Hello, Arknights

Chapter 252 Decision-making, Dreaming

"..."

The young man closed his eyes that had not slept all night, just to rest his mind. He took a deep breath, held the vase in the Provence room and knocked on the door.

It was Di Ling who opened the door, and beside the bed was Fang Di, who was lying with his eyes closed, resting.

The girl in lavender had already woken up. She was the only patient in the ward where the lights were off. The dim light shone through the porthole onto the floor, and Ling Dengxian could clearly see her pair of clear yellow eyes.

"Long time no see." Provence shook his ears and smiled haggardly.

"..." Ling Dengxian glanced at the Earth Spirit, who shook his head firmly and said that he would stay here just in case.

"I'm sorry for causing trouble to everyone." Provence lowered his eyes, looked at the scars on his hands, and felt a pain in his heart.

"Provence, do you want me to... leave, or figure out what the problem is?"

The Lupo girl was stunned for a moment, then said in panic: "No, no, it's not because of you, it's my own problem, it has nothing to do with you!"

"Then why are you so excited?" Ling Dengxian and Di Ling looked at each other in silence. Provence's consciousness slowly returned, and he found that he had torn the sheets, his hair was messy, and his fingertips were trembling.

"It's not because of you, it's not because of you...really...it's not..." It's hard to tell whether the redness in his eyes was due to discomfort or madness. Provence was completely different from his calm self.

"... Ling Dengxian... I will kill you..."

"If you leave me alone...we can both survive..."

Ling took a step forward, and Provence's pupils shrank sharply, and he instinctively showed his canine teeth at him.

Ling Dengxian had no choice but to cover her eyes with a calm gaze. Under his gaze, the Lupo girl gradually cooled down, and realizing her uncontrollable abnormality, Provence showed a painful look.

"Provence... You are not a liar. Do you want to fool yourself? You helped me before. Now let me hear your thoughts, okay?"

Ling Dengxian said nothing more, and Di Ling did not interrupt either. In the still dim room, both of them were quietly waiting for her response.

The Rupert girl stroked the lint that came out of the torn quilt, tears welled up in her eyes again, and she covered her mouth with her trembling hands, as if she felt a strong discomfort.

After a long while, she sobbed and said:

"I still want to be a messenger of natural disasters."

"I don't want to die yet."

Two hours later.

Provence regained her composure and looked at the doctor in front of her nervously. The doctor was not only her leader, but also her attending psychiatrist who was about to announce the results that would affect her future.

"Operator Provence, after a rigorous psychological medical examination," Kal'tsit put down the Q&A statistical report board on her chest, her green eyes flashing with a faint light, "according to objective pathological analysis, you have abnormal reactions and unnatural physiological changes to things related to someone, and some of your symptoms overlap with those of stress reaction disorder. If this is the case, then the situation is not optimistic."

After hearing this, Provence smiled sadly and his lips trembled unconsciously.

"However, in terms of the cause, it does not meet the strict definition of stress reaction disorder. As a doctor in the Rhodes Island Medical Department, I cannot make such a hasty definition. Next... Operator Provence, I will formulate a corresponding recommended treatment plan based on your specific situation."

"Okay." The girl took a deep breath.

"Provence, you need to suspend your work as the Messenger of Natural Disasters, actively cooperate with the personnel arrangements and regain your lost health in life."

"...Understood, I will." Provence's shoulders trembled.

"White dove..." Having said this, the person who was supposed to take over the conversation accidentally fell asleep because of staying up late, and leaned against the Vaifan girl, breathing evenly.

“Do you need my help to wake him up?” Seeing the rare hesitation in Kal’tsit’s eyes, Di Ling raised his hand.

"No... it's nothing, there's no harm in saying it directly." The film woman seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at the girl with swaying lavender hair. "Operator White Dove is forming a special operations team. He is the crux of the problem. The person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. Many successful cases are just like this."

Provence was slightly stunned, and she understood what Kal'tsit meant.

The sunlight made the dust crystal clear, and the lavender flowers emitted a fragrance secretly.

Rhode Island Dining Hall.

"Heijiao, you seem a little distracted. Did something happen?" The ranger asked with concern as he and Heijiao went to the window to get food. Seeing that Heijiao was much quieter than usual, the ranger asked.

"Nothing... I was just thinking about what happened last night. I don't know how Brother Baige is doing." Heijiao adjusted his mask. After all, someone almost died.

“White Dove? I don’t think he needs to worry.” The ranger smiled and remembered the newcomer who was a little reserved in front of the elder.

"why?"

"Black Horn, you and I were among the first group of people to join Rhodes Island. Do you remember when Kal'tsit talked to you last time?"

"It was a long time ago. There were still some things I couldn't figure out when I first came here. Director Kal'tsit talked to me several times at that time. I have figured it out in the past few years." Black Horn began to reminisce the past when the ranger mentioned it.

"That's fine. Last night when I passed by, I saw Bai Ge taking the initiative to look for Kal'tsit. If he has such awareness, the possibility of problems is small. Not being arrogant is a good quality that can avoid many low-level problems."

"That's right. It seems I worried too much..." Heijiao was suddenly stunned and stopped. The ranger was looking at him. He noticed that he stopped and then looked forward.

A Ya Ye passed by carrying a white dove and a bagpipe.

"Oh, Mr. Ranger, and Operator Blackhorn, good morning. I'm a little busy here, so I'll leave first."

"Oh...oh, ok, good morning..."

Yaye knew that this was quite strange when she saw the expressions of the two men, but there was nothing to explain, so she could only sigh helplessly and carry the two men through the cafeteria.

"The bagpipe is quite heavy..."

The two of them and the others in the cafeteria watched the three people leave in silence. Black Horn looked at the ranger, who thought about it and finally smiled helplessly:

"Young man, get used to it and try to understand."

Heijiao felt that it wouldn’t be a bad thing to show more concern.

Yaye was naturally called by Kal'tsit to send the two back. After all, the two were just staying up late, and the beds in the medical department had to be left for the patients. Fortunately, Yaye was not leaving the medical department. Yaye first sent Fengdi back to the dormitory, and then when he arrived at the door of Ling Dengxian's dormitory, he saw a very strange scene.

Two Rupers, one purple and one red, were facing each other in front of the door, and not far away there was another Liberi, trembling expressionlessly.

"Uh……"

When they noticed her arrival, the two stopped confronting each other. Or rather, they didn't actually want to confront each other, but their professions and past experiences unconsciously led to a tit-for-tat confrontation.

"What's wrong with him?" Zi asked as he immediately let down his guard after seeing who Yaye was carrying.

"I stayed up all night thinking about things, and now I'm going to sleep." Yaye could feel the sharp atmosphere that remained in this space, and the other party was an unfamiliar face, so his tone unconsciously became a little stiff.

"...Then I'll come later." Zi was very good at reading the atmosphere. She nodded and said goodbye. Before leaving, she glanced at Hong again and did not show her her back.

"Then... Hong, who are you?" Yaye looked at the other Lupo girl again.

"Dr. Kal'tsit asked Red to find Operator White Dove. Red will temporarily put down his original knife and do something new." Red was answering Yaye, but his eyes were always fixed on Zi's departing figure until their sight was separated by space.

"But he's asleep now..."

"Hong will wait until he wakes up."

Yaye took out Ling Dengxian's room card and opened his door. Hong followed in. She threw Ling Dengxian on the bed, then turned around and patiently explained to Hong: "Hong, but it is very rude to stay in someone else's room without their permission."

"Then Hong can stay at the door." Hong took another step back and squatted at the door.

"Red... Doctor Kal'tsit probably didn't tell you that you must get a reply right away, right?"

"So Hong didn't wake Baige up." Hong looked innocent.

"Hong, can you come with me to the library to find a book?" Yaye tried to save the situation in a roundabout way.

"No." Hong thought about it, shook his head and disagreed.

"red……"

"Ya Ye...it's okay, I'll ask what's going on. You can go back to sleep later." Ling Dengxian woke up. He had been half asleep all the way and now the two of them were in a stalemate. He decided to wake up and solve the urgent problem.

"Is it okay?" Yaye was a little worried seeing that he was sleepy.

"It's okay...the code name is Red, right?" Ling Dengxian forced his eyes open to show that he was not asleep, but what kind of mental state he was in would probably only be known after he woke up.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Well, Kal'tsit told me to temporarily join your team and serve as a special operator." Seeing that he was awake, Hong nodded.

"Okay, I get it. It's okay. No problem. I'm going to sleep." Ling Dengxian fell down again.

"Okay." Hong turned around and left.

Yaye was a little confused: Is this really okay?

Ling Dengxian's consciousness fell from the clouds and landed gently at the fork in the road. It was still the same mountain, the same flowers, and the same city.

"Here they are?" Turning back, a blue-haired dragon girl in a white robe was throwing a gourd to him on the bluestone by the roadside.

"make?"

The tail pushed hard, making him stand up and take a step, looking back: "After so many times, how about going to see her?"

"Okay." As if there was an answer in the universe, Ling Dengxian realized that his answer was a bit strange, but he did not feel uneasy.

The two walked forward one after the other on the cliff road leading to the magnificent city. Ling Dengxian hesitated again and again, but finally asked the question in his mind:

"Ling Xiao... Ling, are you really just a character in my dream?"

Hearing this, Ling did not look back, but just smiled: "Why do you say that?"

"I don't think I can construct such a three-dimensional world, nor can I imagine a person whose thoughts are so unfathomable in a dream." Ling Dengxian looked at the white robe and always felt something was wrong. He still remembered the abnormal emotions he had when he first "contacted" it.

"So, how have I affected your life?"

"I don't know..." Ling Dengxian thought of the little sky blue dragon and felt a little uncertain.

"If not, it doesn't matter whether I am real or fake. If I am real, you should be more independent, because no matter whether it is real or fake, you should not be shaken from your self-esteem."

"...Okay, what's the answer?" Ling Dengxian asked persistently.

Ling stopped and looked up. It turned out that they had unknowingly crossed the steep cliff and were already in front of the city.

"The facts are the answer, maybe just a little late." It was like the wind, blowing and dissipating along with the clouds. Ling Dengxian was not sure whether she answered.

Suddenly, a strong sense of piercing vision came over him. Before Ling Dengxian could turn around, a lamp stick appeared in his hand. He gently tapped it on the ground, and a circle of smoke-like light spread out, and all the strange feelings subsided.

The petals did not overflow into the sea.

Sensing Ling's presence, the city gate slowly and silently opened in front of the two of them—