Arknights: The Prophet of Penguin Logistics — Chapter 74

Chapter 74: The Wandering Physician

Rock and roll is an inherently hardcore existence.

Why say that? Because the moment you surrender to the rhythm and start rocking out, life itself tends to follow suit, spiraling into a chaotic, high-stakes frenzy. Looking back through the long river of history, every true rock and roll icon boasted a past—or a future—steeped in glorious, destructive rebellion.

They crashed cars and kicked the bucket, succumbed to incurable diseases, roared their lungs out until they collapsed on stage, or simply vanished into the ether. In short, none of them enjoyed a comfortable, quiet end. They were the sort of restless souls who, if buried in the dirt, might just claw their way back out of the ground like reanimated corpses.

For a brief, naive period of time, Lynn had actually envied that kind of hardcore lifestyle.

To be surrounded by beauties, commanding the adoration of countless fans—what more could a man ask for? As long as you screamed into the microphone with all your might, the entire world would tremble at your feet. Lynn had once craved that exact fantasy.

But now? Now, all he cared about was surviving the unforgiving, bloodstained soil of Terra. He politely declined the rock and roll destiny. He just wanted to live a peaceful, steady life. Like a potted plant.

But human nature was a funny thing. Everyone loved music. Everyone connected with a heavy, driving beat.

Thinking it over carefully, Lynn had decided that perhaps only the legendary anthem “We Will Rock You,” with its primal, devastating rhythm, was suited to blow the minds of these Terran locals.

You didn’t need instruments; a sturdy table and a pair of palms were more than enough. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t understand the otherworldly lyrics. The moment everyone started chanting, they would quickly absorb the raw, infectious vitality of the song. Plus, the vehicle’s AI was highly accommodating. At Lynn’s signal, it immediately began synthesizing the heavy background chords. No matter how you looked at it, it was a spectacularly vigorous scene.

And so, every passenger in the armored RV began slamming their hands against the table, humming the battle cry of another world. Amplified through the speakers, that bewitching, boisterous chant took on a life of its own, vibrating so intensely it felt as though the desolate wilderness outside was quaking along with them. Lulled into a false sense of security because his precognitive intuition hadn’t sounded a single alarm, Lynn got completely carried away. He climbed up and stood right on the table, stomping out the beat for the assembly of beast-girls.

Then, right as the final, triumphant notes rang out… his memory went completely black.

“…Intuition. That damn thing really isn’t reliable at all.”

Rubbing his heavily bandaged head, Lynn hissed through his teeth, staring blankly at the massive, smoking crater at his feet.

A short distance away, Croissant—clad in shorts and a tight sports vest—was spitting into her palms, preparing to deadlift the entire overturned RV out of the ditch in one go. Downwind, Texas and Exusiai had already unpacked the survival gear, calmly setting up a small camp to cook a hot meal. Meanwhile, Sora and the bantering Blacksteel duo stood on the perimeter, gazing out into the hazy distance at some unseen horizon.

In short, when the entire multi-ton vehicle violently crashed, Lynn was the absolute only person unlucky enough to take a direct hit to the skull, resulting in a massive, throbbing lump.

Fortunately, this cruel world still harbored traces of genuine kindness. While the beast-girls wore varying expressions of awkward guilt over the crash, the one who actually saved Lynn’s miserable life was a wandering physician who had materialized out of nowhere in the barren wasteland. The white-haired doctor possessed incredibly precise, elegant trauma-handling skills. After quietly observing Lynn’s condition for a moment, she had expertly wrapped his head in pristine white gauze.

He didn’t know if she had deduced the sheer absurdity of his existence, but Lynn instinctively felt that the quiet woman sitting before him was extraordinarily capable.

“Doctor, you truly possess a miraculous touch. You saved my miserable life.”

“It wasn’t quite to that extent…”

Looking at the frail young man vigorously shaking her hand up and down with literal tears of gratitude welling in his eyes, Shining offered an awkward, albeit polite, smile. Faced with his overwhelming enthusiasm, she subconsciously reached up, pulling the fabric of her hood lower to obscure her pale, sweeping horns.

Lynn, who had already accumulated a decent understanding of Terra’s racial dynamics, instantly identified her lineage the moment she tried to hide them.

Although he didn’t quite understand why this particular traveling doctor possessed stark white horns instead of the usual dark ones, it didn’t obscure her identity. A Sarkaz wandering physician sounded like a walking contradiction, but Lynn—a man who had already survived the equivalent of a hardcore rock and roll disaster—harbored absolutely zero prejudice. As a transmigrator, he had no obligation to follow Terra’s inexplicable, deep-rooted bigotry. Instead of the cold, distant treatment she usually received from strangers, Lynn offered the doctor a brilliant, welcoming smile.

He thought back to the wealth-scattering fairy, Meteorite. Wasn’t she also a Sarkaz? And she was a saint! She had given away a massive fortune, had another Sarkaz deliver it right to his doorstep, and then vanished without causing him a single ounce of danger. Lynn was eternally grateful to that wealthy benefactor.

It was only after surviving so many terrifying, screwed-up incidents that he truly realized how precious a good-natured Sarkaz like Meteorite was.

“It’s perfectly fine, Doctor. We aren’t the type of people who discriminate against the Sarkaz,” Lynn said smoothly. “May I ask your name? Ah, if you’d prefer to keep it a secret, a code name works just as well.”

“…Shining. Wandering physician Shining.”

Staring at the heavily bandaged, excessively talkative man in front of her, she hesitated for a fraction of a second before speaking in a soft, measured tone.

Beneath her calm exterior, her Originium Arts were already working, acutely sensing the terrifying, hollow weakness radiating from his body. Simultaneously, she could feel the heavy, assessing gazes of the girls scattered around the camp. They appeared relaxed, but they were constantly stealing glances in her direction. These were not ordinary mercenaries; they were highly dangerous, exceptionally skilled fighters. And every single one of them seemed deeply, fiercely protective of this fragile man sitting before her.

As a wandering healer, Shining had witnessed countless tragedies and bizarre phenomena across the continent. Different patients made different choices when pushed to the brink. Yet, what truly piqued her curiosity was that this young man didn’t fit into any medical or racial profile she had ever encountered. His pale body was so catastrophically weak that, by all medical logic, he should be bedridden with total organ failure. Instead, he buzzed with an inexplicable, stubborn vitality. As a Medical Operator, Shining had to admit that this walking contradiction was deeply fascinating.

“Then, Miss Shining, is it?”

Meeting her quiet, unreadable gaze, Lynn cleared his throat, his expression shifting into one of deep seriousness as he extended his hand again.

“On behalf of Penguin Logistics, I would like to sincerely invite you to join our team. It doesn’t have to be a permanent arrangement—just until we cross into the borders of Kazimierz.”

“Why?” Shining asked softly. “I am clearly a Sarkaz. My presence will only bring you trouble.”

“…Can you just listen to me for a second?”

Glancing nervously at the beast-girls—who were pretending very hard not to pay attention to him—Lynn leaned in and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“There’s something seriously wrong with my body. You’re a doctor, so you probably noticed it right away. I’m incredibly weak, and now my head is busted open and won’t heal for a while. But this… this doesn’t match the grand impression the others have of me. I don’t want them to realize how pathetic my condition actually is. So, please, do me a massive favor. Can you help me cover it up? I get the feeling you’re heading toward Kazimierz anyway. Let’s make this a mutually beneficial arrangement. You get safe travel, and you just have to help me keep my medical records a secret.”

‘But… I am quite certain your companions already know everything about your condition,’ Shining thought to herself.

Looking down at the subservient, pleading man, and then back up at the lethal girls who were very clearly eavesdropping on the entire exchange, Shining felt a strange sense of amusement at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

“If you truly require it, I will assist you.” Bound by her inherently kind nature, she finally offered a gentle nod. “However, as compensation, I will need some food and fresh water. Do you find those terms acceptable?”

“No problem at all! Just take it directly from my daily rations. I can’t stomach that much food anyway.”

Flashing a bright thumbs-up to the gentle-looking Sarkaz, Lynn grinned broadly. Beneath the harsh Terran sun, the stark white bandages wrapped around his skull practically gleamed.