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

Sakura is now certain that her body is bound by rules, based on the fact that she has no memory of the murders committed by "Sakura".

However, she didn't know whether this memory of murder was sealed within the [Seven Thunders of Purification] given to her by the system. But she felt the possibility was quite high.

Of course, if it weren't sealed there, the impact on Sakura wouldn't be significant; it would just be equivalent to losing a portion of her memories of killing.

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

As time went by, the team, braving the cold wind and snow, had somehow arrived at the edge of the forest.

After sending people to investigate further and confirming that there were no ambushes, Patriot turned to the group behind him and said, "Be careful...we're about to enter the woods."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing Patriot's words, the shield guards behind him responded in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Patriot's eyes flashed with a scarlet light, and then he led his team into the woods without hesitation.

Actually, the driver had already tried to tell Patriot to enter the woods in this direction; it wouldn't hurt to move quickly.

The most problematic thing is encountering intelligence about enemy advance troops.

However, the Patriots did not directly adopt this intelligence, not out of arrogance, but simply because of distrust.

He did not want to entrust the lives of so many comrades and infected people to the hands of some unknown thing created by a child.

Moreover, in order to receive his daughter and a large number of newly rescued infected, the Patriots also brought most of their Shield Guards with them on this mission.

These shield guards have always been his old comrades-in-arms who have accompanied him in his many battles.

Although these people, including the Patriots, were not afraid to die in battle, that was precisely why he did not want to be negligent in this way.

If his gullibility in believing others' intelligence leads to the death of his comrades.

From the perspective of patriots, this is a disgrace and an insult to their comrades.

……

Gretsch naturally learned about this matter through her pilot sister, but aside from feeling somewhat helpless, she didn't care too much.

From the very beginning, she didn't even include these people in her combat strength.

Of course, this was not because Gretsch looked down on others, but simply because it was unnecessary. Since Sakura could handle it all by herself, there was no need for anyone else to interfere.

Furthermore, the little girl has also decided on her "guardian"—Sakura.

As for why not choose the snake, the reason is simple: it's troublesome.

In this situation, no matter how you look at it, choosing Sakura, who is currently carrying out her special mission, as the most suitable guardian is still the one.

After all, if we let the snake out, we can't actually attack the enemy... Just talking about it won't have any deterrent effect. The bargaining chips during "negotiations" and "exchanges" are still very important.

"Woo..."

Thinking about it, Gretchen gently raised her head, staring blankly at the sky, letting large snowflakes fall on her forehead.

Then, as the snow fell heavier and heavier, the little girl looked away, her head covered with a thin layer of frost, and walked away from the spot.

Although she wasn't afraid of the cold and even found the cool snow fun, with such heavy snowfall and a biting wind... staying outside would look a little silly.

So Gretchen thought it would be better to go back to Alyona to sleep or continue telling stories than to waste that time.

After all, she's just a child now, a child who shouldn't interfere or get involved, right? Let the adults handle the complicated matters.

……

Back at the warehouse entrance, Gretchen pulled down her red hood, gently shook her small body to remove all the snowflakes, and then pushed open the door and stepped into the warehouse.

Only after entering did she notice the "abnormality" in the warehouse.

At some point, several braziers were set up in the relatively large warehouse, which was crowded with many elderly people, women and children.

As soon as Gretchen opened the door and entered, all eyes turned to her.

Although she was momentarily surprised, the little girl's expression remained unchanged after she recovered. She simply continued searching silently for Alyona and the Yetis.

"it's here……"

P.S.: Today's workload was really heavy, it was terrifying... I absolutely can't leave it for tomorrow to catch up on, I hope I won't be pulling an all-nighter tonight. Actually, if I hadn't run into all sorts of weird things in the past few days, these last two days wouldn't have been so hectic.

Also, I'll close the bounty a little later, and then I'll issue an announcement to specifically tally up how much is owed, and then I'll start paying it back.

Then, my toothache is because I went to the dentist and got braces... Last night, the rubber bands were so tight they hurt a lot.

Give it a push.

Chapter 53 The Yeti's Hunt

"it's here……"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Gretchen turned her head to look in a corner, where she saw Alyona and the other two Yetis.

"..."

Without hesitation, Gretchen took small steps toward that direction.

"Little Gretchen, where did you run off to? It's snowing so hard outside." Lois said with a hint of exasperation after the little girl came to her side.

Gretchen made no attempt to hide her recent activities, explaining in a low voice, "I just went to see Sister Yelena..."

"Oh, I see."

As she spoke, Lois nodded first, then glanced at the other infected in the warehouse before gently leaning close to the little girl's ear and asking, "So, did you sense some danger and then notify your older sister?"

Clearly, Lois and Leos, the two Yetis who were staying in the warehouse, also received a notification from their older sister.

"Hmm...but it's not a big problem."

Upon hearing this, Gretchen nodded her head slightly, acknowledging it.

"That's good. Alright, enough said. Even though you're not afraid of the cold, come and warm yourself by the fire."

With that, Lois stood up with a grin and pulled the little girl to sit down next to Alyona.

"Ah."

Greta offered no resistance and obediently sat down beside her companion, quietly enjoying the warmth from the flames before her.

However, Lois, after standing up, didn't rush to sit down. Instead, she walked around the warehouse, inspecting everything. She and Leos needed to make sure that nothing was missing from the warehouse.

In fact, if there hadn't been a complete lack of places to house the infected people, Yelena would never have put them in a place like a warehouse.

Even now,

Those placed in the warehouse were only weak elderly people, women and children; there were no physically strong infected individuals.

Because there are quite a few supplies here, and even quite a few weapons.

If it were to be stolen, it could lead to conflict and trouble, especially given the current manpower shortage in the Yeti team...

"..."

Looking at Lois's back, Gretchen was slightly taken aback at first, and then a look of understanding flashed in her large violet eyes.

Actually, the little girl had thought about this possibility before... and it was precisely because she had thought about it that she almost always chose to stay in the warehouse with the other three people to guard against this possibility.

This is one of the reasons why Gretchen was surprised when she came in and saw so many people.

However, she quickly realized that it might be because there wasn't enough space... which was why Yelena was forced to make this arrangement.

After all, a quick glance revealed that everyone present was elderly, weak, women, and children, making the reason quite obvious.

"Ah woo~"

However, before Gretchen could continue thinking, her third yawn at noon interrupted her, causing her beautiful eyes to well up with tears again.

"Are you sleepy? Then come and sleep in my arms for a while..."

Upon seeing Gretchen yawn, Alyona, sitting beside her, blinked her light green eyes and smiled.

Then he opened his warm, fire-warmed arms to the person next to him.

Upon hearing this, Gretchen didn't rush over. She simply tilted her head slightly and asked softly, "What about Alyona?"

“It’s alright. I took a nap while you were out, and I’m wide awake now.” As she spoke, Alyona gently patted her slender, almost fleshless legs, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"OK then……"

Although she agreed, Gretchen did not snuggle into Alyona's arms as Alyona had hoped.

Instead, just like last night, I simply leaned gently against her shoulder.

"good afternoon……"

Seeing Gretchen close her eyes not long after, Alyona's eyes flashed slightly, and a smile appeared on her face.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he reached out and gently stroked the little girl's sky-blue bangs.

—————————————————————

Because Gretsch had warned her beforehand, Yelena, who was prepared, waited quietly and carefully investigated.

Soon, some clues were found around the mine, which directly confirmed the existence of the advance team mentioned by the little girl.

Realizing that the enemy didn't have many people, Frostnova was already planning to lead her Yetis to wipe them out...

After all, if these reconnaissance teams are released, they may soon bring a large number of enemies to attack them.

Therefore, in order to buy time and slow down the enemy's movement, Frostnova would absolutely not allow this squad to return alive.

Having made the decision, Yelena naturally acted swiftly, secretly contacting several Yetis and forming a small team.

They then quietly left the mine and went after their prey, who had already gathered intelligence and left.

As for why they didn't strike while the squad was scouting, the reason is simple: the enemy dispersed as they approached the mine... and the Yeti squad wasn't manpower enough.

If we alert the enemy and accidentally miss one or two, then it's all over, and this operation will become meaningless.

That's why Froststar chose this method: following the trail from afar, waiting for these people to reunite, and then eliminating them in one fell swoop.

……

Gretchen noticed Yelena's departure, after all, her abusive husband and his wife were still out.

However, the little girl doesn't intend to stop it... because there's no reasonable reason.

Normally, Gretchen would have stopped Yelena long ago, or acted before her... but this time, there were annoying mission restrictions that prevented her from taking action.

However, the little girl wasn't too worried because she sensed that Sakura was almost here.