Asura in Arknights

What does this mean? It means that, in a sense, Originium can replace various parts of the human body.

This may seem meaningless, but if we look at it from another angle, if a person loses a vital organ in an accident, such as the heart, could inserting Originium into their body allow that person to continue living?

This is the true meaning of Originium therapy; simply removing some foreign objects from Magellan's body like this is overkill.

Unfortunately, Li Ang encountered something unknown.

"Anyway, she should be alright for now." Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm going over there to wash myself up a bit. Remember to call me if anything happens."

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At that moment, Magellan had no idea that she had unknowingly walked through the gates of hell.

Although Li Ang successfully prevented Magellan from being frozen to death by that aura, Magellan's consciousness fell into another predicament.

"What kind of hell is this place...?"

Struggling forward through the raging blizzard, Magellan was somewhat confused about what was happening.

The events that had just occurred were still vivid in her mind. She had just finished saying that she didn't feel anything special when she felt a chill in her chest, and even her thoughts were frozen by this coldness. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in this godforsaken place.

Apart from the protective suit she was wearing, everything else on her body disappeared, including the Dragon Drone she relied on for survival.

Without drones, Magellan is just an ordinary woman with no strength to even kill a chicken. She has little ability to protect herself, and even a few Originium Bugs could pose a fatal threat to her.

People seem to have a misunderstanding about Originium Bugs. While artificially bred Originium Bugs are indeed not very aggressive, those in the wild are a different story.

Originium worms are creatures that are easily affected by the external environment. For example, Originium worms on the far north ice plains can grow into a subspecies called Ice Blast Originium Worm. When this subspecies of Originium worm dies, it explodes, freezing everything within a certain range.

In this icy environment, it's difficult to spot these Originium Bugs with the naked eye. Magellan just accidentally stepped on one and almost got frozen solid.

Therefore, Magellan became much more cautious in his subsequent actions.

However, such dangers can be avoided with a little care. For Magellan, the most deadly thing was the environment—the snowflakes falling from the sky were black.

Such unusual celestial phenomena not only signify that natural disasters will strike this region, but also indicate that the surrounding environment has become increasingly harsh.

Magellan's protective suit was a custom-made product for her by Rhine Lab, offering excellent protection, but even so, she could not be exposed to this environment for an extended period.

A heavy pressure came from her heart, and her whole body ached, as if some foreign object had entered her body and flowed through her bloodstream.

To make matters worse, Magellan got lost.

She could vaguely make out that she seemed to be in a mountain range, but she couldn't tell the direction of the distance, so there was no way to get out of this place.

Magellan had wondered if she was trapped in some kind of illusion woven by Originium Arts, but everything here felt so real, as if she had really been thrown into this godforsaken place from somewhere thousands of miles away.

In short, Magellan realized that if she stopped, she would surely die in this icy wasteland, but if she continued forward, there might be a glimmer of hope.

Braving the snow that was high enough to bury her calves, Magellan walked forward for an unknown amount of time. The scenery around her kept changing, but the only constant was her terrible physical condition.

However, Magellan seemed to have no recollection of where she had been before, as if some force was driving her forward.

Gradually, Magellan seemed unable to even stop his steps, and could only mechanically keep moving forward.

She traversed steep mountain ridges, passed through forests of ice crystals, and crossed a completely frozen lake. As she ventured deeper into the mountains, she seemed to have arrived in a land never before set foot on by anyone.

Finally, Magellan stopped in front of a dark canyon.

She gazed blankly into the depths of the canyon, as if there existed something she had long awaited there.

Accompanied by the howling wind, a voice that Magellan could not understand came from the depths of the canyon.

This was a language Magellan had never heard before, but for some reason, she inexplicably understood what the other person was trying to express.

Did you survive?

Accept my reward, you ants.

A large, gray-white hand, almost obscuring half the sky, reached out from the depths of the canyon.

Looking at everything before her, a nameless fear gradually filled Magellan's heart. Her body was completely unable to move, and she could only watch helplessly as the large hand reached out to grab her.

As the giant hand closed, the world before Magellan's eyes was plunged back into darkness.

Chapter Forty-Four: Awakening

Magellan has woken up!

Li Ang had just found a usable bathroom and washed his armor and sweaty body clean when he returned, only to hear Adele's excited voice.

He's already awake? Li Ang was somewhat surprised.

He thought Magellan would remain unconscious until the blizzard subsided, but he didn't expect her to wake up so quickly. It seems that her body is not as frail as she appears.

However, this can also be considered a good thing.

It's easy to imagine how troublesome it is to take care of someone who is in a coma. Now that Magellan has woken up, even if he can't take care of himself for the time being, he can greatly reduce the burden on the two of them.

"Then I'll go check on her."

It had been about a day since Leon restored the fortress's energy supply. The heating system inside the fortress had returned to normal, and the temperature was no longer as cold as it had been the day before. So Adele removed the heating equipment to prevent the temperature inside the tent from getting too high.

When Li Ang entered the tent, Magellan had already sat up from the bed, staring blankly ahead, looking like he had dementia.

Li Ang sensed that the 'seal' on Magellan's heart was intact and there was no problem, so he walked over and waved in front of her.

"Are you awake? How are you feeling now?"

However, Magellan did not respond to Leon's question in the slightest.

Li Ang frowned. Could it be that he had injured her head earlier and she was now completely dazed? Thinking about it carefully, the possibility seemed quite high.

Just as Li Ang was about to try another method to see if Magellan's brain had been damaged by the cold, she finally reacted.

Magellan slowly turned his head, looked at Li Ang, and asked, "What...what happened to me?"

"do not you remember?"

Li Ang brought over two folding stools and sat down with Adele in front of Magellan. He said, "You were still a step too slow in the end. You didn't throw the pendant out in time, and the aura within Xue Si still managed to seep into your body."

As he spoke, Li Ang took out the pendant and waved it in front of Magellan.

Magellan rubbed his temples hard, looked at the pendant in front of him, and frowned as he said, "It seems... I vaguely remember it."

She reached out to grab the pendant, but Li Ang snatched it away before she could touch it and tossed it into the storage compartment of his armor.

You can't touch this.

"Although I haven't figured out what's so special about this pendant, there's no doubt that the aura was directed at it. Do you understand?"

Li Ang was somewhat worried that Magellan touching the pendant might trigger some unexpected situation, so to be on the safe side, it would be better to prevent Magellan from touching the pendant for the time being.

"I will return the pendant to you after this matter is resolved."

Upon hearing this, Magellan slowly nodded.

Although Magellan still looked a little dazed, she was much better than before. She moved her body slightly and then asked, "What happened after I lost consciousness?"

Magellan's question hit the nail on the head, and Li Ang could feel Adele clenching her hands nervously.

After all, what the two of them had just done directly led to Magellan contracting Oripathy. No matter how angry Magellan was, it wouldn't be too much for him, and Adele didn't want to see that happen.

"To put it simply, after Adele and I moved you back from that place, we managed to save your life."

Li Ang, however, had fewer concerns. He frankly stated, "However, the situation was extremely critical at the time, and you could have lost your life at any moment, so I used a rather special method."

"A side effect of this method is that you will contract Oripathy."

When Li Ang was reading novels, there was often a scene like this in the novels.

The protagonist went to great lengths to save a supporting character who was on the verge of death, but in the process of treatment, he also caused irreversible damage to the supporting character's body, or rather, the supporting character did not want to live at all.

After the supporting character woke up, he flew into a rage at the protagonist, speaking rudely and acting as if the protagonist had done something wrong.

The situation is remarkably similar to what Li Ang is currently facing. If Magellan were also in a state of near death, Li Ang wouldn't mind sending Magellan on his way ahead of time.

Anyway, she would definitely have died if it weren't for Li Ang. Li Ang just retrieved something he accidentally lost.

Fortunately, Magellan was different from the dim-witted supporting characters in the novel. After hearing the bad news, she simply responded with a faint murmur and then calmly nodded.

"Oh, so I've become an infected person..."

Magellan's reaction was so indifferent that Adele couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you angry? You've contracted Oripathy!"

No matter how much you deny it, even in the most enlightened cities, there is an invisible barrier between infected people and ordinary people. Once infected with Oripathy, no matter how hard you try, you can never go back to the life you had before.

"Angry? Why should I be angry?" Magellan tilted his head, asking somewhat strangely. "I should be saying thank you. Getting Oripathy is better than dying here, and..."

"I was already prepared to contract Oripathy."

Magellan was an explorer who often ventured into extremely harsh environments. Even with protective suits, he was not entirely safe, so it wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly contracted Oripathy.

Hearing this news, Magellan actually felt relieved. The fact that she had contracted Oripathy was now a fait accompli, and at least she didn't have to live in fear like before.

After a pause, Magellan continued, "Actually, it's not that serious. Many of Rhine Lab's employees are infected, and I have a few friends who are also infected. As long as they receive treatment, they should be fine."

Although it will have some impact, it has basically nothing to do with someone like him who is away from home all year round.

Most of the time Magellan is nowhere to be seen, so would anyone care whether she is infected or not?

"But I'm a little curious, what method did you use to treat me? I don't think I've ever heard of any treatment that could cause Oripathy," Magellan asked with some curiosity.

"...You'll find out later."

Li Ang was silent for a moment before replying.

"I see..." Magellan nodded slightly and did not ask any further questions.

As time passed, Magellan's consciousness fully returned, and her attention was now completely focused on the dream she had just experienced.

However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't extract any more useful information from that dream.

Magellan then gathered his thoughts and said, "There's one more thing..."

"Actually, I had a rather strange dream just now."

Chapter Forty-Five: Eyes

"Dreaming is normal, there's nothing strange about it."

After hearing Magellan's words, Leon was somewhat dismissive. He stood up from the folding stool and said to Adele, "I'll leave Magellan in your care for now. I have some other things to take care of."

Next, Li Ang prepared to thoroughly explore every corner of the fortress.

Although the result was somewhat unsatisfactory, Magellan did indeed trigger the hidden crisis here ahead of time. Now is a good opportunity to explore this fortress. If there are other traps here, then Li Ang will accept it.

Adele nodded, then said, "Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"That's all, just don't wander off before I get back."

With that, Li Ang turned to leave.

Seeing that Li Ang did not take her words to heart, Magellan became a little anxious. She braced herself on the ground with one hand, leaned forward with all her might, and grabbed Li Ang who was about to leave.

"Listen to me! This dream is completely different from ordinary dreams! It's like the things in the dream actually happened!" Magellan shouted anxiously. "And I have evidence!!"

Li Ang was somewhat helpless, but he also managed to shake off Magellan's hand and forcibly leave the tent.

He had no choice but to sit back down on the folding stool, and said somewhat helplessly, "Okay... what kind of evidence are you talking about?"

"This is the evidence."

Magellan spread out his left hand and extended it in front of Li Ang.

For some reason, she was holding a clump of snow in her hand, some of which had already melted, and tiny drops of snow water dripped from between her fingers onto the ground.

After regaining consciousness, Magellan became aware of the presence of the snow.

"It's just a clump of snow, what's so strange about it?" Li Ang said, somewhat speechless.

However, this is inside a tent, and we don't know where Magellan got such a clump of snow.

At this moment, Adele reminded her, "Leon... this snow seems to be black."

black?

Li Ang was clearly taken aback. Was this some kind of bullying because he couldn't distinguish colors?

But what's with the black snow? Is it contaminated?

“Okay, I can’t see any color,” Leon shrugged. “But what does black snow mean? Maybe it’s just because the snow is contaminated by something. What does that have to do with your dream?”

"Because in my dream, it's snowing black snow."

Magellan's gaze swept over Leon and Adele, and she said, word by word, "When I woke up, I was already holding this ball of snow in my left hand."

The tent fell silent instantly, and Magellan's meaning was self-evident.