Arknights, but the family has fallen again

"Doc Otter is very lonely."

This was actually what I told Kal'tsit when we set up camp.

"And he feels fulfilled when he's working, so he's..."

The bunny's crude imitation was interrupted.

Kel'tsit's palm slid down Amiya's back to her waist, seemingly trying to comfort her, but she kept comforting herself, "He's just using work to numb himself now."

"Just like that time."

Um... Dr. Kelsey, Doc Otter, he's just doing this to grab power...

Amiya patted Kel'tsit's back and said comfortingly, "Even though Doc Otter doesn't say anything, he's very happy when he's with everyone."

"Especially when I'm with you, Doctor!"

Correct!

And I!

And that fish-stealing shark!

"Although he's lonely, everyone is his new family!"

“…” Kal’tsit felt a little lonely.

family?

I?

No, the relationship was almost one-sided.

Regardless of whether I have memories or not, Doc Otter just unilaterally regards me as "family".

I... am just...

Even... without authorization...

In addition to feeling lonely, a blush gradually crept up her cheeks.

"Dr. Kal'tsit, your face is so hot?" Amiya pretended to be stupid and said, "It's cold like this, why don't you go back to bed!"

Although she cannot read memories in the true sense and has no intention of really reading memories, the ability to perceive emotions itself is enough to serve as Amiya's invincible social weapon.

That's fine.

That's it!

Although the original plan has been messed up, as long as we can get there!

With her ignorant emotions, Amiya designed this plan:

He used the excuse that he had just dreamed of the prophet in the dungeon and was awakened in the middle of the night, and then said that he was afraid to sleep alone, and then sought a place in Kal'tsit's nest.

But…it became clear that the plan was derailed almost immediately.

Right now, Amiya is comforting her elder sister Kal'tsit.

"Come on, but be gentle and don't wake him up."

Great!

Even though all these things happened!

But the goal was achieved!

"Ok!"

Amiya suppressed her excitement and, under the dim light, placed the bunny pillow carefully in front of Otto's desk.

The quilt was lifted again, but this time, Amiya curled up peacefully between Otto and Kal'tsit.

"Go to sleep, there are still many things to do tomorrow."

After rubbing Amiya's little head, Kal'tsit closed her eyes, and the little rabbit curled up in Kal'tsit's arms.

The scents of Ott and Kel'tsit blended into a comforting scent, and Amiya gradually fell asleep. She curled up around Ott like she was holding a bunny pillow.

At the end of her deep dream, she saw a tower reaching into the sky. She saw the rusted emblem of Rhodes Island, vaguely forming a spiral spire.

A large hand extended its index finger and lightly tapped the emblem, and the towering spire collapsed along with the rust on the emblem.

She saw again...

The words, formulas, and charts on the report flew wildly, merging into a storm. The storm turned from the wilderness, made a wide circle, and began to run back.

The ants were caught in the storm and torn to pieces.

Only when you look closely can you see that they are not ants, but ragged people, their skin covered in Originium crystals.

Everything seemed to rewind and replay, but this time, Amiya saw how the words, formulas, and diagrams were written. The hand holding the pen was exactly the same as the god who had pushed down the tower. But this time, Amiya saw that behind that large hand was a weak arm, and that of a white-haired man.

She didn't make up a single lie.

Fears and nightmares are real.

But in the arms of the two, Amiya felt a warm hand stroking her head again.

“All governance must take into account costs: the cost of establishing governance and the cost of maintaining governance—the simpler, the harder it is; the harder, the simpler.”

That guy who touched my head really spoiled the mood.

Chapter 220 Gravity Girl

On the bed, just like the previous mornings, Kal'tsit had already left, while Ghost Shark was still sleeping in, enjoying the double bed alone.

In front of the desk, a giant Carterusmon pillow wearing a Rhodes Island uniform was placed innocently on a chair with its back to the desk.

Through the frosted glass door of the bathroom, I could faintly hear the sound of running water.

The mirror reflected the toothpaste foam at the corners of Otto and Amiya's mouths.

Although Amiya did not imitate intentionally, the two people's brushing movements and rhythms were very similar, exactly the same.

"Well...it's...great." Amiya rinsed her mouth and then mumbled.

The little rabbit's eyes were narrowed to a slit, and the corners of his mouth were so happy that he couldn't close them.

It was not until now that she felt the reality that Otto had returned to her side.

Looking at Amiya's smile, Otto was a little confused: "Is this toothpaste so good?"

Generally speaking, shouldn't it?

How about giving it a try?

He hesitated for a moment, but still quietly swallowed some toothpaste foam.

A chill ran down my throat and into my stomach—frankly, it made me feel a bit nauseous. But that wasn't surprising, as some people would get nauseous just by touching toothpaste while brushing, let alone swallowing it like Otto was doing now.

Could it be that Carters' physical attributes are so different from mine?

Wait, this is Kal'tsit's stuff, maybe it's mixed with catnip...

No, that's too weird...

Could it be some other reason?

"Doc Otter!"

Sensing Otto's brainstorming, Amiya quickly put down the cup and toothbrush.

After she looked at it carefully, she realized what Ott had just done.

"Pfft, Doc Otter, what are you doing?"

“…try the flavor.”

Amiya tried to hide her smile at first, but Otto's classic expression of "That's very reasonable, I don't see why you're surprised at all" finally made the little rabbit burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Eeyah!"

Ott expressionlessly inserted his index finger deep into Amiya's rabbit ears and tickled the fur as lightly as possible.

"It's so itchy! Slurp!"

dong dong.

After realizing that no one opened the door, Kal'tsit opened it herself.

She placed breakfast for two on the desk and tucked the bunny pillow under the covers. The ghost shark also clung to it like an octopus.

The Originium in her spinal cord existed in liquid form, and even with Otto's current abilities, she couldn't surgically separate the cerebrospinal fluid from the liquid Originium. As a result, the Originium's suppression of her physiological functions remained long-term and extensive.

Hearing Otte and Amiya still fighting in the bathroom, Kal'tsit sighed.

"Stop playing, Doc Otter, Amiya."

Kal'tsit's vague voice came from the bedroom, and Ott and Amiya smiled at each other.

……

With a large number of personnel stationed at Facility 14, Rhodes Island seemed somewhat empty.

The vast majority of supplies originally procured under the guise of "cross-border trade" were placed at the construction site of Facility 14. To ensure the refugees could survive the harsh winter in this "land of Ursus," a large number of Rhodes Island employees remained at Facility 14 to continue working. The main ship departed once more, returning to Longmen to continue purchasing bulk supplies including food, fuel, salt, and tea.

These were also what Rhodes Island purchased when it left Lungmen.

Amiya stopped.

"what!"

"what happened?"

On the way to the war meeting room, the little rabbit suddenly stopped, causing Otto to dodge in time and bump into her.

Although it was Amiya who screamed, the one who was in more pain was actually Otto.

That's a super Terran.

"...Doc Otter." Amiya took a deep breath and said as calmly as possible: "Can those refugees survive?"

"I can't prevent their natural deaths." Ott gave a surprising answer. "A considerable number of refugees have reached their biological lifespan limit. If we were even slightly slower, they would likely die from prolonged extreme malnutrition and core hypothermia during the turmoil in Che City."

"Our rescue efforts were quite timely, but it's been a whole week now, and many people haven't even had a chance to be rescued."

"Those who were rescued..."

Ott shook his head.

"Chernobog's climate is dominated by the heat and air pressure of Ursus. Even a short period of hunger and cold is enough to push certain people to their limit."

There is a subtle difference from the original world line. Because Otto dealt with the black snake quite quickly, the group of infected people in Qie City, which was originally dying out under the violent suppression of the Integration Movement, now still has a considerable number.

Even a large number of the elderly, weak and sick who should have died during the turmoil are still breathing.

"Doc Otter, what I want to ask is..."

Those documents weighed heavily on Amiya's mind.

The complex calculation process and charts are not used to predict the direction of natural disasters... but to guide it.

"Natural disaster? The action mode of 'Boomerang' has been restricted, and the damage it causes is mostly continuous. Only Chernobog was attacked head-on. Whether it is Facility 14 or Gantry, if they are well prepared, they will not suffer much damage." Ott did not hide it.

"...That's right."

Otto's straightforward admission caught Amiya off guard.

She originally thought that Otto would be like before, like he had done with Kal'tsit, W, and others, using irrelevant facts to cover up the past...

But faced with such a question, Otto actually told the truth!

"Is it to rescue them faster and better?"

Ott shook his head: "That's a secondary goal at best."

"Chernobog has a vast amount of resources to exploit. Even though it's already been hit by a disaster, the Ursus Empire won't easily abandon this industrial city. Perhaps the infected will govern themselves, or perhaps they'll be forcibly cleaned up and disinfected, but this mobile city will be reused."

"Back then, the traces of our dismantling the city's keel were extremely eye-catching."

"But if it were covered with a little more Active Originium, the trace would be obscured by the Active Originium. And the process of cleaning the Active Originium would also destroy the evidence."