Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"Don't ignore me, Texas!"

[Main Text] Dragon Gate Chronicles: Chapter Thirty-Three - Things Missed

Texas has heard that if you don't clean your keyboard for a long time, film will grow inside it.

But she didn't know that if a bed isn't slept on for a long time, Pelosi—no, I mean Luper—can grow on it.

"Don't be so surprised. I could have guessed how that penguin would deal with you guys after all that happened, so I decided to join the company. The test was surprisingly easy and didn't even ask about your background. It's so considerate."

Lappland was talking non-stop on Texas's long-unused bed, and the unmistakable voice proved that Texas was not hallucinating from exhaustion.

Instead, the other party had already arrived and was waiting for her.

On the other side, in Tomat's E3 reserve cabin, the usually empty cabin where he lived alone now had a familiar figure.

"Ah-Jie? No wonder there was a fish ball smell before the door was even open."

The creature that was left behind by Uncle Dong in the Rat King's territory has also appeared on the Rhodes Island. The way he is making his bed suggests that the creature has already settled in.

"It's Brother Tomat..." The half-open eyes and heavy eye bags made Tomat wonder if he hadn't slept all night either. "Good morning."

"What are you doing here?" Tomat changed out of his slightly damaged jacket, wearing only a shirt, and then looked at Zi, who was still dressed as he had been at the stall, and asked.

"Uncle Dong said he would take me to apply for compensation for my stall, so I went to the Guard Bureau. Then, Hoshiguma happened to be there, and she introduced me here. But I just wanted to set up a stall, not become an operator... And the lady in the HR department almost cried. Are the rumors about me really that exaggerated?"

He scratched his messy white hair, looking quite troubled.

"So what operator position were you assigned to?"

Thomas continued to ask.

“I’m a member of the special operations team and I can act independently, which is actually pretty good. I’m just worried that I won’t be able to keep up with the situation… By the way, you’re also a special operations agent, right? I heard that when they were entering your information. They were quite surprised that I knew you.”

"So that's why we're living together... Wait, does that mean I can get special treatment anytime?"

There's nothing more enjoyable than being assigned a dorm room with a roommate who's an excellent cook.

"I remember the handbook said open flames were prohibited in the dormitories, including not only stoves but also flamethrowers..."

But Jie seriously took out the Rhodes Island Life Handbook, which almost no one would read, and started flipping through it.

"If no one saw it, it's not a violation... Wait, there's a communication... Is it Dr. Kal'tsit?"

Carrying a communicator is common sense when traveling on the island, since you can't use the loudspeaker that's spread all over Rhodes Island to broadcast everything. The radio communicator that Tomat was carrying interrupted his thoughts on "what to eat tonight." He took a look and realized that it was Kal'tsit's private line.

—Thomas then remembered that he had contacted Kal'tsit and the Doctor earlier for the 1.8 million.

"Is that Agent Thomas?"

Kal'tsit's voice rang out after the call connected, still with that calm, unwavering tone, as if she were giving a report.

"I've heard about the general situation. Penguin Logistics has taken responsibility for the losses and has also sent some people to train here. These are all unexpected gains. Thank you for contributing to Rhodes Island even while you're relaxing."

Jie's joining is reasonable. After all, as his adoptive father, Uncle Dong certainly doesn't want Jie to continue to encounter these complicated things while setting up a stall, so that others will introduce him to Rhodes Island. It wouldn't be right for Jie to set up a stall in a chaotic place like the battlefield after arriving at Rhodes Island.

However, the addition of Penguin Logistics was a decision made unilaterally by their boss.

Neither of these matters actually had much to do with Tomat's own wishes.

After these polite, formal words, Kal'tsit switched to an apologetic tone and continued:

"Although the matter has been resolved, I apologize for not being able to respond to you in time when I needed to. I had just finished the surgery I was performing, which is why I had time to contact you."

"Dr. Kal'tsit, you've worked hard. There's no need to apologize. Doctors should prioritize their work. And to be this busy, it must be because we're short-staffed."

There were quite a few medics in the Yeti squad who had previously joined Rhodes Island, but most of them were skilled in battlefield first aid and lacked experience in major surgeries that required delicate handling.

Although it has taken on a significant portion of the patient treatment workload, it is still far from enough.

"Manpower is one thing, other issues are another."

"Other questions?"

"First, there's that Reunification Movement cadre..."

"Froststar?"

The first person Tomath thought of was Carter, whom he had forcibly persuaded to undergo treatment.

"No, Miss Frostnova and her team have greatly reduced our burden, and she herself is in excellent physical and mental condition. I'm referring to another one."

"Black stockings? He actually dared to cause trouble? Wait, how did he get out of bed so quickly?"

Since it wasn't Frostnova, then it could only be the boy in black stockings who was sent flying by his ice pillar and brought to Rhodes Island.

“...He calls himself ‘Bonebreaker,’ but that’s not the point.” Kal’tsit paused. “It’s not that he caused any trouble, but rather that someone else caused him trouble. A group of Ursus students rescued from Chernobog learned of the presence of Reunion cadres here, and then some physical conflict broke out. Frostnova mediated between them.”

"Mediation?"

"Tomat asked."

"She froze both of them, who were both emotionally agitated. There was no danger to their lives. She said it was to let them both calm down."

The citizens of Chernobyl, who have lost their homes, will naturally resent the integration movement that caused all of this.

The Reunification Movement cadres, who consider themselves liberators of the infected, will also not give the people of Chernobog a friendly look.

—So, wouldn't Tomat, who destroyed Chernobog and crushed Unification, be hated by both sides?

They just don't know these things yet.

"Should I go and persuade them to behave?"

"...If possible, please do not use violence. The average age of both sides is younger than yours, but when it comes to stubbornness, they are no less than the others."

It seems that Kal'tsit also felt that such conflicts were a headache, but one that required effort to deal with.

"I'm pretty good at dealing with stubborn people."

Tommat brought Bone Shatter back for treatment as an Infected, and now that he is simply seen as a member of Reunion and is treated with hostility, it would have been necessary for Tommat, who made that decision, to intervene.

However, just as he had promised Frostnova, if Bonebreaker continues to refuse treatment as a member of Reunion and even tries to retaliate by attacking others, Tomat will make him break even more bones.

Although some medical operators can do it for him, it's better to do it himself.

[Main Text] A Guide to Wandering in Rhode Island: Chapter One - The Mischievous Kids and Their Children

There's something I'm quite curious about.

"what?"

If you cause trouble on Rhodes Island, you'll usually just get kicked out if you're not an operator.

However, if you are already a member of Rhodes Island—whether an operator or a long-term patient—you will experience a variety of forms of punishment.

This includes, but is not limited to, penalizing, cleaning decks, confinement, working on the bridge, and being a taster of new nutritional meals—or, of course, a poison taster.

Tomath has now arrived at the place where the Ursus students and the broken bones are imprisoned—but it's not a solitary confinement cell, it's more like a sauna.

No, this is a sauna, and a very authentic Ursus sauna at that.

The wooden structure keeps the space sealed, with a heated stone placed in the center. If needed, water can be poured on it to generate a large amount of steam.

Meanwhile, special rattan canes are hung on the wall for easy access. These are used by the Ursus people to whip their bodies while taking a sauna, supposedly to help with blood circulation. Even the Ursus emperor was fond of this, which is also a feature that distinguishes it from the sauna habits of other countries in Terra.

The main purpose of moving them here is to quickly thaw the people who are frozen in ice and warm them up. The difference is that they don't need to change into bathrobes, since they can't move inside the ice sculpture.

"Why would there be a place like this on the Rhodes Island, and how did you manage to freeze them without harming them?"

Along with them, of course, came Frostnova, who had previously helped them "calm down".

In the past, Froststar would have been burned by the high temperature here, but now she doesn't seem to be affected much. Her internal and external body temperatures are maintained at a relatively normal level. She thinks this is because the qi injected a few days ago is still working.

And because Frostnova and the Yetis demonstrated an excellent level of skill in "soothing the sick" after arriving at Rhodes Island, the others could go about their business with peace of mind, so they directly handed over this small conflict that occurred on Rhodes Island to her and the newly returned Tomat to handle.

—Because the medical staff who came to handle the conflict were apparently cursed away by one of the Ursus girls with local swear words, and the Doctor who came to mediate was also cursed as "shameful" by the same girl and kicked unconscious. Only then did Frostnova appear in time and freeze them all.

"I don't know. Maybe it was suggested by the operators of Ursus. As for why it was approved, I think it's because of its remarkable effects. It can quickly help the wounded to improve blood circulation and remove blood stasis... Although I've never tried it myself, I've only heard my father tell me about it."

As Froststar answered Tomat's question, she opened the tightly sealed wooden door to the sauna.

"As for why they weren't hurt... they're Ursus people, this level of cold doesn't affect them much. Leaving holes won't suffocate them. Rather, they're more likely to be unable to stand this room."

The "bang" was the sound of the pressure difference between the inside and outside being balanced the moment the door opened. The hot steam inside suddenly washed over Froststar's body, and even her slender rabbit ears were forced to lie flat by the wind pressure.

Are you alright?

Seeing Frostnova standing frozen in front of the door, still gripping the doorknob, Tomat patted her on the shoulder from behind and asked.

"It's nothing, it's just that it's the first time I've felt this temperature...it's a bit strange."

The two entered the small space filled with hot steam and closed the door behind them. The first thing they saw was the "ice sculptures" surrounding the heated stone brazier, and another silver-haired Ursus girl who was constantly adding water to the rocks. She was only wearing a thin shirt that was damp with sweat or steam due to the temperature, and she was wearing an infected person's vital signs detector on her hand. Above her left ankle, there was already a visible Originium crystal.

The ice sculptures had melted down to the point where only a thin layer of ice remained, and the faces of the frozen people inside could be clearly seen from the outside. Logically, such a thickness should be enough for a person to easily break through with their own movement, but they were ultimately creations of Froststar's Originium Arts, and not something that children or patients with broken bones could open casually.

"Misha, you've worked hard, but don't stay here too long, the hot environment will dehydrate you."

Frostnova reminded the girl that he was the infected person whom Tomat had saved from the Bone Shatter at the Lungmen checkpoint.

"It's okay, I'm hydrating... and if I'm here, I can at least try to persuade Alex..."

"Is it okay for infected people to stay in this kind of space?"

Thomas also asked questions related to her, recalling her identity and expressing concern about the possibility of an infected person in this confined space.

“It’s alright. Misha and Bones’ infection symptoms haven’t reached the point where they can be transmitted through air or liquids. If it were that dangerous, simple isolation wouldn’t be enough.” Frostnova, as a Oripathy patient herself, explained to Tomat, who didn’t know much about her. “By the way, the ice sculpture next to her is Alex, also known as ‘Bonees,’ who is also Misha’s brother.”

"Wouldn't I miss the exciting sibling reunion when I go to Longmen?"

The ice sculpture closest to Misha was no longer dressed in that mysterious, black, and flamboyant gas mask, but in the light blue hospital gown commonly seen on Rhodes Island. Although his face was obscured by the ice, it was clear that his youthful, undeveloped face resembled Misha's, and his cast-covered upper arm matched the earlier home run by Tomat.

As for why he didn't use aura to determine if someone was a broken bone, it was mainly because Tomat didn't have the time to remember the aura characteristics of everyone he met.

He has the same round animal ears and white hair as Misha, but the biggest difference is the scar on his left cheek, which is visible even through the ice, left by a burn infection.

And Broken Bones—or rather, Alex—seemed to recognize that the people who came in were all people he knew, and the entire ice sculpture began to shake as he stirred things up inside.

However, neither Frostnova nor Tomat knew who he was so agitated about, because one was a traitor in his eyes, and the other was the person who knocked him unconscious and sent him to Rhodes Island.

"Alex! Stop messing around!"

Misha was only about fourteen or fifteen years old, and Broken Bones was his younger brother.

It's already quite incredible that he was able to become a leader of the Reunion Movement.