System, are you messing with me?

Ark 2 - The Female Lead's ambition

"Yang Quan. How are you feeling?"

Sun Zhilong still hadn't stopped staring at Shu Ning the entire time they were alone in the tent, making the boy slightly uncomfortable and unable to rest. So when the silhouette of a female, and not just any female but the Protagonist, stepped through the entrance of the healer's tent, he actually didn't feel annoyed with her for a change but a little bit grateful. 

The loosening expression of the youth of course didn't escape the sight of the General who stiffly turned his head to the newcomer with a deep frown on his face.

"Zhou An. I'm doing fine. But I didn't expect you to come back."

Calling the woman Zhou An left a bad taste on Shu Ning's tongue that made him sick to the stomach but seeing Zhou Feng shortly freeze in place in panic from his last sentence he felt a small sense of satisfaction. But the blunder in the Protagonist's perfect act didn't hold on for long as the woman calmed down again and showed a gentle smile towards Shu Ning.

"Yang Quan. What are you saying? Of course I would come back. I have been fighting right beside you the whole time. You wouldn't actually want to leave me there, right? We are in this together after all."

"Oh? Are we now? If you say so."

Shu Ning's voice practically dripped with sarcasm as he spoke with the Protagonist and a thick and heavy tension settled inside of the tent. 

In the midst of their quiet battle they both completely forgot about the third person still standing right beside them, who had stayed silent until he couldn't bare the youth's sinking expression anymore.

"Yang Quan has to rest. If there is nothing important to discuss then please leave this place."

Shu Ning stubbornly kept his eyes on the crossdressing woman standing arrogantly next to the bed even after flinching in surprise from the sudden almost growling voice of the General. So he could watch with satisfaction as the Protagonist reacted even more fiercely.

The woman visibly startled from the interruption of the man and snapped her head around to look straight into the dark black eyes of the man. A slight fear washed over her from the expressionless face of the other and the freezing air surrounding him.

"I-I apologize Captain. I just came here to ask about the stone Yang Quan was holding just before."

In her haste to appease the General, Zhou Feng practically screeched out her apology before remembering who she was supposed to be and darkening her voice as far as she was capable of to calmly state her business. But Sun Zhilong didn't seem to notice anything strange with the protagonist as he just lifted one of his eyebrows in question.

"The stone? What do you want with it?"

"Captain. That stone is definitely useful to us. As we all could see, the stone has tremendous influence on the Sphinx. Those creatures were in a complete frenzy because of it. Thanks to that stone they completely ignored us soldiers and instead devoured each other. With this stone we can win any war against the Sphinx in the future."

The Protagonist continued to go on about the benefits of taking back the blue moon to their home planet for a long time until Shu Ning finally couldn't listen to this hypocrisy anymore.

"Zhou An. What are you thinking? You don't even know what that stone is capable of. I found it protected in the Sphinx territory. Those creatures wanted to keep it save even though it had such horrible powers over them. There musst be a deeper secret behind it. You don't even know if that is everything the Stone is capable of doing. What if it even influenced humans? What if this is some form of toxin? What then?"