Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

Qi Yan gently patted M3 with his palm to soothe him, then looked again at Alfonso and Garcia, who were snuggling together.

"Now you're all willing to come back with me to see your old friends, right?" he asked with a smile.

Alfonso didn't rush to answer. He cupped Garcia's face in his hands, looking at the other's face with a struggle in his eyes.

After a long pause, he shook his head regretfully and said:

"I won't go back. If you want this ship, take it."

Qi Yan chuckled and said, "What? Are you two planning to continue wandering the seas by swimming from now on?"

Alfonso wasn't joking; his tone was somber as he said:

"As you can see, we have already fallen to this state, so how can we talk about returning to normalcy?"

Those monsters don't attack us immediately when they see us, ha... that sea monster called the Butcher even calls us its brethren."

He suddenly looked at Elena.

He asked, “Tell me, how did Old Iberia talk about the great Captain Alfonso?”

As he asked the question, his chin gradually lifted, and his expression seemed to revert to that of the arrogant captain he once was. His tone was less like an inquiry and more like a command.

Elena paused, instinctively choosing to obey the order, standing at attention, chest out, head held high, and proclaiming in a clear voice:

"Alfonso under the pomegranate tree, hero Alfonso, fallen Alfonso, many people still firmly believe that you are still fighting at sea."

You were once the idol of countless Iberian soldiers!

"Hmph... pomegranate tree... pretentious."

Alfonso closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gave Qi Yan a proud smile: "I will remember your lesson, but I will not accept your sarcasm. My years of perseverance have not been in vain."

I am Alfonso. I don't have any of those fancy titles. I am simply Alfonso. If I had to add anything, then I would be Captain Alfonso.

Take it, take everything you need, but I won't go back.

Garcia, standing beside him, raised his deformed claws.

Alfonso gently took Garcia's hand.

“My Garcia, my love, let’s go.” The proud captain spoke in such a gentle tone for the first time. “Let’s go to Ursus… no, let’s go to the deck and take one last look at the ocean that has carried our lives.”

Garcia responded gently.

The two walked away hand in hand, oblivious to everyone else.

Alene remained standing at attention, watching their retreating figures, but couldn't help sniffing.

Amaya's gasp rang out along with the sound of her skirt being torn.

Qi Yan held up the fragments of Amaya's dress in front of Elena, gesturing for her to wipe her snot and tears.

Elena: "..."

Amaya: "..."

"What? Not going to have another cry?" Qi Yan asked.

"How am I supposed to cry like this?" Alini's emotions were becoming somewhat disjointed.

"Then stop crying."

Qi Yan stood up, kicked Amaya in the waist, turning the once-glorious deep-sea bishop into a folded screen, and slid awkwardly into the solitary confinement cell.

The door was closed and locked in one smooth motion.

Qi Yan clapped his hands and said leisurely:

"Come on, let's go to the deck, otherwise, the story of lovers committing suicide together will truly become a thing of the past."

“But… wait!” Elena grabbed Qi Yan’s sleeve urgently. “Captain Alfonso and his first mate are already in a terrible state. Their marine transformation is so severe that there is no way to save them.”

Perhaps this ending is the best for them; at least they ended their lives as human beings.

Qi Yan smiled and said, "What if I told you there's still a chance?"

Elena's eyes widened instantly.

She stared in shock at Qi Yan, who was grinning like a wolf in sheep's clothing. She instinctively wanted to deny it, but when she thought that the person in front of her was Qi Yan, hope unconsciously welled up in her heart.

"Can you really save them both?"

"A feather."

"You...you can have it!"

Elena gritted her teeth and plucked a gray feather from her head.

Qi Yan carefully put away the feathers and shook his head, saying, "The answer is no."

"You fool me?!"

Elena immediately lost her temper.

"Don't worry, although I can't reverse the transformation into a sea creature, no one has said that the transformation into a sea creature is destined to be unsolvable."

Qi Yan led the way, speaking eloquently: "Do you remember the knight who died with me? He was undoubtedly a Sea Child, but this guy managed to make even the Sea Children deny that he was a fellow Sea Child by sheer willpower."

I also know a boy named Shuiyue. He is of Haisi's bloodline, but at the same time, he is a real human being. And if we take a step back, aren't those deep-sea hunters the same?

Why must the "marine culture" represent the opposite of humanity? Is the definition of humanity merely the expression of genes or differences in physical appearance?

Elena seemed to understand but not quite, and after a moment of trying to process it, she frowned and raised a question:

"The damage that the Hysteria caused to people's minds is undeniable, and the torment suffered by Captain Alfonso and Garcia is real."

"Hold on a little longer, I believe the dawn of hope is about to appear," Qi Yan affirmed. "When Ital successfully ascends to the level of a nascent being, it will correct the course of the Sea's evolution, and many unsolvable problems will disappear."

Hearing this, Elena's spirits lifted.

Even her steps became much lighter as she followed Qi Yan.

After walking for a while, Elena realized something:

"Then why didn't you stop them and explain things clearly?"

"If I were to be blunt, how would we get any entertainment?" Qi Yan's lips curled up, revealing a delighted smile.

"Where's the fun in that?"

The shapeshifter immediately jumped down from the ceiling.

Qi Yan raised his hand and put it on the shapeshifter's shoulder, walking with an arrogant gait, and said with a strange laugh:

"The latest sequel to 'Hai Si's Family,' 'Hai Si's Love,' is a full-fledged serial that will surely keep you entertained!"

The shapeshifter quickly joined in Qi Yan's grotesque laughter.

Hearing the two men's constant 'hehehe' laughter, Elena suddenly didn't want to follow them anymore.

Unfortunately, driven by curiosity, Elena's legs were taken over, and she was bewitched into following the two to the entrance of the passage leading to the deck.

The three cautiously peeked half their heads out from the door frame, nervously watching the two figures standing side by side on the deck.

A damp sea breeze blew by, causing Garcia's white veil to flutter gently in the wind.

Alfonso, his eyes filled with tenderness, took Garcia's hand and leaned down to kiss the back of his hand.

Garcia seemed a little embarrassed, his gaze darting away as if he were looking at the sea.

"My love, thank you for your companionship all these years."

"...Alfonso, today is the last day of the voyage."

Garcia looked away, tilted his head back, and chose to look directly at Alfonso: "Over the years, I've treated myself like a monster, which makes things easier, just so I can stay by your side for longer."

I know that if I die, you won't be left alone, but you shouldn't die so pathetically. You are my captain, and I'm willing to bear anything for you.

Alfonso nodded gently: "Yes, Garcia, you... um??????"

His eyes suddenly widened.

"Garcia, you can talk?!"

Chapter 1066 Look, the world where only the little bird is injured is complete.

Garcia did not react much to Alfonso's shock and questioning.

He raised his claws, now completely transformed into sea creatures, and helped Alfonso tidy his wind-blown beard and hair.

This scene is hardly aesthetically pleasing; his claws are ferocious and terrifying, weapons specifically designed for hunting and fighting.

“Alfonso, please don’t blame me for keeping it a secret.” Garcia’s hoarse voice came from his throat. “Speaking makes me feel like I’m still human, but the call of the ocean is getting stronger and stronger. I’ve wanted to throw myself into the ocean countless times.”

But I can't do that. I can't leave you. The ocean has nothing to do with me; I only stand guard for you.

"Garcia, no, my Garcia."

Alfonso choked up a little, gripping Garcia's hand tightly and pressing it against his face.

Garcia let Alfonso rub his face against his palm, even though Alfonso squeezed his palm a little too hard because he was losing control of his emotions.

He simply gazed intently at his lover, and the love that had been suppressed in silence for more than sixty years was finally released in this moment.

"Alfonso, today is the last day of the voyage."

"The time has come. We have successfully reached the most beautiful ending of the story. Lu Di has not abandoned us."

"Alfonso, you are the best captain on this land."

"We left as Iberians, and we succeeded."

Alfonso's breathing trembled slightly.

He opened his arms and pulled his lover into a tight embrace.

Garcia's body was cold and hard, but Alfonso seemed to be embracing the world's most precious treasure, a treasure that belonged only to a captain.

At the deck passageway, Elena was deeply moved, tears welling up in her eyes.

Suddenly, a somewhat familiar piece of black fabric came into her view from above.

"...Thank you, but I really don't need it."

The thought that it had been torn from someone else's dress made Elena forcefully suppress the urge to cry.

“We have others here.”

Another white handkerchief hung down from above into Elena's view.

"Thank you!"

Alene finally reached out and caught it without worry.

The shapeshifter chuckled and said, "Don't be shy. If one piece isn't enough, we'll take two more pieces from our bodies for you."

Elena: "..."

She was so angry that she lost all interest in crying, and gritted her teeth as she said:

"Can't you two come up with something that's normal?"

The shapeshifter scratched his head in distress:

"This is normal for us."

"Exactly, it's perfectly normal, okay?" Qi Yan argued, clutching the piece of fabric in his hand. "If I sold this to the Doctor, he'd risk his life to sneak into Kal'tsit's safe in the middle of the night and take the money!"

This was the first time Elena had ever known that when someone is extremely angry, they can actually laugh.

Just then, Elena suddenly heard the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath.

She was startled and turned to look, only to find that Alfonso and Garcia had finished expressing their feelings that had been pent up for many years, and the two were embracing tightly, with Alfonso holding a knife to his own neck.

"Garcia, my love, I love you!"

"Afonso, I will go with you."

Garcia pressed his sharp fingernails against his throat.

Alini, no longer able to hold a grudge against Qi Yan and the other man, rushed out to stop them.

She was fast, but someone was faster than her.

Qi Yan and the shapeshifter grabbed Eline's shoulders on either side and shouted at the same time: