Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

On the walls around the stairwell, vines and roots gradually appeared. As Qi Yan continued to penetrate deeper, these roots grew thicker and thicker, eventually squeezing and deforming the walls, taking root in the soil behind them to draw nutrients.

Ital broke the silence again: "Do you say that the path I've taken is the right one?"

"What is correct?" Qi Yan asked rhetorically.

"...What brings survival to the group is right...right?"

"What is existence?" Qi Yan asked again.

"...the expansion of the population, the evolution of our own kind..."

Ital's thinking time before answering became noticeably longer and longer, and his tone became increasingly weak.

It raised its furry little paw and gently touched Qi Yan's lower jaw:

"Sir, the path you gave to the large group before, we failed. Except for me, all my fellow beings have given up on maintaining this biological form."

In fact, even I... no, I even took the initiative to gather a group of my compatriots to retaliate against the humans who captured us. I think I was actually the first one to give up.

I simply cannot tolerate this situation: our fellow human beings take the initiative to show goodwill, only to be indiscriminately hunted and killed by humans, wasting the nutrients they have worked so hard to accumulate.

"Yes, you failed, and I failed. We both oversimplified things."

Qi Yan did not deny his failure: "But failure is not terrible. The important thing is that you did not really give up, did you?"

You still retain this biological form; you even sent Idia, that white-haired, red-eyed cat-eared little sea monster.

Ital's small body pressed tightly against Qi Yan's chest.

It seemed to feel more relaxed than ever before: "Sir, Idia, is that her current name?"

She didn't rejoin the main group; did she succeed?

"She succeeded, but unfortunately, her success cannot be replicated on a large scale," Qi Yan joked. "After all, not everyone is Kal'tsit, who can't resist picking up a baby whenever she sees one."

"That double standard lynx, Kal'tsit! I can't go looking for old men and women, but she can secretly pick up children!"

Chapter 1112 Everyone's showing off, whether human or ghost, except for Titi who's getting beaten up.

Ital clearly didn't understand Qi Yan's rant, so he could only swallow it whole and force himself to remember it.

Kal'tsit, double standards!

Firmly keeping the master's teachings in mind, Ital asked again:

"Sir, could you give me your answer again, like you did in the group chat before?"

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Qi Yan shook his head. "As it turns out, my answer is not the same as the others. However, I'm preparing to give you and this land a great fortune. How much you gain from it is up to you."

Ital still didn't understand, so he could only continue to force himself to memorize it.

It pondered for a moment, then, without asking any further questions, said with concern:

“I’m very scared. What if my answer is wrong? Will it affect the whole group? After all, I’m about to become one of them.”

"How dare you call yourself a novice if you never make mistakes?"

Qi Yan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Look at the four newcomers in your group now. Some are dead, some have run away, and none of them are normal. If they hadn't made any mistakes, how could the situation have become like this?"

You're all yelling that Isamara will bring back the answer, but haven't you considered that this poor thing is completely baffled herself?

Ital did not respond.

The gentleman can make fun of them as he pleases, but he cannot do so himself, as this would be meaningless for the survival of the multitude.

“Ital, I know you’re feeling very lost right now.”

Qi Yan gently rubbed Ital's cat ears with his fingers, and both the man and the cat squinted their eyes comfortably.

Enjoying the unique and wonderful feel of cat ears, Qi Yan continued slowly:

"What's truly important isn't that the answer you give must be flawless, but that you have no regrets about the answer you give."

Right and wrong, merit and demerit, let posterity judge.

Ital still didn't quite understand, but it carefully engraved every word the gentleman said deep in its mind.

Qi Yan, holding his cat, continued forward with firm steps.

Skadi rolled a long way across a frozen lake, her hair and clothes covered in snow, and even her pretty face was covered in snowflakes as she rolled.

"Bah, pah!"

Skadi spat out the snowflakes she had accidentally swallowed, her little face full of distress.

She used her greatsword to stand up on the huge frozen lake, carefully maintaining her balance on the ice, not daring to make any big movements.

But before her eyes, the Tree Scar tribe leader, whom she had previously blasted away with the power of Isamara, had returned to her, and thanks to the collapse body's ability to ignore the laws of physics, he maintained a high-speed movement even on the smooth ice surface.

In a flash, the Tree Scar tribe leader's warhammer fell at an odd angle, and Skadi could only forcefully parry it with her sword.

The sound of metal striking stone is long and clear.

Skadi's body slid wildly across the ice, seemingly unstoppable.

"Damn it, I'm no match for him on the ice... well, I'm no match for him anywhere."

Skadi shook her numb arm, feeling utterly overwhelmed.

When she was with Typhon, she heard him talk about the leader of the Tree Scar tribe.

Ektilniel, a hero in the hearts of the Sami people, a respected warrior, has been stationed for many years in the northernmost mountain pass of the Sami, using his own flesh and blood to become the strongest barrier for the Sami.

But now, he has become one of the deadliest dangers on this icy plain.

"This can't go on, Skadi, use your brain."

As Skadi forcefully challenged her weakness, her eyes darted around warily, observing the ever-increasing number of collapsing bodies on the periphery of the battle.

But the enemy didn't give her any chance to think.

Ektilniel's figure left a series of afterimages in Skadi's sight, completely ignoring the smooth ice surface, and rapidly approached from left to right.

"What's going on? This is making me want to try collapsing myself..."

Skadi made a self-deprecating joke, but her movements didn't falter at all. She swung her greatsword at Ectilnir.

The warhammer and the greatsword clashed once more, as if history were repeating itself, and Skadi rolled far away once again.

"Bah! Bah!"

With a pained expression, Skadi spat out the snowflakes she had eaten. Without further ado, she got up again and assumed a defensive stance.

"Actually, he did not completely collapse."

Isamara's voice rose from Skadi's heart without warning, like a ghost.

"Is there any hope for him?" Skadi's face lit up with joy.

"All we need is some of our blood..."

"Shut up, you!"

Skadi rolled her eyes in annoyance.

She shouldn't have had any expectations of this monster inside her!

Isamara sighed softly and changed her tone to remind her:

"Up there."

Skadi: ?!

The sound of something cutting through the air came from above her head.

Ektilnir, who was at a safe distance just a second ago, suddenly and without warning leaped onto Skadi's head, raised his warhammer high, and slammed it down with unparalleled force.

Skadi raised her greatsword to block, only to feel a tremendous force travel along the blade to her arm, and then spread to half of her body.

But what truly made Skadi nervous was not the threat overhead.

It was the sound of ice breaking beneath her feet.

"Gulu gulu..."

The ice layer, several meters thick, was as fragile as a pitiful thin wooden board under the struggle between the two numerical monsters, and it broke in less than a few seconds.

Skadi and Ektilnir fell one after the other into the icy, frigid water.

A terrifying chill enveloped Skadi. She rolled her eyes in the water and forced out the icy water that had accidentally gotten into her throat.

How could I, an Agorian, choke on water!

Even Skadi was getting annoyed at this moment.

Her gaze wandered across the dark waters beneath the ice, searching for Ektilnir.

I was quite restricted on the ice, but now that I'm in the water, things are different...

Skadi was seething with rage when she saw Ektilnir flashing wildly in the water like a ghost. Not only did it not slow down at all, but its movements became even more difficult to detect due to the darkness of the environment.

Skadi's anger, which had just begun to ignite, vanished instantly, and her mind returned to a state of serene tranquility, as if she had entered a saintly mode.

After all, what else could she do?

She was just a pitiful, helpless, and weak Agor who couldn't even get anything out of the water.

The warhammer, ignoring underwater resistance, shattered Skadi's pitiful sense of peace.

She blocked the attack by holding her greatsword horizontally in front of her, twisted her body, and deflected the impact with agility far exceeding that on land, then kicked Ektilnir hard in the face.

Ektilnir rolled twice in the water, leaving a trail of afterimages, and swung his warhammer, creating a series of hollow cavities that slammed into Skadi's shoulder.

The icy water and the icy hammer caused Skadi to momentarily lose consciousness.

The warhammer struck again.

Skadi's body reacted instinctively.

But the third hammer blow, the fourth hammer blow...

Ektilniel's attacks seemed endless, and Skadi felt the chill enveloping her growing stronger.

After another struggle, the greatsword finally slipped from his grasp, leaving a trail of bubbles as it sank straight into the dark water.

Skadi could no longer support her already numb body, and her body sank to the bottom of the water along with her greatsword.

Her red eyes were somewhat unfocused as she watched the light from the broken hole in the lake recede further and further away, while darkness gradually expanded from her surroundings.

"Is this the end...? At least... as I went to see the other hunters, in my last moments, I was still fighting, the damp water still embracing me..."

Skadi forced a smile, her lips twitching slightly. "It's just a pity that this isn't the seawater I'm familiar with..."

In the darkness that gradually engulfed her entire field of vision, Skadi saw Ektilnir's figure attacking again through the faint light.

A sigh, like a song with a quiet melody, echoed within Skadi's body.

"The tide surges... the tide recedes..."

Skadi's red eyes were completely unfocused, devoid of any luster.

The icy lake water embraced her and lifted her up.

Ektilniel raised his warhammer and swung it down, but was suddenly swept away by the surging water, and his speed decreased sharply.

Then, a seemingly soft and weak white hand ignored his non-linear movement characteristics and precisely grasped the warhammer.

"Warrior who swore to protect your people, your will is called survival."

Isamara, expressionless, exerted her strength and crushed Ektyr's warhammer.

Fragments of the warhammer cut Isamara's finger, a glaring crimson stain spreading across the murky lake water.

Chapter 1113 Doctor: Roasted Pigeons are so much fun

“Listen, someone is singing, Precyth.”

The doctor held Precyth's hand and stood on a low hillside, gazing northwards into the distance.

“He’s an old friend of ours,” Priscilla said with a smile. “Would you like me to help you recall his past?”

"Are you going to crawl into my head again?" the doctor replied strangely.

Precys tidied the strands of hair that had been ruffled by the wind behind his ear, and smiled without saying a word.