About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

“—What on earth are you thinking, Doctor? Why can’t I see you? If possible… I at least want you to tell me what it is that made you choose to accompany Thearesia and me to the end?”

Kal'tsit put one hand on her forehead and took out a photo from the drawer next to the table with the other hand.

In the photo, myself and the doctor are standing on the deck looking at the camera. The doctor is smiling carefree, while I am frowning as usual.

And that was the last smile of the Doctor in Kel'tsit's memory. Not only because later on, the Tower of Babel was suddenly attacked by Kazdel as a revenge, resulting in Thearesia's death, but also because of that day—

That day, during lunch, the Doctor suddenly said that he was actually a being called "Original Sin".

This sentence was so abrupt that even Kal'tsit couldn't understand it.

"How ridiculous... Kal'tsit, you know what? I thought I was here to enjoy my new life, but then I realized I needed to save the world. However, when I finally mustered up the courage to move forward, and was about to touch the edge of reality, I realized that I was..."

The Doctor didn't continue speaking, and from then on, there was no smile on her face anymore. She put on the dark mask on her head. No one knew what expression the Doctor had underneath the mask when she was commanding the operators to sacrifice themselves to cover the retreat and try to allow the main force to evacuate.

—What was it that you saw, and what was it that you did not say, doctor?

Kal'tsit looked at the photo a little confused, but the next moment, her eyes focused again.

No, no matter how regretful and confused I am about the past, it will never affect what I will do in the future.

I want to protect Orson... accompany him to the end of his life. This was agreed upon long ago and is my goal alone.

Kal'tsit put the photo back into the drawer. She stood up from her reclining position and once again sat in front of the computer, concentrating on collecting information.

At the same time, on the other side——

Help, Kelsey...!!

The Rhodes Island staff cafeteria seemed crowded today.

Of course, there are only so many people who actually come to eat during the lunch break, but because everyone is rushing in the same direction, it seems very crowded.

Surrounded in the center by the crowd were, of course, the mascot Orson, the deep-sea hunter Skadi, and the ghost shark clinging to Orson.

"Orson! Could this be Miss Ghost Shark, who I rarely see before?"

"Yes, it is."

"Orson, did you do something incredibly serious and irreparable, like stripping Kal'tsit's clothes right in front of her? Is that why she arranged for these two to be beheaded?"

"No way!? And if I really did that, I wouldn't have to bother Ms. Skadi. M3 would have just chewed my head like it was Maltesers..."

"Orson, Miss Ghost Shark seems to have been whispering something since just now. Can you hear what she is saying?"

"That, uh, is Miss Ghost Shark softly singing a ballad that belongs only to deep-sea hunters, right, Miss Skadi?"

"……Um?"

Skadi tilted her head slightly. From the beginning, she had not involved herself in the conversation at all, but was concentrating on stroking Orson wholeheartedly, just like playing with her mobile phone in the elevator to avoid talking to others.

"My love... Is this a wedding hall? Are there so many people here to listen to the melody of my love? Ah... It's wonderful. I am so happy."

By the way, this is roughly what Ghost Shark said.

"Ms. Ghost Shark... you are much cuter than I imagined! Are you a nun? Ah~ My soul fell into hell the moment I saw you. Can you save me?"

"I'm already Orson's—"

"Well, well, well, well! See you on a moonlit night. Miss Zilan wants you to come over!"

"Ah... What a pity, beautiful nun. We will definitely meet again, right?"

"You also want to be a witness to the fusion of me and Orson—"

"I beg you, Miss Ghost Shark, please stop saying such things... Miss Skadi is so angry she's about to rip my scalp off...!"

Orson, who was surrounded by a large group of people, was sweating profusely. His original idea was to take the Ghost Shark, who had just woken up, to have a meal to replenish his strength. However, Orson seemed a little unaware of his current strange state.

Normally, when the operators met Orson while eating in the cafeteria, they would just say hello and at most casually mention whether the Snow Rabbit from the Integration Movement came to lock the door last night.

However, today, the mascot Orson came to the cafeteria surrounded by two beautiful girls with white hair and red eyes. One of them, with white hair and wearing a nun's uniform, even had a blushing face and kept rubbing against Orson, while the other one with white hair and red eyes rubbed her head calmly. No matter who saw this scene, they would want to get closer to find out what was going on.

Because of this, Orson, who had originally planned to have a low-key meal and leave, found himself surrounded in a corner with his two "white-haired deep-sea lovers" when he came to his senses.

Not only that, this phenomenon has created a strange "vicious cycle".

The ghost shark became nervous in an instant because there were more and more people around, and perhaps because it recalled the "sacrifice" in the memory fragment consciousness field, so it stuck to Orson even harder.

As for Skadi, she was insulated from social anxiety and felt uncomfortable with so many people. She could only ease the embarrassment by rubbing Orson. In addition, Skadi noticed that the Ghost Shark was getting more and more excited, so she also increased her intensity like children quarreling, not willing to be outdone.

If Orson felt like a cat having its hair scratched by someone when he was being rubbed by the killer whale at the beginning, then Orson now felt like someone was rolling his head with a rolling pin.

It seemed that coming to the cafeteria was a bad move. It didn't matter that he was outmaneuvered by Skadi, but Ghost Shark's mental state was obviously becoming more and more tense.

Orson noticed that the ghost shark beside him was hugging his body and trembling slightly as he faced the crowd surrounding him.

Just as Orson was thinking about whether to ask everyone to disperse first, a female voice that sounded very heroic came from behind the crowd.

"What are you doing? Don't crowd in public places. This will cause congestion to the overall operation."

"Lin Guang?" "Woohoo, I get it!" "Run, run!" "The scary guy appears!"

Following the scolding from Lin Guang, one of the "instructors", the people who had been admiring the "Seafood Sandwich Chimera" from a close distance dispersed and went back to their homes to eat their meals again.

There are some people in Rhodes Island that no one wants to mess with, such as Kal'tsit, Doberman, and then Lin Guang.

Although Lin Guang is easy to get along with and is a high-quality female knight like a good gentleman, she is sometimes too strict, which makes many people feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'm probably not that scary, am I... Um, Orson?"

Seeing everyone disperse, Lin Guang felt a little embarrassed, but she soon saw the core of the encirclement, Orson and the two deep-sea hunters.

"Phew...thank you for being so helpful, Lin Guang."

After the onlookers were driven away, Orson immediately happily held Lin Guang's hands and said.

"Hmm? Well, you're welcome. It's just a piece of cake. Compared to that, this is Miss Skadi, right? And this is... Miss Skadi's sister?"

Lin Guang was a little confused when Orson shook hands with him, then he looked at Ghost Shark and Skadi and asked.

"Sister... no, of course not."

Skadi blinked. Although both she and the Ghost Shark were white-haired, red-eyed Agoras, being mistaken for a sister still made the little killer whale feel mysteriously shy.

"This is Ghost Shark, we just met."

Orson introduces the ghost shark to Lin Guang.

"I'm Orson's lover, unlike that stupid killer whale... hehe."

Ghost Shark chuckled and whispered beside him.

"I see, aren't they sisters? What a shame! I thought we could talk about our cute little sister together—wait, Orson?"

Lin Guang nodded to express his regret, then realized something belatedly, and stared straight at Orson with his bright golden eyes.

"You heard wrong! Miss Ghost Shark and I are not in that kind of relationship!"

Orson hurriedly tried to explain, but the ghost shark next to him came close to Orson again and added with a smug smile.

"Could it be that you are ready to become a father...my lover?"

"Orson?"

Lin Guang's eyes were extremely eye-catching.

"Well, that... Anyway, it's not what you heard! We have something else to do here, see you later!"

Lin Guang had talked to Orson about Maria more than once before, and the general meaning was that he hoped Orson could take good care of his sister.

She believed that she and her sister would not make a mistake in choosing the right person. Orson was a steady young man who was very serious about love and would not get married to a girl he just met without any reason.

Then, Orson became a "lover" and even a "family member" with the girl he "just met".

"Orson—I really misjudged you!!"

Lin Guang rushed over with the Pegasus Halo

"Haha, is this a wedding robbery? How interesting and exciting. Are we going to escape from here, my love? Will you return to the deep sea with me and give birth to a new offspring together in the ancient darkness?"

"Of course not! I'll drown—"

Ghost Shark laughed loudly, while Orson complained while dodging Lin Guang's five consecutive lightning whips.

——This feeling... doesn't seem so bad.

Looking at everyone making so much noise, Skadi, who had always been a little resistant to interacting with people, thought so.

The deep-sea hunters of the past, although they did not express their care for each other in such a direct way, there were times when they gathered together to sing ballads and then fought because someone sang out of tune.

It was wonderful, but that time can never be returned.

"Orson, explain this to me immediately—"

"Put the hammer down first, Lin Guang!"

On this side, Skadi was running and lamenting the past, while on the other side, Orson had to fight for his life because he could not survive. The ghost shark next to him was laughing and sticking to Orson.

It was passed down that the Deep Sea Hunter and the heir of Casimir's Silver Spear started fighting over a man.

9.4 I need to take a day off due to stomach discomfort

RT, I ate Korean BBQ buffet yesterday, I don't know if it made me sick, but I've been playing Splatoon all day today, I feel like I'm going to fly...

But then again, when I think about it, the meat I ate during the barbecue was either mushy or undercooked, so it doesn't seem incomprehensible that I had diarrhea...

If I had known this earlier, I would have asked the clerk to help me take the test. Damn it.

9. Shark falls for the second time, Cat turns bad online

In the Rhodes Island staff dormitory area, elite operator Rosemary was adjusting her glasses while scribbling on the pages of the book on the table with a gel pen in her hand.

Rhodes Island's staff dormitories are divided into three levels. Elite operators can have their own independent dormitories, regular operators have double rooms, and the reserve team has four or six people in a dormitory.

As an elite operator, Rosemary lives in a dormitory with a relatively better environment, which is already at the level of a single room in an ordinary hotel.

At first, Rosemary felt a little bad about Kelsey Amiya's arrangement, but after hearing that it was a rule in Rhodes Island, she stopped refusing. She also took advantage of the quietness of the single dormitory and turned it into a library that belonged only to her.

After all, it's a private room, so there are rarely people knocking on the door, so I can be quiet...

Boom boom boom!

“Meow!?”

Suddenly there was a very urgent knock on the door, which startled Rosemary who was reading. She quickly took off her glasses, jumped off the chair and trotted to open the door.

"Orson? And—"

When Rosemary opened the door and saw the familiar boy, a happy smile immediately appeared on Kitty Cat's face.

Rosemary's smile didn't last long, however, as she noticed two white-haired, red-eyed Agors beside Orson, who looked like sisters, yet also seemed to be neither. Orson was also panting heavily and looked extremely panicked, as if he were being chased. He looked very anxious.

"I haven't seen Rosemary for two weeks. How have you been lately? I'd like to take our time to catch up, but can I go in and hide for a while...?"

"Eh? Ugh, okay."

Rosemary was stunned for a moment by Orson's super-fast divine words, but she still opened the door and let Orson and several girls into her room.

As soon as everyone entered the room, they heard heavy footsteps of "dong dong dong dong" and a voice that sounded like Lin Guang's from the corridor outside.

"..."

Orson put his ear to the door and held his breath. When the footsteps gradually faded away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Um... Orson, and Miss Skadi, and, uh, who is this?"

After Rosemary felt the crisis was over for now, she began to ask Orson curiously. Rosemary had met and communicated with Skadi before, but the white-haired girl in a nun's uniform beside Skadi, rubbing against Orson's arm, was someone Ghost Shark had never seen before.

Rosemary complained a bit, asking Orson about the identity of the girl who seemed too "familiar" with him. However, before Orson could respond, the "girl" took the initiative to answer.

"I'm Ghost Shark, a cute little kitty cat."

"So you're Miss Ghost Shark...? You're different than I imagined. You... well, you're very beautiful!"

Hearing the real name of the girl in front of her, Rosemary blinked in surprise. After all, in her impression, the code name of the unsolved mystery of Rhodes Island, [Ghost Shark], was associated with negative words such as "crazy", "bloody", and "bloodthirsty" in everyone's mouth.

But after actually meeting her, the nun girl in front of her did not give her such a scary feeling. On the contrary, even though she was wearing a nun's uniform that could hide her body shape and skin, Rosemary could still see that Ghost Shark was a very beautiful and lovely girl.

"Hehe, pretty, huh? But you're right. As Orson's lover, I really have to look my best at all times. Only then can I be worthy of my lover, right?"

Ghost Shark said this with a grin to Rosemary, and at the same time, he put his hand on Orson's cheek.

"Love, lover—eheheheh!?"