Asura in Arknights

The mysterious Sarkaz inscriptions that Adele just mentioned were one of them. Leon recalled the scenes he saw in the Originium Will. In the scenes where the Sarkaz appeared, there were sometimes some mysterious-looking characters, but unfortunately, Leon did not know the meaning of those characters.

"So, based on what you've deciphered, your uncle and aunt's last stop was Sami?"

"……Um."

Recalling her memories, Adele did not remember anything unusual about her parents during that time. They had simply gone away for a few months as usual, and when they returned, they still brought Adele many gifts.

“Sami…” Leon pondered for a moment, then said, “Why did my uncle go there? Was it mentioned in his notes?”

Adele shook her head and said, "I don't know either... It might be mentioned in the notes, but I can't decipher the relevant content right now."

"All right……"

Samina is no good place... It's blizzard-ridden for most of the year, and even Ursus eventually gave up on invading it.

Dr. Nauman certainly didn't go to that godforsaken place to study volcanoes, which he knows so well. What was he there for? To study icebergs?

That's not impossible. Volcanology is just one branch of geology. Professor Nauman is a professor at the Originium Arts Academy, and his wife specializes in studying natural environments and ecosystems. It wouldn't be surprising if she went to investigate the extreme environment of Sami.

In fact, ever since that suspicious blank in Professor Nauman's diary ten years ago, the couple's research has expanded beyond volcanology.

In order to have more time for research, after their last batch of graduate students and doctoral students graduated, they did not recruit any more students, but instead traveled all over the world to focus on their research.

In the end, the two of them died in Sami, that desolate and ghostly place.

This gave Li Ang the illusion that a long-term mission had just begun, and that they would follow the trail of the Nauman couple's research and exploration all the way to the source, and finally uncover the secret that they had been searching for for more than ten years.

“Adele, let me see the notes your uncle left behind. Maybe I can find some other clues,” Li Ang said.

There are some things he needs to confirm personally, in which case he might find some new clues.

"Okay, wait a moment, I'll go get the notes right away."

After a short while, Adele brought over the notebook.

However, as soon as Li Ang got his hands on the notebook, he discovered something completely different from before.

"Huh? What's this...?"

Li Ang had flipped through this notebook before, but at that time the notebook was covered in blood, dirt and other grime, so Li Ang couldn't see the words hidden beneath the grime.

Now, thanks to Adele's processing, the text on the notebook is fully visible.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem upstairs?"

Seeing Li Ang's strange reaction, Adele curiously moved closer.

“…There are some things I need to confirm first,” Li Ang said. “Adele, could you copy the text in the notebook again? Not too much, just the first page will do.”

"Copy it once? Okay..."

Despite some doubts about why Leon would make such a strange request, Adele agreed without hesitation, because Leon had never done anything meaningless.

Soon, Adele copied the contents of the first page of the notebook onto the nearby desk.

“Here you go.” Adele handed the copy she had made along with the notebook to Leon. “However, I don’t know how to write this script, so I can only draw it by imitating its shape.”

Just like a foreigner who doesn't understand Chinese writing Chinese characters, they can only draw the shape of the characters bit by bit. The characters written in this way may look very strange to people who understand Chinese characters.

But now they don't understand Sarkaz incantations, so resemblance in appearance is enough.

"It's okay, I just want to confirm one thing."

Taking what Adele handed me, and comparing the two in my field of vision, the difference became clear.

"Sure enough, what my uncle wrote down was not just a simple written record... If I'm not mistaken, there should also be a map hidden in these words."

"A map?! How could a map be hidden in here?"

Adele's surprise was written all over her face. It wasn't that she didn't believe what Li Ang said, but rather that what Li Ang had just said was simply unbelievable.

How can a map be hidden within these simple symbols and characters?

“Because what I see is different from what you see,” Li Ang said, pointing to his tightly closed eyes. “Didn’t Shining only grasp a little bit about this script? Perhaps, this is the correct way to interpret this script.”

In Li Ang's vision, the symbols on the notebook seemed to come alive, forming a three-dimensional picture at the top of the notebook pages. Li Ang could vaguely discern traces of mountains and roads from it, and from different angles, he could even see the difference in elevation between the high and low terrain.

Unsurprisingly, this is only a small part of a complete map.

Sarkaz incantations... This script itself possesses magic; it cannot be written simply by imitating its appearance.

As for Leon's perception vision... according to Adams, this is the 'power' he obtained from the Originium Will, which allows him to trigger the hidden meaning of the Sarkaz incantation without knowing the correct method.

On the contrary, Li Ang could not see the words that Adele copied very clearly.

"In short, we need to find a map of Sami and see if we can find the corresponding location on the map."

If the location indicated by this hidden map isn't in Sami... then things could get complicated.

They will likely have to temporarily halt their plans to travel to Sami, unsure what these images actually represent.

Chapter Ten: Before Departure

This was a very important discovery for Leon and Adele.

After visiting Ryan and confirming that he had woken up and was otherwise healthy, Leon and Adele said goodbye to the couple and began to busily prepare for what they would need next.

The most important thing was a map of Sami. Through internal channels of the Supervisory Commission, Li Ang obtained a military map drawn more than ten years ago during the war when Ursus invaded Sami.

Back then, Ursus wanted to wage war against all the surrounding countries at the same time, so the Kazimir forces also seized a lot of their military supplies.

Although the various markers on this map haven't been updated in a long time, its accuracy is sufficient for them, even far exceeding their needs.

Most people live their entire lives in mobile cities. Even when they occasionally travel to other mobile cities, they stick together and follow reliable routes established by various security agencies.

However, for individuals or organizations that need to use maps, a reliable map is their most basic guarantee.

This was also the first time Adele experienced the power of a group. If it weren't for the support of the Securities and Futures Commission, ordinary people would never have been able to obtain something like this. At most, they could only get some hand-drawn maps with ridiculously low accuracy.

Fortunately, the part of the route map found in the notes was indeed located within Sami territory.

After comparing the two maps, Li Ang finally found a mountain range with similar terrain in a corner of the map.

The place marked on the map is called 'Skadino', which means 'the darkest place' in the local Sami language. It was the final destination for the Nauman couple.

Besides the map showing the route into the mountains, Li Ang also looked through the rest of the notebook. There were also some images on it, but because the text there had not been deciphered, Li Ang could not know the specific meaning of those images by guessing alone.

Therefore, their next target is the mountain range located in Sami, at the northernmost point of the world.

Therefore, they had to prepare a great deal of things.

Adele had originally suggested waiting until next summer when the weather was warmer before heading to Sami, as the climate there would be more suitable for human activity by then.

However, Li Ang did not agree with Adele's idea.

“If I’m not mistaken, Uncle and the others set off around this time of year,” Li Ang said, recalling the contents of his notebook. “Have you ever wondered why they specifically chose this coldest time of year to travel to Sami?”

“This…” Adele opened her mouth in surprise, she had never thought of it this way before.

Indeed, the environment in the Sami wilderness is extremely harsh in winter. Even a layman like Li Ang knows this, so how could people like the Nauman couple, who are often out on scientific expeditions, not know it?

Thinking about it this way, the fact that they would venture deep into Sami at this time is itself extremely unusual.

"Perhaps they have reasons for having to go there at this time."

For example, the passages that often appear in the story only appear at certain times, or rather, only in this harsh season is it truly the right time to venture deep into that mountain range.

Leon and his group knew nothing about the Skardino Mountains. To avoid missing this opportunity, they decided to completely replicate the Nauman couple's approach and enter Sami during the coldest time of the year.

"By the way, Adele, what are your requirements for the protective suit? Do you want something lightweight, or something with good protective performance? Or are there any other conditions, such as appearance?"

"Why do you ask that?" Adele asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Because I plan to use this time before we leave to prepare a protective suit for you. Our journey ahead won’t be easy, and ordinary clothes… are not suitable for entering those kinds of places,” Li Ang replied.

Adele was wearing an outfit produced by EPOQUE, which was both warm and quite stylish... Sarah had told Leon about it, but he couldn't tell the difference between it and ordinary clothes.

This outfit is sufficient for the mobile city, but if you want to leave the city, it's best to change into specially designed clothing, such as the renowned 'Land of Life' series.

However, the environment in the place they were about to go to was so extreme that they had to wear protective suits. The average temperature there was below minus thirty degrees Celsius, which was unbearable. Although both of them could use Originium Arts related to fire, they could save a lot of energy if they had protective suits.

"I see..."

Adele thought for a moment and then replied, "I don't care much about the appearance, I prefer performance, but the weight should not exceed 20 kilograms. If it's too heavy, it will affect my normal movement."

The people of Terra are much stronger than Earthlings. A delicate girl like Adele can carry 20 or 30 kilograms of weight around, while an Earthling would probably be out of breath after just a few steps.

"I understand. I will help you choose a suitable protective suit as soon as possible," Li Ang nodded in reply.

There's not enough time to customize a protective suit now. Fortunately, Kazimierz is also located in a cold region, so there is a market for this type of protective suit. Some of the top-of-the-line protective suits can achieve similar results. Li Ang already has two similar options in mind. He can ask someone to inquire later if there is any stock left.

Li Ang didn't have such trouble. Once Supervisor A repaired his armor, he could set off immediately.

The armor is also designed to cope with extreme environments. Its drawback is that it consumes Originium energy and releases a lot of heat during operation. Once it overheats, it must be shut down for cooling. However, this flaw is not a problem in Sami's environment. It can heat up even if it wants to.

Moreover, compared to protective suits, armor's defensive capabilities far surpass all protective suits. If Li Ang remembers correctly, the area where the 'alien' lives... is the northern part of the Terra continent.

"Well... I'll go prepare some consumables that we might need."

Thus, Leon and Adele divided their tasks and began preparing for their upcoming trip.

Time passed slowly, and after about four or five days, they finally gathered all the things they needed.

Chapter Eleven: Protect Her

That morning, everyone gathered at the Lin Guang family manor to see off Leon and Adele, who were about to depart.

"This outfit is so ugly!"

Sarah helped Adele adjust her protective suit while complaining, "Look what you've done to our lovely Adele."

Since Leon and the Grand Knight had reached an agreement and there was no need to worry about threats from Letania, Sarah openly called out Adele's name.

After learning of Adele's ordeal, the Nearls and the Apostles, who had been kept in the dark for some time, all expressed their understanding and were willing to provide any assistance they could for the two's future actions.

In fact, they were a great help in preparing the necessities.

Although Adele often conducts field reconnaissance, she is simply too young, and her experience cannot possibly match that of Shining, Marna, and Rein.

Shining had also suggested that if Liz's condition could improve, she would be willing to accompany Leon and Liam to Sami.

However, given Liz's physical condition, she would need at least two or three months to recover, and Li Ang and the others couldn't wait that long, so they had no choice but to give up.

At the same time, Shining also warned them that it would be best to hire an experienced guide, as the threats in the icy mountains were far greater than they imagined, and even experienced people could make mistakes, let alone two novices who had never been to such an environment before.

However, as for guides... we can only wait until they enter Sami before looking for them.

Faced with Sarah's complaints, Li Ang shrugged helplessly, "There's nothing we can do about it. Trying to balance performance and appearance... that's very difficult. Besides, this isn't a custom product, so we can only leave it like this for now."

There aren't many protective suits available for such extreme environments, so Li Ang ultimately chose the "Trailblazer" series of protective suits from Raytheon. Compared to other products, the Trailblazer series has some shortcomings.

However, the Trailblazer series has one flaw: the appearance of this series of protective suits... to be honest, is not very appealing.

"It's nothing, Sarah. This protective suit isn't that bad."

After putting on the protective suit, Adele adjusted her slightly awkward position and said.

Judging from her appearance, Adele seems to have gained weight, looking rather chubby. But upon closer inspection, she's actually quite cute and not as bad as Sarah described.

"Besides, no one in the mountains would care about this kind of thing, right?"

Upon hearing this, Sarah paused in her actions, opened her arms and hugged Adele, saying in a slightly complicated tone, "Adele, you still don't understand what I mean. Actually, I don't want you to go there."

Both Ryan and Sarah were strongly opposed to Adele going to Sami, but Adele's will was very firm.

After months of careful consideration, and almost giving up several times, I have finally made a difficult decision. How can this mindset be easily changed by a few words from others?

“Sarah, I…” Adele was momentarily speechless.

"Sigh, I know." Sarah sighed, patting Adele's head helplessly. "No matter what I say, you'll still go there, won't you?"

"……Um."

Knowing they couldn't change Adele's mind, Sarah and the others would verbally disagree, but their actions consistently supported Adele's decision.

Less than a day after Ryan was discharged from the hospital, Sarah, seeing how energetic he was, ruthlessly ordered him to run errands for Adele. Poor Ryan didn't even have a day to rest and could only run around the city at Sarah's command.

In fact, many of the things were bought with the help of Ryan.

"They've started again."

With a thud, Renn placed a large box heavily at Li Ang's feet and said with some emotion, "They do this every day, don't they get tired of it?"

"These are the things you wanted. Some of them were hard to find, so these were all I could get," Ryan said, pointing to the boxes on the ground.

"Thank you so much."

“It’s nothing,” Ryan shook his head. “This is all I can do to help you right now.”