Repair the Plank Road in the Open, Cross Chencang in Secret

"What's the point of saying this now..." She took a deep breath. Soon, her usual shrewd and capable demeanor returned—she once again became Kal'tsit, the one who showed no emotion whatsoever, almost like a machine. Then, she nodded to Warfarin.

"Thank you, Warfarin. I know what to do."

However, Warfarin simply shook her head vigorously.

"I think you don't understand at all, Kal'tsit."

"I'm just asking you, what are you planning to do after you go back?"

"Do what I have to do." Kal'tsit replied, regaining her composure. "The numerous medical matters within Chernobog, the pacification of the unstable population, and the negotiations with the surrounding mobile city-states... there are still many matters to handle within Rhodes Island. And all of these depend on me..."

"You really don't understand this kind of thing at all, Kal'tsit." Warfarin covered her forehead, looking gloomy. "Simply running away won't help. I originally thought that your high intelligence would at least be of some use in this area. But as expected, you are far, far behind Persephone."

She spat lightly.

"Tsk, do you know who told me you were here?"

"You've clearly drawn a line, yet while contacting me, you also told Warfarin that Kal'tsit might need help—Surtr, I thought you really intended to sever all ties with Kal'tsit and become complete strangers from now on."

At the top of a building somewhere, Miss Surtr, still in flight, quietly landed. Persephone had been waiting there for some time and greeted her with the words mentioned above.

"I'm quite curious why you would want to start all over again— Kal'tsit had already shown you affection before you went back to the previous timeline. Didn't that kiss hold any appeal for you?"

"Indeed not." Miss Surtr leaned on her sword, answering with a hint of melancholy. "People are easily swayed by emotions and impulses, leading them to do things that are irrational or contrary to their own conscience. That kiss only proved one thing to me: that I was valuable to her and to Kal'tsit. Of course, there might have been some... special emotions involved. But unfortunately, I didn't feel any of them at the time."

She sighed.

"Both she and I were a bit irrational at that time. That kiss... was a bit shocking. But I wouldn't have accepted it then, in that place."

The Flame-haired maiden gently clenched her fist.

"There's only one thing I'm certain of, and I need to be certain of: Kal'tsit doesn't actually hate me as much as she usually does... at least not as much as I expected. That's why she used such an impulsive method, which is both emotional and rational, to try and keep me after that. And that's enough. It's enough to prove that we can continue to be ordinary business partners in the future."

"Just a collaboration?" Persephone an eyebrow slightly. "If we strike while the iron is hot, something good might happen."

"Let's forget about that," Miss Surtr waved her hand. "A toad shouldn't dream of eating swan meat. Sharing a hunting ground with a swan is already a good outcome; there's no need to ask for more. Now that it's confirmed Kal'tsit has no real ill intentions towards me, let's just maintain this respectful distance from now on. After all..."

Surtr, in his new house, leaned back at a 45-degree angle.

"Even I would feel some resentment after being treated so badly for such a long time."

Chapter 85 Openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass

As the saying goes, a simp never dies a good death.

In their past Arknights, online viewers, to save face for their sycophants, changed "die well" to "house." But in reality, there's not much difference—being homeless and dying without a burial place are essentially the same. And since Miss Surtr was a completely incapable smooth talker in her past life, in this life... she naturally won't fare much better.

She didn't want to be a simp, and she couldn't stand foul language.

After all, "foul-mouthed" is just a euphemism. Essentially, it's just profanity and sarcastic remarks. Online, it might be used to spout things like "ultimate foul-mouthedness, ultimate enjoyment," venting and generally resulting in a war of words. But in real life, people who habitually use foul language in social situations either end up withdrawn and isolated due to poor interpersonal relationships, or become frequent visitors to hospitals and clinics—unless they're armed with an Iron Man suit.

There's no way around it. You can't usually get physically assaulted for swearing online. But in real life, saying the wrong thing can really get you punched.

Miss Surtr currently possesses the hardest fist in the world, and in principle—or according to her usual behavior—she should retaliate immediately against anyone who insults her, and then, depending on the severity of the situation, send them half-paralyzed or have their head explode—that's what she always does, but Kal'tsit is the only exception.

After all, the affairs of otaku are somewhat complicated.

However, even among otaku, not every one of them is a masochist, nor is every one of them meek and submissive. For example, Miss Surtr from her past life utterly disliked troublesome and spoiled brats like Haruhi Suzumiya who only caused chaos, and people like Aria who could practically be categorized as trash—

—Her high tolerance for Kal'tsit is partly due to her innate fondness for the fictional Kal'tsit. Another reason is that she knows the game Kal'tsit has a similar character design and personality. She can tolerate Kal'tsit's capriciousness because she knows that while Kal'tsit is venting her bad temper, she is also carrying a lot of pressure and secrets.

Anyone who's ever been a corporate slave knows what it feels like to be crushed by work. Therefore, based on this, she had exceptionally high patience for Kal'tsit, that Foul-mouthed Lynx. After all, Miss Surtr was someone who wanted a happy ending, and in her plan, she would take over Kal'tsit's burdens, liberate this woman who carried too much, and bring a smile to her face. This was also one of the tasks she had set for herself.

She thought she could handle it.

After all, it wasn't like she hadn't done things like unclogging toilets in Shisongzhuang before.

The problem is, even if she were sent to Tenpine Manor to unclog toilets, in the Fallout universe, the quest giver would at least respectfully address her as "General," and she'd receive a reward and a greeting afterward. But with this giant cat, Miss Surtr received absolutely nothing!

Nothing at all!

The reason a person can happily be a tool is because they find enjoyment in it. But that doesn't mean that just because someone calls themselves a tool and actually does the work of a tool, they can truly tolerate being treated as a tool by others!

She couldn't stand it, and didn't want to. Even if goodwill and tolerance weren't directly related to her, she had her own way of dealing with it and her own attitude!

So naturally, when patience, enjoyment, and the self-congratulatory sense of mission have all been exhausted, the current situation is the inevitable outcome.

After her self-analysis and the 45-degree backward lean in the new room, Miss Surtr stretched her waist and returned to a normal posture.

She drew a conclusion.

"In short, that's how my relationship with Kal'tsit is. Although I still don't understand why she always treats me differently, I can at least confirm that she doesn't hate me and needs my strength. This proves that Rhodes Island's future operations will not be affected by our disagreements. So I've decided to keep my distance from her."

"Setting boundaries is good for both of us. She won't have to get angry when she sees me, and I won't have to endure her nagging and complaints anymore. From now on, if she has any requests, she can just edit them through PRTS and then pass them on to me. There's no need for us to have much direct contact on a material level— Persephone, PRTS can handle that, right?"

She said this firmly, and it was clear that she had no intention of leaving any room for maneuver.

Since she had made up her mind, the Doctor from Rhodes Island simply raised an eyebrow slightly and then gave his response.

"The PRTS code can indeed be adjusted. However, some aspects still require hardware assistance from Rhodes Island itself before it can be fully operational— Surtr, do you no longer even want to hear Kal'tsit's voice?"

"No, not at all." The fiery-haired Sarkaz shook his head slightly, his gaze shifting to some unknown place in the dark night sky. After the fireworks of this impromptu festival ended, several impromptu celebrations and clearance sales were taking place in the Chernobog residential area. The faint sounds of noise then drifted on the night breeze, bringing the city's vitality to their ears.

"Strictly speaking, my opinion of Kal'tsit has improved a bit, or rather, somewhat—after all, I used to think she hated me, so I tried very hard to repair the relationship. But now it turns out that her dislike for me isn't as strong as I expected, so naturally I need to change my strategy for interacting with her. And my opinion of her as a person will also change. Hmm..."

"... It's like someone who hated me and might do something irrational at a crucial moment has become a colleague who just has a bad temper and a bad relationship with me, but won't neglect work...?"

"I see." Persephone nodded, picked up the unidentified drink beside her and took a sip. "You don't hate her, you just feel there's no need to 'repair the bad relationship with her' so you've distanced yourself from her—thankfully, it seems Kal'tsit can still be saved, she's not a dead cat after all."

"Don't talk like I would hurt her, Persephone," the red-haired fellow complained loudly. "My affection and respect for her haven't diminished. I'm just... a little tired, and I've decided that our previous way of getting along needs to be changed. The current approach is better for both of us than before."

This good-for-nothing, who only had the guts but no heart for sex, sighed deeply.

—To be honest, I kind of regret it. I should have accepted that kiss and then gone back in time—I've never kissed a girl in my life! Damn it, this darn sense of responsibility of mine. I've been single for so many years, and I was finally about to experience something sweet...

—Aaaaaah! The meat's practically in your mouth, and you still don't know to eat it first? Don't you know you can't deny it after you've eaten it?! Surtr, you piece of trash!

The waste stopped sighing, but instead turned his gaze away with melancholy.

"Alright, let's leave the topic of Kal'tsit here... Persephone, what was with those fireworks just now? Were you covering for me?"

"It's just a very ordinary precaution," Persephone replied, gesturing slightly with her hand to signal Miss Surtr to leave the building with her. "I knew you were going to see Kal'tsit when you walked out the door, and the probability of you and Kal'tsit parting on bad terms always existed. So I made preparations in advance and arranged this temporary festival when the fire alarm went off, to cover up the traces of your power outburst."