On the Ark.

“Didn’t you contact the Reunion Movement today?” Chris said. “Is that why you’re asking me about them?”

Lin Ye's mouth dropped open slightly: "Are they from the Reunion Movement? You mean those people from the bar?"

“Those warlocks, who else could they be but Reunion?” Chris sighed softly. “I was thinking that as long as we dealt with Copperhammer, there would still be hope for the missions in Ursus. But with these guys here, I’ll get even fewer missions. The people here can just go to them; they don’t need to come to the bounty hunters anymore.”

"...Are they here to steal your mission?"

“That’s not quite it,” Chris shook his head and said, “They’re probably looking for a place where they can survive. After all, you know how the infected are treated in Ursus. Not to mention this many infected, if the Ursus government finds them, they’ll definitely be wiped out. They can only survive in a remote place like Sap Town.”

Lin Ye's heart sank. He no longer cared much about what Chris said afterward. He only knew that Frostnova was indeed a member of Reunion, and Reunion... was his mortal enemy. Come to think of it, last year in Kjerag, the warlocks who followed Mephisto dressed exactly like the warlocks who were following Frostnova today.

But how could this be?

Lin Ye took out his phone, opened his contacts, and found Shuangxing's number.

He really wanted to call and ask why, but he just couldn't bring himself to press the button.

……

"Big sister, big sister," Afu said, following Shuangxing, "Are you feeling any better?"

"Ah."

"That's great! We thought something had happened to you."

"No."

"It's good that you're alright. Well..." Afu chuckled and rubbed his hands together, "Who was that man on the rooftop with you today?"

Froststar stopped, glanced at Afu, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Do you remember the person I told you about last time?"

"That's the vet from Chernobog?" Alfred looked surprised. "He's the one from earlier in the day..."

“No,” Frostnova said. “What I want to ask is, Talulah told us the name of the man who killed Mephisto and our people. Do you remember it?”

"Of course I remember, how could I forget?" Afu said. "Isn't his name Lin Ye?"

"Lin Ye... It seems I haven't misremembered."

"What did you misremember?"

“It’s nothing.” Frostnova shook her head and said, “Let’s go, Copperhammer is dead. From today onwards, Sap Town is ours.”

……

……

Author's note: 6,000 words today, still 117 chapters owed. The bounty ends in 7 days... Hopefully I can finish it this year.

Chapter 504 Things I Regret (First Update)

As night fell, Lin Ye sat by the window gazing at the moon, feeling somewhat disoriented. The day's events had felt like a movie, a constant series of twists and turns. Just when he thought it was all over, something new would happen. It was as if a master director had crafted a film with no dull moments.

The audience probably enjoyed it, but he, the person involved, was very tired.

"Can't things be simpler?" he muttered to himself as he took out his phone, scrolled to Froststar's number, and stared at it for a long time, as if hesitating about something. Finally, he made up his mind and sent a text message.

I thought Froststar wouldn't reply so quickly, and I was about to put my phone away when, to my surprise, the screen lit up again less than two seconds after it went to sleep. The message from "Yelena" contained only one word—"Okay."

He put away his phone and prepared to leave, but as soon as he turned around, he saw Skadi standing behind him, and his expression froze.

"Skadi?" Lin Ye asked cautiously, "What are you doing here?"

Skadi slowly raised her head, glanced at Lin Ye, and calmly asked, "Are you going to see that woman?"

Lin Ye instinctively wanted to deny it, but for some reason, when he met Skadi's gaze, he couldn't convince himself to lie and could only honestly answer, "Yes, I was planning to ask about the situation."

Skadi asked, "Is there anything else to ask?"

"Because I feel that she and Mephistopheles are not the same kind of people."

"Mephisto?"

“It’s a guy I met before, from Reunion,” Lin Ye explained. “But I don’t think they’re the same kind of people. If you hadn’t reminded me, I wouldn’t have believed she was from Reunion.”

"Yes, they are definitely not on the same path."

Lin Ye was secretly delighted: "You think so too?"

"This is an undeniable fact: one is a man, and the other is a woman."

Lin Ye's smile froze for a moment, then he said awkwardly, "Are you joking?"

“No. I just wanted to say that you always seem to treat women better.” Skadi lowered her hand, ignoring Lin Ye’s expression, and then walked towards him. “Let’s go.”

"Leave?" Lin Ye didn't react immediately. "Where to?"

Skadi glanced at Lin Ye and said, "Weren't you going to find that woman?"

"Yes, but didn't you come here to stop me?"

“Why should I stop you?” Skadi said calmly. “I’m just here to go with you.”

……

The place they agreed to meet was naturally the small rooftop from the daytime. When Lin Ye and Skadi arrived there, Froststar was already waiting.

"Yelena." Lin Ye called out Froststar's name, and Froststar turned to look at him. However, her gray eyes were devoid of emotion, which made Lin Ye feel a slight pang in his heart.

Even though they had only been apart for less than four hours, it felt like a completely different time.

"I have something I want to ask you," Lin Ye said.

Froststar was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke up: "Me too."

"Then you go first."

Froststar did not back down. Instead, she nodded, stared at Lin Ye, and slowly asked, "Six months ago, did you kill some infected in Kjerag?"

As she asked the question, Froststar gripped the armrest tightly, and a thick layer of frost quickly formed on its surface as a faint chill seeped from her sleeves. Having heard Froststar's question, Lin Ye already knew the answer to his own, so he remained silent for a moment before turning his attention to the question he had intended to ask her.

"That's what I was going to ask," Lin Ye said softly, "Do you know Mephistopheles?"

Neither of them directly answered the other's question, but their questions could be seen as answers to each other's questions.

Froststar slowly released her grip; at this moment, half of the roof was frozen solid.

"It really was you." Frostnova tried her best to keep her tone calm. "I want to know why."

At this moment, Lin Ye also guessed that the warlock squad Mephisto led half a year ago was Frostnova's subordinates, as their attire and abilities were exactly the same. When Frostnova questioned him, he could only answer truthfully: "Because those people wanted to kill me, wanted to disrupt the entire Sherag."

"So you killed them all?"

“No, only two or three,” Lin Ye said. “The others died in avalanches.”

"An avalanche?" Froststar clearly hadn't expected Lin Ye to say that. The Yeti Squad died in an avalanche? She almost laughed in anger. "Do you think I'd believe that?"

"Do you think I would lie to you?" Lin Ye said. "Especially at a time like this, what's the point of lying?"

Froststar fell silent.

Lin Ye also realized that Frostnova's relationship with those warlocks was not a simple superior-subordinate one; it was clearly closer, otherwise Frostnova wouldn't have reacted this way. So he tried his best to keep his tone calm: "That matter isn't that simple. I know you're not an unreasonable person. You can ask Mephisto about the whole story; he knows exactly what he did."

“Mephisto is dead,” Frostnova replied curtly. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come looking for you.”

"Mephisto is dead?" Lin Ye was stunned. "How could that be?"

Didn't the Messiah say he wasn't dead yet?

“He’s dead,” Frostnova said. “But you’re right, I’ll find out the truth.”

After saying that, she turned her back to Lin Ye, clearly not wanting to talk to him anymore. This left Lin Ye feeling somewhat helpless. He wanted to explain, but felt that words were the most powerless and pale thing to say at this moment. He could only smile wryly and say, "Alright then, I'll go back first. If you have any questions, just call me. It's the same if you have any health problems."

After saying that, Lin Ye turned and left. But just as he was about to walk away, he heard Shuangxing's voice again.

“No matter what, you saved my life,” Frostnova said. “I will never betray you.”

Lin Ye glanced back at Shuangxing, wanting to say something, but in the end he said nothing and left.

Skadi didn't follow Lin Ye, and deliberately stayed behind. When Lin Ye was far away, she turned to Frostnova and said, "If he hadn't killed those people half a year ago, you wouldn't be alive now."

Frostnova turned to look at Skadi, sensing Skadi's power: "What are you trying to say?"

All I want to say is, you better not do anything I'll regret.

"regret?"

“Yes, I regret not cutting your head off this afternoon,” Skadi said calmly. “Otherwise, none of this would have happened.”

Chapter 505 I, the Messiah, can do a little bit of everything (Second Update)

When Frostnova returned to the temporary camp, which was also Aesop's home, everyone was waiting for her.

"Big sister, you're back so soon." Afu picked up Aesop, who was warming himself by the fire, and said lazily, "This kid is fine now. He was just stunned by your cold aura earlier. He wasn't hurt by that bastard, so he's lucky."

Aesop struggled to break free from Afu's grasp, then glared at Afu with great dissatisfaction: "You're the brat! I'll be an adult in five years!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and every now and then someone would reach out and ruffle Aesop's hair. Aesop resisted at first, but realizing he couldn't fight them off, he let them touch him. Meanwhile, Aesop's mother was holding the still-sleeping Ilan, sitting on the bed watching her son and the Yeti team members play around with a smile, though her smile still carried the weariness of someone recovering from a serious illness.

“Big sister.” Afu pushed Aesop in front of Frostnova, “This brat has something to say to you.”

After using the "L reagent," the amount of Originium crystals in Frostnova's body had greatly decreased, so the chill surrounding her had also lessened considerably. She could now interact with people like a normal person, although she still made others feel cold, at least she wouldn't get frostbite. Originally, Frostnova had wanted to take this opportunity to have a good chat with the members of the Yeti Squad, but she really wasn't in the mood right now and just wanted to rest as soon as possible. However, seeing Aesop's tense face, she stopped in her tracks.

"What do you want to say?" Froststar asked.

“Um…” Aesop took a deep breath and then said, “Please let me join you!”

"Oh?" Frostnova was somewhat surprised. "Join us?"

“Yes, or rather, please let me repay you,” Aesop said. “You saved my mother and my sister, so please let me repay you!”

Frostnova looked up at Aesop, who was standing behind him with a big smile on his face, and asked, "Did you teach him this?"

“Of course not.” Afu raised his hands innocently. “I didn’t say anything to him. He came to me on his own initiative. I didn’t promise him anything. I just told him to come and ask you, so he’s here now.”

Frostnova glanced at Aesop's mother again. Aesop's mother's expression was somewhat complicated, but she didn't seem particularly surprised, clearly knowing about the situation. Finally, she turned her gaze back to Aesop, looking into his expectant eyes, and asked, "We are the Infected organization, aren't you afraid?"

Aesop shook his head.

"Think about it some more, don't rush into a decision." Frostnova patted Aesop's shoulder and then said softly, "You still have your mother and sister, unlike us, who only have each other left. Besides, you're not infected, you deserve a brighter future, so it's better not to join us."

After saying that, Frostnova didn't give Aesop a chance to reply, but instead turned and left.

Aesop clearly hadn't expected Frostnova to refuse; he stood there dumbfounded, unsure what to do. As for Afro, sensing something, he quickly chased after her.