Arknights, but the Family Has Fallen Again, Again, Again — 46

But how could that be true?

Father's Originium altar was certainly useful, but that did not mean every Sarkaz legend was real!

What was more, the Sarkaz before her had specifically emphasized, "Not Sarkaz"!

If Father learned of this, with how stubborn he was, he might become even less willing to... do what had to be done.

If Oute could read FrostNova's thoughts right now, he would surely be overjoyed:

Patriot had already resolved to get rid of "Talulah" when "Talulah" gave Mephisto that de facto order to slaughter the city.

It was only that this stubborn old soldier did not want to make a farce of "the Heavenly Father killing the Heavenly Brother," causing the Reunion Movement's banner to fall. He had to use someone else's banner and name to execute this leader who had already "changed."

Even his adopted daughter, "FrostNova," could not understand what the Wendigo was thinking... much less anyone else.

FrostNova could not hope that W's words were true.

It was too "wonderful," enough to solve all her troubles at once, which was precisely why Elena had no intention of believing it.

She merely took a deep breath, shook her head, and said regretfully, "If that were true..."

"W, Talulah is in the command tent. She's waiting for you." FrostNova added, "We are powerless to change Talulah's decision. We only hope you can look after Sasha."

"The leader of those phantom crossbowmen?" W gave FrostNova an amused look. "Is he your little brother or something?"

"They were both children Talulah... both children she saved." FrostNova did not answer directly. "They used to be good children."

"Go on. I won't stop you."

But as W brushed past her, she whispered, "Remember: at the end of the dream, in that decaying little town, you will see those superstitions... alive and well."

FrostNova found this baffling. When she turned around, she saw the Sarkaz girl tossing and catching her defensive dagger.

"Talking in riddles is so fun!" W said eagerly. "Got any more? Let me say them all at once!"

"Whether something is a riddle depends entirely on whether the listener possesses sufficient information."

"For example, even if we laid it out plainly, she still lacks enough information to understand the Interstice, to understand Hamlet."

"So it would be better to..."

"Stop, stop, stop! I asked you for more riddles, not for you to talk to me in riddles!"

Beyond this door is that Black Snake or whatever. Can you handle it? W thought.

"I do have enough answers, but the question is: what is your question?"

"I mean, isn't that shameless snake the same kind as you?"

"That is a very serious accusation—I am far superior to her."

In ruling nations and conquering the world.

Forget starting in the Russian lands—even starting in Ryukyu, present-day Okinawa, would work just fine...

I always feel like you're on the wrong channel... Won't she notice all these problems with me?

Oute was concise. "You are Sarkaz."

For this race, having a soul tagging along with them was nothing strange. And after Oute gained a rudimentary grasp of necromancy, he realized that, from the perspective of souls, his influence on the heroes did not exist.

It was something... else.

"Damn it! Riddles again!?"

W pushed open the doors.

The makeshift command center offered pitiful warmth.

At the center of the hall, a fireplace was slowly but steadily converting firewood into heat.

However, compared to practicality, this ancient design was more of an ornament. Only beside the fireplace could one enjoy the slightest bit of warmth; three or five steps away, it was nearly as cold as everywhere else in the hall.

The firelight stretched the Draco woman's shadow long, all the way to W's face.

The Sarkaz girl could barely make out this "mother dragon's" features.

"W, you are a little younger than I imagined."

Before W could say something like, "You're older than I imagined," Oute stopped her. "Move the conversation along. We still have to go to Hamlet tonight."

"You..." W's words took a turn halfway through. "...You look well."

You look well?

As in, she had just been toyed with in the mental realm by a mysterious hooded figure two days ago and beaten into a mental breakdown?

Thankfully, the fireplace was still burning. Looking straight at her, "Talulah's" facial expression appeared somewhat blurred to W.

Oute sighed. Getting W to stop being sarcastic was nearly impossible.

"...You're full of energy. It would be even better if you had this much energy during the day."

She was referring to how W had stood still while her allies were in trouble during the day, only setting out at a leisurely pace after the Reunion Movement personnel had all been killed.

Of course, everyone knew that what Oute had done was just a tiny bit worse.

Just a tiny bit.

"Oh my, I only just took over the mercenary group. How could I possibly command them as easily as my own limbs? They killed one commander; they certainly wouldn't hesitate to kill another."

"I'm not like Garson. I have to consider their feelings."

The Draco woman neither confirmed nor denied it.

"You were not here during the earlier strategy meeting. Some matters I entrusted to Garson have now come to nothing. Even the wages I paid seem to have become part of his burial goods."

"Still, since he withheld military pay to the point of provoking a mutiny... perhaps I should distribute your wages personally from now on?"

W could no longer maintain her fake smile.

"It would be best if Sarkaz matters were handled by Sarkaz."

To a mercenary group, that was equivalent to stripping away their military authority.

After lightly knocking W down a peg, "Talulah" seemed to have confirmed her character.

She swiftly devised a line of persuasion "aimed" at W. "Speaking of which, Sarkaz, have you ever considered settling down?"

"Settling down? Other than trading blood for money, we can't do anything else."

We?

The Draco caught that point and adjusted slightly. "The future Chernobog will need its own dedicated military force."

"Sign a contract for fifty years, a hundred years, and we'd still be trading blood for money."

"Only this time, you would have a place to settle down. A place you could return to."

Why Did You Actually Leave When I Told You To!?

Damn, this shameless snake can really talk! W thought.

"Selling dreams is a leader's basic quality."

"Then why have you never sold me any!?"

"I am quite certain you have already eaten someone else's pie."

W frowned and paused, seemingly tempted by the dragon woman's proposal. Phantoms appeared to have already risen in her eyes.

But in the end, she gritted her teeth and spat, "Get to the point!"

It seemed she had almost had her.

Her acting was astonishing.

The dragon woman smiled, then turned toward the fireplace.

Black Snake ended up repeating the same lies: to get Chernobog running again, they had to extort Lungmen, but they would not really crash into it, and so on.

The assignments arranged in the end were also the same: serve as bait and assist Skullshatterer in recovering Misha.

But Black Snake paid an additional commission.

FrostNova had promised the vaults of Chernobog's banks in exchange for protecting Faust, while Black Snake paid another sum separately, settled in gold bars.

"Does having money make you so great?" W kicked another pebble.

"Strictly speaking, Black Snake is not merely wealthy," Oute replied. "I have already investigated. She was once a very powerful grand duke."

"In the west of Ursus territory, before Koschei was killed by Talulah, he had been the most influential person in that region."

"In Terra's modern political landscape, shaped by mobile cities, his authority within his own domain had even surpassed the Tsar's."

"Shut the hell up! I wasn't asking!" W cursed again.

Soon, she calmed down and said, "You're in the Lungmen slums now too, right? Is that really okay?"

"What problem could there be?"

"You only have one squad with you. In terms of physical ability alone, you can't even beat Alina!"

Oute sidestepped that awkward question. "Lungmen has its own armed forces."

"But Yan's control over its mobile cities is practically the strongest! That Wei guy only has a bunch of police under his command, right?"

This was a classic question whose answer was both yes and no. Wei Yenwu could indeed only deploy the Lungmen Guard Department, but it was not the only force at his disposal.

Since the cards in hand were still the same, Black Snake's decision was likewise somewhat familiar: infiltrate the city through Lungmen's refugee intake system.

And once inside, they would inevitably gather in the slums.

However, the Reunion Movement's original first wave had been intended to test the Lungmen Guard Department's response time. The personnel used were all the least valuable in Black Snake's eyes—indeed, she may even have intended to take over the Sarkaz mercenaries naturally after W kicked the bucket.

Now, Black Snake's first attack had gained an additional tactical objective: probing Oute's intelligence.

And this was a new mission, beyond what FrostNova had previously revealed to W.

Moreover, it seemed that "Talulah" had told W only about this mission.

"Talulah" put it rather bluntly. To W, who worked for money, she implied that so long as she could obtain exact information on Oute's Originium Arts, she could use Mephisto as a disposable pawn.