Hello, Arknights

Chapter 264 Thoughts

"I've learned about you and her." When Texas came back, he was turning to the part where the white-haired Rupert girl frequently appeared in the photo. Some of them appeared on the edge, some only showed half of their face, and some simply showed only one glove to indicate that the photo was taken by him.

He could probably guess the circumstances under which these photos were taken...

Sensing Texas returning to the room with moisture, Ling Dengxian closed the photo album awkwardly. Although he had the other party's permission, this straightforward emotional touch still made him feel guilty.

"Actually, there is no important conflict..." Ling Dengxian was indeed angry with Lappland at the beginning. How could he have such a good impression of her for repaying kindness with enmity? But it can be said that there is no acquaintance without fighting. In the subsequent Longmen incident, she also risked her life to help. In the end, she did agree to his request to stay in Penguin Logistics to help look after the lower city and everyone. No matter how angry Ling Dengxian was, it was all gone.

"It would be best if you could have your own way of getting along, but I won't let her do anything out of line often..." Texas wiped her hair with a bath towel and glanced at the bedside table. Ling Dengxian opened the drawer for her, took out the hair dryer and plugged it in for her. Rupert looked at him again. Ling Dengxian understood what she meant and felt a little embarrassed.

"Are you embarrassed?" Rupert came closer, and the smell of water vapor and a very faint shampoo was pervasive. Ling Dengxian hastily met her eyes, and for the first time realized that those amber-burning eyes would also at certain moments - such as now - be a little...aggressive and ambiguous.

"Do you care about Bagpipe and Mostima?" After they distanced themselves, Ling Dengxian felt a sense of emptiness in his heart. The girl sat beside him and reached out to him for the hair dryer, but did not move.

"…It would be very cheap to regret at the last minute."

"I'm not going to sell myself to anyone..." Ling Dengxian insisted. Texas smiled and let it go.

"Who knows."

The sound of the hair dryer was heard, and the previous feeling of awkwardness was dispelled. Ling Dengxian half-knelt beside the bed, while Texas sat quietly with the photo album on his knees, and his fatigue was gradually fading away.

"It should be about time... There is one thing that is true. Regardless of other issues, I have to go see how Di Zi and Mostima are doing. I don't know if everyone is used to it here."

The hair dryer stopped and Texas tilted his head. She had thought he would have something else to say when they were alone.

As soon as the door opened, what caught Ling Dengxian's eyes was a group of people not far away going into their rooms, leaving only Huang Da Mao, who was standing relatively close to the front and was a step slower, so he could only knock on the door and yell, "Hey, hey, I haven't entered the room yet, open the door!"

Faced with the inevitable embarrassment, Huang laughed dryly and shrank his neck: "Operator White Pigeon... I came out to find something to eat, what a coincidence haha..."

Ling Dengxian didn't know what expression to use to face this group of funny people.

"Don't lead Rosalina astray..."

Texas also caught a glimpse of the situation outside, thought about whether he should react, but after a moment he remained indifferent and went about his own business.

Looking at the album, she opened the cover after a long time. However, what she didn't expect was that there was a note next to her first photo:

"Hello, Cellinina——by Ling Dengxian."

"…No wonder he 'ran away'." Texas once again showed a rare smile.

Inside Mastema's house.

Touching his chest and feeling his heart beating wildly, Vayfan felt a different kind of excitement for the first time: "That was close... It feels more fun than the infiltration training when I was in the military..."

"Is it fun..." Mostima was also a little surprised about the feeling of the bagpipes. She also joined in the fun, but in comparison, she ran "faster".

"How is it? Are you relieved now?" Thinking of the corner of the room that he had just glimpsed from outside the room, Mostima took off his coat, lay on his back on the bed, bounced slightly, and squinted his eyes in comfort.

"Sure enough, they are sleeping on the floor. Xiao Mo, you guessed it right."

"That's normal," Mastema thought of the reason and narrowed her eyes, "because she still cares about the feelings of some people, like..."

"Like what?" Bagpipe looked back in confusion.

"Like a certain considerate Vaifan girl," Mostima smiled.

"Huh?" Fengdi was surprised. She even wondered who else in the team was Waifan.

“W-Why?!”

"...It's quite simple to say. You've been to Longmen before, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that you hold a very important position in that guy's heart..." Mostima's mouth corners unconsciously raised, and he put on an innocent look and said, "And she's not the type with a bad personality, so she will definitely respect your feelings more or less-"

"After all, I'm competing with you for it." While saying this, Mostima looked at the bagpipe seriously.

The bagpipe, who had been nodding in agreement as if he understood the first half, was a little slow to react: "Oh, so that's it... eh? eh?!!!"

"What's making such a big noise——" Ling Dengxian, who had just entered the room, just stuck his head out when a pillow hit his face directly: "Sorry, get out!"

Vaifan blushed and picked up the second pillow, a little embarrassed in his haste, and then threw the pillow at him and kicked him out of the door: "Knock before entering, please!"

"I'm so sorry!" Ling Dengxian was a little dazed after being hit by two pillows. She looked back and saw that the heads that had just popped up behind Huang quickly shrank back. She herself held back her laughter and moved out of the living room step by step. Her room was next door: "Where is the water..."

Didn’t you say before that you were looking for something to eat?

Ling Dengxian sighed and was about to ask who would live in his room after they were assigned, when the door opened again. Mostima, who had taken off her coat, smiled at him, her blue tongue flashed, and she pulled the pillow from his arms.

Looking at the door that closed again, Ling Dengxian was silent: Could it be that Dizi was really unhappy because he slept in Texas' room?

But then again, this gender ratio is a bit outrageous. Should he move out?

While thinking about all sorts of things, he opened the door of his room, and all five figures, red, blue, two purple and white, were there.

"...Teacher...hello, captain." Five people all joined in the fun, but Skadi Frost Leaf didn't say much, Surtel just stared at him and made it clear that he didn't intend to explain, Provence held his tail and didn't dare to look him in the face, so Rosalinha had to bite the bullet and say hello on behalf of everyone.

"Can you guys not be so silent as to push little Meilansha out..." Ling Dengxian's eyes twitched, and he looked away when he thought of certain situations, "You can join in the fun, but you still have to respect privacy..."

"I have a question." Surtel finally spoke up. She frowned, looked at herself and her companions, and squinted her eyes. "Although it's a bit late to say it now, but... I suddenly realized that you are the only man here.

“It’s not an offense, but considering your interpersonal relationships, I suddenly feel a little dangerous…” As she spoke, the Sarkaz girl hugged Lewontin tightly, with a wary look in her eyes.

"...To be honest, I kind of forgot who was going to come. I originally planned to ask Brother Black Horn to be my guide."

"Liar, you found Skadi first."

"There's a reason for that—"

"Skadi, be careful..." He stopped talking halfway, feeling that it was a bit of a disrespect to be the first to speak, and glanced at Skadi carefully, but the latter didn't seem to care at all.

"Skadi?" Ling Dengxian followed Sartel's gaze and noticed that Skadi was in a daze. She seemed to have something to say.

After a moment, she said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. When are you going to have breakfast? I didn't go to the cafeteria today because of the mission."

Ling Dengxian covered his face.

"Then let's go out and eat—"

"Hey wait," the blue-haired fallen angel appeared lightly and threw a small shiny object to Ling Dengxian, who caught it and saw that it was a car key. "I don't think your captain has the financial resources to invite so many people to a high-end restaurant. You have to find another way."

"It doesn't have to be a very high-end restaurant..." Provence said weakly.

"It's enough to have enough to eat." An Agor expressed his opinion.

"I, I can do it."

Frost Leaf didn't say anything. Since she wasn't picky anyway, she wouldn't make things more complicated.

"Then, Xiao Mo, do you have any suggestions?" Feng Di poked his head out from behind the door frame, and it was obvious that he had calmed down.

"You can look forward to this~ After all, I am very authoritative in this area." Mostima smiled slightly, and Ling Dengxian on the side suddenly felt something was wrong: "Wait, Mostima..."

"She probably wants Ling... Baige to cook for her." Texas walked out of the room while tying up his hair. He had already changed his clothes. "But we have to be practical. With so many people waiting for him to finish, it will be time for lunch."

"So let's have breakfast at the Rinmaru stall downstairs, and then we'll go to the mall to buy food for lunch and dinner." Mostima nodded, and then looked at Huang who had secretly returned upstairs and showed his head, "By the way, Operator Huang, I remember you said that the doctor hasn't arrived yet, right? The documents haven't been in place yet, so there's no rush to get down to business, right?"

"That's true, and I guess with the doctor's personality, she will take a day off after she arrives, saying it's a 'small reward for herself for her hard work.'" Huang nodded to confirm this.

"That's settled then—"

"Wait, no one asked for my opinion..."

"Besides, it's better for me to drive the car than for him to drive it. At least I have a driver's license." Texas took the car keys from him and said softly, "I'll go with you, it's okay."

Ling Dengxian looked at everyone's expressions and nodded helplessly: "Well, it's been a while since I cooked for myself."