Chapter 150: Siesta Is About to Explode!

Holidays, sunlit beaches, energetic livestreamers, and the deafening roar of live rock bands.

A few days later, the beautiful and romantic coastal city of Siesta welcomed two very different groups of arrivals. One group consisted of ordinary Rhodes Island Operators, happily enjoying a leisurely and cheerful vacation generously arranged by Kal’tsit. The other group, however, was—

“Boss, by sneaking in like this, can we really get close to the Doctor?”

The terrifying Nachzehrer King had used horrifying flesh witchcraft to compress his towering, monstrous physique into a tiny, hunched “mop head.” He had wrapped his rotting flesh tightly in mundane cloth strips, crouching in the decorative shrubbery like a common thief. He whispered his doubts to Theresis, the Regent of Kazdel, who currently had a literal bird’s nest perched atop his head for camouflage.

Theresis nodded without a shred of hesitation. “I admit I do not fully comprehend his mind… but for this music festival, I have prepared a bait he absolutely cannot refuse. For the future of the Sarkaz, we must seize this opportunity!”

The Nachzehrer King was greatly shocked. To think the Regent could so keenly grasp the psychological weak point of the Ghost of Babel! I wronged you, Theresis. We previously thought you were just being played in the palm of the Doctor’s hand, but now it seems you have your own rhythm!

He took a deep breath and humbly asked in his hoarse, majestic voice, “I see, Theresis… What exactly is your method? Do not let the Royal Court be disappointed in you.”

Theresis did not answer. Instead, the bushes beside them slowly squirmed, revealing the shifting face of a Shapeshifter Cluster, who enthusiastically answered the Nachzehrer King’s confusion.

“His plan is simple! When the music festival reaches its absolute climax, we will form the ‘Ave Sarkaz’band, march up on stage to perform Haruhikage, and scream’I really want to become a Sarkaz!’ during the acoustic interlude.”

The majestic King of Scavengers fell into deep thought. “…Do I have to shout too?”

The Shapeshifter became even more excited, morphing two extra hands out of the foliage and waving them around wildly. “Of course! If he still doesn’t appear, we’ll crawl all over the stage on all fours, screaming ‘Doctor!’, ‘Commander!’, ‘Faithful Ally!’, and ‘Heartless Accomplice!’ while we crawl.”

The Nachzehrer King’s expression became even more ferocious beneath his rags. “…Do I have to crawl too?”

“Of course!” Theresis helplessly covered his forehead, nearly dislodging his bird’s nest.

Of the two Royal Court members he had brought with him, one was just a chaotic entity looking for fun that could rebel at any moment, while the other was a deceptively fierce but brutally honest monster suffering from severe “gap moe.” As for himself, he was just experiencing deep awkwardness. To call his relationship with the Doctor ‘hate’was far too frivolous, but to call it’love’ was utterly absurd.

He suddenly regretted coming. Are we really here to confirm the Doctor’s danger level, or are we here to gift the Doctor an unlockable limited CG for a special holiday, special time, and special relationship?

On the other side of the city, you had changed into the standard uniform of an ordinary Rhodes Island Operator, fully embracing the customs of this land. You strapped two tactical armbands and one heavy leg band onto yourself, secured a mask-communicator over your face, pulled on fingerless tactical gloves, and wore a specially made bird-feather headband.

In the end, you didn’t use Steward’s annual leave, but Plume’s. The diligent and responsible Laterano guard had immediately stood at attention and stated, “Doctor, you may use my annual leave as you please.”

Considering that the stereotype of a Liberi on this land did genuinely lower others’ vigilance, you let the poor Steward off the hook.

It has a very wasteland vibe, but it seems to be missing a bit of that true ‘Arknights flavor.’

You pondered this while looking in the mirror, then decisively changed into a pair of heavy high-top boots. You stitched the mechanical blueprints of 3D maneuver gear onto your back, adding four grappling hooks to your waist that could be thrown out in an emergency to scale walls.

That’s the flavor. Now I am a highly qualified little animal of Terra!

You adjusted the ID badge on your chest to make Plume’s name more prominent, then walked out of the cheap tourist apartment you had rented from a local. You stepped onto the sunlit streets of Siesta with total peace of mind, blending in like a truly ordinary tourist.

In reality, you hadn’t prepared anything for this trip at all. Your mind had been completely filled with ‘I want to go to Dossoles,’ right up until Kal’tsit sent you the summer team-building expense report. Only then did you realize you were currently trapped in the Heart of Surging Flame SideStory—an event you hadn’t actually played much of.

In terms of how mainstream the community memes were, the old “A cup of tea, a cigarette, and watching auto-deploy loop all day” joke just wasn’t as iconic as the later Lee’s Detective Agency memes. In terms of meta intensity, re-releasing the new Operator Thorns was nowhere near as impactful as the sudden, wallet-destroying drop of Ch’en the Holungday.

Most, this event came out way too early in the game’s lifespan. In your past life, at this specific time, you were working grueling part-time jobs while trying to be a part-time Arknights content creator. You were so poor you didn’t even have five bucks in your pocket, let alone the free time to sit down and carefully sort through these early plotlines.

The Beast Sovereign, the Lord of Sheep, hasn’t entered the field yet. Other than that giant mutated Originium Slug, Pompeii, which is slightly interesting, nothing else here requires my direct intervention.

Besides, our Island’s Operators have plenty of experience dealing with local coups, political infighting, and armed power grabs!

Just as you were formulating this perfect excuse to give yourself a lazy break, a young lady with long pink hair and a stylish top hat suddenly came rushing down the street, looking around in all directions with frantic desperation.

She ignored the soda vendors, the wandering rock singers, a family of three out on vacation, and what looked like very professional field employees of an international mega-corporation.

The young lady’s eyes lit up. Among the passing pedestrians, she accurately picked out a white-haired Liberi youth who looked highly educated and cultured. She rushed up excitedly and grabbed his arms with both hands, clinging to him as if she had just found a life-saving straw.

“Hello! I am Ceylon, the daughter of the Mayor of Siesta. I can prove it to you! May I ask if you have any professional knowledge about volcanoes?!”

The Liberi youth’s face contorted for a split second, silently screaming at the sheer, bone-crushing strength of a Terran Medic’s grip. He politely but firmly broke free from her hands. “I believe you, Miss Ceylon, but I am not a professional in that specific field.”

Ceylon lowered her hands in disappointment and apologized repeatedly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, my grip might be a bit too strong, but I can learn to control it…”

The youth slowly added the second half of his sentence, a strange glint in his eye. “But I can learn it on the spot.”

“Huh?” Ceylon’s first reaction was that he was making a terrible joke. “Sorry, sir, the situation is really urgent. The volcano next to Siesta seems to be about to erupt. Please don’t joke around!”

Upon hearing this, the youth seemed deeply moved by her words. He calmly slid the gaming terminal he had just taken out back into his pocket.

“Oh, the volcano next to Siesta? Then there’s absolutely no need to learn—”

“Sir, please be serious. Everything I said is the truth…”

“—because that thing is about to explode~”

Ceylon stared at him, utterly paralyzed.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to evaluate this Liberi youth who clearly had something wrong with his brain. To say he was abnormal—he was the only one among so many people on the street who actually believed her. But to say he was normal—what the heck was this unhinged behavior of gleefully cheering ‘The volcano is about to explode’?!

The Liberi’s eyes were sparkling, as if his gamer brain had just received a notification for a hidden Main Quest. He slapped his hands together eagerly. “Please! I believe what you said is true. Please, you must take me with you. I can offer you tactical strategies, and if you want to violently take over the City Hall, I can even help command the siege!”

There were simply too many things to complain about. Ceylon didn’t know what to say for a long, painful moment.

My dad is the mayor, why on Terra would I want to take over the City Hall?! And what’s the use of helping to command?! What a completely useless ability!

[Rhodes’s Note: “Ave Sarkaz” and “Haruhikage” are parodies of the anime BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, referencing the band Ave Mujica and the infamous scene where a character plays the emotional song “Haruhikage” without permission, leading to the meme “Why did you play Haruhikage?!”]

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!