On the Ark.

“Even if I did nothing, I’m still a witness,” the Iron-Eating Beast said matter-of-factly. “And one of the few who know the truth. That alone is enough, isn’t it? I don’t ask for anything else. After all, I’m not a prince.”

Lin Ye thought about it and felt that what the Iron-Eating Beast said made a lot of sense, so he stopped arguing with her and turned to look at Warfarin sitting by the window, asking, "So you've gotten what you wanted, haven't you?"

Warfarin glanced at Lin Ye: "Why do you ask that?"

"Do you think I don't know how much blood you took from my sister?" Lin Ye said irritably. "If she weren't all alone, you would have been beheaded for this, you know?"

Warfarin said, "In my eyes, an experimental subject is an experimental subject; their identity or anything else doesn't matter."

"So, what have you figured out?"

"Not yet." Warfarin took out a test tube containing Ying Li's blood sample and waved it in front of Lin Ye. "Right now, I only have the means to preserve the blood, but I don't have the equipment to test it. I can only wait until I get back to do the research. But my intuition tells me that your sister's blood is very likely to contain that kind of thing as well."

"That kind of thing?" The iron-eating beast asked curiously, "What is it?"

Lin Ye and Warfarin shook their heads simultaneously: "It's nothing."

"Don't do this! We'll be colleagues soon!" the Iron-Eating Beast exclaimed. "There's no need to hide it from me, is there?"

Lin Ye and Warfarin pretended not to hear. There was no way around it; even if the Iron-Eating Beast had joined Rhodes Island, the existence of L cells was still a secret, let alone now. Warfarin's words piqued Lin Ye's curiosity, because he knew Warfarin had a very sensitive intuition about blood; if she had it, then she probably did.

This explains why "L cells" are unique to the original humans, and why they weren't infected with Oripathy. But here's the question: most races on Terra are descendants of the original humans, having evolved differently—they should have evolved. So why did they lose the most important cell in their blood?

Hmm... I don't understand, after all, Lin Ye isn't a biologist.

"Isn't it almost time to eat?" Seeing that the Iron-Eating Beast was still staring longingly, Lin Ye coughed lightly twice, then changed the subject, "I'll go call the others."

Then he got up and left.

Since the cruise ship on the way back was booked with the help of the Iron-Eating Beast, it was much more luxurious than the one chartered by the Red Sun Travel Agency on the way there. Everyone had their own room, and they were even lined up in a row. Lin Ye first went to look for Messiah and Skadi, but neither of them were in their rooms; they had probably gone somewhere to look at the sea again.

So Lin Ye sent Skadi a text message and then went to Nian's room.

As Lin Ye knocked on the door, he thought that Nian was probably the only problem they hadn't solved on this trip. Bringing a divine beast of this caliber back to Rhodes Island, he wondered what kind of expression Kal'tsit would make. But not bringing it seemed impossible; Nian was still at a child's stage, both physically and mentally, and simply couldn't live independently.

But if we were to find someone to foster her… where would anyone dare to take her in? Even the Yan Kingdom's royal family wouldn't dare. Who knows when this girl will return to normal and become that infamous divine beast again? The Yan Kingdom's royal family would probably be finished, and Lin Ye would truly be a sinner for all time.

There's no other way; you have to bear the consequences of your own actions.

Let's take her back to the island first and see what Kal'tsit says. If that doesn't work, then we'll have to have Messiah take her back to Karlan. Messiah back in Karlan should be able to continue suppressing Nian, provided, of course, that she truly is the legendary, ruthless beast. Although Lin Ye finds it hard to see the current Nian as that kind of beast.

Hmm... why is no one responding from the room?

"Nian?" Lin Ye called out as he knocked on the door, "Are you still sleeping? Wake up, it's time to eat."

Still, no one responded.

"Strange, why aren't they all in their rooms?" Lin Ye opened the door to the room with some doubt and then went inside.

There was indeed no one in the room, but the bed was messy. Lin Ye subconsciously glanced at the bed and felt something was off. So he looked at it a couple more times and even leaned over to touch it before realizing what was wrong. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

There was a very obvious human print on the sheet, clearly indicating that someone had lain there.

But the size of this human print... clearly belongs to an adult!

But this is a room from the year ago! Where did this adult come from?!

There is only one truth.

Lin Ye panicked at the thought of Skadi and Messiah not being in the room and instinctively wanted to make a phone call, but a mature female voice sounded behind him: "Hmm? You found out."

Lin Ye's body froze instantly. He slowly turned his head and saw a mature-looking woman leaning against the door, looking at him with a half-smile.

It is precisely the age that has already come of age.

Lin Ye felt his throat was a little dry: "You've already..."

"Yeah, you didn't expect that, did you?" the young man said, then took two steps toward Lin Ye. Lin Ye felt the temperature in the room instantly rise a notch. "I was surprised too."

Lin Ye immediately grabbed the competitor in his pocket and said sternly, "I'm warning you, don't come any closer."

"Scared? That's great." Nian's smile grew wider. "Do you know what I've been through these past few days?"

Nian raised her hand, and a large metal sword appeared out of thin air in front of her, its blade pressed against Lin Ye's forehead. At that moment, Lin Ye felt as if her heart was about to stop beating.

The young man said, "During this time, I endured hardship and humiliation, vowing to make you suffer... Hmm?"

Lin Ye was a little confused when he heard this, and then he saw Nian tilt his head.

"Wait a minute." Nian put down the sword in his hand, pulled out a notebook from somewhere, and then looked at it with great interest in front of Lin Ye. "I have endured humiliation and hardship, and vowed to make you pay for your blood debt... Oh."

Nian showed a look of sudden realization.

"I got the order wrong."

Lin Ye: "..."

"Okay, let's do it again." Nian put away his notebook, his expression returning to what it had been before. "During this time, I've paid for my crimes in blood, swearing to make you suffer... Hmm? Did you remember it wrong again?"

Lin Ye: "..."

Chapter 595 I'm Already Being Kept by Him (3K)

Lin Ye wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that something was wrong with how the year was being celebrated.

It seems that Nian's body and memories have indeed recovered. Although her strength is still unclear, judging from the greatsword she casually conjured, she is clearly not the helpless woman she was before... well, she wasn't exactly a weakling before. But regardless, Lin Ye felt that the current Nian was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Has his brain not recovered yet?

Thinking this, Lin Ye cautiously asked, "Nian, what are you doing?"

“I’m declaring my revenge against you,” Nian said. “Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound very powerful. Let me say something else.”

"Um, what does 'declaration of revenge' mean?"

“A declaration of revenge is a declaration of revenge,” Nian said, arms crossed. “You’ve done so many terrible things to me, and now I’m here to settle the score. What’s that old saying in Yan? Oh, a gentleman’s revenge is never too late… Hmm, the old saying is more powerful, so let’s leave it at that.”

Lin Ye watched as Nian raised his greatsword again, pointing it at him.

"A gentleman takes his revenge even after ten years," Nian said with a sneer. "Now I've come to seek revenge on you. Tell me, how do you want to die?"

Although Nian was pointing a sword at him, for some reason, Lin Ye was no longer as nervous as before. He scratched his head and said, "I don't want to die."

"Heh, what a strange request. Well, I'll grant it... Hey? How could you answer like that?" Nian put the sword down again and said somewhat displeased, "Can't you cooperate with me a little? How am I supposed to respond to you like that?"

"How should I cooperate?"

Nian patiently explained, "When I asked you how you wanted to die, you should have answered me, 'You think you can kill me?' Then I would have immediately raised my sword and chopped off your head, then slowly sheathed my sword, weeping as I said that my great revenge had finally been achieved."

"That's it?"

“Yeah, that’s it…” Nian frowned slightly, “Why do I always feel like you look down on me?”

"No, no, no," Lin Ye waved his hands repeatedly. "How could I look down on you? I just don't quite understand."

What do you not understand?

"So, why did you cry after you killed me?" Lin Ye asked. "Was it because you felt reluctant to let me go?"

“How could I be reluctant?” Nian replied. “It’s the thrill of revenge! Because of your long-term abuse, I developed a repressed personality, which eventually led to my silent outburst…”

“Um,” Lin Ye couldn’t help but interrupt Nian, then said somewhat indignantly, “Putting aside the fact that I can’t see where you’re feeling repressed… why are you saying I’m abusing you? When have I ever abused you? I’ve covered all your food and lodging for the past few days in Luo City! Don’t you even think about how much money you’ve cost me just for food? You’ve eaten up half a month’s salary of mine, and I haven’t even complained to you yet, and you’re still saying I’m abusing you.”

Nian tilted her head: "Is there really such a thing?"

"Don't play dumb, okay?" Lin Ye said, counting on his fingers. "We can calculate all of this. The most expensive meal you ever ate cost me..."

“Don’t talk about such meaningless things,” Nian said. “I never pay for my meals.”

"Hey, hey, hey, how can you say something like this with such self-righteousness!" Lin Ye said. "Aren't you a respectable person?"

Nian thought for a moment and said, "What you're saying seems to make some sense, but I always feel like you're changing the subject. No matter what you say, the cuts still need to be made, otherwise what's the point of me being a respectable person?"

"It's already problematic that a decent person like you is only thinking about killing people," Lin Ye continued to complain. Actually, he wasn't really complaining; he wanted to buy time. Although Nian seemed a bit silly, what if she really wanted to kill him? Although Lin Ye could beat Ying Jie, he didn't think he could fight Nian. So, to survive, he had to stall for time until Messiah or Skadi came to rescue him. So he continued to chat with Nian, "Besides, what era are we living in? Scenes with blood can't be shown anymore, okay?"

Nian asked, "Is that so?"

“Yes, it’s not suitable for children,” Lin Ye said. “To make it suitable for children, the blood has been censored to green.”

"Is this even possible?" Nian asked. "But if we can't even see any blood, how are we supposed to get revenge?"

Lin Ye said, "We could use some more harmonious methods, like material things, which would be quite good. It would achieve the effect of revenge without being too bloody."

"for example?"

“Take you and me, for example,” Lin Ye said. “Although we may have had a little misunderstanding before, I have indeed spent a lot of money on you these days, making sure you eat well, drink well, stay well, and have fun, while you have done nothing but enjoy yourself. Doesn’t that seem like you are taking revenge on me?”

After thinking for a moment, Nian said, "What you said seems to make a lot of sense. So, does that mean I've already gotten my revenge on you?"

"Yes, yes." Lin Ye didn't expect Nian to be so easy to fool. It seemed that she really hadn't recovered her brain yet, so he nodded repeatedly. "You've already gotten your revenge on me, so we're even now."

Nian slowly lowered his sword: "Yes, in that case, we are indeed even."

"Yes, yes, yes, we're even, we're even." Lin Ye suddenly felt great. After all, he had successfully persuaded the ferocious Nian beast with his silver tongue. This skill was no less than Zhuge Liang persuading Wang Situ to death. He had to admire himself.

Unfortunately, the next second, he realized that he was not Zhuge Cunfu, and that Nian was not Wang Situ.

Before Lin Ye could even see Nian's movements clearly, he was grabbed by the collar and slammed against the wall. Nian's stunningly beautiful face was almost touching his own, so close that Lin Ye could see his own astonished face reflected in Nian's pale purple pupils.

"Looks like you really think I'm an idiot." Nian whispered in Lin Ye's ear, her breath making Lin Ye's cheeks burn... This wasn't a metaphor, they really were burning. "If you were someone who had just woken up and hadn't fully regained consciousness, and was slapped several times, even to the point of being delirious, and then that person treated you to meals for several days, would you forgive them?"

Lin Ye initially didn't think they had done anything particularly egregious; in fact, he even felt he was performing a great act of charity, vanquishing demons. However, when he heard Nian explain things from her own perspective, Lin Ye suddenly felt like a heinous villain. Could it be that Nian also possessed the ability to talk a good game?

Regardless of whether it was just empty talk or not, what Nian said made Lin Ye realize a very dangerous piece of information.

"You..." Lin Ye felt his throat go dry. "You haven't actually lost your memory all along, have you?"

Nian laughed: "Guess."

Lin Ye dared not guess further, because when he thought about what he had done to Nian these past few days… wait, that didn't make sense, he hadn't done anything strange to Nian. Why did he suddenly feel like a pervert?

Regardless, Nian's sudden transformation from an adorable little girl to a cool (?) mature woman made Lin Ye feel very uncomfortable. Especially since this mature woman had a grudge against him and possessed overwhelming strength, there was no room for any other thoughts. All he could think about was desperately figuring out how to survive.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Nian said with a smile. "You still haven't answered me. Do you think our issues can be resolved with just a few meals?"

“This…” Lin Ye’s lips twitched slightly, “I really don’t think it will work.”

"Looks like you have some self-awareness after all," Nian said. "So, what do you think would be considered a draw?"

Lin Ye took a deep breath and said, "Just tell me what you want. Anyway, I can give you anything I can, except my life... uh, I'll try my best to give you everything."

Nian narrowed her eyes: "Really?"

"Why would I need to lie to you at a time like this?" Although he said this, Lin Ye was still praying in his heart that Messiah and Skadi would arrive soon.

To his surprise, after he made the promise, Nian simply put him down and even took back the sword in his hand.