If it were not for Frostleaf, no one would have noticed the female figure in the centre of the river.
When did she show up there? No one knew. Magallan's drones hadn't found her earlier either.
No. Maybe she had been found, but since everyone was hypnotized they hadn't noticed at the time.
"Is that Skadi?" Frostleaf asked.
"I don't know, I can't see clearly," Blue Poison replied.
Although the woman was only fifty meters away from them, half of her body was hidden in the water, and they didn't know what happened. Their searchlights couldn't shine directly onto the woman's face, and they could only barely see her vague figure in the first place.
Lin Ye's heart suddenly rose to his throat. He immediately turned his head and said to Magallan "Let the drones fly over and take a look."
Magallan nodded readily "No problem."
The three drones immediately flew towards the middle of the river.
Everyone ran to her side, ready to see if the person was indeed Skadi. The drones were very fast. It only took them a few seconds to fly out tens of meters. The searchlights then shot out, the cameras captured the picture and transmitted it to the screen of Magallan's microcomputer.
Everyone's hearts almost stopped when they were about to see the female face be revealed, but at that moment, a dull popping sound was heard nearby.
*Pop*
In the picture, the female figure seemed to shake a couple times, and then seemingly unable to hold it form it started to deform.
It stood up again and dove back into the "river". When the searchlight shone over the place where the figure should have been, only a small splash of water was seen.
"What the fuck!" Lin Ye couldn't help but curse.
''How could this happen?! Miss Skadi fell into the river?" Magallan shouted in horror.
"We're not even sure if it's even Miss Skadi who appeared," Blue Poison said.
"Then who else would they be, Miss Blue Poison?" Magallan questioned.
"I don't think that the woman got away. Magallan, lower the drones and see if you can capture a useful picture," Blue Poison claimed.
Magallan acknowledged the request "Okay."
The drones slowly lowered and hovered less than one meter from the river's surface. Even so, the searchlights still couldn't shine through to the bottom of the river. There was only turbulence under the surface.
Lin Ye couldn't help but say "I rushed to the river and shouted Skadi's name, but fortunately I couldn't get too near. Thanks, Matoimaru."
"No worries. However, I expected whatever would happen tonight would be weird," Matoimaru replied with distress, "But I didn't expect it to be so weird. I can't understand what's happening now".
Frostleaf glanced at Matoimaru and said faintly "You are obviously an Oni, but you said the word weird, which is funny enough."
"Oni's like to fight and cut down the people that make us uncomfortable" Matoimaru then turned her head and observed the underground river. She said softly "It feels too uncomfortable to be powerless and helpless like this. By the way, I haven't met Skadi. Are you sure that it was Skadi?"
"Maybe, I can't say for sure that that was a woman. It may also be a thin male" Frostleaf whispered. "But since it can appear in such a place, besides an Abyssal Hunter like Skadi, who else could it be?".
Lin Ye looked back at Matoimaru and Frostleaf, then said " We can go over and take a look."
"Go over there?" Surprise appeared on Matoimaru's face. "Don't make me laugh, do you really want to go down there?"
"Can't we?" Lin Ye genuinely replied in kind.
"It's not impossible... Forget it, I am all for it" Matoimaru shrugged.
Lin Ye eyed Blue Poison again.
Blue Poison nodded and said "We really have no other choice. We all came here. If that was Miss Skadi just now, we won't get another chance like this again. We can't leave without getting any clues at least".
Lin Ye whispered, "Thank you" and smiled at her.
"You don't need to thank me for that," Blue Poison responded with a smile. "Miss Skadi is our colleague and our mission goal. It's only a matter of time till we rescue her. Why do you need to thank me?".
Lin Ye took a deep breath and shook his head. "Still... Thank you." He smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder. Blue Poison seemed to enjoy his touch but didn't want to make it obvious to the others. She just smiled back at him.
Magallan then asked, "Shall we go down together?".
Lin Ye thought about it, then shook his head. "We don't need to do that. Magallan do your drones have the ability to attack?"
"Of course," Magallan vaunted with some pride. "All my drones are equipped with weapons, which can provide fire support and precision strikes."
"That's it," Lin Ye stated. "Just stay ashore and use the drones to support us."
"No problem," Magallan nodded readily.
Lin Ye told Frostleaf "Frostleaf, you go back and protect Magallan"
"Protect me? Why?" Magallan was a little puzzled. "No need, I can take care of myself."
"We don't know if there's anything else on this island", Even if Lin Ye couldn't wait to rush down to find Skadi, he also knew that in this unknown and dangerous environment, he couldn't act rashly. He needed to prepare for anything that could happen.
Magallan seemed to look troubled with his decision. Lin Ye explained "We really need your drone support. Me, Matoimaru, and Blue Poison, that's three people. You happen to have three drones, and you can follow us using them. But then you don't have one to protect yourself. So Frostleaf will stay you in case anything happens."
"True. I see" Magallan seemed to process what Lin Ye was explaining to her. "I understand. I'll use my drones to protect you."
Lin Ye looked at Frostleaf "Frostleaf, you stay with Magallan to protect her. But you'd better take off your headphones and pay attention".
Frostleaf took her headphones off slowly "I don't care, but Doctor Lin Ye, you are commanding this operation, right? I would like to ask; do you have experience in commanding operations? At this time, instead of you, why not let Blue Poison lead this team. Doesn't she have the most experience with this type of operation?".
Lin Ye understood why Frostleaf was asking this. He was about to answer but Blue Poison spoke before he could say anything, "I don't think Doctor Lin Ye's plan will be a problem. Doctor Kal'tsit said that he's the leader of this mission, so I don't see why he can't lead".
".... This arrangement is really no problem" Magallan said in agreement.
"Then I'll protect Magallan. But Doctor Lin Ye, there is one more thing I want to say" Frostleaf glanced at Lin Ye.
"What is it?" He raised his brow at her curiously.
"I will obey Doctor Kal'tsit's orders, so I'll obey your instructions when necessary" Frostleaf said softly, holding on to her battle axe. "But please don't try to rescue Skadi and leaves us to die."
Lin Ye was stunned.
'...What?'
Magallan pulled on Frostleaf's collar and said in a low tone "Frostleaf, how can you say that to Doctor Lin Ye? Doctor Lin Ye would never do such a thing".
"I don't know what kind of person he is, I only believe what I see". Frostleaf looked at Lin Ye and related slowly "He was about to attack Matoimaru just now, even if she only wanted to prevent him from going down to the river to die. And if it weren't for the fact that there were no bullets in his guardian gun at that time, I think he would have already fired at her."
Blue Poison tried to defend him "That was because of the influence of the spell."
"I know that, but who is to say that it won't happen again next time?" Frostleaf questioned. "As a commander, he is the easiest person to be controlled by spells. With all due respect this is terrible. I would rather fight and die on the battlefield, than die in such a place by an unseen gunshot."
"Frostleaf!" Magallan became angered by Frostleaf's words, "You're going way too far!"
"Let her say it", Lin Ye interrupted Magallan and softly said "Let her continue."
"I have finished what I wanted to say," Frostleaf replied. "I'm not like Skadi. I'm not an unparalleled Abyssal Hunter, but I don't want to be a pawn that can be easily offended when need be. That's probably it. Doctor Lin Ye, I will protect Magallan. The rest is your business."
Lin Ye looks at Frostleaf.
He hadn't expected that she would have such sharp words to say to him. He didn't lie to himself, it hurt that she thought so little of him, but thinking of the experience that Frostleaf, a young soldier who was caught on the battlefield at such a young age, Lin Ye felt that he could understand why she said the things that she did.
"Don't worry" Lin Ye tried to reassure her with a light smile. "Before I came, I promised Kal'tsit that I would take all of you back safe and sound. Indeed, I want to find Skadi, I really want to, but please believe me when I say that I won't abandon any of you just because of Skadi. Absolutely not. I will never do that."
Frostleaf glanced at Lin Ye, then lowered her head without reply. Lin Ye knew that words alone can hardly impress the girl who had been on the battlefield in front of him. If he wanted to convince the other party, he could only show that he could be trusted. Actions speak louder than words after all. When Magallan and Frostleaf arrived back at shore, only he, Matoimaru and Blue Poison were left at the so-called river.
Matoimaru looked at Lin Ye and winked "How was it? Bearing the brunt of a little girl's anger? It's not very comfortable is it."
Lin Ye's original low and nervous mood was somewhat relieved by Matoimaru's exaggerated expression.
He smiled and said "There is nothing for me to say. Frostleaf was just stating facts."
"Hah, you are quite generous. But it's okay, I don't want to do things with stingy people" Matoimaru replied and walked into the river first, "In that case, let me take the lead."
Lin Ye nodded "Thank you very much."
Matoimaru seemed to stop before she went too far into the river.
Blue Poison said to her "You are too anxious."
"Oh, I forgot. I was just gonna ask you, is there any poison in this water?"
Blue Poison checked and then shook her head "There's no poison. It's fine."
"... By the way, I just thought of something, you drank a little water here before, right?" Matoimaru turned to look at Blue Poison, "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay? My body is immune to poison."
"It's not a question of have you been poisoned or not," Matoimaru says. "This river is very dirty and disgusting, can you really drink it?"
Blue Poison was silent for a while, then she muttered to her "You are so annoying."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft by Jaq
Proofread by AI & SM
Edit by Jaq