What Happened to the Promised Delta Force? How Did It Turn into Arknights? Chapter 4

"Don't worry too much."

Han Fei blinked and said, "I don't harbor any ill will toward the Infected. At the very least, I don't find being around you a burden.

"And you don't need to pay too much attention to me, either. I'm just a passing ru... scavenger. I'll be leaving soon, so you don't have to take me too seriously."

Han Fei had never intended to stay here for long. It wasn't that he held any prejudice against Talulah, Alina, or the others. In fact, if circumstances allowed, he really wouldn't have minded staying on the tundra a little longer.

There was no other reason—there were cute white bunnies here.

Sigh. Back then, the line "I voluntarily joined Rhodes Island" had cut deep.

But Han Fei had his own difficulties—every Delta Force operation had a time limit!

Unlike the thirty-minute limit of Normal Dam in the game, Han Fei had much more time for this "Normal Dam" run: a full five days!

But five days was neither particularly long nor particularly short. It was actually rather awkward.

It was too short for Han Fei to make a few friends on the tundra whom he could truly open his heart to, yet one hundred and twenty hours was still enough for him to accomplish quite a few things.

But no matter what, Han Fei had to leave after five days. Otherwise, he would MyGO—become lost.

As everyone knew, getting lost in Delta Force was equivalent to death. Everything would drop except what was in your crotch—that was, your secure container.

Han Fei didn't dare gamble his life on what getting lost would entail. Dying in a game only meant losing some Haf Coins. At worst, he could just start another run. Even if he went bankrupt, he could sell some red-tier loot or do a few knife runs, then gear up and start over.

But Han Fei was personally on the field now. Who knew whether he would get another chance if he died?

And if I can't, who am I supposed to complain to?

"Is that so? I..."

Talulah was cut off halfway through when a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

Then, with a creak, the wooden door was opened. The freezing wind howled into the room, sweeping up several bits of unburned pine resin by the fireplace. An Infected warrior stood in the doorway and called inside, "Talulah, something happened."

Talulah immediately rose to her feet and said to Han Fei, "I'll be right back."

Han Fei nodded in understanding. "Go ahead."

As the wooden door shut again, Talulah vanished into the cold wind.

The room abruptly fell quiet, leaving only the crackling of pine branches burning in the fireplace. Sparks fell onto the iron rack like deliberately muffled sighs.

Alina lowered her eyes to stare at her folded hands, unconsciously rubbing the frayed threads at her cuffs with her fingertips. Only after a long while did she look up, her voice so soft that it seemed afraid of disturbing the fire. "Talulah doesn't mean any harm. It's just that she now carries the future of many people on her shoulders, so she's become a little more cautious. Please don't take offense."

Han Fei smiled. "It's fine. I understand. Your situation isn't easy either. There's nothing wrong with being more careful around an outsider like me."

Alina's face brightened into a smile. "Thank you for understanding."

Looking at the gentle deer girl before him, Han Fei suddenly recalled her fate for some reason—her beauty fading away in death.

After hesitating slightly, Han Fei said, "I suggest that you bring more people with you whenever you go out in the future. In a situation like today's, those two boys might not be able to keep you safe."

"Thank you for the reminder."

Alina smiled and shook her head. "We don't have many companions to begin with. Talulah still has to fight the Infected Inspection Squad. If I take more people away, Talulah will be even more short-handed when she fights them."

"Then how about this?" Han Fei said. "I'll still be on the tundra for a few more days. During that time, I'll be your bodyguard."

"How could I accept that?" Alina hurriedly shook her head. "You have your own things to do. How can you spend all your time on me?"

"No, my backpack is already full. My goal for this trip has been accomplished, so I can do whatever I want with the time I have left." Han Fei shrugged.

That wasn't a lie. Han Fei's backpack only had fifteen slots. Including the eight-slot chest rig he had picked up, his two-slot secure container, and his pockets, he had a total of thirty slots—and they were already packed full.

Though none of it was particularly valuable, just green and blue fashionable trash, Han Fei was already satisfied with the tundra's Normal Dam drop rates.

Even if he kept scraping the ground for loot over the next few days, he would only be replacing the green trash he already had.

Rather than spend his time doing that, Han Fei felt he might as well use it to make up for the regrets he had had when playing Arknights.

Haf Coins could be earned again, but some people, once gone, would never come back.

"Even if you say that, I still don't feel right about it," Alina said. "Since you're a scavenger, you should be even less willing to waste your time on me. Besides, I'm just an ordinary girl. Why would I need your deliberate protection?"

Han Fei shook his head. "No, we'll do it my way. If you need to go out these next few days, call me. I'll go with you."

Alina was gentle but not weak. She did not accept Han Fei's kindness and insisted, "No. I appreciate your goodwill, but you truly don't need to waste your time on me."

Han Fei had wanted to keep persuading her, but the moment he saw the look in Alina's eyes, understanding suddenly dawned on him.

She was an exceptionally strong and intelligent girl. She had her own convictions, and no matter how much he said, he likely wouldn't be able to change her mind.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt. For a moment, Alina didn't know what to say to Han Fei, so she stood and walked to the fireplace. Picking up the iron tongs, she stirred the coals, sending clusters of sparks leaping up and weaving a curtain of fine golden rain between them.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long. Before long, Talulah pushed open the door and returned.

After entering, she took off her coat, hung it on the wall, and sat down across from Han Fei again.

Seeing Talulah return, Alina asked, "Is everything all right, Talulah?"

Talulah glanced at Han Fei but did not answer.

Han Fei immediately understood and stood up. "Should I step outside for a moment?"

After a brief silence, Talulah said, "No need."

"Are you sure?"

Han Fei remained standing as he looked at Talulah. "If it's something important, it would be better for me to excuse myself."

"It's nothing that can't be said."

Talulah spoke openly. "As you can see, supplies on the tundra are scarce. As more and more Infected join us, the amount of food each person receives becomes limited, and some people grow dissatisfied because of it."

Only then did Han Fei sit back down. "You haven't had it easy either. How about this? I'll be here for a few more days. If anything comes up during that time, just come find me."

Talulah looked him over from head to toe, skeptical. "You're a doctor?"

"Not exactly. I just have some healing ability."

As he spoke, Han Fei took out his stim gun. "Want to try a shot?"

Talulah stared at the stim gun for a while. Perhaps because of its color, the bright green medical stimulant gave her an inexplicable sense of reassurance.

Still, Talulah shook her head and declined. "I'm not injured. There's no need to waste precious medical resources on me."

Han Fei didn't force the issue. He turned to Alina instead. "Then why don't you try a shot?"

Alina instinctively pulled her hands back and shook her head. "I don't want one either."

"What happened to your hands?"

The movement was too obvious, and Han Fei's gaze instinctively fell on Alina's fair little hands.

"Just some frostbite," Alina said softly. "It's nothing serious."

The instant she finished speaking, a green stimulant dart struck her with perfect accuracy.

"Huh?"

Alina was instantly dumbfounded.

On the tundra, it was common for Infected lacking clothing and food to suffer frostbite. They simply endured it until it passed. She had never intended for Han Fei to use medical resources on her.

After all, that stim gun looked highly advanced. Anyone could tell it was valuable. Using it on her so casually really felt wasteful.

"How do you feel?" Han Fei asked as though nothing had happened.

Naturally, he did not care about such things. The ammunition for the stim gun, like Red Wolf's triple grenade launcher shells and Nameless's spinning blades, replenished itself when the time came. There was no such thing as wasting it.

Alina spread open her hands. In the time it took them to speak, the frostbite on them had already healed and vanished. As those ugly marks faded, her hands returned to their former fair and lovely appearance.

Alina was astonished. "It's very effective."

"See?"

Han Fei put away the stim gun. "I might not be able to do anything about difficult or strange illnesses, but if it's an external injury, you can count on me."

In Delta Force, special operators could take a few bullets and then get back on their feet after a few shots of stimulants. That was enough to prove just how excellent the stim gun was at treating external injuries.

Talulah's fingertips unconsciously rubbed the edge of the table, her gaze settling on Alina's hands, smooth once more. The firelight quietly melted the scrutiny flickering in her eyes into a resin-like, gentle compromise.

Then she raised her head and looked at Han Fei with great interest, her eyes full of curiosity.

She did not understand why someone like him had appeared on the tundra. She did not believe his claim about scavenging.

How much could scavenging on the tundra possibly earn? With abilities like his, in what city could he not settle down and make a living? Why come all the way to the tundra to do such exhausting and unprofitable work?

Suddenly, Han Fei's voice pulled Talulah back to reality.

"Why are you spacing out? Want an apple?"

Talulah turned back and saw half a sliced apple held out before her. Looking to the side, she saw that Alina also held half a sliced apple in her hand.

Talulah withdrew her gaze. Seeing that Han Fei's hands were empty, she said, "Aren't you eating?"

"I don't like apples."

As he spoke, Han Fei stood up and stuffed the half apple into Talulah's hand.

Talulah accepted Han Fei's kindness and took the apple. She was about to thank him, but before the words could leave her mouth, she saw Han Fei staring intently at her clothes.

Naturally, not the clothes she was wearing, but the coat she had casually taken off and hung on the wall when she entered.

Talulah had worn this coat when she fled from Koschei to the tundra. Both its materials and craftsmanship were of the highest quality. Its black-and-red base was decorated with emblems woven from gold thread, making it obvious at a glance that it was expensive.

Talulah did not care about such things. It was only a coat. But no matter what, it was still her coat.

Thus, Talulah asked, "What is it?"

Han Fei turned around and asked eagerly, "Can I touch it?"

A trace of confusion appeared on Talulah's delicate face. "Why do you want to touch it?"

"You wouldn't understand. What if it gives me a keycard?" Han Fei explained.

In the game, clothes could yield keycards, and the higher the grade of the clothing, the higher the chance of getting one.

—A white lab coat had a much higher chance of yielding a keycard than work clothes.

Even white lab coats were like that, so what about Sister Talulah's uniform coat, which clearly had extraordinary craftsmanship?!

As a knife-runner, how could Han Fei resist taking a look when clothes were right in front of him?

"A card?"

Talulah understood even less. Shaking her head, she said, "I don't know what card you're talking about, but there's nothing inside."

Han Fei did not expect Talulah to understand his actions. He continued, "Wouldn't we know after checking?"

Hearing that, Talulah shook her head and laughed. "Go ahead."

It was only a coat, not the clothes underneath. There was no harm in letting Han Fei touch it. Besides, she was watching him, so she was not worried that he would do anything too improper.

The next second, Han Fei reached out and touched the coat.

It had to be said, the clothes really were valuable. They felt excellent to the touch. But that was not the important part. The important part was that the moment Han Fei touched it, the loot interface from the game appeared before his eyes.

And in the loot list on the right, there were clearly two small black squares.

"Yeah?"

Han Fei's eyes lit up. Could it be?!

The first slot soon finished rolling, revealing the item hidden beneath the black square.

An eight of playing cards.

Han Fei was not discouraged. As an experienced looter, he knew clothes producing playing cards was normal. It was nothing worth making a fuss over.

The instant the eight of playing cards finished rolling, the second slot began to roll. This time, however, it took a little longer.

"Holy shit, there really is a keycard!"

Han Fei understood at once, and delight immediately spread across his face.

Before long, a small blue card appeared in Han Fei's sight. Looking closely, he saw several large words printed on it—West Building Clinic.

Han Fei took out the card and held it in his hand.

Blue keycards like this had no inspection animation in the game, but Han Fei was a living person now. Whether he could inspect it or not was entirely up to him.

Holding the keycard in one hand, he examined it repeatedly, then curled the index finger of his other hand and lightly flicked it.

Ding~