Poseidon in Arknights

"Ah hello."

"Hehe, I timed it perfectly~" Croissant chuckled as she followed Texas inside. "Just arrived, just in time for dinner~"

"According to my understanding of Yuyue, it should be just past 5:30 at this time..." Croissant sniffed, realizing where she was. Wait, why is there no fragrance around?

"What a pity, Croissant, you miscalculated." Exusiai turned to look at Croissant. "Recently, Yuuki has been busy teaching her apprentices, so our dinner time has been forced to extend to six o'clock."

"Ah." Croissant scratched her head as she looked at Xiyue and Jessica, who had just come out of the room. "Good afternoon~"

"Good afternoon." Xi Yue smiled and greeted Croissant. "Since everyone's hungry, I'll go and cook now."

As Yuuki entered the kitchen, Kong suddenly remembered something and looked at Exusiai beside him: "By the way, you said mysteriously last time that Yuuki gave you a big gift, what was it?"

"Hehe~" Exusiai chuckled, suddenly drawing a revolver from her holster. "It's this treasure~"

"Look at this silver-white, metallic paint job—clean, sharp, and with a angular shape." Exusiai gently stroked the revolver in her hand. "A perfectly reliable five-round magazine, incredibly powerful!"

"What better protective gun in the world could there be than her?"

'As expected!' Upon hearing Exusiai's words, Texas's eyes immediately narrowed. Ever since she suspected that Exusiai was up to something, Texas had consulted the Sarkaz people on Rhodes Island about some things.

The term "Guardian Gun" has a very special meaning for the Sarkaz, and this term generally only appears on two types of firearms owned by the Sarkaz.

The first gun was awarded to the Sarkaz by the Lateran authorities after they completed all the shooting tests. It can be considered a symbol of protecting their lives. This is the first, and possibly the only, protective gun that the Sarkaz possess.

The significance of the second gun is quite special. It could only have come from the fact that the Sarkaz received guns from others. As mentioned earlier, guns have a very special meaning for the Sarkaz.

The difference between paying for a gun for a Sarkaz and simply giving a Sarkaz a gun, even if the actual prices are vastly different, carries entirely different meanings for Sarkaz players.

I want to protect your life. This is the meaning of the second Guardian Gun, which comes only from others and is the most important response from the Sarkaz to this gift.

This means that Sakota, having received the gun, is willing to let you protect her life, and the gun you gave her will serve as her second line of defense.

Now that Exusiai has openly stated that the gun Yuuki gave him was the second Guardian Gun...

Texas's gaze towards Exusiai gradually turned cold, and Exusiai, sensing this, looked back at Texas.

Exusiai, seeing Texas's gaze, realized that Texas had discovered her words and that she seemed to have been exposed.

—————Rhodes Island · Accommodation Area · Elite Operators—————

"WHO~~" Huang dragged out the sound as he pushed off the wall in his wheelchair, propelling it forward until it slowly came to a stop, subtly overtaking ACE, who was sitting in another chair.

Huang lowered his head and carefully compared the positions of his chair and ACE's chair next to him. After confirming that his chair was indeed a little further away, the excitement on his face couldn't be more obvious.

"Hehe, I came in first this time!"

ACE glanced at Huang beside him, then casually pointed at Scout and Logod, who were still at the starting line: "Our champion and runner-up haven't even made their move yet. You little cat, why are you so happy? Opening champagne at halftime is a bad habit."

"It's perfectly fine~" Huang sat steadily in the chair, hands on her hips, looking at ACE. "I'm not comparing myself to those two. I'm farther away than you, that's enough~"

ACE paused abruptly as he took a cigarette from his pocket, looking at Huang with a slightly speechless expression: "Fine, fine, whatever makes you happy."

Scout looked defiantly at Logod, who stood calmly to the side: "You first, me first?"

“Whatever.” Logos took a drag of his cigarette and simply shrugged at Scout. “If you need more time to adjust, then I’ll handle it.”

"Okay, I'll go first." Scout glanced at the direction his chair could move forward, then pushed hard against the wall, and the smooth chair instantly traversed the long corridor.

Finally, under the gazes of ACE and Huang, Scout's chair gradually drifted away, finally coming to a stop far ahead of them.

"I thought I was going to fall over." Scout breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had come to a steady stop. He did feel that his chair was about to tip over, but thankfully it came to a steady stop in the end.

Seeing that only his own logo remained among the contestants, he took another drag of his cigarette, then stubbed it out and casually tossed it into the nearby trash can.

Finally, adjusting the direction, aiming at the position, and glaring hard, in one smooth motion, the chair glided down the corridor at an extremely fast speed. Sitting on it, Log Renos, like an elegant swan dancer, slowly floated into the distance.

Finally, under the gazes of ACE as if it were true and Huang as if it were the right thing to do, and with a speed that surpassed the two of them, he slowly approached Scout as he waved his hands in terror.

However, it was clear that Scout's repeated waving attacks had no effect on stopping them. In the end, Logos floated slowly by under Scout's slightly dangerous gaze and came to a steady stop a little distance away.

"Ha!" Logos stood up, looking at the three people in front of him with disdain. "Completely unchallenging~"

"Well, I'm used to it by now." ACE picked up a chair and walked towards the lounge. "But it seems Scoot's still not quite up to par."

"Shut up." Scout picked up his chair, slightly annoyed, then looked at Logos beside him. "Are you sure you didn't secretly cheat with magic?"

"Do we really need to use magic to deal with something like this?" Logos picked up his stool, his elegant posture making it hard to believe that he had just been playing a game similar to a child's game, a round chair race.

"Hmm, the competition is over?" Machinist, sitting on the sofa, looked at the four people who brought in chairs. "Judging from Scout's expression, I can roughly guess his ranking. You don't need to tell me."

“Oh, by the way,” Machinist said, looking at Huang, “I fixed your chainsaw extension module. Don’t use so much force unless necessary.”

"With limited funding, it's no wonder it's so difficult to repair."

"Oh, thanks~" Huang got up and walked towards the workbench. Sure enough, he saw his chainsaw extension module on the table. He happily picked it up and put it in his cabinet.

Huang didn't bother to get it checked, because there was no need. She had complete faith in Mechinist's skills; even the portable pacemaker she wore was maintained by Mechinist.

"Speaking of budget," ACE looked up at everyone, "what are your thoughts on tomorrow's party?"

"Amiya suggested we come up with some recreational activities or something, do you have any good ideas?"

"I think a round-chair skating race is a great idea!" Huang raised his hand first. "It's fun, isn't it?"

“That’s true, it shouldn’t cost too much money.” ACE nodded. “Is this the only one?”

“I could perform some illusion magic,” Logos said after thinking for a moment, “the simple kind.”

Huang thought for a moment, and suddenly a good idea came to his mind: "Aaa, I have another one. I can jump off the bridge with people and experience freefall without parachutes!"

"........."

ACE looked at Huang speechlessly and said decisively, "Reject this proposal. You won't even be able to leave this door, let alone be seen by Amiya."

"It's not that bad." Huang, slightly embarrassed by the immediate rejection, scratched his cheek. "I can guarantee your safety; at most, you'll just get a fright!"

ACE shook his head indifferently again: "Prone to problems, rejected, next!"

Chapter 100: The Party in Progress - Undercurrents

—————Rhode Island·Accommodation Area·Penguin Logistics—————

Exusiai smiled as she looked past Sora and Croissant at the indifferent Texas.

Since she'd already been discovered, Exusiai decided to stop pretending and looked at Texas with a hint of pleasure in her smile.

"..." Texas looked at the smile on Exusiai's face, her expression becoming even colder. She couldn't keep this best friend. If this girl hadn't let it slip, she might have been suspicious for a while longer.

Sora looked at the silver revolver in Exusiai's hand with some surprise. She knew very well that Exusiai's savings were definitely not enough to buy it, especially at this moment. In other words, this revolver was really a gift from Yuuki!

Sora stared at the pistol, unsure what to say. He turned to ask Texas, but saw a hint of murderous intent on Texas's face: "Um... what's wrong, Texas-senpai?"

"No, it's nothing." Texas took a deep breath, her mind racing with whether or not to just kill that angel guy. This best friend relationship is ruined!

"..." Sora looked at Texas's face and felt a chill run down her spine for some reason. She then turned to look at Exusiai, who was waiting for a smile.

Looking at Exusiai's smile now, one could even detect a hint of provocation.

"Exusiai, something's happened." Sora quickly understood why the atmosphere between the two had become like this. "It's so obvious, Miss Exusiai."

'Wait, what if Exusiai and Texas-senpai...' Sora's eyes began to wander unconsciously, drifting to the side, to Yuuki, who was cooking in the kitchen and completely unaware of the situation in the hall.

"Ugh..." Just before the thoughts in Sora's mind began to run rampant, Sora forcibly stopped them. "How could you think like that? Are you going to let Texas-senpai down?"

"Hmm?" Croissant stroked his chin, looking at the pistol in Exusiai's hand with inward amazement. Just as he shifted his gaze away from the pistol, he noticed that the atmosphere around him seemed to have changed slightly.

Croissant looked left and right, glancing at the indifferent Texas and then at the smiling Exusiai, while Sora beside her had a somewhat conflicted expression.

"What happened?" Croissant scratched her head in confusion, looking at the three of them. "Why does it feel like something I didn't know happened in that short moment? Why do I feel so out of place?"

-----------

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Xi Yue came out carrying a full load of food in a water container, looking at the hall that seemed to be in a deathly silence, and was a little puzzled.

"Um, Ms. Yuzuki..." Jessica, sitting on the sofa, raised her hand timidly, "Um, I have something to do, can I go now?"

"Huh?" Yu Yue looked at Jessica with a puzzled expression. "I've already prepared the food. You should at least finish eating before you leave, right?"

"Hmm..." Jessica hesitated, glancing around. Although she didn't know what had happened, her intuition told her it was best to leave. But Teacher Yuzuki had already worked so hard to prepare the meal...

"Okay, okay!" Jessica shrank her neck and turned to sit down at the dining table.

'That's strange, what's this child doing?' Xi Yue put all the dishes on the table and looked at the others. 'What are you still sitting there for? Do I have to call you? Come and eat.'

"Oh, great, time to eat!" Tomorrow immediately sat up from the sofa, and as she left, she gave Texas, who still had a cold face, a wink, and secretly pointed at Jessica, who was fidgeting.

"..." Texas sighed. As her best friend of many years, she naturally understood what Exusiai meant. She meant that the two of them should stop fighting later and not scare the child.

---------

"I'll be going now, Ms. Yuzuki!"

After finishing her meal, Jessica hurriedly packed her things, then gave Yuuki a slight bow before stiffly walking out of the room.

"Okay, be careful on the road." Xi Yue nodded, and then casually sent one of her water clones to clear the table of dishes. Watching Jessica's departing figure, she stroked her chin.

Xi Yue turned around and looked at the group of people who seemed perfectly normal: "What did you just do?"

"No, what are you doing?" Exusiai shrugged, skillfully found the remote control from the sofa cushions, and turned on the TV.

"Didn't you do anything?" Yuuki looked at Exusiai suspiciously. If she didn't do anything, why was Jessica so scared?

So Yuuki looked at Red, who was quietly stroking Texas's tail, and asked, "Red, what just happened?"

After hearing her mother call, Red lifted her face from Texas's tail, turned to look at Yuzuki, thought for a moment, and then shook her head: "No, what's wrong? What's wrong, Mom?"

"..." Hearing Hong's reply, Xi Yue looked at the others again, "Never mind, it's nothing."

Just then, Croissant suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, where are Sora and I staying tonight?"

Upon hearing this, Texas slapped his forehead. He had only remembered to call Sora and Kosong over to join in the fun, but he had forgotten about the housing issue. Originally, there were only four people in Penguin Logistics, and they had only asked Rhodes Island for the long-term use of these two rooms.

The addition of Yuuki and Kurenai is undoubtedly beyond expectations, at least in terms of housing on Rhodes Island.

"How about we squeeze in?" Exusiai thought for a moment and then patted the sofa beneath her. "Actually, it's not like we can't sleep here."

"It's not that it's impossible." Croissant glanced at the sofa under Exusiai's butt. It's a good thing they put a long sofa in every room when they renovated the house.

"Then I'll sleep here at Yuuki's place. I've been having trouble sleeping these past two days because of Exusiai's aura," Texas said calmly.

"..." Exusiai glanced at Texas, wondering why she'd never noticed Texas's knack for taking advantage of situations before. "Don't you wear an eye patch every day? How come you can't sleep because of my aura, Texas?"

"But since you think I'm too noisy, then I'll sleep here so I won't bother you~"

"Then you can sleep on our sofa over there." Texas casually reached over and poured herself a cup of coffee that Yuuki had just made.

"Weren't you just complaining about me?" Exusiai rolled her eyes at Texas, then turned her gaze to Sora and Croissant beside her. After thinking for a while, she looked at Croissant.