Asura in Arknights

Shining was silent for a moment, then slowly replied, "...It's Hurricane Knight."

“It really was him…” Margaret showed a knowing expression.

She already had this premonition when Shining told her to bring Adele along, and now it's just that her guess has been confirmed.

“However, this is also a good thing,” Margaret said after thinking for a moment. “At least it proves that he and Pol Pharmaceuticals are not in cahoots.”

"But have you ever thought about why he would steal things from there?" Shining wasn't as optimistic as Margaret. "Even if it has nothing to do with Paul Pharmaceuticals, there must be other forces involved."

……

By this time, the sun had long since set below the horizon, and the streets were quiet; most people were unwilling to stroll around on such a cold night.

Li Ang made up an excuse and left the industrial park. The security guard at the gate did not check his belongings, and Li Ang easily took the hard drive out.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Li Ang contacted Marner immediately after his release and arranged a handover location. After handing the hard drive to Marner, Li Ang would immediately transfer it to senior officials of the Securities and Futures Commission through clandestine channels.

All that's left is to confront Adams... To be honest, Li Ang still doesn't understand Adams's purpose, and doesn't know what he wants to do with those souls.

As Li Ang crossed the road and stepped into the park filled with pine trees, he suddenly stopped.

The pine needles rustled in the cold night wind, and the two moons in the sky quietly hid behind the clouds. The whole world was silent, but Li Ang sensed something unusual in the wind—

With so many people standing in the pine forest, did they really think he wouldn't notice?

"Come out, I've found you."

A cold wind brushed against Li Ang's cheeks, but the group hiding in the pine forest showed no intention of coming out.

Seeing this, Li Ang simply stated all their names directly, "Shining, Liz, and Maria... or rather, Miss Margaret, it's been a while since I've seen you. May I ask... were you waiting for me here on purpose?"

The fact that the trio of apostles would appear before him at this time clearly meant they weren't there just to chat. Worse still, Li Ang also spotted Adele not far away.

Beside Adele was Maria, Marner's niece, who had met Leon once before.

Hostage... tsk, now that Adele is here, even if the apostles don't intend to take her hostage, Leon has to treat her as one.

So what's going on with this family? Doesn't Marner care what his niece is doing?

After Leon revealed their identities, the three apostles emerged from the pine forest. Shining led the way, while Margaret followed behind, responsible for protecting Liz's safety.

The formation of the three apostles made Li Ang feel threatened, so he took half a step back and drew the short sword hanging at his waist from its sheath.

“Mr. Leon, I want to confirm something with you,” Shining said calmly. “What was that thing you brought out of Pol Pharmaceuticals…?”

The atmosphere in the pine forest suddenly became tense.

Chapter Seventy-Three: I Have No Malice

"How did you know?" Li Ang immediately became alert. "And... how did you know I would be passing through here?"

Aside from Marna, Leon didn't tell anyone about this. The three apostles had no reason to know, unless Marna had gotten his head stuck in a door and told his niece...

"I'm……"

Just as Shining opened her mouth to answer, she felt the ground suddenly tremble.

Li Ang rushed out like lightning, and the speed he released in an instant even created a white ring of air in his place.

Margaret was positioned towards the back, so she reacted quickly. She instinctively raised her arm shield and took a step forward, trying to stop Li Ang who suddenly rushed over.

"Go away!"

Leon had no intention of getting entangled with this stubborn guy any longer. Without any mercy, he used a wave burst to blow Margaret away and then rushed towards Adele's direction without looking back.

Margaret felt as if she had collided with an armored vehicle moving at full speed. She plunged her warhammer into the soil beneath her feet and plowed a long furrow in the ground with her legs before she could completely dissipate the force.

At this moment, Li Ang had already rushed to a place she couldn't reach.

To ensure the success of this operation, Li Ang brought everything that could enhance his combat capabilities. He was even prepared to confront Adams directly, but he never expected that Shining and his group would be standing in his way.

The moment Li Ang took a step, the helmet hidden inside the armor popped out automatically, drawing on Originium to form a special field to protect his vulnerable head.

The armor was coated with a special coating that effectively reduced air resistance, so it wouldn't make too much noise when Li Ang was running at full speed.

Maria felt a blur before her eyes, and suddenly a humanoid figure completely encased in streamlined armor appeared before her.

By the time she frantically drew her weapon, the figure had vanished without a trace, along with Adele beside her.

"...Huh? Where did everyone go?"

Li Ang rushed past her, picked up Adele, and ran. Maria hadn't even realized what was happening yet. She could only stare blankly at the empty space around her, not knowing what she had just done or what she should do next.

"Li Ang?"

Held in Li Ang's arms, the wind made it hard for Adele to open her eyes, so she could only ask by feeling.

"Well, it's me."

Through the helmet, Li Ang's voice sounded slightly distorted, but Adele still recognized him.

"Don't say anything yet, I'll take you to a safe place."

After confirming that it was Li Ang, Adele felt relieved and pressed herself tightly against Li Ang's chest, avoiding the cold wind around her.

Li Ang ran for six or seven hundred meters before stopping.

At this distance, others wouldn't be able to get here quickly, but if anything unexpected happens, Li Ang can get to Adele's side very fast.

Li Ang put Adele down from his arms, placed his hands on her shoulders, and stared at her until she looked away shyly before letting out a sigh of relief. "Phew... looks like you're alright. Nothing unexpected has happened during this time, right?"

“No!” Adele said, somewhat angrily.

During this time, Li Ang deliberately avoided Adele, and Adele often couldn't contact him. After this happened several times, Adele started to harbor some resentment.

Sensing the dissatisfaction in Adele's voice, Li Ang quickly said, "I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional. I just haven't been able to contact you easily lately, but there are only a few days left, and everything will be over soon."

As he spoke, Li Ang opened a hidden compartment in the armor and took out the hard drive concealed inside.

"Also, please keep this for me for now." Li Ang placed the hard drive in Adele's hands. "Don't give this to anyone else before I get back."

"Even those apostles are the same."

Seeing that Adele seemed hesitant to speak, Li Ang said, "This is the result of my efforts over the past few months. Whether we can raise the travel expenses to find clues about your father depends entirely on this."

Upon hearing this, Adele felt a mix of emotions and quickly hugged the hard drive tightly to her chest. "I understand, I will take good care of this."

"...There's no need to protect him; your safety is more important."

"Hmm..." Adele's cheeks immediately turned rosy.

"Alright... Now it's time to have a serious talk with them."

Li Ang looked in the direction of the three apostles. The three of them were still standing in the same spot, seemingly waiting for Li Ang.

Just as he was about to go back, Leon suddenly felt Adele grab his hand.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?" Li Ang turned his head and asked.

“Li Ang... Sister Shanling and the others are all good people. They have helped me a lot during this time.”

“There must be some misunderstanding,” Adele asked, mustering her courage. “You’re not doing anything wrong for Ball Pharmaceuticals, are you?”

"What are you talking about..." Li Ang was momentarily speechless. He gently patted Adele's head and said, "I have no interest in working for those people. If I had to say, I'm working for the government of Kazimierz right now, and I'd have to question what Shining and the others' true motives are."

Adele was about to say something when Leon stopped her, saying, "I understand what you mean. I know those three apostles are good people, but that doesn't mean they aren't enemies. Do you understand?"

"It could also be due to their stance; they might be on the opposite side of us now, otherwise there's no way to explain how they were able to find my whereabouts."

"Anyway, don't worry, I'm just going to talk to them and find out what's going on," Li Ang reassured her.

Adele nodded silently, acknowledging Li Ang's statement.

After telling Adele to hide in the pine forest by the roadside, Leon returned to where the apostles were.

Just then, the silly little girl also ran over and stood with her sister.

“Now, can we have a proper talk?” Shining said calmly, looking at Li Ang who had returned. “We mean no harm. I just want to confirm what you took from Pol Pharmaceuticals.”

Li Ang snorted coldly, saying without any appreciation, "Bringing Eyjafjalla here, is this what you call having no ill intentions?"

Chapter Seventy-Four Conflict

From Li Ang's perspective, the malice revealed by this behavior was almost overflowing; how could it be called without malice?

“That’s true,” Shining replied calmly. “We didn’t mean to threaten you with her; we just want to talk to you.”

"..."

Well, Shining isn't entirely wrong to say that.

Adele has been with them recently, and if they wanted to do something underhanded, there would have been plenty of opportunities during this time. However, Li Ang had just carefully examined Adele's body and found no injuries or traces of Originium Arts.

"Let's just say it's as you said."

Li Ang's tone softened somewhat. Even though he was extremely displeased, he couldn't just beat up Shanling and the others like that, could he? However, the goodwill that Li Ang had developed for helping him heal had completely vanished.

Adele is right. They may be good people, but now they are clearly on the opposite side of Leon.

"However, regardless of where you got your information, whatever I took from Bohr Pharmaceuticals is none of your business, right?"

"So, we want to discuss this with you."

Shining said in a very sincere tone, "Boll Pharmaceuticals has some data that is very important to us. No matter what the cost, I must get that information."

So, you didn't have the guts to force your way into Boer Pharmaceuticals, so you planned to intercept them halfway? Li Ang immediately cursed them in his heart.

However, it's not wrong for Shining to seek him out.

The hard drive on the supervisor's computer contains most of the secrets of the Bohr Pharmaceutical Research Center, and maybe it contains what they want... But what does that have to do with Li Ang?

No matter the cost... Li Ang could only chuckle at this. He didn't think the three apostles could afford the reward, even if one of them was the eldest daughter of the Lin Guang family—the most valuable thing in the Lin Guang family had already been given to her by Marna as a reward. What else did the Lin Guang family have besides that?

You should know that the value of that manor is something an ordinary competitive knight could never earn in a lifetime, and even those knights in the top ranks would need many years to earn it back.

Of course, given the great risk Li Ang took, he is fully entitled to this reward.

"I'm sorry, I have my own tasks to complete, and I can't just give you things away."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now. I have a lot of things to take care of."

With that, Li Ang ignored the three apostles and set off to meet up with Marna, who was not far away. Li Ang had already been delayed for some time, and if he didn't hurry over, Marna might misunderstand.

But before Li Ang could take a few steps, a clear sword ringing reached his ears.

"Zheng—"

A slender longsword, so thin it seemed it would break at the slightest touch, suddenly appeared in front of Li Ang.

"...Miss Shining, what do you mean by this?"

In that instant, Shining suddenly vanished from his spot, blocking Li Ang's path.

"I'm sorry, but as I just said, no matter the cost, I must find those documents," Shining said resolutely, showing no intention of letting Li Ang leave.

"Ha... So you're not going to let me leave?" Li Ang let out a deep breath.

Shining did not answer, but the way she gripped the hilt of her sword made her stance clear.

"Then let's go."

Li Ang was already furious with Shining's little tricks and had nowhere to vent his anger. Now that she had come to him of her own accord, Li Ang no longer needed to consider their past relationship.

The short sword was drawn instantly, and the moment it touched the hilt, Li Ang's Originium energy flowed through the entire sword, activating the countless blood vessel-like circuits hidden within it.

The two-foot-long weapon emitted a brilliant crimson light, just like the color of Li Ang's eyes. It didn't look like a murder weapon at all; it looked more like an exquisite work of art.

Amidst the piercing sound of air being torn apart, Li Ang unleashed a full-force sword strike at the rapier in Shanling's hand, intending to cripple her weapon.

The moment Li Ang made his move, the other two Apostles besides Shining also acted simultaneously.

Liz shook the strange staff in her hand, and a light purple shield appeared on all of them. Margaret, who was supposed to protect Liz, suddenly abandoned her, her body radiating a dazzling golden light, and rushed towards the direction of Leon.

Maria, who was standing to the side, also seemed eager to try, but before she could act, Margaret sternly stopped her.

"Maria! Don't come any closer! This is not a battle you can participate in!"

"You stay there and protect Liz!"

Maria was initially somewhat unconvinced and wanted to retort, but when she saw the flashing swords not far away, she involuntarily shrank back and stood obediently beside Liz.

Before Leon could strike Shining's longsword, Liz's magical shield had already appeared on Shining's body.

After passing through that shield, Li Ang's short sword did not slow down at all, but the energy reaction on the blade of the short sword decreased by a certain amount out of nowhere. Obviously, this was a shield specifically designed to counter Originium Arts.

Li Ang's short sword wasn't very sharp; it relied more on the energy reaction on the blade to kill enemies. Liz's shield perfectly exploited this weapon's only weakness.

But the current situation... is enough.