About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

Fortunately, Orson didn't drink water now, otherwise he would have sprayed water out of his nose again because of Lin Guang's questionable remarks.

"From now on, I will unconditionally serve as your sparring partner at any time, Orson!"

"...Same."

Orsen breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Guang still held on to principles, which was completely different from those embarrassing female knights out there.

"If necessary, I will stay by your side (referring to guarding) until you abandon me (terminating my employment) and always protect your safety!"

"puff--!"

Orson finally burst out laughing. The momentary peace of mind he had just felt was shattered by Lin Guang's belated question.

"Orson? Why are you running away? I think my skills can still serve (protect) you - Orson?"

Lin Guang frowned, not understanding why Orson chose to escape. Was it because his "defeated opponent" was not strong enough to be a knight protecting the opponent?

"...It seems I need to work harder."

Lin Guang clenched his fists with full of energy and said so.

As for the other operators at the training ground, they all had the same idea:

— Is Sister Lin Guang being PUA-ed that badly by that new pretty boy?! This guy named Orsen is a complete scumbag!

"I need to find time to have a proper talk with Lin Guang about her word choice later... Seriously, I clearly agreed to do my best to slack off all day today, so why did I encounter so many outrageous situations right from the start?"

After escaping the training room, Orson continued to wander around, complaining softly. After passing through an open door, Orson unknowingly came to the lower level of Rhodes Island, the laboratory/surgery area that Amiya had mentioned that required advance application.

"Where is this?"

Orson glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings, and at that moment, he noticed an extremely inconspicuous girl with light blue-green hair squatting in a shadow corner.

"rosemary?"

Orson recognized the girl—a girl from the Flin tribe named Rosemary who had appeared in Chapter 7. Of course, other than that, he knew basically nothing about her.

"Rosemary? What is that... Anyway, please... don't come near me."

The girl looked at Orson in confusion, and at the same time tried to distance herself from him, shrinking back.

92.Rosemary

"Please don't come near me... I may not remember you, but... I might hurt you."

The film girl curled up in the corner whispered, looking at Orson with a wandering and somewhat timid look.

—Not rosemary? Or perhaps it hasn't become 'rosemary' yet?

Orson thought about it and realized that because of him, the Checheng incident, including Rhodes Island's search for the doctor, happened a year or two earlier than the original. It was not impossible that there were some changes on Rhodes Island's side.

"I'm Orson, a newcomer to Rhode Island. What are you doing here? What's your name?"

"Title...? Subject XV—I don't really like that name, but people rarely ask for my name..."

Rosemary spoke in a weak voice, as if she was forcing herself to search for memories from deep within her brain while speaking.

"Subject—I don't like that name either. So I'll just call you Rosemary. Is that okay?"

"rosemary……?"

Orson asked Rosemary if she minded being addressed as such, but she tilted her head and didn't express her thoughts.

"Anyway, please advise me. Want to make friends?"

Orson asked Rosemary, trying his best to suppress the shock and confusion that was showing inside him.

Orson can generally perceive a person's "melody", and this melody can reflect the person's inner state to a certain extent.

Lin Guang's melody is noble, daring, simple, and straightforward. Kal'tsit's melody is fragmented and chaotic, yet somehow somehow tied together. Tallulah's melody used to be tense and full of noise, but now it's melodious and passionate, even interspersed with the sounds of old-fashioned storytelling (which Black Snake listens to).

But the girl in front of him from the film group, Rosemary, who was described in Chapter 7 as "a fight scene that would make most people lose their sanity" - her melody, no, it was not a "melody" at all.

It was a mixture of countless screams and wails of different genders, ages, and tones, forced together. It was pure "hell."

All Orson could hear were the continuous and chaotic screams of pain.

"Friends? Sorry... I can't be friends with you. I will forget you exist. And, more likely, I might... hurt you, just like I hurt others before."

Rosemary buried her cheek in her slightly loose Rhodes Island trench coat. Her tone was hesitant and cautious.

"Well, in that case—"

"Dr. Orson, what are you doing here? I remember Amiya told you before that you need to apply to enter the experimental surgery area of Rhodes Island."

Orson was about to say something when Kal'tsit's voice suddenly came from the entrance.

"Dr. Kel'tsit? I was just thinking of taking a walk, but ended up here without realizing it. I'm so sorry!"

Orson clasped his hands together and apologized seriously. Seeing the other party's expression, Kal'tsit couldn't say anything else. She just sighed and prepared to go back to check the surveillance to see which guy didn't close the door casually. She would hang him on the bridge for a day and see what happened next.

A blood demon sneezed.

"Forget it, let's go back and prepare for today's examination, Dr. Orson."

"You... are infected?"

Hearing Kal'tsit's words, Rosemary poked her head out from her clothes and looked at Orson.

"Yes, I'm an infected person here for treatment. Next time I have time, I'll show you my lung ultrasound. It's super cool! Even Dr. Kal'tsit exclaimed how awesome it was after seeing it—woo!"

Orson was hit on the head by Kal'tsit while he was speaking.

"Don't joke about your condition—so why are you hiding here?"

After scolding Orson, Kal'tsit walked up to Rosemary and asked the girl from the film group in a low voice.

"...I accidentally destroyed the testing equipment earlier and...injured the medical operators. Everyone is...scared of me. I don't want this to happen."

Rosemary spoke intermittently. She had almost forgotten what she had destroyed before, but the fear and terror were still engraved in her heart.

"Rhodes Island will not abandon you, and I promise that you will not be harmed here again."

"..."

Kal'tsit's tone was calm, yet surprisingly filled with an unquestionable certainty, which made Rosemary calm down a little.

"Dr. Orson, I'll be in charge here. Please head to the upper area to rest for a while and then prepare for routine testing."

"I see. Um—take good care of her, Dr. Kelsey. Her condition might be a little, special."

Orson looked at Rosemary. Her "melody" - or rather, her countless wails - was something Orson had never experienced before.

But Orson knew very well that Rosemary's condition was very terrifying. She was not walking on a tightrope high in the air. She had already fallen into hell, but was still holding on to the last spider silk in her hand.

"I understand."

Kelsey nodded, and Orson was ready to leave this area that was not yet open to him.

"See you later, Rosemary."

Orson and Rosemary waved their hands and left the Rhodes Island testing area.

On the way, Orson met Instructor Doberman. Doberman first asked about Orson's condition with concern. After all, Orson was a rare "excellent" and "outstanding" operator. Doberman also learned about Orson's condition and found out that the degree of his mineral disease infection was more serious than he had imagined, so he was very concerned.

"What's the situation with that operator, Instructor Doberman?"

On the way back to the room, Orson asked about Rosemary.

"Her? All I know is that Kal'tsit brought her to Rhodes Island from a laboratory in Columbia. She possesses terrifying Originium skills, but her mental state is extremely unstable. This is the fourth time this month she's caused major damage to a facility, and this time it happened to be in an operating room. I heard that a patient with severe mineral sickness almost didn't receive timely treatment because of this."

"It seems that the infected person is quite lucky."

Orson, the person involved, lamented this.

"Kal'tsit believes that even she can become a Rhodes Island Operator, but most Rhodes Island members, including more than half of the elite operators, are opposed to this."

Doberman sighed.

"Lately in Rhodes Island... I don't know how to describe it, it seems to be getting worse and worse. The divisions among people are getting bigger and bigger, and—ah, sorry, I shouldn't tell you these things."

Dubin suddenly realized that these topics were not suitable to tell Orson, a "pure stranger who came to Rhodes Island to recuperate."

"But anyone can see that what Kal'tsit and Amiya are carrying is too heavy. Although it's a bit inappropriate for me to say this, and according to the confidentiality agreement, I'm not qualified to tell you, but - I think you have some kind of ability, Orson. The ability to pull Kal'tsit and Amiya back from the brink of collapse."

Dobin looked at Orson. Although many people called her "good at judging people", Dobin herself never felt that she had the power to tap into the potential of others.

Everything was just a deduction based on conclusions drawn from data and experiments. Dubin, who always held this idea, subjectively believed Orson for the first time without sufficient data.

"Including the child you just asked about—we can only provide her with a stable environment as much as possible, but if we want her to overcome the nightmares of the past and escape from hell...that person might be you, Orson."

Doberman looked at Orson. This short boy had already shown something in just a few times of getting along with him, something... that made him believe in it and bless it.

------------

The lower level of the Rhode Island Laboratory Operating Room.

"..."

Rosemary, who was brought back to a separate room in the laboratory by Kal'tsit, wagged her tail gently and stared at the blank notebook in front of her.

——Does what happened today need to be recorded?

Because her memory is always missing, Rosemary often holds a notebook and writes things down in it.

After a brief moment of thought, Rosemary raised the gel pen, placed it lightly on the diary, and flicked her wrist.

[Today I met an infected person. He called himself Orson and said he wanted to be friends with me.]

[Also, this was the first time someone gave me a name—Rosemary]

After just two sentences, Rosemary looked at the paper that was no longer blank, and her mood unexpectedly lightened.

The girl from the film group, whose mind was always filled with the screams of her "brothers", raised her head slightly and wondered what kind of person Orson was.

After finishing her notes, Rosemary closed her notebook. Just as she was about to while away the long, despairing hours by staring at the ceiling light bulb, she heard Orson's familiar voice coming from outside the corridor.

"Is that Orson? Why is he here...eh?"

"Rosemary? Nice to see you again. Anyway—help!!"

Rosemary stared blankly at Orson being tied to a stretcher and pushed into the infirmary, while Kal'tsit had a dark look on her face.

A few minutes ago, in the Rhode Island Lounge:

"At that time, Mr. Kosciuszko paid a large sum of money to hire a five-star expert like me to fight against the infected in Qie City. Who is Mr. Kosciuszko? He can rule the world with a pen in men's clothing and on a horse in women's clothing. He can meet a high-level black assassin in a car and escape from the city with a khaki."

The infected person who came to Rhodes Island from Azazel Clinic met Orson on the road, and the two hit it off immediately. The second-in-command of the Reunion Movement, the Silent Voice of the North, the Tuner, began to tour Rhodes Island again.

Orson on the stage drank a sip of water with satisfaction. Although he vaguely felt that he seemed to have forgotten something, it shouldn't be a big deal, right?

------------

"I told you to rest for a while and prepare for the physical exam, not to run to the lounge and perform crosstalk. Do you understand the difference, Dr. Dead Orson?"

"Your name has become so scary, Dr. Kal'tsit!?"

"...?"

Rosemary was stunned for a few seconds, then opened her notebook again:

[Orson was taken to the infirmary by Dr. Kelsey, who was furious. It was said that it was because of the crosstalk.]

After writing this sentence, Rosemary was stunned for a moment. After all, no matter how you looked at it, this sentence had nothing to do with the definition of "important things that need to be written down."

But since it looks interesting, I might as well... stay?

93. Rhodes Island's Household Affairs

"The activity of Originium infection has decreased, the blood Originium concentration has not changed, and the somatic cell fusion rate is gradually decreasing. Well, congratulations, Dr. Orson, your body is recovering better than expected."

In the operating room, Kal'tsit held a tablet in her hand and checked the values on it one by one. After confirming that there was no problem with the data, she reopened the operating room's monitoring system and access control.

"Dr. Kelsey, why do we have to temporarily block the operating room's internet connection during every physical examination?"

Orson asked curiously while pressing the pinhole.

"Because the contents of your medical examination are top secret."

Kal'tsit responded briefly and encrypted Orson's medical report separately.

"Due to your physical condition, your recovery speed is very fast. Although the Originium in your body will not be eliminated quickly, it is also weakening."