Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Now injured, Reiche controlled the ascent of the submarine more cautiously than its descent.

During this lull, Ark began to seriously observe her "new partner." Reiche seemed to easily accept the unwarranted disaster she brought upon him. His demeanor showed no resentment or hostility towards her, even appearing to be in a good mood, which didn't seem like a façade.

It was strange; the subconscious marker Ark implanted in him shouldn't be potent enough to alter someone's mood. This indicated his real state... could he be a masochist?

She asked, "What level is the alien creature inside you?"

Reiche raised an eyebrow, bloodied face and all, and sent her a flirtatious wink: "So direct? I know nothing about you, and you're already asking such personal questions?"

Ark: "…I'm not interested in your poor attempt at changing the subject. Understanding each other is the first step to being teammates. You can ask me some questions too."

As for whether she would answer or how much she would disclose was her prerogative.

"Alright." Bringing up the topic of the alien creature inside him seemed to displease Reiche. Dropping his playful demeanor, he looked coldly at the screen ahead and answered her question: "Just A-tier."

An S-tier transcender fused with an A-tier alien creature?

Ark had speculated this before getting an answer. The second ability he displayed didn't seem to come from a very powerful alien creature. Judging by his use, his proficiency was also very low, suggesting he rarely utilized the alien creature's power.

This was inconceivable. Reiche was a strong individual in his own right; it wasn't likely he became a devourer for power, especially considering the alien creature he fused with wasn't particularly strong.

Besides power, there seemed to be no other benefits to becoming a devourer.

"Do you know that devourers eventually die?"

Reiche chuckled, "Look at you, bringing this up. If you entered the conference with Butterfly and the others, you should know what 'Nightfall' is up to in the shadows. Being a member, how could I not know such a simple truth?"

Hearing this, Ark's first thought was: Could it have been against his will?

It's unlikely that Nightfall forced him; if they had coerced a transcender into becoming a devourer, Reiche wouldn't feel a sense of belonging to the organization.

Ark couldn't help but recall a forum discussion about devourers she had seen, mentioning experiments conducted by the Central to merge transcenders with alien creatures.

This possibility was high, but as an S-tier support transcender, even the Central wouldn't waste such talent, not to mention their always generous terms for recruiting talent.

"How long have you been a devourer?"

"Your questions always catch me off guard... if I calculate it, it's been about a year."

"As far as I know, most devourers don’t live beyond a year. You seem to have survived unusually long."

Her words were blunt and cold, but Reiche didn’t seem angered, responding nonchalantly: “Yes, so I might die tomorrow. You better cherish me, partner.”

Liar.

The degree of deterioration shown on Reiche's body was only twenty-one percent, making death in the short term highly unlikely.

If the timeline he mentioned was accurate, it implied that Nightfall had ways to mitigate deterioration, or it could simply be due to his sparing use of powers. The more frequently a devourer uses their powers, the quicker their body deteriorates, and vice versa.

Sensing further inquiry would be fruitless, Ark shifted the conversation: “What exactly is Nightfall’s goal?”

Reiche’s expression became playful. He caught the gist and countered, “Are you planning to just make me your partner, or are you considering joining Nightfall?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course, it determines whether I can answer your question.”

Ark didn’t continue along that line of questioning. Reiche wasn’t the type to be easily coaxed into revealing information, and pressing further would yield nothing.

She moved past the topic, her stance clearly articulated.

She was interested in Reiche, not Nightfall. Knowing nothing about Nightfall, she couldn’t risk joining such a complex and dangerous organization.

“No more questions? Then it's my turn.”

Ark nodded. Just as Reiche was about to ask something, they surfaced from underwater, the submarine’s bow slowly emerging from the sea.

Reiche chuckled, “We've arrived, so let’s hold that topic for now. What’s your communication number?”

Ark provided a series of numbers and also obtained Reiche's communication code, noting it down for future contact.

Their submarine automatically returned to its designated spot in the submarine bay of Reiche's ship.

"Hiss—"

The submarine hatch opened, and Ark and Reiche emerged to find people waiting beside the submarine: the missing Twins One and Two, as well as the underage boy Ark had seen earlier on the screen.

On the screen, the boy had been at a distance, and his image wasn't clear. Now, Ark could see their specific features up close.

The boy had curly brown hair, cute and delicate features, and a Caucasian face, which was rare in this world. With the Decline Day's onset and the shrinking safe zones mainly in C country in Asia, most survivors were Asian.

The twin sisters didn’t seem to have surfaced much earlier than them, still in their combat suits. They had an identical appearance, with a 99.9% similarity in facial features, sporting youthful bob cuts.

Ark saw no sign of them being devourers; they were either ordinary people or transcenders. Were they not members of Nightfall?

If Twins One and Two were alright, what about Ming Chan and Shang Xize?

Ark couldn’t help but think their situation was different from that of the twins. Ming Chan had already been detected by the Beasts.

She straightforwardly asked the Beast within her how it dealt with the "intruders" before her arrival.

The Beast: "[... Master came down, I sensed it, left them, locked them, and came after you.]"

The Beast’s intelligence was only at B-tier, not as articulate as the Devil Bat. Ark guessed that while pursuing Ming Chan, the Beast sensed a different presence entering its territory. It abandoned the chase, allowing them to get trapped by the territory, while it came directly after her.

After the Beast finished, Ark also sensed its deep regret, almost as if it was lamenting, "What have I done? I deserve to die."

Well, as long as Ming Chan and the others were safe, that was what mattered.

Ark refocused her attention on Reiche and his group. Reiche looked disheveled and clearly injured. Upon his emergence, the boy's gaze turned icy cold, harshly commenting, "What a useless waste."

Not long after the boy spoke, the two sisters chimed in with giggles. The one on the left remarked, "It's rare to see Reiche in such a state, isn't it, sister?"

The other, covering her mouth with a laugh, agreed, "Yes, sister, men only look good covered in blood. Reiche, you look much more handsome than usual."

Reiche, smiling, flipped them off: "Get lost."

Ark: "..."

Seeing their companion covered in blood, they showed no concern, only sarcasm. Compared to them, Reiche seemed like the normal one.

Then, Ark felt the others' gazes on her. The sisters had amusement in their eyes, while the boy's cold expression was unchanged, but she could sense the murderous intent in his stare.

They seemed intent on not letting her leave, and Ark was somewhat unclear about their motives.

Reiche, aware of his companions' behavior, warned them, "Don't do anything unnecessary unless you want to die."

The boy rolled his eyes dismissively.

The sisters also displayed bored expressions and dispersed from their presence.

The tense atmosphere dissolved.

Ark, not planning to stay longer, left the cabin and returned to the deck.

Yi Xiuzhu's ship was nearby,

Ark had destroyed the submarine's cameras and communication equipment, but the positioning system was intact, so Yi Xiuzhu and the others could see the information about the submarine's ascent and had been waiting for them.

Looking over, Ark saw that everyone except He Yongyuan was on the deck, including Shang Xize and Ming Chan. On seeing her, Shang Xize immediately started waving his arms vigorously at her.

With Reiche still following her, Ark glanced back at him, "Aren't you going to treat your wounds instead of following me?"

“Of course, I'm following you home, my partner.”

“Cut the nonsense.”

Ark, uninterested in engaging further, was about to control the wind to cross over, when a young man emerged from the upper structure.

He had an austere aura, tall and slender, but his features were quite ordinary, his expression unreadable from Ark's position.

He was a new face on this ship; Ark hadn't seen him before, nor had he been involved in any part of the recent events.

At that moment, Reiche leaned close to her, momentarily diverting her attention, “See you, partner. Remember to contact me once you’re ashore.”

After bidding her farewell, Reiche immediately headed to the upper deck. Ark withdrew her gaze and used wind control to land steadily on the opposite deck.

She was quickly surrounded by several people on the deck, with Shang Xize tearfully exclaiming, “Zhou Er, are you alright? It's good you’re safe. I almost thought you wouldn’t make it back.”

Ye Qingjia immediately wanted to check Ark’s physical condition but was politely declined by Ark, who requested just a recovery injection.

Their warm attitudes were somewhat unfamiliar to Ark.

Suddenly, Reiche's taunting voice reached her, “So, the young master finally wakes up.”

From a distance, Ark could hear the conversation on the gradually departing ship. It had been a long time since she experienced this – her “Player (Audience)” role activating, signifying the presence of an important character nearby. A central storyline character, perhaps?

She turned to look.

The other person's tone was even, “What, is it time to work?”

Ark saw the man looking towards their ship's location.

The young man questioned, “Is it them?”

Reiche: “Forget them, let’s wait for the next prey.”

The young man: “It’s a hassle, let’s just take them. I want to go ashore. I don’t have time to waste at sea with you.”

Reiche: “They didn’t get anything.”

The other person fell silent, apparently reconsidering the idea.

The more Ark listened, the more furrowed her brows became. It seemed they were indeed pirates. Recalling the odd behavior of the ship's pilot and navigator, it was possible that even their ship was seized.

If they hadn’t been trapped in this area, their two ships might have engaged in direct combat.

Ark had thought Reiche was the leader of that ship, but now it seemed they were more like a newly formed team with no absolute leader.

Instead, it was the young man who seemed to command respect. Reiche, with his personality, was unusually polite in his speech with him, which was strange.

Suddenly, Ark and the man's gazes collided. He didn’t avert his eyes. From afar, she felt a sense of familiarity about him.

Reiche: “Ark? Are you listening to me? Don’t think about attacking that ship. Let’s return as you wish, OK? I’ll also provide the information you want.”

Ark? As in Noah's Ark from the Bible?

Noah's Ark is a well-known story, and in a world like this, it’s normal for someone to have such a codename.

Although the meaning of her name had nothing to do with Noah's Ark, the translation into Chinese was the same. Coupled with the activation of her player perspective, Ark became more cautious.

As their ship moved away and Ark left the same scene, her player identity deactivated, and she could no longer hear the conversation from the other ship.

“Zhou Er?” Noticing her distraction, Shang Xize waved his hand in front of her.

“What’s up?” Ark regained focus, smiling at them.

“Did you take care of that alien creature? How did you do it?”

Ark shook her head, effortlessly lying: “The bomb you fired worked. But it was a high-level creature. Even injured, Reiche and I couldn’t kill or capture it in the water. We only managed to drive it away. I’m sorry, I couldn’t capture it either time.”

None of them doubted her; after all, her ability was “wind,” what could she do underwater?

Ming Chan patted her shoulder comfortingly, “It's okay, we've gained enough this time. We're preparing to return.”

The two alien creatures they encountered on this trip were both likely S-tier. Although they hadn’t captured them, the information and videos of the hunting team's battles were enough to exchange for many points.

Plus, the several B-tier sea monsters; their corpses had already been collected. This voyage wasn’t a loss.

“That’s good. How long will our return journey take?” Ark inquired.

“Just half a day.”

They seemed eager to ask her more, but Ye Qingjia, noticing her off condition, shot the others a look, curbing their enthusiasm: “Are you tired? You should go back first. Thanks for this trip. We'll handle the return journey. If you feel anything wrong with your body, make sure to come to me.”

Ark nodded and without hesitation, returned to her room.

Once inside with the door closed, she collapsed onto the bed, her exhaustion and pain overwhelming her in an instant.

Before her consciousness succumbed to darkness, Ark managed to send a message to Lu Feilan using the communication device. They were at sea, and the message wouldn’t send now, but it would automatically transmit once they entered a communication network.

After doing so, she took the last anti-dizziness potion, instructed her alien creature to automatically detach and protect her in case of danger, and then fell into a deep, restful unconsciousness.

Just as her consciousness faded completely, Ark vaguely sensed a familiar notification flashing before her eyes.

Was it the forum? Or some other message?

She was too exhausted to think anymore.