Asura in Arknights

Like a gentle breeze blowing across an open space, most people couldn't detect anything unusual. A person wearing a straw hat slipped through the slightly ajar door and entered the hotel.

The hotel lobby had been completely transformed. After a major overhaul, the Yan people had turned it into a temporary office space.

I don't know what these people were thinking. They actually pulled out a huge pile of documents from their luggage and started working right there in this place.

If one could read the Yan language, it would be easy to see that these documents were all related to the Sami people, including some rather secret documents that only high-ranking Sami officials would know. It is unclear why they all ended up in the hands of these Yan people.

The Yan countryman who returned from outside ignored his busy companions and went straight through the hall to the table in the center of the hall.

He knelt on the ground and bowed his head to the person in front of the table, saying, "Minister of Justice, those people still won't allow us to enter the mountains."

The woman he referred to as the Court Minister was unusually young, looking no more than thirty.

Her golden hair, as bright as gold, was loosely draped over her shoulders. At first glance, the two horns on her head seemed to indicate that she was an Elafian, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that this woman did not belong to the Elafian race.

Upon hearing the report, the woman didn't even look up, continuing to leisurely read the documents compiled by others, and said indifferently, "What else did they say?"

Upon hearing the woman's voice, most people in the hall subconsciously glanced in her direction, their eyes filled with respect and... a deeply hidden fear.

When they realized the woman wasn't paying attention to them, they all guiltily looked away and buried their heads, pretending to be working diligently.

"They said that the Snow Priests will soon come here to preside over the once-a-decade festival, and no one... not even the Queen, can interfere with the festival. So the passage to the mountains will only be opened for us after the festival is over."

Hearing this, the woman finally put down the documents in her hand and stared at the person kneeling in front of her.

Whether it was an illusion or not, it seemed as if a flash of lightning streaked through her golden hair, and her originally fluffy hair suddenly became smooth.

"Is this the result of your work over the past period of time?"

Everyone fell silent instantly, not daring to utter a sound.

The woman glanced at the group of people and sighed softly, "Never mind, it's not your fault."

"I knew this matter wouldn't be so simple, otherwise His Majesty wouldn't have sent me here in person."

"Go back and continue to communicate with the city lord here. Tell him that this is the Emperor of Yan's will. If he continues to be so stubborn, I will report everything that happened here to His Majesty."

This is already a very blatant threat. Sami, a small country, is no match for the Great Yan. Don't be fooled by the fact that Sami seems to have defeated the Ursus army, but that was only because Ursus was at war with several other countries at the same time.

Moreover... if a large country wants to take action against a small country, it has more than just the option of using force.

Clearly, the woman was getting impatient.

"Find a few more quick-witted people to go out of the city and see if there's a way to bypass the Sami people. We can't completely rely on these guys to be pragmatic."

After receiving the woman's order, these Yan people acted quickly, soon selecting three of their most agile individuals to leave the city and investigate how to bypass the Sami people's surveillance.

However... the person who initially reported to her was still kneeling on the ground, showing no intention of getting up.

"Why aren't you leaving? Wasn't I clear enough?" The woman frowned, her voice turning cold.

"That's not it, Minister of Justice. There's something else I haven't had time to report,"

The man paused, then continued, "Besides us, another group of people have also arrived here."

"Oh? Do you know who those people are?"

Hearing what the other person said, the woman's tone softened.

“The visitors are a Liberian woman, a Caprini woman, and a man of unknown race, all wearing full armor with no distinguishing features,” the man replied. “Their purpose for coming here is unknown, and they are currently staying at an inn in the west of the city.”

“I find them very suspicious, and it is necessary to tell the adults about this.”

"You did a good job."

The woman nodded slightly. "It is indeed very suspicious that they came to Sammy at this time."

They did it on the emperor's orders, but what about the other three people?

"Have someone keep an eye on those three guys. If they do anything suspicious, come back and tell me immediately."

"promise."

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

At this time, Li Ang was unaware that he had only been in the city for a short time, but someone was already watching them.

Update a little late today

The pandemic has just ended, and I've been quite busy. I've run out of drafts, so today's update will be a bit late.

as the title

...

Chapter 51 You're Too Late

Originally, seeing that Adele wasn't feeling well, Li Ang planned to let her stay at the hotel to rest while he kept an eye on Magellan as he went out to gather intelligence.

However, Adele insisted on getting involved herself, and in the end, none of the three of them could rest. They could only pack their luggage briefly before going out together to inquire about Professor Nauman's whereabouts.

The first place Li Ang chose was surprisingly the only high school in the area. In such a small place, there are no universities, so the high school is the highest level of education.

However, Magellan couldn't understand why Li Ang would come to this place to investigate intelligence. Was there something special about this school?

“That’s not surprising at all,” Li Ang explained. “Think about it carefully. If two professors visited this small town, where would they most likely go besides the hotel?”

Before Adele and the others could even think about it, Leon told them the answer directly.

“Local government, library or school.”

Knowledge in the world of Terra is valuable; unless some ruler goes mad, such a good thing as compulsory education could never exist in this world.

Local news and information about the nearby Dark Mountains must be recorded in detail somewhere. Professor Nauman could only go to a few places.

Hammerford has no public library, and they are unsure whether Dr. Nauman's murder is related to the local government; it would be a bad idea to contact them rashly.

Therefore, this high school was Li Ang's only choice.

“That seems to make sense…” Magellan nodded thoughtfully.

Her intelligence was mainly gathered by Rhine Lab's information department, and she rarely had to organize it herself.

Besides, she mostly went to places that no one had ever been before; otherwise, how could she be called an 'explorer'? Intelligence gathering did indeed involve areas where her knowledge was lacking.

“But if we want to investigate information about that mountain, wouldn’t it be faster to ask the locals? For example, herders or hunters? Not all information is recorded, is it?” Magellan asked.

By this time, Magellan already knew that the Nauman couple had perished shortly after leaving the Dark Mountains. If nothing unexpected happened, Li Ang and his group would likely venture into those mountains to investigate, which further fueled Magellan's motivation.

"Probably because that would be more troublesome."

At this moment, Adele suddenly said, "Even if we need to gather information from the locals, I would prefer to ask for official assistance and let them help."

Adele knows this all too well.

There's no such thing as honest and simple folk customs. Instead, I encountered a lot of cunning people. These cunning people don't care about your background. If they want something from you, they will most likely lure you to a secluded place first, and then find a way to kill you.

Someone as gentle and weak as Adele has little intimidation power. After being taken advantage of once or twice, Adele remembered it.

These troublemakers aren't afraid of the law, but rather of a fist as big as a clay pot. In their eyes, the local authorities' ability to manage this area well represents that same fist.

"Yes, that seems to be the correct way to put it."

Upon hearing Adele's words, Magellan couldn't help but scratch his head.

"And don't forget, we are now scholars from Letania, so visiting local schools is very much in line with our identity."

Leon wasn't lying; he and Adele were indeed scholars of Letania, and Adele even carried her degree certificate with her.

However, if anyone tries to do something with this clue, then he should think carefully about how to explain it to the Gemini Queen.

……

Magellan simply asked a passerby for directions and confirmed the school's location.

After explaining their purpose to the guard, the guard informed the principal with some skepticism.

The principal was a very ordinary elderly man from Elafia. He readily agreed to Li Ang and the others' request to borrow school materials and even found a teacher to assist them.

However, in exchange, the principal hoped that Li Ang and his team could give an open class to the school's children before leaving.

This wasn't a particularly difficult problem for the three of them. Adele and Leon could easily teach a group of high school students, and even Magellan could do the same.

Despite Magellan's seemingly reckless and dangerous behavior, she was also a highly educated person, a graduate of Columbia University, an academic qualification that would easily surpass 99% of the world's population.

It was precisely because the principal recognized their exceptional manner of speaking and the fact that their clothing was not cheap that he was willing to believe their story.

Because Adele had mentioned that her research focused on geology, the principal called in the school's only geography teacher to assist with their investigation.

“Jonah, these are scholars from Letania. Don’t let their young age fool you; this young lady already has a doctorate,” the principal said, patting the young man on the shoulder. “The opportunity has been given to you. How much you learn depends on your own abilities.”

The teacher, named Jonah, didn't look very old, probably in his thirties or forties, but he didn't seem to be getting enough sleep, as he had dark circles under his eyes.

After hearing the principal's words, Jonah yawned and put away the disdain in his eyes.

"Please come with me first. If you have any questions, you can discuss them in my office."

This guy also knows a little Victorian, although he doesn't speak it very fluently, but simple communication is no problem.

After leaving the principal's office, Li Ang and the other two followed Jonah to his office.

As soon as they entered the office, Jonah didn't even offer them a seat before saying, "Let me guess, you didn't come here because of that mountain range, did you?"

Seeing the surprise on Adele's face, Jonah knew he hadn't guessed wrong. He muttered to himself, "That's strange. What's so interesting about that lousy mountain? Why is everyone running here?"

"Also?" Leon sensed Jonah's implication and asked, "You mean there are other people besides us investigating this mountain range?"

“Not bad,” Jonah said, clicking his tongue. “A year or two ago, some people came here to do research, and they left behind a lot of research data. If you had come half a month earlier, I wouldn’t mind showing you those data.”

"But it's too late now; someone has already taken those documents away."

Chapter Fifty-Two: Heaven and Earth...

Those are the documents left behind by my parents!

Upon hearing Jonah's words, Adele almost cried out.

More than a year ago, the research was still focused on the Dark Mountains. Besides Adele's parents, what other possibilities were there?

Li Ang gently nudged Adele's arm, urging her to calm down and leave the matter to him.

Li Ang feigned surprise and said, "Has anyone studied these mountains before? Were they locals?"

"You didn't know?" Jonah scanned them up and down, then yawned deeply. "Those two are also Leitanians. I thought you knew about this."

"You're joking. Letania is so big, how could we possibly know about everyone?"

“That’s not important,” Jonah waved his hand. “The important thing is that the data is no longer at the school. If you want to investigate the Skadino Mountains, then there’s nothing I can do to help.”

"Who took the data?" After beating around the bush for a while, Li Ang finally got to the point.

“They’re a group of Yan people,” Jonah replied. “They arrived a week ago, and the one leading them seems to be a pretty high-ranking official. Anyway, those research materials have been gathering dust for a year, so I didn’t stop them from taking them.”

...People from Yan?

Li Ang frowned. His plan had finally slipped up. Why were the Yan people here? Judging from Jonah's words, it seemed that the people who came this time were officials from the Great Yan.

The Yan Kingdom has been closed off from the world for nearly a hundred years. The only place they have opened to the outside world is a mobile city called 'Dragon Gate'. You can't hear any news about the inside of the Great Yan Kingdom at all.

Was their purpose in coming here also for the Dark Mountains?

"By the way, they tried to enter the Skadino Mountains a few days ago, but were stopped by the city lord. They should still be staying at the inn. If you want to see those documents, you can try to go and ask them."

After giving them an address, Jonah stared intently at them, as if to say, "I've said everything I need to say, why aren't you leaving yet?"

After understanding his meaning, Li Ang simply smiled and did not leave with Adele and the others. In any case, those Yan people were still in the city and would not be able to leave anytime soon. Li Ang had already specifically expanded the range of his perception to determine their location.

This teacher Jonah, his intention to get rid of him is too obvious. He clearly knows more than this. Why is Li Ang leaving like this before he has thoroughly emptied his belly?

So, under Jonah's somewhat annoyed gaze, Leon simply led Adele and Magellan to a seat.

"The Skadino Mountains are not urgent. This is just one of the topics we came to Hammerford for. If we can't finish it, that's fine. We have some other questions we'd like to discuss with you, Professor Jonah."

Jonah opened his mouth, but then stopped himself from speaking.

What could he possibly say? Li Ang had already said all that; could he possibly kick Li Ang out?

If he did that, Li Ang would be the first to suffer if he mentioned it to the principal.

Left with no other choice, Jonah had to force himself to sit down and accompany Li Ang in this role-playing game.

During the conversation, Li Ang discovered that this teacher Jonah was only very sensitive to topics related to the 'Dark Mountains'. As long as the topic was not discussed, he was still very easy to talk to.

With the joint guidance of the three, Jonah had unknowingly revealed a lot of useful information, and he also learned a lot of knowledge from Li Ang and the others that he could not learn in a small place.

After deciding that it was about time, Li Ang said to Jonah, "Teacher Jonah, did you not get enough rest yesterday? You seemed very tired the whole time."

During the conversation, Jonah was yawning constantly, letting out a deep yawn every few minutes. It's unclear whether he got any rest yesterday.