Asura in Arknights

Whether true or not, these stories helped Li Ang pass the time.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Not much happened during these three days. The news from Base 359 was that everything was normal. In addition to the thanks from Muirsey, Li Ang also took the opportunity to extend an invitation to Dorothy.

Although the blonde Ms. Zalak did not agree directly, she did agree to go to Kazimierz for a temporary rest.

The only problem is... Kal'tsit arrived a little later than she promised.

This is understandable, though, as the skies above Terra are not necessarily safer than the ground, and many factors can affect the speed of a spacecraft.

Perhaps it's rain, or perhaps it's a sandstorm. While there's no need to worry about infected creatures or bandits in the sky, it's more susceptible to the effects of the weather, so delaying most of the day is to be expected.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Li Ang received a message from Himer.

Hammer told him that the people from Rhodes Island had finally arrived.

Chapter 108

The Bad Guy is one of Rhodes Island's secret weapons, and Kal'tsit certainly wouldn't just openly fly it to land in Trimont.

The last time they activated that aircraft was because the natural storm provided cover, making it almost impossible for anyone to discover their whereabouts. Kal'tsit activated the machine because she valued Leon highly.

But this time... it's a little more troublesome.

Under the cover of night, they landed not far from Tremont and set up a temporary camp.

Fortunately, the Bad Guy had enough space inside. In addition to cramming an off-road vehicle, it also contained a large amount of daily necessities, enough to sustain the camp for a long time.

This is the real reason why they wasted half a day.

After assigning specific tasks to the crew of the Bad Guy, Kal'tsit drove alone into Trimont.

Kal'tsit had been to this city before. Although she was infected, she had a pass issued by the Colombian Congress, which she had somehow obtained, so she entered the city very easily.

The crew of the Bad Guy... were mostly infected, making it extremely difficult for them to enter Tremont City.

So when Leon and Himer went to the customs to greet Kal'tsit, they found her all alone.

"You're the only one who came?" Leon looked at Kal'tsit with some surprise.

He thought Kal'tsit would bring a team... at least her most trusted Blood Demon Doctor, or other elite operators from Rhodes Island.

Although they had never made contact, Leon's senses had indeed detected their presence on Rhodes Island.

Those people... were not weak. If it were when he first arrived in Kazimierz, Leon felt that he probably wouldn't be able to defeat those elite operators.

However, Kal'tsit shook her head and said, "This matter... is extraordinary. If it is really as I guessed, then bringing more people will be meaningless."

That's true... Li Ang completely agreed with Kal'tsit's idea.

If Trevor really is some unknown behemoth, then there's no point in bringing over everyone on Rhodes Island.

While Rhodes Island has a considerable number of high-end combatants, it clearly lacks the decisive power to deliver the final blow.

Therefore, it would be better for Kal'tsit to come alone to the meeting.

After the two exchanged a few words in hushed tones, Himeru parked the car and quickly ran to Kal'tsit's side.

"Dr. Kal'tsit, welcome to Trimont."

"Hello, Dr. Olivia." Kal'tsit nodded rather coldly.

She treats everyone this way, which is why Li Ang was so surprised when he saw Kal'tsit's emotional state.

"To make a long story short, I have important things to do besides our collaboration, so I hope to start the surgery as soon as possible. Based on my previous understanding of Rhine Life, the structural department's equipment can perform this level of surgery."

"The only thing we need to prepare is a few skilled assistants."

When Kal'tsit got straight to business, Himer was only slightly taken aback before following her train of thought.

“No problem. The chimeric therapy experiment has been stopped, and Director Palvis has given me authorization. I can find... enough people.”

When she said these words, Hermer hesitated for a moment. To be honest, apart from Joyce, she didn't really trust anyone else in the Structural Engineering Department.

If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. Palvis is already like this... how can his subordinates be any better?

However, if it's just about being an assistant during surgery... at most four or five assistants should be needed. If you pick carefully, Himer should be able to find enough people.

Next, Himer and Kal'tsit discussed the specifics of the surgery and agreed on some things that needed to be prepared.

As for the specifics, we'll have to wait until Kal'tsit arrives at Rhine Lab and examines the situation herself.

Listening to the conversation between Kal'tsit and Himeru, Leon frowned.

Judging from Kal'tsit's words, is he planning to start Ifrit's surgery first? Leon doesn't have any objections to this, but he is a little worried... Is it really okay for Kal'tsit to just enter Trevor's territory like this?

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang said to Hemer, "Dr. Hemer, I have some things I want to talk to Dr. Kal'tsit about. You should go back first. I will bring Dr. Kal'tsit to Rhine Lab later."

"I also have the authority to register her for a temporary identity, so it won't delay your surgery."

Hammer hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Then it's up to you."

Because Kal'tsit's arrival was delayed by more than half a day, Himeru was unable to schedule the surgery in advance.

Even if she obtained the authority that belonged to Palvis, the entire structural engineering department didn't revolve around her. And in such a large laboratory, the daily experimental schedule was basically full.

If it were Parvis asking to cut in line... those people wouldn't have any objections, but if Himer were to use her authority as a pretext... many people probably wouldn't give her any face.

Especially since she is also infected, this will attract even more criticism.

Therefore, after returning, Himer will need to carefully study the surgery schedule and find a suitable window of opportunity; there is no need to rush.

Anyway, Kal'tsit, the most important person, has already arrived in Trimont, and Ifrit has been in very good form recently.

After figuring this out, Himer wasn't so anxious anymore.

Himer then bid farewell to the two and returned to Rhine Lab ahead of them.

After she left, Li Ang said to Kal'tsit, "I say, are you planning to go straight to Rhine Lab? Doing so will most likely get you discovered by that person."

"Although I don't know his identity, he seems to harbor deep malice towards you. Are you sure it's okay to do this?"

Li Ang had assumed that Kal'tsit would only enter Rhine Lab to perform the removal surgery on Ifrit after resolving Trevor's problem.

Because Ifrit's condition has been very good recently, according to Himer's original plan, it would take at least another month before he could arrive at Rhodes Island to remove the Balrog fragments from Ifrit's body.

I didn't expect that this was the first thing Kal'tsit did when she arrived.

“It makes no sense,” Kal'tsit shook her head. “If I’m not mistaken, he already foresaw my arrival when I approached the city, or when he first mentioned my name.”

"Moreover... he probably doesn't harbor malice towards me; he harbors malice towards everyone on this land."

"So, what exactly is he?" Leon frowned. "A god-born being? An agent? Or a behemoth?"

Kal'tsit opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately fell silent.

Although Kal'tsit said nothing, Leon had already obtained the correct answer through her heart—

None of them... All of Li Ang's previous guesses were wrong.

This is very interesting... Li Ang really can't think of any other identity besides these three options that fits Trevor's description.

After a long silence, Kal'tsit shook her head and said with great concern, "I'm sorry, that person's identity is extremely important. It's no exaggeration to say that if my guess is true... his existence may even be related to the survival of this land."

...Is that far-fetched? However, Li Ang can tell that Kal'tsit is not lying at this moment.

Just by observing the emotions Kal'tsit occasionally reveals, one can tell just how chaotic her inner world is right now.

For Trevor to be able to cause such panic in the usually composed, even aloof, Kal'tsit, his identity must indeed be extraordinary.

However... Li Ang could also roughly sense that Kal'tsit was definitely hiding something... Could it be related to her identity?

Thinking of the strange number Trevor mentioned, Li Ang felt he had a pretty good idea of ​​the reason why it was so difficult to talk about.

If it concerns himself, it's not entirely incomprehensible. Although he vaguely suspected that Rhodes Island had a problem, Leon had no intention of investigating their true identities. The current cooperative relationship was quite good.

But... what is this thing that Kal'tsit mentioned that could affect the survival of the entire land?

"Is it because they're planning to break the Star Pod?" Leon asked.

Kal'tsit shook her head, indicating that it was unrelated to the matter, but she did not offer any further explanation.

"Alright..."

Since Kal'tsit wasn't going to say anything, there was nothing Leon could do. He couldn't very well force her to talk, could he?

Since Kal'tsit dared to come here alone, she must have her own plan. Li Ang felt that he just needed to patiently wait for what would happen next.

Kal'tsit wouldn't travel all that way just to perform surgery on Himer and then slink back to Rhodes Island without doing anything else, would she?

No way?

"Dr. Kal'tsit, let's go to Rhine Lab to complete the formalities first... I'll drive."

After taking the car keys from Kal'tsit, Li Ang skillfully opened the car door.

This time, Kal'tsit drove over a vehicle that wasn't manufactured by Rhodes Island's engineering department, but rather a rebadged off-road vehicle from Brilliant Shield Industries. It sold quite well in Kazimierz, and similar models were frequently seen in the Kazimierz wilderness.

Perhaps it was to conceal the existence of the Bad Guy... Leon didn't care.

Although, according to Kal'tsit, Trevor must have already discovered the existence of the Bad Guy, her main objective was probably to deceive the Colombian Ministry of Defense.

The Colombian Ministry of Defense is now frantically trying to expand its power, and if they find out that Kal'tsit has such a flying vehicle that can move across borders in a short time, she won't be able to leave here.

Those warmongers don't care about Kal'tsit's identity; the easiest and most efficient way is to just accuse her of being a spy and detain her.

Although the disguise was a bit clumsy, it was good enough. Anyway, the Ministry of Defense wouldn't be so idle as to investigate Kal'tsit... It's not like she hadn't been to Colombia before.

The only loophole is... Kal'tsit arrived here too quickly, but if Himeru hadn't betrayed her, no one should have noticed.

While Himer may be a bit naive, he shouldn't be capable of betraying someone to the Ministry of Defense, especially since Kal'tsit is the only hope for treating Ifrit.

Thinking about this, Leon suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "By the way, Kal'tsit, did you tell the bad guy to park in the wilderness outside Tremont?"

Although puzzled as to why Leon would ask such a question, Kal'tsit nodded and replied, "The Bad Guy is currently stationed ten kilometers north of Tremont... Is there a problem?"

“It wasn’t a problem before, but recently… there’s been a slight issue,” Li Ang gave an awkward yet polite smile. “Dr. Kal’tsit, you should know about Rhine Lab’s Base 359. The Colombian Ministry of Defense has its eye on it, but the base’s owner doesn’t want to hand over his things to a bunch of robbers.”

"So...she chose to leave, well, along with the entire Base 359."

Looking in the rearview mirror, Li Ang saw Kal'tsit's lips twitch noticeably a few times. Kal'tsit knew without a doubt that Li Ang was involved.

Running away with the entire research base... Similar things have happened before, but they were usually stopped before they could succeed. Something that big... it's not difficult to keep track of the movements of a mobile platform.

However, Kal'tsit knew that Base 359 did not have the ability to travel long distances, and no one thought of this, which is why this loophole was exploited.

The thing that the Ministry of Defense is eyeing... could potentially trigger a major war. Kelsey rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on, and grew increasingly worried about the future of Colombia.

Although Kal'tsit wanted to complain, the most important thing right now was to get everyone on the Bad Guy crew out of there as soon as possible, or better yet, back to Rhodes Island, so as to prevent Rhodes Island from being caught up in the brewing storm.

Finally, Kal'tsit let out a deep breath and said expressionlessly, "Thank you for reminding me, Mr. Kennedy."

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P.S. After testing positive for COVID-19, I felt extremely weak and my whole body ached. That wasn't all; my brain felt like it was filled with lead, and I couldn't think of anything. Most of the time, my mind was completely blank. I was thinking, if I had tested positive for COVID-19, wouldn't I have become mentally disabled? Damn it!

Chapter 109

The distance from the entrance to Trimont to Rhine Life is indeed quite far; if you don't run red lights, it will take at least two hours to reach your destination.

This period was quite boring. After Kal'tsit calmed down, she reverted to her expressionless and dull appearance.

If Li Ang doesn't speak to her, Kal'tsit won't utter a single word.

As for Leon... there's really not much to say about Kal'tsit.

He had no choice but to turn on the car radio and play the latest album from Siren Records to make the awkward moment less unbearable.

The death metal music blasting from the speakers was noisy, but it also effectively stimulated Li Ang's senses, preventing him from getting distracted while driving.

Kal'tsit frowned, seemingly disliking the overly loud music, but ultimately said nothing.

So they spent those two hours listening to the album of this emerging band called 'Sunset Fades'.

Two hours later, the two arrived at Rhine Life.

Compared to the previous few days, the defense department's alert level was significantly higher. After two days of news circulating on the intercity network, many people knew about what had happened at Rhine Life.

The defense department had already cordoned off the area around the gate, setting up a long perimeter of police tape, and even had people guarding the area around the wall to prevent any reckless reporters from sneaking in and making a big fuss.

Holhaya also began her own actions. During the two days she spent surfing the internet, Li Ang also discovered that some people were bringing up old matters again, deliberately mentioning the Wrights who had passed away many years ago, and intentionally or unintentionally implying that the accident two days ago was related to their plans.

Although he had already decided to sell Horhaya, Li Ang was not kind enough to report her actions to Rhine Lab. Even if a conflict occurred between them, it didn't matter, as it wouldn't affect Li Ang's plans.

After showing their identification and the electronic contract that Kal'tsit and Himer had drafted three days earlier to the guards at the entrance, the defense department finally registered Kal'tsit's identity and let them in.

Leon thought Trevor would be waiting for them inside, but... he wasn't, and Leon didn't sense any spying.