About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

At the last stop, the three arrived at the control center, the core of Rhodes Island. The surrounding windows allowed views of the outside scenery and horizon. A super cyber-style sphere sat in the center of the center, rotating slowly and steadily.

"Orson, do you have any memories of this place?"

After arriving at the control center, Kal'tsit asked Orson.

"It seems... somewhat familiar."

It's not the impression in the game, but it seems that I have really been here and exist here.

"I remember... the escalator in the central hub was always rusty, and the elevator over there... wasn't finished yet—Ugh!!"

Orson felt a sudden sharp pain in his head.

"Calm down, take a deep breath. Your memory has been forcibly sealed by the doctor. Forcing yourself to recall it will cause severe headaches."

Kal'tsit walked to Orson, put her hands on his temples, and helped him calm down.

"Seal... why?"

"I never understood you."

After confirming that Orson was okay, Kal'tsit released her hands and walked to the control center.

"PRTS, confirm Dr. Orson's central connection synchronization rate." Kal'tsit gave an order to the artificial intelligence, and the latter responded immediately.

"Received the request. We are establishing a synaptic channel to conduct a virtual battlefield simulation—"

"Central connection...?"

Orson rubbed his head and asked curiously.

"Connecting centrally with the PRTS, visualizing and simplifying the battlefield, and iteratively compressing and streamlining multiple commands—this is Rhodes Island's core technology, and also a battlefield command technique that only the Doctor can use."

Kal'tsit explained calmly, taking out a pair of glasses from near the console.

"Amiya, are you ready? If the results are different from what we expected—you should already know what that means."

Kal'tsit asked Amiya in a serious tone, and the latter hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Dr. Orson, as you just saw, Rhodes Island itself is just a well-structured ship. Its only difference from other ships is its PRTS Combat System. Originally, this system was designed to autonomously analyze the battlefield and make decisions, but the only doctor capable of using it disappeared before the PRTS could fully learn from its combat records. Therefore, it can be said that Rhodes Island has lost its only technological advantage."

Kal'tsit walked up to Orson and gently put the glasses in her hand on Orson's eyes.

"Now, you appear before us—carrying two possibilities."

Kal'tsit turned on the glasses, and in an instant, Orson's vision was occupied by white signals.

"1. Rhodes Island still has meaning and hope to continue. 2. Rhodes Island will completely lose its roots to maintain its existence on the Terra continent." Kal'tsit said calmly.

"...I'm sorry, Orson, this has nothing to do with you, but--" Amiya apologized in a low voice.

"It's okay, Amiya. Didn't I tell you? I will help you to the best of my ability."

Orson comforted Amiya. At the same time, the white signal gradually became clearer, and a picture gradually took shape in front of Orson.

"So—now tell me, Orson, what do you see in your eyes?"

"I... well, this may sound strange, but I saw—lots of lattices, platforms, little blue doors and little red doors."

Isn’t this the battle interface of the Arknights mobile game!

"—Tell me Dr. Orson's central link synchronization rate, PRTS."

Kal'tsit's tone unconsciously rose a little.

"94.45%, Doctor. Welcome back to the battlefield. The PRTS command system is at your command."

An electronic synthesized voice announced faintly.

"94... That's great, that's great, Orson! This way, maybe Rhodes Island can still... Ah, sorry!"

The moment she heard the result, Amiya unconsciously hugged Orson tightly, and only then did she notice her own rudeness.

"Amiya, can you go get the previous combat records?"

"Okay, okay!"

Kal'tsit sent Amiya away, then walked over to Orson and took off his glasses.

"Amiya just brought it here herself, and based on the XP analysis before, the little girl is not in my range... No, no, no, I don't mean that I like the big bird spinning around—"

Knowing that he was going to be in trouble, Orson squatted down with his head in his hands and shouted incoherently that he was innocent, but the expected bite from Mon3tr did not come.

Orson looked up and saw an unbelievable scene.

Kal'tsit, who always seemed to be meticulous, cunning, and calm in the face of adversity—

It seemed like there was a moment of transparent liquid flowing from the corner of his eyes?

"Kelsey...?

"It's time to go back. Today's inspection hasn't started yet."

When Orson asked, the other party had already returned to his original appearance - or perhaps it was just his illusion.

"...Well, please give me your guidance today."

Orson didn't ask any further questions. He vaguely felt that perhaps the one who bore the heaviest burden was not Amiya, but the doctor in front of him who would not reveal anything in his heart to others.

Orsen, if you meet someone who is relied upon by those around them, yet never relies on others themselves... then you must strive to be a good man who can stay by their side. Because people like that won't actively express their sorrow and despair. 'A doctor cannot heal himself'... do you understand?

A doctor can't heal himself...?

Orson listened thoughtfully to Kal'tsit's melody, which was almost completely broken but still tightly connected.

91.KO~KO~DA~YO~

The 8th day in Rhodes Island——

Orson lay on the bed in the single room, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

Because Orson has been busy almost every day in the Integration Movement, he is a little uncomfortable with the sudden free time now.

——Do you want to find something to do?

This thought popped up in Orson's mind, but he quickly interrupted it himself.

Forget it, I should just focus on recuperating now. I am currently a patient receiving treatment in Rhodes Island, and a patient should act like a patient. The most urgent task is to cure the oripathy as soon as possible.

Thinking of how Tallulah and everyone had worried about him, and how Dr. Kal'tsit had been working tirelessly to perform surgery on him, Orson decided to just rest and recuperate this time.

"Okay! In that case, let's seriously relax today!"

Orson made up his mind to slack off seriously today!

When it comes to slacking off, the first thing that comes to mind is the sight of old men lying outside doing nothing and basking in the sun.

Orson picked up the ID card on the table, opened the door and walked towards Rhodes Island's deck.

Although the North is always freezing cold, the temperature on the edge of the city of Che, where Rhodes Island is close, is quite suitable. The spacious deck offers a clear view of the sky, and the flowing air is much fresher than that inside the ship.

Orson lay down on a chair set up next to the deck, ready to waste the day.

5 minutes later--

"……I am bored"

Orson got up from his chair, feeling guilty about wasting his life doing nothing.

"Ah...my spot is taken."

A bald man suddenly appeared from behind Orson!

No, it was actually a short Durin girl wearing a super loose Rhodes Island uniform.

"Is this your place? Sorry, I'm not sure."

Orson just found an excuse to get up from the chair and return the seat to the warlock operator codenamed "Durin" in his impression.

"Thank you... Hmm? Are you from the same tribe?"

Du Lin glanced at Orson and asked curiously.

"No way!"

Orson responded angrily. In fact, although Orson was not tall, he was not tall enough to be classified as a Durin.

According to Kal'tsit's analysis, this is actually due to the cognitive filter. If you meet someone who has no obvious subjective racial inclination towards Orson, they will most likely mistake Orson for Durin, who also has unclear characteristics.

"So you're not Du Lin. Then, what are you doing here?"

"I came here to learn how to slack off professionally, so I tried to bask in the sun, but I still feel a little restless."

Orson rubbed his hair and said that it was still too difficult for him to sleep in the sun for a whole day.

"Isn't this very simple? I'll teach you... Zzzz"

After saying this, Du Lin lay down on the chair and fell asleep.

"So fast! Can you really learn this?!"

Is this person Nobita Nobi?

Just as Orson was looking at the soundly asleep Durin, not knowing what to do, another operator's voice came from behind him:

"KO~KO~DA~YO~~"

The fear engraved in his soul was awakened at this moment. Orson broke out in a cold sweat and turned his head to look at the source of the voice.

"Who are you?"

The squinty-eyed orange-haired rabbit asked Orson in a dirge that pierced his soul.

"I... uh, I'm Orson, who just came to Rhodes Island for treatment. You are Cross, right?"

"Hey~~Have you seen me?"

"Um"

It's more than just something he's seen before. Dabao sees it every day and is almost suffering from PTSD.

"Is that so~ Then let's get along well~"

Cross said in her unique voice.

"Rhodes Island is a great place. They accepted me as an infected person and provided me with treatment, so~~"

Cross moved closer to Orson, and his squinting eyes suddenly opened.

"Run away quickly, because the overtime hell is ahead."

"——!?"

In an instant, Orson saw the ruins at the end of the universe, Laplace's demon, the Dirac Sea, the blooming of flowers, and Halloween through KKDY's eyes.

"Then I'll take a nap too~"

Those illusions lasted only for a moment, and Cross turned back to his squinting face, got close to Du Lin and started to Zzz.

As for Orson, he was completely sleepless. For a moment, he didn't even know whether it was outrageous that he could open his eyes to a 7-star war god, or that Rhodes Island could turn a 7-star war god into a corporate slave.

Orson didn't dare to stay on the deck that had become an open-air bedroom, so he took a stroll and ended up running to Rhodes Island's training room.

Coincidentally, Lin Guang was training some operators in combat skills in the training room.

"——Orson!"

During the interval after a set of sparring, Lin Guang noticed Orson and immediately came over.

"Good morning, Miss Linguang—"

“I’m so sorry for what happened last time!!”

"……Eh?"

Before Orsen finished greeting him, Lin Guang suddenly bowed his head and apologized seriously.

"I didn't know your oripathy was that serious then, Orson... Your oripathy symptoms worsened because of fighting with me."

"No, I'm just..."

"I know it's useless to apologize now. I can only repay you with this body...!"

“——Ehhh!?”