About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"No...that's not the case!"

Zaolu was a little flustered. Her father was just 'unconscious', but the situation became so out of control. This was completely beyond her expectations.

"Ah, so this is the classic case of the thief crying thief?"

Just when the situation was about to get completely out of control, Orson's voice came out. After all, Orson had been using virtual vocal cords, and his previous voice was just a simulation.

"You bastard— eh!?"

Orson, who was being suppressed by everyone the previous second, immediately broke free from the bodyguards' suppression the next moment. Not only that, he also suppressed the security captain who had been shouting the loudest before.

"what happened--!?"

Everyone pointed their weapons at Orson again, but this time Orson was calm and composed, as if his previous embarrassment was all acted out.

"Thank you for your self-destruction, security captain. And thank you all for being so cooperative and coming to my side because of this farce of a performance."

"A farce...? So my father—"

Zaolu asked somewhat confusedly.

"No, your dad really wanted to run away, and I really did hit him with a vase and made a bump."

“What are you talking about, you traitor—GAAHHH!!?”

With a crisp snap, Orson completely dislocated the security captain's arm.

"Of course, this isn't the only way I can stop Master Andre, but it's the only way to create chaos and gather all the security personnel together. Yes, the captain is right. There's a mole from the Baikal faction among us, but that guy is him."

Orson lifted up the security captain beneath him and spoke loudly.

"Stop spitting blood at me, you bastard!"

"Then explain who you are using this intercom on the inside of your clothes to contact."

"——!?"

There was a walkie-talkie in Orson's hand. When the security captain saw it, his pupils immediately shrank.

The information W provided previously was not only about the possibility of an attack by the current Sarkaz mercenary captain, but also the message that "there is a mole in the Rostov security team."

When facing the confrontation between Zaolu and the head of the Rostov family, Orson thought that perhaps he could use this method to gather everyone together, and then use his ability to search closely for the outlines of abnormal objects outside the bodies of all security team members, and then use Pause to take them away.

Sure enough, the fish took the bait.

"Do you need me to ask who's on the other side?"

Orson questioned the security captain, and the others gathered around him, and the other party was finally completely defeated.

"Was it because you revealed the weak link in the security that the guards were attacked earlier? Haven't you... served the Rostov family for at least ten years?"

Zaolu questioned the other person in disbelief, and that person finally tore off his disguise completely.

"Because this family is beyond saving! You've touched the cake of the old nobles. Even if those Sarkaz don't kill you, the army will raze this place to the ground! No one will be able to escape then! You idiots! I'm—Puff!"

Before the security captain could finish his words, the guards whose brothers had died in the previous attack raised their fists. However, more guards frowned in deep thought after hearing his words.

Orson was no longer interested in watching what happened next. He left the crowd and walked over to Zaolu, who was still a little dazed from the shock.

"Are you okay, Natalia?"

"I... let me be quiet for a while... No, I want to go see my father."

Zaolu shook her head and walked towards the infirmary. Orson didn't say anything, but just followed behind her.

After the two arrived at the infirmary, the head of the Rostov family had already woken up. After all, when Orson was smashing, he deliberately chose a place where there was a lot of thunder but little rain.

Of course, if you want to know whether it hurts or not, then washing kelp is definitely the most painful.

"It's kind of embarrassing... After saying that, not only did he not just walk away, but he was even slammed to the ground with a vase by his own security guard."

Zaolu's father touched his forehead, then looked at Orson and Zaolu.

"Why stop me, Oreo?"

"Is this a photo to restore to factory settings? Why is it back to Oreo (the wrong name at first). Anyway, I don't like watching others die, and it doesn't solve any problems, it's just self-satisfaction."

"This is the only way, only the emperor can..."

"No, you weren't planning on going to see the emperor. After all, you can't travel this distance in just leather shoes and a suit. And the documents in that briefcase should be the contract for the Rostov family's assets."

"—"

The head of the Rostov family frowned solemnly, then smiled bitterly.

"My judgment of people is indeed correct. You are right."

“Father…?”

Zaolu couldn't understand her father's decision to "surrender without fighting."

"We'll find a way, you can't just—"

"Do we really have any other options?"

The head of the family interrupted Zaolu's words.

"I've been trying to contact Marquis Boris and other partners in the Chamber of Commerce, but they've all said they won't interfere with Duke Baikal's actions. These people don't want to help at all; they're just waiting to devour our corpses. They haven't even considered what would happen to Che City if the old aristocracy regained power!"

"Just like those who persecute infected people, they never think about how they will be treated if they become infected themselves."

Orson's words made Zaolu stunned for a moment, while the head of the Rostov family smiled self-deprecatingly.

"That's right. We have no allies and no resources now. This group of merchants has chosen to side with the old nobility to protect themselves. All I can do is use my life and my family's assets to try to exchange for your chance to survive and avoid being implicated, Natasha."

"..."

Zaolu couldn't offer any words of comfort this time. She knew better than anyone that the new nobility had no chance of winning this war. But she persevered, relying solely on the honor of being a member of the Rostov family.

Just when the atmosphere was dead silent, Orson opened his mouth - although the sound came from virtual vocal cords.

"Maybe I can help you."

"—But the only problem is, I don't know if you're worth the risk my comrades would take. This has nothing to do with profit; what we want is the [future]."

"future……?"

"Yes, how will you prove yourself, head of the Rostov family? Prove that after going through this ordeal, you can do something for the infected—no, for those living in the North, struggling to survive?"

Orson asked this question, and at the same time, he took out the communicator for the first time in front of Zaolu and the head of the family.

The head of the Rostov family looked at the young man in front of him. As a businessman, he knew very well that he had picked up an ace - no, he had picked up a savior.

But he also knew very well that the reason why this young man stayed here was not because of interests, nor because he coveted the power of the Rostov family, but because of Natasha, his own daughter.

He saw some "possibility" in Natalia, so he continued to stay here and was even prepared to confront Duke Baikal.

In this case, I only have one "chip" left -

"Sister Tallulah? I'm Orson. We've basically figured out the situation in Che City. Yes, it's complicated, but there are also opportunities, opportunities for people to survive better."

"Please prepare the Reunion Movement. I'm still negotiating with the head of the Rostov family. Based on their response, I'll decide whether to allow my comrades—"

Orson's words were suddenly interrupted by a loud voice.

"Then there's only one answer! I'll betroth my daughter, Natalia, to you—!!"

“Eh hey hey!?!” “Wait a minute!?” “O-Sen-!?”

Zaolu's father's voice was crystal clear through the intercom to the Reunion Movement in the North. Then came Zaolu's startled voice, Orson's wailing, and the sound of something burning on the other end of the line.

42. Miss Zaolu's class is starting

A day had passed since the previous farce.

Out of the will to survive, Orson tried his best to explain to Zaolu's father, "If you still want to spare my life, shut up immediately." This stopped the Rostov family head from continuing his words.

As for Zaolu, she was even more direct. She used Volibear's R to enter the battlefield, followed by Jinfu's R second stage displacement, and then Zangief's Spiral Pile Driver came from the air. She turned into a signal axe and killed her father on the spot! (Wrong)

Although the farce was over for the time being, there had been no contact from Tallulah since then, and Zaolu couldn't help but look away whenever she saw Orson.

"This way, this way~"

On his day off, Orson was sitting in a drink shop, next to the eldest daughter of the Rostov family. When a familiar figure appeared in his field of vision, Orson immediately waved to indicate that the person was there.

"Good morning, Sonia-san and Anna-san."

"Yo."

Winter and Truth walked up to Orson and the other man from the other side and greeted them in their usual carefree and dashing manner.

"What are you calling me out for this weekend, Orson? Combat training?"

Lin Dong asked Orson the purpose of his coming out this time, and at the same time glanced at Zao Lu beside him and clicked his tongue.

"For combat training, we'll borrow a place at school later. By the way, Sonia, how's your training on controlling your fighting stance going?"

"It's okay, but I always feel that fighting like that lacks any momentum."

"Momentum is useless in most situations. Even this kind of extreme training won't work."

Orson gave earnest instructions, and although Lindong was unhappy, he took note of them seriously.

After all, the original bargaining chip for pulling Lin Dong into forming the Bear Group was "teaching you to become stronger". After the group was established, Orson naturally kept his promise and taught Lin Dong some fighting skills whenever he had time.

It is worth mentioning that when Winter first broke through the sandbag, Orson only thought that General Winter was gifted.

Later, when Liexia punched through the sandbag, Orson felt that he was worthy of being the Dragon and the Phoenix.

And when Sister Zaozi, who for some reason had started to stick to Orson to learn martial arts, smashed the sandbag with one punch, Orson vaguely realized that he seemed to be the weakest one.

When Gumi shattered the bag with one punch, broke it with two, shattered it with three, Orson's eyes were already dull, and he murmured like he was beaten to a pulp, "It turns out I'm the only loser..."

The strength of Lindong and Zaolu is simply outrageous, but fortunately, one of them has only a vague understanding of fighting and the other has never been exposed to it at all, so Orson can barely teach them some techniques to fool them.

"So, why is this guy here too?"

Winter pointed at Zaolu with an unhappy tone.

"I have the same question, Sonia. You didn't come here on your own initiative, did you?"

Zaolu was not to be outdone, she smiled and exuded a terrifying aura.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

"Huh? You white bear—"

The two started arguing with each other within 5 seconds of meeting, and Zhenli walked towards Orson with some excitement.

"The answer to the last puzzle is that there were actually two bodies, and they died a day apart, right?"

"As expected of Anna, you guessed it right this time. I'll prepare a new detective script next time."

The condition for persuading Zhenli to join the team was "a detective story that is not available in the library", so Orson would often tell Zhenli some detective stories and let her guess the murderer.

To be honest, Orson felt a little guilty. He had almost finished reading the several mystery novels, and the only thing left in his mind was the mystery plot of Conan "shooting up an armed helicopter with a football", which had nothing to do with reasoning.

"So, what are we going to do today, Orson?"

After the routine quarrel between Lin Dong and Zao Lu ended, General Dong sat next to Zhenli nonchalantly and asked why he was called out today.

"It's simple. Today is our Bear Group's first extracurricular club activity!"

Orson's tone was a little excited.

"...club activities?"

Zaolu frowned. Given the current situation of the Rostov family, why was Orson still involved in any club activities?

"That's right, but it's called a club activity, but it's actually just shopping. Our goal today is to wander around and experience the interesting places in Che City. It's a pity that Rada and Rosalyn didn't come because they had something to do, but there's nothing we can do about it, hahaha..."

A drop of cold sweat appeared on Orson's forehead when he was halfway through his explanation, because under the table, Zaolu's palm was already on Orson's leg.

It wasn't the kind of sensual caress between lovers. Instead, Zaolu was waiting for Orson to come up with a more plausible excuse. Otherwise, the polar bear would crush Orson's knees with a million-horsepower magnetic field in the next second. Damn, what could possibly resist?

For Zaolu, this was a matter of life and death for her family. She was tricked out by Orson, only to find it was a "club activity"? She couldn't accept such an explanation.

"I, I have other considerations, Natalia..."

Orson whispered an explanation to Zaolu, who finally sighed, released the Death Bear Claw and chose to believe Orson.

——If it’s Orson, then it’s probably necessary.

This time, taking the risk and going out early is actually not just a simple club activity.

Helping Zaolu find a friend with whom she could truly laugh without hiding her feelings was one of the goals. After all, after today, Zaolu would probably not be able to live a normal life at her usual pace for at least a period of time.