Chapter 5: Natural Disasters Are Coming
"Prophet's back? I just finished showering, do you want to go wash up?"
"Let Lappland go first… I can't take it anymore…"
"Hey hey, what's wrong again?"
"It's a long story…"
Glancing at Croissant walking out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, Li Lin stared blankly at the ceiling, saying expressionlessly:
"If this goes on, I'll be driven crazy by her sooner or later. She demolished the recipient's den again. This is already the third house demolished today. I watched with my own eyes as she drew her sword and directly sliced off an entire floor; I was just in the car watching her mess around. Thinking about how I have to clean up her ass later, my head is already aching."
"Eh? Looking at it this way, isn't your relationship with her quite good?"
"Where exactly did you see that, I really want to know…"
"Where can't you see it?"
"I'm tired."
Hearing the sound of someone unwrapping a towel and starting to rub their hair from behind, Li Lin looked at the ceiling and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"This is too much for me, really too much. I only knew Lappland was quite emotional, prone to extremes, but I didn't know she inherently liked this. Do you know what I look like every time I call Officer Ch'en ? Nodding and bowing, admitting fault. It's a good thing we're in the right; otherwise, the compensation money would probably bankrupt Penguin Logistics even if we dismantled it. My stomach hurts…"
"Is that so…"
The sound of hair rubbing stopped. Croissant's head and bare shoulders suddenly appeared in Li Lin's overhead view. Looking down at the numb-faced Li Lin, she said with a grin:
"Then how about I treat you to barbecue again? Just that place from last time, heard their newly imported meat tastes very good? And it's currently on discount, want to go eat together on a rest day?"
"Barbecue? Not bad…"
Looking at Croissant with her fluffy hair, Li Lin thought for a moment and felt it was acceptable.
However, before Li Lin could sit up and imagine it, from Exusiai's room behind, Exusiai, who was listening to music, pulled open her door, saw Croissant standing behind Li Lin, and was momentarily stunned. Then she tilted her head and asked somewhat strangely:
"Aren't you cold, Croissant? Standing there chatting? Not going to change clothes?"
"Ah, right. Now that you mention it, Exusiai, I just remembered. It is indeed a bit cold."
"Safe travels…"
...?
Huh? Did I just miss something?
Looking at Croissant's smooth back projected in the full-length mirror as she walked towards the bedroom, then looking at the towel draped over her shoulder, Li Lin, whose mind was full of Lappland demolishing houses, suddenly felt something wasn't right. He felt like he had missed something very significant.
But before he could think carefully, seeing Lappland, who had already locked the car at the corner, turn her face and smile towards him, Li Lin's heart skipped a beat. The original thought of whether he had missed something instantly vanished without a trace; he looked warily at Lappland, who walked up with her hands behind her back, her tail swaying. His mind spun wildly, wondering if she was up to something again.
"Yo~ Is Texas here~"
"Not here."
"Here."
Rolling her eyes at Li Lin lying on the sofa, Texas walked out of the bedroom, glanced disdainfully at Lappland, and pointed at the bathroom.
Lappland didn't say anything either, grinned, gave a salute, then ran to the rearmost dormitory to retrieve her clothes, and joyfully ran into the bathroom. Unsure what this person was happy about all day, but she was indeed very happy, and Li Lin couldn't control her happiness either.
However, Texas didn't come here just to chat; instead, she took out a stack of documents from her pocket and placed them on the coffee table. Li Lin rubbed his face, somewhat tiredly picking up the documents on top. Found that most of them were various newspaper clippings, and some online news. A relatively large piece of news was marked on them with various font sizes and headlines. Making Li Lin raise his eyebrows somewhat strangely.
"Chernobog is about to experience a Catastrophe, all urban areas will be transferred. And external areas will migrate towards the Ursus interior?"
"Mm, over a dozen Catastrophe Messengers have jointly confirmed it; transfer work will probably start preparing tomorrow or the day after."
Sitting on the sofa beside him, Texas took out a Pocky stick, put it in her mouth, and flipped through the materials above.
"But what we need to pay attention to isn't this. There are still some trading cities around Lungmen, and construction teams are also gathering supplies. Because of those devices from Eden Company, the speed of transfer and integration is much faster than imagined. But there is a problem here, the Infected."
"The Infected?"
"Oripathy Infected. They've created some organizations and are currently demonstrating in Chernobog. Because Chernobog seems to have rumors claiming they will abandon the Infected and leave on their own. So these people have united with those sympathetic to the Infected, old people who don't want to leave, and those whose relatives are Infected, to demonstrate together in Chernobog. However, it's very likely they will be suppressed by Chernobog. But there's an organization here that needs special attention."
"…Reunion Movement?"
Looking at a strange logo on the newspaper, Li Lin raised his eyebrows somewhat surprisedly.
"What do these people do?"
"A self-help organization formed by a group of Infected. Heard their leader is a very capable person, has already reached certain agreements with that Iron Fist leader, but it looks rather delicate now. Because of this point about abandoning the Infected, panic is spreading in Chernobog. So the Reunion Movement is now the leader of the resistance forces."
"Oh… then they're done for."
Looking at the Reunion Movement's logo, Li Lin shook his head somewhat regretfully.
An organization with a symbolic representation is far more attractive than those without symbols. And an organization with its own cultural symbols and slogans, its threat to the ruling authorities will grow geometrically in times of crisis. This is something no strong government can tolerate.
In times of peace, due to development needs, different demands and opinions will emerge, and the government won't obstruct too much. But in times like these, once any opposing voice appears, especially an extreme government like Ursus, they will probably resort to some inhumane means to force everyone to approve of this action. And the Reunion Movement seems to fit this target well. Not only will it silence the Infected, but it will also silence many people internally.
But there's a problem here… Can they really defeat the Reunion Movement?
If I remember correctly, Oripathy can catalyze and strengthen Originium Arts; Chernobog wouldn't really be that stupid, right…
"But these are not the problems we need to focus on. What we need to focus on is this thing. A request from Rhodes Island, the Oripathy mobile hospital; they hope we can retrieve this thing from Chernobog during this period."
"What's this again?"
Looking at the huge black coffin Texas pointed out on the newspaper, Li Lin tilted his head and asked somewhat strangely.
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