At this moment, Yiji got out of bed. After taking the [Greater Restoration Pill], not only were her injuries healed—even her original bodily defects had been completely cured.
She was wearing Arden's clothes, carefully testing the movement of her restored body and limbs.
There were also Ju Fufu's clothes in the room, but they were too small—Yiji couldn't fit into them.
Based on Arden's visual estimation, although Yiji was indeed petite, she wasn't at Ju Fufu's one-meter-forty and AA level. No matter how one looked at it, she was at least around one-meter-fifty with an A+ grade.
"Do you remember anything from before you were injured?"
Arden asked gently.
He had already secured Yiji, but there were still loose ends to take care of. Arden didn't want to be tracked down by some strange person or organization later.
"Oh right—everyone!"
Prompted by Arden, Yiji, who had been immersed in the joy of being reborn, suddenly remembered her sisters. "Where are the others? Were they saved too, like me?"
"I'm afraid not."
Arden shook his head. "According to the data obtained from the laboratory, they found ten people. Other than you, the remaining nine have already…"
Some things hadn't changed, even with Arden crossing over into New Eridu.
"Wait—how many people did you say!?"
"Nine."
"The captain— it must be the captain! I knew it, she has to be alive. She was that strong… oww!"
Overcome with emotion, Yiji failed to control her newly regenerated limbs. She lost her balance and staggered, about to fall.
"Careful!"
Arden quickly supported her. "You need to remember—you no longer belong to yourself. If you injure your body, I'll be the one who feels heartache."
"S-sorry!"
Yiji lowered her head, apologetic and a little shy.
Apart from the captain, Arden was only the second person who had shown her such concern—although his motives weren't exactly pure.
…..
"The captain is definitely still alive!"
Sitting back down on the bed, Yiji's emotions finally calmed. "Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Twiggy from the Silver Squad. Now I am… I-I am Master's Yiji."
Through Yiji's account, Arden learned about the so-called Silver Squad.
Mm. It matched almost perfectly with what he knew from the game's storyline.
"The Silver Corps is a special-unit project secretly researched by the military. The members are all…"
Yiji paused briefly before continuing. "We are all clones. There were twelve of us in total. We treated each other as family—as sisters. But they're all already…"
As her voice fell silent, the excitement Yiji had felt upon finding a master sank once more.
"I believe there must still be sisters like you who were saved."
As he comforted Yiji, Arden reached out and gently patted her head. "But to prevent the same tragedy from happening again, we'll find time to visit the Silver Corps' base and destroy any remaining data there."
He intended to eliminate the problem at its source.
"Yiji, you still remember where the Silver Corps' base is, right?"
"I do. I'll listen to everything Master says."
With no outsiders present, Yiji reverted to calling Arden "Master."
Creak~!
Just as Arden and Yiji were being all close and affectionate, the door was pushed open.
It was Ju Fufu, carrying a tray of food as she walked in.
Smack!
Casting a sideways glance at Arden and Yiji—who were standing extremely close, practically pressed together—Ju Fufu slammed the tray down on the table.
The bowl of preserved-egg-and-lean-pork congee sloshed violently, nearly spilling out.
Anyone with eyes could tell that Ju Fufu was in a bad mood.
As for the reason… Ju Fufu glanced at Arden, then at Yiji, and decisively performed a "fierce tiger descending the mountain," wedging herself squarely between the two of them.
"Master… what master?"
She seemed to have vaguely heard those two words before pushing the door open.
"Uh… this is Ju Fufu, senior sister of Yunkui Summit… Fufu, this is Yiji."
Arden's eyelid twitched as he decisively changed the subject.
"Yiji, huh. Hmph!"
Ju Fufu had never expected that during the mission, she'd been guarding against the shark girl the whole time—only for a white-haired one to pop out halfway through.
Yiji, the master's cousin… yeah right!
Ju Fufu had already gone to report the mission and Yiji's situation to Master Yixuan earlier. She had confirmed that Master had no long-lost cousin at all—it was pure nonsense Arden had made up!
Still, seeing how pitiful Yiji was, Ju Fufu didn't hold it against her.
But as for Arden…
"Master Yixuan wants to see you."
Let's see how you explain this!
…..
After Yiji finished eating and her movement was mostly unhindered, Arden and Ju Fufu brought her along to Yixuan's main hall.
Since it was within the same courtyard, they arrived quickly.
"Master!"
After greeting her, Arden recounted everything that had happened, along with Yiji's background—adding a bit of embellishment here and there.
Naturally, he also explained his reason for bringing Yiji back.
"If Victoria Housekeeping Co had taken Yiji back, then from the mayor's standpoint… as a survivor of the Silver Corps, she definitely wouldn't be able to live a normal life. So, I made up the cousin story and brought her back to Yunkui Summit."
Yiji staying at Yunkui Summit with Arden was also destined to be anything but "normal," but it was hundreds—no, thousands—of times better than continuing as experimental material or being disposed of.
Moreover, this reasoning perfectly fit Yunkui Summit's style. After all, most of its disciples were orphans. Aside from the last public recruitment, the majority had been picked up by Yixuan herself—just like what Arden had done this time.
"Mm, I understand."
As expected, Yixuan accepted Arden's reasoning. That said, she didn't casually acknowledge people as relatives when she picked them up.
"However… a cousin?"
Yixuan circled Yiji once, carefully observing her before nodding. "She does look quite similar."
Of course, only her hair and face were similar—the body was completely different.
After all, both of Yixuan's sisters were impressively endowed, while Yiji was far too flat—only slightly better than Ju Fufu.
"Master, Yiji has nowhere else to go. Can we let her stay at Yunkui Summit?"
Bringing her back was something Arden could decide on his own, but keeping her long-term still required approval from Yixuan, the sect master.
"Sect Master, please let me stay."
Yiji echoed Arden's request. Though clearly nervous, her determination was evident.
"Hmm… that can be arranged."
Yixuan agreed without much thought. But before Yiji and Arden could rejoice, she suddenly changed tone. "However, Arden, I have a question for you."
"Please ask, Master!"
Just like Yiji, Arden suddenly grew tense.
"If it hadn't been Yiji—what I mean is, if the one who needed rescuing wasn't a girl but a man—would you still have brought them back to Yunkui Summit?"
A soul-piercing question.
"Uh…"
Sweat instantly beaded across Arden's forehead. Without daring to hesitate, he answered, "I… would? Probably… maybe…"
He answered very obviously lacking in confidence.