Pressing Into the Desert / Emergency Rescue

This also benefits one's own procurement plan.

She swayed slightly as she stood up.

Looking down, Yinamu realized that she was holding a wine bowl in her hand without even realizing it.

She couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"How could I..."

Suika blinked, looked at her with an innocent expression, and grinned foolishly.

Chapter 548 Advancing into the Desert

"Never mind..."

After Yinamu downed the wine in her bowl in one gulp, she handed the bowl to someone who had been eagerly waiting to try it, and then said...

"I'm going to take care of some important business. You stay calm... Okay, now that you've dealt with the old chief, the others won't be too hostile towards you. But I hope that when the old chief wakes up tomorrow, he won't personally come after us with a spear, understand?"

Suika nodded obediently.

Then, with a blank expression, she said that she was just an alcoholic who only wanted to buy people drinks and didn't know anything else.

Yinamu couldn't say anything about it.

The next morning, the group left early.

When the old chief woke up at noon and learned that Yinamu and her group had already left, he sighed.

He did indeed intend to cause trouble yesterday, which is why he went to the other side's camp.

He just hadn't expected that the little girl was so cunning; she had unknowingly made him look so foolish.

Thinking this through, he decided to abandon the pursuit.

After all, according to the news from his subordinates, the tribesmen all thought that he had forgiven the Yinamu caravan's unreasonable behavior, and that they had even held a small banquet together last night.

Taking people to chase after them now would seem rather strange to the tribespeople.

Thinking of how he looked yesterday, the old man suddenly didn't want to get out of bed.

After all, that image was just too terrifying.

Just then, he suddenly noticed something on the headboard.

I picked it up and saw it was a photograph.

In the photo, he is sitting by a campfire, holding a bowl of wine, looking at the fire with tears streaming down his face, while behind him are the worried eyes of his people.

Staring at the photo, the old chief was lost in thought, and tears welled up in his eyes again.

Although they lost their loved ones, how could these children in the tribe not be considered their own family...?

A line of fine print was written on the back of the photo.

"O setting sun that shines upon the earth, your people love you dearly!"

The old chief wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Hmph, you brat, what do you know..."

He stood up and walked out the door, and everyone who saw him greeted him with respect.

He would smile and nod at him as usual.

Everything seemed unchanged, except that the tribe's rule against using technological items and reading outside books had been lifted.

On the other hand, after walking for a day and finding that no one was chasing her, Yinamu finally felt relieved.

Suika, on the other hand, remained calm.

"What are you afraid of? I don't think that old man is a bad person. He's just been holding a grudge."

After crying yesterday, I felt much better.

"You have no idea of that old chief's status in Acahualla."

"Let me tell you, if he had stood up for Gavial back then, the other party might not have had to leave."

A hint of regret flashed in Yinamu's eyes.

"But if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have had the chance to come here, would I!"

Yinamu nodded at Suika's words.

Indeed, if Gavial hadn't been her colleague, she wouldn't have come to Acahualla to deliver the message.

None of them would trust her.

"By the way, I'm curious, how did you get that old chief to drink?"

As far as I know, this is the oldest chieftain of Acahualla the previous chieftain stepped down.

Even during past tribal mediations and meetings, he was never seen to touch a drop of alcohol.

Yinamu thought of the old chief's appearance after drinking yesterday and couldn't help but look at him strangely.

Suika casually picked a fruit from a tree not far away, then split it open, scooped out the pulp, and, under Yinamu's puzzled gaze, poured an Ibuki Gourd.

"Oh, well, that's fine..."

By the time Yinamu realized what was happening, the berry bowl filled with wine was already in her hands, and only half of the wine remained.

She couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"When!"

Suika stopped talking, pinched the Shanghai on her head, and then laughed as she picked up the Ibuki Gourd and started chugging.

"Alright, but you have a lot of weird Originium Arts."

Seeing that Suika didn't say anything, Yinamu didn't press the matter further.

A week later, on the border of Acahualla

"I think you'd better go to Columbia."

Summer is just around the corner.

"Going to the desert at this time of year, besides being unbearably hot, there's nothing fun to do."

Suika raised her Ibuki Gourd.

"The two most dangerous things in the desert are high temperatures and lack of water."

Fortunately, I'm not bothered by the high temperatures, and I have plenty of water...

Don't worry, I'm just taking a stroll; I won't go too deep. After all, I still need to save time to go to Siesta."

"Siesta, I've heard it's a nice place, but I've never had the chance to visit it," Yinamu sighed.

"Even a thousand miles of farewell must come to an end. Yinamu, you have your own things to do, so you don't need to see me off any further."

After bidding farewell to Yinamu Suika walked into the desert under her watchful gaze.

"The difference in Sargon's abilities is truly astounding!"

Having emerged from the rainforest less than a day ago, Suika expressed her feelings.

How far can you walk in a day?

It's about 30 kilometers away.

Suika operates in a semi-flight mode, which is faster, but she stops to take photos and check in at interesting scenic spots along the way, so the distance is approximately 40 to 50 kilometers.

So, in just fifty kilometers, Suika walked from the rainforest to the desert.

Further ahead lies the Sargon Desert, a place that inspires fear.

In the middle of the night, I sat on a piece of sand and gravel.

Suika picked up the Ibuki Gourd, instinctively wanting to pour sake for the person next to her, when she suddenly realized that she was no longer in the rainforest.

Thinking of the Adaklis people in the rainforest, Suika pinched her nose.

These guys may not be good-looking, but they are optimistic and very innocent.

Even though she was drunk by Suika the day before, she was eager to challenge her again the next day.

Although they were a bit noisy, Suika still quite liked these optimistic and cheerful friends.

Just as Suika was reminiscing, Shanghai drifted in front of her and reached out a small hand to pat her head.

"Hey hey, I'm not so fragile that I need comforting."

It was so lively yesterday, but today there's only one person left, so it's a bit of a letdown."

Suika stood up, stretched, and then walked to a pond not far away.

With a snap of her fingers, musical instruments appeared out of thin air.

Accompanied by melodious piano music, a piece called "Lonely Pilgrimage" was played under the moonlight.

Suika looked down at the Twin Moons and her own reflection in the water, then raised her glass.

"Raising a cup to invite the bright moon, with my shadow as my companion, we become three..."

The next morning, Suika was awakened by a gust of sand.

"Ugh, ptooey! I've already eaten a mouthful of sand before even reaching the desert. The Sargon Desert truly lives up to its reputation..."

Chapter 549 Emergency Rescue

Suika was very curious as she walked towards the desert with the camera.

After all, in her previous life, she had only heard of the Sahara and other Middle Eastern regions, but never had the chance to see them.

This time, I'm experiencing this environment firsthand, so naturally I have to appreciate it properly.

However, Suika soon regretted it.

If we're talking about the ocean, it's all water.

Then the desert would be all sand.

After walking for two days, besides having a mouthful of sand, Suika Xiang didn't see a single person.

The initial novelty of seeing the desert was quickly overwhelmed by the endless sand dunes stretching as far as the eye could see, with little difference in the appearance of the desert underfoot even after walking for half a day.

Seeing this, Suika turned around and headed north without looking back.

After all, she came here for tourism and to enjoy the scenery along the way.

But there really isn't much scenery to admire in this desert.

Just then, her handbag vibrated.

Suika looked at Shanghai, who was flying beside her, with a puzzled expression.

"You secretly bought a vibrator and put it in my bag?"

Then Shanghai kicked him right in the head.

After a few moments of fussing, she reached into her handbag and pulled out a dark, fuzzy thing—the emergency communicator that the Doctor had given her when she left Rhodes Island.

This is arguably Rhodes Island's most powerful communication equipment to date.

As an emergency communicator, it has a particularly wide range of distress signals.

For example, right now, Suika is receiving a distress signal from the vicinity of the Duchy of Victoria Gaodoting Duchy and the Columbia Territory, thousands of kilometers away.

Less than 100 kilometers below the distress signal lies Siesta, Suika's destination.

Anyway, there's not much to do here. If I go to Columbia, I'll have to go there again after Siesta ends, which would be redundant.

So she simply headed straight in the direction from which the distress signal had come.

However, after estimating the distance, she realized that unless she silently accelerated, it would take her at least a week to get there, based on her usual schedule.

If the other party really encounters a very dangerous situation, I will most likely be able to make it to the last wave of the seventh-day memorial service at this pace.

However, the location and timing were too delicate.

According to Suika's image, the Doctor will probably arrive in Siesta soon with a large group of operators to participate in the Siesta Music Festival.

(This storyline should be considered the one with the most operators appearing in all of Arknights' non-main storyline events (excluding the random passerby Ch'en the Holungday))

Given the old lynx's personality, she wouldn't feel comfortable letting the Doctor act alone with a group of people who knew nothing about the Doctor, without the assistance of Elite Operator.