Hello, Arknights

Chapter 370 Shadow

After kicking his "masterpiece" to confirm that it was of suitable strength, Ling Dengxian stood up with a "hey-whoosh" and met the scrutinizing gaze of the gray-haired Sakota.

"Hello?" Ling Dengxian smiled.

Schneider raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Hello, very special art."

"Art?" Ling Dengxian was stunned and looked back at his small wooden box. It was indeed very simple and crude, but he would be very sad if it was said to be some kind of weird art.

"Well," Schneider said, watching him work so hard, "building a symbolic building out of the ruins. It's quite a performance art."

"No, no, no, this is the house I'm going to live in." After saying that, Ling Dengxian went into the "house" and demonstrated it to him.

"……house?"

"correct."

"For the night?"

"Yes."

Schneider couldn't help but smile, and his mood, which had been disturbed by Hamilton, improved a lot. Young people did have more hope... soldiers who had never suffered "betrayal".

"You look surprised?" Ling Dengxian emerged again, smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes, and extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Bai Ge. Um... an employee of a logistics company, and I'm here in Victoria looking for someone."

"Ying, the messenger from Letania. What a coincidence, I am here to look for someone as well." Sakota, codenamed Ying, held his hand and glanced at his left hand, which he had noticed before.

"A non-infected messenger who is willing to shake hands with an infected person?" Ling Dengxian smiled slightly, and his favorable impression of Ying increased a lot.

Words are the direction of the wind, actions are the attitude.

"The infected are also human, not the monsters out there. Of course, some people don't think so."

"A messenger who is still willing to come to Victoria at this time...the person he is looking for is very important, right?" Ling Dengxian asked.

"The descendant of an old friend is also a young man with an impatient temper. He is a war correspondent and dares to go anywhere... He hasn't been found yet, but I heard that he is in Xiaoqiu County. He hasn't been found yet - Brother Baige, you said you are also looking for someone, how is the situation?" Ying waved his hand, thought of the determined child, and sighed.

"I found it. It was in the battle just now. I was very lucky. I hope good luck will favor you in the future." Ling Dengxian clenched his fist and raised his eyebrows. "Just think of it as sharing my good luck with you."

Ying smiled and bumped fists with him: "Thank you very much."

"Although it's a bit disappointing, I still have to tell you. If you knew that the monsters in the wilderness were gathering and their numbers were several times yours, what would you do?" Ling Dengxian was slightly startled by Ying's words, and he put away his smile.

"Can you tell me more specifically?"

When Schneider noticed the guy he hated coming, his face turned cold and he waved to Ling Dengxian to indicate that the conversation was temporarily over.

Hamilton glanced at the two of them, sneered, and didn't look them in the eye: "Go and call Madeline over."

Ling Dengxian looked at him, then at Ying, and pointed at Hamilton: "Who is this person?"

Hamilton's bloodshot eyes glared, and without a second thought, he swung his sword—

Like a stone sunk into a swamp, the well-made sword was clamped between his fingers and could not move. Before he could react, Ling Dengxian disarmed him with a flick of his wrist in a moment.

"What are you doing?" Ling Dengxian frowned, threw the knife aside, clapped his hands, and felt puzzled. "If you have hyperthyroidism, go find a military doctor."

Hamilton was stunned for a second, then flew into a rage: "Whose are you?"

"The eyeballs are bulging, red, and blinking is reduced, but it can also be classified as a case of severe late nights... Even a closer look doesn't confirm that it's hyperthyroidism." Ling Dengxian shook his head. "Sorry, you may not have hyperthyroidism, it's just a simple personality problem. I was just careless."

Hamilton was furious and looked at the people around him. "Who is he? Another damn infected person!? This ignorant *Victoria swears* guy, isn't he dead yet?"

In his opinion, the miscellaneous soldiers who had not undergone systematic military training should have died as cannon fodder in several battles long ago!

Such an ignorant fool is still alive!

This was not the first time Ling Xian faced someone who was particularly malicious towards the infected.

However, this was the first time he had seen someone verbally abuse and attack someone who had protected him.

He didn't have much patience for such arrogance.

He felt it unlikely that such a person would tolerate his actions, so he sighed and decided to tear down the shed and move it to another location.

"Brother Baige, showing your back to others is not a good habit." Schneider patted his shoulder, signaling him not to be too careless. "Even if the other party is the top military officer in this area, Colonel Hamilton, who hasn't slept for more than 20 hours and has been supervising the battle against the infected in the rear."

Ling Dengxian pointed at Hamilton again, his eyes filled with pure doubt: "Him?"

Before Hamilton could fully explode, Vayfan arrived and interrupted the conflict—or perhaps interrupted it—Madeline said seriously, "Colonel Hamilton? We were looking for you about the supply issue. The post-war medicine and supplies provided by Hill County are not enough."

"That's enough. We've counted the number of people. After all, they are Victoria's soldiers. I won't confuse right with wrong at this critical moment." Hamilton's eyes suddenly turned cold. The eye-catching, different-colored military uniforms on Shen Chi and others who arrived a step slower made him feel uncomfortable.

The arrival of Lavishini, Bagpipe and others also made the number of people here noticeable enough. The infected people came over one after another, and Hamilton's own soldiers also stood up from the camp and looked over here.

Lavishini noticed Hamilton's unfriendly look, and she could probably guess the reason in silence. After all, this was also the reason why Shenchi came to Xiaoqiu County to develop.

"Colonel Hamilton," Madeline frowned slightly, "of course that's not right! The number of people is no less than the supplies you provided."

"Don't play dumb, former Lieutenant Victoria. Feeding your own food to the enemy is not a low-level mistake that a good officer should make." Hamilton looked straight at her, but Madeline did not give in.

"Colonel Hamilton, if your intelligence system hadn't been paralyzed in the safety of the position, I think everyone would understand how the previous battle would have gone without the help of reinforcements. This blood tide is unusually fierce. If they broke through the infected defenses and broke into the inner position—"

"My soldiers will naturally take care of them. That will only highlight how ridiculous your so-called infected defense line is. I've said it all along! Cooks, painters, even farmers, have no business being on the battlefield!" Hamilton completely turned hostile. "It's just that they've contracted the mineralogy that even monsters hate. You should be proud to continue contributing to Victoria!"

"Don't even talk to me about sending supplies to the Tara scum! Dirty people have a dirty disease, so just rush into the monster pile yourself and do the stupid thing—"

Before he could utter the word "who", his fist was stopped by an external force. Before he and others could react, Ling Dengxian and Ying looked at each other.

Ying intercepted his fist, the veins on the hand that grabbed his wrist bulged, and cold sweat ran down Hamilton's cheeks. He couldn't believe that an unknown passerby dared to attack him in public.

And judging by the momentum of this punch, he had no doubt what would happen if he was hit on the nose.

"Ying..." Ling Dengxian growled. He really couldn't resist throwing the punch. Even if it would bring him terrible consequences, he couldn't pretend that he didn't hear anything.

The silent atmosphere was like a pool of stagnant water. There was no malice in Ying's eyes, and he could see the same anger surging in the other's eyes. After a moment, Ying let go of his hand:

"Brother White Dove, there are many things that cannot be neglected. Colonel Hamilton clearly has some complaints about the Tara people and the infected..."

"It means it's his territory, so he's right to say that?"

"No, no, no, Brother Bai Ge, you are infected. If an infected person impulsively attacks a partner, it will only increase public opinion against the infected person."

"This is where you're lacking consideration. True anger doesn't fade with time. It only erupts at the wrong time."

Ling Dengxian looked into Ying's eyes and nodded, admitting that he was indeed too impulsive. However, he knew that this matter would not end like this, because there was also fire burning in Ying's eyes.

"Assholes! They're all assholes!" Hamilton finally woke up from his cold sweat, but because of Ling Dengxian's look, he didn't do anything stupid. Instead, he roared, "Madeline! The infected will immediately set off to the lost position in Xiaoqiu County. Recapture the position and build trenches before the next round of blood tide arrives—"

"At any cost! This is an order!"

The words "price" and "order" suddenly stung Sakota.

Before Hamilton could react, Ying smashed Ling's nose, which Dengxian had failed to break, with one punch.

Amid the flying blood and the astonishment of the Victorian soldiers, Sakota wiped the blood from his fist, stepped forward, grabbed the arrogant man who had not yet fallen to the ground, and punched him in the face one after another, making a terrible sound.

"So..." Hamilton's soldiers were still in a daze.

"Like me—" Blood splattered on their faces, and his adjutant seemed to wake up from a dream.

"As a non-infected person--" Before his fourth swift and violent punch landed, Hamilton's adjutant finally rushed up.

"Catholic rebuke... is more... 'just'." Sakta was pulled away by the adjutant and ended coldly.

The terrible silence finally became noisy, the infected warriors cheered for the messenger, and Victoria's soldiers fell into an awkward silence.

They should support their superiors, but it is these infected people who sacrifice their lives to protect others, while they are the "soldiers" hiding in the rear and enjoying safety.

Their conscience does not allow them to take action, and discipline does not allow them to cheer, so they can only remain silent.

Ling Dengxian and Ying looked at each other again, and both smiled.

It seems we are on the same path.