Hello, Arknights

Chapter 362: Rhodes Island Seer

"Xiaoqiu County Battle Report!"

"Logistics delivery for Trin County..."

"Where's the examiner? Pension approval documents!"

……

Watching the soldier running past with a thick stack of documents in his arms, the Rhodes Island team became more aware of Victoria's current stalemate before even meeting the client. In a large-scale battle, the role that a single person or team can play is still too limited, and the operators' spirits can't help but tense up.

"Huang, your family is also in Victoria. Is she okay now?" Precious was familiar with the files of each operator, and she also had a full understanding of Filin's performance.

"Ah, fortunately, when something happened before, I contacted my mother immediately. She is in Trin County, which is quite far away from the three counties where the accident happened. Moreover, it is a major grain-producing county. The Victorian army will never retreat the front line there..." Huang, who was a little distracted, came back to his senses, scratched his cheek with his fingers and explained.

In fact, Precious knew, but she just wanted Huang to cheer up.

"The battle line won't retreat any further—" A steady voice came from the back of the corridor, without a single unnecessary sound. A plain-looking man in a coat appeared before everyone. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Bellingham, a nobody running errands for the Duke of Caster."

"Dear guests from Rhode Island, Duke Caister is busy with official duties. Please forgive me for any impoliteness."

The team leader this time is Priss, Amiya stays on the ship, and Kal'tsit is out on an important mission. Most of the operators participating in the operation are Victorians, but most of them are resting in the residence arranged by Victoria. Currently accompanying them are Outcast, Huang and several operators from their team.

"Please follow me." The man bowed slightly, then led the group through the corridor to the elevator.

As the elevator went up, everyone started to act cautiously. They were about to see one of the highest levels of power in a country. Only Precious looked at the unfamiliar environment with interest. He could see the outside scene from one side of the elevator, but when the elevator door opened, he happened to look back to the front.

"Your Excellency the Duke, the people from Rhodes Island have been brought here." The man's breath moved slightly, and his face seemed to change. It seemed that he was disguising himself. He took out a black hat from behind, covering his real face in shadow, and bowed.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go and take a rest first. I'll be in trouble for the next work as well." The woman's eyes were fixed on the document without raising her head.

The agent in the top hat bowed again and disappeared behind the door.

"Everyone from Rhodes Island, I'm sorry for not welcoming you in person. Due to the circumstances, please forgive me for any shortcomings." After a proper pause, the Filin woman finally stood up and cast a heavy gaze on them.

"Since the invitation was personally extended by the Duke of Caster, how could the Grand Duke's reception be disappointing?" Priss responded with a sly smile, neither overstepping his bounds nor losing his composure.

"Please take a seat, sir. Do you have any drinks you would like?" Kaister said with a subtle smile.

Precious thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, there is, but the name is a bit strange. I hope Your Excellency the Duke will forgive me."

"But it doesn't matter."

"I want to drink 'Straight to the Point'. Oh, sorry, the name is not only weird but also a bit long."

Kaister smiled politely, nodded, and put down the exquisitely crafted teacup in his hand. He said slowly, "I invited you all here this time because your company is an expert in the field of infection. Of course, the causes of the mineral disease infection and this plague are different, but I don't think there is an organization more specialized than you."

"The medical level of Rhodes Island is obvious to everyone in Terra's core circle."

Precious raised his eyebrows. "Thank you for your kindness, but Your Excellency seems to have indicated that we should bring armed personnel..."

"Well," Caister glanced at the two elite operators behind her and smiled, "After all, we're really busy here. In certain situations, we may not be able to protect you in time after considering so many things. And your company wouldn't be too comfortable entrusting your safety to someone you don't know well, would it?"

A gleam flashed in Precious's eyes.

-

"Doctor, what's wrong with you? You look weird since you came out." Huang noticed Priss's expression.

Outcast patted her shoulder. "The doctor has her own considerations. She must have obtained some intelligence that we haven't noticed."

Precious shook his head, crossed his arms over his chest, and tapped his knuckles lightly, his expression unsatisfactory. "Not really. I've already reached a conclusion, but unfortunately, the situation we're facing may be even more difficult than expected."

"What's wrong?" Outcast asked seriously.

"If you needed our medical technical support or to research the infection, you would have contacted us long before the outbreak of the Red Plague. But you waited until now when the situation has become so serious. Victoria, as the country with the strongest comprehensive strength in the core circle, would never make such a low-level mistake." Precious took off her hood, her white hair fluttering, and thought flashed in her eyes.

"Huang, go find the King of Advance and the others. Outcast, come with me and contact an organization." She gave the order concisely and decisively.

"Doctor, I trust your judgment." Outcast nodded. "But the Xiaoqiu County station..."

"I've thought about it. I asked Huang to find the King of Advance for this purpose. We can reorganize the personnel and carry out the mission separately."

"One team will stay behind to integrate the information and data provided by Caister, while the other, led by me, will head directly to Hill County to search for our operators and gather firsthand intelligence. We must act quickly, otherwise... Victoria will suffer a disaster caused by her arrogance."

Outcast looked surprised, but Precious had already started walking. "I'll explain everything in detail when we contact 'them' later. We must spare no effort to achieve the best possible outcome, and we must also do our utmost to weaken the worst-case scenario."

The wilderness, the city of the infected, Chernobog.

"Dad, of the crops we planted, only the potatoes have survived. Oh, no, some of the bean sprouts in the shed have also survived, but their quality is very poor... Today's water supply is also..."

The skinny infected person held the tuberous root plant in his hand and carefully scraped off the soil with his rough palm. The sandy wind in the wilderness rustled the tattered cloak of the tall figure. He bent down, stretched out his hand, and picked up a handful of soil.

"We will solve the water supply problem, but the soil is too dry. Potatoes won't feed everyone." The Wendigo warrior sighed deeply, and in a moment, a lot of sand fell from the soil in his broad palms.

Fatigue rolled along with the dry soil. The mobile city that had suffered heavy losses stopped silently in the wilderness. Any energy had to be conserved until the intelligence personnel brought back confirmed news.

The group under the greatest pressure at this stage is naturally the natural disaster reconnaissance team. The mobile city that has stopped is most afraid of sudden natural disasters, followed by logistics organization. Water sources are really difficult to find in desertified areas. The large number of infected people in the city have also become unstable again due to the resource shortage. Another 10% of the refugees have left in groups of two or three.

Longmen's support is also out of reach, and they cannot always rely on others, especially when the value they create is lower than the other party's contribution. That path forward is not convincing.

The land can be relocated, and the integration movement has experienced more severe situations than this, but several resource crises have exposed their lack of a sufficient systematic self-sustaining system, especially logistics. Potatoes are almost the only crops that can be supplied in large quantities. Now everyone in the city is tired of eating this food, and they dream about potatoes at night.

"Solved..." A tired voice appeared at the edge of the experimental planting plot. The silver-haired dragon girl appeared in front of the two men, and they immediately responded, "Leader? You're back?"

"Red and I have found a water source this time. It's a large lake. It should only take a day or two to drive there from Chernobyl. This will solve our water problem. If we continue west, we'll be able to leave this desert and the climate will be less harsh."

"Thank you for your hard work." The Patriot greeted her. The long journey made Tallulah almost fall asleep, but even if she rested immediately, she would not be able to sleep well. There were still many places that needed her... She could not relax yet.

"Then I'll get busy first, leader, get some rest." The skinny infected person quickly left the conversation that he shouldn't have been involved in and went to count the harvest this time.

"Mr. Patriot, I plan to seek cooperation from Rhodes Island next." Tallulah cheered herself up and said seriously.

"There's nothing we can do for them," the Patriot pointed out.

"...Perhaps, we can only promise a future...a future where we work together for the infected."

"Empty talk is useless. Even if we consider it as a courtesy, there's no sincerity." The Patriot signaled her not to rush, but he also considered the possibility. "Should we contact him again? Using him as a bridge will make the contact smoother?"

"I do have some personal matters I'd like to discuss with him... but he's living a peaceful life now, right? He hates getting involved in high-level discussions; he says he feels uncomfortable." Tallulah's eyes flashed back to the past. The sight of Ling softened her expression.

"Bai Ge, Ling Dengxian is not hypocritical. Leader, you can rely on worthy people more often."

"Nominally, Ling Dengxian is no longer a member of the Reunion Movement... Never mind, even if it's just a matter of catching up with friends, it's time to contact him. Didn't Yelena talk about him a while ago? Even Red asked about him during this trip. Inosasha... there are still quite a few people who miss him."

Tallulah laughed, her face finally less stiff.

"Tallulah!" A hurried figure interrupted their conversation. Tallulah immediately tensed up again and responded, "Alina, what's wrong? Something happened again?"

"Ahem..." Elafia was still holding Vidaishia. The old man took the child. After seeing who it was, the latter skillfully reached out to grab his horns to play with.

"Don't be so anxious, Alina. Take your time."

"Rhodes Island, there's news..." Alina panted, her eyes sparkling. "They said they're hoping for our first collaboration. I can't make the decision, so I rushed over to tell you!"

Tallulah was cheered up by the surprise and immediately set off: "Then Mr. Patriot, I will go first!"

The Patriot held up Vidaishia, who was sitting on his shoulders, looked at Alina, and nodded: "Let's go and take a look too."

"it is good."

However, when they arrived at the communication office a little later, they saw Tallulah with a serious expression. She asked for details in a concise and forceful manner, and her brows were getting deeper and deeper.

"...Okay, Dr. Precious, thank you for your information. This is a matter of vital importance to the infected, and we will not refuse reasonable requests for cooperation."

"However, due to our current difficulties and objective circumstances, I'm afraid we can only send a small team to provide support."

"Of course, this is our business, everything we strive for."

The call ended, and Tallulah sighed deeply, her expression complex. Finally, she looked at Bodracasti:

"Sir, the wind direction in Victoria seems to be heading towards the infected."

"As far as you're concerned, you can't go to Victoria."

"I know." Tallulah sighed again with a complicated expression, "But your body also..."

The patriot was not stubborn, or rather, he had a choice from the beginning.