Poseidon in Arknights

"Alright. Now that the Rat King is waiting for you, have some fun."

“You too, Is.” Mostima walked away into the distance, leaving only his voice echoing in the air. “It’s a rare night of requiem, so don’t work so hard. Well then, I’ll take my leave first.”

After a moment of silence, Is said, "...Requiem Night?"

"Damn it, Requiem Night is supposed to be a holiday." Is sighed. "Why did I habitually work overtime... Yeah, what a waste."

Then Is turned his gaze to the white staff in his hand: "But at least, she left you with me. We can catch up now, old friend."

The staff trembled slightly, as if resisting something.

"Hmm, it feels pretty good to hold you in my hand, there's no point in complaining."

The tip of the staff glowed faintly, as if it were about to unleash a magical attack.

Is quickly said, "Alright, alright, don't be angry. Someone was really upset today, but it seems like everything's alright now."

The fluorescence at the tip of the staff dissipated.

"Hmm, you're asking who it is?"

"Just a sea deity, perhaps. And she'll be attending the ball today, hehe. Don't get excited. Unless something goes wrong, she should just be a spectator."

Then Is saw the gangsters being washed out of the bar in the distance: "Well, it seems plans can't keep up with changes. There's always someone who wants to provoke others."

Chapter 40: The Law of Noise (Part 3)

Texas used the hilt of her sword to knock out a gangster who was trying to sneak up on her, then pointed the blade at Gambino: "You have nowhere to run."

Gambino looked around at the fallen gangsters. Some had been knocked unconscious, but many more had been hit by arrows shot by the woman opposite him. Once hit, they were enveloped in water, fell to the ground, and were unable to move.

Of course, many more were cut down by the sword, their fate unknown.

“What a bunch of useless trash.” Gambino withdrew his gaze and looked at Texas. “Ha, ha, Texas, your skills certainly live up to your name… so your family—”

Texas's face darkened: "Shut up."

Exusiai smashed the last bottle in her hand, turned to Texas with a grin, and said, "Miss Texas~ I took down one more person than you~"

Sora slammed the bottle down hard on the head of the still-swaying gangster. Glass shards and blood-mixed liquor splattered everywhere, forming a beautiful flower.

"But the person who suppressed the leader was Texas, so there should be at least three people involved, right?"

Exusiai was somewhat disappointed: "Huh? So I lose?"

Yuzuki smiled and put the bow away: "Exusiai, is it possible that no one is actually competing with you in this?"

Croissant looked at the mess on the ground with heartache and casually replied, "No, no one can compare with you in this. Besides, Xiyue has done more than all of you combined. Look at all these bottles on the ground. There must be tens of millions of them here."

After scanning the ground, Croissant picked up a bottle: "Hmm, there's another whole bottle here. Let me check the price."

"One, two, three... seven, seven zeros? Thank goodness!" Croissant looked relieved when she saw the price tag. Although the wine wasn't hers, it didn't stop her from being thankful that the bottle was still intact.

"Don't be afraid! There are only six of them!" shouted one of the surviving gang members, but his feet kept retreating.

"Don't say such cheesy lines! Oh no—!" The Emperor jumped from the ground onto a chair, then leaped up again, smashing the bottle in his hand hard against the gangster's head.

"It hit my head again... Ugh..." The gangster, whose head had been hit, swayed a few times before collapsing weakly to the ground.

"And if you include me, that makes six." The Emperor casually tossed the half-empty wine bottle on the ground and pushed up his sunglasses, speaking coolly.

"Hong also wants to participate..."

"Sorry, Hong~" Xiyue picked up Hong, patted her little head, and then whispered in her ear, "Let you touch Mommy's tail tonight."

"Six logistics company employees clashed head-on with an entire armed mafia gang, and the winner was actually the former..." Bison, panting as he looked at the mess on the floor, exclaimed, "--This is too strange, isn't it?"

To be honest, Bison felt like he had used up at least half a month's worth of exercise today. First, he was hit by a bomb, then he fought with gangsters, then he was chased, and then he almost got hit by a bomb again.

Not to mention what happened after that, he was basically fighting with gangsters the whole time. In the middle of the fight, he was even riding a bicycle, chasing cars, and continuing to fight with gangsters until now.

Bison felt like he had almost fought all the battles of the year.

"Nothing strange about it? When it comes to group fights, if the numbers are roughly equal, we're number one in Lungmen!" Croissant said confidently with a smile.

Bison glanced at the gangsters lying on the ground and thought, 'About the same number?'

Texas delivered a powerful kick to Gambino's chest, sending him flying a considerable distance before crashing into the wall. Gambino coughed twice, clutching his chest.

Texas twirled her sword: "You've lost. Surrender."

“Loss? Surrender? Ha, are you really that ‘Texas’?” Gambino stood up from the ground. “Once swords are drawn, there is no ‘winner’ or ‘loser’ among Sicilians, only ‘life and death’!”

Gambino spat out a mouthful of blood: "You should regret not killing him!"

Ambino then quickly jumped out of the window and took a remote control from the gangsters outside.

Texas, seeing the remote control in Gambino's hand, immediately sensed something was wrong: "Yuzuki!!!"

Texas had barely finished speaking when countless bombs flew in through the window, and as Gambino pressed the button to detonate them, a deafening roar erupted.

Texas, being at the very front, was almost the first to feel the heatwave from the explosion. Amid the roar, a voice rang in her ears, instantly easing the tension in her.

"Don't worry, Texas, I'm here."

Texas felt a cool sensation around her waist, followed by a pulling sensation. Texas did not resist, letting the pulling sensation around her waist drag her into a curtain of water.

Bison stood up from the ground and looked at the firelight outside through the transparent mist: "Uh, another bomb... Won't the Guard Bureau be furious?"

Looking at the firelight outside the water curtain, Yuuki said nonchalantly, "Probably, so we need to resolve everything before we provoke the authorities."

Croissant, who had been pulled in, knelt on the ground, staring at the curtain of fire outside: "Money, so much money is gone!"

"Thank you, Yuuki." Texas turned around and looked at Yuuki, who was smiling.

"I'm a doctor, so my teammates won't get hurt within my field of vision." Yuuki smiled and casually patted Texas's swaying wolf tail.

"Hmm!" Texas turned around and glanced at Yuuki, who was smiling, but Yuuki only responded with a smile and didn't stop what she was doing.

Texas stared at Yuuki for a while, but Yuuki still didn't let go of her tail, so she could only look outside and think, "...Tsk, they got away again."

Exusiai glanced at the tail swaying in Yuuki's hand, then at Texas, who seemed to be blushing slightly, whether from the firelight or something else.

Exusiai chuckled to herself. This was the first time she had ever seen Texas like this. Even after spending so much time together, Exusiai had never seen Texas's tail wag so wildly.

"Ahem, Texas, should we go after them?"

Texas silently withdrew her tail from Yuuki's hand: "No, I also underestimated the enemy a little."

Texas looked at the tavern that had been destroyed and shook her head: "...Even if they were just losers who fled to Lungmen, they were still Mafia members who considered themselves Sicilians."

"Okay, give me your hand." Yu Yue took out a roll of bandage from the medical kit on her waist.

Texas raised her hand, and blood was slowly flowing from a wound on her left upper arm, which appeared to have been cut by shards of glass blown up by the blast wave.

"With your water protecting it, the wound isn't deep, don't worry."

“That won’t do.” After sitting down next to Texas, Yuuki raised her hand and quickly bandaged the wound with the bandage in her hand.

"Hmm...it feels cool." Texas glanced at the bandage, a cool and itchy sensation coming from the wound.

"That's normal. I used something to help the wound heal on this." Yuuki put the bandage away.

This item was redeemed by Xiyue from the system; it was cheap, came in large quantities, and had a pretty good effect.

Medical bandages (one box, all in rolls)

[Type: consumables]

[Effect: Effectively stops bleeding and promotes rapid healing of small wounds.]

[Review: A common consumable item frequently used in medical settings. This bandage simply uses an internal dressing that is more effective at stopping bleeding and promoting wound healing.]

Price: 50 Medical Points

No medical evaluation required to purchase.

It's cheap, effective, and most importantly, it comes in a whole box. Xiyue always carries three or four rolls with her in her medical kit.

After a moment of hesitation, Bai stood up: "Sicilian... what does 'Sicilian' mean? Is it some kind of name for the Syracuses?"

Texas thought for a moment and then said, "The Sicilian Union, one of the origins of the Syracuse Twelve Houses, was the first city-state to achieve victory through violence."

"This is also the etymology of the Syracusan word for 'Sicilian'."

Texas paused, then continued, “But now… the word has taken on a different meaning… very few Syracuseans identify themselves as ‘Sicilian’ anymore.”

Texas seemed to recall something, her tone becoming somewhat somber: "Although they may no longer be powerful for various reasons... since they call themselves that..."

"Alright, Texas, talking so much must be tiring, right?" Exusiai handed Texas a glass of water. "Anyway! They really are a dangerous mafia! Even if that's what they call themselves, right?"

“…Hmm.” Exusiai thought for a moment and then looked at Yuuki. “Is this situation considered an emergency? Can we request a tactical strike?”

"The boss's wallet will be crying even more." Xi Yue shook her head with a smile.

Although Bison was very curious about the tactical strike that Exusiai mentioned, since Yuuki said it was not feasible, he could only put aside his curiosity.

“Then we can’t let them continue these surprise attacks; the losses will only keep escalating.” Bison rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We have to fight back. We need a…”

The Emperor interrupted, "...Wait, everyone wait a minute. What excuse do you think I should make to explain to that idiot bartender who's allergic to alcohol?"

Croissant looked at the dilapidated ruins that no longer resembled a tavern and shrugged: "Is there any explanation for this... ah."

Croissant pointed to the high stool the Emperor was sitting on: "At least the high stool you're sitting on, boss, is still intact."

"Is this the only high stool left?"

Sora looked around and nodded: "...Well, this high stool is all that's left."

The Emperor opened his mouth, paused, and said, "Ah, broken wine bottles and ruins also have a unique beauty. That's right, this is my unique stylistic transformation!"

Exusiai looked at the ruins and shards of glass on the ground: "No, no, no, this is too far-fetched. If they hadn't dropped the bombs, it might make sense, but even if they hadn't dropped the bombs, it still doesn't make sense, does it?"

Croissant sighed: "Let's prepare for a full refund. Ugh, Penguin Logistics' economic winter is coming."

Texas raised her hand and smelled herself: "And the smell of alcohol is really strong, and I feel sticky, but it's good for disinfecting the wound."

Xi Yue shook her head: "Don't be ridiculous, who uses wine to disinfect! I have medical alcohol here... and the only person I want to get hurt is you, the one who just got hurt."

"...I've changed my mind." The Emperor looked at the mess on the ground, took a deep breath, and said, "Since they're determined to cause trouble on the Day of Requiem..."

"Then we can only let them rest in peace in this life."

Xi Yue's eyes darted around, and after a while, she took out a crystal from her clothes: "Alright, alright, remember to pay me my wages later. All of you, get out."

After confirming that everyone had left, Yuuki placed the crystal in the center of the ruins and used water to pull Skadi, who was lying inside, out as well.

Then, in everyone's eyes, behind Xiyue, the ruined tavern seemed to turn back time, the crystal in the center emitted light, and wherever the light reached, the tavern's interior decoration gradually reappeared.