Asura in Arknights

Some light blue specks seemed to gather in front of his eyes, but when he blinked, they disappeared.

Then L felt a sharp pain in his head, and a large number of fragmented memories surfaced in his mind along with the pain. At this moment, L realized what he had been ignoring.

Besides being blind... it seems he also time-traveled?

For example, the woman who appeared last spoke a language that was clearly unknown, somewhat similar to English, but also quite different from it, much like the difference between a dialect and Mandarin.

But the problem is that L isn't in Europe, so where did he come from?

Moreover, L's English wasn't very good, so how could he possibly communicate with the other person using that strange accent? He was just too tired at the time, and his brain had almost completely stopped working, so he overlooked this obvious fact.

This is a world very similar to his hometown. From the memory that suddenly popped up, L could find many familiar names, such as Yan Country and Columbia. There were also many things he had never encountered before, such as Originium and natural disasters.

The former should be a unique substance in this world, just like the fossil fuels in his hometown. Originium can be said to be the most mainstream energy source in this world. Moreover, compared with fossil fuels, the energy conversion efficiency of Originium is ridiculously high, enough to put the entire city on wheels and drive it around.

Thinking of that thing called 'mobile city' that appeared in his memory, L's feelings became very complicated.

Of course, Originium is not without its drawbacks. According to current mainstream views, the most fatal one is that the misuse of Originium can lead to natural disasters.

Earthquakes, floods, typhoons, blizzards... these severe natural disasters are as common as wind and rain in this world. That's why the people of this world have come up with the strange technology of 'mobile cities' to move the entire city to avoid the harm of natural disasters.

L's current predecessor was quite unfortunate. His small village had no ability to predict natural disasters and was instantly destroyed by an earthquake with an intensity of over 10. His eyes were probably injured at that time.

For some unknown reason, L's memories were quite fragmented. Apart from some basic knowledge of the world, there were large gaps in his memories of the body itself. Apart from moving to this village a few months ago, there was almost no useful information, which made L quite puzzled.

But now is not the time to think about these things. L could clearly feel that the weightlessness that had enveloped him was disappearing, and pain, hunger, and other real sensations were gradually returning to him.

He will wake up soon.

In the moments before awakening, L learned the name of this world from this memory; this world shared the same title as the Roman goddess of the earth.

Terra.

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L woke up.

The pressure on his lower body had disappeared, and the first thing he felt was a stinging pain all over his body, as well as an unbearable hunger in his stomach.

Not far away, she could hear two people talking. One was the young woman who had saved her, and the other was a somewhat unfamiliar middle-aged man. They seemed to be discussing their next steps.

The crackling sound of burning firewood filled my ears, and I could feel the warmth of the flames on my body.

L squeezed his eyes. If his eyes were normal, he could still catch a glimpse of the firelight through his eyelids even with his eyes closed. But now all he could see was darkness that seemed to suck in even his soul.

Despite having been prepared for this, L still couldn't accept the reality when it was laid bare before him.

Time travel is one thing, but as a young man who has been exposed to all kinds of games, anime and novels, time travel is not a strange thing. L has fantasized about such a thing happening more than once. Even if such a thing really happened, he could quickly accept the current situation with his rich 'theoretical knowledge'.

But blindness is different.

What can a blind person do? Even in his hometown, in that peaceful and developed era, life for a blind person is not so smooth, and there are many inconveniences in life. Moreover, the world of Terra is not peaceful, there are wars all over the world, and technology is not as advanced as L's hometown.

It is difficult for even a normal person with all their limbs to survive alone in this world, as they never know when they might encounter misfortune, let alone a blind person.

For a moment, L even thought it would be better if he had just died in the earthquake, so that he would have suffered less.

Now L can only pray that her blindness is temporary and that she can recover once she goes to the hospital for treatment.

"Kid, you're finally awake."

The commotion L made after waking up finally caught the attention of two people nearby. The middle-aged man's voice was like a muffled thunderclap in his ears, making his brain buzz. Even the depressing thoughts he had just had seemed to be shaken away by the loud voice.

He could only reply blankly, "Um, oh, I've woken up... Also, thank you for saving me."

Then, L heard the man laugh twice, pat him on the shoulder, and say, "The person you should thank is Miss Nauman. She insisted on coming here to find survivors. I'm just helping Miss Nauman. You don't need to thank me."

Miss Nauman? Is that the name of the woman from before? Is she here too?

However, because he couldn't see, L couldn't confirm the other person's location. He could only make a rough guess, randomly choose a direction, and then nodded and said, "Miss Nauman, thank you very much for your help. Without you, I'm afraid I would have been trapped there to death."

Without the help of others, L alone would not have been able to escape his previous predicament. He would have either starved to death or his wounds would have worsened. In any case, it was these two people who saved him, and L's gratitude was completely sincere.

However, from the perspective of the other two people, L's act of thanking them suddenly made the atmosphere cold.

Noyce was sitting to L's left, while Adele was returning from outside carrying a bag and stood behind them without taking a seat. L had been talking to an empty space.

The campfire in the camp was burning very brightly, and there was no problem with insufficient light. They naturally understood what this meant.

Adele and Noyce exchanged a glance. The latter shrugged helplessly, then pointed to herself, asking if there was anything she needed to do.

After a few seconds of silence, Adele shook her head firmly and put the things she had brought aside.

Adele strode up to L, took a deep breath to muster her courage, and then gripped his hands tightly.

"Please don't give up! Your eyes... there must be a way to cure them!"

Chapter Four: Perceiving the World

"..."

L felt that his face must look terrible right now.

It's hard for anyone to feel good when something they don't want to think about is brought up by someone else.

What made L even more upset was that the other person was genuinely considering his feelings, which left him with no reason to get angry. He could only let those slightly warm little hands hold him tightly as he listened to the solutions the other person had come up with during this time.

“We’re on our way back. We should reach the nearest town by tomorrow night at the latest. Dr. Kent in town is a good man. He will definitely be able to cure your eyes.”

L didn't know how to answer, so he could only nod silently.

Judging solely from her voice and the soft touch of her hands, L couldn't possibly imagine her as a mature woman; let's just call her a young girl for now.

Now, L roughly understands what the other person wants to do. She probably wants to comfort L, but the way she comforts her is... a bit clumsy.

"This gentleman..."

It was only then that Adele realized that after talking for so long, she didn't even know the other person's name.

"...Just call me Li Ang."

L cleared his throat and said in a somewhat dry voice, "If there's really something wrong with my eyes, I don't think the doctors in town will be of any use."

"Mr. Lyon, is that right?"

Hearing Li Ang's answer, Adele breathed a sigh of relief.

Being able to communicate means that the other person doesn't have any suicidal thoughts for the time being. However, what the other person said is right. Dr. Kent in the town is a good person. He is willing to provide treatment even if the patient is infected. But this does not mean that Dr. Kent can cure all injuries.

If something goes wrong with such a delicate organ as the eyes, not only small clinics in towns, but even hospitals in large mobile cities may not have a way to treat it.

Thinking of this, Adele couldn't help but bite her lip gently, as if she had made an extremely difficult decision, and slowly said, "If Dr. Kent can't do anything either, I can take Mr. Lyon to Brandenburg for treatment."

Upon hearing Adele's words, even Noyce, who was watching the show from the sidelines, couldn't help but cast a surprised glance. Adele's promise had clearly gone beyond the norm.

are you serious?

Li Ang's brow twitched, and just as he was about to ask that question, he heard Adele say with great certainty, "Brandenburg's Originium Arts are the most advanced in the world, and they can definitely heal your eyes."

Yes, Li Ang suddenly realized.

Even if conventional medical methods cannot cure his eyes, it does not mean there is no hope.

There exists a magical technology in this world called 'Originium Arts'. This technology, which relies on Originium, is almost indistinguishable from magic in stories. Users can manipulate fire and lightning according to their own will. Some powerful Originium Arts users can even destroy a town on their own.

Of course, there are also Originium Arts that are used for healing, which can even regenerate severed limbs. If it's just for treating the eyes... there shouldn't be any problem, right?

Thinking about this, L gradually felt at ease.

All of this was inseparable from the girl's help. If she hadn't been willing to help, Li Ang, who was penniless, would have had no way of finding a way to cure his eyes, let alone even making it to the nearest town.

But what's the problem?

They were just strangers who met by chance. Li Ang didn't even know the other person's name. Why would the other person help him? Based on the knowledge he had gained from his memories, it was not an easy task to ask someone who knew medical Originium Arts to help with treatment.

To be fair, Li Ang is actually a somewhat selfish person. If he were in the other person's position, he would have done more than enough by taking the rescued person to a safe place. How could he possibly go to great lengths to help the other person find a way to treat their injuries?

All Li Ang could sense from this girl was pure kindness and sympathy, and even a deeply hidden guilt, as if she felt remorse for not arriving in time. If she hadn't been so close, Li Ang would have had a hard time noticing this hidden emotion.

Apart from that, Li Ang did not sense any other ulterior motives; the other party genuinely chose to help him out of pure goodwill.

After entering the complex world of society, Li Ang rarely experienced such pure kindness, and his feelings became incredibly complicated.

"……Thanks."

After a long silence, Li Ang slowly uttered those two words.

After receiving Li Ang's thanks, the girl seemed very happy. Even though he couldn't see her face, Li Ang could feel her heartfelt joy.

Wait… joy? Li Ang suddenly frowned. How had he sensed the other person's joy just now?

It is actually very difficult to discern a person's emotions. Usually, we can only judge them from many aspects such as facial expressions, actions, tone of voice, and the content spoken, and we cannot rule out the possibility of pretense.

He can't see anything right now. The other person didn't even say anything just now, only gave a soft "hmm". How could he have sensed the other person's emotions from just one "hmm"?

Just like the instinct of eating and drinking, Li Ang inexplicably sensed the other person's emotions.

Subconsciously, Li Ang focused his attention on the darkness in front of him. Although he still couldn't see, he had a strange feeling that someone was standing there.

At this moment, the girl's emotions had completely calmed down, and all Li Ang could feel was a sense of relief and tranquility.

As he focused all his attention on the girl, he seemed to notice some different colors appearing in the dark world.

Like a pebble thrown into a calm sea, ripples spread even in the completely dark world, and some pale white lines formed a blurry, yet distinct, human figure before his eyes.

This strange change startled Li Ang. It was nothing like when his vision returned to normal. But when he tried to see the scene before him clearly, the ripples that had splashed earlier had subsided, and the blurry white figure had shattered like a popped bubble.

What was that just now? Was it a hallucination caused by being blind for too long? But what I saw just now didn't seem like a hallucination.

Puzzled, Li Ang once again followed that feeling and immersed his consciousness in the darkness ahead.

Under Li Ang's conscious control, a 'giant wave' far more violent than before surged in the dark world. The waves collided with each other, and the phantom-like white lines reappeared in his field of vision.

Before his eyes appeared a world made of white lines, like a simple line drawing in a child's hand. This world was extremely rudimentary, and its area was only less than three meters away from him.

This time, Li Ang clearly 'saw' the petite girl in front of him. She was probably only about 1.45 meters tall and was wearing a dress that looked a lot like a dress. However, her face was a bit blurry, and Li Ang couldn't make out her features.

On the other side of the campfire not far away, there was a burly man who was nearly two meters tall. He was leaning lazily against something and kept adding firewood to the campfire.

Moreover, apart from these two people, everything within a three-meter radius—the wild grass swaying in the wind on the ground, the mosquitoes flying in the air—was clearly visible to Li Ang, presented to him by this black and white world.

Moreover, Li Ang could sense that the three-meter range was not fixed. As the ripples he created spread outwards, the area of ​​this black and white world was slowly expanding outwards.

Could this be considered a different way of restoring vision?

Thinking of this, Li Ang couldn't help but feel excited. The thing the girl promised seemed a bit distant to him, but this method was right in front of him. If he could master this ability, it would be able to make up for some of the losses caused by his blindness.

But how exactly does this ability come about? Are there any side effects?

Li Ang then fell into deep thought.

Seeing that Leon remained silent for a long time, Adele thought that his injuries from the earthquake had flared up again, and asked with some concern, "Mr. Leon, are you alright? Has your previous injury flared up again?"

Only then did Li Ang come to his senses and reply, "It's nothing, I just remembered some things."

As the ripples subsided, the black and white world before him showed signs of collapse again. However, having learned from his previous experiences, Li Ang quickly stabilized the world without much effort; a little concentration was all it took.

It's better to ask others for information.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Ang spoke up, "Um... I don't know why, but I feel like I can sense your presence?"

Chapter Five Infection

If you can't figure something out yourself, ask others. At least these two people are trustworthy for the time being.

Of course, Li Ang wasn't naive enough to reveal everything. The girl was trustworthy, even somewhat naive in Li Ang's eyes, but the credibility of the other burly man was questionable.

In his perception, the big man showed no extraneous emotions; simply put, Li Ang lacked understanding of him.

Li Ang has never hesitated to assume the worst about others, so he concealed part of the truth, not mentioning at all that he could sense their emotions, only saying that he seemed to be able to sense their presence.

"What did you say?"

However, before Li Ang could finish speaking, Noyce, as if he had been burned by a campfire, suddenly jumped up from the spot. "You said you can sense our presence?"

The other party's reaction was so intense that Li Ang felt a little confused. After thinking about what he had said earlier and finding nothing wrong with it, he replied, "It's a very strange feeling, like... a black and white photograph. I can sense a lot of things within a two-meter radius."

As he spoke, Li Ang pointed in the direction where the two of them were.

Noyce didn't speak again, but Li Ang could clearly feel that his emotions had changed drastically. In less than two seconds, the emotional fluctuations he exuded went from indifference to disgust and fear, and finally settled on deep fear.

“Miss Nauman, you should know very well that he is now infected.”

The enthusiasm he had shown when calling him "kid" had vanished, replaced by cold indifference in Noyce's voice. "If you still intend to take him back, whatever happens next is none of my business."

“Even if you offer more money, it won’t work. I don’t want to end up like him.” Before Adele could speak, Noyce dissuaded her from the idea.

"I see."