People are on the Ark, assisting Oma Zi-O

"You came here today, surely not just to argue with W? Could you tell me the purpose of your visit?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhou glanced sideways, his gaze falling on Inès, who had been afraid to look him in the eye since the beginning.

Feeling Fang Zhou's gaze on her, Inès' body trembled slightly, her eyes became more evasive, and she took a step back slightly.

Hedley, who also noticed Inès's little action, could only shake his head helplessly at Ark.

It seems that yesterday's experience deleted Ines's related memories through the sheep spell and soothed her soul, but it left a lot of psychological trauma on Ines.

"Nothing much. I came here not only to see how Miss Inès was doing, but also to ask Mr. Hedley something."

"Ok?"

Hedley didn't say anything, but uttered a slight questioning sound, then sat there waiting for the Ark's next words.

The latter took out a folding stool from somewhere, placed it on the ground, opened it, and sat down. He rested his hands on his legs, slightly clasped them together, and looked at Hedley.

"You are working for the Regent now, right?"

"..."

——————————————————————————————

Chapter 31: Long-awaited Cooperation

"Is this question troubling you? It's okay. I'm just asking for your perspective. I'm investing in the Reunion Movement, so I must ensure that its operations are not manipulated by external conspirators, whether from Ursus or Kazdel."

Fang Ark's gaze passed through the mask and met Hedley's. The silent atmosphere lasted for a while between the two. Finally, Hedley was the first to lose his patience. He turned his gaze slightly away and lowered his head, as if thinking.

"Hedley, we have worked together before. During the Tower of Babel period, your mercenary group was one of the many forces we recruited. To be honest, mercenaries like you are rare in Kazdel."

Fang Ark lowered his arms slightly, and his tone was filled with memories of the past.

"You are different from those who are blinded by violence and war. You have a kind of emotion in battle that is rare among other warriors."

"I often see sorrow in your eyes. Only a warrior who constantly reflects on his battles will feel worried. You are a good warrior, Hedley."

Pursing his lips slightly, Hedley quietly thanked Fang Ark for the compliment.

"Thank you for the compliment."

"So I want to know, after the Tower of Babel was disbanded, how did you end up under Tracys? What exactly do you want to do? Will you obey Tracys's orders, become a tool under his command, and fight for his ambitions? Or have you long since grown tired of the wars in Kazdel and wish to find and carve out a stable home? Or do you still yearn for war and wealth, hoping to fight and die like an ordinary mercenary?"

Fang Ark's words caused both Hedley and Inès to fall silent.

"Doctor, you shouldn't ask us this question. The right to choose is never in our hands. Even if we want to, no matter how we think about it, war is never something we can escape. We have been mercenaries for too long. Killing and betrayal have become a part of our lives. This is something we can never escape."

Hearing Hedley's words, Fang Ark shook his head decisively. He looked towards the Sarkaz camp in the distance where some Sarkaz swordsmen were being trained by warlocks.

"Hedley, let me state a fact. The Reunion Movement needs allies now. It desperately needs them. This morning, four of the Ursus Emperor's inner guards were killed by us in this tundra. No matter how long it takes, the Holy Steed Castle will definitely receive the news of the four inner guards disappearing in the tundra. And the Ursus Fourth Army entrenched in the tundra might even be able to reach them faster."

"Once the group army receives the news, their vigilance against Reunion will inevitably increase exponentially. Therefore, the opponents we will face in the next battle will no longer be weaklings like the Infected Patrol, but the regular army of the Ursus Group. Tallulah told you all this in her speech this morning, and you are well aware of it."

Hedley nodded, confirming Fang Ark's statement.

"So the Reunion urgently needs allies who can fight alongside us. On our own, even if Tallulah and the others have my support, we can't protect the Reunion intact against the army through individual bravery. However, when it comes to allies, we need true like-minded partners, not killing machines."

The Integration Movement's need for allies is not something that Ark is making up; it is a real need.

The scale of the Reunion Movement is still small now, and even if it has grown to a scale large enough to occupy Chernobog, it will not be a match for the Army Group. Even if they have a powerful pure-blooded Wendigo, even if they have the legendary Drake, even if they have a powerful ice sorcerer who can destroy an army on the tundra, these still cannot become an effective resistance in front of the Army Group's well-organized high-speed battleships and Ursus war sorcerers.

War and struggle are not the same thing.

Therefore, the Integration Movement urgently needs allies, every one counts, to integrate all useful and usable forces, and now these Sarkaz mercenaries are a good choice.

But everyone here has two hearts. They do not give their loyalty to Tallulah or the Integration Movement, but to the Regent far away in Londinium.

These are all destabilizing factors and must be eliminated.

As he thought about it, a cold light flashed in Fang Zhou's eyes.

"And now, some of you don't belong to us. You're here only at Tracy's command. Others are immersed in killing and violence. For the sake of the purity of the integration movement, I will find a way to deal with both types of people."

Having said this, Fang Ark looked towards the Sakas mercenaries in the distance. His words made Hedley and the others feel a chill running down their spines.

"Old bastard, when are you going to take action?"

Suddenly, W threw this question to Ark.

Inès looked at W in disbelief.

"W, you're crazy! This guy wants to attack us now. What do you want to do?"

The white-haired Sarkaz had deep eyes. Inès was sure that she had never seen W like this before, at least not since the death of that prince.

"You want to join me?"

"Ah, yes, what's the matter? Are you worried about me?"

Shifting his gaze from Hedley to W, Fang Ark knew what W wanted after a brief thought about his sudden proposal to cooperate with him.

"You still haven't given up on that idea. You want to learn black magic from me? You were yelling at me yesterday and wanted to kill me, but today you want to learn something from me."

Faced with Fang Ark's sarcasm, W showed a hint of impatience.

"You old bastard, why don't you just say it and say it? Or, I'm not helping you just for your black magic, I have other conditions."

"what?"

A crazy smile appeared on the corner of W's mouth, and at that moment, Ines felt that the W in front of her had turned back into the W she was familiar with.

"I will help you kill that old dog Garson. In return, you must teach me the dark arts, and I will replace Garson."

The scarlet eyes stared at Ark, while Inès and Hedley looked at W silently.

The cold wind from the snowfield blew between the four of them. Fang Zhou placed his hands on his legs and tapped his knee lightly with the index finger of his left hand.

It was clearly just a series of gentle knocks, but in the biting cold wind, the clicking sounds still reached the ears of the other three people present.

"Old bastard, don't pretend to be silent. Give me a message, yes or no."

W was a little impatient. This old bastard was pretending to be profound again. Was this matter so difficult to decide?

He wanted to resolve the instability within the mercenaries, he wanted to learn some black magic and become the new boss of the mercenary group, and he could continue to follow his orders, so there was no sharp conflict of interest between the two parties.

Eat it.

Just like the sound of the thing called "Shocking Deer" in the courtyard of the East Country gently hitting the stone, the crisp clicking sound made W very suspicious that Fang Zhou had broken his patella while pretending to hit his knee deeply.

"I will have the Ghost Corps serve you for a short period of time. I will find a time and opportunity to eliminate Garson and his forces. Then I will let you become the new leader of this army. As for the black magic, W, don't even think about it."

"what?"

W looked at Fang Zhou with trembling face.

"Not teaching you magic is fine, but what do you mean by 'making you the new leaders of this mercenary group'? So, you're making me work for nothing and leaving me nothing, right?"

Ark ignored W. Hedley slapped his thigh with his broad palm, as if he had made a decision. Sparks like gunpowder flashed across his calm eyes.

"That's the look, Hedley. You are not allowed to have too much psychological burden, and there is no need to deal with our relationship in the same way as before at the Tower of Babel. That is all in the past. I prefer making friends now."

"Friends? Doctor, Sarkaz mercenaries have never had friends, and yet you come to us and tell us all these things. You understand that we are still nominally responding to the Regent's call."

Hedley's words made Fang Ark shake his head.

"We all served Theresa, Hedley in the past. As the old saying of the Yan Nation goes, 'My enemy's enemy is my friend.' Moreover, if you were truly completely loyal to Tracys, then when you saw me yesterday, my name would have appeared in the communication you sent to Londinium. But the fact is, none of the long-distance communications I intercepted from you contained any information about me. Not only did you not tell Tracys, you didn't even tell Garson."

Hedley was silent.

"His Highness is dead, Doctor, and the Tower of Babel has collapsed. We are all just chasing a shadow that we can see but cannot touch. However..."

"It's been a long time since we last met."

A broad palm was stretched out in front of him.

"Well, it's a long-awaited collaboration."

The two hands were clasped together.

Chapter 32 A Turning Point in History

The cooperation with Hedley and others was not a whim. If the purity of the Reunion Movement was to be maintained, it was necessary to eliminate the Tressis mercenaries from Londinium. Besides, there were a large number of snake scales belonging to Kosice in the Reunion Movement.

Through the magic ark of the sheep spell, it can be clearly seen that the souls of some guys in the integration movement are not normal people.

Compared to normal people, the souls of those guys are quite shriveled, with black mist swirling around them, like a cold and poisonous snake wrapped around their souls.

However, there is no rush to pull out the snake scales, as Fang Zhou has already decided on a countermeasure against Kosice.

That is to pull it out directly.

Black Snake is a bomb, and the sooner it is dealt with, the better. Although it is a very beautiful story to let Tallulah overcome Black Snake with the help of Alina and others, there are still risks and uncertainties.

Ark doesn't like uncertainty.

Through the computing power of conceptual-level artificial intelligence, Ark can perform 104 quantum bit operations within one second. Its performance completely crushes traditional electronic computers. It can be said that within just one second, Ark can calculate all the possibilities of Alina and others helping Tallulah solve the Black Snake's thoughts.

Because there is no possibility of trial and error, the success rate of Alina and the others trying to eliminate the black snake in Tallulah's body by their own strength is very low, and the outcome is often not ideal.

Rather than waiting for an undesirable outcome when the deus ex machina comes, it would be better for Ark to directly make use of the black snake.

He had already thought of the ending of the black snake. Yes, Fang Ark did not intend to kill the black snake directly, as that would be too wasteful. Based on the characteristics of the black snake, Fang Ark designed a pretty good place for it.

As if he was thinking of some wonderful scene, Fang Zhou couldn't help but let out a strange laugh.

Fortunately, he has now returned to Galatron, otherwise if he suddenly made such a strange laugh outside, people would definitely think that he was mentally ill.

cough cough.

He coughed lightly twice and looked around. Although he knew there was no one around, Fang Zhou still observed carefully.

Click, click, click.

The helmet on his head made a mechanical transmission sound, and the helmet that he had worn for a whole day finally left his head under Ark's control.

His hair, which was slightly lighter in color than Frost Star's, hung in front of his forehead. After styling his hair a little, Fang Ark threw his helmet casually, and it disappeared into the air.

Fang Zhou sat in the driving seat, put his feet on the console, and took out the "Demon Advent Calendar" from his four-dimensional pocket.

Now it's time to get down to business.

After all, Fang Zhou never forgot the history he saw in the "Demon Advent Calendar" at that time.

Amiya did not become the benevolent and kind Demon King she had imagined in the future. According to the records of "The Calendar of the Devil's Advent", Amiya finally became the most vicious and evil Demon King, killing all the Sakas and then launching a cruel and terrifying rule. In the description recorded in the fleeting glimpse at that time, Amiya seemed to hate everyone equally. She claimed to be the benevolent and kind Demon King, but her rule only brought a sharp decline in population and endless wars.

This is definitely not the history that Ark wanted, and it is definitely not what Amiya should be. What is strange is that in the history of "Demon Advent Calendar", he did not correct Amiya's behavior, and Kal'tsit did not come out to stop Amiya.

What on earth was it that twisted that child into this state? Combining the above two points, Fang Zhou seemed to be able to guess something.

In order to confirm his guess, Fang Zhou opened the "Demon's Advent Calendar" and began to carefully examine what happened in its history.

Starting from the first line, it records the time and place of Amiya's first transformation, as well as the events she experienced. Fang Ark nodded at the little record above, but when he saw the types of enemies recorded in the "Demon Advent Calendar", Fang Ark frowned.

Originium Demon? What is this thing?

Conceptual-level artificial intelligence makes Fang Ark's memory almost fixed. Although he has not made himself truly immortal for the sake of daily life experience, as long as he actively recalls what he wants to recall, Fang Ark's brain can almost instantly retrieve the corresponding event from his memory.

However, as for this so-called Originium Demon, Fang Zhou searched through all his memories of Arknights and his knowledge of the Terra continent, but found no corresponding relevant information.

Did he also suddenly appear after Amiya became king? If we follow the storyline of Kamen Rider, he would be the main enemy of the Terra Continent version of Kamen Rider Zi-O. Furthermore, according to the book, the Originium Demon seems to have an inseparable relationship with Tracys and the Sarkaz Royal Court.

When Fang Zhou looked further, the contents of the book suddenly became blurred, as if it was suddenly covered by a layer of fog. Even if he used all his visual abilities to see, he could not break through the fog that shrouded history.

"Is it as I suspected? Even with the 'Demon Advent Calendar' in hand, I still can't clearly read the history recorded about myself. This is history's self-protection mechanism."

Unlike the "Oma Zi-O Calendar" that Wozniacki first had, it was not the incarnation of history itself, but rather the Time Control Bureau's plan to make Tokiwa Sougo the Oma Zi-O, so it did not exhibit this characteristic.

But the "Demon Advent Calendar" in Fang Zhou's hands now is the normal future that was cut out due to the changes in the world line. Its status is probably equivalent to a history book with reading permissions but cannot be modified.

Just like the history book of the world of adventure, anyone who dares to modify the history book of time will eventually face failure in the end.

For example, the Holy Lord of the original world line of the Adventure World, even though he had modified the history of the world to be of great benefit to himself, was still sealed back to hell by Jackie Chan and others because of Xiaoyu.

Is it really because Xiaoyu was lucky at that time and happened to tear off a page from the history book?

Fang Ark thinks that's not necessarily the case. It's probably the history of the adventure world's self-protection mechanism. Anyone who arbitrarily changes history will surely face the revenge of history.

Now Ark has no way to see the history of itself in the "Demon Advent Calendar" because of history's protection of itself.

If you really want to completely change history, you have to change it from the source, that is, rewrite it from the beginning of the current world history. Only then will a new history be born. For example, when the black air was giving birth to the eight demons, you interfered with it, and in the end what was born were not eight demons, but eight Ding Zhens. Then the history of the entire adventure world will undergo an overall change at this source.

Or they may directly control and destroy the original history with terrifying power or disasters.

For example, the crisis of cosmic collision caused by hyperspace disturbance.

Of course, excluding knights like Zi-O who serve as historical benchmarks, in the process of Tokiwa Sougo's own growth, he alone was involved in four historical development routes.

While thinking about the relevant theorems about history and self-protection, Fang Zhou flipped through the "Calendar of the Devil's Advent".