Man on the ark, forced to become king

“I’m coming right now, Alina. You can rest in my tent for a bit.”

Noticing that the fawn seemed cold, Talulah quickly pulled her into the tent, gently comforted her, and then walked alone in the direction Alina had pointed out.

……

"You said you're a doctor?"

Deep in the dense forest, Yelena, with a stern face, asked seriously.

Her face, devoid of any expression, was always expressionless, and coupled with the constant low temperature surrounding her, she gave off a very unapproachable vibe.

"Yes, we've been living here for a while now in order to avoid being caught by the Ursus patrol team."

Opposite her, a white-horned Sarkaz woman, completely shrouded in a tattered black cloak, nodded slightly. Under the gaze of numerous Yetis, she seemed completely unfazed and remained remarkably calm.

"Gentlemen, I don't think there's any need for us to have a conflict?"

As she spoke, she subtly raised the slender, sheathed longsword in her hand, as if to say: See, I am not without the ability to resist.

However, Yelena did not answer. Her gaze fell on Shining's back, next to the two-person tent half-covered by snow, where there were wooden boxes. One of the boxes was open, facing this way, revealing pieces of dark green plastic sealed inside.

Yelena had seen that kind of thing before; it was military-grade compressed biscuits specially supplied to the Ursus army. Just a small piece was enough to supply an adult for a day, making it very practical. They had also captured some when Bozokasti was still around.

In such a harsh environment of ice and snow, it can be said that it is the best supply.

The Reunification Movement also lacks these things.

'Shall we make a move?'

The white rabbit repeatedly asked itself the same question, finding it difficult to make up its mind.

She's not the kind of person who would lay a hand on two innocent people who showed no ill will.

However, they really needed these supplies. No matter why they were there, they were precious items that could save lives.

On one side are infected compatriots, close comrades-in-arms, and her father's former subordinates.

On the other side are two complete strangers, innocent people.

After a long silence, Yelena finally made up her mind.

'Feel sorry……'

Grayish-black ice crystals appeared out of thin air, condensing into large and small rhomboid crystals. She knew that doing so was shameless, despicable, and no different from those patrol teams that plundered villages.

But she needed these things, even if the people in front of her would inevitably resent her, she had to do it!

"please--"

"Yelena!"

The scorching heat pressed against her cold skin. Yelena tilted her head to look, and Talulah appeared beside her at some inopportune moment, reaching out to grasp her wrist.

Did I think about it for too long? I didn't even realize it...

"Yelena, what do you want to do?"

As if burning flames appeared before her eyes, the white rabbit instinctively turned her head away. She dared not look into Talulah's eyes, nor dared she answer.

"I will not hurt them."

After a long silence, she finally managed to squeeze out a few words in a very soft voice.

"If we do that, how are we any different from those Ursus nobles?"

Releasing Yelena's wrist, Talulah knew she might have made a very wrong decision for the Reunion Movement.

However, she could not go against her beliefs.

If she can trample on what she holds dear just to survive, then is she still herself?

What's the point of just barely surviving?

"Miss..."

A Yeti took a step forward and touched Yelena's arm; the gentle touch shattered her last shred of resolve.

"let's go."

The white rabbit closed its eyes in pain, turned and left without looking back, and the Yetis quickly followed.

Seeing this, Talulah sighed almost imperceptibly and forced a smile.

"Sorry, my friend acted impulsively."

"Do you need this food?"

"This……"

The unexpected question left Talulah speechless for a moment.

Isn't this person afraid they might suddenly try to snatch the compressed food? How dare they ask such a direct question?

Is it because they feel emboldened, or is there another reason?

The young girl narrowed her eyes slightly; she didn't sense any connection to the Golden Tree from either of them.

However, Felin, who was hiding behind this Sarkaz, was acting strangely. She seemed very excited and stared at them without blinking. That look and feeling seemed familiar to her, but she was quite certain that she had never seen anyone with the same appearance anywhere else.

"As you can see, we are indeed short of food, but rest assured, I will not allow them to steal your supplies."

After a moment's thought, Talulah gave her answer.

"Then you can take them all, just make sure we get our share every day."

"what?"

For a moment, Talulah wondered if she was hallucinating. She opened her mouth in disbelief and stared blankly at the white-horned Sarkaz in front of her, countless questions swirling in her mind.

Send them precious food? Isn't that something that only happens in fairy tales?

Was it Yelena's actions that frightened them?

Or are these two people their 'shepherd dogs' who are deliberately bringing them food?

“I said the same thing to your companion before, but she didn’t seem to understand.”

Shining pursed her lips, tilted her head, and looked somewhat troubled.

“If you really need this food, you can take it. In fact, the two of us don’t need this much. This stuff was stolen from a transport convoy in Ursus, which is why we’re hiding here to avoid the patrol team’s search.”

“I am a doctor, and saving lives is my duty. We have done the same thing many times in the villages along the way. This is just repeating the same thing. You can take it if you need it.”

"Also, your companion's health doesn't seem to be very good. May I go see her?"

Saint, Our Lady?!

Talulah was stunned, her mind reeling.

She simply couldn't understand whether such people really existed in this world.

You should know that Yelena and the others had already described her as 'naive', but for the person in front of her, naive was not enough to describe it.

They are willing to give their precious food to strangers they have just met.

She was even willing to treat the person who had just threatened her.

This is simply unbelievable; only fairy tales meant to fool children would dare to include such a character.

But now, the people from the fairy tale have come to life!

How did such a person survive until now?

At that moment, Talulah seemed to understand how she was usually perceived by Yelena and the others.

“These supplies are not important to us, and we are different from you. We can leave this snowfield at any time. Although I am a doctor, my companion is capable of walking on the snowfield. Therefore, neither of us needs to worry about survival.”

As Shining spoke, she pulled Chen, who was disguised as Felin, forward.

"Ah, yes, yes!"

Chen nodded hastily, trying to straighten her posture and strike a pose of "I'm the best in the world." However, the way she put it now looked rather cute and had no intimidating power whatsoever.

"Is that right?"

To be honest, Talulah didn't believe this explanation. The little girl looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old and didn't seem very strong.

However, we can't worry about that now.

Regardless of where these things came from, or whether the other party was actually responsible for guarding their herding dogs, the fact that the Reunion Movement needed these things is indisputable.

Since the other party was willing to give it to them, she couldn't possibly refuse.

"Thank you for your generosity!"

Talulah subconsciously used honorifics, barely able to contain her joy.

"It's my wish to save more people, no need to thank me. Now, may I see your friend?"

"Of course—uh, I have a question, which is..."

Talulah almost blurted out "I agree," but then stopped, hesitating and looking at him with a hint of reluctance. Finally, she raised her arm, revealing a small black Originium crystal on the back of her hand.

"My comrades, many in our group are infected, could this be..."

"Don't worry, we don't care whether someone is infected or not."

As she said this, Shining smiled gently and took Talulah's hand.