Filial Piety / You Matter Most

Cardigan belongs to the Pithram Tribe, a branch of "humans" with a closer connection to Originium, thus making them more similar to Oute.

Although the Cardigan had also lost its memory, the striking similarity was enough to pique the innocent child's interest in Oute.

"Doc Otter, here are the faxes and documents you requested." Amiya pulled them out from her bosom.

Oute glanced at it twice and nodded.

He put the parts order for the Winter Soldier II into the filing cabinet, but then took out the inkpad and pressed the Iron Crown emblem onto another document.

"Take this to W and have them go to the Engineering Department to pick up the power axe," Oute said.

"Okay!" Feeling a little guilty, and seeing that neither Oute nor Kal'tsit blamed her for spying, Amiya excitedly rushed out the door.

"Wait," Kal'tsit suddenly called out to the little rabbit.

Amiya's ears suddenly stood up, as if she had been quite frightened.

"After W and the others obtain the Power Axe, bring W along to the strategy meeting." Kal'tsit coughed lightly again. "Also, regarding what just happened..."

"I didn't see anything!"

Of course you didn't see anything. Knowing there were children outside, why would Kal'tsit do such a thing?

She said, "You need to be more self-aware in this regard: as the leader of Rhodes Island, you could have been directly involved in our conversations instead of secretly peeking from outside the door."

"Hahaha..."

But you two won't be affectionate in front of me!

Amiya chuckled and fled as if she were escaping.

Chapter 153 Filial Piety

"... You know your father's character better than I do. There's a good chance we'll have a small-scale clash with his troops. It won't escalate into bloodshed, but I still hope you're mentally prepared."

Oute's voice came from the depths of FrostNova's heart, which felt somewhat unusual.

FrostNova also personally attended the previous operational meeting via Oute's Reverse Mapping Protocol. She has a thorough understanding of Rhodes Island's current tactics.

Bypassing the Core City that is attacking head-on, intercept the dragon bones in the ruined city.

"Okay, I understand." Telepathic communication doesn't need to be spoken, but it took W quite a while to learn it, and FrostNova has only recently started using it.

The white rabbit twitched its ears and looked up at the night sky.

The complex and varied constellations mirrored her current state of mind: a tangled mess.

Oute only knew Patriot's temperament from a few words on the glass of her phone, but FrostNova had spent many years with her adoptive father... She knew that tomorrow was not just a "high probability" of conflict with Patriot —it was one hundred percent certain.

Even if...

FrostNova shook her head.

Even Patriot himself wanted to kill Black Snake, but he wouldn't back down until the two sides set up their battle lines and had a real fight.

This will only increase the difficulty of Wendigo's subsequent surgery!

She sighed in frustration.

Several cloaked yetis hid in the shadows of the tent, whispering amongst themselves.

"Why do you think my older sister has been acting so strangely these days?"

"You don't want to work for Talulah, huh... Didn't we already talk about this?"

"I still don't think it looks like it..."

"You lot!" FrostNova casually swung her sword-shaped staff, the sharp whistling sound seemingly echoing in the ears of the yetis, "We have to travel tomorrow! What are you doing here!"

They scattered like birds and beasts.

Despite being at a significant intelligence disadvantage, Black Snake still cleverly orchestrated Patriot and FrostNova's separate departures to "Number Fourteen Facility," which had been taken away by Chernobog's higher-ups. To make everything appear plausible, she deliberately staggered the departure times of the father and daughter.

On the surface, FrostNova is expected to take on defense duties after Patriot leaves.

In fact, shortly after Patriot set off, she made up a reason, claiming that Chernobog, and sent FrostNova to Number Fourteen Facility as well...

After accepting Oute's invitation and sharing some information, even FrostNova, who has little connection with intrigue, could easily see through the trickery.

Watching the Yetis disappear into the tent, she couldn't help but ask, "Isn't there any way to get Father to...?"

Far away in Rhodes Island, Oute was sitting shirtless on his bed, holding a PRTS terminal and calculating one spreadsheet after another.

Through FrostNova's eyes, he also looked at the Yetis.

Oute hasn't figured out yet how to build a simple and pure two-way mental link. Right now, he has to possess someone first to have a two-way conversation.

As he pondered a specific plan for distributing the Yetis, proposing and rejecting ideas repeatedly, he asked with surprise, "You should know more about Bohdrokasthim's character than I do!"

"But..." FrostNova hesitated, "Once a conflict breaks out, the chances of it happening without bloodshed are extremely slim!"

Kal'tsit, still in bed, turned her head, her delicate hand tracing the contours of Oute's body, finally pinching Oute chin. She remained expressionless as she said, "If we keep delaying bedtime, then tomorrow we'll have to give the Engineering Department an excuse about the Dream-Sleep Device malfunctioning."

In layman's terms: It's time to sleep.

This also implies her dissatisfaction with Oute possessing other girls in the middle of the night.

Oute, holding the lynx's soft hand, saved his work, nodded, and replied, "Right away."

He placed the terminal on the bedside table, pretending to be about to sleep.

Oute immediately said to FrostNova, who was thousands of miles away, "If you don't want any casualties in our conflict with the Patriot, I have another option."

What plan?

"You will experience some... shocks in the spiritual realm."

"A mental shock?" FrostNova asked, "You wouldn't...?"

Are they really going to pull some kind of Mind Flayer trick?

This was the unspoken second half of her statement.

So you now think Oute is Mind Flayer too?

Oute wasn't interested in such internal monologues. He said, "By accepting my power, one must also face the problems that come with it."

"When your mind is under too much pressure, it will no longer have a clear boundary—it will inevitably choose between two outcomes."

"In the worst-case scenario, you'll fall into a state of 'temporary madness' just like Mephisto did."

In other words, when the pressure is too much, it will explode—either exploding into torment or exploding into virtue.

As a long-time infected person, FrostNova has accumulated a lot of "pressure". If you put accessories on her as well, it will be easy to replicate what happened to Talulah, Mephisto and Alina.

Of course, if her face is fair enough, she might also be able to shed a few drops of "snot" from her eyes like W, and unleash a virtue—frankly speaking, such a low-probability event as unleashing virtue is something that Oute never considers as a first-line option.

But if FrostNova insists... he wouldn't mind switching to a backup plan in this less impactful corner.

Faced with this outcome, the white rabbit answered without hesitation, "I'm willing to accept either!"

Looking at Oute had been "on his way" for so long, Kal'tsit coldly pulled the blanket up a little, then ducked down slightly.

She seems a little angry.

Oute continued to FrostNova, "Furthermore, your body at the Interstice has largely recovered from the Originium Infection lesions, returning to the level of the initial infection stage."

"This has given us a lot of experience."

"However, patients with such a deep level of Originium infection have developed extremely specific characteristics."

Specificity?

Unfamiliar vocabulary that leaves one only half-understanding.

But FrostNova still managed to catch something.

The white rabbit remained silent for a long while before asking, "You mean, Father's surgery...?"

"We can certainly remove most of the lesions, but if we want him to be able to move around relatively healthily, we'll probably need his active cooperation."

It refers to accepting an invitation to Hamlet's hospital to meticulously prepare the meat sauce.

Now that the decision had been made to switch to the backup plan, Oute couldn't let FrostNova give up on the idea so easily.

Seeing that the cat was angry, Oute also sneaked into bed, not forgetting to use this as a final piece of leverage for FrostNova...

He said, "From this perspective, triggering your underlying psychological issues might actually help Mr. Bohdrokasthim to willingly accept the surgical plan."

Low Emotional Intelligence: The Demon Experiment

High emotional intelligence: surgical planning.

Chapter 154 You Are the Most Important

"Attention all units, this ship is slowing down and will soon come to a stop..."

The ship slowed down with a slight acceleration, but the Deepwinter Soldiers training on the deck could inexplicably feel their internal organs swinging like a pendulum inside their torsos.

In the chilly morning breeze, they trained with complete absorption, their movements powerful and precise, like machines—something just seemed off.

American cockroaches... The Sarkaz girl struck a classic hip-thrusting pose, glancing uncomfortably at the Ursus men still training on the deck.

This discomfort made W instinctively blurt out, "You stinky otter, what's gotten into you? You're using this kind of soldier?"

The formation was nothing unusual, but W's vague "inspiration" made her realize that the shadow of Oute was lurking in the hearts of the soldiers. Being possessed was one thing, but sensing Oute's presence in a violent gang beyond her control almost set off alarm bells in her mind.

After leaving the room, W, as if forcibly salvaging her dignity, said, "Although their training level looks barely acceptable, aren't their bodies far too thin?"

Wolf packs or Originium Slug swarms... hmm... which one to bet on?

Oute's expression was grave.

W assumed Oute was focused on his work, so she smoothed her hair to hide her embarrassment. She was relieved that Oute hadn't noticed her rambling, nonsensical ramblings.

But the Sarkaz who had boarded the ship with her, leaning on their axes, began to echo her in a very inappropriate manner.

"The boss is right! I can take on all six of them in one go!"

"Benda! It's a coupon!"

You're wrong too!