Hello, Arknights

Chapter 344 Reckless

"Operator Skadi! Calm down! Let's talk it over nicely. Operator White Dove hasn't offended you, has he?" Cold sweat broke out on Black Horn's face. He had heard about the destructive power of the creature nicknamed the Human Disaster, and he wasn't sure what the unpredictable Skadi was thinking.

Skadi did not respond to Heijiao's question. The heavy weapon in her hand was still hanging on Ling Dengxian's neck, and her eyes were stern.

"Are you going to kill me..." Ling Dengxian didn't understand why Skadi suddenly attacked. The pores all over his body were pricked by the dangerous pressure and he was a little at a loss.

"...I'm just asking you, tell me, what are you?" Skadi narrowed her eyes. "Why would the gods of Haisi help you?"

"Hai Si's...god, what is that?" Ling Dengxian had no idea at all.

Skadi seemed to have many doubts as well. She could not smell any familiar enemy scent on him, nor did she feel any inexplicable throbbing of flesh and blood. However, Ishamara, who had been dormant for a long time, suddenly woke up and talked to her in order to rescue Bai Ge. She could not get a conclusion from the former, so she came to the latter to ask about the essence.

After a moment of stalemate, she was conflicted and suddenly said, "I did it."

The giant sword swept out with a stream of air, and Ling Dengxian retreated in a panic to avoid the sword. Before he could ask any questions, the hunter's red eyes flashed and he chased after him closely.

What's going on with this guy!

Another powerful sword strike smashed through the alloy floor with a bang. Ling Dengxian was out of breath and was not sure if he could dodge the next sword. However, Skadi showed an astonishing speed that matched his terrifying strength and pounced on him. He had no room to dodge. Skadi blocked all his space for retreat and hit him in the abdomen with a knee. Ling Dengxian was knocked over by the strange force and felt a strong urge to vomit. But before he could vomit, the giant sword with terrifying power chopped down his head!

Bang!

The masked ghost suddenly knocked Skadi's attack away from the side, and Ling Dengxian got a moment's respite, but Black Horn's full-strength collision only made Skadi lose balance and shift several meters. She landed easily and stabilized her body, her tricorn hat fell to the ground, and without saying a word, she regarded Black Horn who was blocking her as an enemy.

"The consequences of private fighting on the island are very serious, Operator Skadi! Are you going to kill White Dove?" Black Horn growled. There was no other reason. Agor still showed no signs of stopping, and he felt tremendous pressure.

Just now, he had used all his strength to side-slam into Skadi with perfect timing. The latter gave him the feeling of an immovable reef. He originally thought that he could at least knock her against the opposite wall, but Skadi stabilized her body with almost no impact and no signs of bruises.

His shoulder ached slightly, and he knew that the opponent's strength was probably far superior to his.

"It has nothing to do with you. Now, get out of the way, otherwise you will die." The expected answer swallowed up Blackhorn's bitter smile. Skadi did not give him any chance to turn around. She slashed down with her sword diagonally. If Blackhorn did not get out of the way, he would be hit.

The flying shield blocked her vision, and the giant sword split it in half without dodging or evading. Black Horn took the opportunity to move half a body away, and with quick eyes and hands, he seized the opportunity to grab Skadi's wrist and tried to disarm her, but the next moment he was slammed against the wall he had strategically anticipated by the sudden and huge force. With severe pain in his internal organs, he immediately got up by muscle memory, but it was too late to stop Skadi from continuing to pounce on Ling Dengxian.

Ling Dengxian felt dizzy after throwing the black-horned shield. After a brief moment of confusion, he saw scarlet eyes when he regained his sight.

The roaring white flames slammed into Skadi. The latter paused for a moment, and Ling Dengxian immediately changed his strategy and used the second white flame to push himself out from under the giant sword.

Bai Yan, who had always been able to push, pull, and tie up enemies, had little effect on Skadi. After escaping Skadi's sword, he stumbled back. Before he could catch his breath, the operators attracted by the loud noise caused by Skadi finally arrived at the logistics station:

"What are you doing! Stop!" The fiery red-haired Sarkaz slashed down with a knife. Skadi paused and took a step back to avoid the sharp edge. The scorching flames made her hair flutter. Surtel flew over and glanced around. The packages in the logistics station were scattered all over the place in a mess.

Skadi made a lot of noise, and more and more operators arrived following Surtur. Ling Dengxian coughed violently twice, and a strong smell of rust rose in his throat. Another violent cough, he arched his back in pain, and bright red liquid overflowed from his mouth, which he tried hard to suppress, and dripped onto the ground, shockingly.

He was only hit by one blow from Skadi, and it wasn't a full blow. However, his current physical condition couldn't withstand the torment. The dizziness, nausea and severe pain mixed together and made his vision go black for a while. He could no longer hear the shouting of the crowd.

Finally, he fainted.

Skadi did not continue to attack, not because more people arrived at the scene, but because she came to her own conclusion.

"...Hai Si doesn't use those weird spells... and he's not that fragile." This was the first time Skadi saw Ling Dengxian use White Flame.

She ignored the strange looks around her and felt a little lost. She was a little speechless as she looked at him who was hit hard again by the misunderstanding. She did get the correct answer in the most effective way, but she vaguely felt that there seemed to be something wrong with her actions and ideas.

But she couldn't tell what was wrong.

Ishamara fell silent after that conversation. She could still feel Him; He had not disappeared, but His influence seemed to have weakened.

She didn't act rashly until Kal'tsit arrived in a hurry with a gloomy face. Ling Dengxian was sent back to the intensive care unit. Kal'tsit's face was gloomy: "Skadi, you need to give an explanation for what happened today."

Skadi remained silent. The small-scale fight she had started—which did not escalate drastically in the end—was temporarily brought to an end when elite operators like Ace and Huang confiscated her weapons and took her to an isolation room. Skadi's reputation had deteriorated again due to her unprovoked attack on her colleagues.

Kal'tsit was in a lot of trouble. She had to make a temporary trip to the wilderness to confront Bloody because she had discovered an extremely disturbing factor during the Casimir incident. When she came back, she heard that it was Skadi who rescued Ling Dengxian. She was surprised that she would take the initiative to help other operators. No one could have imagined that she would suddenly attack the person she rescued with her own hands. The extremely contradictory actions made her confused.

"Skadi, now tell me why you suddenly attacked Baige? You've been on a mission together before, and I signed the approval form. And this time, you personally saved him... Why are your actions so contradictory?"

The pale light in the isolation room shone on Skadi's profile, half of her face was in shadow, and only her scarlet eyes flashed with a faint light.

"...I did make mistakes, but I got the answer I wanted. If you want me to leave this ship, I will leave."

Kal'tsit was speechless at her rather blunt refusal to discuss details. After a moment's silence, she muttered to herself:

"What will the deep-sea hunter care about after he comes ashore?"

"Especially the surviving deep-sea hunters who are always cautious. What could possibly cause them to be so stressed?"

"Is it the Deep Sea Cultists who are lurking in the dark, or is it the Haisi who once made you pay for your arrogance with blood?"

Skadi immediately looked up. Kal'tsit sighed and shook her head. "He's never been to the seaside in his life, and he's not an Agor. You haven't had any contact with him before. Is it really necessary to use force? And seriously?"

"..."

"If you don't feel a blood connection with him, he can't be what you're worried about."

"What do you mean?!" Skadi stood up suddenly, but without any impulse.

"...You know very little about yourselves. You are just pure warriors. Agorg's arrogance will never be concealed by words or formal etiquette. Now that we don't know Agorg's current situation, Skadi, you'd better settle yourself... I have heard some news about your companions." Kal'tsit did not respond to her directly. Just as her previous attitude, after confirming Skadi's motives, she stood up and prepared to leave.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"...Behave yourself during this period. We will not restrict your personal freedom. You can make your own choice. Either go on an external mission in the near future, or stay on the ship quietly for a while. The latter will control your certain space of movement, and your weapons will be kept by the engineering department. After I confirm the situation of your people, I will go there in person and find a way to bring her to Rhodes Island." After modifying the permissions of Skadi's identity card, Kal'tsit signaled her to make her own choice.

"...Can I see him again?" Skadi finally put away the ID card.

"I'll ask his opinion for you." Kal'tsit didn't stop, got up and hurried to the medical department.

"Operator Skadi, please stay in the dormitory as much as possible in the near future and reduce unnecessary outings. The notice of your punishment will be announced soon." Ace stood by the door, indicating that she could leave the isolation room. He and Huang would ensure that she returned to the dormitory, and Huang and Pith would temporarily live nearby to control her travel.

Skadi said nothing, but stood up and obeyed the arrangement.

The clouds pass over the mountain top, and the pavilion is so deep that I don’t know where it is.

He opened his eyes from the bluestone after a long absence, and what came into view was the sky-blue-haired dragon girl poking and writing on his face with her tail. Ling Dengxian and Ling Dengxian looked at each other, and their helplessness was beyond words.

"I got beaten up pretty badly." Ling Yi retracted his tail, his expression extremely natural, as if nothing had happened.

He had become accustomed to dreaming about this girl frequently, and it was like meeting an acquaintance, so he no longer made a fuss about it.

"Does knocking someone unconscious after just one encounter really count as a beating..." Pushing himself up and sitting up, Ling Dengxian rubbed his lower abdomen, still feeling a phantom pain. He muttered to himself what he had originally planned to do, "I haven't given the headphones away yet..."

"You, can you please think about yourself? Why do you seem to not care at all about being treated maliciously?" Ling rubbed his head. Ling Dengxian tried to hide, but still couldn't escape the "claws".

"Anyway, it's another curse... That bastard is really deceiving. I used to read novels where the protagonists always paid the price of eternal damnation, so why is it different for me..."

"Aren't you in pain?" Ling asked suddenly.

Ling opened his mouth, and Ling's words hit him hard.

"That's because I care more... If it were someone else—"

"If it were someone else, how could it be said to be 'your curse'?" Ling stood up and walked forward a few steps, looking into the deep sea of flowers. What Ling Dengxian couldn't see was that she narrowed her eyes slightly, giving a dangerous look, while the sea of flowers remained indifferent.

"If it's a curse directed at you, you'll erect a high wall against suffering, prepared to sacrifice yourself, and even the most painful backlash will have little effect. Then it will sting those you care about, leaving you yearning and in pain, wanting to let go yet clinging to them. It might even fuel your interactions with others before poisoning the rose... until you give up on yourself, until you no longer harbor a childlike heart."

"It's truly the most vicious curse in the world." It convinced you without a second thought. Her pupils shrank, and she couldn't utter the second half of the sentence. The "sea of flowers" wouldn't allow her to.

Ling Dengxian understood what Ling meant. Because it was him, the curse was so vicious, and he couldn't help feeling bitter.

Ling smiled gently upon seeing this, and sat back down beside him, leaning very close to him: "Come and chat with me when you feel sad. It's boring to be alone, and that person isn't here every day."

Ling Dengxian didn't react much to her actions. He didn't know why he felt used to it. Maybe it was because he was used to sleeping with the little dragon who stayed in his dormitory. The touch of the little dragon's scales was very similar to the touch of Ling's tail. Maybe the latter was the character he brought into the dream based on his imagination of the little dragon.

"By the way, what are these 'little crumbs' you mentioned just now?"

"...the guy who gave me power on condition of a certain curse." Ling Dengxian tried to put it as vividly as possible.

A cold light flashed in Ling's eyes, and the truth was in his mouth, but he couldn't say it out.

Finally, she sighed slightly and asked him about his willingness to drink.

"Thank you for not inviting me."