Hello, Arknights

You claim to be ordinary, yet you are surrounded by such extraordinary people. Alas... How can you alleviate suffering with benevolence? It's nothing more than being generous with other people's money, using their strength to satisfy your own tender desires. Unlike extreme selfishness, you choose to share the same fate and suffering, choosing to sincerely hurt others and yourself with a dull knife. Is this the "fairness" you seek?

No, this is just the "peace of mind" you're seeking.

Master/Host...

The crimson gradually turned into pitch black, and the curse slowly swirled, like a fierce eagle soaring above the nine clouds. Thousands of negative threads became extremely thin until they "disappeared." The white-robed dragon girl and the magnificent city both trembled. As they moved hastily, the boundless, eerie sea of ​​flowers froze into ice, no longer swaying. The frost halted everything in that world.

That ethereal figure had also vanished without a trace.

Ling's expression changed slightly, and without pausing for a moment, he transformed into a dragon and sped towards the Demon King's City.

"...They've arrived." The pink and white figure was on the observation platform, her gaze fixed on the sea of ​​flowers covered in heavy frost. The ice was frozen on every blade of grass, and a sliver of black shone through the pure white crystals. It was as if one's vision would be frozen in that space.

"What's going on?" The dragon's claw, shrouded in mist, transformed back into Ling's figure before landing, his white robes billowing, his expression solemn.

"...It seems that it has been suppressed."

Sarkaz raised his hand, and light and shadow appeared before the two of them. In the blurry image, a naked, holy figure was wrapped in layers of dark ice crystals and buried beneath layers of glaciers, with only a few fragments of light and shadow remaining.

"Can you still sense that curse?" Ling asked directly.

Sarkaz closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time before shaking his head: "No, I... can't sense it anymore, but my intuition and instinctive fear tell me that it hasn't disappeared..."

"Then there must be another motive."

……

The next day, Ling woke up as he expected in the morning light streaming into his bedroom, but not in bed.

He started considering getting up from the floor. Whether it was the good floor material or the thick bedding, he slept quite well that night. Even though he was uneasy before going to bed last night, he stretched like a cat when he woke up this morning, then leaned forward and broke free from the clutches of the blankets. He was startled by the coolness of the autumn morning. Just as he was about to be captured and crawl back into bed, his blurry vision caught sight of the gradually turning pink Liboli figure not far from him by the bedside.

They are called "watchmen of the night with a glimmer of light".

But maybe she doesn't use that code name now.

Li Boli was putting on her boots when she noticed Mou Ling getting up. She greeted her expressionlessly, "Good morning."

"Good morning... Where is Mostima?" The fallen angel was not on the bed.

After the Surtr incident last night, Mostima gave her room to Surtr to stay temporarily, while she moved into his master bedroom. He was forced to accept the fate of sleeping on the floor, and as expected, Mostima's companions arrived at his room later that night.

But we'll be able to tidy up a room and stay here today.

"That guy went to take a shower." The Liberian girl's gaze shifted slightly. "Later... can I use the bathroom too?"

"I want to take a shower too... wait until I'm done." Ling Dengxian felt he still had the right to be a little willful.

"Then you go first."

"Let's go together, it'll save time," someone said with a laugh.

“…Mostima.” The “Night Watchman of the Glimmer” had a throbbing vein on his forehead.

“Mostima…” Ling was used to the other party’s unreliability, but outsiders might not receive this kind of “treatment”.

"Miss, you can go take a shower first. Mostima and I will go prepare breakfast."

With a "click," the safety on Li Boli's grenade launcher disengaged halfway as it was being pulled from behind her back. Her face was as black as the bottom of a pot: "Who? Me? You—"

"This is someone else's territory, after all, One-Armed Chainsaw Man," the fallen angel reminded her at just the right moment, leaning slightly against the door. The morning light from the corridor outside touched her still slightly damp hair, her beautiful blue hair shimmering with a cool glow.

After a moment's thought, Li Boli pointed his weapon at the bed beneath him.

"...Sister, I'll call you sister from now on, please stop joking, okay?" Ling Dengxian woke up from the last bit of her dream. This weapon was probably no longer just a matter of the bed.

"Hmph... I didn't load it." Li Boli put down his weapon, his expression softening slightly, then glanced at the fallen angel. "It won't be long, at least faster than this guy."

"I'll go find you some slippers..."

"It's in the bathroom, she'll take care of it herself. Ling Dengxian, if you're too enthusiastic, not everyone will appreciate it."

"I'm not that mean, am I?" "If You Are the One" looked at her with dissatisfaction and got up from the bedside.

“Ah, it’s me who’s not buying it, because you’re too easily swayed,” Mostima said with a smile, seemingly implying something.

She didn't really have any objections; she was just giving Ling Dengxian a heads-up.

"It's troublesome, you two can go together, I won't bother you, I'm going to take a shower." Li Boli shook his head and didn't ask any more questions.

Alone again, Ling Dengxian finally got up. Mostima helped him tidy up the bedding and teased, "You have such self-control. I thought you would sneak into bed in the middle of the night."

“Mostima…have I really become like this…” Ling Dengxian thought of Daifeien and felt a wave of frustration. He took the rolled-up bedding and walked towards the wardrobe.

“For now, it’s like this,” Sarkaz sat on the edge of the bed, a faint smile playing on his lips, but his eyes were calm. His wet hair was bathed in the morning light, and he was enveloped in a soft, misty glow. “After all, when I suggested staying here last night, Texas and Bagpipe didn’t seem too surprised. Was it trust, or tacit agreement?”

"Because I'm safe enough..." Ling Dengxian closed the cabinet door and said helplessly.

“That’s the problem. You have to be dangerous, don’t you?” Mostima turned to look at him. “Otherwise, everyone will see you as a womanizing playboy, and we know exactly what that means…”

"That's better, isn't it?" Ling's casual remark made Mostima raise an eyebrow slightly.

"Aren't you very concerned about this?"

“What I care about is your opinion. I’m relieved if you don’t really think that way. Wouldn’t it be what I need right now if other women really kept their distance because of this? If it weren’t for Brother Blackhorn and the others having a mission…” Ling Dengxian came to her and, seeing that she didn’t intend to get up for the time being, casually sat down not far from her.

"'You'... Ling Dengxian, what do you mean by 'you'?"

Ling Dengxian tilted his head: "Everyone who came here, what are you thinking?"

“Hmph…” Mostima moved closer, her azure eyes flashing with a mysterious emotion. Ling Dengxian couldn’t see through her thoughts and couldn’t help but shrink back.

"Mostima?"

“Your elder said they would find time to talk to you, but… you’ve never been stupid, I think you should realize by now what the emotional problem you’re facing is, right?”

"...Do we really have to talk about this?" Ling Dengxian's gaze shifted, the images of Rupert and Vayvan flashing through his mind amidst the rain and wheat fields. This was, of course, a knot in his heart.

"Let's go eat breakfast then." Mostima smiled, decisively ending the topic, and ruffled his hair. The latter was dissatisfied and reached out to retaliate but missed.

Using the power of the lock and key, Xiao Mo's figure escaped his sight and appeared in the corridor, smiling and waving at him: "By the way, you got up so late, it's not your turn to make breakfast, I've already made it."

Ling Dengxian felt very subtle. Even though there was nothing wrong, he felt that as long as Mostima was around, he had to pay attention to her every move and every word.

"Could it be that I..." Ling Dengxian thought of a very "terrifying" possibility, and almost immediately denied it himself: "What are you talking about? You didn't tell Exusiai this at the time..."

...Three is still too outrageous.

……

"What about that 'If You Are the One' friend? Why don't you talk to her and just let her show up directly?" Ling Dengxian felt that being sneaky was too troublesome and also carried the risk of being misunderstood.

“Of course I could, but she doesn’t want to. She says there’s no good reason for her to appear in front of your other friends, and she doesn’t like to cause trouble for others.”

"Just like what you said about me last night, saying that she was also someone you bought overnight." The two went downstairs one after the other, sunlight streaming into the steps in front of the door, which was wide open as someone went out, unceremoniously accepting the gifts of autumn.

“She’ll beat you up, but I won’t stop her,” Mostima said with a smile.

"Where did Surtr go? She should clean her own room..." Ling Dengxian didn't insist, remembering the important matter. Although it was only their first day here, everyone adapted quickly. However, due to their different habits, the "crowded breakfast" phenomenon that Ling Dengxian had worried about did not occur.

Of course, the reason he got up late today is also partly due to that.

"That person, the red-haired girl, went out with the White Owl before dawn." Skadi, still wrapped in a blanket, sat on the living room carpet, seemingly quite comfortable and enjoying her "floor-dwelling" life.

"Oh, then wait for her to come back—wait, who did she go out with?" Ling Dengxian heard a code name that made him even more concerned.

“White-faced Owl,” Skadi answered honestly and simply.

“…Oh well, what's done is done, I was careless.” Ling rubbed his forehead, then noticed the food scraps next to Skadi’s “territory”.

"Skadi, have you had breakfast?"

"We can have some more."

"Clean this up and put it on the table."

“Oh.” Skadi nodded and pulled back the covers.

Ling Dengxian had to remind her again that she should get dressed after getting up.

He could clearly feel eyes watching him from behind. He turned around and saw Mostima and Texas on either side of him, one with a half-smile and the other with a helpless sigh.

Ling chuckled twice and asked where the bagpipes had gone.

Bagpipes also got up very early. Yesterday, she had her eye on a vacant lot around the house and excitedly went to survey the soil with Provence Platinum, who was out jogging early in the morning. Ling Dengxian could roughly guess what she was planning to do, smiled, and decided to go out and take a look later as well.

Shuangye and Meilansha didn't seem to sleep well last night. The latter had just gotten up and cautiously peeked out, meeting the gazes of the four people in the dining room. Ling waved to her, and she nodded, quickening her pace downstairs.

"teacher."

You don't look well. Is there a problem with the room?

"Hmm, it's a bit cold, and I'm a little... um, teacher, are we going into town today?" Melanie didn't sit down at the breakfast table right away.

"Let's get breakfast ready first, you're still growing—by the way, is the cold because of the frost?" Ling had barely finished speaking when an ice shard hit the back of his neck, making him almost drop his chopsticks—they came with his own chopsticks, he really couldn't find a pair in Victoria's kitchen—he got up to ask for an explanation, but then he noticed a Volper who was almost turning into a black fox.

"..."

"...You can laugh, but don't overdo it." Shuangye's eyes twitched slightly as she tried to avoid arguing with the captain.

"No, why are you all dressed in black..." Ling Dengxian couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Frostleaf didn't tolerate him either, raising her hand to unleash three angry ice shards.

"Because it's a bit cold, I was thinking of seeing if I could clean out the fireplace today..." Shuangye said through gritted teeth, "It's all because someone couldn't get out of bed for half the day, so I had to do it myself..."

“You can ask us for help too.” Mostima glanced at Texas and Melantha, while Skadi was engrossed in her meal.

"It's not good to cause trouble for everyone."

"Is it okay if you cause me trouble?" Ling Dengxian felt it was unfair.

"You bastard, lazy beast, shameful beast, pervert, arrogant!" Shuangye stuck out her tongue at him, then returned to her indifferent demeanor.

"Hey, the last one seems to be my name, right? That's not something you use to insult someone!"

The dining room was filled with the warmth of cooking, and the autumn air was refreshing. A gentle breeze swept in, and the lavender field drooped and then raised its head, the purple ripples overlapping as if announcing the arrival of something. After the wind passed, the wind chimes in front of the door rang.

Dai Feien rushed in, and Ling Dengxian met her gaze. The girl quickly calmed her breathing, took a deep breath, and said to him:

“Ling Dengxian, Count Scamanderos has come to visit.”