Ark Simulator, Don't I Have a Physical Form?

After a night of fierce fighting, Chernobog's situation had basically stabilized.

FrostNova led her team to City Hall. As the leader of the Reunion Movement, she was going to announce the Reunion Movement's existence to all of Terra from here. Patriot had also arranged for the prisoners to be brought to her side.

Meanwhile, Rhodes Island, having noticed the chaos within the city, had no choice but to begin moving as well.

Unexpectedly, however, the Reunion Movement's forces seemed to have known about them from the very start and avoided them. Even when they encountered each other, they merely gave them a wary glance before keeping their distance.

"What exactly is going on?" A member of one team voiced the question, but Kal'tsit merely glanced at her without saying anything. A trace of warmth flickered through her eyes.

At the same time, Talulah contacted Su Rui. Su Rui, the city seems to have fallen into chaos. Has Rhodes Island started moving? Should we head to the Sarcophagus now?

"Yeah. Now's the best time. Just head over."

Su Rui informed Patriot, "I'll be heading out first. The battle plan's still underway, but I'm going to accompany Talulah first."

Then Su Rui returned to Talulah's side and used Scanning Vision to display the route she needed.

"This is the path to the Sarcophagus."

Doctor's Meeting

"I understand."

Talulah nodded. Out of caution, Su Rui still asked her to bring a weapon, which would prevent any accidents... though with Su Rui's scanning ability capable of monitoring every detail in the city, such things wouldn't happen at all.

With that in mind, Talulah set out for the Sarcophagus. Along the way, the chaos caused by the conflict had filled the roads with dust and the choking stench of smoke.

Although the Reunion Movement's people had reduced the damage as much as possible according to Su Rui's request, things that happened in battle were inherently difficult to predict. Along the way, Talulah still saw quite a few ruined walls and collapsed buildings.

In Scanning Vision, she seemed to see Su Rui mark a location.

Talulah paused in surprise and asked Su Rui doubtfully, "The place you just marked doesn't seem to be on the way to the Sarcophagus?"

"Right. It's an Ursus general—a former general. He should count as a fairly important figure, so I marked him. He might be useful. Our current goal is still to reach the Sarcophagus."

As Su Rui spoke, he conveniently pasted the general's information into Talulah's field of view.

"Hellagur, Ursus's Gallant Hawk, a once-renowned general. But now, he's become the director of some Infected clinic in the city, hiding in a corner of the city... He was also Patriot's general. The two of them should know each other."

"So that's how it is? Maybe we can persuade him to join the Reunion Movement?"

Talulah nodded, but Su Rui didn't affirm her guess. "...Hard to say. Even as a general, he might not want to get involved in another war."

"This isn't a war. We've already won. Victory is certain."

Talulah frowned. According to the plan, at most there would be minor unrest caused by a few unruly military nobles afterward. There wouldn't be any large-scale conflict.

"I understand what you mean, but for soldiers, their job is to prepare for war. The same goes for Hellagur."

Su Rui didn't continue debating Talulah. As she kept moving forward, she had already arrived outside the research facility where the Sarcophagus was located.

Through Scanning Vision, Talulah could see Rhodes Island operators hidden in every corner, their weapons aimed at her position. Su Rui had marked all of them, but their markers were neutral white.

"The people inside have noticed us."

As Su Rui spoke, he directly pasted the communication record he had detected into Talulah's field of view.

["We've spotted a Vouivre... or perhaps a Drak, as you would call her. She's come alone. Should we stop her?"

"No. Let her in... Su Rui, can you hear my voice? Talk to me."]

A cool, rational voice sounded through the channel. Beside it, there was also the faint, timid voice of a young girl.

However, neither Su Rui nor Talulah paid attention to that girl's faint, nearly inaudible voice. Su Rui directly asked Talulah, "I'm going to answer them. It seems Kal'tsit really does know me."

"Fine." Talulah nodded, but she felt somewhat displeased. She had originally thought she was the only one who knew Su Rui, but now it seemed quite a few other people knew him too.

This displeased Talulah. She had known before that Su Rui had a previous host, but in her eyes, that host was too distant to possibly affect her, so she hadn't cared.

But now, living people who knew Su Rui were right in front of her. It affected the possessiveness in Talulah's heart, and she instinctively resisted it.

Still, after a brief moment of thought, Talulah pretended nothing had happened and stood at the entrance to the research facility, waiting.

Su Rui answered the voice on the channel and spoke with Kal'tsit through the communication line.

"You're Kal'tsit, right? You seem to know a lot about me."

"Of course." There seemed to be a hint of excitement in Kal'tsit's voice, but she first addressed the operators at the door. "Let Talulah in. We'll speak face-to-face."

Having already heard the message through the communication channel Su Rui displayed, Talulah walked expressionlessly into the heavily guarded research facility.

She continued listening closely to the conversation between Su Rui and Kal'tsit.

"So what's going on? Why do you know me? Was it something from one of the simulations?"

Su Rui was somewhat confused. Perhaps his unusual feeling toward Kal'tsit and the person inside the Sarcophagus was also an effect of some simulation?

But Kal'tsit directly denied Su Rui's guess. "That's not it. You feel differently toward me and the person inside the Sarcophagus—the Doctor—don't you?"

"You know far too much."

Kal'tsit's all-knowing manner made Su Rui uncomfortable, and he even felt a trace of hostility. But by then, Talulah had arrived among the Rhodes Island operators and stood directly before Kal'tsit and Amiya.

At least in Su Rui's eyes, those two were the most important.

Kal'tsit could naturally hear Su Rui's resistance in his voice.

She turned to look at Talulah, though she was actually looking at Su Rui. Her cool eyes were filled with gentleness as she explained bluntly.

"I suppose I'm your sister without blood ties. Or perhaps your babysitter? You were actually raised under my watch..."

"...And then?"

Su Rui made no comment on Kal'tsit's claim and waited for what she would say next.

At that moment, the person in the Sarcophagus woke up. With Amiya's help, she put on the Doctor's classic attire. However, she was a woman, with long silver hair and a rather impressive figure.

She didn't seem to have lost her memories. Su Rui observed the Doctor, only to realize that she was also looking at Talulah—or rather, at Su Rui.

"Let me explain the rest... Simply put, you're my son."

The Doctor's first sentence stunned Su Rui completely. Before, he simply hadn't wanted to answer, but those words made his mind go boom, leaving it utterly blank.

"I think... there's something wrong with this."

"Of course there isn't. Your ability is actually one of the products of our research."

As the Doctor spoke, she gently cupped Talulah's cheeks and looked into her eyes.

"But you don't need to worry. Everything is proceeding according to plan."

"..." Su Rui didn't answer. Talulah, meanwhile, irritably shook off the Doctor's hand. She didn't want these people who knew Su Rui to appear.

Talulah: Mother-in-Law~

The people before her were far too irritating.

Even though Su Rui and Alina helped ease Talulah's negative emotions every night, she still had that thought at this moment.

Her possessiveness toward Su Rui, which hadn't been especially strong before, surged and erupted. She even wanted to burn everyone before her into ashes.

The only person who needed to have Su Rui was her.

Although those emotions only flashed through Talulah's eyes for an instant, the Doctor still saw them.

However, the Doctor didn't say anything. She merely smiled helplessly.

"For the time ahead, I'll have to ask you to take care of Su Rui. Can you do that?"

"Of course." The Doctor called herself Su Rui's mother. Did that mean she acknowledged her relationship with Su Rui?

Talulah's thoughts leaped quickly. The moment the Doctor spoke, she thought of that. She immediately nodded, her eyes fixed straight on the silver-haired woman before her.

"Doctor, may I ask you..."

"My affairs aren't that important. You don't need to worry too much, either."

The Doctor smiled and interrupted Talulah. She was looking at her, but Talulah could sense that she was actually looking at Su Rui.

"We'll meet again later. Though for me, I've already met you before."

After saying that, the Doctor said nothing more. She merely smiled at Talulah, then called out to the Rhodes Island operators.

"We should head back."

This time, Su Rui didn't speak aloud. Instead, he asked directly in Talulah's mind, "There seems to be a consciousness within Terra's Originium crystals that's observing everything?"

The Doctor shouldn't have been able to hear Su Rui's voice inside Talulah's mind, yet she heard it anyway. The silver-haired beauty turned back and smiled at Su Rui.

"That's your other mother~"

The other operators nearby looked at the Doctor in confusion, wondering why she had suddenly spoken. Yet she didn't stop there. Instead, she walked directly back to Talulah and whispered softly in her ear.

"You don't have a father. You only have two mothers~"

"Stop saying that." Su Rui's mind was in disarray, and he instinctively refuted her. But the Doctor laughed, turned around, widened the distance between them again, and waved goodbye to Su Rui.

The Doctor seemed like she intended to do something else, but Amiya and Kal'tsit grabbed her from either side and carried her away.

Talulah stood at the entrance to the research facility, silently watching the Rhodes Island operators gradually leave and disappear from her sight.

Su Rui in her mind was the same. It wasn't until Talulah came back to herself that she realized Su Rui hadn't spoken for a long time, as though he had fallen asleep.

"Su Rui? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. My mind's just a little confused. It's only a few sentences' worth of information, but I can't really process it right now."

Su Rui spoke in Talulah's mind, feeling dazed, as though someone had just struck his head hard.

"If you can't figure it out, set it aside for now. At least you know they're friendly, don't you?"

Talulah didn't want Su Rui thinking too much. After all, if he thought too much, wouldn't he come to know more people besides her?

Though that selfishness was somewhat vile, Talulah wanted to have Su Rui all to herself.

After hearing Talulah's suggestion, Su Rui temporarily set those chaotic thoughts aside. Still, he remembered every word the Doctor and Kal'tsit had said and pasted them onto the wall of System Space as clues.

"Oh, right. FrostNova's speech is about to begin. Watch. As the leader of the Reunion Movement, she's going to announce our existence to the world today."

As Su Rui spoke, he directly displayed FrostNova's speech in Talulah's field of view. Behind the white-haired Cautus girl stood the towering Wendigo, along with a crowd of Reunion Movement companions. Aside from Wis'adel, who hadn't appeared, nearly everyone was present.

Strictly speaking, Su Rui wasn't actually a member of the Reunion Movement. But Talulah didn't say much. She merely watched FrostNova's speech in silence as she announced the Reunion Movement's existence and Chernobog's affiliation.

After that came declarations concerning negotiations over Chernobog. Those were matters Talulah and Su Rui would need to concern themselves with later. However, Su Rui wasn't interested in such tedious affairs. He left the livestream in Talulah's field of view and went off to do something else.

After the speech ended, the camera shut off, and the Reunion Movement members who had been standing together all went off to do their own things.

Patriot, however, remained where he was, as though waiting for FrostNova to say something.

"What is it, old man? Do you have something to tell me?"

FrostNova noticed Patriot still standing beside her. She turned and greeted him with a smile.

This success was truly delightful, so much so that FrostNova couldn't help smiling.

Patriot noticed it as well. Ever since Su Rui had arrived, smiles had appeared on his adopted daughter's face from time to time.

However, he truly had nothing to say to FrostNova right now.

So Patriot reached out and gently patted his adopted daughter's head.

"I received a message from Su Rui. I'm going to meet an old friend."

After saying that, Patriot nodded to FrostNova, then turned and left. FrostNova was left standing there alone as the smile on her face gradually faded, leaving her expressionless.

Then FrostNova took out her walkie-talkie, turned it on without changing the frequency, and spoke coldly into it. "Su Rui?"

"What? Why do you sound like you're here to demand an explanation?"

"What did you say to the old man? If something's happening, why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh, that. It's Patriot's friend. But as his daughter, it's fine if you want to go take a look too... I was originally planning to have you come with me to see Chernobog's students. Students are an important part too. We need to reassure them."

Su Rui explained his plan, but for some reason, it improved FrostNova's mood again. She put away her questioning expression. Though it didn't show on her icy face, she somehow seemed to be smiling.

"If that's the case, shall we set out to see those students?" FrostNova urged Su Rui, who seemed to still be considering something, but Su Rui refused.

"Wait. Gather those students first and make sure they settle down. As for everything else... go follow Patriot first. You should go see him, after all. You're his daughter."

Talulah: There Are Cows!

FrostNova wasn't used to Su Rui's somewhat jumping train of thought, but she still followed his request, staying beside Su Rui and heading in the direction Patriot had left.