Asura in Arknights

In that situation, even if there really was something hidden underground in the village, it would have been completely destroyed in the continuous earthquakes. Even if they went back, they wouldn't find anything, and Li Ang wouldn't have been able to dig the research institute out of the ground by himself.

So the question is, what role did he play in that village?

A simple patient? A test subject? Or some other, more special identity?

The hard-won clue only brought more questions, and Li Ang frowned in annoyance.

"Ah, Lyon, you're awake." Adele's voice suddenly came from directly above.

Why is the sound coming from this angle? After a moment of stunned silence, Li Ang realized his current state.

He seemed to have been... resting his head on Adele's lap just now? For a moment, Li Ang's feelings became incredibly complicated.

A lap pillow? This is a beautiful girl's lap pillow! Li Ang never thought that one day he would have such an experience.

But after Leon woke up on Adele's lap, she didn't seem to have any particular reaction, which caused Leon's initial excitement to fade.

The other party didn't take such a small matter to heart at all; it was actually quite foolish of me to be the only one getting excited.

However, Li Ang failed to notice the lingering blush on Adele's cheeks, revealing her inability to perceive color in the world.

Li Ang did not notice the fleeting shyness in Adele's heart.

Emotion perception is not omnipotent. Without Li Ang's active use, he can only perceive emotions that exceed a certain threshold or are directed at him. Adele's emotions just now clearly did not exceed this threshold.

Since mastering this ability, Li Ang no longer casually senses Adele's emotions; strictly speaking, this behavior is not much different from spying.

And so, without realizing it, Li Ang missed a golden opportunity.

Of course, apart from Adele herself, no one can say for sure what this opportunity could be used for.

"hiss--"

After getting up from Adele's lap, Leon rubbed his throbbing temples and asked, "How long was I unconscious?"

"It should be... less than an hour?" Adele replied casually after composing herself. "I had just finished treating your wounds when you woke up."

So it hasn't even been an hour yet... No wonder I still feel so tired. The symptoms of overusing Originium Arts aren't so easy to relieve.

"Leon, why don't you go and rest for a while? We can talk about it later," Adele suggested, seeing Leon's uncomfortable expression.

“No need, I feel fine.” Li Ang shook his head. “Let’s talk about what happened earlier.”

"This is roughly what happened."

Next, Li Ang told Adele everything that had happened not long ago.

"That person... was really after me?"

Adele could hardly believe it.

During the time that Leon was unconscious, Adele also roughly surveyed the surrounding area and clearly saw the traces left by the battle between the two sides, which showed how intense the battle was.

Swallowing nervously, Adele said, "Th-thank you."

“It’s what I should do. You saved my life, didn’t you?” Li Ang shook his head.

Although both are acts of saving lives, compared to what Adele did for Leon, what he is doing now is nothing.

"By the way, when that warlock died, he said, 'The Tower will not let me go.'"

At this moment, Li Ang also remembered the last words of the tall hat sorcerer, and asked, "Adele, do you know what the tower is?"

"Are you sure... that warlock was referring to the tower?"

“I’m sure of it.”

From Adele, Leon clearly sensed fear.

Even the traces left from the battle just now, and the monster's corpse, only made Adele a little nervous. So why should this organization called The Tower make Adele afraid?

After Adele's explanation, Li Ang understood what the word 'Tower' represented.

Simply put, the Tower is the highest-level administrative unit in Letania besides the Queen.

The situation in Letania is somewhat similar to that in medieval Europe, where the various mobile cities are autonomously governed by local nobles who are nominally ruled by the Twin Queens.

The tower was where these nobles lived.

Adele certainly had reason to be afraid; if the sorcerer wasn't lying, it meant that at least one ruler of a mobile city had his eye on her.

Of course, this is not the worst-case scenario.

After all, the place where the Gemini Queens reside can also be called the 'Tower'.

Adele was clearly aware of this possibility, and her face turned slightly pale.

"What should we do next? Should we continue back to Brandenburg?" Leon asked.

The problem now is that they don't know which nobleman, or even someone from the Gemini Queens' ranks, has their eye on Adele, and returning to Brandenburg like this could be walking into a trap.

"...I want to go back; my father and mother are still waiting for me there."

Adele's tone gradually hardened, "I'm sorry, I may not be able to keep the promises I made before. Those people came looking for me, and I can't involve you in this anymore."

Li Ang shook his head.

In fact, Li Ang has now been dragged into this. Although the sorcerer did come looking for Adele, it was Li Ang who ended up killing him.

“I don’t care about such trivial matters. Don’t forget I’m counting on you to take me to William University.”

If we talk about running away now, don't we think it's already a bit too late?

Chapter Twenty-Two: Brandenburg

Letania is located in the north-central part of Terra and is considered a relatively powerful country in this world.

Although it cannot be compared with behemoths like Yan or Ursus, Letania's power should not be underestimated. Not long ago, it even controlled the Bolivarian government and won a victory in the war against Colombia.

There are very few countries in the world that can do this.

Brandenburg, the capital of Letania, is a city of magic and music, and arguably the city with the strongest magical atmosphere in the world.

After being attacked by the tower sorcerers that night, Leon and Adele did not encounter any other dangers. The most serious one was an attack by infected creatures, which Leon did not even need to use his Wave Sword. He took care of the infected creatures one by one with his cane.

They then arrived safely in the city.

The thing Li Ang feared did not happen. The two of them entered Brandenburg safely, and no group of sorcerers rushed out from the shadows to capture them.

It seems the 'tower' the sorcerer referred to wasn't the Brandenburg Tower. But upon reflection, it makes sense; a tower could be said to have absolute control over its mobile cities.

If the Brandenburg Tower wanted to harm Adele, it wouldn't need to go to such lengths; it could simply wait for her to return. Not to mention, the Brandenburg Tower is now owned by the legendary Twin Queens, the current rulers of Letania.

The sorcerer may have belonged to a tower in another mobile city, or perhaps he simply threw dirty water on the tower before he died.

In short, as long as Adele stays in Brandenburg, she doesn't have to worry about those people coming to her door. After all, this is the city where the Twin Queens live. Although they haven't shown up for a long time, there are absolutely no security problems in this city.

However, after Li Ang entered the city, he discovered a fatal problem—

He has no money.

Previously in Duwa Town, Li Ang stayed at Dr. Kent's clinic, and Dr. Kent did not charge him any fees. However, now that they were traveling through the wasteland, even if they had money, they had nowhere to spend it.

Now that he has returned to the civilized world, Li Ang has no choice but to face this fatal problem.

Cash? Gold coins? What are those?

In the world Li Ang lived in before, digital payments had been widespread for a long time. Li Ang hadn't touched such a thing for six or seven years, and physical currency was a rather distant concept for him.

But in Terra, let alone digital payments, most regions don't even have a unified currency. In some parts of Letania, local lords even mint their own private currencies.

Penniless and without a single copper coin, Li Ang was completely helpless in the city. Even if he tried to find temporary work to earn some money, there was nowhere willing to take in a 'blind person'.

"boom!"

Li Ang slammed his fist on the table in exasperation. "So, it's not like I can't see anything at all, how come I can't even find a job?!"

Adele, who was not far away, heard Leon's complaints and a smile that she could hardly hide appeared on her lips.

In the end, it was Adele who took in the homeless Leon. Although doing so was no different from being a kept man, compared to sleeping on the streets... well, being a kept man is still better.

"Did you fail your interview again today?"

Adele placed a few loaves of bread and a plate of vegetable salad on the table and asked with some curiosity.

"Don't even mention it, the interview never even started."

Li Ang gets angry just thinking about it. The interviewer saw that he was blind and told him he could leave before Li Ang could even speak, which made Li Ang so angry that he wanted to punch the interviewer.

However, there was nothing wrong with what the other party did. Whether or not to hire Li Ang was their prerogative, and Li Ang had no way to interfere.

Li Ang picked up a piece of bread from the table, took a bite, and said somewhat dejectedly, "I'm sorry, I may have to trouble you for a while longer."

I didn’t expect it to be so difficult to find a job in Brandenburg. However, this is also related to the fact that Li Ang doesn’t have many job options. He has no education and is blind, so there are not many directions he can choose from.

“Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find it,” Adele comforted her. “If all else fails, I can ask Father when he gets back.”

Adele's father is a professor at the Originium Arts Institute of William University. If he were willing to step in, finding Li Ang a job would be no problem at all.

"Well... we'll talk about it later," Li Ang replied after a moment's hesitation.

Of course, Li Ang was just saying that; in reality, he would never let Adele trouble her father for such a thing.

When Adele took in Li Ang, her parents were not home, or rather, the couple were not currently in the city.

They seemed to be completing a field study, so they left Brandenburg not long ago and wouldn't be back for a month or two, which saved Leon a lot of embarrassment.

If Adele's parents were still at home, even if Adele offered to let Leon stay at her house temporarily, Leon would absolutely not agree.

At present, Li Ang and Adele are at most good friends; Li Ang is not thick-skinned enough to be considered that way.

Finding a job before Adele's parents return and then moving out of Adele's house as soon as possible to find a place to live are Leon's most important tasks at this stage.

However, Li Ang encountered serious obstacles as soon as the plan was launched.

In fact, Li Ang had other jobs to choose from, but those jobs were the complete opposite of the life he desired, and he would not do them unless absolutely necessary.

There was still some time before Adele's parents returned, and Li Ang planned to try his luck again in that time.

“I see…” Adele nodded slightly, then asked, “So, what about this afternoon? Lyon, are you still planning to go for another interview?”

"This afternoon? Let's skip this afternoon for now," Li Ang replied, quite annoyed. "I'm going to take a break."

After hitting a wall for a week, even Li Ang was a bit mentally exhausted. This afternoon, he decided to put aside all those messy things and take a good stroll around the city.

"By the way, Adele, is there anything I can help you with?"

If Adele needs his help, he should prioritize Adele's needs, since Leon already owes her many favors.

"Is there anything I can help you with...?"

Adele thought for a moment, then said, "If you have time, could you go to the West End to pick something up for me?"

Chapter Twenty-Three: West District

"No problem, leave it to me."

It was just a small favor to run an errand in the West District, so Li Ang readily agreed.

“But Adele, what do you want me to pick up in the West End?” Leon asked. “There shouldn’t be any shops there, right?”

The western district... If Li Ang remembers correctly, that should be the main residential area of ​​Brandenburg. There aren't any particularly famous shops nearby, and if you want to buy something, there are usually better options elsewhere.

Or does Adele know someone who lives there?

“No, I wanted you to get a sample of volcanic rock,” Adele explained. “That type of volcanic rock is very rare in Letania. I searched for a long time before I finally found a sample in Mr. Austin’s shop.”

Hmm, this is somewhat different from what Li Ang just guessed. This shouldn't be someone Adele knows, right?

"I see." Li Ang nodded.

“This is the price we agreed on beforehand. Lyon, you just need to give this to Mr. Austin.”

With that, Adele handed a thin envelope to Leon.

He held the envelope in his hand and squeezed it. It should contain six or seven Leitanian gold coins, which was about half a month's income for an average family in Brandenburg. This was quite a high price for a sample of volcanic rock.

Aside from a select few, no one would be interested in such a worthless stone. Mr. Austin probably knew this, which is why he ripped Adele off so badly.

However, this kind of transaction is inherently a matter of mutual consent.

"I'll go to Xicheng District later to get the sample for you."

“Actually, I’m not in a particular rush. Lyon, you can go there whenever you have time,” Adele said with a smile. “By the way, the terrain in the West District can be a bit complicated, Lyon, be careful not to get lost.”

How complicated can the terrain be? Besides, if he really can't find it, he can always ask someone for directions.

Leon completely ignored Adele's final reminder.