About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Orson?"

Skadi looked at the Chimera who responded seriously and solemnly.

"I already know how important Miss Ghost Shark is to you. She is proof that you are no longer alone. Even so, Miss Skadi, you still found me. This shows that you trust me too, doesn't it?"

"Rather than trusting you... well, uh, yes."

Skadi originally wanted to find some excuses. After all, the time she and Orson had spent together was very short. If she said directly that she trusted him, she might seem like a simple-minded guy.

But Skadi was indeed a simple-minded person. She couldn't find any suitable excuse and finally nodded obediently. Her favorability towards this Chimera was indeed ridiculously high.

"Then it's settled. I'll do my best to help you, Ms. Skadi! I hope you can hear Ms. Ghost Shark's singing soon. But in return—I'll also be paid, okay?"

Orson looked at Skadi and proposed this "contract" to her.

"I...I know."

Upon hearing this, Skadi blinked, then turned her head and whispered her agreement. Her reaction made Orson a little confused.

"When this is over, I... will disarm, take off all my clothes, voluntarily tie my limbs, inject the drug, and bite the restraint with my lips, without any resistance—"

"Puh, cough, cough, cough!! What are you talking about, Miss Skadi!?"

Orson almost choked himself. He looked at Skadi in surprise, wondering why she suddenly made such a powerful declaration.

"That's how Dr. Warfarin from the Medical Department asked me for my 'payment'."

"You agreed?"

"I thought it was weird, so I didn't."

Skadi tilted her head and responded innocently.

"I see, that's good then... Kal'tsit?"

Orson nodded thoughtfully, then called Kal'tsit.

"What's wrong, Orson?"

"Is Warfarin here? Hoist her up to the bridge."

"Ok."

“Eh!? What’s going on?! Wait, wait a minute—Wuwaaaaaaa?!!”

Huafalin's confused and panicked voice came from the phone.

After confirming that the source of all evil had been killed, Orson sighed, closed his phone, and looked at Skadi again.

"The reward I seek is information about Iberia, the deep sea, and [Fusion]. This concerns me... and the origins of the Doctor."

Orson said lightly.

4. The old woman is jealous (1 more)

"Iberia... that was once another homeland of the Agor people, but I haven't been to that city-state for a long time."

Hearing Orson's request, Skadi did not hide anything and directly told him what she knew about Iberia.

"Did anything happen over there?"

"There are so many decaying things that even bards wouldn't bother to record, and they can be found everywhere in that city-state. It was once a land of gold, but now only fish bones remain, stranded and rotting in the deep sea after the tide receded, unable to return."

Skadi's tone sounded a little lost, or perhaps even sad.

Orson had heard from Kal'tsit that Iberia was once the richest, most technologically advanced, and most militarily powerful country on Terra.

But then, the country declined.

Kal'tsit didn't say the reason, and neither did Skadi.

"Well... Anyway, let's finish the things at hand first."

Orson thought silently, then nodded to Skadi, indicating that she should not worry.

Why had Mostima told him she was going to "Iberia"? What information about the Doctor might this coastal nation, once a golden age but now closed and mysterious, hold?

Although Orson really wanted to know the answers, what he should do now was to help Skadi's companions and try to wake her up from the nightmare.

The two of them went to the medical department. There was silence again on the way. Only Skadi stayed close to Orson silently, rubbing him from time to time.

"Speaking of which, Miss Skadi, why are you so... uh, affectionate towards me? Is it really just because of the so-called 'feelings'?"

Orson, who had been rubbed by the deep-sea hunter, asked curiously.

Although Orson has some innate favorability when interacting with many people because of his chimera physique, those people will not follow him around like Skadi does.

What's more, Skadi herself actually hates socializing and getting too close to others, so her intimacy with herself must not only be due to her Chimera physique.

"Putting aside my initial fondness for you as a kindred spirit, it was probably just because of your aura."

"'breath'?"

This answer was still full of idealistic elements, which made Orson a little confused.

"Well, you're clearly not Agor, but you carry with you an all-too-familiar scent of the 'distant' deep sea. It's like smelling the scent of a lost homeland, long forgotten and sad, yet also warm—like a light in a sea without light, making it... hard to look away."

"Uh... ahaha, is that so? Um, Ms. Skadi, you weren't going to suddenly pounce on me while walking or something like that, were you?"

Orson never thought that Skadi would reply to him so seriously, and from the content of her reply, it seemed that his impression of Skadi was a little "too good". Orson even half-jokingly asked whether this deep-sea hunter would suddenly pounce on him and bite him like she was attracted by the light of the anglerfish.

"Perhaps there is such a possibility, but I will do my best to prevent it from becoming a reality. Considering the difference in power between you and me, do you need to take some protective measures in advance?"

"...I was just joking, Ms. Skadi. Your serious response only scares me more."

Unexpectedly, Skadi replied seriously, which made Orson a little panicked, and he quickly complained that he was just joking.

"Are you kidding me..."

Skadi realized belatedly that the previous topic was not something she should respond to seriously, and the expression on her face became slightly awkward.

"But, Orson. Compared to those auras, what truly sets you apart from others is still your so-called 'feeling'. You don't act for your own tangible benefit; on the contrary, you always act for the sake of others. I once saw such beings... but they have long since perished in the deep sea, and there is no trace of them anymore."

Skadi's kneading of Orson's palm became gentler and slower. The killer whale looked at Orson with red pupils and an extremely gentle expression.

"Because of this, your existence is so precious, and... it makes people want to cherish you."

After saying this, Skadi probably felt a little awkward, so she immediately turned her head away.

"...He said something strange, don't take it to heart."

"I will remember this compliment~"

Orson smiled at Skadi, and then turned around with a serious expression.

——Think about it carefully. Although [working hard for others] sounds cool and great at first glance, in other words, doesn't it also prove that this guy [has no goals of his own]...?

What exactly are the things that can be called "goals"?

"Let Reunion Rhodes Island grow stronger"? But that was because he wanted to help Tallulah Frost Star Kel'tsit and the others, to help these people who have been lingering on the edge of the storm, to find a place of their own.

"To make this world's mineral sickness disappear, so that people no longer suffer from hardship and injustice"? But this is actually the Doctor's goal. I am just trying to complete the future that the Doctor could not achieve with the mentality of "completing her unfinished work."

Even now, he appeared here in order to help Skadi meet her only remaining "kind" again.

Orson thought for a moment, but just like the reason why he initially felt "weird", he couldn't find a [goal] that was "acting purely for itself".

——Am I such a selfless person? No, of course not... I must have my own desires and goals... right?

Orson couldn't end with an affirmative tone. Skadi's words were like gently poking a hole in a bucket, making Orson pay attention.

"Well--"

Orson was patted on the head. He turned around and found that Skadi was no longer embarrassed. Instead, she was looking at him with the same indistinguishable eyes as always.

Haha, now that I have made such a boast, I should just do the job at hand first.

Orson shook his head slightly, throwing away all the hesitation and confusion in his mind. All he had to do now was to help the ghost shark, nothing more.

"Did I accidentally hurt you just now? Sorry, Orson."

"Eh? No—that's not the case, Miss Skadi!"

Just when Orson was feeling proud, he discovered that Skadi seemed to have misunderstood his head-shaking action. The killer whale thought that he had annoyed Orson, so he withdrew his hand that had just been placed on Orson's head with visibly disappointed expression and apologized in a low voice.

——It seems that despite the absurdly powerful appearance, the Deep Sea Hunter also has a very pure heart.

Nothing happened on the way to Rhodes Island afterwards. Although the combination of Orson and Skadi was rare, after the previous battle at Lungmen, many operators had noticed that this killer whale liked to stick to Chimera, so they were not too surprised to see the two of them moving one after the other.

Just like that, the two arrived at Rhodes Island's most expensive and mysterious medical department.

"Come to think of it, I wonder if Kal'tsit knows about this. I feel like if I run into her, things will get even more complicated. Sure enough, before she finds out—"

"I already found out, stupid Orson."

"Whoa!"

When Orson opened the door of the medical room, he was still saying that he hoped not to be caught by the old woman. But as soon as he opened the door, the green cat head was standing behind him, staring at Orson with its sharp eyes, which scared the latter.

"Are you an idiot, Orson? As the head of the medical department, how could I not know about this?"

"Ahahaha... now that I think about it, it does seem to be the case."

The personnel changes in the medical department and the details of each operation could not escape Kal'tsit's eyes, and intensive care patients like Ghost Shark were under Kal'tsit's surveillance at all times.

Kal'tsit sighed, but she did not explicitly reject Skadi and Orson. Instead, she gestured for them to follow her.

——Although Chernobog and Reunion Movement have respectively approved of Orson's move to "interfere with Deep Sea Hunters," Rhodes Island hasn't yet given its approval...

As Orson followed Kal'tsit, he was thinking about how to persuade the lynx.

"shark……"

Skadi beside him was different. As the three of them entered the isolation area, the closer they got to the deepest part, the more solemn Skadi's expression became.

It is said that deep-sea hunters can sense each other in some "unprovable" way, and judging from Skadi's reaction, it seems that this is indeed the case.

"Behind the isolation door ahead is the room of the operator codenamed [Ghost Shark]."

When she reached the deepest isolation door, Kal'tsit stopped. Instead of unlocking the door directly, she turned around and looked at Chimera and Orca.

Orson knew what Kal'tsit was going to do, and he also knew exactly what he should do at this time.

"Um, Kal'tsit—"

"Dr. Kel'tsit, I hope you can approve this operation. I know there's no objective way to prove this attempt, but... please allow me to try. My compatriots are still suffering from nightmares, even if it's just a little bit... I hope to hear her singing."

Skadi interrupted Orson's request. She stepped forward and walked in front of Kal'tsit. Then she lowered her head slightly and said in a pleading tone without any pride that this was the only attempt she could make.

"..."

After hearing Skadi's words, Kal'tsit said nothing. The lynx stared at Skadi with its dark green eyes, and the latter also raised her head and greeted her with her red pupils.

A moment later, a sigh broke the silence. Kelsey closed her eyes slightly, sighed, and then turned her gaze to Orson.

"You idiot, do you really have some strange ability? Why do people who come into contact with you change so quickly?"

"Eh?"

Faced with Kal'tsit's complaints, Orson looked confused.

But Kal'tsit didn't continue complaining. She blinked and turned her gaze back to Skadi.

"The powerful deep-sea hunter, the once-glorious Agor, the whale that wields the tides—the ghost shark is truly invaluable to you, even with such a pleading attitude."

"……Um"

Skadi nodded slightly.

"Then I can approve your action."

"Yeah—woop!"

When Orson heard that Kal'tsit actually agreed, he immediately raised his hand happily, and then Kal'tsit pulled his belt very angrily and forcibly pulled him away from Skadi's hand that was touching his head and into her arms.

"But—Orson is also very important to me, just like you are to Ghost Shark, no, even more so. So I will participate in and observe your actions throughout this operation. If I determine that there are any abnormalities, I will forcibly end the soul tuning. Is that okay?"

"...Well, thank you very much, Dr. Kelsey."

Skadi was a little dazed when she saw Kal'tsit forcibly holding her in his arms, acting like a cat guarding its food and declaring its sovereignty, but she still nodded to show her agreement.

"…'Thanks' doesn't suit someone like you, but it doesn't sound bad. Well, get ready."

After getting Skadi's affirmative answer and letting Orson, who had been coiled by the killer whale, be contaminated with her scent, Kal'tsit let go of Orson with satisfaction and then unlocked the last isolation door.

Along with the sound of mechanical locking, a glass isolation ward appeared in front of everyone.