Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

The dense spray of rainwater on the concrete created a misty vapor, blurring the path the two were walking on.

The steady footsteps, the creaking of wheels, the drumbeat of raindrops hitting buildings and umbrellas—and the mechanical hum of an unbelievable number of cameras tracking the two as they moved along the roadside...

"...Ladies, what brings you here? This is a research area, please do not approach."

The Kuranta people on guard at the iron gate looked at the two people who shouldn't be there with formal tones and wary eyes.

He wasn't just wary of the other party's "appearance at an inopportune time," as it might just be someone from the surrounding medical area who had wandered in by mistake; he was more surprised that the other party was a Sarkaz.

Neither Caprini nor Fuenti, the gatekeeper was confident he wouldn't confuse them with the horned Sarkaz, perhaps simply because, as a gatekeeper, he had "seen enough Sarkaz."

For safety reasons, he planned to call for help.

Out of caution, he also checked with his superiors to confirm whether there was indeed any unlikely "Sarkaz guest" visiting.

The two visitors did not respond to the guard's question as he bent down to turn on his phone at his post. Instead, they spoke to each other from a distance, under their umbrellas:

"Although we didn't ask for permission from the Doctor or Dr. Kal'tsit for this operation, I heard that we were already planning to investigate the depths of Plot Zero... right?"

Shining nodded in response to Nightingale's question.

"Yes, let's treat this as a preliminary reconnaissance and hopefully obtain some intelligence that will help the operators' operations."

The nightingale continued to ask:

"The Shining...can you sense it?"

Shining closed his eyes, using his senses to perceive everything in the heavy rain and the subtle presence emanating from the cold building.

"...Yes, it's not just the aura of weakness, but also...the cries of many tormented souls...that's the consciousness of the Sarkaz."

The Sarkaz consciousnesses are interconnected in some mysterious way, something that Terra's science cannot explain. The older the Sarkaz, the stronger these fluctuations of consciousness become.

Could it be that many elderly Sarkaz people have gathered here?

Obviously this is not the case.

That was merely the Sarkaz people in agony, emitting unusual mental fluctuations as they suffered.

"Yes, that's right, two Sarkaz women... Uh? Their names, let me ask."

However, when the guard, who had temporarily looked away because of a communication call, was about to ask the two men's names on orders from his superiors, he found that no one had been seen in the rain outside the sentry post.

"What about people?"

【boom----】

The loud noise of the collapsing heavy object made the guard's legs go numb. When he grabbed his baton and rushed out of the guard post, he found that the solid riot gate had somehow developed a smooth hole. The sound he had heard earlier was the noise of the cut-off part hitting the ground.

"Drip-drip-drip-"

Tire tracks, stained with water, led straight into the depths of the corridor.

The facility's alarms began to sound, and crimson lights filled the dark corridors. This alarm was different from the evacuation alarms in normal hospital facilities; it sounded more like an urgent warning, as if announcing to the others that a great enemy was approaching.

The gatekeeper stood in a panic before the cut-open entrance, and was astonished to find an umbrella, still dripping with water, quietly placed beside the porch, as if an ordinary visitor had left it there out of basic courtesy and would retrieve it upon leaving.

"Intruders! Quickly dispatch guards to A1 passage! Take those guys with you!"

Deep within the facility, after noticing the arrival of the two and confirming their exact location through the cameras, the facility staff immediately issued orders to stop Shining and Nightingale from advancing.

Anyone who dares to trespass on territory explicitly prohibited by the business alliance must not be allowed to escape, regardless of whether they possess genuine strength or are simply ignorant.

However, they seemed to have misunderstood something—they believed that once the invaders realized they were at a disadvantage in terms of strength and numbers, they would definitely think about how to escape, and all they had to do was prevent them from leaving and prevent any possibility of what was happening here from reaching the outside world.

Even if the members of the Overwatch Council also look down on the Sarkaz, they will still use the pretext of their own advantage to put pressure on the Business Alliance.

We can't let this happen!

However, the facility's staff, these guys who were under the orders of the business alliance, not only misunderstood the purpose of the visitors, but also misjudged the risks and the disparity in strength—

"The smell of blood... the smell of medicine... these are very common smells in medical buildings, but the reasons for their appearance are completely opposite..."

Shining continued to push Nightingale through the building, heading towards the place where the soul's painful cries were strongest.

Behind him were security personnel who almost blocked the road.

This is a key experimental site, and the passageways are long and narrow. To prevent damage to the building from long-range attacks, the guards who came to stop the two were all equipped with melee weapons.

But in the instant before they rushed toward Shining and lost consciousness, they didn't even see her take her hand off the handle of her wheelchair.

Following the Sarkaz's senses, another heavy door was pushed open by Shining, and the two arrived at an open sandy area.

In the grayish-yellow soil, one can see dark red bloodstains that have endured countless years, as well as broken teeth and fingernails mixed in with the mud and dust.

"A courtyard...? No, this is... a testing ground for slaughter..."

The nightingale looked at the dust on the ground, then raised its head and looked in the distance.

Another door slowly opened, and a strange stench, accompanied by an ominous black mist, spread out.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and two heavily armored Sarkaz with broken horns emerged from the gate.

"Did they realize we were looking for the Sarkaz, so they deliberately led us to an open area suitable for fighting with weapons?"

Shining released her hands from the wheelchair handles, looked at the Sarkaz opposite her, then looked up and met the eyes of the white-coated men in white coats who were watching with interest from behind the glass walls of the high-rise building.

"You capture Sarkaz, experiment on them, and then make them fight each other here to select the strongest and most obedient 'knights'... And you dare call yourselves doctors?"

Shining remembered the aura of these people.

Then, not forgetting the priority he needed to address, he prepared to approach the two delirious and ferocious members of his clan ahead.

"No... let me do it."

But the nightingale called to Shining, who was preparing for battle.

"Sarkaz...no, no one should become like this..."

[Main Text] Terra Battle: Chapter Nineteen - A Silent Hammer

Their deep red eyes gleamed with an eerie light, and beneath their visors, the stench of wild beasts wafted out with their heavy breathing.

The two Sarkaz with broken horns filled the space in an instant with their undisguised movements as they gripped their weapons tightly. Originium Arts formed a tangible black mist, carrying dust and eroding the surrounding environment.

Tall stature, heavy armor, dangerous weapons, and powerful magic visible to the naked eye—yet the two women on the other side chose to send only one person to deal with them, and that person was even a disabled person in a wheelchair—at least, to the staff who had originally wanted to see these two ungrateful intruders die on the spot, it was indeed such an unbelievable situation.

In the monitoring room, they witnessed Shining's astonishing power and became convinced that she was the henchman.

As for why they were pushing someone who couldn't move freely along with them, they understood it to mean that Nightingale might be a powerful sorcerer, capable but needing protection.

But now, Shining, who had originally made a move to step forward, chose to step back, and watched without any attempt to stop Nightingale as she pushed the wheels herself, slowly moving towards the spreading black mist.

This did not meet their expectations.

Don't force yourself.

Shining watched the Nightingale advance and offered this reminder.

This statement sounds like advice to her not to fight others with her weak body, lest she get hurt.

However, its true meaning is quite different from this understanding under normal logic.

"It's okay."

The nightingale’s voice was exceptionally gentle, yet it carried a hint of decisiveness.

"I... will also choose to fight."

In their context, "Don't force yourself" never refers to whether one's strength meets the requirements for fighting, but rather to the willingness to fight.

Whether we can win or not is not something we need to consider.

The key is whether or not one is willing to fight.

The nightingale of the past disliked fighting and even resisted the idea that "powerful forces are necessary."

However, after experiencing many things and staying in a gradually changing environment for too long, that slightly indecisive gentleness has gradually taken a backseat.

Sometimes, using force to solve problems is necessary.

Moreover, no matter how much one resists violence, healing others and rescuing the injured in conflicts, to some extent, one is also allowing violence to continue.

Medical skills are necessary, but treating people is not the same as saving them.

Since we cannot escape the cycle of conflict, let's make some changes and try to end this seemingly endless cycle in a better way.

This change is about "using power more directly".

She used to be afraid to think about such things, not only because of psychological resistance, but also because of her physical defects.

But now it's different.

"Strange... We've injected them with more polymeric gel than usual... Why are they just standing there without attacking? They should be more agitated than normal..."

Those high-ranking staff members were still waiting behind the bulletproof glass for the spectacle of the two being torn to pieces, but as Nightingale gradually approached, some of them seemed to have noticed something was amiss.

The two Sarkaz with broken horns, aside from the one wielding a large hammer, the other's longbow was clearly intended for long-range attacks, yet the former neither charged forward to swing the hammer, nor did the latter draw his bow and fire an arrow.

They swayed unnaturally while keeping a close eye on the nightingale that was gradually approaching them, all the while releasing what appeared to be an extremely dangerous mist spell.

The black mist, like a fanged beast that has spotted its prey, gathered towards the location of the nightingale, accompanied by surging waves.

"My fellow countrymen."

The nightingale called out mournfully in the air as it moved forward.

Her slender hand left the wheel, flicked it in the air, and the entire black mist seemed to be wiped away, revealing a clear path—the spell was casually dispelled.

"He is indeed a warlock... The mist from the Wither spell was easily dispelled, but that doesn't make sense. Why would a warlock who can't even walk be allowed to approach two fully armed Sarkaz knights?"

Even just by looking at their physiques, one could tell how powerful those two Sarkaz knights were; they could fight without relying on magic.

However, they never considered this idea in relation to Nightingale. In their eyes, she was just a sorceress with Originium Arts, who had no fighting style other than magic. Rushing in for close combat would only be giving up her only advantage.

"Hmph...strange woman..."

The drug overdose affected the two Sarkaz's sanity, but it did not prevent them from having the most basic sense of aggression, as well as absolute obedience to orders.

The Sarkaz man, wielding a giant hammer, clenched his fists, stopped the convulsions caused by the excessive increase in muscle strength in a short period of time, and suddenly raised the giant hammer high above his head.

When that massive hammer, as large as the Nightingale herself, fell, the entire building shook violently.

"...I'll kill you!!!"

This common, harsh phrase, along with a simple yet powerful swing, landed on Nightingale, who was sitting in a wheelchair.