Ark Simulator, don't I have no physical form?

"How about it?"

Suri said with some pride, "This is the safest place to stay in this area! The doors and windows are intact, and there's a water tank on the roof—although you have to filter the water yourself."

The tank kicked open the creaking iron gate, and dust fell in a flurry: "The 'safety' standard is really low."

The warehouse was cleaner than expected; the previous owner seemed to have left in a hurry, leaving behind simple furniture and a few still-functioning Originium lamps. Ash quickly assigned guard zones, Frostflower placed tripwires at the stairwell, and Shield checked the purification device in the water tank.

“Look on the bright side,” Suri tried to lighten the mood, “at least we don’t have to be crammed together with the infected. We have our own base.”

Ash suddenly interrupted him: "Infected?"

"Ah, they are Oripathy patients. They live in the shack area on the east side of the town. Ordinary people would never dare to come near them."

The night vision mode of the tactical goggles turned on automatically, and Ash looked east through the window—there he could vaguely see a shantytown made of rags and scraps, and several hunched figures were wriggling around a ghostly blue Originium lamp.

"Stay alert," she ordered briefly.

As night fell, the slums came alive. In the distance, the howls of drunkards and the clanging of metal could be heard, occasionally interspersed with howls like those of wild beasts.

The tank, positioned by the window, suddenly lowered its voice and said, "At nine o'clock, two locals are looking this way."

The ash's eyepiece magnified the image—it showed two Zalak people wrapped in dirty cloaks, hiding in the shadows, their sharp fingernails unconsciously scratching at the Originium rust stains on the wall.

“Scavengers, they’re looking for valuable scraps, ignore them… unless you want to be taken advantage of,” Suri explained casually.

As if to confirm his words, one of the Zalak suddenly convulsed and knelt down, coughing up several shimmering black crystals from his throat. His companion skillfully pulled out a syringe and injected some murky liquid into his neck.

"Medical support?" Flash Shield frowned.

"Painkillers mixed with liquid Originium."

Suri's voice was calm and even: "They are hastening their own demise."

Ash drew the curtains: "We'll take turns keeping watch, four-hour shifts."

One morning, as time passed, Ash stood by the window on the second floor of the stronghold, watching the streets of Longspring Town gradually come to life. The morning light shone on the tin roof, reflecting a blinding glare.

"A new batch of goods arrived on the black market today."

Suri's voice echoed in her mind: "There are military rations smuggled from Victoria, with a shelf life of thirty years, but don't expect the taste to be any better. There are also tactical equipment made in Colombia—although they are definitely second-hand and refurbished, and your physical condition is different from that of the Terrans, but they should still be usable."

Ash didn't speak, but simply hummed softly and stuffed the last compressed biscuit into his tactical backpack.

"Ash." The chariot poked its head out from the stairwell. "Frostflower discovered a problem downstairs."

She followed her downstairs and found Shuanghua squatting in the corner of the storage room, pointing to a blackened mold spot on the wall: "The humidity is too high, our ammunition..."

"That's easy!"

Suri interjected, "There's an old man named Liboli on the west side of town who specializes in selling desiccant made from Originium bug shell powder. It works quite well. But it's unbelievable that you guys can encounter a damp problem in the desert. I already told you to put the water downstairs and the ammunition upstairs."

'However, that could easily cause some problems. The stent here is not stable and could easily trigger a chain reaction.'

Ash had gotten used to Su Rui's way of speaking without considering the occasion, and calmly said to Frostflower, "I'll go with Shield of Light to make purchases, and you and Chariot will organize the equipment."

Volume 10, page 589: He was overcharging customers.

The black market in Changquan Town was hidden in a narrow alley, its stalls filled with all sorts of goods of dubious origin. Ash's tactical goggles automatically scanned the environment, while Su Rui provided real-time commentary in her mind:

"The Philin merchant on the left is selling fake medicine. The Ursus man on the right has a genuine dagger... Oh! That one! That old man Liboli is the one I was talking about!"

Ash approached the sparsely feathered old man from Liboli, whose stall displayed various powders made from ground insect shells.

“Desiccant,” she said briefly.

The old man narrowed his amber eyes: "Military standard? Fifty Lungmen dollars a can."

"He's ripping off customers. Last time I 'saw' someone else buy it for only thirty!"

Ash remained calm: "Thirty."

After some haggling, they finally settled on 35 LMD. On the way back, Flash Shield couldn't help but ask, "How did you know the market price?"

"Of course it's because I'm amazing!" Su Rui said smugly.

Ash's lips curled up almost imperceptibly: "Intuition."

As evening fell, the squad gathered around the table in the center of the outpost to inventory their supplies. Tank loaded newly purchased desiccant into the ammunition crates, Frostflower organized the medkits, and Shield maintained the weapons.

“Speaking of which—” Suri suddenly spoke up in the team chat: “Would you guys like to try some Terran specialties?”

Before Ash could answer, the chariot raised its head: "What local specialty?"

"Grilled sandworm legs! It's the shop on the corner downstairs!"

Shuanghua frowned: "It sounds like food poisoning."

"Actually, it's alright. I've eaten it before, and it tastes pretty good."

Ash put down the map in his hand: "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Hey—Ash is so boring. You guys are mercenaries, right? Do you ever get those kinds of murder jobs?"

'We're not those mercenaries.'

Ash discovered that he could now discern Suri's emotions and thoughts, whether she was genuinely angry or just pretending to complain, from the highs and lows of her capricious voice.

Three days later, Su Rui brought important intelligence:

"Listen up! There's a batch of lost Originium Ingots in the abandoned mine south of town!"

He said excitedly, "It was hidden by a group of infected miners three months ago, but they... well, they all died of the disease."

Ash immediately assembled his squad. With Suri's precise navigation, they successfully evaded the patrolling scavengers and found the hidden mine.

"Safe." FlashShield reported after checking the trap.

The tank pried open the rusty storage cabinet, inside which were neatly stacked more than twenty high-purity Originium ingots, gleaming with a faint blue light in the dim mine.

"We've struck it rich! This should last you for a while." Su Rui didn't seem interested in the twenty-odd Origin Stone ingots.

Shuanghua cautiously used instruments to test the radiation levels: "Special containers are required for transportation."

Ash has already prepared the lead isolation box—which he bought from the black market last week, when Suri complained that it took up too much space.

On the way back, Zhan Che couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, what exactly is the origin of that Su Rui's 'voice'? I don't doubt it, I'm just a little curious."

Ash looked at the Originium ingots shimmering in the setting sun and said calmly, "A capricious guide."

"Hey! I can hear you!"

This time, Ashes did indeed smile.

The town of Changquan is much quieter at night than during the day.

Ash sat on the edge of the stronghold's rooftop, her legs dangling in the air, gazing at the scattered lights of the slums in the distance. A cool night breeze ruffled the stray hairs on her forehead.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Rui's voice rang out softly, as if afraid of disturbing the tranquility.

Ash was silent for a moment before speaking: "That infected child at the market today."

—During the daytime shopping season, a gaunt Katars boy huddled in an alleyway corner, black Originium crystals already appearing on his arms. He stared at the bread in Ash's hand, but didn't even have the strength to reach out and beg.

“Ah…you left him food and water, that was so kind of you,” Suri remembered.

"Not enough," Ash's voice was low and somber. "Are they...the Infected...really beyond saving?"

Suri was silent for a few seconds, then a strange memory surfaced in Ash's mind—

A black ship sailed through the wilderness, and uniformed staff on deck were distributing medicine to the infected. A hooded woman and a woman completely covered by a hood stood on higher ground.

“This is Rhodes Island,” Suri explained softly. “They specialize in researching treatments for Oripathy. Although they can’t completely cure it yet… they can at least slow down the progression of the disease, allowing infected people to live with more dignity.”

However, Rhodes Island is not just a medical organization for the infected; ignoring their armed forces, they do indeed help the infected.

Ash paused slightly: "You've seen them before?"

“Hmm.” Suri’s voice was filled with nostalgia. “I often saw what they were doing when I was ‘living’ in the consciousness of a Rhodes Island operator.”

Ash unconsciously clenched his fist: "If only we could get in touch with them..."

"You want to help those infected? It's impossible. Rhodes Island doesn't have that kind of capacity; it can't accept all the patients. At most, it can alleviate the situation here a little." Suri was somewhat surprised. "However, there is a Rhodes Island office here."

Ash didn't answer immediately. She thought of the people in her former world who suffered from war and disease. She had been a soldier, used to solving problems with bullets, but some things cannot be destroyed by firearms.

"...I just felt that maybe I could do something more meaningful."

A night breeze blew by, and Su Rui suddenly smiled.

"Ash, you're so gentle~" Suri deliberately used that sweet, cloying tone, making Ash feel very embarrassed.

"Shut up."

"Before, all I could say was 'Target cleared' and 'Mission accomplished'~"

Ash gave a soft snort, but did not refute.

In the days that followed, Ash found himself becoming more and more accustomed to Suri's presence.

—When she is organizing her gear, Suri will suddenly start humming a song out of tune;

—When she was making tactical deployments, Su Rui would interrupt, "Left! There's an ambush on the left!";

—Even when she was occasionally tired, Suri would deliberately tell some boring jokes until she couldn't help but frown: "...Not funny."

“Speaking of which, Ashes—” one morning, Suri called her in a drawn-out tone.

"explain."

Have you ever thought about... what I look like?

Ash paused for a moment as he was wiping the pistol.

“…Black hair, black eyes, probably,” she replied calmly.

Wow! How did you know?!

"Guess."

Actually not.

Ash had seen him in her dream—a smiling, dark-haired boy waving at her from a wheat field. When she woke up, she found herself unconsciously drawing a blurry outline in the corner of her tactics manual with a charcoal pencil.

"Then...do you want to see me?" Suri's voice suddenly became very soft, as if it carried a certain expectation.

Ash lowered his eyes and put the pistol back into its holster.

"You're right here."

(It's not about "wanting" or "not wanting," but rather "you already are.")

Suri fell silent.

A few seconds later, a burst of brilliant golden light and dust suddenly exploded in Ash's mind, as if someone had set off a miniature fireworks display in her consciousness.

Su Rui's tone became somewhat unnatural: "You're quite good at saying nice things."

Ash turned his face away, hiding the almost imperceptible curve of his lips.

Volume 10, Chapter 590: This is the Fat Fox

One morning, Ash's tactical goggles suddenly flashed a blinding red light.

"Ash! A high-energy reaction has occurred on the east side of the slums!"

Suri's voice rang in Ash's mind, instantly making her tense:

"They are mutated creatures—unlike ordinary Originium bugs, they have been artificially modified and are disgusting. They can split and waste bullets."

An explosion rang out in the distance, followed by heart-wrenching screams. Ash jumped to his feet, grabbing his weapon: "Everyone, assemble!"

The tank, carrying a machine gun, rushed out the door: "That's quite a commotion!"

Shuanghua quickly checked the trap package: "The infected area is over there."

Flash Shield's flash shield is fully charged: "Should we evacuate the civilians?" But there are only four of you, how can you evacuate them? And there's no backup.

Through Ash's goggles, Su Rui was projecting a map of the slums, with several red-marked routes showing the movement patterns of the mutated creatures.

"There's no time to evacuate everyone, but I know Rhodes Island has a temporary medical station here—we can take the infected there!"

Ash immediately made a decision: "Chariots, Flash Shields, establish a defensive line to buy time! Frostflower, come with me to guide the civilians!"

In the alleyways of the slums, panicked crowds fled like headless flies. Ashes and frost flowed upstream, gathering the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled infected along the way.