Hello, Arknights

Chapter 308 "The Terrible Martin"

"Why do you seem to be not enjoying your meal?" Ling Dengxian was half lying on the chair, feeling quite satisfied with his full stomach.

"...I'll be happy if you just pay the bill for me." Bai Jin, or Xintelaiya, glared at him fiercely. "I thought you were going to buy groceries and cook at the apartment, but I didn't expect you to actually eat my meal."

"No, I have to go somewhere to pay the closing today, so I can't treat you and I can't delay... Sorry, I have your contact information now, I will definitely invite you back next time, and then you can take revenge on me."

"Who wants to take revenge in this way? Do you think everyone is a foodie like you? Girls need to keep in shape." Bai Jin said disdainfully. Ling laughed dryly and twirled her hair around her fingertips, lost in thought. When was the last time she had dinner with a "friend"? College, maybe...

As she was thinking, she felt a sense of annoyance and an indescribable nameless disgust. She caught a glimpse of a figure flashing in the street across the hotel. She recognized at a glance that it was the uniform of the No-Hero Alliance reconnaissance team.

"...Hey, where are you going? I have nothing to do today, can you take me with you?" Bai Jin touched her body. She only brought a few daggers with her when she went out today, and a bow was not something she carried on a daily basis.

"Sure. I'm going to a tavern to meet some people. The tavern is called... 'Terrible Martin'." Ling Dengxian glanced at the greatsword belonging to the Burning Wind Knight that was left at the bar.

"Okay, I know the way too, let's go right away." Bai Jin stood up and paid the bill.

Ling Dengxian was puzzled for a moment, looking around, as if thinking about something.

……

"Director, I have completed the task you assigned to me. Before the patrol of the Wuzhou League came into contact with Platinum and... the designated target, I had already attracted their attention and taken action. It should not attract the attention of the Wuzhou League in the short term."

“How’s the node setup going?”

"Today's calculations have been deployed, and the probability of Dream Edge appearing tonight is estimated to be 20%."

"Be alert and get enough rest. We have to make sure there is nothing unusual at night that will attract the attention of Casimir's side." Planst glanced at the schedule. After all, they couldn't be comprehensive. She reported the cases of a few people who were dragged into the edge of dreams and died suddenly due to lack of time for rescue to the Red Wine News and asked them to shift the public opinion to the company's unreasonable overtime.

It is difficult to avoid the actions of the Helmetless Alliance at night without attracting attention. The Scepters move quickly and efficiently, so Planst has to participate in every cleanup of anomalies, especially when the "foreign nodes" they don't want to see are waiting for an opportunity to invade the space. If she is not there, the other Scepters and members will not be able to deal with it.

"What a hassle... Hey, how's the situation with Director Victoria Cecildor?"

"Director Cecildor said that the materials of the Blood Warriors that were once traded seem to be being used for abnormal research and development by the Victorian military... He is investigating, but - the following are Director Cecildor's original words -"

"'They must have done something behind the scenes. Damn it. We can only confirm that they have aroused the infectiousness of this thing, but it seems that they have dealt with it very well. I am still investigating, but I found that there are rumors of terrible monsters in many counties and towns in Victoria...' Director, Director Cecildor explained in the attachment at the end that he arranged for other members to rush to our side with some information he found."

Nightmare frowned. She knew that this document must have been delivered to the headquarters before her. So would this change affect her arrangements? If there were any changes, she would have to act in advance, whether it was to stop the experiment and make some arrangements for the next rearrangement, or to look for the next suitable experimental site in advance.

"Wait for the boss's news—"

"Director, the boss is calling."

Planst immediately sat up straight and took the communication device respectfully: "Sisidor's message has been received, please give instructions."

On the other end of the line, a voice was silent for a moment, then spoke with a sigh: "Don't worry about the situation on Victoria's side. It was my instruction for all of our people to evacuate. This was Victoria's own choice."

"Contact Commissioner Gufan - I know what Dolan is thinking. Right now, we need her to do more. You will be responsible for her supplies. Inform her that she will be responsible for picking up Sisidore. He is from Victoria and is easily emotional."

"What about us?" the actor who played Ju Meng confirmed again.

"'Relocation Plan' and 'Storm Sword Plan' are proceeding as usual, and Ives will still synchronize the situation with you according to the expected plan."

"Got it, no doubt about it."

“…Is your physical condition stable?

"Fortunately, the professional counterparts have been able to effectively and stably release the functional burden, and it is more stable than usual."

The person behind the scepter hung up the communication.

Planst, who had long been accustomed to her boss's style of doing things, did not care about this and frowned slightly. It seemed that Victoria's situation was much more serious than she thought.

"director?"

“We followed our boss’ instructions, did our jobs well, and hoped that everything would be okay in Sissidor.”

……

"Have you really been here?" Ling Dengxian followed Bai Jin and successfully arrived at the tavern "Terrible Martin", taking another shorter path.

"After all, he is a local. Isn't it normal that he is more familiar with it than you?" Bai Jin said as he glanced at the surrounding environment and confirmed that no one was following.

"Well, hey, I'm treating you to a meal, can you buy me a drink?" Bai Jin asked with his arms crossed.

Ling Dengxian awkwardly took out the notebook and forgot about it, then nodded: "It's not expensive, okay."

"...Can't you pretend to be rich in front of girls?" Bai Jin said with disgust.

"My face has been swollen for a long time..." Ling Dengxian wanted to cry but had no tears. Now when he opened his wallet, he thought of a colleague from Penguin Logistics.

Sora, who was far away at Longmen, sneezed.

"Okay, I'll understand... it's so miserable."

Walking into "Horror Martin", Ling Dengxian found the person he was looking for at a glance. Maria looked up and saw the visitor. She excitedly put down her work and ran over: "White Dove! How is it? I see you won! Is there any problem with the big sword?"

"Thanks to Miss Maria, everything went smoothly. I'm here to pay the balance for the repairs, and I'll return it to the original owner later." Ling took out the gold voucher swiftly and handed it to Maria under Bai Jin's gaze.

"Hehe, thank you for your patronage. As a little discount, your consumption today will be charged to my account." Maria happily accepted the payment. To be honest, when Ling Dengxian was looking for someone to help repair his weapons a few days ago and found her, the feeling of being trusted was quite pleasant, and all her recent frustrations were dispelled.

Because she really likes this line of work, but she is still in the stage of further study.

"I'll forget it and just settle her bill." Ling Dengxian agreed without hesitation, just for the platinum.

I thought that such shameless behavior would cause Bai Jin to complain, but unexpectedly the latter just nodded silently.

"Huh? Bai Ge, did you bring any friends here today? You're a stranger, welcome - Uncle Martin, could you please get me the drink menu?" Maria was very enthusiastic, but Bai Jin seemed a little restrained.

"Come on, come on. Hey, my shop hasn't had such a lovely customer since little Maria. What would you like?" The one-eyed man with an eyepatch moved the order sheet in front of the three people with his metal prosthetic limb.

Bai Jin looked at Ling Dengxian with a complicated expression. He sighed and subconsciously clenched his fists. In order to divert his attention, he turned his gaze to the order: "Then... let's take this one. It's a good name, 'Teardrops of Thorns'."

"Hey~ This one is very popular. Hello, my name is Maria, the Knight of the Flawed Light." Maria was very excited after being recognized and took the initiative to extend her hand to Platinum.

"...Hello, my name is...Xintelaiya." She hesitated for a moment and held the friendly hand.

She didn't expect that just by taking Ling Dengxian to avoid the patrol team of the Wuzhou Alliance, she actually ran into... the target of the mission by accident.

Maria Linguang, the Knight of Xiaguang, is the younger sister of Knight Yao, one of the current favorites to win the Casimir Special Championship. She has attracted attention from the industry since her debut, but has recently been overshadowed by the more outstanding Platinum Knight. However, compared to the Platinum Knight with an unknown history and no background - she silently glanced at Ling, who was greeting the old Knight Kuranta and the old craftsman Ursus at the nearby wine table - the Knight of Xiaguang, who may qualify for the special championship, has been targeted by the Wuzhou Alliance. Although they cannot really do anything to her for the time being due to the remaining power of the Linguang family, relevant plans are already being arranged... and she is the direct person in charge.

How could I get to know her under such circumstances... Bai Jin smiled bitterly in his heart, but quickly adjusted his mentality. No matter what, the action was not today, and corresponding countermeasures could be made in the future.

But I do feel a little disgusted, because it's as if... I responded to this innocent kindness just for the sake of the mission, and tarnished this enthusiasm.

"By the way, Bai Ge, didn't you have a competition this morning? Why are you walking with Miss Xinteleya again? Is it an appointment?" Maria asked curiously. She had met Surtel Nightingale, and Bai Ge often came to see her these days, but she had never met Platinum.

"Oh, Xinteleya blocked me today and said that I stood her up, so I came to apologize." Ling Dengxian's brief account omitted many details.

"To be precise, I bought tickets to watch him for several games in a row, but he had the personality to just give up." Bai Jin punched him, an action that had almost become a habit.

"Well, um, you won't come to watch after the special tournament, right?" Ling Dengxian knew that he had to thank the man who had taken advantage of him, so he didn't dare to complain.

"Watch! Of course you have to watch it. You have enough money for tickets to one or two games. You must be the type who can't even make it to the quarterfinals." Bai Jin rolled his eyes at him.

“What do you mean we can’t even make it to the quarterfinals? Hahaha…” Maria’s smile quickly disappeared when she heard that, but she felt that this was a bit rude, so she forced a smile.

"Oh, sorry, did I offend you? Because I can't remember any characters other than the top eight in previous years' competitions, so I subconsciously described them like this... I'm sorry." Bai Jin knew that she was speechless. She said this because the knights she was "responsible for" were mostly of this level.

"No, no, I just feel that I am a little confused about this part. It has nothing to do with Miss Xinteleia."

Ling Dengxian took her performance in, but didn't know what to say for a moment. He could only say that he had been a little ill-considered in bringing up the special tournament.

"It's okay. It's not a bad thing to think about it more. Besides, Miss Maria is also excellent in other aspects. For example, the greatsword of the Burning Wind Knight this time. I asked many craftsmen in the city but they said they couldn't repair it." Ling Dengxian comforted.

"...Yeah, hehe." Maria couldn't help but smile again when she thought of the result this time. She raised her little head proudly, and the knot in her heart loosened a little.

"Would you like something to drink, Bai Ge?" Bai Jin tilted his head and looked at Ling Dengxian. The latter was about to say something to refuse awkwardly, but Maria winked at him and said, "Didn't we agree on this? It's my treat. Uncle Martin's food isn't too expensive."

Ling Dengxian nodded and looked at the smiling bald Martin: "Uncle Martin, you should have a glass of juice. I can't drink much."

Martin and others had expressed surprise at his confusing behavior of coming to the tavern to drink juice when he first came. Now they are used to it. There are always people who can't drink much. It is better to know and restrain yourself than to chase Maria around the tavern after Zofia drinks a few more glasses because she is happy.

But it was the first time that Bai Jin knew about this, so naturally he gave him a strange look. Ling Dengxian just scratched his head and didn't say much.

He sat down with his drink in hand. Just as he took a sip, a sneaky figure of Liberi approached and approached Ling Dengxian and said, "Mr. Ling Dengxian, I have a few photos here. Do you want them?"

"...Lorna?! Why are you here?" Ling Dengxian was startled, and then he looked at the photos in the camera in her hand. In the photos, he was sitting on the left with Bai Jin and Maria was sitting on the right, all "happy" with each other. But he felt that Lorna was not intending to sell the photos seriously.

"Will you buy it? If not, I'll go back and ask Miss Texas if she wants it."

"...buy, but can I buy on credit first?" Ling Dengxian said gritting his teeth.

Lorna was surprised and said, "Ah? Didn't I just give you financial assistance not long ago? How come you spent it so quickly? I wanted to get some back."

"There are many reasons for this..." Ling Dengxian also had his own difficulties.

"Then could you please buy me a drink?"

"...Maria." Ling Dengxian didn't dare to look directly into Xiao Linguang's eyes.

"Wow... Bai Ge, you really are a bit..."

"I will definitely ask you to come back!" Ling Dengxian felt ashamed.

Bai Jin sneered: Just you?

"...Let me do it, Miss Lorna, would you like something to drink?" A cold voice interrupted the conversation, crisp and clear.

"Ms. Texas?!"

Rupert glanced at Ling Dengxian, who immediately stood up and gave up her seat. She nodded with satisfaction and sat down. Bai Jin and Maria were silent for a moment, both of them were a little surprised by the arrival of the newcomer.

"Texas, why are you here..."

"Sister Texas, that photo of mine was just a casual one..." The two people standing side by side were a little embarrassed.

"It's okay. He drank the juice, so what?" Texas spread his hands calmly, then turned to Ling Dengxian:

"The Red Pine Knights have something they would like to entrust you with."