Man on the ark, forced to become king

squeak--

One edge of the door seemed to be twisted by invisible claws, leaving irregular marks. The broken metal door was lifted to one side, and the gray-black color flowed in like water from the snow, as if to suggest that an unseen enemy had entered the house.

"Lockdown Mode!"

Under Magellan's command, the drones quickly returned, spraying down icy blue mist that outlined a hunched human figure in the air. Laser beams fell from three directions, exploding into dazzling flashes, while bullets from the weapon attack module formed a dense barrage that rained down on the human figure.

Magellan wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he vaguely smelled a familiar scent spreading in the air, kind of like... canned herring?

No... I should say it's closer to the smell of rotting plants and animals...

hum!

The transparent ripples suddenly spread out, and an invisible force threw Magellan away, causing him to crash into the wall of the room. The table containing the samples and equipment overturned, leaving a mess.

Click!

The drone, suspended in the sky, was grabbed by a hand covered in ice mist, twisted and snapped, and burst into bright sparks.

Boom!

The heavy thud of the impact was right in front of me, and with the tremors of the ground, the stench of decay in the air became even more pronounced.

Crisis was imminent; Magellan could even feel the gusts of wind generated by her vigorous limb movements hitting her face, threatening to land on any part of her body at any moment.

Without a doubt, it's a pipe dream to think that the power capable of easily tearing apart metal doors and breaking drones can be stopped by flesh and blood.

"!!!"

At the critical moment, the penguin plush toy hanging from the waist suddenly began to shake, and visible black ripples spread out from the pendant, while a strange shriek swept through the room in an instant.

The humanoid silhouette, which had been gradually blurring due to the reduction of ice mist, came to an abrupt halt, as if it had encountered a natural enemy and stopped moving forward, even making a retreating motion, seemingly extremely wary of the ripples spreading from the pendant.

……

Snapped!

The wine bottle clutched in the wing fell to the ground, leaving a trail of crimson liquid. The emperor, who had been swirling the wine glass, sat up abruptly from his executive chair, his small eyes widening in surprise.

Golden Tree!

A thought flashed through my mind, and the golden leaves that had been sitting on the table were pressed down by wings, activating them to emit a rich golden light.

Swish!

Within a few breaths, Lin Lu, shirtless, suddenly appeared in the Penguin Logistics office, yawning with half-closed eyes and a dangerous glint in her gaze.

"What's wrong with you in the middle of the night? If you don't have a good reason, I think we should have penguin sashimi tomorrow morning!"

"Business!"

The Emperor jumped off the chair and paced back and forth with his wings on his back. Lin Lu could actually see an anxious expression on his penguin face.

Putting aside how a penguin could make such a human-like expression... what could possibly make an emperor who has lived for countless years so anxious?

This was the first time Lin Lu had ever seen the Emperor in this state, and she was quite surprised. She immediately stopped pursuing the matter of being woken up by an urgent message in the middle of the night.

"What has bothered you?"

"I'm... um, little sister, from the same clan, you know, the kind that's very rare..."

The Emperor scratched his head with his wings, carefully considering his words, but ultimately couldn't come up with a suitable description.

“Friend, just consider her a friend. The pendant I gave her has been activated.”

"Alright, friend."

Lin Lu didn't dwell on these details too much, and asked curiously, "Did your little sister run into some trouble?"

The specific situation is not difficult to determine. The Golden Tree also has similar items such as amulets and protective props, which can be passively activated and play a role when the holder encounters a crisis.

Judging from the Emperor's expression at this moment, that's probably what happened.

But what's the point of asking him about this?

The Golden Tree isn't omnipotent. While it has convenient teleportation support capabilities, that's only applicable between Golden Tree operators with sufficient level of blessing. If they're strangers who don't belong to the Golden Tree, then it's powerless to help them.

Could it be that the person possessed a piece of the golden leaf given by the Great Emperor?

"She is a field agent of Rhine Lab, stationed year-round on the far north ice sheet. I don't have time to go into details. I've called you here because I want you to think of a solution. The pendant she wears has a slight connection to me."

The Emperor, abandoning his usual jovial demeanor, became unusually serious, pacing back and forth in his office as he asked, "You have a lot of strange and unusual things there. Is there any way you can offer some assistance through the connection between me and the pendant? Consider it a favor I owe you."

"Well... even if you say that, there's nothing I can do."

Lin Lu thought for a moment, then looked troubled.

To reiterate, the Golden Tree isn't omnipotent. Even he couldn't provide support through a pendant with only a weak connection, especially since that connection had nothing to do with the Golden Tree.

Although he wouldn't mind helping, it was a rather difficult request.

"Wait, you said she's an operator from Rhine Lab in the far north? Isn't her name... what was it again? Medivh?"

"Magellan, it's Magellan!"

The emperor's small eyes seemed to light up, and his tone became more assertive.

"Do you really have any idea?"

"Yes, yes, Magellan, Magellan, don't worry about the details."

Lin Lu waved her hand, her answer not entirely certain.

“If it were anyone else, I really wouldn’t be able to help, but if it were her, maybe it would work.”

"Coincidentally, a few days ago I had Saria lead a team of children out for some training. Their mission was to rescue a man named Magellan on the ice plains, probably the one you mentioned."

"Here's what you're going to do: give me something that carries your scent, and I'll give it a try."

What do you need?

The emperor looked around, momentarily at a loss. What could be the object that carried his aura that could be of use?

"It doesn't need to be too complicated."

Lin Lu raised her hand and pressed down the Great Emperor, who was spinning around everywhere. She plucked a tuft of fur from his round belly, grinned, and ignored the penguin's pitiful screams: "This will do!"

Are you kidding me? You think you can just brush him off after waking him up in the middle of the night?

That must be impossible!

According to Yan Guo, a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. But Lin couldn't wait that long; he would settle a score on the spot!

……

In the far north, Saria, who was leading the group through the night, paused. She took out a gleaming golden leaf, and to her astonishment, the leaf, which had just been taken from the inner layer of her breastplate and was still warm from her body, suddenly exploded. The scattered golden light quickly gathered together and formed a pale golden humanoid shape.

"Teacher/Boss/Leader/Mr. Lin?"

Several different exclamations rang out at the same time. Everyone recognized the golden humanoid's identity. Who else could it be but Lin Lu?

"Are you still traveling in the middle of the night?"

Lin Lu was a little surprised, but didn't pay much attention. She raised her palm, and golden light flashed. White penguin down appeared out of thin air in her open palm, enveloped in rich golden light.

The emperor rarely needs to ask for help, so if he can help, he definitely will.

However, there's no need for his true form to run to the icy Arctic plains in the middle of the night to brave the cold wind; an avatar manifested using golden leaves is sufficient.

Even if he encounters any unexpected situation along the way, he can immediately move his main body over.

"I won't say anything more. Your mission target, McDonald's, has encountered an unknown danger and urgently needs rescue. You need to act as soon as possible."

"It's Magellan... Mr. Lin, we haven't been able to pinpoint the exact location of the research station yet."

Saria subconsciously retorted, her brows furrowing slightly.

If possible, she would like to get to the research station as soon as possible, but without knowing the location, there is no use in being anxious, and things will not change because of her personal will.

"It's alright. Since I'm here, I must be confident."

Lin Lu casually tossed the ball of golden light, which was covered in penguin down, into the air. It shone brightly and a dazzling golden band of light stretched rapidly in a certain direction, illuminating the night sky along its path. Like the aurora borealis, it stretched across the sky and extended to a great distance.

"Just keep moving forward, I'll figure out the solution."

"learn."

Saria glanced at the band of light hanging overhead, nodded emphatically, and waved her arm. Grayish-white substance seeped out from the air and covered everyone's bodies.

"Everyone, no need to conserve energy, full speed ahead!"

Chapter 263 Magellan's Lucky Moment

No one questioned why Lin Lu, appearing in her avatar form, only pointed them in the right direction without using any other methods.

As the team leader, Saria knew very well that Lin Lu had no reason to take action here personally. Although in their usual interactions, Lin Lu was indeed a very easy-going boss who treated everyone equally, ultimately, her status was what it was.

The leader of the Golden Tree would be a top-level power holder in any other organization or company. People at this level would have no reason to interfere in a small field mission, no matter how important the mission objective is to others.

Rather, the fact that he could appear in avatar form and offer assistance was already far beyond Saria's expectations—just like at Rhine Labs, the General Headquarters was always responsible for coordinating various departments and issuing decisive decisions on the big picture, without getting involved in the 'minor matters' within each department.

The same principle applies to the Golden Tree. Given that the leader has already provided assistance, their team has no reason to ask for more. The only thing they can do is to do their best to complete the mission so as not to disappoint the leader who has set his sights on the vast ice plains.

From my own perspective, Saria doesn't need these things, but the younger members of the team do. On the one hand, they need a more perfect resume to embrace a better future.

Being taciturn is just a habit she's developed over time; it doesn't mean she's completely ignorant of these things. She's simply not good at expressing her thoughts outwardly.