A Maybach on a rainy night? Talk to my Levadin!

"what?"

The surrounding teammates were puzzled.

"I suddenly remembered that there's something important I forgot to do at the camp. You guys continue patrolling, I have to go back." She didn't even have time to explain anything before she hurriedly started running back.

"Only now are you realizing it? Isn't it a little too late?"

The black snake's voice, tinged with laughter, resonated from the depths of his heart.

0丿樲⑵⑧⒊檪⒐

Chapter 84 The atmosphere was right, but the person wasn't dead.

"What do you mean? What have you done now?"

Talulah was furious and asked urgently.

The black snake's laughter, like rusty iron scraping against each other, drifted from the depths of Talulah's consciousness: "You've misunderstood me."

The voice carried an almost mocking composure, as if it were looking at Talulah's tense profile with interest through her eyes. "I am nothing but a dead person now, a remnant soul that relies on you for existence—look, I can't even stir up a gust of wind."

"Do you think I'd believe that? Believe that you're as naive as a blank sheet of paper? That you can't do anything?"

"Prejudice, it's all your prejudice against me."

The black snake's voice suddenly became light and airy, like a wisp of smoke entering Talulah's ears.

"I've been teaching you for so long, but you still haven't learned to see through appearances to the essence."

Talulah could even feel a chill brush past her ear. "It's alright. You don't understand me now, but you will later. When blood soaks the frozen earth, when trust becomes the sharpest knife, the world will kneel before you and tell you that everything I said was right."

"Absolutely not! Unless I'm dead, I will never agree with you or your bullshit logic!"

"Really?"

The playfulness in that voice was suddenly replaced by a cold certainty: "The only reason you can hold on now is because the people you care about are still supporting you."

Chihiro ⑨⑹○㈠樲⑹㈡⒎Miao

What happens when the person you care about is hurt by the person you tried your best to protect?

Black Serpent's voice was deliberate and clear, like carving words on a stone slab with an icicle, each syllable carrying a chilling coldness: "When the trust you cherished becomes a blade piercing her chest—can you still refute me so firmly?"

"What did you say... Alina!!"

For the first time, fear appeared on Talulah's face.

Talulah practically ran back to the camp, her mind a jumble of conflicting thoughts, all telling her about the worst possible scenario, a possibility she didn't want to think about.

Black Serpent chose his timing cleverly. Only when all the clues pointed to the predetermined "ending" did he slowly press the button to ignite emotions. He chose to take the lead, stirring up Talulah's emotional fluctuations, letting her sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of anxiety, and then personally burning that straw to ashes just as she was about to grasp at it.

He even calculated Talulah's speed as she ran back to camp. From the patrol route to the camp, he imagined the moment Talulah saw Alina lying in a pool of blood, imagined her trembling fingers touching Alina's still-warm cheek, and the sudden contraction of her pupils when she learned that the one who killed Alina was the infected she had just let go out of mercy.

Even if that wall of the heart were forged from the ice of Ursus, it should have cracked open at that moment, revealing the soft and vulnerable flesh inside.

Did Black Snake actually do anything? Yes, but very little.

He simply put the right people in the right place at the right time.

All the choices and decisions were made by Talulah herself, which allowed her to realize to the greatest extent that she was the one who created the current situation.

What the Black Serpent craves is this despair of "creating destruction with one's own hands"—when the protector is betrayed by the protected, when ideals are crushed to dust by reality, Talulah's spiritual world will be like a dam breached by a flood, leaving only the ruins behind. At that time, he can calmly walk into this wasteland, pick up those shattered beliefs, and reshape them into his own form.

That's what the black snake was thinking.

However, things seem to have changed slightly.

"Alina!!"

When Talulah ran to the camp, calling Alina's name loudly, she was met with everyone standing in a neat row. Alina was standing next to a strange man in the crowd, and everyone turned to look at her.

The camp fell into a deathly silence. The team members who were wiping their weapons froze in mid-air, and the logistics personnel who were distributing food stood still with their wooden trays in hand. All eyes turned to the disheveled figure with red-rimmed eyes at the entrance.

Holy crap, Sister Ta, is she really that temperamental?

You two lovebirds don't even hide it from people anymore?

With her long, silver-gray hair, the unfeminine old military uniform, the greatsword, and the battle cry that greeted her upon entering, Zhao Zizhan immediately recognized the newcomer as Talulah, the leader of the Reunion Movement.

The scene before them left not only the members present stunned, but also Alina and Zhao Zizhan speechless.

Talulah was stunned, and the black snake was even more stunned.

What's going on? All that emotional buildup before, and nothing happened?

She had prepared herself for bloodshed and cries when she rushed into the camp, and had even mentally rehearsed it countless times. But Alina, whom she thought would fall in a pool of blood, was standing right in the middle of the crowd, clutching half a piece of bread in her hand.

The black snake was also puzzled. Something's not right. This shouldn't be happening.

I had everything planned out perfectly, so could something have gone wrong?

Have I become a clown?

Talulah breathed a sigh of relief and, not caring about losing face, rushed to Alina's side: "Alina, are you alright?"

Alina finally snapped out of her daze, glanced at Zhao Zizhan who was trying not to laugh, then looked at Talulah's sweat-dampened bangs, and forced a straight face to suppress her laughter: "Talulah? Shouldn't you be on patrol?"

She emphasized the name "Talulah" subtly reminding the other person to be mindful of their image in front of outsiders.

"While I was on patrol, I always felt a little uneasy, as if something was about to go wrong, so I rushed back..."

At this point, she couldn't help but grasp Alina's wrist again, her fingertips burning hot. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Zhao Zizhan was enthusiastically shipping the couple on the sidelines. The way beautiful girls fall in love is just like women fighting – it's incredibly delicious!

At this moment, Talulah finally came to her senses and noticed Zhao Zizhan standing beside her: "Hello, I am Talulah from the Reunion Movement. May I ask who you are?"

"He's an operator from Rhodes Island, Rabbit Head. He came to Ursus to investigate the living conditions of the infected and to prepare for trade with the locals. I encountered bandits on my way to find food, and I only got back safely thanks to him."

Upon hearing the word "bandits," Talulah's heart clenched. Sure enough, the Black Serpent's scheme had worked. If it weren't for the boy in front of her, she would probably have lost Alina.

"Thank you so much for your help! On behalf of myself, I would like to express my sincere gratitude."

Deep within Talulah's consciousness, the black snake slowly chewed over the information it had acquired.

Rhodes Island... Rhodes Island...

In its mind, the image of a certain short-haired white-haired film appeared.

PS: I overslept last night, so I'll update during the day instead, so I don't oversleep.

Chapter 85 Digging a Hole.

“Rabbit Head…sir, thank you so much.” The code name Rabbit Head sounded a bit strange. Talulah ran the name through her mind but couldn’t figure out its meaning. The man in front of her was clearly not Castor.

Talulah's gratitude was truly heartfelt; no one was more grateful to Zhao Zizhan for saving Alina than he was.

Alina is her light, the pillar that has sustained her to this day.

Without Alina, Va would be overjoyed...

⑴檪１２２⑧⒊○⒐⒏

Zhao Zizhan showed no intention of taking credit: "No need, no need. Rescuing Miss Alina was simply my way of standing up for what was right. Anyone with a conscience and the ability would not stand idly by."

Rescuing Alina was an accidental act; he would have rescued anyone he encountered there.

"No, that won't do... Rabbit Head... Sir, please do us the honor of having you here so we can treat you to a proper meal."

"If you really find it hard to pronounce, you might as well call me Zizhan..."

"Is that so... Ahahaha" Talulah scratched the back of her head and laughed sheepishly. She thought she had hidden her awkwardness well, but it turned out that she had been exposed so quickly.

Seeing Talulah's goofy grin, Alina quickly pulled her aside: "Um, Mr. Zizhan, shall we go inside the tent and talk?"

We can't let Xiaota embarrass herself here again. The image of hundreds of people in the Integration Movement Team 3 rests on her shoulders. This is related to our connection with a powerful organization, so we can't be careless in the slightest!

"Of course, please."

Talulah kept her word and brought plenty of food for Zhao Zizhan and his party, although it was mostly oatmeal porridge, hard jerky that would make your cheeks ache just looking at it, and some black bread with sawdust on it.

Xiao Ke accepted everything offered and ate happily, but the food could only be described as "good" by her.

"I see. Mr. Zizhan, you're here in Ursus to do business with infected medicines? If that's the case, you might have made a wasted trip."

After listening to Zhao Zizhan's excuse, Talulah thought for a moment and then shook her head at Zhao Zizhan.

"how do I say this?"

Zhao Zizhan put on a curious expression.

"Due to Ursus's policy towards the infected, the vast majority of infected individuals receive no effective treatment. Once discovered, all infected are arrested by the patrol and thrown into the wasteland to mine. For the people of Ursus, treating the infected is meaningless and even illegal. If you want to sell Oripathy suppressants in Ursus, I'm afraid..."

Talulah didn't explain what she was afraid of, but everyone knew that if they really did this business here, it would be like Zhong Tianshi eating peppercorns and Kui Numbing.

"Is that so? This is really troublesome. I volunteered for this mission, but I never expected there to be such a huge pitfall here. What are we going to do? The infected people here are in such dire condition..."

Zhao Zizhan scratched his head and sighed with a troubled expression.

Watching Zhao Zizhan's convincing acting, Surtr simply turned his head to one side and carefully examined the accessories in the tent.

Oh, this haystack is really a haystack.

Alina and Talulah exchanged a glance and a look.

"Mr. Zizhan, we have a proposal. I wonder if you would be willing to listen to it?"

Talulah said earnestly.

"What proposal?"

Zhao Zizhan lowered his hand from his forehead and asked curiously.

“You can represent Rhodes Island and establish an experimental trade channel with our Reunion Movement to trade with us.”

"To trade with you?"

Zhao Zizhan was stunned.

“That’s right. Although Reunion is a new organization, we have a very strong appeal. Many of our fellow infected are joining us one after another, and this number will continue to grow in the future. It is foreseeable that we will become a very large infected mutual aid organization in the future. Trading with us is definitely a good deal for Rhodes Island. Moreover, it also helps the infected in Ursus, doesn’t it?”

Zhao Zizhan pondered for a moment: "It's not impossible, but what do you have to trade? And what would I trade with you for? I just saw the state of your camp, and it seems somewhat..."

“That’s right, we’re in a bad situation. We need regular medicine, we need food, we need warm clothing, we need fuel… we need everything we need… and we can provide Originium ore, some decent weapons and equipment… and… some handicrafts we made ourselves.”

Talulah's voice trailed off towards the end, clearly indicating that the newly formed Reunion Movement had very little to offer for trade.

For a long time, they were constantly on the run from the disciplinary team and the army, living a nomadic life. As a result, they had almost no means of production. Fortunately, they still had some Originium ore, which they could use as bargaining chips in trade.

With food becoming increasingly scarce in the camp, Rhodes Island, an organization that shows no qualms about helping the infected, presents a rare opportunity for the Reunion Movement, one they must seize.

Talulah and Alina felt a pang of guilt.

Although his actions might seem somewhat manipulative to the kind-hearted Mr. Zizhan, he couldn't afford to worry about that now, as the leader of the Integration Movement.

I must be responsible for all my fellow infected people in the camp.

Mr. Zizhan, I'm sorry, I took advantage of you...

Zhao Zizhan scratched his head: "In that case, humanitarian aid trade is indeed necessary. However, I've heard that your organization doesn't have a very good reputation in the surrounding areas. Although Rhodes Island is willing to help every infected compatriot, if our supplies were used to fund a terrorist organization, my boss would kill me..."

Talulah's expression froze. She wanted to retort, but the fact that a raid had just occurred at her own camp and that Alina had almost been robbed made her unable to speak.

Alina then spoke up in support: "The infected in Ursus live in extremely harsh conditions. To survive, they will always use all sorts of means. We cannot criticize their past lifestyles, but the Reunion Movement is working hard to manage its members and ensure that no member does anything to harm civilians."

"Then how can you guarantee that?"

Zhao Zizhan clicked his tongue: "How about this, let me think about it first. I personally am very willing to help you. So many infected compatriots are living like this, I can't just sit idly by. However, company rules and public order and good morals must also be strictly followed. Give me some time to think it over..."

Just as Talulah was about to speak, Alina grabbed her arm and gently shook her head.

"Of course, you can think about it first, and we can use this time to discuss and come up with a solution."

Zhao Zizhan nodded and slowly left the tent.

Chapter 86 Junk Food.

"You really have a twisted sense of humor."

After getting a sufficient distance from the tent, Surtr made a somewhat cold remark.

They could have had a normal discussion, but instead they acted like fools. I don't understand the point of doing that.