Skadi, I Have a Girlfriend Now

"Then let's not be siblings anymore, my lord."

"???"

It seemed three question marks had appeared above Mizuki's head. Setting aside Laurentina's strange form of address, he also really wanted to know why she had done that last night.

But because of Exusiai's various complaints just now, everyone had instinctively overlooked the fact that Laurentina was the one who had started all this. She had successfully stirred up Exusiai's jealousy and competitive spirit, resulting in a plot so dramatic it would have been top-tier even in a Great Yan television drama.

"If we're not siblings, then what are we?"

"According to your wishes, I can be your beloved, your lover, your maid, your older sister, your teacher, or your mother. As long as you desire it, I can become anyone."

As she spoke, Laurentina clasped her hands together, a devout expression appearing on her face. The fervor in her eyes grew even stronger. Mizuki scratched his head in distress. Although he understood what Laurentina meant, this was far too different from the sibling relationship he had imagined.

"No!"

Exusiai wrapped her arms tightly around Mizuki's waist. She was the official girlfriend here, but Texas had noticed the crux of the issue.

"Wait a second. So Laurentina, you're not actually Mizuki's older sister? You only said that you could be?"

"That is correct. I was merely following my lord's instructions to propagate new life."

Laurentina looked at Mizuki, completely ignoring Exusiai's presence and her sharp, devouring glare. She merely stroked her chest lightly.

Mizuki was somewhat baffled. He did not remember that dream, and naturally did not remember giving the Seaborn a muddled order in it that night to explore and reproduce. Exploration was something the Seaborn instinctively left to Mizuki, while reproduction was their duty. Laurentina had faithfully carried out his command.

"Simply staying by my lord's side fills me with incomparable excitement and spiritual peace. It is the happiness of returning to life's origin, something you cannot yet understand."

"But if you aren't Mizuki's sister, where did you come from?"

Croissant asked this, and for a moment, Laurentina's identity became a mystery.

And judging by Laurentina's mental state, honestly, if one said something was wrong with her, she looked rather quiet and refined. But if one said nothing was wrong with her, what exactly had she done last night?

"Should we take her for an examination?"

"I think that's a good idea."

"By the way, did Miss Laurentina come to Lungmen alone?"

Sora asked curiously. The question brought a pained expression to Laurentina's face, and she instinctively clutched her head.

[Laurentina, protect him. Stay by his side. Eliminate anything that threatens his safety. This is your sole mission.]

"I am..."

Something had taken root in Laurentina's mind. Mizuki instinctively thought so. He had noticed that Laurentina's mental condition was somewhat abnormal, so he had not thought too much of her behavior.

But when Laurentina revealed that expression, Mizuki sensed something from her.

He climbed down from the table and walked to Laurentina's side, reaching out to gently rub her head.

"Ah... Amaia... It was her... It was you..."

Rather than calming down as usual, the fervor and madness in Laurentina's eyes vanished for an instant. She instinctively clenched her fists, yet her body was unable to make any hostile move against Mizuki.

But after barely a dozen seconds, Laurentina calmed down again and lightly rubbed her head against Mizuki.

"Big Sister Laurentina, just now, what exactly..."

"Hmm? Did something happen to me?"

Laurentina raised her head, seemingly having forgotten everything that had just happened. She only felt a craving—the craving to be close to Mizuki and continue the species.

This craving came from instinct, an instinct she could not resist. Mizuki immediately realized that Laurentina had been driven by her instincts all this time. Her mental problems were far more serious than everyone had imagined.

Titi: Little Brother! Wait for Me!

Inside Penguin Logistics' base, Eis, who had been called over to work, helplessly took on the duties of a doctor. He really was someone who could do anything, but with Emperor absent, he was busy enough as it was.

"Indeed, just as you imagined, this young lady's mental state is extremely unstable."

After four hours of examination, no one showed any surprise upon hearing Eis's conclusion. They merely looked at Laurentina, who was still acting cute with Mizuki and begging him to pat her head.

Laurentina currently looked unbelievably obedient. No one could tell that this girl had been so fierce last night that she had torn the door down. Not only had she changed the LED light above Exusiai's head to green right in front of her, she had even urged her to join in. The key was that they had battled for eight hours, and Laurentina had held on for five of them.

Exusiai had looked like she was about to die first thing in the morning, while Laurentina had still been energetic enough to help Mizuki make breakfast.

"Also, I analyzed her blood composition. There are two kinds of blood in her body, and strangely enough, they coexist perfectly."

"Two kinds of blood?"

"Yes. She was artificially modified with highly precise technology. That special blood gave her tremendous strength, but at the same time, her spine—or rather, her nervous system—was injected with a high concentration of Originium Concentrate."

Eis held a cup of tea, as though the matter was not worth much concern to him. Just collecting Specter's blood sample had taken considerable effort. Last night, Exusiai had emptied an entire magazine of rubber bullets into Laurentina, and she had barely felt any pain. They had needed Mizuki's tentacles to lightly puncture her skin.

"At present, the blood in her body and the Originium Concentrate are in complete opposition, which is what has made her mental state so abnormally unstable."

"Then why is she so obedient whenever she's around Mizuki? She's like the cat I keep."

What happened last night was hard to describe, but anyone could see that Laurentina seemed addicted, as if she could not survive without Mizuki.

"Because the additional blood in her body bears a certain resemblance to Mizuki's. Strictly speaking, though, it is more like a specialized version of Mizuki's blood."

Eis set down his teacup. Those words not only confused Exusiai and the others, but also left Mizuki stunned.

"Mr. Eis, do you mean the blood in Big Sister Laurentina's body is mine?"

"No, of course not. I only mean it is very similar to yours."

Rather than a specialized version, it would be more accurate to call it an inferior version of yours.

Adding that silently in his heart, Eis looked at Laurentina before him. He truly had not expected to encounter an Abyssal Hunter in a place like this. Fortunately, her mental state was unstable now. Otherwise, she would likely have directly attacked Mizuki.

"In other words, you do indeed share similar blood. In a sense, she really can be considered your older sister. It is like a hive with worker bees and a queen bee. They are all bees, but their status is different."

"Oh, I get it! That means Mizuki's bloodline rank is higher than Laurentina's, which is why she obeys him in everything!"

Croissant had finally understood, but a new doubt quickly arose.

"But that doesn't make sense. Wouldn't that mean Mizuki should be even stronger than Laurentina?"

"That, I do not know. But one thing is certain: she has gone through something immensely painful. With that amount of concentrated Originium fluid injected into her spine, she must constantly endure pain comparable to an ordinary Infected suffering an outbreak. Only by staying beside Mizuki can she alleviate those symptoms, so she instinctively seeks to rely on him."

Not just Croissant and Sora, who were relatively softhearted—even Texas and Exusiai, the victim, could not help casting sympathetic looks toward Laurentina. Her spine was filled with concentrated Originium fluid, and her nervous system had been directly infected. Just thinking about it was horrifying.

"But he's my boyfriend..."

Sympathy was sympathy, but Exusiai still gritted her teeth. Croissant could not help patting her shoulder.

"Look on the bright side. At least for Mizuki's sake, she didn't throw you straight out the window last night. You two even fought side by side, so you're comrades-in-arms now."

"But I don't want this kind of camaraderie!"

Exusiai was furious, but she could not beat Laurentina. She suspected that even if Mostima and her older sister came, they would not be able to win.

Oh, right. Her older sister still did not know she had found a boyfriend. She really ought to write home about something this important.

"Hmm, Eis, you know so much about Mizuki. Why can't you tell him about his past and where he came from?"

"Because I don't know either." Eis spread his hands helplessly. "What I know is far less than Mr. Emperor, but he clearly does not want Mr. Mizuki to recover his memories too soon."

Picking up his computer, Eis gave Mizuki a slight bow.

"I still have much work to do, so please excuse my departure."

"Take care, Mr. Eis."

Mizuki bid Eis farewell, then looked helplessly at Laurentina before him. Although he did not know who the Amaia she mentioned was, Laurentina was now like Mizuki—she did not even know where she had come from.

"Xiao Le, can we let her stay?"

Seeing that Mizuki had asked her first, the dissatisfaction in Exusiai's heart lessened somewhat. She could not help stamping her foot, then let out a sigh.

"She can stay, but you have to promise me three things."

"Can we change that?"

Mizuki scratched his head awkwardly, and Exusiai raised an eyebrow.

"What, you think I'm not as good as her?"

"That's not it. It's just that no matter what you ask for, Xiao Le, I'll agree to it. If it's limited to only three things, it'll make me feel like you don't like me."

A direct critical hit. Exusiai's face visibly flushed red. She had never expected Mizuki to say something like that.

"Then... do whatever you want. I have nothing else to say."

"Thank you, Xiao Le."

Without any hesitation, Mizuki kissed Exusiai on the cheek. A faint, hard-to-detect slyness lay within his smile. Texas noticed that behind his back, he quietly made a V sign at her with his fingers.

It seemed Exusiai would be completely wrapped around Mizuki's finger from now on. Texas thought this, a subtle smile appearing on her face. Although the matter with Specter had indeed been unexpected, it seemed... not so bad. She just wondered whether Exusiai could accept it if it were Texas herself.

"By the way, if Miss Laurentina isn't Mizuki's older sister, then where is Mizuki's real older sister now?"

"Achoo!"

Skadi sneezed again. This was truly strange. Land was not as cold as the sea, so how could a wind like this possibly give her a cold?

Forget it. That was not the problem right now. In another half-day, tonight—she would reach Lungmen tonight.

"Little brother! Wait for me!"

Everyone Wants to Fall in Love

Although some unpleasant things had happened last night, Laurentina had temporarily joined Penguin Logistics. At the same time, to comfort Exusiai, Mizuki decided to take her out shopping. Penguin Logistics was closed for the day anyway.

"This should count as our first official date."

Exusiai could understand Mizuki's thoughts, so she tried her best to put the matter of Laurentina out of her mind. With Mizuki's orders, Laurentina had stayed quietly at Penguin Logistics. According to her, after eating so much last night, the pain had eased considerably, and she needed some time to digest it.

As for that explanation, Exusiai could only wonder whether the girl had two stomachs. Five hours last night—how had Laurentina even endured it?

"If we don't count last time, then it is."

As Mizuki spoke, he bought a candied hawthorn skewer and handed it to Exusiai.

He did not have much money himself. Texas had given him this money as payment for saving her life last time. Of course, Mizuki also had the salary Penguin Logistics had advanced to him.

"Candied hawthorn. Laterano doesn't have these. I feel like I could open a candied hawthorn specialty shop there someday and definitely make a fortune!"

"Then shall we open one in Laterano someday?"

Mizuki instinctively chimed in. Exusiai took a light bite of the candied hawthorn and unconsciously imagined such a scene.

Thinking about it carefully, that kind of life actually sounded pretty nice. They could open a dessert shop, eat as much as they wanted, though they would have to save up more now so they would not lose money and have to beg her older sister for support.

Just imagine it: greeting the neighbors every day, serving customers, cleaning the house together, counting their earnings, pondering the next day's life. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

"That would be far in the future. I'm still very satisfied with my current life at Penguin Logistics."

The corners of Exusiai's lips lifted slightly. She admitted that life sounded nice, but it did not suit the current Exusiai. Before her youthful years had passed, her heart would not settle in any harbor. So it was merely something to imagine.

"Does that matter?"

Mizuki lightly poked Exusiai's cheek, then opened his mouth and gently bit into her candied hawthorn.

"Mmm... We still have such a long future ahead of us. Whether you want to open a candied hawthorn shop, a cake shop, or a hotpot restaurant, Xiao Le, even if you want to open another Penguin Logistics someday, I'll stay with you."

"How can you say something that cheesy with a candied hawthorn in your mouth?"

Seeing Mizuki's cheek puffed out from the candied hawthorn, Exusiai could not help reaching out and poking it. Even though they were already lovers and had indeed gone all the way, hearing words like that still made her somewhat shy. Though more than that, she was moved. Exusiai could easily tell Mizuki was telling the truth.

"If you don't like hearing it, I won't say it anymore."

Mizuki swallowed the candied hawthorn, then playfully stuck out his little tongue, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"I like hearing it. Say more."

Exusiai patted Mizuki on the shoulder. Who did not like hearing their partner praise them more? Besides, Mizuki did not sound fake at all when he said such things.

"By the way, didn't you promise to go find Officer Chen today? Is it really okay for the two of us to go on a date?"

"It's fine. I sent a message to ask. Officer Chen said Rhodes Island and Lungmen needed to discuss cooperation first, and then... it seemed they would come to Penguin Logistics. We can just head back then."

Clearly, Rhodes Island was also quite curious about Mizuki, this suddenly appearing elite operator. Judging from his performance so far, Mizuki's combat ability was probably on Texas's level. But considering that he had amnesia, he might truly have possessed the strength of an elite operator before.

Exusiai did not really care. Rhodes Island would also be discussing cooperation with Penguin Logistics this time. If nothing unexpected happened, the few of them would become Penguin Logistics messengers permanently stationed at Rhodes Island.

Even if Mizuki truly was an operator of Rhodes Island, it would not interfere with their relationship.

"Sigh, then let's not think so much about it. For now, just go shopping with me!"

"Okay."