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

"Oh, right! I also saw that the monster was holding a silver-haired lady in its hand!"

"White hair?" Scout pondered for a moment. "Can we confirm that this is the target of this mission?"

"..."

Little Mary thought for a moment, shook her head, and looked at the captain with a complex expression that was hard to describe.

Scout, seeing the fear on Mary's face, knew that she probably hadn't seen anything else useful in this regard.

So he didn't ask any more questions, lest he further provoke her fragile rationality.

Scout quickly organized the situation in his mind and then began assigning tasks.

"Next, Thumbtack, Yulan, and Changyin, you take Little Mary and leave here to report the situation to the ship."

"Rafa, Mulam, Berry Softcore, Solana, Mimi. The five of you will first help evacuate the residents of Saltwind City and record the situation on the coastline to report to the court. Do it as quickly as possible."

Seeing that Lei was about to argue, Scout waved his hand and said, "Alright, no need to say more. The next task is very important, and I trust you with this kind of task."

"Then, Slinka, Putel, and Long Scorpion, we'll pair up and try to track that giant beast. I have a feeling this will have a big impact. Once we get a feel for the situation, we'll all retreat. Understand?"

As a commander with years of war experience, Scout's orders were short and authoritative.

After everyone nodded and understood their purpose, they didn't waste any more time and went about their own tasks.

Scout and his team began investigating in the direction the giant beast had left, slowly making their way towards the desolate hills of Iberia.

Just as the Iberian judge and the Rhodes Island reconnaissance squad were sweating profusely over this matter.

In a safe spot in the wasteland... Mebius, who had attracted a great deal of attention, was leisurely warming himself by a fire with the unconscious Laurentina, thinking about his next move.

Chapter 7 Unlocking Aponia

Mebius, sitting in a sheltered spot by the fire, had a slightly strange expression on his face. As for the reason...

She looked at her own hand, which was resting on Laurentina's hand, and at the progress of unlocking the [Discipline] Aponia displayed on the panel, and fell into deep thought.

It seems that her operation this time has an unexpected surprise.

To be honest, if Snake hadn't reached out and touched Laurentina's hand while trying to adjust her position by the fire, she wouldn't have known that the little fish on the ground could unlock Aponia...

It can only be said that Specter's nun's habit was still covering her up too much. Even after Mebius carried her in her Collapsed Form for so long, he didn't touch her skin to trigger the unlock until he put her down.

Of course, Snake can't rule out that the situation is caused by the flawed system's judgment rules...

"..."

Thinking about his next move, Mebius seemed to remember something, his eyes flickered, and he thoughtfully turned his gaze back to Laurentina, who was still unconscious.

If it were for the sake of minimizing trouble, she should give Laurentina, the experimental subject, an injection right now to keep her unconscious and prevent her from waking up and causing trouble.

However, out of humanitarian considerations and overall assessment, she should not administer any additional medication.

After all, Möbius still doesn't know Ghost Shark's physical condition or other data. If he were to inject any additional drugs rashly, it could very likely cause conflicts, side effects, or even harm this rare "experimental subject."

"It's really troublesome..."

Muttering something under her breath, Mebius looked away, her expression somewhat displeased. Ultimately, it was because she hadn't prepared adequately this time… she hadn't made any preparations to bring an extra person.

However, there was no way around it. Before coming here, Snake hadn't expected that her target would change from the extremely numerous and resource-intensive white mice like Hai Si to the rare experimental subject like Laurentina.

In fact, in her original plan, after collecting enough samples and materials in Saltwind City, she intended to have Sakura or Velvet summon her back directly.

But now... Mebius can't just slice up Laurentina, stuff her into a jar, put her in a spatial dimension, and take her away, can he?

Putting aside whether it's cruel or not, she can't stand it just from the perspective of waste!

What Snake wants is a lively, active experimental subject that she can continuously study, and if it cooperates well enough, she can also help with its treatment.

Instead of some lifeless slices, which she doesn't lack.

Now Mebius can only hope that Aponia will be unlocked soon. Even she has to admit that sometimes the Commandments are much more effective than potions.

but

For Snake, Aponia's emergence wasn't all good news. Thinking about that guy's indecisive personality, even if it was "herself," she couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

When it comes to Laurentina's future, the two incompatible individuals will likely have a long and complicated struggle over who gets her...

Unfortunately, given the lack of preparation, Möbius had no choice but to prioritize bringing Aponia out of the way. Who else could she rely on? Xiao Shi? Well, that just made them even less compatible…

Now that Xiaoshi has been brought over, the fact that Snake and she didn't immediately start fighting can be considered as a way of showing consideration for each other, since they are both "one of us".

-------------

Time flew by and it was already afternoon—

At this moment, a "girl" with light green, shoulder-length short hair and a pair of cat ears on her head, who was sitting in a car with people on the road, was looking at the report in her hand with a serious expression, seemingly lost in thought.

This "girl" is none other than Kal'tsit, the current head of Rhodes Island, and the report she is holding is the investigation report of the investigation team that went to Saltwind City in Iberia, which was recently delivered to her.

Some time ago, Rhodes Island learned about a Deepsea Hunter being trapped through a transaction, and is now sending a team to investigate and prepare for rescue.

However, before the rescue team could even arrive, news from the investigation team alerted Kal'tsit, Rhodes Island's busiest person...

But she couldn't leave it alone. Looking at the report about the unidentified behemoth and the person it had abducted, who was suspected to be their "target," she simply couldn't ignore it. Especially since the reconnaissance team had lost track of the beast, or rather, couldn't find any trace of it…

So why would a giant beast appear on the beach? A gigantic marine creature?

Unable to figure out the specifics, Kal'tsit had no choice but to personally lead her people to the scene.

At the same time, she was also glad that in order to prevent any accidents from happening in this rescue operation, and because she had some things to take care of here, it was relatively convenient for her to meet up with the reconnaissance team.

……

Not long after, Mebius, who had already changed positions several times with his "spoils of war," welcomed the arrival of night.

On the vast Iberian wilderness, Snake looked up at the countless false stars in the sky, then looked at Laurentina, who was still asleep and whom he was holding by the hand, and felt a little uneasy.

She still really disliked the "burden," even though she had brought him along herself...

There's one more thing Mebius had to complain about: why hadn't Laurentina woken up all day? What on earth did that good-for-nothing Quintus do to her?!

If she hadn't been able to confirm that the person she was holding was still alive, based solely on the temperature and the fact that the person hadn't moved for so long, she would have suspected that she had rescued a "corpse."

While Snake certainly didn't want Laurentina to wake up before she unlocked Aponia, as time went on, even she couldn't help but start to worry about the lab rat's health...

"whispering sound……"

With a frustrated snort, Möbius began planning her next steps. She felt it was essential to find a decent city and get Laurentina a proper medical checkup.

She had to be careful during this process, as the Iberians were still quite hostile towards the Agorians, and having a little white shark with her was quite conspicuous.

It's really like a lab rat I caught myself; no matter how annoying it is, I have to check on it to make sure it doesn't die.

Just as Snake was thinking about her next plan, the system unlocking sound she had been waiting for all day suddenly rang in her mind, interrupting her thoughts.

[Ding! (Discipline) Aponia has been unlocked.]

"..."

P.S.: I saw a cockroach in the living room in the middle of the night, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. I panicked!