On the Ark.

"They just blew up the toilet?"

"Can we please stop talking about the toilet? The toilet didn't explode at all; the wall was just punctured."

“I can’t argue with your use of ‘that’,” Zilan shook her head helplessly. “But Lin Ye, although I don’t know why Skadi would be willing to become your assistant, she is indeed a very dangerous person. For your safety, it’s best to stay away from her. Moreover, her identity is too special. If you want to recruit her, you must get the consent of Dr. Kal’tsit. It has to be Kal’tsit, not Amiya.”

Lin Ye thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll wait for Kal'tsit to come back and tell her in person."

“You not only have to tell her, you also have to write an application and get her to sign it before I can approve it,” Zilan said.

"I will." Lin Ye thought he would write the application after returning. "When will Kal'tsit be back?"

Zilan replied, "About a week."

After receiving the reply, Lin Ye left. However, a week later, Kal'tsit did not return to Rhodes Island.

Two weeks later, there was still no news.

Until the third week...

In the sanatorium, Lin Ye opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Inside the room, Nightingale was slowly waking up. Hibiscus and Nearl were taking care of her, Flamebringer was recording data, and White Owl was sitting on the sofa with his computer, typing away, compiling all the information Lin Ye had provided over the past twenty days into data. Only Flash handed him a cup of hot water and asked him how he was doing.

Lin Ye said softly, "I've reached the ground."

Like a bomb suddenly detonated, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare blankly at Lin Ye. Only White Owl was still typing on the keyboard, but he also turned his head 180 degrees to look at Lin Ye.

"It took one hour and twenty minutes," the white-faced owl noted. "Now, let's calculate..."

"Wait." Shining stopped White Owl, still somewhat incredulous. "Are you sure we've reached the ground?"

Lin Ye nodded repeatedly.

For the next twenty days, he entered the Nightingale's dream once a day to explore the dungeon within. At first, he only knew the general route, but later he became very clear about which bucket contained water, which contained manure, and which contained food.

By the fifteenth attempt, the data collection was nearly complete. Subsequent attempts focused on exploring the secret passages to minimize the impact on Liz's mental state. Lin Ye's entry time into the dream was gradually increased, initially half an hour, then increasing by ten minutes each time.

These few times he entered the dream, he did nothing but rush through the dark passage. Finally, after an hour and twenty minutes, and more than twenty attempts, he successfully reached the end of the dark passage and opened the door at the end.

“Grassland.” Lin Ye asked Shining nervously for confirmation. “There are mountains and trees nearby. I went out at night, and there was a moon, but I didn’t see any Sarkaz stationed there.”

The white-faced owl looked at Lin Ye: "Is this all the information we have on the ground?"

Lin Ye said helplessly, "I had just come out of the secret passage, less than a minute, when you woke Liz up, so I could only see a rough outline."

Nearl asked Shining, "Is the ground as he described?"

Shining nodded slightly: "Now that we've seen the ground, there's nothing left to question."

"Can't you remember the general terrain over there?"

Shining shook his head: "When I found Liz, that dungeon had been almost completely destroyed by the war, but the dungeon in Liz's dream should still be intact and unaffected by the war."

Lin Guang hesitated for a moment: "Should we have Lin Ye go to the surface again tomorrow to investigate the situation? After all, it doesn't seem normal that there are no guards at the exit of the secret passage."

White Owl said, "White Owl thinks this is perfectly normal. Because the dream world is not the real world. If Miss Liz thinks there are no guards outside the dungeon, then there are no guards outside the dungeon in the dream. It's like if Miss Liz thinks that leaving the dungeon will bring her liberation, then as long as we successfully get her out of the dungeon, she will really be liberated."

Everyone agreed that the white-faced owl made sense.

Shining looked at Nightingale, who was bowing her head and looked very tired. As Lin Ye stayed in the dream for longer, the burden on Nightingale seemed to grow heavier and heavier, and her mental state deteriorated.

“We can’t delay any longer.” Shining stroked Nightingale’s hair, then turned to White Owl and asked, “With this information, can you devise a plan?”

The White Owl replied, "The White Owl thinks there's no problem. If the goal is to get Miss Liz out of the secret passage, the White Owl can devise a complete plan tonight."

“In that case,” Shining said, then looked at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye already understood what Shining meant.

"Lin Ye, I'm entrusting tomorrow to you," Shanling said softly. "Tomorrow might be the final treatment."

Lin Ye looked at Nightingale, who was so tired she was about to fall asleep, took a deep breath, and then nodded.

"I understand."

Chapter 127 I'm So Hungry

Tomorrow should be the last one.

On his way back to the dormitory, Lin Ye felt a heavy heart. For the past twenty days, he had barely spoken a proper word to Nightingale. Nightingale's changes were becoming increasingly apparent, something everyone could sense; she was slowly getting better. She no longer insisted on having pineapple buns every morning, remembered the names of Hibiscus and Flame Melt, and wasn't as afraid of strangers as she had initially. However, she mostly looked exhausted and still couldn't remember anything from the past. But everyone believed that as long as Lin Ye could pull Nightingale out of that nightmare, everything would be alright.

Yes, everything will be alright.

Even though it was dinnertime, he had no appetite and went straight back to his dorm.

While in the elevator, Lin Ye kept thinking about why he had these emotions. Why wasn't he happy about Nightingale's gradual improvement? Wasn't this his duty? Wasn't this the reason Shining brought him to Rhodes Island?

Although he agreed with Shining's point that Nightingale shouldn't be allowed to remain "sick," he still found it hard to accept. Knowing this now, he should have studied medicine properly in his past life and become a professional doctor, instead of being a half-baked amateur like he is now, though he wasn't sure if that would have even helped.

After standing in the elevator for a long time, a disgruntled voice rang in his ear: "Hey, can't you really see me?"

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and found a familiar demon standing in the elevator.

Ifrit? What are you doing here?

“I’ve been in here the whole time, okay?” Ifrit rolled her eyes and said irritably, “You didn’t even press the floor button when you came in, you just stood in the corner like an idiot. Aren’t you a psychiatrist? How did you get so crazy?”

Ifrit was dressed casually in her usual clothes, wearing headphones. She must have just come down from the elevator, and Lin Ye didn't see her when he entered the elevator, preoccupied with Nightingale.

There was nothing embarrassing about being caught daydreaming. Lin Ye asked Ifrit, "Then why don't you go out? Are you just going to stay here and watch me?"

Seemingly having touched a nerve with Ifrit, she became enraged. She raised her hand, and crimson flames shot from her palm, instantly raising the temperature in the elevator. She threatened Lin Ye, "You bastard, do you want to be burned?!"

Lin Ye immediately raised his hand: "Let's talk this out, don't play with fire in the elevator."

"Apologize to me!"

How should I apologize?

“Just say, ‘Lady Ifrit, I was wrong.’” Ifrit said smugly.

“Okay.” Lin Ye nodded. “Lady Ifrit, if you play with fire again, I’ll tell your mother.”

"You bastard!" Ifrit gritted her teeth, but she couldn't do anything to Lin Ye, so she could only withdraw the flames and said angrily, "A grown man like you, all you do is complain, what kind of man are you? If you have the guts, fight me! Haven't you been practicing your sword lately?!"

"Fine, let's fight then." Lin Ye said with some disdain, "If you've got the guts, don't start a fire, or I'll beat you to death."

"you!"

And so, Lin Ye and Ifrit argued for a full five minutes in the elevator, ultimately ending in Ifrit's defeat. There was no way around it; their upbringings were quite different. Lin Ye had grown up in an era rife with online trolls; dealing with a brat like Ifrit, even without using profanity, was a sure thing. Of course, he didn't dare use profanity or say anything too harsh. What if he really angered Ifrit and she set him on fire? Who would he complain to then?

It was necessary to leave Ifrit with the illusion that "although she couldn't win this time, she would definitely win next time." In the end, Ifrit left the elevator with a little resentment, and Lin Ye felt much better after arguing with Ifrit. He thought that if Ifrit didn't set the fire, she would really be a tool for relieving boredom.

As Lin Ye pressed the floor button, he suddenly realized that he hadn't told Ifrit about meeting Saria, and he'd also forgotten to tell Ifrit about Saria's request for him to take her away. But there was nothing he could do about it; after all, he hadn't seen Ifrit much in the past month. The little devil seemed to be a homebody, staying in her dorm all day and not having to go out to work, so he hadn't made a point of looking for Ifrit.

She wanted to chase after Ifrit and tell her, but the elevator doors closed and it was too late. She could only save it for another time.

When Lin Ye returned to the dormitory, Ansel wasn't there yet; he'd probably gone to have dinner. With no appetite and not knowing what to do, Lin Ye simply lay down on the bed, ready to sleep.

After mastering his dream-entering abilities, Lin Ye developed a resistance to sleep, always feeling that closing his eyes would transport him to a strange world. Especially in the last twenty days, whenever he closed his eyes, he felt as if he would appear in a dimly lit dungeon and begin mechanical work. This caused his already poor sleep quality to relapse into insomnia, lasting for over ten days. He felt dizzy and disoriented during the day, and coupled with his own dreams, he found it difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality.

I took a nap in bed, and when I woke up it was almost ten o'clock.

Lin Ye got out of bed because he hadn't eaten anything that night and was feeling quite hungry. He noticed that Ansel hadn't returned yet, probably because the medical department had some work that required him to work overtime. Working overtime wasn't unusual on Rhodes Island.

He glanced at the time and guessed it was almost time for the cafeteria's late-night snack. Since he hadn't eaten dinner, he figured he'd grab a bite to tide him over before going to practice his swordsmanship with Yato—a routine he did every day. But to Lin Ye's surprise, as soon as he stepped out of his dorm room, he saw a white figure crouching by the door, which startled him.

"Liz?!" Lin Ye was even more surprised when he recognized the person. "What are you doing here?!"

The nightingale raised its head.

Nightingale was still wearing her white pajamas and shorts. But for some reason, she was only wearing one boot, with only a white knee-high sock on her other leg, which was already dirty. Actually, Nightingale's face was also a bit dirty, and there were some bloodstains, as if she had fallen somewhere.

"Pineapple bun." Nightingale looked up at Lin Ye and then said softly, "I'm so hungry."

Lin Ye was stunned.

Chapter 128 Taking You to Eat Pineapple Buns

"I'm so hungry?"

"Ah."

"What exactly happened?"

The nightingale tilted her head: "I tripped and fell."

"You fell?" Lin Ye bent down and saw that Nightingale's right knee was indeed scraped. He immediately became anxious. "How did you fall?"

"I fell while climbing through the window." Nightingale looked down at her legs. "My shoes are gone too."

Lin Ye felt a headache coming on: "So why did you climb out the window? Wait, did you sneak out?"

The nightingale turned its head away and did not answer.

Nightingale's condition felt both strange and familiar to Lin Ye, and he felt helpless. He could only help Nightingale up: "Let's go to my room and apply some medicine first, to prevent the wound from getting infected. By the way, can't you treat yourself?"

The nightingale replied, "I forgot my staff."

What could Lin Ye say? He could only take her back to the dormitory, then rummage through Ansel's drawer for medical alcohol, took a cotton swab, and squatted down in front of Nightingale: "I'll apply the medicine for you, it might hurt a little."

The nightingale said, "I am not afraid of pain."

She truly wasn't afraid of pain. When Lin Ye touched her wound with an alcohol-soaked cotton swab, she didn't make a sound, only looking at Lin Ye. After Lin Ye finished applying the medicine, she asked, "Pineapple Bun, why didn't you talk to me during the day?"

Lin Ye was stunned.

Nightingale hugged her legs. She hadn't reacted when the medicine was applied, but now her eyes held a helpless look: "Do you hate Liz?"

Lin Ye fell silent.

It wasn't that he didn't try to talk to the nightingale; in fact, he tried to talk to her every day, but he received very few responses.

"Pineapple bun," Nightingale said softly again, "I'm so hungry."

"Wait a minute." Lin Ye rummaged through his bedside table and pulled out a box of cookies, handing it to Nightingale. "This is all I have. Do you want some?"

Nightingale nodded and took the biscuit.

Lin Ye sat on Ansel's bed and looked at Nightingale: "Why did you climb out the window? If you wanted to see me, you could have just come directly."

"Hibiscus said she needs to get a good rest tonight," Nightingale mumbled between bites of a cookie. "So she can't go out."

"That's what she said?"