Hello, Arknights

Chapter 341: The Past of Bruno

Ling Dengxian didn't know that the person who came was not Javier, otherwise he might have thrown the Ying on his back directly into the arms of Triangle and ran to the cafeteria by himself.

"Thank you, Captain, keep going." Nightingale lay on his back, resting her head on Ling Dengxian's shoulder and yawned. "Call me when we get to the cafeteria. I need to get some sleep..."

"You're still sleeping at this point?! If you're still sleepy, can you go back to sleep? And can you please close your corner..."

As a result, the nightingale was silent. Ling Dengxian looked back and found that it had really fallen asleep.

"...Alas, Liz." Ling Dengxian was helpless. He supported the person on his back and asked her to adjust her posture slightly. He really hoped that Nightingale could be more wary of him, but if she was really uneasy, he couldn't convince himself to throw Nightingale to White-faced Owl.

By the way, this bastard hasn’t gone to settle the score with this guy since he came back.

Nightingale was very soft, and her body rose and fell slightly with each breath, pressing against his back, making him feel like an uneasy cat that finally felt a little safe and enjoyed a short rest.

Shining left the ship and Lin Guang stayed in Casimir for his hometown, but Nightingale did not choose to hold Lin Guang back and stayed in Rhodes Island. He was the person Shining specifically entrusted to her, and she seemed to trust him as they got along. At this moment, she tightly grasped the clothes on his shoulders and breathed gently on his back.

He knew that being overly gentle might be seen as showing mercy, but if he just left it alone, he would be betraying the promise he had made.

Nightingale trusts him now, so he will help her until she no longer needs him.

"...How do I get to the cafeteria?" Ling Dengxian returned to reality and had to consider this somewhat difficult question. He changed the direction and came to this floor, but he was a little lost.

library.

Zi finished tidying up the bookshelf again. She lived here and was not worried about going to bed late, but she had guests today, so she had to postpone her bedtime.

"I haven't formed the habit of drinking tea yet, so I only have hot water, is that okay?" The purple-haired Rupert gently put down two teacups in front of the giant wolf's mouth and sat down opposite the coffee table. The Filin man in front of her was out of character, without any frivolous look, like a tree engraved with wind, frost, rain and snow, staring at the intricate roots he had once planted.

"...Thank you." Bruno slowly raised his eyes through the rising steam of the hot water and looked into the eyes of the former Syracuse Sharp Knife.

"..."

"...Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting your motives for approaching Ling. We all understand how... hopeful he is." Buono lowered his voice, a voice somewhat similar to Duva's silence. "I'm just taking the opportunity of stopping over on this landship to see... an 'old friend.'"

"...Are we old friends?" Zi sipped the warm liquid. She did know Bridget Stano, but only because she had been ordered to pay attention to local family conflicts and happened to notice a "little character".

"...Maybe I just want to find someone to talk to, someone who is neither too far nor too close, and who understands what happened." The film man seemed to become much weaker in an instant, and the traces of torture left by fate in the corners of his eyes were particularly obvious at this moment.

"And...you let us go then, thank you."

"...You are Filin, not Rupert or Pero, how do you know it's me?" Zi was also curious. They wore masks during the operation in the Giant Wolf's Mouth, and it was even more impossible to expose their identity when operating in their own country.

"My family assigned me a position as a mounted police officer in the Legal Affairs Department. I was well aware of the new arrivals... I'm not questioning your qualifications as the Giant Wolf's Mouth, but you certainly didn't try very hard to hide your tracks.

"The flower path along Second Street, the Cornflower Cafe. Except for rainy days, you'll be there every afternoon reading books and letters after you arrive."

Zi's eyes were indifferent, and there was silence in the cool air for a moment. She put down the teacup and said, "You are indeed a good person. No wonder you can still save a lover."

The silent pain from the torn wound spread onto the coffee table. Buono coughed a few times and felt a sharp pain in his heart.

"Perhaps I could have—"

"The die is cast. There's no 'maybe' or 'could have been'. You didn't do it because you were afraid of being looked down upon and rejected, and so you paid the price."

"...The giant wolf's mouth is truly merciless." The man who lost his beloved forever turned several degrees paler. A messenger who believed in colors breathed his last peacefully in a sea of flowers. A man who aspired to become a judge who could improve the current situation in Syracuse died in the rain. The broken man was supported by Rona all the way to walk in the wilderness, gradually regaining hope in life, meeting them again, and restarting his career in life.

He stumbled, he wiped away his tears, he remembered everything.

"Isn't that ridiculous story the only thing worth remembering about me? If you are afraid of pain, why not just hide your wound and love the rest of your life well?" Zi sighed lightly, and Bu Nuo tightly grasped the teacup in his hand, and his chest hurt with every breath.

"Because I really didn't know you knew so much." Buono smiled bitterly. He originally wanted to scrape off the dust of time on his memory bit by bit, but the other party directly tore open his wound.

"... Trash, an incomplete love, do you still expect me to sympathize with you? Just like you said, you might be able to achieve a perfect ending, but the truth is, even if you traveled back in time, you couldn't convince your past self to change anything." Zi finished the water in her glass, but remembered the look in the eyes of the future judge girl as she stood in front of the injured man in the rain and confronted him. She said lightly, "I really liked her eyes. She loved you, but you let her die."

"Maybe I shouldn't blame you. The dangerous Exterminator wasn't something you could handle at that time...but didn't you kill him in the end?"

"You've been protected twice."

Buono nodded and drank the hot water in the cup. The pain in his eyes slowly faded away and his gaze became focused again. After a brief period of weakness, his growth once again propped up his gaze.

"I didn't expect that the Giant Wolf's Mouth had such a thorough control over the situation at that time. It seems that my suffering was just a small episode." Bruno said with relief, without any words of rebuttal or to defend his former dignity.

"No," Zi filled his palm with hot water, and the temperature warmed his palm again. She lowered her eyes, "In my opinion, that is the most heartwarming story of that turmoil."

"To this day, I don't remember the name of the patriarch of that family conflict, or which outstanding family member became famous, but I still remember a small character named Bridge Stano." Zi looked out the window while holding the hot water. The wilderness in the distance outside Rhodes Island was dark, but it hid the sparks of life.

"He will remember that he should have done better and should have had a shameless yet happy life." Buono exhaled lightly, and the beautiful picture disappeared from his heart.

"So... I don't want Ling to repeat my mistakes, even if warning him... isn't a noble thing to do."

"...Why must he...be made to realize his mistake, rather than being guided to truly love someone from the beginning?"

Bu Nuo leaned back, put his weight on the backrest, and shook his head: "Ling kid is such a gentle person who longs for gentleness. We don't know whether he has never received such gentleness in the beginning and longs for gentleness, and then becomes gentle himself, or because he is gentle by nature and longs to be treated gently in the same way.

"That's something he keeps deep in his heart, but what we know is that he must have hit a wall, more than once. Those who yearn for tenderness cannot refuse happiness, but happiness is never something that only one person can achieve."

"...Not all girls are gentle enough. He will hurt others. Even so, do you still want to interfere?" Zi raised her eyes and said.

"Interfere?" The film man suddenly laughed. "Ma'am, I'll only show him my regrets. His future is his own decision. 'Interfere' is so presumptuous."

"Kid Ling will always create miracles. This is the reason he attracted us in the first place."

At the same time, Ling Dengxian, who had sneaked into the cafeteria, woke up Nightingale. Although he said that she was troublesome, he still smiled and handed her a sweet treat when she opened her eyes.

"...Thank you, Captain, but Baige, why are there teeth marks on your face..."

Ling Dengxian scratched his head and said, "It was a little late, so I was a little willful and secretly went to the kitchen to get some food reserves..."

Ling Dengxian looked aside, and Nightingale followed his gaze and saw an innocent photo of Pero pasted on the door of the cafeteria kitchen, with a large, eye-catching red slash on it.

Inside the slightly open door, a lively furry tail was wagging happily.