A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

"...As expected of Political Commissar Lu, she has already figured out some things that I haven't even done yet."

After listening to Froststar's explanation, Wang Chong recalled Alina's serious expression and could only sigh in admiration.

Chapter 68: Reencounter with Rhodes Island

Along the way, Frostnova explained the changes in the Reunion Movement. Not only Wang Chong, but even Artoria listened with great interest, seemingly gaining a new understanding of the force she would be leading in the future.

During their conversation, they finally arrived at the village where they would meet up with Honeysuckle.

Although it is called a village, it has long been one of the bases of the Integration Movement. Everyone in the village is grateful to the Integration Movement and has joined it.

This village is also the closest to the exit of the tunnel dug by the mudstone engineering team. It mainly serves as a place for exchanging supplies and distributing personnel.

For this reason, the village is of great strategic importance. Basically, half of the village consists of elites from the Integration Movement, and Wang Chong even saw many familiar faces.

"Look, it's the Führer! And Froststar Commander too."

Before they even entered the village, they were spotted by the patrolling Reunion Movement soldiers. However, the soldiers were more excited than anything else; they immediately came to the four of them and assembled their troops in neat formation.

"Salute to the Führer! Salute to Commander Froststar!"

"Headed middle-aged shield guards shouted loudly. The soldiers raised their hands in unison in salute. The middle-aged shield guard also raised his hand, saluting Froststar and Wang Chong."

"What's wrong with Boris?"

Wang Chong recognized the shieldbearer; he could be considered Patriot's second-in-command and the commander of the shieldbearers. However, seeing the man's behavior and the title he was using, Wang Chong couldn't help but look at Froststar, gesturing with his eyes, expecting an explanation from her.

"Don't look at me, I can't stop Uncle Boris from doing this."

Frostnova shook her head, then said to Boris:

"Uncle Boris, you know he doesn't fit this approach."

"Things that must be adapted to will eventually have to be adapted to. That's the rule. Our great cause will grow ever greater in the future, but if we don't establish a solid order and rules, the instability and chaos in people's hearts will surely deliver a heavy blow to us, just like a thousand-mile dike being destroyed by an ant hole."

Boris said quite seriously:

"Moreover, the soldiers' cries are a heartfelt expression of their recognition and respect for Lord Wang Chong. There's no need to dwell on it; responding to the soldiers' calls will only strengthen and unite their beliefs!"

"I understand. Thank you for your hard work, soldiers. I have seen everything you have done here."

Wang Chong reached out and patted the shoulders of each soldier standing in the front row as a sign of encouragement.

"Alright, let's not make too much noise. I can see there are other people around here. Don't reveal anything. Let everyone go about their business."

Wang Chong glanced at several people in the village whose clothes were completely different from the others, and then spoke.

"Yes, Your Excellency. Everyone, return to your posts immediately," Boris said in a deep voice.

……

"These are elite soldiers, impeccable in both discipline and willpower. Moreover, I see conviction in their eyes. Give me a hundred such soldiers, or even ten thousand, and I can lead them to rout the enemy camp."

After the little incident outside the village, Artoria couldn't help but praise it.

Along the way, she had praised the Reunion Movement's troops in this way many times. Especially after witnessing those soldiers with her own eyes, Artoria became more and more satisfied with the team she was to lead.

"So, who designed that whole system? Although I expected you would firmly establish yourselves as the head of state," Wang Chong asked, looking at Shuangxing.

"It seems that it started with a scout captain who admired you and first made this demand of his squad. But somehow it spread and more and more people followed suit, and it gradually became a convention."

"Then, the old stubborn guy just wanted to establish a new military discipline, so he tacitly allowed this set of rules to be brought in."

Froststar explained it this way.

"...This is a bit too strange. Although Patriots are stubborn and rigid in many ways, they are not the type to follow these rigid rules, are they?" Wang Chong frowned.

"Perhaps it's because he also agrees that this call can unite everyone's beliefs... You don't know how high your prestige has been pushed because of Black Alice's amazing intelligence capabilities, which have repeatedly led everyone to victory steadily, right?"

Froststar couldn't help but say, "Mei is here, you're free, Lin is here, but..."

"I think I understand now. It seems I'll have to get used to this process from now on," Wang Chong said frankly.

"Well, fortunately, Miss Black Alice also realized that you, Ah Chong, would definitely not be used to it, so she has been pretending to be uncomfortable with this situation." Froststar nodded and said.

"The people of Rhodes Island, it seems, are also led by Miss Blackie. It is said that some cooperative relationships have been established with them, and they are responsible for escorting food to various villages. Of course, in return, their food needs are basically contracted out to our Reunion Movement."

Froststar said:

"And this village is included as well. As for what you're worried about, don't worry. The layout of this village is pretty much the same as most of the villages where the Reunion Movement is stationed. And as long as the location of that passage isn't exposed, even if this transit station is attacked, we don't need to worry."

"You just need to manage things yourselves. Maintaining a certain level of cooperation with organizations like Rhodes Island is fine. As for deeper cooperation, we'll have to see how sincere they are."

Wang Chong knew that this must be because Little Donkey had made new progress; otherwise, Black Alice wouldn't have taken the initiative to establish cooperation with Rhodes Island.

However, Black Alice had a lot of information that she hadn't had time to tell me before she fell into a deep sleep.

"However, I didn't expect it to be her who came," Wang Chong said, glancing at the woman in the film.

Meanwhile, the Rhodes Island group also looked at Wang Chong and his group of four who had just entered the village. The leading woman, a woman named Felin, asked with some curiosity:

"Who are those guys who came? They seem to idolize the Reunion Movement."

"I haven't seen the two blonde women behind me before, but I know the white-clad one, Katarina—she's Frostnova, the leader of the Yeti Gang of Reunion, and is officially known as the 'Black Ice Reaper' by Ursus."

"That's what a Rhodes Island operator said."

“Black Ice Reaper…what a strange nickname,” the woman from Felin said, frowning.

"Never mind how strange it is, that White Caster is basically one of the top leaders in the Reunion Movement. Didn't you see those Reunion guys just now saluting him?"

The Rhodes Island operator said.

"Never mind, what about the last guy? You might not have seen it clearly, but I noticed that everyone was following him," the woman from Felin said.

"To make everyone follow him? Including that Frostnova? If you're not mistaken, Huang... hiss, it's probably that person who's here. The soul of the Reunion Movement, the author of the 'Reunion Movement Propaganda Manual'."

"The Rhodes Island operator said in surprise."

"Huh? You mean seriously? He's the author of the 'Integration Movement Propaganda Manual'?"

The woman from Flin—who is also Rhodes Island's elite operator Blaze—saw her eyes light up immediately, as if she had seen something delightful, and she wanted to walk straight towards the other person.

"Hey! Blaze, what are you doing?!" A Rhodes Island operator nearby quickly pulled her back and said.

"Of course we should pay a visit. You know, so many people on Rhodes Island argued over the ideas promoted in a pamphlet, and they almost came to blows."

Huang rubbed his nose and then said, "I've already met the author of that booklet."

"Wait a minute, Huang! Now that you know who that person is, you should understand that he's not someone we can just meet casually. If we rush over like this, we'll probably be completely hostile to them!"

The Rhodes Island operator quickly advised, "The Reunion Movement is very sensitive right now. Don't forget what Amiya told us before. Don't get into trouble unnecessarily. Blaze, are you not even listening to Amiya?"

"Who said I didn't listen to Amiya? I was just going to say hello. Since he treats all infected people the same, there's no reason he would refuse to see an infected person like me, right?"

Huang said, somewhat displeased.

"Oh dear, if they want to meet, there will naturally be a formal meeting. Don't forget, we've at least started cooperating with them. They might come and ask questions. Stop fooling around, ma'am, haven't you noticed those patrol guards have already started scrutinizing us?"

The Rhodes Island operator, adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble," did her best to stop Blaze from acting impulsively.

"Tsk... alright." Huang wasn't entirely unreasonable. He scratched his head and could only give up temporarily in frustration.

Chapter 69: Amiya's Choice

The commotion on Rhodes Island did not escape Wang Chong's ears. He smiled slightly, unconcerned.

He naturally wanted to have a chat with Huang. After all, Huang was the first character Wang Chong had his eye on when he first started playing Arknights, and he had been a regular on the battlefield ever since.

Simply put, the fully automatic skill placement is just too relaxing; it feels like all the wrinkles in my brain are being smoothed out.

However, now is not the time. He needs to thoroughly confirm the situation on Rhodes Island before making contact with them, so as not to expose any unnecessary flaws.

Following Shuangxing's instructions, Wang Chong toured the village and had a friendly exchange with many villagers. Then, under the leadership of the village chief, he temporarily settled in an unused wooden house.

Wang Chong gave Shuangxing some instructions, then went to find Hei Aili to sort out the information. He needed some quiet time for her to deal with the situation outside.

Afterwards, Wang Chong entered the black mist space and came to the side of the sleeping Hei Aili. He used his ability to carefully examine Hei Aili's complicated memories, filtering out all the information bit by bit.

Soon, Wang Chong finally understood everything that had happened during this period.

Because of the widespread dissemination of the "Integration Movement Propaganda Manual" in this snowy region, Rhodes Island, which has long been engaged in rescue work for the infected on the Ursus border, has naturally had more and more people come into contact with it to varying degrees.

Furthermore, since the Reunion Movement was never completely eradicated by the Ursus Army, its influence among the villages and wanderers in the snowy plains naturally grew stronger. As a result, Rhodes Island's views on the Reunion Movement were once again divided.

Some operators who already disapproved of Rhodes Island's neutral and passive approach to dealing with infected individuals naturally yearned even more for the society depicted in the Reunion Movement's promotional materials.

The end result was that Rhodes Island almost split apart. The incident wasn't as easy as Blaze made it out to be; ultimately, Kal'tsit returned in time and used her military power to prevent the situation from escalating further.

However, the violent suppression only adds pressure for the next outbreak. If the differences are not resolved, this bomb will explode again on Rhodes Island sooner or later.

Ultimately, Rhodes Island faced two choices. One was to abandon the Ursus border, citing the impending war on its frontier, and avoid further ideological contact with the Reunion Movement.

Another approach is to proactively connect with the Reunion Movement, establish a cooperative relationship, truly understand everything this infected organization has done, learn and exchange ideas, let time and results test everything, and let Rhodes Island find a new path through the constant collision of ideas.

Undoubtedly, the former was proposed by Kal'tsit, while the latter was proposed by Amiya under the guidance of Black Alice. As for the result, one can see it all from the Rhodes Island operators stationed in the village outside.

"The little donkey is quite capable; it actually managed to persuade that stubborn old woman, Kal'tsit."

After all, he remembered that Amiya had wanted to join the Reunion Movement before, but Kal'tsit had always stopped her. He thought that Amiya's proposal would be rejected again this time.

However, upon closer reflection, Wang Chong could understand the reason. Ultimately, it was because Kal'tsit, that old woman, was simply not good at playing from behind. When faced with a desperate situation, and unsure of what to do, she would instinctively rely on others.

The first instance was when they hesitated over the choice of whether to continue their civilization, but ultimately they listened to Theresa's advice and stopped the various nations' conquest of the royal court.

The second time, he was at a loss about the future of the royal court and ultimately wanted to rely on the doctor to unseal and release him.

The third time was when Rhodes Island was on the verge of collapse in the original timeline, and they finally listened to Amiya's advice and unsealed the Doctor again.

Now, because of the "Reunion Movement Propaganda Manual," the split of Rhodes Island has been brought forward. Kal'tsit probably knows that this violent suppression is the last resort. If the right choices and changes are not made, Rhodes Island will completely collapse.

However, instead of searching for the Doctor, Amiya took steps to contact the Reunion Movement. The gears of fate had already begun to turn.

After figuring all this out, Wang Chong tried to enter the Crown Space again. There, a wisp of Black Alice's consciousness remained. Upon seeing Wang Chong arrive, it greeted him with a smile and said:

"Master, it looks like you've finally returned."

“Well, your main body has fallen asleep for now. I just happened to be here to check on Amiya’s condition,” Wang Chong said.

Black Alice slowly told Amiya about her training progress these past few days, and how Amiya could now use "White Luo Extinguish Essence" and "Heavenly General Rush" with ease.

Although he hasn't yet reached the level of Wang Chong, who effortlessly mastered the art, he has already achieved a preliminary stage and is ready for battle.

In addition, Black Alice also told Wang Chong in detail how she guided Amiya step by step to think and get her to cooperate with the Reunion Movement.

“I understand. So, Amiya actually wants to make some changes, right? And see if she can take this opportunity to help Rhodes Island get out of its loss-making state.”

Wang Chong nodded and said:

"In that case, let's make preparations. As for food, we'll provide as much as we can. But we're not in a hurry to provide strategic resources like Originium Crystals, since our production capacity is also limited."

“Yes,” Black Alice nodded in reply.

“However, what I didn’t expect was that you would actually facilitate the cooperation between Rhodes Island and the Reunion Movement,” Wang Chong said, stroking his chin.

“After all, I know what Master is thinking. And although it happened suddenly, it is also an opportunity. I think if Master were here, he would definitely take this opportunity to gradually tie Rhodes Island to the Reunion Movement.” Black Alice replied with a smile.

Wang Chong nodded in agreement, then said, "You stay here for now, I'll go check on Amiya's condition."

After saying this, Wang Chong left the place.

……

"Gurgle gurgle... Ha, I wonder how things are going with Huang. They've only just started cooperating with the Reunion Movement. I hope nothing goes wrong at this time."

The rising steam swirled around the bath like a light veil, and the girl's delicate collarbone was faintly visible on the water's surface.

The hot water bathed her porcelain-white skin, giving it a light cherry blossom hue. Water droplets dripping from her hair slid silently down her neck, reflecting a pearly luster under the light.

Amiya was soaking in the pool, enjoying the warm water that relieved her fatigue. She blew bubbles as she pondered the situation.

"However, I've given her so many instructions, so I'm sure nothing will happen to her," Amiya thought to herself.

"Amiya..."

However, at that moment a familiar voice rang in her ears, startling Amiya. She curled up in panic, causing ripples to spread across the water and brush past her shoulders.

"Whoa! Teacher, why are you out at this time!?"

After Amiya finished speaking, she blushed so much that she almost submerged herself completely in the water, leaving only her "donkey ears" sticking out of the water. (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

"You little rascal, back in my day, I've seen all kinds of beauties, why would I look at a skinny, yellow-haired girl like you?"

Wang Chong said with a disdainful tone, "Besides, I already touched your body all over to help you heal, so why would you care about that?"

"You can't look at that!" Amiya poked her head out in embarrassment and anger.

"Alright, I just came out to check on you these past few days. Didn't you say you'd already started working with the Reunion Movement? How's that going?" Wang Chong said.