Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

"Boss, playing like this will cost extra!"

Faced with the approaching queen insect, Zi was still preoccupied with his salary. He dodged the lava eruption and quickly caught up with the others.

A group of people were desperately fleeing ahead, while the mother insect behind them was clearly filled with hatred and was relentlessly pursuing them.

Mostima braced himself with one hand on a rock about half a person's height in front of him, flipped over the obstacle, and then frantically shook his hand as he was burned.

She turned to look at Qi Yan and cried out:

"They promised to help me catch Originium Bugs, so why are we the ones getting caught by them instead?"

"Who would have thought that Brother Jie's kitchen knife would break!" Qi Yan exclaimed in frustration. "Brother Jie, I'm sure you bought this knife from Koizumi. I'm going to give it a terrible review when we get back!"

"As expected of the boss, he even guessed that."

Jie caught up with the group at a leisurely pace, falling behind at the very back of the line, his expression somewhat mournful: "I didn't bring my own set of knives, so I bought new ones in Siesta, which cost quite a bit of money."

"Can this expense be reimbursed, boss?"

Qi Yan said without turning his head, "Go find the doctor."

The doctor paused for a moment to think during the run, then calmly said:

“If you go to the store in this situation, they will definitely say that kitchen knives cannot be used to handle live ingredients, so we have to find another way.”

For example, we could storm into the company's headquarters, pin the owner to the table, and chop him with his kitchen knife to see if he panics. If he panics, it means he's lying; if he doesn't, we're not at a loss.

"At a time like this, let's just ignore the knife seller, okay?" Fiameta was getting a little frustrated.

Everyone turned to look at Fiametta, and in unison, spread their hands and said:

"So what do you think we should do now?"

"Find a way to kill this Originium bug!" Fiameta roared. "Qi Yan, why don't you just pounce on it and bite it? You said you didn't bring any Originium, but isn't it covered in Originium?"

"You're going to eat it raw? You didn't even give me any wasabi?"

Qi Yan ducked to avoid a ball of lava flying towards him, his face full of disgust.

Mostima frowned and pondered for a long time before offering his suggestion:

"These infected creatures are clearly classified into different levels, so as long as we find a creature of a higher rank, we can subdue it."

Logically, if there's a female insect, there should be a male. Why don't we turn back and go deeper into the volcano to find her mate?

"Then it and its husband team up to sandwich us from nine-tenths cooked to a complete burnt mess?" the doctor immediately questioned.

Ceylon lay in Fiameta's arms, her face full of anxiety, and said:

"Although it is the queen worm, the volcanic Originium worms do not follow a one-male-one-female system, but rather a queen ant system. There is only one queen worm in a territory, and it is the highest-ranking creature in this volcano!"

"Oh ho, then there's no hope. Just wait to die." Mostima gave up on the spot.

At this moment, Qi Yan suddenly stopped, clenched his right fist and slammed it heavily into his palm, exclaiming in surprise:

"Although we don't have any male insects here, we do have a male wolf!"

“Are you talking about yourself?” Mostima gasped. “A person can’t, or at least shouldn’t.”

Qi Yan rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay attention to Mostima's teasing, and turned to shout at the air:

"Big White, time to get to work!"

Inside the cave, all was quiet, save for the furious roars of the queen insect that drew ever closer from behind.

Everyone looked at Qi Yan as if he were mentally challenged, watching him talk to thin air.

Jie scratched his hair, which had become slightly curly from the heat, and said with concern:

"The boss must be stunned by the grilling, he won't forget to pay me, will he?"

Fiameta stopped in his tracks, hoisted Ceylon onto his shoulder, and rushed forward to hoist the crazed Qi Yan onto his other shoulder.

Only the professor stroked his chin thoughtfully, then suddenly realized:

"So your ancestor was called Da Bai. What a common name. It makes me want to make a 'sucking' sound."

Qi Yan ignored the doctor's mockery, dodged Fiameta's hand, and continued shouting at the air:

"Are you even capable, you little rascal? You can't even be bothered to blow a breath, you lazy dog. Weren't you eager to come out and gnaw on the natural disaster last time I called you out, you greedy dog!"

The expressions on everyone's faces grew increasingly strange.

Mostima didn't doubt that Qi Yan was genuinely calling for help, but she still couldn't help but lean closer to the Doctor and whisper, "..."

"Does Qi Yan usually ask for favors like this?"

"There's nothing we can do; when a lunatic meets a god, both of their thought processes are a bit off," Dr. Rui commented.

The mother insect's roars continued to draw near, and her enormous body rapidly magnified in everyone's eyes.

The scorching heatwave distorted the air and surged forth.

Seeing that the heatwave was about to engulf everyone, Ceylon gritted his teeth and opened his small parasol in an attempt to resist it.

At the critical moment, a cold wind appeared out of nowhere in the cave.

The howling of the cold wind sounded like a helpless sigh.

In an instant, the world before everyone's eyes was tinged with blue and white, the dim cave became brighter, frost spread, engulfing the black stone walls, freezing the molten lava, and turning the volcano into a world of ice and snow.

Chapter 208 Qi Yan is preparing for another extraordinary event!

Tourists in Siesta city braved the scorching sun, even those dressed in revealing swimwear, and still tried their best to avoid direct sunlight.

The street vendors were so busy they were covered in sweat, and they went through several towels to wipe their sweat.

"This weather is awful. Siesta has never been this hot in previous years, has it?"

A male tourist complained casually while waiting for his food.

"A regular customer, boss." The vendor exhaled a breath of hot air and said with a wry smile, "I've lived in Siesta for so many years, and this year is definitely the hottest one I've ever had!"

The male tourist raised his hand to shield his head from the sun, squinting as he gazed at the distant volcano.

"If this keeps up, I won't come to Siesta next year. I'll go to Dosoles for vacation. It's more expensive there, but the things to do are much more exciting than in Siesta... Hmm?"

"Boss, your snacks... Boss?"

The vendor handed the prepared food to the male tourist, only to find that the tourist seemed not to hear him, staring intently at the distant volcano.

He was a little confused. He followed the male tourist's gaze and then froze, not even realizing that the food in his hand had fallen to the ground.

A sudden cold front swept across the city of Siesta.

Everyone couldn't help but shiver, instinctively looking up in the direction from which the cold front was coming, and then, in unison, they all froze in place.

The entire city of Siesta fell silent.

To their astonishment, Siesta's iconic volcano, covered in frost, had been completely transformed into a snow-capped mountain.

The doctor suddenly sneezed, his entire body covered in frost just like a volcano, and he curled up into a ball, shivering.

The rest of the people in the cave, though not shivering from the cold, were covered in frost.

Qi Yan shook his head, brushing the frost off his hair, and patted the air with satisfaction:

"Well done. This time, I didn't need to remind you specifically; you knew to avoid the Doctor and the others."

Upon hearing this, the doctor and the others felt like crying but dared not complain. They could only force a smile and nod repeatedly to thank the air beneath Qi Yan's hand.

Qi Yan ignored everyone's reactions and looked up at the mother insect not far away.

At this moment, the mother insect was no longer furious. The magma flowing all over her body had extinguished and solidified, turning into a hard black shell.

The mother insect's enormous body trembled visibly, and when faced with Qi Yan's gaze, it shrank back, revealing obvious fear.

"Don't be afraid, little one, I won't eat you... at least not until you're clean."

Qi Yan walked forward with a smile, raising his hand to try to touch the mother insect's shell, but thinking about the nature of this substance, he ultimately withdrew his hand.

The mother insect's large body twitched twice, emitting a pitiful hiss.

Qi Yan didn't understand, but still showed an expression of agreement and whispered:

“I understand, I understand everything. Your homeland was destroyed by bad people. You just wanted to lead your people to expand their territory and help them survive better.”

I'm here to seek justice for you. Come with me, and I'll take you to get revenge.

The mother insect clearly possessed a high level of intelligence, as she understood Qi Yan's words. Her enormous body swayed, as if a human were shaking their head in an attempt to refuse.

Qi Yan understood: "Since you agree, then don't hesitate any longer, come with me!"

The mother insect's enormous body seemed to be blown into place by the white giant again, freezing her in place.

Faced with the somewhat clueless female insect, Qi Yan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a benevolent smile:

"What, do you disagree?"

The mother insect let out a mournful cry and obediently lay down on the ground, expressing her submission.

Qi Yan nodded with satisfaction.

The others shook off the frost and curiously gathered around the mother insect, examining it from head to toe.

At this moment, the terrifying magma on the mother insect's body extinguished, and its dark appearance made it look somewhat silly and endearing.

The doctor looked around and suggested:

"Let's give it a name. Otherwise, if you adopt it and it's still called Eyjafjalla the Grudge Bug when you get back to Rhodes Island, you'll probably get chased and hit by the little lamb with its staff."

“Let’s call it Pompeii,” Qi replied immediately.

The doctor and the others nodded, without saying anything more.

Ceylon, however, had a strange expression. After hesitating for a moment, he asked:

Are you really going to keep it as a pet?

This little guy... the living environment isn't so easy to simulate. Staying away from a volcanic environment for too long can affect its health.

"Don't worry, we have Eyjafjalla on Rhodes Island. Feeding her fireballs in our spare time is a piece of cake."

Qi Yan thumped his chest loudly, while still reminiscing about his previous failure in the Chernobog region:

"After I get back this time, I will immediately submit an application for a different rank to Kal'tsit. I want to go from a Special Agent to a Vanguard Agent, and from an Executioner to a Tactician. Bean Sprout, Muirseth, they will all be my subordinates!"

The professor rolled his eyes and mercilessly retorted:

"You should figure out how to pay for the little guy's food first."

Qi Yan: "..."

He glanced down at Pompeii, then turned to look at Ziya, and said earnestly:

"How about we make it into sashimi when we get back? I've never eaten such a big Originium Bug before."

Pompeii immediately began to tremble violently as if it had switched to vibration mode, emitting rapid hisses as if trying to beg Qi Yan for mercy.

Mostima, overwhelmed with sympathy upon seeing this, shoved Qi Yan aside and glared at him angrily, saying:

"How can you bear to eat such a cute little thing? I say it has to be steamed!"

Pompeii's heart, which had just been lifted, instantly plummeted to the bottom.

It felt its insect life was shrouded in darkness. Had it known this would happen, it would have preferred to hide in the obsidian mine deep within the volcano and die from overeating rather than come out and provoke these devils.

In the end, it was Fiameta, the only conscience in the team, who couldn't stand it anymore and angrily rebuked Qi Yan and Mostima, finally calming the two down.

After chatting and laughing for a while, the group decided not to linger in the cold cave and began their return journey with their newly acquired pets.

Ceylon, holding a small parasol, used Originium Arts to soothe Pompeii's wounds, prompting Pompeii to affectionately try to rub against her.

As a result, Ceylon's face stiffened, and she pressed the small parasol firmly against Pompeii, already determined that the first thing she would do when she got back was to have her father order a new parasol-shaped spellcasting medium.

Amidst laughter and playful banter, the group successfully left the cave and returned to the outside world.

Then they stared in disbelief at the snow-covered mountains and forests outside.

"This is... Siesta?" Ceylon's little parasol fell to the ground. She turned around and looked at the snow-capped mountains behind her, her mouth agape. "Is Siesta going to be turned into a winter tourist city from now on?"

Qi Yan scratched his head, trying his best to salvage the situation for Da Bai, and dryly defended himself:

"Look on the bright side, at least you won't have to worry about volcanic eruptions anymore, and you can even develop a brand new snow mountain speed skiing project. You'll make a fortune, okay?"

“Your idea is good, but first explain it to the law enforcement teams that are rushing over.”