Arknights, but the family has fallen again

But why does it feel a bit too villainous?

Otto shook his head and then said to the ghost shark: Don't chase the desperate enemy, come back.

As the master of the dream, he sensed that the battle was over. The bandits who hadn't yet entered the battlefield had lost contact with his mental world and vanished into the borderland. Continuing to pursue them would be fruitless.

After transmitting the thought, he also turned his attention away from the ghost shark.

Feeling the attention gone, Ghost Shark walked towards Otto with a sense of loss. She looked at the deer girl who was hiding hand in hand with Otto in the distance, and her bright red eyes suddenly froze.

"My Lord... please lead these lost souls to their resting place..."

Such verses flowed from her honey-colored lips.

Skadi walked over the bandit leader's body and stood at the gap in the dense forest, looking into the distance.

At the end of the pitch-black forest, a high, bulging sea cliff stood out. A cluster of dilapidated buildings could be vaguely seen. Turning away from the cliff's summit, a crescent-shaped sheltered harbor formed at its base. There, a small, seemingly inhabited town loomed.

Skadi stared at the endless expanse of dark water.

It's the sea.

After realizing this, the smell of the sea was suddenly clearly distinguished from other smells.

The Originium skills of the landfolk were inherently strange to Skadi. Being suddenly transported to this place, said to be "trapped in a time loop," while asleep wasn't difficult to accept.

It would be better to say that she was trapped on land. As long as she was still inland, it didn't matter where she was trapped...

As long as it's still inland.

Skadi said nothing and returned to the three of them.

"...Why does this bandit have this kind of statue on him? Wouldn't it be inconvenient to carry something like this on your body?"

Alina held up another twisted little sculpture with some surprise.

"Maybe it's a local custom?" Ott raised his eyebrows but didn't answer directly. "There's another box over here, Alina, come and take a look."

The deer girl didn't suspect anything either. She curiously opened the trapped treasure chest and took out a ring among the regular antiques, twisted sculptures, scattered family crests and thick property documents.

A warm yellow gem sits on the dull and dusty golden ring.

Sunlight Ring!?

Ott cried out in his heart.

This is one of the best accessories to use in bright light environments.

Daylight Ring: A dim gem, a hazy ring... like fading hope.

属性：亮度高于75点时，+10％伤害；亮度高于75点时，+5精准；+10％所受压力。

It provides a modest 10% damage and a noble 5 points of accuracy, at the cost of the cliché 10 points of pressure.

Alina was a little disappointed: "These things may be very valuable, but..."

But if we want to leave here, we need more exploration. However, exploring this place still requires some serious supplies. Considering factors such as acclimatization, relying on berries and hunting to maintain supplies in such an unfamiliar place... is not a long-term solution!

"There's a small town ahead." After briefly revealing this, Skadi turned to Otto and said, "This is the seaside. I... Laurentina and I must avoid bloodshed as much as possible, otherwise we might attract unnecessary enemies. I hope..."

Skadi looked at the nun who had taken Otto's left arm and was withdrawn again, and said helplessly: "I hope you can warn her about this."

Chapter 15 The Long Night of December 23rd

The moonlight is like water, spreading over the wilderness.

A spark of fire flickered on the plain, and suddenly, the completely gray charcoal in the campfire collapsed.

Skadi suddenly opened her eyes.

when……?

It is unknown since when Miss Killer Whale was expelled from the border area.

But she did not wake up immediately. Instead, she went from a clear dream to a vague dream.

There, she chatted happily with Laurentina in her dream, and the surrounding environment gradually transformed into the seabed...

Skadi shook her head, putting the loneliness and melancholy behind her.

"Rhode Island..."

Although I couldn't quite figure out what was a dream and what really happened in that strange place.

But Skadi still grasped the key point: Rhode Island Pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, in the north, Chernobyl, the Reunion Movement's temporary command center.

The "headmen" of the "Integration Movement Tribe" gathered together, around a battle table with a map on it, holding a meeting on behalf of their respective "clans".

"...Now that the above objectives have been achieved, despite some minor flaws in the operation, Chernobyl is completely under control," said Garson.

Tallulah had already changed out of her stained dress for a uniform that was distinctly in the style of the Integrated Movement. The Dragon Girl's brows furrowed slightly. Though her face remained the same, the dark and alluring charm she had previously exuded had been transformed into a heroic and stern air.

She supported herself on the table with both hands, her face as cold as ice.

Completely under control?

Chernobog's howling and crying seemed to still linger in her ears.

With a muffled sound, a conspicuous crack appeared on the sturdy wooden table.

Draco subconsciously restrained his own strength.

"Tallulah?" someone asked in confusion.

The dragon girl immersed herself in the complicated memories, looking for the connection.

After that point, her true self was lost in the rising rage and hatred. She began to resort to unscrupulous means and became increasingly depraved.

Looking back on the past, she really felt as if she had become Kosice!

But every terrible decision comes from her own heart, and every innocent life is counted in her own hands...

"Tallulah?" Faust called the Dragon Girl's name again. "Do you need to rest for a while?"

The last pure-blooded Wendigo looked at Tallulah in front of him in silence.

Something has changed.

Or rather, it has changed again.

Just like the transformation that happened to Tallulah on that snowy night when she carried back the body of a civilian alone, the young leader changed again.

Could it be that he saw with his own eyes the scene brought about by his decision?

A prosperous city was breached by a ragtag army of undisciplined warriors, and the Scourge struck it. Chernobog, the city of the Black God, had been transformed into a living hell.

Too late.

The patriots hated those actions, hated Mephistopheles's atrocities, and even more hated Tallulah for issuing such orders.

There is no doubt that he will prevent these actions from happening further.

"...No, it's nothing."

The Dragon Girl had made her decision in this brief moment.

Whether it was she who planned all this or the black snake hiding in her mind, she must be held responsible for it.

Not just the infected, but also the citizens of this city themselves...

But now I am... really qualified...

With self-doubt, she said, "Taking Chernobog is only the first step in our plan."

"We need this mobile city, but we don't just need the mobile plots here... Ugh!"

"Tallulah!"

"I'm fine, I just have a slight headache."

The dragon girl lowered her head, and when she raised it again, the heroic spirit in her eyes transformed into a poisonous and seductive charm.

The candle flame was stimulated by her action and flickered. The distorted flame cast her distorted shadow on the broken and dirty white wall.

In order to continue the conspiracy that had been led astray by Tallulah herself, Black Snake cleverly turned the topic and said, "...Back to the topic, simply moving the land itself is worthless. Moreover, the untimely natural disaster destroyed a large area of the city."

She said slowly, "We still need enough manpower and resources to get it up and running again."

"There's only one place in this area that can provide this for us infected people."

The jade finger pointed to a certain place on the map as gracefully as a snake's tongue, and there was the Dragon Gate.

Responsible? This is a necessary sacrifice. Their lives are not wasted; on the contrary, they are destined to make your...my great cause a reality.

Although it is hard to say how much effort he has put into teaching her, but seeing his "adopted daughter" having such naive ideas again and again, Black Snake finally feels a little disappointed with her.

Feeling the turmoil in his heart, the black snake gritted its silver teeth and became wary of the strange Originium technique.

Although "paranoia" did not have much impact on Black Snake herself, this defeat and Tallulah's inexplicable awakening almost destroyed her plan.

She didn't want to face Otto again in this state.

Mephistopheles!

That little devil got tricked too!

Then it would be perfect to use him as a test subject and use him to test that person's magic!

"In order to get everything we want from Longmen, I need to send an advance team to explore its true strength."

Frost Star crossed her arms, tilted her head slightly, and protested, "Didn't we already agree on this before? Why do you have to repeat it again now?"

Attack the dragon gate.

This is indeed a plan that has been prepared.

But not everyone agrees.

Or, quite the opposite. Having already acquired a mobile city of infected people, not many people would approve of this extraneous move.

Mephistopheles was still in a strange state of madness, unable to communicate normally. There were seven people in the conference room: Talulah, Lyudmila (King Slayer), Sasha (Faust), Yelena (Frost Star), Bodracasti (Patriot), Alex (Bonebreaker), and Garson, the Sarkaz mercenary leader.

Of the seven, only Black Snake and Bonebreaker truly wanted to attack Dragon Gate. Garson, accepting payment, remained noncommittal, while the others disapproved.

Even if Mephistopheles was still awake at this time, the sound of attacking the goal was still not loud enough.

If it weren't for the previous defeat, Black Snake wouldn't be afraid to come up with even more ambitious plans. For example, he would capture Longmen and turn it into a city for the infected...

But the current defeat forced her to change her rhetoric, tempting the entire integration movement to dig its own grave in another way.

The sound of crushing bones was particularly muffled through the respirator. "Misha isn't here. She went to Longmen like the other refugees."

Black Snake tapped the map lightly.

"Well, Alex, go and bring her back."

Bonebreaker's true name uttered from her swan-like neck. The black snake said with her eloquent words, "Bring your sister back to us."

Chapter 16: It’s just a pharmaceutical company. What conflict could there be between them and us?

Then, Black Snake lied, "This is just a blackmail operation. We can't let the core city really crash into the Dragon Gate. It's unwise to continue to attract the attention of the Great Yan Court while being hostile to Ursus."

"But only this kind of extortion can extract the resources we need."

"Now, due to the damage caused by the natural disaster, if we were to operate Chernobog alone, we would only be able to remove a few plots of land from Chernobog and drive them around in the wilderness, unable to complete systematic production activities!"

"On the contrary, if we can complete the blackmail, the infected may actually have a complete mobile city of their own!"

At this point, Black Snake, based on Tallulah's speech, changed direction in just a few words and re-wove a set of lies to deceive everyone.

"...It's better... like this." The Patriot glanced at Frost Star.

Frost Star immediately understood and said, "But there is still a problem that needs to be solved."

Rhode Island.

In other words, in the eyes of the Reunion Movement cadres, he was the mysterious hooded man who easily defeated Mephisto and the tyrant Tallulah.