Chlorine Sodium's Arknights

Alright, so the targets for causing trouble are all set.

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Hate points are at zero.

Another day of poverty with no hate points, I'm awake!

Still no hate points today! .jpg

While Chlorine Sodium is a very patient person, after coming here for so many days and still not finding the true protagonist, it's definitely a blow to morale.

I need to pick up the pace. At the very least, I need to figure out who the protagonist is before I sink too much in sunk costs and start losing money.

After all, the protagonist poses too great a threat. The title of Child of the World isn't just for show. If I don't handle this cautiously, I could be in trouble in minutes.

"Better safe than sorry," and I personally prefer a steady approach. That's how I turned 200,000 points into 8.78 million points.

But...

Has this kid developed some weird fetish?

Why does she keep aiming for the bridge of people's noses!?

Looking at the wooden carvings on the training dummy, which resembled faces and were of unknown origin, and then at the cracks on the bridge of the carved face's nose, it was clear that Yelena hadn't slacked off on her practice. But...

Is this spot a bit strange????

What is this, some kind of temporal intersection?

Glancing at Yelena's chest, Chlorine Sodium felt it wasn't that extreme.

Someone codenamed 42 and a Shenzhou tablet are on their way to silence us. .jpg

"Let's take a break. We can deal with what comes next later."

Chlorine Sodium had long since shed her Herrscher state, still maintaining that cold expression, but she was still the clumsy older sister.

She placed a hand on the girl's hair and ruffled it a few times, turning Yelena's long hair into a bird's nest.

"Don't mess with my hair."

Ignoring little Yelena's soft protest, Chlorine Sodium continued.

"Speaking of which, the old saying goes, 'work and rest go hand in hand' ... How about we go into the city next week?"

"...Huh?!!"

ps: What a long three-day holiday [slumped]

Chapter 21: Don't Ask About the Past

The central city, Ursus's territory spans the southeastern continent, bordering Kazdel and Kazimierz.

Unlike the south and north, which focus on industry and agriculture, the central region acts as a transition between the two, featuring the northern snowfields and the southern spring.

Among the mobile city-states of the central region, one is currently docked on the snowfield, serving as an important transportation hub for trade between the two sides.

And because it's a transportation hub, it's naturally a gathering place for merchants.

Nobles, merchants, in short, it's a hub for the elite and respectable, filled with the scent of trade and money.

This is also one of the few relatively prosperous areas in the central region.

"I messed up. This is truly a failure."

The silver-haired girl looked at the map of Ursus that came with the promotional material she bought from the street. Chernobog wasn't in the central region, but in the eastern corner.

That means there's still a long way to go.

This is such a failure.

"Like this, can we really not be discovered... Or, maybe we should just leave."

A timid, almost cute voice came from behind her. It belonged to a girl hiding behind the first girl, also silver-haired but with a completely different aura.

She looked small, and the slightly older one appeared to be her sister.

But why doesn't the silver-haired girl have any racial features on her head?

Yes, after all, Chlorine Sodium is not a demi-human, so she only has hair on her head, no other extraneous demi-human features.

Of course, there are similar species in this world, so her passport lists her as Iberian. Marine creatures don't seem to have many outward racial characteristics.

Her boss really thought of everything.

As for Yelena.

Older women who pass by tend to dote on children. They would smile warmly at FrostNova, greet the little girl, or try to cheer her up.

Just like any ordinary child on the street.

It's the holiday season, and there are more children on the street.

But no one knows that just a few days ago, the girl was on the freezing snowfield, learning to control her power so as not to continuously unleash a deadly cold current.

But now, the girl's attire is just like any other child you'd see on the street.

A white short winter coat, short silver-white hair casually styled, and a little bear hairpin holding back her ear hair, allowing her ears to reappear from beneath the silver locks.

The gray and black gradient winter coat was worn over a white shirt.

Beneath the black stockings were a pair of black boots. An orange-red scarf wrapped around half of the girl's face, making her appear even smaller.

There were no excessive decorations, no makeup, only the most innocent side of a child.

However, the girl was a bit timid and shy in a street corner, always hiding behind Chlorine Sodium.

This was normal. Children, especially little girls, tend to be introverted.

Yet, her gray eyes, if anyone looked closely, held fear.

Her slightly narrowed pupils reflected the Ursus military police conducting checks on the street.

It was a fear from the heart, or rather.

Guilt.

"The more you're afraid, the more likely you are to give yourself away. Don't worry, these military police don't have any detection equipment."

Chlorine Sodium took the girl's hand, ignoring the surrounding Ursus military police.

While she said it to comfort the girl, it was actually to prevent her from being discovered and causing trouble.

There were Ursus military police everywhere here. She could easily dismember them into pieces in an instant, but that would mean she could no longer hide her identity.

Fortunately, based on their attire, Yelena had already avoided the risk of being an Infected. After all, "Infected" was just a label. The treatment for Infected nobles and commoners was vastly different.

No one ever saw an Infected noble in the mines, not because there weren't any among the nobles, but because no one dared to investigate.

Reality was both absurd and cruel.

However, in the eyes of ordinary people, the only way to detect the Originium infection was through the crystalline formations on the surface of the body.

After all, the infection rate of Originium infection was irreversible, and its symptoms were irreversible. Regardless of how it happened, the progression from low to high infection rate was only a matter of time. One could only choose not to use their abilities to suppress the condition, or to accelerate it with overloaded abilities. There was still no known cure.

And Originium infection also had very obvious symptoms.

The Originium crystals on the body were fused with the flesh and skin. It wasn't that no one had tried to remove the external crystals.

But it was as painful as tearing off one's own skin. These crystals didn't just grow on the skin; they burrowed deep into the bones and flesh.

However, this was no challenge for Chlorine Sodium. Who was she? She had spent a large sum of Originium to exchange for an enhanced version of the Herrscher of the Void's body. Simply finding a way to suppress the spread of the Originium infection within an individual was possible.

Of course, in her words.

The Originium infection hadn't improved at all; she had only changed it so that the crystals wouldn't protrude from the body.

Of course, this was only under the condition that she didn't use Originium Arts. Once these crystals were stimulated, they would revert to their original state.

But, this was good enough.

Even so, this was beyond what little Yelena could have imagined.

Being able to appear on the streets of Ursus like this was something she never dared to dream of.

Lowly Infected were only fit to stay in the wilderness, to be slowly consumed by nature.

They had no place to go; the only familiar thing was the snowfield.

But now, all of this felt like a dream.

"Don't mind the military police. You're a respectable person on the streets of Ursus now."

Chlorine Sodium led the girl away from the street.

As expected, the burly military police merely glanced at the passing little Yelena, paying her no mind.

He didn't notice! He really didn't notice!!

Military police typically chose to investigate people who looked shifty and guilty, or those who were dressed in rags. The former looked suspicious, and the latter might be Infected.

Infected were generally poor and downtrodden, easily recognizable.

As for where this outfit came from, and the origin of the documents in Yelena's pocket, and the money, her sister simply put a finger to her lips.

Some things were better left unknown.

So mysterious.

"Don't worry about these things. Think about what you want to eat later. We might not be staying here tonight."

The silver-haired girl, while pulling her along, looked at the map in her right hand and murmured.

"Where are we going?"

"Chernobog. It's not too far from here, so we need to leave soon..."

"...Before the blizzard."

She had accidentally heard a disaster weather warning on the radio earlier. This land was truly full of malice, not only barren but also prone to natural disasters.

This time, it wasn't a natural disaster as the people of Ursus called it, but an impending blizzard.

If they wanted to leave early, they had to do so before the blizzard arrived.

As the girl was thinking this, the left hand holding Yelena's suddenly stiffened.

?

Yelena didn't know why she stopped. The silver-haired girl turned her head and saw the other girl staring blankly at an advertisement on a storefront.

What is she looking at... a hamburger?

"This is... a hamburger?"

A hamburger for 3.75 rubles was a bit expensive in an era where a tram ride cost only 3 rubles.

But the place was still crowded, as it was the only establishment from Columbia in the area, and had been for twenty years.

The shop was full of people, and eyes were everywhere. Yelena had always been alone, and even with her sister beside her, she was accustomed to wandering the snowy plains. Suddenly being in such a dense crowd made her sensitive nerves almost make her flee.

After all, nearly half her childhood had been spent in the hardship of the mines, and when she finally got out, she had only wandered through deserted villages on the snowy plains.

Having spent so long in desolate environments, Yelena could no longer adapt to urban settings.

There were too many people!

Finally, after finding a spot in a corner, the girl managed to calm down.

"Why did you suddenly want to eat this?"

Her sister asked, propping her chin with one hand and looking boredly out the window.

However, the girl didn't reply, remaining silent.

Looking at the item in her hands, a legendary food she had heard of, it didn't feel real to hold it.

It was just two slices of bread with a few pieces of meat in between.

Little Yelena took a bite, half-believing, half-doubting.