On the Ark.

……

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" The scream roused Lin Ye from his reverie.

He opened his eyes and found the nightingale hiding in a corner, trembling.

"night……"

"Liz!" Someone walked past Lin Ye first; it was none other than Lin Guang, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. "It's alright, everything's alright."

However, the nightingale seemed to be greatly frightened, and no matter how Lin Guang tried to comfort her, it had no effect.

Lin Guang turned around and glared fiercely at Lin Ye, leaving Lin Ye somewhat at a loss.

"Let him come," Shining's voice sounded behind Lin Ye. "At a time like this, we have no choice but to let him come."

Although Lin Guang was very dissatisfied with Lin Ye, he also knew who Nightingale needed most right now, so he could only step aside.

Half an hour later, with the help of Shining and the medical team, Lin Ye calmed Nightingale down and successfully put her to sleep.

Afterwards, Shining asked Lin Ye, "What happened?"

Lin Ye didn't know how to answer, and gave a wry smile.

"I was crushed to death by the centurion."

Chapter Ninety-Eight: I'm here for... an interview.

Lin Guang looked at Lin Ye, who was full of embarrassment and guilt, and Shining standing next to Lin Ye with a headache.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down, Lin Guang asked, "Dr. Lin Ye, may I know what happened?"

Shining also turned to look at Lin Ye and said, "I thought you would reconsider, but I didn't expect you to act so quickly."

Lin Ye didn't know how to explain, so he could only smile wryly: "If I said this was a complete accident, would you believe me?"

Then came a lengthy explanation.

Nearl seemed to have also learned about Lin Ye's new ability from Shining, but she was still surprised by Lin Ye's ability to enter dreams with a mere touch. For a long time after Lin Ye finished explaining, neither she nor Shining spoke, remaining silent for nearly five minutes before she turned to look at Shining.

"You already knew about his abilities, didn't you?"

Shining nodded.

Lin Guang immediately questioned, "So you spent the whole night talking with Liz yesterday just to prepare for this morning?"

Lin Guang's words enlightened Lin Ye.

Yes, it's because Liz talked with Shining all night last night that Lin Ye was able to fall asleep instantly when he arrived, thus passively entering a dream state. But thinking about it this way, isn't Shining a bit too scheming?

Lin Ye couldn't help but look at Shanling.

Shining shook her head: "No, I didn't think that much. And I didn't know Lin Ye's ability would be triggered so easily. If I had known earlier, I would have stayed here all day instead of going back to rest."

Lin Guang thought about it and felt that Shining's words made sense. Moreover, Shining didn't seem like such a calculating person, so she didn't delve into the topic further. Instead, she looked at Lin Ye again: "Then, Dr. Lin Ye, may I know what you did in Liz's dream this time? If possible, please tell me about the first time as well. I heard about the previous one from Dr. Kal'tsit, so it may not be as clear as what you say."

"Uh, okay."

Lin Ye recounted his first experience to Nearl. The first time was alright; the process was relatively normal. But the second time was more difficult to talk about. Lin Ye tried to appease Nearl and Shining with a rough explanation: "I killed two Sarkaz warriors and was preparing to escape the dungeon with Liz when I was accidentally ambushed and killed by a Sarkaz centurion lying on the ground."

After listening, Nearl and Shining both fell into deep thought.

However, the two were clearly thinking about different things.

"You think you can take down two Sarkaz warriors by yourself?" Nearl questioned.

"Uh, yeah," Lin Ye admitted, forcing a smile.

Nearl turned to look at Shining: "Don't you find it strange?"

"Strange?" Shining asked, puzzled.

"He said he killed two Sarkaz warriors all by himself."

"Hmm, so what?" Shining didn't understand Nearl's meaning because she didn't see anything wrong with it. To her, the Sarkaz warriors were like rice paddies—a single strike could harvest a large swath.

Lin Guang realized this as well, and that discussing combat power with Shining was just being irresponsible, so she directly asked Lin Ye how he did it.

“I heard you’re learning swordsmanship from Yato,” Nearl said. “But I don’t believe Yato could have helped you grow to the point where you could defeat a demon warrior one-on-one in such a short time. So can you tell me how you did it? Has the Sarkaz warrior in Liz’s dream weakened to the point where he could be defeated by an ordinary person who has been practicing swordsmanship for less than a week?”

Lin Ye could no longer hide it and had no choice but to confess everything.

After hearing Lin Ye's detailed account of what he did in Nightingale's Dream, Nearl and Shining both fell silent.

Then Shining was the first to react, giving Lin Ye a thumbs up: "Courageous and resourceful, as expected of you, you're really amazing."

Is this sarcasm? It must be sarcasm, right? But why does this sarcasm sound so sincere...?

Nearl, on the other hand, reacted incredulously: "This, is this really considered amazing? Why would you do this?! Are you really helping Liz escape her nightmare, or are you just adding another layer of shadow to it?!"

Lin Guang, who is known as the "Radiant Knight" and adheres to the "Way of the Knight," clearly finds it difficult to accept Lin Ye's "unique" fighting style.

Lin Ye was also quite embarrassed and didn't know how to refute it. In the end, Shan Ling said in a calm tone, "I think he did nothing wrong. On the battlefield, as long as you can defeat the enemy, that's all that matters. War is inherently cruel."

"Do you think this is war?" Nearl asked.

“Isn’t this Liz’s war?” Shining retorted. “This is Liz’s war, and Lin Ye has joined Liz’s war. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that statement.”

Lin Guang was speechless.

Whenever it comes to Liz, Shining's performance is always overwhelmingly dominant.

"Do you think this will save Liz?" That was all Nearl could ask.

“I don’t know. I only know that if we do nothing, it definitely won’t work,” Shining said. “The first time he took care of one enemy, the second time he took care of two. If he learns from his mistakes, the third time he can take care of that centurion as well, and then take Liz further away. Sooner or later, he will bring Liz out of that tunnel.”

Lin Guang, unable to contain himself any longer, said, "Do you think Liz can hold out until then? You saw Liz's condition just now. Lady Kal'tsit's opposition to Lin Ye using his ability on Liz wasn't without reason. Why can't you listen to what others have to say?!"

“Because I am Liz’s guardian,” Shining said firmly. “On this issue, I will not compromise with anyone.”

"The Shining!"

Seeing that Nearl and Shining were about to start arguing again, Lin Ye quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

“There’s no need to argue,” Lin Ye said. “Lingguang is actually right. I did take a shortcut in dealing with those two Sarkaz warriors. If there were a third time, I would have taken care of the centurion beforehand. But I can’t possibly kill all the Sarkaz warriors and then leave with Liz. Even if it were possible, Liz’s body would hardly be able to withstand it. So, hypothetically… I mean hypothetically, if I were to use my ability on Liz again, I would need to find some other methods.”

Shining and Nearl exchanged a glance.

“For example?” Shining asked.

Just as Lin Ye was about to ask about the secret passage, his phone suddenly rang.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

Lin Ye walked to the side and answered the call.

A female voice, sounding like a machine's prompt: "Dr. Lin Ye?"

"Uh, who is this?" Lin Ye didn't recognize the voice.

"I'm here to..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Lin Ye called out "hello" several times, but the other party didn't respond, as if the call had been disconnected.

"baffling."

Lin Ye turned off his phone, muttered something, and was about to go back and continue talking to Shanling about the secret passage when the phone rang again. It was the same number as before.

"You are……"

"...It's an interview," the other party said.

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The White-faced Owl

Lin Ye almost forgot that he still had a formal job.

Sleeping until 12:30 every day before going to work is already excessive enough, but skipping work altogether is simply unacceptable. So after confirming that Nightingale was sound asleep, Lin Ye suggested to Shining and Nearl that they put the dream aside for now and discuss it after everyone had calmed down.

After obtaining Shining and Nearl's consent, Lin Ye hurriedly finished his work in the office.

At 4:40 PM, with an hour and a half left before the end of the workday, the Rhode Island psychologist finally stepped into the office building. As he passed by on the first floor, he glanced at the bulletin board and noticed that the two recruitment notices he had posted earlier were gone.

It's already been taken, which means there were two people interviewing today?

Thinking this, Lin Ye quickly returned to the fourth floor.

I pushed open the office door and saw a girl in a silver-white uniform sitting obediently on the sofa.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Lin Ye apologized repeatedly. "Something came up, so I'm a little late. Did I keep you waiting?"

The girl shook her head. She had pale golden eyes and silver-white hair with ears edged in black, like some kind of bird.

She stood up, placed her hands on her thighs, and then bowed slightly to Lin Ye: "Hello, doctor. Former Rhine Life data maintainer, White Owl. If it's convenient, please use the command line to complete the operation you need."

"...Huh?" Lin Ye didn't understand the girl's last sentence at first. "Your name is White Owl, right? Did Dr. Himer recommend you?"

“Yes.” The white-faced owl nodded.

White-faced owl... White-faced owl...

Lin Ye rummaged through his meager biological knowledge from his previous life and vaguely remembered that the white-faced owl seemed to be a type of owl, with snow-white feathers, like a snow sprite.

The first impression Lin Ye got of the white-faced owl in front of him was that it was a snow sprite, with its golden eyes that were almost too bright.

Is such a pretty girl here to apply for the job of your assistant?

Thinking of this, Lin Ye felt his vanity was greatly satisfied.

"Please sit down," Lin Ye said with a smile to the white-faced owl. "What would you like to drink... uh."

Looking around, there wasn't even a kettle, and Lin Ye felt a bit annoyed.

Fortunately, Shining didn't seem to mind. She continued, "Operator Shining has requested to install the 'Rhodes Island Psychological Counseling Assistant' program, which requires your approval."

"Uh." This was the second time Lin Ye had heard the White Owl speak in this way, like a computer program. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this a personal preference of yours? It seems quite interesting."

White Owl shook his head: "No. My way of speaking is influenced by the Originium Virus."

"Originium virus?"

“Yes.” The white-faced owl tapped its head with its finger. “Here, my brain has been invaded by a virus. The virus has changed the way I speak.”

The Originium virus can have such an effect?