Ark Traveler, I want to take a day off today too

"Hey, hey, hey... That's not what I meant. I just wanted to find out more about the situation." The little girl felt a little aggrieved when she heard this, and she started to defend herself, but the other party didn't intend to go easy on her, and the anger in her tone became even stronger:

"I'm going to fight you murderers!"

A bag of rotten vegetable leaves flew into the air, and at the same time, a figure rushed out from the crowd and ran towards the girl! The speed was so fast that the people around didn't even notice anything. They even thought it was just a gust of wind blowing past!

"Hey, young man, don't be impulsive!" Ronan was about to call out to the young man who caught his eye, but for a moment he couldn't remember the young man's name. When he came to his senses, both the Victorian soldier and the young man were gone.

'I can only pray that the boy can return safely...If possible, I might be able to let him join our party.'

034. It’s never easy

Fengpi, who originally thought that it was just ordinary residents causing trouble, realized that she was wrong when the wind approached - that speed and force were not something that ordinary people could do. Even if you let Fengpi do it herself, she would not dare to guarantee that she could reach such a speed in such a short distance!

"Am I going to die?" This was the girl's first reaction, but the moment the 'killer' touched her, Bagpipe realized that the other party did not seem to have this intention - the fist that was enough to break her sternum and shoulder only lightly touched her forehead.

The other hand gently embraced her waist. For some reason, Fengpi's first reaction was what her mother had told her before: "Before you get married, don't have too much physical contact with the opposite sex."

Then the girl felt that her body had become part of the wind and was floating up, followed by a howling wind. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in an alley that could be said to be deserted. Oh, there were still people there. In the corner there was a blonde girl in casual clothes holding a package.

Well, judging from the horns on her head, she is also a Vaifan, and her temperament is much better than the silly girl in front of Lin Lei. Just when Fengpi was about to open her mouth to question this stranger, her mouth was blocked by the stranger's hand.

“First, to make sure I don’t find the wrong person, I have to ask you a few questions before you speak.” Linley’s voice echoed faintly throughout the alley. “And that Victorian soldier in plain clothes over there, don’t even think about running away.”

"Believe it or not, I can expose your identity with just one sentence, and then you will have to eat rotten eggs."

“Sir…how did you know I was a soldier?” The blonde girl stopped walking—not because Linley’s words were effective, but because the man was holding a hand cannon in his other hand that was almost as thick as her forearm.

“You can tell from your posture and your eyes… You can stand still for a moment until I finish my questions.” Linley said as he twirled the thorn in his right hand. At the same time, he turned his head and exchanged silent looks with Fengpi.

"Miss Soldier... May I ask if your name is Fiona Yang, and your code name in the army is Bagpipe."

The hunter loosened his hand, and Bagpipe's face was full of shock: "How did you know this? Can you tell from the way I stand and the look in my eyes?"

“What a silly girl.” Linley added silently in his heart, and then he spread his hands and said with a hint of helplessness: “These are what your former roommates told me. Besides, I’m from Rhode Island.”

'My former roommate....'

Suddenly, a blue-haired, red-eyed dragon lady with a sullen face appeared in the girl's mind. "You know Chen Chen!" The wariness in her eyes suddenly disappeared, and turned into a warm welcome:

“Wait… you said you were from Rhodes Island…” The girl tilted her head and looked at Linley from head to toe: “You’re not from Lateran, but you’re holding a pistol. You must be the scumbag Dredger that Chen Chen was talking about, right?”

“I’m Dredger, but I’m not a scumbag.” Linley subconsciously retorted, “I call that fraternity… can that be described as scum?”

At this time, the blonde girl standing next to him also spoke: "Are you from Rhodes Island? But I have never seen you in that office?"

“Oh? You’ve been to the Rhodes Island office in Hill County? That’s a little beyond my expectation. You must know Oliver, but it’s a pity that guy can’t use a bow or a sword. You’ve let this city down.” Linley raised his eyebrows. “I came from outside. I have something to do here.”

Then the hunter said a fact in this alley that made Bagpipe frown - I don't know if you soldiers have noticed that the radio and other equipment here are no longer usable. In a sense, all the news in this city is not easy to spread.

"Impossible! I just saw the colonel communicating via radio before I came out!"

“You’ll know if you try it yourself… At least Rhodes Island’s communicator is no longer able to make any sound, otherwise we wouldn’t have rushed here from such a long distance.” As Linley spoke, he looked at the blonde girl hiding in the corner.

"What do you call it?"

"Jenny, I'm a guard of honor of the Victorian Army of Hill County... You can just call me Jenny." Jenny waved at the two of them and said, "If you want to have a good talk, I know a good place. Come with me."

...Hill County Rhode Island Office...

Outcast looked helplessly at Huang who was hugging her warmly:

"You guys came so quickly. I've been here for only a few hours and you're here."

"After all, we haven't received any news from the office here for more than a week." Huang said as he looked at the Rhodes Island operators who were playing cards: "Oliver, Shredder and Will, I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you doing recently?"

The middle-aged Rhodes Island operator who was leading the group stood up and shook hands with Huang. “We are fine, but this city may soon be in trouble... Will and I have explored the city in the past few days... Almost all radio-related equipment is unusable.”

"The radio in the restaurant can only listen to local channels." Oliver said as he looked at the white rabbit leaning against the door: "And Huang, the one behind you is..."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce Outcast to you." Huang patted Shuangxing on the shoulder very skillfully: "This is Shuangxing, and she is also a member of our rescue team this time."

"Frost Star, I know you... You are from Dredger, right?" Then the old lady quickly walked up to the girl and stretched out her hand: "I thought many people would come, but I didn't expect it would be you."

"This is Kal'tsit's order. He always listens to her." White Rabbit shook hands with the other party. "Besides, my coming here means..."

"That Draco is here too, right?" Outcast said with a smile on his face. "It looks like this little city is going to be bustling no matter what."

"But if possible, I still hope to simply end this mission." Shuangxing lowered his eyes slightly, "But the missions we are responsible for are often never so easy."

035. Tara

“Then what is the reason for you to come to this Little Hill County, Miss Bagpipe?” Linley propped up his head and looked around the house, which looked a little old but the floor and table were well cleaned.

Fengpipe hesitated for a long time after hearing Linley's question. After all, this matter was a military secret in a sense. Could he really tell the other party? Although Chen Chen had written in his previous letter that most of the important matters could be discussed with this Deruijie, he still didn't know what this person was like.

"Well..."

"Forget it, if it's hard to say, then forget it. Let's talk about something else."

Seeing the girl's expression of "I'm in trouble", Lin Lei naturally didn't want to ask any more questions. After all, as an outsider, he couldn't ask too much about the military affairs. However, he could talk more about the situation in this city with these two "locals"!

Linley then lifted the table and said, “Can I ask why the residents here are so hostile to soldiers like her?”

"Because that's District 17, basically, except for Captain Kelly, who used to live here... basically all the soldiers in Hill County are unwilling to go there." Jenny then explained in a low voice:

"Especially recently there have been several attacks on our soldiers in this area, so the situation in this area has been very tense..."

"Attack? But aren't they people of Victoria?"

Why would the existence they were responsible for protecting have friction and conflict with them? A big question mark suddenly appeared in Bagpipe's head, which could be called wise but foolish: "Could it be that they think they are not Victoria's subjects?"

"That's the problem." Jenny smiled bitterly, "Miss Bagpipe, do you know what Hill County was called before?"

But before Fengpipe could speak, Linley, who was leaning back in his chair, had already given the answer. After all, before coming to Hill County, Kal'tsit had shown him all the information related to this city.

“Tara, that’s the name, right? And the one who rules this area is a man called King Gael, Draco. It seems that the people here still don’t consider themselves a part of Victoria~” Linley narrowed his eyes. Somehow, he remembered the Tara man named Ronan.

Compared to other residents who had deep sorrow and anger in their eyes...his eyes did not have much such emotion, but calculation occupied the majority. Well, it seems that I will have to have a good talk with the big brother who gave me the rotten vegetable leaves later.

“Mr. Dredger, you are right.” Jenny’s gentle voice brought Linley back from his thoughts. “We, Vaifan, haven’t always lived here, but we are all citizens of Victoria now.”

Bagpipe then sighed, "If everyone thought this way, many conflicts wouldn't happen... and these conflicts, could they really have something to do with the ghost army?" The girl's whisper immediately confused Jenny at the side:

"Ghost? What ghost?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Bagpipe waved her hands, but at the same time she realized that there was another person present and this person was quite interested in the news!

“Mr. Dredger, please don’t ask about the ghost army at this time! It would be bad if you drag irrelevant people into this!” Bagpipe’s eyes revealed this message, and Linley sighed.

"When you are already in the center of this storm, how can there be any innocent people?" However, because he still had something to ask of the bagpipe, the hunter decided to help change the topic. At the same time, he also asked another more important piece of news to him:

"Ms. Jenny, you have been here for so long... Have you heard any rumors about Draco?"

"Drak? Didn't I hear that this race died out 20 years ago? I have heard that a Drak appeared in Ursus, but I don't know if it's true or not." Jenny was stunned for a moment. "But I can recommend someone to you about the rumors in this place. She is also my good friend... I'm sure she knows all these local legends!"

“If it’s possible, thank you very much.” Linley nodded, and the lady guard also stood up.

"If you two have anything else to talk about, please continue. But remember to turn off the lights before leaving here... My time is almost up. If I don't go back, my boss will give me trouble~"

"Then you should go back quickly. I will come to see you if I have the chance, Miss Jenny!" Bagpipe then waved his hand with a smile.

The next second after Jenny left, waves of frost surged in the room. The sudden low temperature made even Waifan, who had a strong physique, shiver. Then Bagpipe saw that everything, including the door, was sealed by ice!

"Mr. Dredger, what do you mean by this?"

“For the time being, no one and nothing will be able to interrupt our conversation.” Linley said as he pointed at Bagpipe and himself. “After all, you don’t want too many innocent people to be involved in this upcoming rebellion, do you, Miss Bagpipe?”

"As long as we can find the real culprit, we can stop this from happening!"

"But considering the non-violent and non-cooperative attitude of the residents here, can you really find the real culprit?" The hunter sneered, "But that's your business. I care more about the...ghost army that you mentioned, Miss Bagpipe."

The man crossed his legs and said, "Let's exchange information. Perhaps we can gain more. After all, the authorities are often confused, right? Don't worry, I have no interest in what you are investigating or what you want to find."

Countless black and red lightning flashed in those pupils, and there was an indescribable smile on the corners of his mouth.

Somehow, when she saw Linley’s confident smile, Fengdi’s mind was filled with what her best friend had written in the letter: “Cooperating with this guy won’t do any harm, except that he might get pissed off.”

"Then I will tell you, but you can't tell anyone else about this. If the captain finds out, I will be scolded later!"

"Don't worry, don't worry, we are friends! So what on earth is that ghost army? It can't really be a ghost, right?"

036. Who are we following?

“So your captain is still in the barracks?” Linley crossed his legs and squinted his eyes, wondering if he could use the help of the Tara natives to infiltrate the ghost army. At this time, Fengpipe slapped the table in dissatisfaction:

"Hey, we've talked about everything we can talk about, can you please thaw out... I'm so cold!"

“Your physical fitness isn’t very good, Vaifan? You can’t handle this temperature?” Linley snapped his fingers and the ice crystals in the room disappeared without a trace. There was no ice shards or running water. This technique really surprised the girl.

"How cool! Is this your Originium technique? It's really amazing~"

“It’s just so-so. But Bagpipe, have you ever seen an ice sculpture?” Linley chuckled as he turned off the lights in the room. It was time for him to go and meet up with his companions.

"Ice sculptures? I've never seen anything like that, but I heard that you can see them quite often in Ursus?"

“Is that so… Then you can look forward to it, because the season for viewing ice sculptures in Xiaoqiu County will soon arrive.” Linley opened the door and took one last look at the Vaifan girl. “Also, don’t tell your captain about our encounter today~”

"Of course I know this, you don't need to explain it!" Bagpipe retorted angrily. She was just a little silly, not stupid!

"Then I'll see you later, Miss Bagpipe. I think the day of our reunion won't be far away."

Before he finished speaking, Linley disappeared without a trace in front of Fengdi—just as he had come here, except that he had more important things to do than to immediately join up with the members of Rhodes Island—such as chatting with the guy named Ronan.

When Lin Lei walked out of the local clothing store carrying two boxes of clothes, the crowd that had gathered on the street to mourn and express indignation for the deceased disappeared, leaving only rotten vegetable leaves on the ground, proving that an unusual conflict had broken out between the local residents and the patrolling soldiers.

Oh, there are not only rotten vegetable leaves but also rotten eggs.

“Tsk tsk tsk, I have to say that this smell is not good.” Linley’s face showed a hint of confusion—of course, this was an act. After all, he could sense that somewhere in the corner of this street there was someone staring at him, examining him.

But not long after, a man in Xiaoqiu County's local attire came running over, and his face was full of anxiety: "Little brother, little brother, did the soldier embarrass you?"

The person who came was none other than Ronan. When Linley heard the voice, his bewilderment turned into a faint joy: “Ah! Big Brother, it’s you! I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“That Victoria soldier couldn’t do anything to me, but my clothes were torn by that guy… I just bought two sets of clothes from the nearby Tono Clothing Store.” Linley, whose accent and tone could be said to be that of a Tara native, immediately made Ronan, who was looking at him with scrutiny, relax.

Linley’s next words made the undercover agent from the Ghost Army clap his hands and applaud:

"Brother, what have we suffered? This is clearly our home, but we are bullied by those damn outsiders." The hunter even left two tears on his face, "Even...even, they are my brothers, how could they... "

“Little brother, little brother, don’t be sad... Come with me first. If we are discovered by those bastards, we may all be in trouble.” Ronan grabbed Lin Lei’s shoulder and walked towards another corner of the street.

Unlike the hut that Jenny had led them to before, the hut that Ronan led him into was quite large. The dim lighting and spider webs everywhere in the corners made Linley mistakenly believe that he had entered the alchemy hut of some crow witch.

“Uh…Brother…where is this place?” Linley looked at Ronan, who was rummaging around in front of the refrigerator, with a puzzled look on his face. After a long while, Ronan finally came over carrying two glass bottles.

"This is where I'm staying temporarily. Come to think of it, I haven't asked you what your name is, little brother." Ronan said as he skillfully pried open the lid of the glass bottle with the corner of the table, and the aroma of wine with a faint smell of wheat wafted out of the bottle.

"Here, it's yours."

It turned out to be wine, huh? And there was nothing weird stuffed in it. Lin Lei hesitated but soon he took the bottle and clinked his lips with the other party: "Brother Ronan, my name is Lin Lei-Yang, and my ancestors have been growing potatoes here for three generations."

“Then I’ll be bold enough to call you Brother Lin Lei.” Ronan nodded and started blowing into the beer bottle. Seeing this, Lin Lei drank the entire bottle of beer without hesitation.

"Haha, you are really magnanimous, brother... I won't beat around the bush with you, brother. We are all Tara people, right? Those bastards from Victoria have oppressed us for so many years... Have you ever thought about teaching them a lesson?"

“Of course I have. I’ve been dreaming for the past few months about whether I can go to Victoria’s military camp and blow up a big one for them!” Linley’s face was filled with ferocity. “I won’t hide it from you, brother. I’m planning on going to the camp of those bastards and blowing up their toilets in the next couple of days!”

"Then find an opportunity to hit their guards in the neck twice and avenge Barry and the others!"

The hunter's shocking words immediately made Ronan, who was originally planning to say "We two brothers will find a chance to steal their food", choke back his words. This kid is so cruel!

"But, brother, aren't you afraid of being caught?"

“Don’t worry, everyone has their own share of responsibility! If I really can’t escape, I’ll die with them!” Linley showed a selfless attitude. “I believe Tara’s brothers and sisters will avenge me and this land!”

"Hey, but if you do this, what will happen to your family and me?" Ronan looked extremely guilty: "Your plan is too dangerous! Let's put it this way, we will hold a party later... All Tara people will be there, and you can come too... This is our address."

Ronan handed out a small note while speaking: "But be careful not to be discovered by those Victoria beasts. Then we can work together to find a way to drive these guys out!"

“Big Brother, thank you!” Linley’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. “I didn’t expect you to trust me so much!”

Ronan, who had completely forgotten that they had only known each other for a few hours, hugged him tightly and said, "Of course, we are friends!"

037. Calculation

This drinking and secret conversation lasted until almost midnight. Although Ronan repeatedly wanted to keep this "young man" overnight, Lin Lei still left on the grounds that he had a younger sister to take care of at home.

"A gathering that belongs only to the people of Tara..."

Linley returned to the street he had come from. There were no vendors or pedestrians. The only lights on the street were flickering and the hunters were there. He could sense that Ronan was no longer staring at him. Perhaps he felt safe.