the Infected. But I still want to say that whether you are Infected or not, good and bad are relative. Although I am Infected, I will not do anything to harm others for my own benefit. I just want to help my fellow countrymen survive, that’s all.”

Aesop bit his lower lip tightly, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say. After all, he was only that young. After a long pause, he could only manage a stiff "Why should I believe you?"

"Believe it or not, but..." Frostnova turned slightly to the side, letting Aesop see Ylan lying behind him, "Your sister is now infected too. Do you think she's a bad person?"

Aesop's eyes widened: "How could that be? She's my sister."

“Yes, she was your sister first, and then an infected person,” Frostnova said softly. “And we are the same. As for the person who caused your sister to become like this, he was a bad person first, and only secondly an infected person. I would not call such a person my compatriots. The compatriots I consider are people like your sister, ordinary people who want to live…just ordinary people.”

Ordinary people who just want to survive?

Frostnova's words struck a chord with Aesop. He thought back to the past two years, to all the sacrifices his family had made to care for his sister, who was seen as a monster by others. Sometimes he wondered if his sister had truly become a monster, which was why she was so disliked. Although he quickly dismissed that thought, because his sister was still his sister, even if she was sick, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her.

So his tears fell again.

Sobbing, he asked Froststar, "Will my sister and my mother be alright? I don't want them to die, sob sob sob..."

At this moment, Aesop acted like a teenager.

Frostnova looked at Aesop as if she were seeing her former self. She pursed her lips slightly, a resolute glint in her eyes, and then said softly, "Don't worry. I won't let them die. The reason I came here is to help my people find a place where they can live in peace. You, your sister, and your mother are all my people. I will not abandon them, even if... I have to risk my life."

……

The next day, while having breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Exusiai noticed that Lin Ye's mood had improved significantly, and she couldn't help but feel curious. When she saw Skadi go to get the food, she immediately sat down next to Lin Ye and asked in a low voice, "Dr. Lin Ye, what did Miss Skadi say to you last night?"

"Huh?" Lin Ye didn't react at first. "What? What did you say?"

"That's right, didn't Miss Skadi come to see you last night?" Exusiai tilted her head. "She didn't come back for more than twenty minutes. What did you two talk about during that time?"

Lin Ye finally understood what Exusiai wanted to ask. He couldn't help but glance at Exusiai sideways and said, "Why are you asking this? I never knew you were so gossipy before."

Exusiai snorted, "If you don't get involved with Mostima, I don't want to bother with your affairs."

Lin Ye was quite annoyed: "What does this have to do with Mostima?"

"Didn't Miss Skadi see that photo yesterday?" Exusiai felt a surge of anger at the thought of the photo, but also a mix of joy and relief at the fact that Skadi had seen it. Her emotions were constantly shifting between anger and happiness, making her quite conflicted. "So, did Miss Skadi confront you last night?"

Lin Ye was speechless: "What are you talking about? Why are you interrogating me? If you don't know, don't make wild guesses."

"Then tell me the truth."

“Why should I tell you what I said to Skadi yesterday?” Lin Ye glared at Exusiai. “I’m warning you, don’t cause trouble. I have a terrible temper. If you piss me off, I’ll cut ties with them.”

"Oh, what a powerful threat." Exusiai rolled her eyes and sat back down in her seat. "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, I don't care."

Although she said that, Exusiai was still somewhat disappointed. After all, in her mind, Lin Ye was the kind of scumbag who cheated on his girlfriend. Although Exusiai had seen plenty of scumbags, Lin Ye had cheated on Mostima, which she couldn't tolerate. So she wanted to tell Mostima the news, but she couldn't get through to Mostima on the phone.

She decided to tell Lin Ye's "official girlfriend," Skadi, the news, so she tried to strike up a conversation with Skadi the whole way. However, Skadi completely ignored her. Skadi's responses to Exusiai's attempts to get closer were only frustrating words like "um," "oh," and "okay." This led Exusiai to believe that Skadi might dislike her and therefore didn't want to talk to her, and if that was the case, she probably wouldn't believe her.

This made the dejected Exusiai want to give up, but it seemed as if fate had given her a chance, actively letting Skadi see the photo. This immediately excited Exusiai again, after all, she had seen Skadi's sudden coldness towards Lin Ye yesterday, her expression like that of a haggard housewife discovering her husband cheating on her with the little Lateran angel next door.

Wait, why is she using her own race as an example?

Never mind, that's the gist of it anyway. As long as the truth is revealed, that's fine. Exusiai has already guessed what will happen next. After all, it's been shown countless times in novels and TV dramas; either the woman throws a tantrum and threatens suicide, or the man begs for mercy while clinging to his wife's leg. Comparing Lin Ye and Skadi's personalities, Exusiai thinks it'll be the latter.

So when Skadi went to see Lin Ye last night, Exusiai was quite excited, thinking that the plot she had been waiting for was about to unfold. The reason Skadi sent her away was to teach the scumbag Lin Ye a lesson. Just thinking about how Lin Ye, who had deceived Mostima's feelings, would be punished made Exusiai unable to resist the urge to eavesdrop.

However, after hearing rumors from various sources during her time on Rhodes Island and learning that Skadi was a Tier 1 fighter, she abandoned the idea. After all, it wouldn't be good if she were discovered. But then she became worried, fearing that an enraged Skadi might kill Lin Ye. So she kept an eye on the room, thinking that if things escalated, she would rush in to protect Lin Ye.

Although scumbags are hateful, they don't deserve to die. A beating is enough to settle the matter.

With this thought in mind, Exusiai waited in the room for more than twenty minutes, but heard nothing. When Skadi returned and Exusiai no longer smelled blood on her, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. But her relief quickly turned into confusion. Since there was no fighting, they must have been arguing, but Skadi's expression was very calm, showing no signs of an argument, which puzzled Exusiai.

So she held back until this morning, wanting to see Lin Ye's reaction. But when she arrived at the restaurant and saw Lin Ye chatting and laughing with Skadi (mainly Lin Ye chatting and laughing), she immediately lost her composure.

Why is he still laughing?!

Why is a man who's been caught cheating still smiling?!

And she laughed so naturally and so freely?!

Why? !

Exusiai felt a surge of resentment. She desperately wanted to know what Skadi was thinking, whether she had taught this frivolous man a lesson last night, and why he was still laughing!

Exusiai really wanted to ask, but... she didn't dare.

Skadi's aura was undeniable. Exusiai wasn't unfamiliar with seemingly aloof people; Texas was that type. However, while Texas appeared cold, she was actually quite normal inside, at least towards Exusiai. But Skadi… Exusiai's intuition told her that Skadi's attitude towards her was likely just as it appeared.

Thinking about this, Exusiai became even more frustrated.

Lin Ye had no idea what Exusiai was thinking. He just felt a little regretful that he couldn't even stay in Chernobog, the place where he had lived for more than two years, for even a day. After breakfast, he took Skadi and Exusiai to the vet hospital again, saying goodbye to the director and buying a backpack full of catnip.

"What are you buying this for?" the director asked, puzzled. "Are you opening a pet shop too?"

"Of course not," Lin Ye said with a smile. "I bought it for my friends; they like to use it to make tea."

"Using catnip to make tea... I really can't understand it." The dean couldn't help but shake his head. He looked at Lin Ye's smiling face and smiled as well. "It seems you've figured it out."

"what?"

“Ilan and Aesop, siblings,” the dean said. “You are not responsible for their deaths.”

Lin Ye was silent for a moment, then said softly, "I may not be responsible for their deaths, but I don't want to see such a thing happen again."

“You can’t stop it,” the dean said. “No one in this world can stop it.”

Lin Ye laughed again: "Who knows?"

It's a beautiful day today.

Sunlight streamed through the clouds.

On the steps of the dilapidated rental house, some dirty white flowers were once again illuminated by the sunlight, and the petals swayed gently in the breeze, as if they were about to bloom again.

……

……

Author's note: Wishing everyone a Happy New Year an hour early!

I originally planned to stay home and focus on writing, but my family dragged me out for the New Year. Even though it's already this late… there's no way around it; I'll be away for the next few days. I'll try my best to maintain the regular update schedule. Also, I'd like to ask for everyone's opinion: should I write some side stories during the New Year period? Because I feel that being away visiting relatives and friends for the New Year might make it difficult to maintain the quality of the main story…

Chapter 489 Aesop's Change

Aesop had always thought he would never forgive the infected, after all, his family's fate had been changed by those damned infected. So he always thought that when he grew up and had the ability, he would kill all the infected in the world, and then the world would be clean.

However, Frostnova's words made him think of a problem he had overlooked, or deliberately ignored. That was that his sister was also an Infected. He had clearly labeled all Infected people as evil and damned in his heart, but he just couldn't bring himself to label his sister, Elan, with those same labels.

So, when the infected people who broke into his home began treating his sister and mother, the physically and mentally exhausted Aesop did not choose to rest. Instead, he quietly stood guard, both to prevent the infected people from harming his mother and sister, and to see how these infected people differed from the infected people he knew.

Although Aesop knew it was all wishful thinking on his part, and that if the infected in the room wanted his life or anything else, they could easily take it without putting on a show for him, he still wanted to see them, still wanted to stay by his mother and sister's side, and that stay lasted all night.

By the time the sun rose in the east and shone its light on the dazed face of Aesop, the boy, who was not yet an adult, had not slept for more than twenty hours.

"Hey, this kid's pretty stubborn." Afu walked over to Aesop and nudged him. "Kid, go to sleep."

Aesop slowly opened his bloodshot eyes, and then asked in a hoarse voice, "Sister..."

"It's under control for now," Afu said, pursing his lips. "We've used quite a bit of our medicine."

"Medicine?" Aesop had no idea there was medicine that could treat infections. He roused himself slightly, got up from the ground, ran to Ilan's side, and touched her forehead. Ilan had been running a high fever all night, her body feeling like it was on fire, but now her temperature had clearly dropped, and even her breathing had become steady. Aesop wasn't a doctor, but his former neighbor was, so he knew some basic medical knowledge and knew his sister's condition was improving. He couldn't help but get excited, "Can my sister's illness be treated with medicine?"

Frostnova entered the house at that moment. To avoid freezing the people inside, she had spent the entire previous night outside. Now, hearing Aesop's words, she slowly said, "If you're referring to a cure for Oripathy, there isn't one yet. Ursus doesn't have it, Lungmen doesn't have it, Victoria doesn't have it, nowhere else. But if you're talking about medicine to slow the progression of the disease and prolong life, there are some available on the market."

Aesop had never been to Lungmen, nor had he even heard of Victoria, but he understood the last sentence. So he immediately turned his head, looked at Frostnova expectantly, and asked, "Where can I buy that medicine?"

Froststar looked down at Aesop, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "That kind of medicine is very expensive."

"How expensive?" Aesop asked.

"It will drag you down to your death," Frostnova said softly. "If it's an ordinary family, and one member is infected, then that family will be dragged down to death by that person. It goes without saying that it's even worse for poorer families. Moreover, even if you spend an astronomical sum, there's no way to completely cure Oripathy. At most, it can only delay the time of death. Do you think it's worth it?"

“Of course! How could I abandon my sister!” Aesop said through gritted teeth. “You have medicine, right? Can you sell it to me? I can go to work and earn money, and give you all the money I earn, as long as you give me the medicine, as long as you are willing to save my sister…”

After hearing Aesop's words, Frostnova and Astolfo exchanged glances.

This was clearly the talk of a naive child; Aesop obviously didn't realize that the price of that medicine was far beyond what he could afford with the meager earnings from his part-time job. However, giving all his earnings to Frostnova was all Aesop could offer.

Afu patted Aesop's head, wanting to explain the situation to him, but was stopped by Frostnova's gaze.

“Okay.” Frostnova leaned down to look Aesop in the eye, then chuckled and said, “We are willing to help your sister with medicine, but in return, you must work hard and live well so that you can earn more money and give us more money.”

Aesop nodded vigorously. After more than a year in this small town, he had finally found hope for curing his sister, and tears welled up in his eyes with excitement. However, he then remembered Lin-gege's warning to him, so he quickly wiped away his tears and said, "Thank you... sister."

Frostnova chuckled: "Not calling me that bastard infected anymore?"

Aesop hesitated for a moment, then said, "You are a good person, a very, very good person, just like Brother Lin."

"Brother Lin?"

"Yes, he's my neighbor. If it weren't for him, my sister would be dead."

Is he infected?

Aesop shook his head: "No."

"Then why are you comparing me to him?" Frostnova said softly. "I'm an Infected, after all."

“But you are a good person, a good person just like Brother Lin,” Aesop said.

Froststar's smile widened.

Just then, Aesop remembered he had to go to work. Although he really didn't want to leave his mother and sister at this time, he had just said he would use the money he earned to buy medicine for his sister, so he immediately said goodbye to Frostnova and ran to work. But when he reached the door, his legs were bound by ice again.

"Don't run so fast." Frostnova held out her hand to Aesop, with a red candy in her palm. "Here, have this. If you feel hungry or cold, eat it."

Seeing the candy, Aesop hesitated. After all, his sister had become infected after eating the bad guy's candy. And now, there was a piece of candy in front of him, also given by an infected person. He wanted to refuse, but when he thought of Frostnova's smile, his body inexplicably made the same choice as his sister.