Asura in Arknights

However, neither Adele nor Magellan said a word to Leon during this process, as if his joke had made them a little angry.

Okay... actually, it was Adele who was angry, and she and Magellan ignored Leon.

The two girls quickly became acquainted because of this incident.

What could Li Ang say? After all, this was trouble he had brought upon himself. He could only slink away and drive the snowmobile parked at the gate into the fortress.

Finally, they settled down temporarily in a room that looked like a storage room, not far from the control room.

The thought of a pile of unexplained dead bodies not far away made them feel somewhat uneasy, but since they weren't here for a vacation, there was no need to risk going deeper into the fortress.

Of course, searching for supplies is a different matter.

After all that back and forth, Adele's anger had subsided, and Li Ang discussed the next steps with them.

There are two main tasks.

One task was to inspect the snowmobile, a job that all three of them could handle. So Li Ang assigned this relatively simple task to Adele and Magellan, while he went to deal with the other, more dangerous task.

Explore the fortress and find anything they can use.

The murderer is still hiding in this fortress and hasn't left... Li Ang's words just now weren't entirely a joke.

Although he had already explored the entire fortress and found no other living creatures besides the three of them, given the precedent of the alien species, Li Ang could not be completely certain that there were no creatures here that could escape his senses.

The alien species can perfectly blend its existence into the blizzard, and perhaps other creatures can do something similar.

At this stage, Li Ang's perception still has many flaws. Perhaps when Li Ang can do the same thing as entering the Originium Will, his perception will reach a perfect level.

However, Li Ang had absolutely no clue as to how to improve his soul strength.

Physical functions can be strengthened through continuous training. Li Ang's body is now much stronger than when he first woke up, but how can one train the soul, something that is invisible and intangible?

Even now, Li Ang can't come up with a feasible solution.

Leon suspected that there were uncertain risks hidden in the fortress, which was why he didn't let Adele and Magellan explore it, especially Magellan.

Magellan was worried about Li Ang acting recklessly on his own, and coincidentally, Li Ang was equally worried about her.

He had already seen through Magellan's restless nature beneath her facade through her behavior over the past two days. She was only acting out of fear because of the sudden upheaval and the unfamiliar environment. This situation wouldn't last long.

The blizzard outside wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and they would have to stay here for quite some time. Li Ang believed that Magellan would eventually reach his breaking point.

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The fortress was enormous, built almost entirely by hollowing out the mountainside. Li Ang searched for several hours but only explored a very small part of it.

During the exploration, Li Ang gained quite a lot.

This place certainly doesn't look like an abandoned fortress. It's fully equipped with all sorts of equipment and supplies, and the Ursus army didn't remove any of these things at all.

The military canned food that Li Ang found alone was enough to feed the three of them for several years... provided they didn't get sick of it.

These canned foods were even tastier than the compressed food Li Ang had brought, which made him feel a bit complicated. However, with these canned foods, they no longer had to eat those dry biscuits.

The supplies stored here are almost excessive.

Most incredibly, Li Ang actually found several warehouses of gleaming weapons here, from drones to heavy artillery, from ordinary swords to the protective gear worn by soldiers; almost all the standard equipment of the Ursus army could be found here.

This made Li Ang somewhat suspicious that perhaps a duke or general from Ursus was preparing a rebellion and had secretly built this fortress, but some unforeseen events occurred and the things stored in the fortress were never used, ultimately benefiting Li Ang and his group.

This batch of weapons should be the most valuable item in this fortress. Although some of the equipment inside has been phased out, even outdated military equipment is not something that ordinary people can get their hands on.

Unfortunately, none of the three of them could use these weapons.

Adele's staff and Leon's dagger were not common items obtained through ordinary means. Only Magellan might be able to salvage some spare parts from those military drones.

Having found these items, Li Ang had essentially achieved his goal.

For safety reasons, Li Ang did not continue exploring. After marking the locations of the warehouses, he returned directly to their temporary base.

At this point, Magellan and Adele disassembled the snowmobile, finding several parts of the power system that had been damaged by the blizzard. Once the appropriate parts were replaced, the snowmobile could be restored to normal.

When he returned, Li Ang told the two women what he had just discovered, and they were both very excited.

This meant they no longer had to worry about food, and water could be obtained by melting the snow and ice outside. They could find replacements for the parts needed to repair the snowmobiles by looking at the military equipment. In an instant, all their problems were solved.

However, after such an exciting day, they were all quite exhausted and didn't rush to scavenge for supplies or repair the snowmobiles.

After quickly eating a few cans of food and locking the fortress gates, they set up their tents and prepared to rest.

Let's make do like this for the day. We'll see if we can find a place in the fortress for the soldiers to rest, and whether we should move the camp.

As time passed, and everyone was fast asleep, Magellan, lying in his tent, suddenly and quietly opened his eyes.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Explorer's Curiosity

Magellan is now fully awake, but she does not act rashly. Instead, she remains curled up in the tent, carefully listening to all the sounds outside.

After a long while, when she was sure that there were no suspicious sounds outside and that Adele and Leon were still asleep, Magellan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

That should solve the problem.

No one is awake except her now, which means that no one will notice what she does.

Magellan had been preparing for this moment for a long time, and now she had finally seized the opportunity. As for her promise to Li Ang that she would report to him no matter what she did, Magellan had long forgotten about it.

Magellan tiptoed out of the tent, glancing somewhat guiltily at the spot where Leon and Adele were resting, before quietly leaving the camp with her suitcase containing the drone.

Magellan did not expect that almost the moment she stepped out of the camp, Li Ang, who was still asleep a second ago, suddenly woke up.

“This guy…” Li Ang sighed helplessly.

He thought Magellan would at least behave herself for a few days, but he didn't expect that she couldn't hold back on the very first day.

This also confirmed one thing for Li Ang: all 'explorers' are undoubtedly troublemakers. Their curiosity is almost synonymous with their ability to cause trouble. If they weren't curious... could they still be called explorers?

"Adele, wake up."

Leon poked Adele's cheek with his finger, trying to wake her from her sleep.

To everyone's surprise, Adele not only didn't wake up, but also reflexively reached out to slap away the unidentified object that touched her cheek.

To prepare for any potential crisis, Leon never took off his armor. It was quite troublesome to put on and take off, and the consequences of Adele's actions were predictable.

With a sharp "bang," Adele sprang out of bed, clutching her right hand, glaring at Li Ang with a resentful look, as if to say, "What are you still doing at this hour?!"

Slightly embarrassed, Li Ang scratched his helmet and whispered, "I wanted to tell you that Magellan sneaked out earlier. Should we follow him and see what's going on?"

Adele blinked, pondering Leon's words for a moment before asking with some confusion, "What is she planning to do going out at this time?"

"Perhaps they couldn't suppress their explorer's spirit and wanted to explore this fortress."

“Can’t we stop her? It’s dangerous for her to run around like this…” Adele said with some concern.

“I can stop her once, but can I keep an eye on her all the time I’m here?” Li Ang shrugged and said, “As long as she’s interested, she’ll always find an opportunity.”

"So... let her do whatever she wants this time. If there's any danger, it's good for her to suffer a little."

Upon hearing this, Adele stared intently at Leon, as if trying to see the expression on his face through his helmet.

After a while, Adele suddenly said, "...Leon, you wouldn't be thinking of using Miss Magellan as bait, would you?"

"No, I didn't!" Li Ang quickly denied it. "You said it yourself, I didn't have such thoughts."

It is undeniable that Li Ang did have the idea of ​​letting Magellan test the waters.

This is somewhat unethical, so Li Ang naturally wouldn't admit it easily.

How can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's bed? Even if there are some monsters and demons hiding in this fortress, after Magellan's antics, they should have revealed their true forms. Then Li Ang can easily eliminate the threat. Otherwise, he probably won't be able to sleep peacefully for the next few days.

However, Leon wasn't just sending Magellan to his death unprepared. Didn't you see that he had already called Adele to escort this great explorer?

“Ahem… Anyway, let’s hurry up and catch up,” Li Ang said, subtly changing the subject. “If we’re any slower, Magellan will get far ahead.”

Adele rolled her eyes at Leon, said nothing more, tidied up her things, and then followed Leon in the direction Magellan had left.

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Magellan always believed that if a person cannot maintain a curiosity about the 'unknown', then that person will certainly not be able to become an excellent explorer.

After Magellan had traveled some distance from the camp, she gradually became bolder, and her steps became lighter.

She released the remaining four Dragon Drones, which flew back and forth in the passage, exploring the unknown fortress in her stead.

An explorer is someone who ventures into dangerous or unknown places to explore.

Like the protagonist in an adventure story, they enter some unknown ruins, undergo a series of trials, and unravel a mystery that has lasted for thousands of years, while also acquiring a large amount of treasure.

How many of these explorers weren't influenced by such stories when they were young?

The secrets hidden within this fortress undoubtedly piqued Magellan's curiosity.

Although she sneaked out on her own, Magellan was no longer a novice. She had accumulated a great deal of experience in acting alone on this far northern ice field, and she had even independently completed the excavation of a ruin.

Therefore, Magellan was full of confidence in her abilities and experience, and she was absolutely certain that she would not mess up this operation.

With drones scouting ahead to clear the way for her, Magellan wasn't worried about encountering any unexpected dangers.

Magellan's first stop was the armory that Leon had mentioned earlier.

In the previous battle against the aliens, Magellan had almost exhausted his ammunition reserves. Now, the only weapon on the drone is the laser mining module used to dig rocks, which is obviously unsuitable as a weapon.

Therefore, Magellan decided to replenish his ammunition reserves before preparing for the next exploration.

After circling around the passageway a few times, Magellan found the warehouses that Li Ang had mentioned.

As soon as she opened the warehouse door, Magellan was placed in front of her, her eyes dazzled by the wide array of drones of various models.

After regaining his senses, Magellan couldn't help but swallow hard.

There's no one else here except her, which means...

She can do whatever she wants with these drones.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Grand Duke Vania

Monsters, frost, anvils, harbingers...

Magellan almost thought he had stumbled into an Ursus weapons museum, where weapons from the previous generation of Ursus troops could be found.

Among these drones, Magellan also saw several with strange shapes, each with a round object hanging from its bottom.

"Wow, there are even dangerous creatures like the Tyranitar..."

Magellan sighed, then quickly took a few steps back, moving further away from the round object.

The Ursus people are really bold to leave such a dangerous thing out there without any protective measures. If it were accidentally detonated, it would definitely cause a chain reaction of explosions, and the entire mountain would be blown to smithereens.

However, generally speaking, such accidents usually don't happen unless there's a particularly strong stimulus, but that doesn't stop Magellan from keeping his distance from these things.

Magellan then turned her attention to the small-caliber drones of monsters and dragons nearby. She removed the weapon systems from these drones and made a simple modification to her own Dragon Soar drone.

Although its power is not as great as the previous armed strike module, it at least freed Magellan from the predicament of having no weapons to use.

"Sure enough, there are no signs..." Magellan muttered to himself.

While searching for suitable parts, Magellan paid special attention to the drones and the boxes containing them, but she found nothing that could prove the origin of the drones.

Even the metal plaque above it had its inscription deliberately ground off, which is why Magellan has never been able to figure out the origin of this fortress.

Before embarking on an exploration, it is crucial to ascertain the origin of the target, as this can save a great deal of trouble for the subsequent exploration work.

Magellan was somewhat unwilling to accept this; she couldn't believe that anyone could achieve such a flawless result.

Destroying all the nameplates on the weapons and equipment is an enormous undertaking. To achieve complete security, it would require a massive workforce, meaning there would be many people who knew about the fortress. Thirty years is not enough time to bury everything that has happened.

The truth is, very few people knew of the existence of this fortress. If it weren't for the map that was accidentally captured in Kazimierz, the fortress might have remained frozen under the ice and snow of the Northern Plains forever.

After much effort, Magellan only found a few plaques that had not been completely worn away. Even so, she could not tell what those blurry Ursus characters meant.

Left with no other option, Magellan had to try a different approach.

What if we trace back from the result to the very beginning of the cause?

Magellan now knows that the fortress was abandoned about fourteen years ago. So, what major event happened in Ursus at that time that affected this little-known military fortress?

"Fourteen years ago...fourteen years ago..." Magellan rested his chin on his hand, thinking seriously. "Fourteen years ago was 1080. It seems like nothing else major happened...wait!"

Magellan suddenly remembered that nothing major had happened in 1080, but a major event that shocked both the military and political circles did occur in Ursus the following year.

"Grand Duke Vanya has passed away..."

Almost without warning, the then-Prince Vanya, who was still in relatively good health, suddenly passed away in a remote sanatorium.

As the second most powerful figure in Ursus after the Emperor, the death of the Duke of Vania directly led to a reshuffling of the upper echelons of Ursus, with countless people losing their lives in the ensuing power struggles.

There were even rumors that Grand Duke Vanya did not simply die of illness, but was murdered. However, Magellan did not know the details very well; she had only heard rumors about it.