Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

After all, the legend of Rhodes Island being a place where one could only enter and never leave had long been circulating in this land.

Compared to Qi Yan, Chen's concerns were more practical:

"Miss Qiu Bai, are you sure you want to leave these two cars to us?"

“After all, one of you is going back to Rhodes Island, and the other three are going to Laterano, which is a long journey,” Qiu Bai said with a faint smile. “We are just traveling around within the Great Yan territory, and we will always encounter villages and towns along the way to resupply.”

Wei Yanwu stepped forward and handed over a metal emblem:

"This is my token. If I encounter any difficulties with the government, it will be equivalent to me personally stepping in."

"Thank you, Lord Wei."

Qiu Bai did not refuse and readily accepted this item, which was enough to make all the officials of the Great Yan court envious.

Qi Yan and Wei Yanwu exchanged a glance, then Qi Yan took Qi Lin's hand and led her to Qiu Bai, while Wei Yanwu also pushed Chen forward.

The two said in unison:

"It's time to say goodbye, you three girls. We'll go back to the car and wait for you."

After saying that, the two of them turned tail and left.

Completely unaware of anything amiss, Chen bid a respectful farewell to Qiu Bai, only to turn around and find that Wei Yanwu had already gotten into the intact SUV.

Qi Yan continued to move supplies from the damaged off-road vehicle to another vehicle.

Chen, his face dark, demanded, "What are you doing?"

Qi Yan continued working: "This vehicle is too dilapidated and simply cannot carry so many supplies. It's reasonable for me to help you share the load, right?"

Wei Yanwu also chimed in:

"I developed a lingering injury from my fight with Ya last time, and my back can't handle any more jostling. Huijie, you can't bear to see me suffer, right?"

"Why do you think this car is so bumpy when you drive it?" Chen asked irritably.

Wei Yanwu and Qi Yan paused for a moment, then spoke in unison again:

"It's all Fang Xiaoshi's fault! He was driving!"

Fang Xiaoshi, standing next to Qiu Bai: ?

The next second, Qi Yan grabbed the supplies and climbed into the car.

Chen immediately turned to Qi Lin beside him for help: "You need to do something about your brother!"

Qi Yan waved to Qi Lin from the car: "No time to explain, get in!"

Seeing Chen's increasingly desperate look, Qi Lin shrugged at her, then ran over and jumped into the car.

"Hey!!!"

Amid Chen's furious shouts, the SUV made a perfect burnout start, kicked a mouthful of sand into Chen's mouth, and sped away.

Chapter 958 Sacrifice

The waves crashed onto the beach again and again, then retreated weakly, only to be swept up again by the next wave.

Outcast sat on a rock, quietly watching the waves crash beneath his feet.

Dario stood behind her, adjusting his hand cannon.

“Madam, now that you’ve determined that the enemy is hiding deep within the church, why don’t you just storm in?” Dario asked.

"According to Anita, after each hundred high tides in Saltwind, a lot of food would appear on the shore."

Looking at the waves, Outcast said, "When that time comes, the priests will appear on the shore and guide them to enjoy this gift from the sea. That will be the best opportunity to make their move."

“It sounds like they’re actually doing a good deed.” Dario’s praise was tinged with undisguised sarcasm.

"It would be a good thing if we didn't have to send a living person into the sea every time in exchange for food."

"Another sacrifice. These deep-sea churches are sometimes so lacking in originality."

"I just realized you have a great sense of humor."

Outcast couldn't help but laugh: "Does this kind of thing have to be updated to keep up with the times, with hundreds of different ways to die for the people of Saltwind to experience one by one?"

Dario: "..."

While he fell silent, Eleanor and Anita walked together from the city.

Anita seemed somewhat reluctant to get close to the sea, her steps appearing hesitant.

Elena was also a little downcast, and walked over to Dario and whispered:

“We’re back. This city is very hostile to outsiders. I just got scolded by an old lady.”

“Elena, Petra means no harm, she’s just sick,” Anita explained softly.

“Maybe…” Eleanor glanced at Anita, “but in my opinion, only you and that grandmother in this city are not sick.”

Does this junior judge have some strange quirk, that he defends the other party even after being insulted?

“What did you find, Eleanor?” Dario asked.

When her teacher asked, Elena quickly perked up and reported her findings:

"The people in this city are strange. Although I don't really like using that word to describe people, they really are like a herd of domesticated livestock."

Their human emotions have been completely worn away; they live empty lives here, never considering leaving or becoming self-reliant, simply waiting to obtain food according to some predetermined pattern to prolong their physical lives.

"So what are you planning to do?" Dario asked again.

Without hesitation, Elena replied, "Find the real culprit behind all this and bring them to justice!"

Dario gave a curt reply.

Having received her teacher's permission, Elena's previously somewhat downcast expression became noticeably more cheerful.

Outcast turned around with a smile, looked at the flustered little bird, and asked:

"So, once the real culprit is dealt with, will this city regain its vitality?"

Elena's excitement froze instantly.

“That’s something we should consider,” Dario said, somewhat protectively.

"Good good."

Outcast shrugged, indicating that he would not say anything more.

But Elena kept her question in mind and looked at her teacher with distress, not wanting to be so easily fooled.

Dario noticed Eleanor's gaze and gestured with his chin towards the waves:

"We need to think more. Sometimes, the enemy is not just an enemy. If they use their methods properly, they can become our help."

For example, the method they used to manage Saltwind City was to have them deliver food to Saltwind City one more time, and then eliminate them, so that Saltwind City could hold out until real aid arrived.

“I understand!” Elena’s eyes widened.

“You’d better really understand,” Dalio cautioned. “What we need to do now is not to forcibly change the landscape of Saltwind City and let these people who have become accustomed to despair continue to wallow in it.”

Elena blinked and turned to look at Anita beside her.

Meeting Elena's gaze, Anita raised her right hand and gently grasped her thin left arm, her expression somewhat strange:

"Elena, I didn't really understand your conversation, but I feel... my heart is beating faster than usual. What is this feeling? Am I sick?"

Before Elena could figure out how to explain to the girl, two men hesitantly walked towards her from the side of the beach closer to the city.

The two stopped from a distance.

They were the two men who had been taught a lesson by Dario earlier in the house.

One of the men, whose face was relatively clean and who appeared to have washed his face thoroughly, shouted hesitantly:

"Wooden frame, come back quickly, it's not time yet, we can't go near the sea."

"Iron Man, I...I'm fine."

Anita turned around and called out as well, before explaining to the people around her, "Wooden Frame is also my name, or rather, Anita is the name I gave myself later. It's a bit strange, I hope you won't find it funny."

After hearing this, Elena felt a mix of emotions.

A normal person's name, when placed among a group of abnormal names, becomes the ridiculous one.

Deep on the coast, Tinker heard Anita's response, and a blank look of worry appeared on his numb face.

Another scruffy-bearded man next to him tugged at his sleeve:

"Stainless steel, danger; sea, danger; wooden frame, danger."

“I know about wall plaster,” Tinplate reassured. “Wait here for me, I’ll go and bring the wooden frame back.”

The wall plaster can only monotonously repeat its dried-up words.

Iron Skin pressed down on Wall Plaster's arm and walked slowly toward Anita and the others, but he stopped halfway there.

"That's... the tide came in... a hundred... a hundred times!"

A look of relief suddenly appeared on Tin's face: "Wooden Frame, come back quickly, the tide has come in a hundred times, we'll have food tomorrow!"

Hearing his shout, Anita turned to look at the tide, then suddenly slapped her forehead:

"Oh dear, I don't really know how to count these. Madam, please come back to the city with me. We really can't stay on the coast any longer."

Outcast and Dario exchanged a glance, said nothing, and obediently followed Anita into the city.

Seeing that the group had turned back, the tinplate and plaster workers didn't wait for them at all and hurriedly ran back to the city.

When Outcast and his companions returned to the streets of the city, they saw a bustling scene in the city for the first time.

A group of zombie-like people gathered in front of a jar, reached inside and pulled out a white seashell. After looking at it for a moment, they turned and left as if completing a fixed program.

Anita stood motionless beside them and explained:

"After a while, I'll be old enough to participate in the ceremony. As long as someone takes out a red seashell and goes to live in the sea, they can exchange it for food for everyone."

Elena: "..."

Anita's calm yet slightly joyful narration felt like a knife plunged deep into Eleanor's heart.

She thought she had gotten used to the city after walking around it, but when the city's core darkness was laid bare before her, she still felt a little breathless.

"teacher……"

Elena looked up: "I know that not causing trouble at times like this is the only way to save more people, but... but if someone is really going to walk into the sea and die, I can't just stand by and do nothing."

Dario said indifferently, "You've broken the rules and have no substitutes, so you'll only let everyone in the city starve to death."

Elena couldn't help but clench her teeth.

Just as she was at a loss, she saw two figures that were somewhat familiar.

The man named Wall Gray also squeezed into the crowd and took a seashell out of the jar.

Before he could examine the color of the seashells, he was bumped by someone next to him. The already weak Wall Plaster immediately fell to the ground, and the seashells in his hand flew away.

"Mine...my..."

"Wall plaster, take your seashells."

Tinplate stuffed a white seashell into Wall Plaster's hand.

Chapter 959 A single arrow pierces the clouds, and Kal'tsit and her companions arrive to meet.

"Why is it white?"

Wall Gray was helped to his feet, and when he saw the color of the seashell in his palm, he seemed a little incredulous: "I just clearly saw a touch of red. I should have been living in the sea and never lacking food again."

"You're wrong."

Tin Man scolded, "Did the beach scare you so much that you lost your nerve, or did the seawater blind you?"

The wall gray murmured, not daring to refute, and just stared at the seashell in his hand.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a bright red color out of the corner of his eye.

In the gaps between the metal fingers.

That red color was squeezed very tightly by the sheet metal.