What Happened to the Delta Force We Were Promised? Why Did It Turn into Arknights?

"You mean Alina?"

"That's right. Whenever she goes out to trade for supplies, she barely has anyone with her."

"This... Wait, what's that sound?"

The squeaking of hydraulics suddenly came from the woods, and several Infected turned toward its source in unspoken unison.

The next second, Han Fei emerged from the forest in an inspector's uniform and smiled at the Infected. "Hello, you little ungrateful brats."

Someone among the Infected recognized Han Fei and cried out in shock, "It's you!"

"All right, I'm not interested in wasting words on you. Time to hit the road."

With a flick of his right hand, a Spinning Blade appeared in Han Fei's palm, and he hurled it out.

The flying Spinning Blade struck the foremost Infected with perfect accuracy before exploding, its blades scattering in every direction and drawing out a chorus of agonized wails.

"You?!"

The foremost Infected endured the pain and shouted, "Talulah said she'd let us go!"

"Yeah, Talulah agreed to let you go."

Han Fei nodded, then curled his lips into a smile and asked, "But what does that have to do with me, Han Fei?"

"Damn it, you—"

Shadow Edge's blade sliced precisely across his throat, cutting his words short.

Heart-to-Heart

Gunfire carried a long way. Han Fei did not want the people in the village to discover that he had come out here to kill these Infected.

So Shadow Edge's blade had become his only choice.

The triple grenade launcher was out of the question. Its explosions were far too loud, carrying even farther than gunfire.

With each rise and fall of his blade, the Infected collapsed to the ground one after another, their breathing gone.

"I'm exhausted."

Han Fei bent down and wiped the blood from Shadow Edge with the clothes of a corpse. Then he stood up and frowned. "What should I do with these bodies? Dig a pit and bury them? But I don't have any tools."

"Let the wind and snow bury them."

The sudden female voice startled Han Fei. He turned around and met FrostNova's gaze.

Han Fei could not help feeling awkward. Scratching his cheek, he said, "When did you get here?"

"Earlier than you think."

FrostNova strode up to Han Fei, lowered her head to glance at the corpses, and said, "So, can you tell me why?

"They had only just left when you followed them out. From the start, you never intended to let them go."

"Uh..."

Han Fei was momentarily speechless, unsure how to answer.

He truly had no way to tell FrostNova the truth. Was he supposed to tell her that he had seen the future, knew they would commit unforgivable sins later, and had therefore struck first?

That was a little too absurd.

Han Fei's silence brought a flicker of disappointment into FrostNova's eyes. She said softly, "You can't tell me? I thought we were friends."

"I don't know when you arrived, and I don't know whether you heard their conversation." Han Fei sighed. "They planned to hurt Alina, so I killed them."

Han Fei was indeed not as kind as Alina. Before her death, she had not wanted Talulah to be consumed by hatred, and had refused to tell Talulah who had hurt her.

But Han Fei was different. He felt no burden at all over killing those people.

After all, Han Fei's time here was limited. A countdown still hung in his field of vision, and he had only seventy-seven hours left.

It sounded like a lot, but in reality, it was only a little over three days.

He could not wait until those people hurt Alina, then put on some hero-saves-the-beauty act.

Setting aside how much time that would waste, what if those bastards did not make a move within those three days? Wouldn't he have to find them all over again before he evacuated?

It was better to strike first and erase a potential threat.

What the hell are you babbling about? Hand over your life!

FrostNova stared straight into Han Fei's eyes. "You still haven't answered my question. You followed them from the very beginning, as if you knew what they were about to do."

Han Fei was speechless again. As he met FrostNova's gaze, he could see an unmistakable expectation in the girl's eyes.

She was waiting for him to tell the truth.

It left Han Fei torn, and for a moment, he did not know where to begin.

After waiting a long time without receiving an answer, the expectation in FrostNova's eyes gradually turned into disappointment, plain for all to see. She lowered her head and said softly, "If you don't want to tell me, that's all right. I understand. Everyone has things they can't speak of."

Seeing FrostNova's disappointment filled Han Fei with the guilt of having let down a girl's heart.

The feeling lingered in his chest, impossible to shake off.

So Han Fei took a deep breath and said, "If I told you I've seen the future and saw Alina's fate, would you think I was being absurd?"

FrostNova raised her head and looked into Han Fei's eyes, as though she wanted to peer through the windows of his soul and see the thoughts hidden deep inside his heart.

When FrostNova remained silent, Han Fei continued, "If I hadn't killed them and allowed them to wander the Tundra, the trouble they would cause later would be far more serious than you imagine."

If Alina had not died, Talulah would not have fallen so easily afterward.

As Talulah's closest friend, Alina could greatly ease Talulah's psychological burden. Calling her a spiritual mentor would not have been an exaggeration.

FrostNova still said nothing. Only when Han Fei was about to say something else did she slowly ask, "Was that your motive?"

"That's right."

Han Fei looked utterly composed. "That was my motive. Even if you don't believe me, if I had to do it again, I'd still make the same choice."

"No. I believe you."

FrostNova's words completely threw Han Fei off. Everything he had been about to say caught in his throat.

"I told you, I arrived earlier than you think. I heard their conversation too, and I knew they wanted to take revenge on Alina. So from the beginning, I never thought you were slaughtering innocents."

Without waiting for Han Fei to speak, FrostNova continued, "I've never thought of you as some bloodthirsty villain. In my heart, you've always been a kind, good person.

"When you were willing to use such precious medicine to treat my family, you didn't even blink."

FrostNova spread open her left hand and gazed at her palm. "You also gave me the warmth I had always wanted, even if it only lasted for a brief moment."

She raised her head again and looked into Han Fei's eyes. "I just don't like the feeling of not being trusted. You clearly said we were friends.

"And I truly do consider you a very important friend."

Han Fei said softly, "I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize to me."

FrostNova raised her hand and lightly covered Han Fei's lips. "I should be the one apologizing. Was I being too forceful?"

"No."

Han Fei paused, then added, "It's not that I don't trust you. I was just afraid you wouldn't be willing to believe me. After all, my motive sounds bizarre."

"It does, a little."

A faint curve touched FrostNova's lips, her smile blooming like the petals of a snow lotus suddenly unfurling.

"But I said I believe you."

Seeing that, Han Fei let out a sigh of relief. He had truly been worried that FrostNova would become estranged from him over this.

"Can you keep it a secret for me?" Han Fei asked. "About this matter, and the motive I told you about."

"I can."

FrostNova nodded slightly. "No one will learn anything about what happened just now from me. I promise you."

Han Fei said, "Thank you so much."

If Talulah found out about this, who knew what kind of changes it might cause.

After all, the current Talulah was still kind Talulah, not the corrupted one.

If it had been corrupted Talulah, would Han Fei even have needed to deal with those troublemaking Infected himself? They would have died back at the stronghold long ago.

Just then, a pair of fluffy white rabbit ears naturally extended toward Han Fei.

At the same time, the girl's deliberately lowered voice drifted into Han Fei's ears on the wind.

"As compensation, you can touch my ears."

News

"Why is that compensation?"

As he spoke, Han Fei reached out and stroked FrostNova's fluffy rabbit ears.

"After calming down." FrostNova lowered her head. "I reflected on myself and felt more and more that I had been too forceful just now."

"It was all right."

After satisfying himself, Han Fei withdrew his hand and said, "Still, I wouldn't mind more compensation like this."

FrostNova raised her head and chuckled. "Don't be too greedy."

Han Fei shrugged, then looked at the corpses. "What do we do with these bodies? I don't have anything to dig a pit with."

"Then leave them. Let their bodies nourish this land."

FrostNova glanced at the corpses lying on the ground, a trace of disgust flashing through her eyes.

As the leader of the Yeti Squad, FrostNova had always treated her companions like family. She deeply despised traitors like these.

Their mistakes could be forgiven. Everyone made mistakes.

But after making mistakes, instead of wanting to repent, they had been consumed by thoughts of revenge.

People like that truly deserved to die.

Han Fei thought about it and nodded. "That works."

Normally, bodies were buried to prevent plague. But on the Tundra, the bitter cold would naturally freeze corpses, making it difficult for bacteria to breed. There was naturally no risk of plague.

With the matter settled, FrostNova said, "All right, let's go back."

"Wait."

Under FrostNova's gaze, Han Fei jogged over and searched every one of the corpses.

Of course he had to loot the bodies. These Infected might have been poor, but what if one of them dropped something good?

However, judging by the results, that "what if" really was a one-in-ten-thousand chance.

Han Fei finished looting them, but there was not a single thing worth picking up.

FrostNova looked at the returning Han Fei, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "You even searched them?"

"If I don't search, where will I get my little bit of cash?" Han Fei said righteously. "I'm already doing knife runs. What right do I have to be picky?"

The most important rule of being a knife runner was not to look down on containers. Some containers had terrible drop rates, but if you searched them, at least there was still a chance of finding something. If you skipped them just because their drop rates were low, then you definitely would not find anything.

Yellow crates, laptops, you know?

The same went for enemy packs and containers. If you didn't search them, where would you get big reds?

"I really don't understand you." FrostNova shook her head. "Can we go back now?"

"Let's go."

Han Fei stretched lazily and headed toward the stronghold with FrostNova.

Since they had not chased them very far, the two soon returned to the village at the stronghold.

As soon as they entered, an Infected greeted them. "Big Sis FrostNova, Doctor Han Fei, you're back."

Han Fei turned his head and saw that it was a member of the Yeti Squad.

The Yeti Squad was close to FrostNova, so Han Fei naturally did not put on a cold front. He smiled and replied, "Yeah, we went out to take care of something."

"Doctor Han Fei, come have dinner with us later." The Yeti invited him. "A lot of people want to thank you in person."

Han Fei was already mooching meals, so it did not matter where he ate. He agreed, "Sure. I'll come find you later."