On the Ark.

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and eventually the topic turned to combat strength.

"Someone told me that Skadi's combat strength is on par with yours," Lin Ye asked Shining. "Is that true?"

“Why compare her to me?” Shining said. “I’m just a doctor.”

Chapters 1-3: Contrast (32 chapters missing)

If Lin Ye hadn't already been killed twice by Shining in his dream, he probably would have actually believed Shining's words. Despite being a doctor, he was one of Rhodes Island's top combatants; Lin Ye didn't know what to say. First martial arts, then medicine—was he getting tired of medicine too?

"Are you planning to write a novel next?" Lin Ye asked Shanling seriously.

Shining looked at Lin Ye with some surprise: "How did you know I wanted to write a novel?"

Lin Ye: "..."

After chatting with Shining for about ten minutes, Hibiscus and the Lava Sisters also got up. A little while later, Nearl also pushed open the door of the sanatorium, and then Nightingale, still half asleep in her pajamas, walked out of the room.

"Pineapple bun?" Nightingale looked at Lin Ye and tilted her head.

Hmm, nothing seems amiss. Could it be that he was just too tired yesterday? Lin Ye thought to himself, and then spoke to Nightingale for a while. Nightingale seemed perfectly normal, yawning occasionally as if she hadn't woken up properly.

"So what do you mean?" Nearl looked at everyone present. "Shall we start now? Liz just woke up, and she needs medication again?"

Hibiscus checked on Liz's condition and said, "There's nothing wrong."

“Let’s do it now,” Shining said. “It’s only half an hour. Let’s see if Liz can handle it. If not, we can reschedule. Should we call White Owl over?”

Lin Ye took out his phone: "I can call her, but we might have to wait half an hour, or even longer."

“No need to call Miss White Owl anymore.” Yan Rong took out White Owl’s computer from the inner room. “Miss White Owl left the computer behind and taught me how to use it. She said that if it’s just about collecting information, we can do it. We can call her when we’ve finished collecting everything.”

"This guy is always finding ways to slack off." Lin Ye was about to make a phone call. "I think I should call her over."

The Shining stopped him.

“There’s no need to trouble her with the work we can do ourselves,” Shining said, shaking her head. “Besides being your assistant, White Owl also has very important work on the island, and her position can’t be left unattended for long.”

"Ok."

Since Shining had said so, Lin Ye had no choice but to put down his phone. Although he didn't think White Owl was working seriously; he figured it was probably sleeping in or slacking off.

Liz had just woken up, but she had to take her medicine and go back to sleep. She looked a little pitiful.

After she took her medicine, Lin Ye asked her, "Is there anything else you want to do today, Liz?"

Without hesitation, the nightingale replied, "I want to eat a pineapple bun."

Although he had expected it, Lin Ye was still speechless: "Could you please stop mentioning pineapple buns..."

Nightingale looked up at Lin Ye, her pitiful eyes making Lin Ye unable to accept it, so he could only surrender: "Okay, okay, pineapple bun it is. You'll never get tired of eating it every day, I'll take you to eat it later."

"Ah."

Is there anything else?

Nightingale thought for a moment and said, "I want to go to work with Pineapple Bun."

"Really? Come to think of it, it seems like it's been a while since you've been there," Lin Ye said. "My office has been renovated, with lots of new furniture; it looks really nice. Would you like to go?"

Nightingale gave a soft "hmm," then slowly lowered her head. The drug took effect, and she fell asleep again.

Shining said to Lin Ye, "See you in half an hour. I hope you can bring good news."

Lin Ye nodded, then took a deep breath and grasped Nightingale's hand as if to complete some kind of ritual.

……

Half an hour later, he opened his eyes and saw Nightingale looking exhausted, holding a cup of hot tea in her hands.

Everyone looked at him, as if asking how things were going.

Furong also handed Lin Ye a cup of hot tea.

Lin Ye, holding a cup of hot tea, sat on the sofa, thought for a moment, and said, "I can confirm it now. What I saw in the storage room was the secret passage the Sarkaz warriors were talking about."

The first time they discovered it, but couldn't confirm it. This time they confirmed it, which immediately made everyone's expressions much more relaxed.

"You went in?" Lin Guang asked.

“Yes, I didn’t look for anything this time, I just went for the secret passage.” Lin Ye sighed softly, “But I couldn’t get to the surface.”

"why?"

"It's too long," Lin Ye said. "The passage is a bit narrow, and with my size, I can't even stand up straight inside, so I can't run fast. I think I walked in the passage for at least twenty minutes, but I still couldn't get out."

Nearl frowned slightly, then looked at Shining: "Is your dungeon really that deep? You can't get out in twenty minutes."

“It depends on the location,” Shining said softly. “If it’s a relatively important location, especially a dungeon with special strategic significance or containing important rooms, it can indeed be very deep. The place where Liz is located meets both of these conditions.”

"How long will it take?"

Shining shook his head: "I don't know, I didn't go that way. I went in from the front, and it didn't take me long."

Nearl thought of Shining's combat strength, realized she had asked a pointless question, and silently shut her mouth.

"What should we do then?" Furong asked.

Shining looked at Lin Ye: "Did you go straight to the secret passage? Didn't you stop anywhere else along the way?"

"No," Lin Ye said. "My purpose this time was to find that secret passage and see if I could leave the underground and reach the surface directly from there, so I didn't waste time on the way."

Shining nodded: "That's why half an hour isn't enough."

Lin Guang asked, "Do you want to extend the time?"

"This is necessary; there's really not much that can be done in half an hour."

The group discussed for a while, mainly focusing on how much time to add. Nightingale remained silent, curled up on the sofa with her legs drawn up to her chest. It was Lin Ye who noticed her and seemed to realize something.

"You can decide this matter yourselves. I'm just the one carrying it out." Lin Ye put down his teacup, stood up, and said, "I'll take Liz to have breakfast first."

Everyone agreed.

Lin Ye walked to Nightingale's side, reached out his hand to her, and tried to pull her up: "Let's go, Liz, let's go to the cafeteria."

Nightingale raised her head, looking somewhat bewildered at Lin Ye's outstretched hand, and then slowly shook her head.

Lin Ye was taken aback: "What's wrong? Don't you want to go eat pineapple buns anymore?"

Nightingale continued to shake her head, then buried her head in her knees and said in a very low voice, "I don't want to go."

"Why? Aren't you going to work with me?" Lin Ye suddenly became nervous.

Nightingale shook her head again, and then said softly, "I want to... stay here."

Chapter 124 Do you need me to lend you a shoulder to lean on?

This time, Lin Ye could clearly sense the change in Nightingale. While she wasn't a completely different person before and after entering the dream, the difference wasn't significant. Although everyone was somewhat dismissive, believing Nightingale was simply tired, Hibiscus took her back to her room to rest, while Flash went to check on her. Lin Ye, however, didn't leave but waited for Flash at the entrance of the sanatorium.

Five minutes later, Shining didn't come out, but Nearl did. She was a little surprised to see Lin Ye still waiting. After thinking for a while, she walked towards Lin Ye.

"Is there anything else?" Lin Guang asked Lin Ye.

Lin Ye looked at Lin Guang, hesitating whether to bring up Nightingale. After all, his relationship with Lin Guang was still somewhat awkward, with many misunderstandings that, although resolved, were far from being at the point of complete trust. Just as he was about to shake his head, Lin Guang spoke again: "If it's about Liz, then come with me. I'd like to talk to you about it too."

After saying that, she didn't give Lin Ye a chance to refuse and walked directly towards the office building.

Lin Ye looked at Lin Guang's back with some surprise, hesitated for a moment, and then followed him.

“I can guess what you want to say.” Lin Guang walked ahead of Lin Ye. “You want to tell Shining about Liz’s changes, am I right?”

"You noticed it too?"

“Anyone who isn’t too oblivious should be able to sense it.” Nearl glanced back at Lin Ye and said meaningfully, “Shining isn’t that oblivious.”

"You mean Shining figured it out too?"

"I already noticed it yesterday."

Lin Ye immediately became angry: "Then why didn't you tell me? Instead you told me that Liz was just tired?"

"Why should I say it? You clearly realized it yourself."

“But I thought it was just my imagination,” Lin Ye said. “Since everyone has noticed, I shouldn’t use my ability on Liz today.”

Nearl stopped in her tracks. By then, they had arrived in front of the office building, where passing operatives were watching Nearl and Lin Ye with great curiosity.

“That’s why Shining didn’t want to tell you, isn’t it?” Under the sunlight, Nearl’s golden hair and eyes shone brightly. “In your eyes, Liz’s changes are malignant, but in our eyes, especially in Shining’s eyes, Liz’s changes are not malignant. In fact, they are enough to show that your abilities are gradually changing and saving Liz.”

Lin Ye was stunned.

"Can't understand?" Lin Guang looked around, then looked up. "I remember your office is on the fourth floor, right? Let's go there and talk. Don't just stand there like an idiot."

Lin Ye nodded silently, then walked past Lin Guang and led the way for her.

While waiting for the elevator, he couldn't help but ask Nearl, "Why do you think Liz is getting better? Didn't you see what she was like just now? She just now..."

“She’s lost,” Nearl said. “We’ve all seen it. Liz will be like this for the next couple of days. It’s because of this loss that she’ll start to think.”

The elevator doors opened, and Lin Guang stepped inside, followed by Lin Ye.

“I still don’t understand what you mean,” Lin Ye said to Lin Guang. “Kal’tsit told me that if Liz shows any abnormalities, the experiment should be stopped immediately.”

“Kal'tsit can command the obedience of 99 percent of Rhodes Island, but Shining is an exception,” Nearl said calmly. “You’ve seen Shining’s attitude towards Liz; once she’s made up her mind, no one can change it. And even if you tell Kal'tsit about Liz’s change, she won’t see it as a bad thing.”

Lin Ye was stunned: "Why?"

“Dr. Lin Ye,” Lin Guang said softly, “Liz is now an adult.”

"so what?"

“A grown woman’s mind shouldn’t be filled only with desserts and people she wants to depend on.” Lin Guang stared at Lin Ye. “That’s the mind of a little girl, and the most innocent little girl at that. But Liz is no longer a little girl. She has been through far too much. In fact, she matured a long time ago, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to survive that cruel war. It’s just that she got sick, and that illness took everything away from her.”

Lin Ye fell silent.

“Dr. Lin Ye, I’ve always owed you an apology. If it weren’t for you, Liz wouldn’t be the person she is today,” Lin Guang said slowly. “But Liz is still a long way from being ‘fully healed,’ and her treatment is far from over. Although I love Liz now, this innocent little girl who’s always thinking about desserts, I have to admit that Liz is incomplete. The real Liz, the Liz who survived the brutal Sarkaz civil war, hasn’t returned to us yet.”

Lin Ye had nothing to say.

“Actually, we weren’t sure before whether your abilities could bring the real Liz back.” The elevator doors opened, but neither of them rushed out. Nearl continued, “But yesterday, after you discovered the ‘secret passage’ in the dream, we saw a shadow of the Liz from the past in the current Nightingale, albeit only for a short time. And we just confirmed it again; it really happened. Now we have reason to believe that when you escape the prison with the Liz from the dream, the real Liz will also return to our side.”

Lin Ye felt his lips were a little dry: "So, is Liz... Nightingale going to be abandoned now?"

Nearl sighed: "I was afraid you'd think that way. You should know that Kal'tsit gave Liz a potion, right?"