Arknights: The Prophet of Penguin Logistics — Chapter 100

Chapter 100: New Life

Over the next month, Lynn was subjected to a grueling gauntlet of experiments, diagnostic tests, atmospheric adaptation trials, and kinetic therapy.

On the surface, his body looked much the same as it always had. Beneath the skin, however, the difference was staggering. His previously frail constitution had been entirely overhauled, rebuilt into something lean, flexible, and terrifyingly resilient.

First was his hearing. It had been enhanced to the point where he could pick up the muffled conversations of researchers through the reinforced walls of the next room—a baseline slightly above the average Terran. His vision had sharpened drastically; he could spot the difference between a ping-pong ball and a tennis ball resting on a steel plate three hundred meters away. With his newly calibrated dynamic vision and motor reflexes, he could pull off evasive maneuvers straight out of an action movie’s bullet-time sequence. He wasn’t actually dodging live ammunition yet, but the raw physical potential was undeniably impressive.

His casual hundred-meter dash clocked in at ten seconds, and at a full sprint, he could clear the distance in five. He no longer had to worry about a three-story fall rendering him paraplegic, nor did he need to call Texas or Lappland to lug heavy crates around for him. Even his thoughts flowed with a crisp, frictionless clarity.

Yet, despite this newfound physical prowess, his fundamental intelligence remained unchanged. Lynn decided it was best not to average his IQ with the locals. He still harbored a deep, existential dread toward the inhabitants of Terra. For the life of him, he couldn’t fathom why they insisted on waging endless, bloody wars in the dirt instead of looking up and conquering the sky.

Regardless, the data didn’t lie. He had finally reached the baseline physical standard of this brutal world. He survived the initial tissue rejection phase, and his month of adaptive training passed without a single anomaly.

The true milestone came when Lynn finally stepped out of the sterile underground facility. He stood in the open courtyard, breathed unfiltered air, dug his fingers into the raw soil, and even went days without a shower just to test his immune system. Nothing broke down. The medical staff erupted into massive, echoing cheers.

No news was the best news; everything had fallen perfectly within their calculated parameters. The doctors celebrated as if they had just cured Oripathy itself, congratulating each other on completing an unmatched medical miracle.

“Well then, you’re cleared for discharge at this time tomorrow,” Silence said, adjusting her glasses. “Of course, due to the political climate, you won’t be able to step out into the light as a public hero. Even though this was your explicit request, I still find it utterly absurd that Kazimierz actually agreed to it.”

“Doctor Silence, I asked for this,” Lynn replied, leaning back against his pillows. “I don’t want to be a hero. Just give me my hazard pay and let me go.”

“Alright. It is your choice, after all.”

Silence, who had been monitoring his psychological stability, sat beside Shining, who oversaw his physical evaluations. Both women looked at him with a mixture of relief and faint exasperation. Lynn had willingly surrendered all the fame, prestige, and political use he could have squeezed out of Kazimierz. All he wanted was a fixed body and his old life back. To Silence, it seemed like he was throwing away a hard-won legacy. But it wasn’t her place to dictate his life.

Lynn ignored the heavy atmosphere. He stared at his reflection in the mirror mounted on the opposite wall, scrutinizing the stranger looking back at him.

“Um, are you absolutely sure there’s nothing wrong with me?” he asked, rubbing his head. “With this white hair and red eyes, I feel like a giant rabbit…”

“It’s a minor disruption in your hormone secretion,” Silence explained clinically. “Your hair will remain silver-white, and your irises have turned red due to a sudden pigment deficiency. While it’s not a standard physiological state, you don’t need to worry. This degree of rejection reaction is well within our projected safety margins. The slight muscle atrophy is also expected. You might even experience a second growth spurt in height—just make sure to keep exercising. Some of your internal organs have only just rebooted, so your endocrine system will be out of balance for a while. It might even stay that way permanently. But regardless of the side effects, you are now a functioning, normal person. You can do whatever you want.”

“I wasn’t complaining about my height,” Lynn muttered. “I just… can I finally go see Exusiai and the others? I want to go back to Lungmen. I don’t have many good memories in this city. Only painful ones. Now that I’m medically cleared, I want to leave. Am I allowed?”

Shining offered a gentle, serene smile. “Of course. You aren’t the only one leaving. We will be setting off on our own journeys soon.”

Lynn blinked, surprised.

“I was originally traveling to find a fellow Sarkaz,” Shining explained, her voice soft but resolute. “I have been delayed in Kazimierz for far too long. Now that your safety is guaranteed, I have no reason to linger. The local government might try to recruit the other doctors and staff, but most of us will be heading our separate ways.”

“Shining is right,” Silence agreed, her tone shifting back to business. “I also need to return to Rhine Lab.”

“Why?” Lynn asked, tilting his head. “I thought Kazimierz’s hospitality was pretty generous.”

“Because no matter how generous the funding is, this isn’t home.”

Shining looked at the young man—whose hair was now nearly the exact same shade of silver as her own—and smiled. To wander the harsh wastelands, save a life against impossible odds, and then return to the home you’ve yearned for… to sit with the people you care about and say, I was a part of that miracle. For many of the medical staff, that was the ultimate reward.

They had been isolated in this facility for nearly two months. Now that Lynn, Patient Zero, was stable, it was time for a graceful exit. Doctors cure diseases and mend bodies, but they cannot follow their patients forever. Patients, in turn, have their own lives to reclaim. This brief, intense partnership was destined to be short-lived, yet it would leave an indelible mark on all of them.

“…I won’t forget what you did for me,” Lynn said, his expression turning entirely serious as he looked between the two women. “Kazimierz paid the bills, but you were the ones who put in the blood, sweat, and tears. I won’t forget any of it.”

Silence pushed her round glasses up the bridge of her nose, her gaze softening. “Neither will I. These past two months were far from meaningless. The data and the experience will keep me. I will never forget what it was like to work together toward a single goal, free of political barriers and corporate arrogance. So you need to live well, Lynn. Stay healthy.”

“Thank you. I will.” Lynn nodded firmly, moved by the usually stoic Liberi’s sincerity.

Soon after, the shift changed. A new rotation of doctors entered the room to conduct Lynn’s final diagnostic checks. After greeting them and glancing at the clock ticking on the wall, his thoughts drifted away from the sterile hospital room. He began to count down the hours until his reunion.

‘I wonder how everyone at Penguin Logistics is doing…’

Calculating the timeline in his head, Lynn couldn’t help but let out a dry, amused chuckle. He had known them for three months, and he had just spent three months hospitalized.

The price of working with beautiful girls was just a bit too steep, wasn’t it?