On the way back.
Texas drove while Su Yi and Exusiai stared out the window, unable to process so much information all at once.
"Look on the bright side—Su Yi's fine. Isn't that enough?" Exusiai said optimistically.
"Aren't you afraid I'll suddenly turn into some colossal beast one day and crush all of you?" Su Yi threatened.
"You might be a Beast Lord, you know. Our boss is a Beast Lord too—you two would probably have tons to talk about."
"In any case, I'm definitely not a Seaborn."
According to the Rhodes Island operator Gavial, not all lifeforms contracted Oripathy. Contrary to common belief, there were actually quite a few existences on this land that were immune to Originium infection.
For example: godlike colossal beasts; the Seaborn, of unknown origin yet notorious for frequently harassing the coasts; long-lived Beast Lords; and Sarkaz "dead spirits" who abandoned flesh and ascended through machinery…
One look was enough to tell Su Yi wasn't a Seaborn, and he certainly wasn't a metallic dead spirit, either.
So he was most likely a humanoid colossal beast—or a humanoid Beast Lord.
But his physical toughness and the nature of his existence didn't quite match those categories.
In the end, Gavial's brain nearly overheated. She gave up trying to reason it out and decided to seek outside help—she would personally package the testing data and blood sample and deliver them to the main vessel, requesting a joint diagnosis from Dr. Kal'tsit and Dr. Warfarin.
Su Yi also wanted to know what, exactly, he was, so he agreed.
"This is a serious matter. Until the final result is out, we keep our mouths shut. No one can know Su Yi's secret," Texas said solemnly.
"Not even the boss?" Exusiai asked.
"The boss… probably can." Texas hesitated. "But the boss has known Su Yi for so long and still didn't notice his identity. Telling him might not help."
"Fair point."
"Ahem." Su Yi raised his right hand. "Pardon me—shouldn't we go help Croissant and Sora? They're about to work themselves to death."
Right! They'd completely forgotten them!
Texas slammed the brakes, pulled a clean drift in the middle of the road, and turned back to find her former coworkers.
…
…
"You're finally here to back us up! So—how did it go? Are you okay?"
Croissant and Sora were nearly losing their minds from nonstop deliveries. Seeing Texas arrive to support them, they were moved beyond words.
"We thought it was terminal, so I secretly went to resign with the boss… but it turns out it was a misdiagnosis." Su Yi scratched his head, embarrassed. "Sorry for making everyone worry."
Sora: ???
Croissant: ???
Terminal? Resigning? When did this happen—how did we not hear a thing?!
Seeing their expressions go weird, Su Yi hurriedly said, "Since we're already here—let's work!"
With that, he jumped into the vehicle, buckled his seat belt, and drove off.
"Honestly—how do you just ditch your own partners like that?" Croissant grumbled. "Exusiai, you ride with Texas in that car. Sora, you're with me in this one."
After assigning the vehicles, Croissant and Sora also drove off.
"We're partners again," Exusiai smiled, then abruptly asked, "Texas—do you like Su Yi too?"
"I don't feel that way about him," Texas denied on reflex.
"Then why did you hug him last night?" Exusiai demanded, jealous. "Even I haven't hugged him!"
Texas had no answer. She didn't know why she'd hugged Su Yi either.
Guilt?
Or pity and self-blame?
She couldn't tell. She truly couldn't…
Maybe, deep down, she'd developed a sliver of fondness for that white-haired young man—fondness she wasn't supposed to have.
After getting in the car, Exusiai still wouldn't let her off the hook, chattering while she drove:
"Do you know how heartbroken I was? I really thought you and Su Yi were secretly together, and that's why you opposed me being with him. Last night I was even thinking about packing up and going back to Laterano."
Perhaps she'd been nagged into annoyance—or perhaps she wanted to draw a clear line—or perhaps her brain just short-circuited…
Texas suddenly said, "Su Yi is yours. I won't compete with you."
"Really?" Exusiai didn't believe a single syllable. "Or are you saying that because you think I can't catch him, so you're just being nice?"
Texas froze. She hadn't considered her words could be interpreted like that.
But thinking about it…
It didn't seem wrong.
With Exusiai's initiative alone, by the time Su Yi's future girlfriend was visibly pregnant, Exusiai might still never have gotten a hug from him.
"Don't underestimate me. Today I took Su Yi's hand—twice!" Exusiai said proudly.
This was a major breakthrough. Tonight, she had to celebrate properly!
"Good luck," Texas said, encouraging her.
"Huh? You're not against me and Su Yi anymore?" Exusiai asked, startled.
"I can't find a reason anymore. Even if he gets his memories back and his temperament changes completely, I'll accept it."
After all this, Texas had fully accepted Su Yi.
He'd taken the hit for her; even when they believed he had Oripathy, he refused to make it public and only wanted to leave quietly so he wouldn't drag everyone down. After that, it would be unreasonable for her to keep guarding against him.
Exusiai nodded. "I get it, but if Su Yi gets his memories back, why would he 'sexually assault poop'? Yuck! That's disgusting!"
Texas: …
"You should study Lungmen slang a bit more," Texas said.
"Huh? Why? My Lungmen speech is already super fluent!" Exusiai protested.
…
…
Three days later.
A travel-worn Gavial finally returned to the main vessel.
After swiping her pass through the gate, the moment she connected to Rhodes Island's internal network, her terminal automatically popped up the PRTS welcome interface.
PRTS was Rhodes Island's AI system—responsible for security, fire control, communications, patient vital monitoring, and more. It was effectively the ship's chief steward.
[Identity confirmed. Welcome back aboard, Dr. Gavial…]
"PRTS, is Dr. Kal'tsit available?" Gavial asked.
[Dr. Kal'tsit has just returned to the ship. She is very fatigued and is resting. Unless the matter is urgent, please do not disturb her.]
"Uh…"
Gavial patted the backpack behind her, uncertain. She couldn't tell whether this counted as urgent or merely important.
A colossal beast—or a Beast Lord—was certainly significant, but whether it was addressed sooner or later… did it really change anything?
Besides, she'd heard the boss of Penguin Logistics was also a Beast Lord, and nothing seemed to be happening there.
[If you are unable to judge, you may describe the matter briefly. I will assess based on the information you provide.]
"It can do that?" Gavial gave a simple summary. "A few days ago, someone came to me for an Oripathy screening, but his blood Originium crystal density was 0.00 u/L."
[Preliminary judgment: humanoid colossal beast or Beast Lord. Possibly an old acquaintance of Dr. Kal'tsit. What is the subject's race?]
"Can't tell the race. White hair, quite handsome, and the blood data is something I've never seen before… Here."
Gavial uploaded the data to PRTS.
The next second—
[Detected that Dr. Kal'tsit has not entered a sleep state. Ms. Gavial, please go see her immediately.]
....
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