I'm on the Ark, and I start out as Gretchen.

"A lot of infected people have come in from outside, Ivan and the others must be very busy. Mr. Wolf is a very good cook, so please go and help him out."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wolf nodded again and then moved towards the outside of the warehouse.

After Mr. Wolf left, Gretchen continued walking towards the corner where Alyona was bandaging her wounds, which was hidden by supplies.

"Oh, it's little Greta back! I was wondering why your aloof wolf friend suddenly left." Lois teased with a smile as she looked at the little girl who had returned.

"Yes, I'm back. Mr. Wolf usually comes to greet me." Gretchen nodded her head slightly as she listened to Lois's teasing, and then explained seriously.

Lois glanced behind the little girl without stopping her work, and asked curiously, "Oh, I see. But has he gone back now?"

Hearing this, Alyona followed Lois's gaze, a deep-seated curiosity also appearing in her eyes.

"Mr. Wolf didn't return to the world of the painting, so I sent him to help."

In response to their curiosity, Greta whispered, "There are suddenly a lot more people outside. Ivan must be very busy."

Upon hearing this, Lois paused for a moment, then showed a knowing look and instructed, "There are many more people now. That eldest sister is quite quick... But Gretchen shouldn't go out and wander around from now on."

"Yes, I know..." Just as Gretsch nodded in agreement and was only halfway through her sentence, her stomach started to protest again.

"Goo~"

"?"

"?"

Almost a

Instantly, both Lois and Alyona turned to look at Gretsch.

"Gresh, haven't you eaten yet?" Lois was startled again by the sound of someone's stomach protesting, and then asked in confusion.

Because the little girl had been missing for so long, and it was Mr. Wolf who came back to bring her food, Lois thought the little one had already finished eating outside.

Alyona also stood up, intending to hand the dinner next to her to Gretsch.

"I haven't touched the food Mr. Wolf brought me. Here, you can have it."

"Alright, don't move yet. We're almost done bandaging. No matter how outrageous our Reunion Movement gets, we won't skimp on food for you kids."

Before Gretchen could stop Alyona, Lois pressed down on her shoulder and made her sit down again.

"Hmm, don't worry. I'll have Mr. Wolf bring me some later." Gretchen said softly, a hint of helplessness in her eyes as she looked at Alyona, who was worried about not having enough to eat.

After a while, Alyona's numerous wounds were finally completely treated and bandaged.

……

After bandaging Alyona's wounds, the other Yetis had almost finished checking their supplies.

Then, after discussing it, the group decided to leave only one person to watch over the warehouse and the two children, while the rest of them went out to eat and help out.

"Sister Lois, aren't you going to eat?"

Looking at Lois, who was sitting to the side and seemed a little bored, Gretchen asked with a puzzled expression.

"The warehouse is quite important, so we need to leave at least one person here, not to mention you two little ones."

Hearing this, Lois waved her hand helplessly, and then continued, "But don't worry, someone will come to bring you and me dinner in a little while."

"Ah."

After giving a soft reply, Gretchen turned her gaze to Alyona, who was taking small bites of her food.

To be honest, it wasn't until she entered the warehouse and was under the bright lights that the little girl she had rescued clearly observed the racial characteristics of the girl.

On Alyona's little head were a pair of fluffy bear ears that were almost hidden by her somewhat dirty and messy white hair... They looked so soft.

"...Here you go, I've already eaten, if you don't mind."

Perhaps because Gretchen's gaze was too intense, Alyona thought she wanted to eat too, so she stopped and handed over the bowl she was holding.

"If you don't mind, please continue eating."

With that, Greta pushed the bowl back.

She's just interested in other people's ears, but she hasn't stooped so low as to fight with a child for food.

P.S.: I'll try to finish the second update before midnight. My braces post fell off today. I thought it would just be a simple matter of getting it glued back on, but after that, the dentist went straight to tightening the braces. Now my teeth hurt so much.

Keep pushing, and maybe get some votes while you're at it.

Chapter 38 Sticking Together?

Suddenly, Lois, who was sitting to the side, stood up and stretched her somewhat stiff body, saying:

"Ah, you two can stay here. I'm going to get up and walk around. I can't stay in this corner forever; my body is getting stiff."

"Yes, I will take care of Alyona."

Seeing Lois's actions, Gretchen's beautiful eyes flashed with a serious expression as she spoke.

"Pfft, little Grey is so cute, and does she really want to be Alyona's older sister?" Looking at Grey's serious expression, Lois couldn't help but chuckle, then patted her little head.

“I have an agreement with Alyona, Gretchen is a good girl who keeps her word.”

"Okay, okay~ Then I'll leave Alyona in your care, miss. I'll stay in the warehouse. If you need anything, just call me."

As she spoke, Lois gave a loving smile.

Sure enough, no matter how many times she watched it, she still thought Grey was incredibly cute, much cuter than most children. Especially when her little face was expressionless, but her eyes were unusually serious.

……

Afterwards, while Lois was browsing around, only the two little ones remained in this small corner.

The corner fell completely silent, save for Alyona's eating and Gretchen's soft breathing.

However, this situation did not last long, probably because people felt uncomfortable being looked at.

Alyona ate faster and faster, and since the dinner was almost cold, she finished it quickly.

"Cough cough..."

"Eat slowly, Gretchen isn't going to take it from you."

Seeing Alyona almost choke because she was eating too fast, Gretchen's eyes flashed with helplessness. She walked to her side and gently patted her back.

After all, the little girl still remembered that the girl had many wounds on her back, and it wouldn't be good if she accidentally slapped her and caused them to crack.

"I'm sorry... I'm just not used to it."

Looking up at the cute blue-haired little girl standing beside her, Alyona gave a hoarse apology and then explained.

“Hmm, it’s alright, no need to apologize to me. Don’t worry… Mother Aponia said that children should chew their food slowly and carefully.” As she spoke, Gretchen reached out her little hand and patted Alyona’s head.

"You...aren't you disgusted? Before, when you hugged me, you were so dirty."

Feeling the warm, soft sensation on her head again, Alyona frowned deeply. (The last line appears to be a series of unrelated characters and symbols, possibly a corrupted file or a corrupted text file. A direct translation is not possible without further context.)

A complex emotion flickered in his dark eyes.

"Um……???)?"

Upon hearing this, Gretchen was taken aback at first, then continued to look at Alyona in front of her. One glance revealed pure light green, and the next glance revealed still pure light green.

"Alyona is very clean, and the colors are very beautiful, um...it makes me want to paint."

"How could that be? I'm so dirty..."

Although Lois had just given her a quick wipe, Alyona, knowing how long it had been since she had bathed and how dirty she was, instinctively protested...

However, after meeting Gretsch's earnest violet eyes, she gradually fell silent.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Alyona changed the subject and continued, "Gresch... what exactly is this color you've been talking about, and how should I give it to you?"

"A color is just a color. Everyone's color is different. You don't need to take the initiative..."

Gretchen thought for a moment before answering Alyona's question about colors. Whether she understood it or not was irrelevant to her.

"?"

However, it was clear that Alyona was also one of those who couldn't understand the army.

"Even if you say so..."

"Ah~"

Alyona, who wanted to say something more, had barely opened her mouth when she heard Gretsch yawn and stopped talking.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed the sleepiness on the cute little girl's face.

"..."

Noticing the sleepiness on Gretchen's face, Alyona instinctively opened her mouth, wanting someone to use her as a pillow to rest for a while.

But when he glanced at his own dirty, tangled gray hair, he finally shut his mouth.

"Well……"

Noticing the conflict in Alyona's eyes, Gretchen slowly sat down beside her. Then she gently rested her head on one of Alyona's uninjured shoulders.

Actually, Alyona wasn't as dirty as she had imagined. Apart from her hair being a little tangled and dirty, her body was quite clean and had almost no smell.

Even if there was a slight odor, Gretchen didn't really care. Besides, she had rescued the person herself, and the color was fantastic.

"Let me lean on it for a while."

After muttering something under her breath, Gretchen slowly closed her eyes, letting drowsiness wash over her.

Today was another eventful day for her. She was currently feeling both hungry and exhausted.

Although it wouldn't affect the fusion warriors much, Gretsch would still like to rest if she could.

Judging from the current situation, everyone will probably spend the night at this mine, since going back now is simply not feasible.

This impracticality doesn't mean the Yeti team can't get back, but rather that with the darkness and the small number of Yeti team members, there's simply no way they can bring so many infected people back to the camp.

Moreover, besides the infected, this mine also contains a considerable amount of supplies... The Reunion Movement certainly won't give up either of these.

So, if Gretchen's guess is correct, besides everyone spending the night at the mine, Yelena will definitely try to notify Talulah so that she can send people to pick them up and transport supplies.

"..."