People in Arknights, Starting as Griseo

Even Patriot had to admit that if he had not known about Griseo's ability in advance, he might have let his guard down and ended up sealed inside a painting like those two Elite Guards.

"So this painting is like the last one? It can release people, or it can simply be torn apart." As she spoke, Talulah looked at Griseo for confirmation.

Although she had been through this several times and had gained some experience, Griseo's peculiar nature was right there. Talulah could not be completely certain that the painting in her hands was the same as the previous one.

To be safe, she asked again.

"Yes. If the painting is destroyed, everything inside it will be destroyed. If you want to release someone, you have to come to me." Hearing this, Griseo gently nodded her little head again.

"Thank you so much, little one. You helped us out a great deal again." Seeing how obedient the little girl looked, Talulah could not resist rubbing her wonderfully soft little head once more.

At the same time, after hearing Griseo's explanation, both Yelena and Patriot realized the value of the painting titled "Elite Guards."

After all, Elite Guards were not easy to train. Two of them were quite valuable bargaining chips, not to mention light and portable ones.

Suddenly, Yelena seemed to remember something. A smile appeared on her cold, stern face, and she softly said to Griseo and Alyona:

"We'll be on the move again soon, leaving this place. This time, little Griseo, you should stay with the Yetis."

"Okay..."

Griseo did not hesitate at Yelena's words and agreed at once.

The little girl had long guessed that the Reunion Movement would relocate again. It was practically inevitable, so she was not surprised in the slightest.

However, this time, Griseo intended to offer a little help. She planned to summon all her companions and have them scout the surrounding area to ensure the convoy's safety.

That would prevent another sudden attack like the one at noon today.

After explaining her thoughts to Talulah and receiving her approval, Griseo left and went back to find her Alina.

Mercenary camp—

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood. Don't tell me you bullied that child until she cried..." Sitting beside the campfire, Ines raised her eyes slightly to look at the returning W and asked suspiciously.

As for why she asked that, both W's expression and her shadow told Ines that her comrade was in a very pleasant mood.

"Though I really wanted to, unfortunately..." W sat down by the campfire with a regretful expression and said in a "depressed" tone.

"..."

Ines gave W a flat glance and said nothing more. If she did not know W so well, and if she had not observed her shadow beforehand, she might have believed her... Yeah, right!

If Ines believed W's nonsense that easily, she would not be Ines.

"Did you find something?"

Hedley, sitting nearby, spoke up as well, looking at W curiously.

"I did find something interesting, but... I still need to confirm it~" W did not answer Hedley directly. Instead, she deliberately kept him guessing.

W had only had a brief long-distance interaction with Griseo just now. But that brief moment, combined with the little girl's sudden change, had given her many suspicions.

There were many things she could not be sure about, but the smile Griseo had given her earlier—W could almost say with absolute certainty that it had been "her own" smile.

Moreover, W had keenly noticed the change in the little girl's aura at the time. That alone nearly ruled out the possibility of a child merely imitating her.

If so, then only one possibility remained...

Still, all of this was merely W's analysis and speculation based on that encounter. It needed further confirmation.

But W had no shortage of time right now. Having finally found something this interesting, she certainly would not let it go so easily.

"As long as you don't go too far, have fun."

Seeing W like this, Hedley knew he would get nothing out of her. He could only shake his head helplessly and give her another warning.

PS: It's been a while, so send me some votes. Today's update was a little earlier, but strictly speaking, tonight is still doomed. My mom plans to drag me out of bed at five-thirty tomorrow to go running. Terrifying.

Good night, everyone. Give me a little push.

Sarkaz Big Girl

Before long, the Reunion Movement members had mostly finished preparing, bringing everything they needed, and began this relocation.

This time, their destination was quite far away, and the journey would take several days. If they stayed too close to their previous location, they could still be found easily.

To avoid that trouble, Talulah and the others chose a more distant location for their new camp.

Once the group began moving, Griseo summoned all of her companions and scattered them in every direction to guard the migrating convoy.

Of course, not all of her companions. The little girl still kept her Mister Knight with her.

After all, with snow this deep, Griseo might sink right into it with a single step.

So it was more convenient to have Mister Knight carry her... and he could bring along her little companions as well.

Griseo also did not forget her agreement with Yelena. Even while being carried by Mister Knight, she obediently stayed beside the Yetis, including Lois, and did not run around.

However, by coincidence, Griseo's position in the convoy was not very far from the mercenary group.

This meant that the little girl could always feel a gaze fixed tightly on her. Whenever she turned around, she would meet W's irritating expression and eyes...

But Griseo could do nothing about W. To keep herself from making eye contact and being stained by W's color—

The little girl simply curled up in Mister Knight's arms, shut her large violet eyes, and looked at no one.

No matter how rushed they were during the relocation, they still had to stop to eat and rest. At night, they would also set up a temporary camp to sleep.

After all, the Ursus Snowfield was still dangerous at night. And everyone was human... while quite a few infected were in far worse condition than ordinary people.

After night fell—

"Yawn~"

Sitting by the campfire, Griseo narrowed her beautiful misty eyes and let out another huge yawn.

She had no idea how many times she had yawned already. Her whole body was drowsy.

The little girl was so sleepy that she ignored all the gazes and colors behind her.

The temporary camp was unlike before. Everyone's tents were pitched close together, and the campfires were nearly all gathered in one place. Under such circumstances, quite a few people occasionally stole glances at Griseo.

But even under these circumstances, the sleepy little girl was not affected in the slightest.

Too much had happened today, and Griseo had expended some energy as well. After all that, she had become sleepy much earlier than usual.

As for why she did not go to sleep despite being tired, the reason was simple... she had not eaten dinner yet, and her little belly was hungry.

"If Griseo is very sleepy, you can go sleep first. I'll bring dinner into the tent later..." Seeing how exhausted Griseo was, Alyona slowly leaned close to her ear and spoke softly.

"Hm?"

Hearing that, the groggy Griseo froze for a moment. After becoming a little more awake, she gently shook her head.

"That's too troublesome. I'll wait a little longer..."

After saying that, the little girl drowsily rubbed against Alyona's shoulder before leaning against it.

"..."

Looking at the little cutie on her shoulder, helplessness flashed through Alyona's pale green eyes. In the end, she said nothing more.

After all, from Alyona's observations, Griseo seemed unaffected by the others tonight because she was so sleepy.

Otherwise, if she had been affected, not only Alyona but Talulah and the others would have stuffed the little girl back into the tent. They would never have let her sit in a place with so many people...

Just then, people began moving around near a campfire not far away, drawing everyone's attention. Even Griseo, drowsy and muddleheaded, lifted her head and glanced over.

What she saw was a Sarkaz dressed from head to toe in heavy protective gear. However, with her little head still muddled, Griseo did not think much of it and quickly looked away.

"...?!"

But just as Griseo withdrew her gaze and intended to continue dozing off, she suddenly jolted awake. Her beautiful eyes widened, and much of her sleepiness vanished.

The reason was simple: the little girl realized who she had just seen...

Sarkaz Big Girl!

Before being transported here, Griseo had not used her original illustration for far too long. Combined with her groggy state just now, she had actually failed to recognize her beneath that heavy protective gear.

Honestly, this was the first time all day that the little girl had seen the person she had been thinking about.

But there was nothing she could do about it. Griseo could not take the initiative to look for Mudrock in the mercenary camp, and Mudrock was not like W...

"Hm? Are you cold?"

Seeing Griseo suddenly jolt and become much more awake, Alyona asked with a puzzled expression.

"I'm not cold... I just suddenly thought of something, and it woke me up." Hearing her companion's question, light flickered in Griseo's eyes as she answered softly.

Alyona nodded gently, then patted the rock beneath her and said, "It's good that you're not cold. If you are, you can sit over here. I'm closer to the fire."

"!"

"Mm."

"But now that you're awake, Griseo, don't you need to go back to the tent?" Alyona spoke again, as though she had remembered something.

"It's okay... Alyona is here."

What Griseo feared most was facing a crowd alone. Then she would pick up a new color every moment. But with Alyona beside her, the problem was not too serious.

After all, at worst, the little girl could bury her head in the little white bear's arms and simply be dyed in her color.

Griseo truly liked the refreshing pale green color Alyona carried.

"..."

Hearing that, a smile appeared at the corners of Alyona's lips. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out and gently stroked Griseo's little head.

"Mmm..."

Feeling the touch atop her head, Griseo gently narrowed her large eyes. The cowlick on top of her head swayed back and forth along with her good mood.

Still, there was something else that left the little girl rather confused: she had absolutely no idea how to approach Sarkaz Big Girl...

PS: Today, I will put an end to staying up late. My body is wrecked. I stayed up last night, then got up early today, and my head has hurt all day...

Give me a little push.

W:?

Over the next few days of traveling, Griseo never managed to make contact with Mudrock...

Aside from being very conspicuous herself, Yeti Squad members were always watching her. Even her beloved companion Alyona supervised her very seriously, leaving her with no opportunity to go to the mercenary camp.

So Griseo had no choice but to temporarily give up on making contact. She planned to try again after they reached the new camp and settled down.

After all, then the little girl could try sneaking off on her own.

However, there was one thing Griseo needed to pay attention to: W's probing over the past few days.

Perhaps because of the little girl's identity, W often did not act openly. But whenever the Yetis, Talulah, and the others were not looking, she would always pull little tricks or play minor pranks on Griseo.

Although those pranks did not anger Griseo, they made Alyona, who had been constantly at her side, somewhat angry.

There were even several times when Alyona, who did not like communicating with others, wanted to go straight to Talulah and complain. However, the little girl stopped her every time.

Otherwise, W would have been lectured at the very least, though that lecture probably would not have done much.

As for why Griseo stopped Alyona, naturally, it was because she did not want to trouble Talulah, Yelena, and the others over such a trivial matter.

Besides, in Griseo's eyes, W's little pranks were nothing serious. Other than being a little annoying, they caused no real harm.

And based on Griseo's understanding of W, even if they troubled Talulah and the others... after the lecture, a certain troublemaker probably would not change at all. She might even become worse and increase her "output"...

So after considering everything, the little girl abandoned the idea of complaining.

However, judging from the current development, Griseo was already beginning to feel that something was a little off...

She had discovered that after she faced several pranks without changing expression or showing any reaction, W had secretly become competitive. Her little tricks had increased considerably and become much more blatant.

But Griseo had no good solution for now. She planned to properly get one over on W after the Reunion Movement settled into camp.