Arknights: The Holy Son's Leisurely Life — Chapter 90

Chapter 90: Do You Want to Kiss?

Before the first light of dawn could pierce the horizon, Lucian’s Penguin Logistics crew and Scout’s elite Rhodes Island squad drove their transport into the desolate outskirts of Chernobog. They abandoned the vehicle in the wasteland, slipping into the cavernous lower structural area of the massive mobile city.

Standing in the shadowed wilderness beneath the colossal treads, one could only tilt their head back and marvel at the sheer, terrifying scale of human engineering. Chernobog dwarfed Lungmen. It was a self-sufficient steel leviathan, a sprawling mobile platform carrying over two million souls, complete with towering cityscapes and vast agricultural sectors built directly onto its alloyed back.

The thought of it was staggering, yet the people of Terra had long accepted these moving fortresses as a simple fact of life. It left Lucian feeling inexplicably sentimental, a quiet melancholy settling over him in the dark.

Before he could dwell on the feeling, a burst of static crackled through his earpiece.

“[Test. This is Scout’s team. How is the signal? Please respond.]”

Lucian pressed a finger to his ear, clearing his throat. “Comms are green. Loud and clear, over.”

He couldn’t deny the thrill of it. It felt exactly like playing the role of a covert agent in a spy thriller, and he was fully leaning into the persona.

“[Received. No anomalies ahead. Proceed to rendezvous.]”

Lucian gave a quick affirmative, gesturing for the Penguin Logistics girls to follow as they hurried to catch up with Scout’s vanguard, who had pushed ahead ten minutes prior.

It was Lucian’s first time infiltrating a mobile city through its underbelly. It sounded entirely too much like sneaking into a wealthy estate through the sewage pipes, and the damp, metallic reality of the lower levels wasn’t far off.

As they squeezed through a breached maintenance hatch left open by Scout’s crew, Croissant let out a loud, echoing grumble. “I mean, is it really okay for us to just waltz in like this? Don’t these giant mobile cities have, I don’t know, security? Surveillance cameras?”

“Lungmen would,” Lucian replied, his voice kept low. “But the scale is entirely different.”

Lungmen was a fraction of Chernobog’s size, with a significantly smaller population, yet its economic power and technological infrastructure were vastly superior. That wealth allowed Lungmen to enforce airtight security grids. Sneaking into Lungmen’s structural foundations in the dead of night would trigger a dozen alarms before they even touched the metal. But similarly, Lungmen offered a hundred cleaner, bureaucratic loopholes for smuggling oneself inside, rendering a sewer crawl entirely unnecessary.

“Chernobog is simply too bloated,” Lucian continued, stepping over a thick bundle of dormant power cables. “The Core City’s security is likely ironclad, but these peripheral modules are mostly agricultural and grazing zones. The population density down here is naturally sparse. And judging by the current state of things, the local authorities probably don’t have the luxury of worrying about border control anymore.”

Seeing it up close, the sheer wrongness of Chernobog’s situation weighed heavily on Lucian. This gargantuan city had been sitting dead in the water, anchored in the barren wilderness for nearly a month. While mobile cities occasionally halted for maintenance, Rhodes Island’s Catastrophe Messengers had confirmed the worst: a Catastrophe was scheduled to obliterate this exact sector in less than a week.

This was the critical evacuation window. It was the entire reason Rhodes Island was risking a rapid-response operation to extract the Doctor before the sky fell. Yet Chernobog remained completely paralyzed, radiating a deathly, suffocating silence. Whatever rot was eating the city from the inside had already taken hold.

After linking up with the Rhodes Island vanguard, the combined group moved in absolute silence, hunting for a viable access shaft to the upper city. Scout proved exactly why he led the elite reconnaissance team. Under his precise hand signals, the twenty-strong unit glided through the labyrinth of pipes and struts without a single misstep or wasted breath.

Just as they neared a massive service elevator leading to the surface, Scout threw up a closed fist.

“[Hold position. Sentry ahead. Not Chernobog police.]”

A tense few seconds ticked by in the dark. Scout’s voice returned, a quiet murmur over the comms.

“[A patrol group. Wearing hoods and white masks. Poorly equipped. I’m seeing disassembled water pipes and scrap metal. Suspected violent gang.]”

“That’s the Reunion Movement,” Lucian said immediately. “I’ve run into them before.”

Chernobog was crawling with Reunion extremists, to the point where they had apparently seized control of the transit checkpoints between the upper and lower levels. They looked like common street thugs, armed with literal garbage, which only made the reality of their tactical control over the city’s infrastructure all the more alarming.

“Should we eliminate them?” a Rhodes Island operator whispered, drawing a combat knife.

“Negative. We reroute.” Scout’s decision was instantaneous. The veteran sniper didn’t even blink. “They have numbers, and we can’t risk an alarm. Relay a message to Amiya’s main squad. Tell them the situation on the ground is worse than projected. The Chernobog operation may need to be extended by several days.”

It was the right call. Chernobog was massive, and while Amiya knew the Doctor’s general coordinates, physically reaching the target was going to be a nightmare. As the vanguard, Scout’s sole priority was a ghost-like infiltration.

They doubled back, slipping through the shadows until they located an unguarded maintenance stairwell. A few minutes of grueling climbing later, they breached the upper level, stepping out into the cold, pre-dawn air of the city surface.

Scout turned to Lucian, his rifle slung casually over his shoulder. “Penguin Logistics can break off here. As long as you don’t compromise our position, you have free rein to operate.”

“Thanks, Scout,” Lucian nodded.

His objective was fundamentally different from Rhodes Island’s rescue mission. Lucian was here to gauge the true military scale of the Reunion Movement. And from what he had seen so far, the situation was grim. This supposedly disorganized mob of Infected extremists was operating with a terrifying level of coordination.

Because of that, Lucian scrapped his original plan. He looked at the veteran sniper. “Scout, I need a favor. Take Croissant and Texas with you.”

Both girls blinked in surprise.

Before Croissant could voice her outrage, Lucian cut her off. “I need to move fast and scout multiple districts. A large group is a liability right now. If your team ends up needing to pivot to armed reconnaissance, their combat strength will be a massive asset.”

Scout considered it for a moment, then nodded. “I have no objections, assuming they’re willing.”

He left the final choice to the two couriers. Taking on unknown variables during a stealth op was a massive risk for a scout team, but he trusted Lucian’s judgment.

Croissant let out a long, dramatic groan, but she knew her heavy shield and boisterous nature made her a terrible fit for a stealth run. She knew how to read the room.

Texas simply looked at Lucian, her expression cool and unreadable. “I can infiltrate. I excel at it.”

“I know you do,” Lucian said smoothly. “Which is exactly why I’m counting on you to babysit Croissant. Don’t let her drag the Rhodes Island team down.”

“Hey!” Croissant planted her hands on her hips, highly offended. “Don’t think you can just bully me because I’m a good employee! I’m not useless!”

Everyone collectively ignored her.

Texas frowned slightly, her Lupo ears twitching as she let out a soft sigh. “Understood.” She lingered for a second, her gaze locking onto his. “If things go wrong, contact me immediately.”

“I will. Thank you.” Lucian offered a reassuring smile. With Texas anchoring the duo, they would be a genuine asset to Scout’s squad.

As the Rhodes Island team melted into the city streets with the two couriers in tow, only Exusiai and Executor remained.

Lucian turned to the stoic Sankta. “Executor. You go with them too.”

“Please allow me to refuse.” Executor’s voice was a flat, mechanical monotone. His expression didn’t shift a millimeter. “My mission is to protect you, sir. This is a direct mandate from Saint Joan. It supersedes all other priorities.”

Lucian didn’t miss a beat. “Do you answer to Joan, or do you answer to me?”

He wasn’t playing around. He knew exactly how rigid the Notarial Hall’s finest could be. Persuasion was a waste of breath; only absolute authority worked.

“Effective immediately, I strip Joan, Commander of the Ninth Legion, of all operational authority over the Agents. You report directly to me, and you are relieved of all prior standing orders.” Lucian’s voice hardened, carrying the unmistakable weight of the Holy Son. “Now, I am ordering you to shadow Scout’s team from a distance. Keep Croissant and Texas alive. Do not let anything happen to them.”

“…”

It was the longest processing pause Executor had ever exhibited. Finally, the Sankta bowed his head. “As you command.”

The elite Agent vanished into the shadows, strictly obeying the letter of the law—he wouldn’t join the squad, but he would serve as their invisible guardian angel.

Now, they were truly alone. Exusiai leaned against a nearby wall, twirling a strand of her vibrant red hair around her finger. A bright, amused giggle escaped her lips.

“Well, well. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you pull the ‘Holy Son’ card. It’s actually kind of refreshing.” She grinned, her halo glowing softly in the dim light. “So, what’s the master plan, Your Holiness? Why did you specifically clear the board of everyone else?”

Lucian exhaled, the authoritative edge melting away into a heavy sigh. “Because I have a terrible feeling about this place.”

He looked out over the silent, sprawling cityscape. “The air in this city makes me sick to my stomach. The last time I felt this kind of oppressive tension was when I found out the Saint Battle Angel had intervened in the Sarkaz civil war.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, genuine regret bleeding into his tone. If he had known Chernobog was a powder keg this close to detonating, he would have made the trip solo.

“But we’re here now,” he muttered, turning back to the energetic Sankta. “I need to find out who is actually pulling the strings at the top of the Reunion Movement. To dive that deep into enemy territory, even Executor’s rigid protocols would be a liability. I can only rely on you.”

Lucian stepped closer, his expression turning dead serious as he looked down at Exusiai.

“Exusiai, do you want to kiss?”