Asura in Arknights

Well, actually, according to Zofia's logic, the truth of the matter is not hard to guess. Li Ang just didn't expect that she could deduce most of the facts from this direction.

but……

"Just how strong is Marna?" Li Ang asked.

Li Ang only judged that Marna was very powerful based on his physical attributes, but he wasn't sure exactly how powerful he was.

“I’m not entirely sure either,” Zofia shook her head and said, “He hasn’t really fought seriously in a long time, but at least three years ago, Margaret was no match for him.”

The strength to crush the Radiant Knight... well, it is indeed strong enough.

Although the strength of lower-level competitive knights varies, the strength of top-level competitive knights is by no means weak. The strength of the Radiant Knight can definitely be ranked among the top in Kazimierz, which shows just how powerful this middle-aged office worker is.

"The Grand Knight Commander, the long knights of several knight families, and the three Xuan Tie Grand Masters of the Unarmored Alliance—I can't think of anyone else who could have injured him like this."

Although Zofia phrased it very tactfully, Li Ang still understood what she meant.

The Grand Knight Commander is the leader of this country, and the Nearl family is on the same side as those knight families. Zofia practically named the Unarmored Alliance as the culprit.

"Cough cough cough-"

At this moment, amidst a violent coughing fit, Marner slowly awoke from her coma.

Chapter Sixty Communication

“Ah, he’s already awake. Perfect, you can take this opportunity to ask him.” Li Ang said to Zofia.

It seems that Li Ang's emergency treatment played a significant role, as Marna's recovery speed exceeded expectations. Li Ang had thought he would remain unconscious for several more hours.

After a violent coughing fit, Marna's breathing gradually calmed down. He instinctively tried to grab the short sword at his side, but he missed. Zofia had already disarmed him while helping him clean his wounds.

"Calm down, there are no enemies here, you are in your own home."

After taking in his surroundings, Marna gradually relaxed. However, because of his earlier actions, his wound, which had only recently healed, reopened, and trickles of blood seeped through the bandage.

Marna, seemingly oblivious to the pain, glanced at Leon and Zofia by the bedside, then slowly said, "Leon... and Zofia, so you're here too..."

"Looks like I'm lucky; I actually managed to escape back."

"So who hurt you like this?"

“It was Xuan Tie, the leader of the Wuzhou Alliance.” Marna frowned, somewhat puzzled. “He attacked me from behind when I wasn’t paying attention.”

The two sides were evenly matched, but Xuan Tie Dawei specialized in assassination. When Marna lowered his guard, he could not have detected Xuan Tie Dawei's assassination attempt. A carefully prepared large-scale spell instantly enveloped his body. Fortunately, Marna reacted quickly enough and did not die on the spot.

But what Marna couldn't understand was why the other party chose to attack him at this time?

"Why did the Unarmored Alliance attack you? Could it be that the Business Alliance is finally going to target the Lightbringer Family?"

“…No, it has nothing to do with business alliances,” Marner said, shaking his head. “This matter…is a bit complicated.”

“What could be so complicated!” Zofia slammed her hand on the bedside table and glared angrily at Marna. “I have plenty of time right now, so I can listen to your explanation.”

Both Maria and Manna were doing dangerous things behind Zofia's back, and the feeling of being excluded by everyone was really unpleasant for her.

Moreover, Zofia's intuition told her that Margaret's return to Kazimierz at this time was very likely related to what Marna was doing.

"Look at how badly you're injured now. Do you think you'll be so lucky next time?"

Li Ang quietly took a step back, leaving the space for debate to Zofia and Marna.

An awkward silence stretched between them. After a long while, just as Zofia was about to lose her temper, they finally heard Marna sigh, "Well, I do need some help right now."

The reason why Marna and Zofia don't like each other is simply because of their different ideas. It's not so bad that they're going to never speak to each other again. Marna's situation is indeed not optimistic, and he has also lowered his stance, which is quite rare for him.

Marna was extremely hostile to knightly competitions and the commercial alliances behind the industry, to the point of hatred. He would rather give up his status as a knight than associate with those people.

Zofia believed that this was an inevitable trend in Kazimierz's development, and no one could stop the tide of this era. Although she also hated the capital that hid behind the scenes and controlled everything, she actively participated in the Knights' Tournament and achieved good results without any corporate sponsorship.

Zofia's status is now even higher than that of the entire Nearl family combined.

Marna paused, organized his thoughts, and then slowly said, "We are investigating Pol Pharmaceuticals. I suspect they are colluding with foreign forces. If we can catch them red-handed, the Securities and Futures Commission can greatly thwart the aggressive actions of the business alliance this time."

Upon hearing what Marna had just said, Zofia was stunned for a moment before stammering, "Where did you hear this kind of news? No, why would the Witness Council let you do this kind of thing all by yourself?"

“That’s why I said this matter is somewhat complicated…” Marna sighed and said, “Only a very small number of people within the Witness Council know about this, and to avoid alerting the enemy, I am the only one actually taking action.”

"As for the source of the intelligence... it's a bit unusual."

"Not long ago, a Xuan Tie leader from the Wuzhou Alliance approached me and provided me with this information."

"Is this the person who attacked you earlier?" Li Ang asked from the side.

Marna nodded.

"So that's how it is..."

Clearly, Marna held back when she revealed the information last time. This is the first time Li Ang has heard about Marna's source of information. He previously thought it was internal information from the Supervisory Council, but he didn't expect it to involve a Xuan Tie leader from the Wuzhou Alliance.

The Securities and Futures Commission, the Business Alliance, the Unarmored Alliance... As more and more forces became involved, this matter had formed a huge vortex, involving most of the top leadership in Kazimierz. Li Ang suddenly felt that, given his role in this matter, a reward of just one manor might not be enough.

However, it may be a bit too late to raise prices now.

"That Xuan Tie Da Shi wanted to use this opportunity to break free from the control of the business alliance. I can also confirm that the information he provided was correct. Boer Pharmaceuticals does have connections with a certain force, but... I can't understand why he would launch a sneak attack on me."

Their current conspiracy is far from successful. He still needs to use Marner's identity to pass on intelligence to the Securities and Futures Commission. What good would it do him to turn against Marner and kill him under these circumstances?

With the help of multiple factors, Marna was able to be ambushed by Xuan Tie Dawei.

Zofia was a few beats slower to react before looking at Leon in surprise, "Wait, so you're a spy who infiltrated Pol Pharmaceuticals?"

Li Ang shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

"So... did Pol Pharmaceuticals really have no precautions at all? How could they let you climb to such a high position..." Zofia covered her face and said helplessly.

"Perhaps it's because my background is relatively clean. If it weren't for a series of coincidences, I wouldn't have come into contact with you."

P.S. As I was writing this today, a question came to mind.

Marna is hostile to capitalism and doesn't want to be a competitive knight, so why doesn't he become a conquering knight? It feels so inexplicable... Surely the Supervisory Council isn't so incompetent as to not even be able to guarantee the status of a conquering knight? I can't figure out this plot hole, let's see if the second half-month story collection can explain it... but I doubt it will.

Chapter Sixty-One: The Experiment Begins

Although Li Ang's statement made no mistake, Zofia still found it hard to let go.

In her view, the business alliance was a very, very difficult opponent, and this seemingly childish infiltration tactic had no reason to succeed... But reality is often more bizarre than people imagine, and this plan, which had no feasibility whatsoever, succeeded.

"So, the Unarmored Alliance is now a complete enemy?"

After a moment of silence, Marna slowly nodded. "Without his help to remove the Unarmored Alliance's spies, I might not be able to move freely anymore. I'll have to rely on you from now on, Zofia."

"What do I need to do?" Zofia asked, perking up.

"Relay the message to the Securities and Futures Commission on my behalf, and I will tell you how to contact them later."

Unlike Marna, Zofia has a very low priority with the Business Alliance, giving her more freedom of action. However, Zofia is not as skilled in stealth as Marna, so it is still a challenging task for her.

Marner didn't expect her to do anything; it would be enough if she just relayed the message verbatim.

Seeing that Marna and Zofia had reached an agreement, Li Ang said, "Alright, now that you've finished discussing your matters, it's time to talk about my problem."

Marna nodded. He was also a little curious as to why Leon was here. It wasn't surprising that Zofia was here, but Leon wouldn't be here unless it was something important.

"I've already made contact with the person in charge of the experiment, and I should be able to get more details about the project from him. I'll try my best to get the information out of him."

These words delighted Marner, but before he could even smile, Li Ang changed the subject and said...

"But... I was attacked on the way here."

Li Ang then told them about the attack.

"Wait!" Zofia suddenly interrupted Leon, saying in shock, "Wait, you mean you caused the pollution leak on Highway 16?"

"Route 16... I didn't pay attention to the name of that road, but if you're talking about the Originium contamination left on the ground, then that must be what I did."

Zofia opened her mouth, but Li Ang's reaction was so calm that she didn't know what to say.

About half an hour ago, while waiting for Maria's message, she accidentally came across the news on her phone. The photos of the scene... were simply horrific. If someone had said that an Originium reactor had leaked there, Zofia wouldn't have been surprised at all.

But the truth is actually... the aftermath of a battle?

Well, Zofia doesn't know Originium Arts, so she doesn't know what kind of magic could create that effect. But she knows very well that if someone enters that area without any protection, it will definitely cause irreversible damage to their body. And this is just a trace left over from the battle... This person has definitely hidden a lot of strength compared to when they were competing.

I really don't know how much Marner paid to get such an assistant.

“But what you’ve done is a bit too much… If someone finds out, that would be troublesome,” Zofia said with a headache.

According to news reports, if the pollution cannot be dealt with, the worst-case scenario is that the relocated site may have to be abandoned, resulting in an astronomical loss. If the culprit, Li Ang, will likely be imprisoned for decades.

"There was no other way... those soul-manipulating spells were just too troublesome. In that situation, I had no other choice."

"Alright, don't worry about compensation. The Securities and Futures Commission will cover the losses this time."

Seeing that the topic was starting to veer off course, Marna quickly steered it back on track. "However, are you sure that's soul manipulation? I've never heard of such Originium Arts before... Even the other two Xuan Tie Grandmasters have never heard of anything like it."

“I’m absolutely certain,” Li Ang replied with great certainty, “because after I destroyed that thing, I read a person’s memory from its remnants.”

Upon hearing Li Ang's words, Marna fell silent and stopped speaking.

"From my remaining memories, I already know who attacked me. Any new developments regarding the person I asked you to investigate last time?"

Upon hearing this, Marna shook his head. "The reason I went to meet with the Unarmored Alliance this time was to use their channels to conduct an investigation."

Adams seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. No matter how much Marner investigated, he couldn't find anything strange about him. Looking at Marner now, you can tell that he hasn't found anything again.

Li Ang couldn't help but click his tongue. Marna, this teammate... why did he feel like he was a bit useless?

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that Marner did nothing during the period of cooperation. He helped protect Adele and the Kuhn family, which was what he was supposed to do, but he didn't bring much substantial help to them.

Now he's been tricked and almost lost his life. Li Ang doesn't know how to complain.

"Fine……"

Li Ang sighed inwardly, thinking with some helplessness that even though Marna was very unhelpful, things had developed to this point and the outline was gradually becoming clearer.

With an unknown past and mastery of mysterious Originium Arts, Adams fits the description of that 'mysterious force' no matter how you look at it.

It seems we can only wait until we have the information before trying to confront Adams.

Now that the culprit has been identified, things are much simpler. As long as he beats him half to death, Li Ang is sure he can get the way to wake up Rein.

This should be the last contact between Li Ang and them before everything ends.

Hopefully, before that happens, Marna and Zofia can offer some assistance.

-------------------------------------

As soon as Li Ang returned to the industrial park, before he could even enter the R&D center building, someone had already blocked his way at the entrance.

He is the supervisor.

Upon seeing Li Ang return, the supervisor immediately came up to him and said impatiently, "The final enhancement experiment has begun. Do you remember what you promised me?"

Chapter Sixty-Two Ambition

"So fast?"

Li Ang raised an eyebrow in surprise. "His injuries are all healed? I didn't hold back much."

Aside from promising not to kill Byron on the spot, Li Ang showed no mercy. Byron should now be critically injured and on the verge of death, receiving treatment in the emergency room.

Li Ang has only been gone for an afternoon, and he doesn't think he can heal Byron's injuries in such a short time.

To Li Ang's surprise, the supervisor waved his hand dismissively, "That minor injury has no impact at all. In fact, it's a good opportunity to test the treatment's effectiveness."

Upon hearing the supervisor's reply, Li Ang could only feel a moment of silence for Byron, who was still unconscious. This was why he didn't want to participate in the Bohr Pharmaceutical experiment; he didn't want his body to become a test subject for others to manipulate.

"Alright, forget about that guy. Since you've already agreed, come with me now." The supervisor grabbed Li Ang impatiently and pulled him towards the laboratory.

After thinking for a few seconds, Li Ang did not resist and let the supervisor pull him forward.

Actually, the supervisor is very easy to understand. He is like the mad scientists in traditional works, with weak moral values ​​and his whole mind is devoted to scientific research. He doesn't have much scheming.

After this period of preparation, now is the perfect time for Li Ang to obtain intelligence from his supervisor.

“…Okay, I can walk by myself, you don’t need to drag me.” Li Ang said, breaking free from his supervisor’s grasp.

The supervisor didn't pay attention to such details and led Li Ang towards the laboratory while explaining some of the details of this experiment to Li Ang.

He was, after all, the head of this research and development center, and knew a lot of information that ordinary researchers didn't. Just a few words he had casually mentioned had allowed Li Ang to discover many details he had never heard of before.

"Wait...you just said that this technology wasn't developed by us?"

"To be precise, only the most insignificant part was developed by ourselves," the supervisor replied readily. "The most core technologies were directly handed over to us by the boss."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang's heart skipped a beat, and he continued to ask, "You mean, the boss bought this from someone else?"

It seems he was very lucky to get to the core issue so quickly.