Arknights, but the Family Has Fallen into Decline Again and Again and Again

Oute glanced at W and directly equipped the Stone of Speed on her.

Feeling power surge into her, W gripped her dagger warily, her other hand quietly reaching behind her back.

"Oute! There's something nearby! It boosted my strength!"

She told Oute immediately—just as she had immediately sought answers from the "amnesiac" Oute when she had seen the moon not long ago.

Kal'tsit silently sighed.

She said, "When the first victim kneels and prays to their tormentor, the world's earliest tyrant is born. Congratulations, W. From the perspective of reenacting history, you at least took Hedley's lessons to heart."

"You old hag! Wait..." W shot Oute a suspicious look. "Was that your... Originium Arts?"

"Why have you never used them on us before!?"

Before Oute could answer, Kal'tsit quickly fobbed W off. "Queens have the value of queens, and soldiers have the value of soldiers. Before reaching the threshold of transformation, how could a mere pawn draw a player's attention?"

"Kal'tsit! Don't hold me back! I'm going to—" W looked around. Not only was no one stopping her, the cat-backed Mon3tr had even slipped up behind her like a ghost.

A malicious growl came from its maw.

It seemed Mon3tr was still hoping W would actually make a move.

But the Sarkaz girl appeared to know when to back down.

She said resentfully, "I'll let you off today!"

Oute quietly enjoyed the farce while marking the explored areas on his map.

Kal'tsit, however, noticed Oute's intentions. She whispered, "Are you planning to leave now?"

It seemed Kal'tsit had indeed realized that Oute possessed the means to leave at any time.

The process was entirely wrong, but the conclusion was completely right.

Her warm breath brushed against his ear, but Oute was somewhat baffled.

He sent a thought to her: Yes. There are still many things about the Interstice that remain unclear. Besides, we have other matters to deal with in reality. It would be safer to complete the initial exploration and map the area before considering whether to investigate further.

He had his own plans for how to develop the Interstice in depth. At present, what was more urgent for him was learning more about how his cheat worked in reality.

In other words, he needed to wrap up tonight's exploration as soon as possible and see whether he could bring FrostNova in tomorrow night...

And use the real world to accelerate Hamlet's further development?

That would have to wait until after Talulah.

But Kal'tsit did not see it that way at all.

In her eyes, the progress of exploring these ruins was tied to Oute's own mental state.

But Kal'tsit had no desire to say that outright.

Or rather, having completely misjudged the entire situation, was she simply unable to say it?

Offer Light to That Dark Altar!

Kal'tsit's lips moved slightly. "Trust me..."

Oute could see it clearly. She had wanted to bite her lower lip, but forcibly stopped herself.

He looked into Kal'tsit's eyes.

"If we continue exploring, we won't be able to leave anytime soon." Through Reynauld's Head, Oute sent his thoughts to her.

Meeting Oute's gaze, Kal'tsit nodded.

"It wasn't your turn yet, but it can be now."

After sending the thought, Oute stood up and put the hand-drawn map into his backpack.

He said to the others, "We can leave now, but our supplies are still plentiful. Is anyone interested in going deeper?"

W's expression turned strange. "You... actually..."

He had neither lied nor hidden anything. This Oute... felt unfamiliar, but not unpleasant.

Skadi nodded. "I don't mind."

Oute glanced at her.

An enthusiastic indifference?

Alina smiled as well. "I still want to spend more time with everyone."

W had been waiting for Kal'tsit to speak, only to notice that everyone was looking at her.

"What are you all looking at me for? We're dreaming anyway. If we're continuing, then let's continue!"

And so, the "party of adventurers" set out once more.

As the earliest and shallowest section of Darkest Dungeon, this area had no enemies worth the attention of Terra's beast-eared girls.

The ease and pleasure of max-level veterans strolling through a beginner village nearly made the party lower their guard.

Though Kal'tsit wanted the adventure to continue, and Oute had followed that suggestion, he had no intention of changing his own plans: there was no need to rush Hamlet.

He led the party around the outskirts of the ruins, clearing monsters, laying the dead to rest, purifying holy relics... and looting book collections. Unfortunately, one expedition only settled one mission trinket...

Perhaps because there were too many powerful fighters in the party, these weak beginner-dungeon monsters never even gave the beast-eared girls a chance to experience Darkest Dungeon's signature stress attacks.

"What a bore! Oute! These scraps aren't even worth your command!" W detonated explosives, burying a heavily armored skeleton warrior along with the skeleton swordsmen beside it.

This was only a beginner dungeon, after all.

And Kal'tsit had yet to find the "fragment of self" she had been yearning for.

That only made her more agitated.

"Mon3tr! Collect samples!"

At Kal'tsit's command, Mon3tr's blade split open a worm so massive that even the people of Terra found it astonishing.

Suppressing her impatience, she expressionlessly preserved some of the worm's tissue samples.

Specter, who had returned to Oute's side with Skadi, specifically called out to him. "My lord!"

Specter was especially valiant in battle, but she still did not like to speak much.

The nun pointed with her circular saw at a vague structure beyond the torchlight.

Two curved components roughly formed an S-shape, with a dark-red gem set between them. The plaque beneath it read: "The sacrifice of fire is the beginning of destruction! If you desire the power of the void, offer up a torch!"

In the game, it was an interactive object. Interacting with it correctly would earn one a precious Ancestor trinket.

Oute's DNA stirred. He wanted to shove a torch into it right now.

"W, you called them scraps just now, didn't you?" Oute asked eagerly. "Interested in dealing with some real seafood?"

Skadi looked at Oute.

W clicked her tongue and asked back, "Will you pay extra?"

W was merely talking trash, but Oute said, "I already paid this afternoon, didn't I?"

Hearing that "probe," Kal'tsit abruptly turned her head. Flecks of green fluid splattered from the worm's dissected body beside her.

He realized it?

W rather enjoyed this mode of conversation.

She retorted, "That's one thing and this is another. Rhodes Island helped me deal with Garson, and I've already paid you back!"

Noticing the crack in Kal'tsit's expression again, W immediately understood and burst out laughing. "What? So the old hag never told you!"

But Oute said, "Judging by the timing, Kal'tsit had not yet fully trusted the current me when she took the initiative to rescue that group of refugees."

"At the time, she still held considerable hostility toward me, much like you do now."

Theresa...

W's pretty face went cold. "What seafood are we dealing with?"

She did not want to discuss this topic.

Oute took a torch from Alina and walked over to the altar.

"Skadi, Specter, get ready."

W frowned. Didn't you just ask whether I was interested?

The flame licked at the dark-red gem, and it soon glowed crimson. The glowing gem in turn sucked at the torch, devouring every last wisp of flame and every trace of light, growing brighter and brighter.

The gem's radiance stood out brilliantly against the liquid-like darkness surrounding it.

That water-like darkness filled the entire space, sending the six-person party reeling. Then, a horrifying figure darted out from within it!

When they regained their footing, they found themselves in the middle of a sea of stars.

Icy stars watched them like countless eyes staring at the dead. Light was everywhere, yet that distant, cold glow could not illuminate even a palm-sized patch of ground!

Everything shone, yet the darkness was terrifying.

This cosmic scene left W at a loss.

Oute! Oute! You bastard! Where are we? What's going on?

Amid a nauseating squelching sound, W located a gigantic monster in the false starry sky.

Its body was tall and twisted. Where its eyes should have been were clusters of red sacs that served a similar function, flickering on and off. Several hardened, spike-like tentacles pierced diagonally upward from behind its head like hair.

Its grotesque, alien teeth protruded from its mouth, while its slick, aquatic-looking skin was mottled with large patches of sickly purple and black.

Sharp claws extended from the ends of its tentacles, glimmering with poisonous light. Beneath its layers of bloated flesh, countless malformed and twisted limbs—impossible to tell whether they were organs for secreting bodily fluids or pseudopods—writhed in a dizzying manner, supporting its movement.

Just looking at it made one want to vomit.

Interacting with it correctly meant summoning and killing a Shambler.

Amid the chaos, the Abyssal Hunters swung their vicious weapons, contending against this enormous evil god.

"W! Protect Doc Otter!"