Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

A huge rock crashed down at his feet, the force of which sent him flying far away with a scream.

Inside the Duke's mansion, Mudrock waved away the stone golems he had just summoned, then turned to look at Allardy:

"I avenged you. Those people blew up your beloved garden, and I smashed them to pieces too."

Alder's shoulder was wrapped in bandages, and there was even a scar on her face.

Her gaze toward the mudstone was a mixture of gratitude and some complex emotions.

She casually remarked that her beloved garden, which she had cherished since childhood, had been destroyed, and this young Sarkaz woman stepped forward to avenge her, launching a powerful attack on her own kind.

"Thank you for your help, but the overall situation is more important. Let's make the best of a move and retreat as soon as possible."

Alder smiled bitterly, "This place is destined to be abandoned, but... no, it's nothing."

"It's just that the steam-powered mech in your attic can't be removed, right?"

Kroos suddenly popped out from the side, looking at Aldebaran with a wicked grin.

Aleide felt a little embarrassed after her thoughts were exposed:

“I know time is of the essence, and the safety of Rhodes Island and the Self-Defense Forces is more important. There are some things I should have let go of a long time ago.”

"No way, if you give it up, how can we do business?" Kroos's smile revealed her cunning nature. "I have a way to help you move the steam mech, but in exchange, you must let me study it carefully and allow me to make some modifications."

"I've been wanting to try combining the Columbia power armor with the Victoria steam armor for a long time. Aren't you even a little bit tempted?"

"Then is it still a steam-powered mech?" Alledie asked with a wry smile.

"So you disagree?" Kroos asked regretfully.

Alder did not rush to answer.

She turned her head to look at the team that was evacuating into the secret passage in order, and then focused her gaze on the attic where the steam-powered mechs were stored.

"Whatever you want, I don't really have the right to control it anyway."

Alde closed her eyes, as if recalling something, but in the end, all the emotions surging in her chest turned into a soft sigh.

"If you don't take control of it, who will?"

Qi Yan walked over from the direction of the garden carrying the Breath of Kings, and chuckled, "Are you suggesting we let Vina do it? She doesn't know how to operate that thing. You're the only one in our team who can operate a steam mech."

"What are you..."

Alde did not answer Qi Yan, but instead noticed the dirt on the Breath of Kings in his hand.

Vina walked up behind Qi Yan and said irritably:

"He said that the garden is very important to you, and you must leave a warning before you leave, telling Sarkaz to restore it to its original state, otherwise he will beat Sarkaz into flower mud to nourish the garden when he comes back next time."

I have no problem with any of that, but why use the breath of kings to write on the soil? Couldn't you have used something else? Are you really using it like a piece of scrap iron?

"Just tell me, is this thing any good or not?"

Qi Yan gestured with the breaths of the kings, then casually cut off a section of the railing beside him.

Although Vina couldn't sense any power from the Breath of Kings, its craftsmanship determined the sword's sharpness; the guardrail was cleanly and neatly cut in two, leaving a perfectly smooth cut.

Vina: "...It really works quite well."

Aleide watched the two arguing and was somewhat moved when she heard that Qi Yan had made another trip specifically for her garden.

"Thank you, I already owe you so much," Alde said gratefully.

"Don't be so polite with me. We're like family. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine."

Qi Yan brandished the sword's aura, its blade flashing past everyone's eyes, causing them to shrink back in fright.

"Do you say that to everyone you meet?"

A cold voice suddenly came from not far away.

Kal'tsit's eyes were like unyielding ice, coldly locking onto Qi Yan. As she walked, she took out the crystal formed from M3 from her pocket and played with it between her fingers.

M3's weak growl emanated from within the crystal, as if begging Qi Yan not to court disaster, or it would suffer the same fate.

Qi Yan swallowed hard and frantically looked to Amiya, who was following behind Kal'tsit, for help.

Amiya couldn't bear it, so she tugged at Kal'tsit's sleeve and pleaded on her behalf:

"Mr. Qi Yan is very tired right now. He needs to find something to keep his spirits up."

“Then let him sleep more.” Kal’tsit’s voice was noticeably gentler when speaking to Amiya. “This task is yours. From now on, Qi Yan must sleep 20 hours a day.”

"Won't that be a little insufficient?" Amiya asked worriedly.

"Amiya, have you betrayed us too?" Qi Yan exclaimed in shock.

Upon hearing this, Amiya's face tightened, and she said solemnly:

"I've always been on Dr. Kal'tsit's side, Mr. Qi Yan. If you continue to neglect your health like this, I'm going to get angry!"

"No, I'll just sleep, okay?" Qi Yan immediately deflated. "Then can you give me a lap pillow and sing me a lullaby?"

Amiya's expression immediately brightened, and she smiled sweetly.

"Of course, I also borrowed a violin from Alleide. I actually play musical instruments just like Miss Arturo."

Kal'tsit gently ruffled Amiya's hair, then turned to look at Qi Yan again, her expression instantly changing:

"On this land, even someone as free as you has times when you must be restricted. I did not reject the medical support team that Amiya and the Doctor transferred from Rhodes Island."

Qi Lin is in the group too. I hope you're fully prepared to welcome her; don't make us clean up your mess.

Chapter 658 Theresis: I'm so tired, I really want to retire.

Therese lowered her eyes, lost in her own thoughts.

A stack of documents lay quietly on the table in front of him, recording the turbulent events that had unfolded outside the city of Londinium during this period.

"The situation hasn't deviated from the plan, except for Qi Yan... sigh."

Life is tough, Therese sighed.

With Manfred captured, Theresa leads the barely completed airship out for testing, and Theresa finds herself without a single usable helper.

"The Carrion Eaters are busy on the front lines outside the city, the Shapeshifters are trying to infiltrate, and the Blood Demon... well, let's not talk about him."

Therese rubbed his temples: "Even the Pardoner is planning to leave the city. This time he is destined to make contact with Qi Yan. Hopefully, the Blood Demon's fate will serve as a warning to him."

Therese then turned her attention to other documents.

That list contained the resources and Sarkaz squads he had allocated, which were about to head to the Kazdel nursing home outside the city to provide support.

This is the only action that has brought Theresis any comfort so far.

Just as he was about to pick up the documents again for the umpteenth time to check for omissions and errors, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Therese abandoned her attempt to pick up the documents, and seeing Sarkaz enter through the door, she asked him:

"Is your operation to drive out Rhodes Island and the Self-Defense Forces over?"

“Yes, it’s over,” Sarkaz replied honestly.

He then fell silent, as if awaiting instructions.

Therese pursed her lips and reminded him:

Report the results to me.

"Yes!" Sarkaz was clearly nervous, and only dared to speak after receiving instructions. "After discovering Qi Yan's whereabouts, we immediately led men to follow him, found and surrounded the Duke of Cumberland's mansion, and then we used cannon fire to warn them."

As the Regent had predicted, they immediately retreated, and by the time we entered, the Duke's mansion was deserted.

After finishing his report, Sarkaz fell silent again.

Therese took a breath and pressed on:

Did they leave any message?

"Yes, they left some words."

Sarkaz maintained a question-and-answer approach, answering whatever Theresis asked and refusing to mention anything not asked.

Therese's fist hardened, and he said helplessly:

“Just tell me everything in one go, don’t just answer when I ask you questions.”

“…Regent, I…I can’t read,” Sarkaz said weakly.

Tracy: "..."

He picked up the water glass on the table and took a big gulp to calm the churning emotions in his chest.

Then Theresis took a deep breath:

“I didn’t assign a literate teammate to your squad.”

“He…he flew away,” Sarkaz exclaimed in horror.

Theresis: ?

This time, Sarkaz finally prevented Theresis from pressing him for answers, and proactively explained:

"He was hit by a boulder at his feet, and the impact sent him flying nearly ten meters away. Although he survived, he fell into a coma and will not wake up for a while."

I think he must have gone stupid from reading too much. He didn't even dodge when stones flew at him; he was just busy bragging to us. Is this the side effect of knowledge? It's terrifying.

Therese felt a tightness in her chest.

Sarkaz has lost yet another rare talent.

"Next time your companions are attacked from behind, remember to warn them while you're dodging."

Knowing the Sarkaz's temperament well, Theresis easily guessed what had happened. After giving them a lecture, she said wearily, "Protect that information and don't destroy it. Then find a literate Sarkaz to continue the mission."

This time, we must protect our companions; we cannot afford to run away in the face of danger.

Sarkaz readily agreed, then turned and dashed out of the room.

Therese stared at the wide-open door after the other person ran out, her brows furrowing into a deep frown.

“When Manfred was planning the nursing home, he forgot to reserve a space for a school… A school is a bit too much for the Sarkaz, so let’s start with a literacy class.”

Therese quickly added the idea to the documents at hand, then got up with a wry smile and went to close the door herself.

It was three hours later when the departing Sarkaz returned.

Looking at the panting Sarkaz standing before him as he pushed open the door, Theresis asked in confusion:

“I didn’t rush you. You don’t need to be in such a hurry. Besides, with the Sarkaz’s physique, you shouldn’t be this tired even if you ran all the way from the Duke’s mansion, right?”

“I ran around for three hours and found seven or eight literate Sarkaz, but there was one message that no one could understand.”

Sarkaz gasped, “They can only confirm that it really is writing, but according to them, it’s written so badly that few people besides the writer can understand it.”

However, later a clever person meticulously copied the characters drawn on the floral mud onto paper and asked me to deliver it to Your Majesty for your personal review.

"bring here."

Therese was also intrigued, wanting to know just how ugly the handwriting had to be to be unrecognizable, and who could write such ugly words.

A note was handed to Therese, who looked down at it, and then his brows furrowed more and more.

“'Garden'... these two words should be Garden, uh... I also recognized 'Sarkaz', and 'Flour Mud'... Could this be Qi Yan's message?”

Therese inexplicably saw a hint of Qi Yan in the unique tone of this message, and then his mind instantly cleared:

"Did you destroy something?"

"No, we just blew up a garden. What good is that?" Sarkaz said blankly.

"How is that garden now?" Therese asked in a deep voice.

Sarkaz scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.

"There was originally a bomb crater, but as more and more people ran around in the garden trying to decipher the text, some people got tired of it and pulled up all the flowers."

Tracy: "..."

He clutched his head, feeling a headache coming on, and missed Manfred more and more.

Even if Manfred wasn't there, the mercenary leader named Hedley would have been fine. In a sense, the two of them achieved a kind of pairing.

"Pass down the order: use the 'Life Spine' to quickly transport a batch of flowers. The garden must be filled with new flowers before Qi Yan returns."