Ancient Dragon in Arknights

How come this ordeal didn't kill him?

Chapter 102 Aftermath

"Hurry! Over here!"

The chaotic footsteps, mixed with Morgan's shouts, drew closer, and lights gradually appeared around the corner—finally landing on Nesario.

"Oh... you're still alive."

Nesario weakly raised his hand in greeting, but he didn't hear Morgan's response—what was going on?

“This… Neltharion, what have you done…”

Vina's voice came through, and incredibly, this lioness, who was always calm and collected, was now trembling slightly.

"..."

Nesario knew the cause of the problem might lie with him. He looked around, and the scene before him left him speechless for a moment.

"How's the situation?! Nesario!"

Rita squeezed out from behind Indra and quickly saw Nesario sitting against the wall. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief but was immediately shocked again—even the incredibly determined Rita couldn't bear the scene before her.

Chen and Fiona followed closely behind, appearing from behind the three Glasgow Gang members on either side. Just as they were about to ask a question, they too were caught off guard and shocked.

Nesario sighed and muttered to himself, "This is troublesome."

He looked around. Under the white light, the once dark pipes were now fully visible—blood smeared almost the entire space, body parts scattered on the ground, and broken thorns covering the ground; occasionally, a head could be seen, but the part that could be identified as a face was now blurred, and in the distance, eyeballs pierced by thorns could be seen.

No horror movie would feature such a scene, because it would never pass censorship. What is being shown to everyone now is a real battle scene.

"How's your injury?"

After a brief moment of shock and fear, Rita immediately showed her resolute heart. Ignoring the blood and body parts around her, she rushed to Nesario's side. She did not move immediately, because that might cause him further harm.

"There's nothing seriously wrong; most of the injuries are minor."

Neltharion himself wasn't sure where he was injured. He looked at the spikes on the ground—those were the spikes of the Nergigante, something the Sarkaz couldn't have done. So it could only be his handiwork—Neltharion didn't notice the hole left by the spikes on his body, and even the area in his chest had completely healed.

'Wait, isn't that Nergigante's Hyper Regeneration?!'

Neltharion has gained the super regeneration ability of Nergigante. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

"Let me help you up. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me immediately."

Rita put her arm around Nesario's shoulder, which was unexpected. It was expected that Rita's shoulders would be stronger and broader—after all, her training plan was very intense.

But Nesario felt that she was very petite, and unlike her strong demeanor, Rita's body was indeed that of a delicate girl.

"I'll help. Chenchen, protect the scene."

Fiona also joined in to lend a hand. Unlike her usual reckless behavior, Fiona became extremely professional, serious, responsible, and reliable once she entered the battlefield. Nesario could feel two completely different feelings in Fiona.

"I already informed the teacher before I came, and asked him to take him to the medical sorcerer first."

Stepping out of the city's pipes, Nesario saw his classmates outside—they hadn't had time to change their weapons and had come with non-combat weapons, intending to overwhelm the Sarkaz with sheer numbers.

'This is really troublesome...'

While moved, Nesario was mostly troubled—the state of the place, the thorns that couldn't be cleaned up, and...

Nesario turned his head and looked at Vina, giving her an apologetic look.

Vina looked at him and shook her head. She looked perfectly calm and not nervous at all—after all, she was going to be interrogated later, and it was Nesario who had dragged her into this.

In fact, the three members of the Glasgow gang did not blame Nesario. The decision to go in and take a look was a consensus among them, and Nesario even bought them time to escape.

"Report the situation!"

Fully armed, Angelia arrived at the scene. Judging from the gleaming blade on her hand, Nesario had no doubt about her determination to fight.

"Teacher... is still alive and alright."

Nesario smiled, and Angelia breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was alright.

"Teacher, Chen Huijie is still at the scene. You can go take a look first. But the scene..."

"It has the same bloodshed as a battlefield."

Rita added the following words, she was certain—if the situation was really as those three unknown "Filins" said, and the hidden armed force was a Sarkaz mercenary squad, they would cause a lot of trouble if they broke into the exercise area.

"Nesario, you are a hero, at least—you protected us."

Rita whispered this in Nesario's ear, feeling guilty for not getting there sooner.

"Don't look like that. I'm fine, just a little weak..."

"Nesario!"

Finally, Nesario, severely exhausted, fell into a coma. Before his consciousness faded, he heard Rita's worried calls.

......

Afterwards, personnel from the Royal Guard Academy quickly arrived at the scene, protected the injured, and began investigating the situation.

The report on this matter was obtained after making inquiries with various parties.

The witnesses to the report are as follows: Lori, a student from the Royal Guard Academy's Intelligence Department (1), all members of the Royal Guard Academy's first year (10), and three members of the "Glasgow Gang" in the Sadion district.

"During the exercise, Lothiri discovered a unique cipher—her misjudgment led Nesario to take the wrong approach; because the cipher was drawn in the style of graffiti, Nesario used Lothiri's methods to contact his friends in the Sadion district, namely three non-coach members of the Glasgow gang."

"With their help, Neltharion deciphered the cipher and began his exploration, which ultimately led to the accident. But... Neltharion single-handedly wiped out the entire enemy force, and their identities are still being confirmed."

"This concludes the full report on the unexpected events during this exercise."

"Hmm... This whole incident is full of unexpected events, and the outcome won't be decided in a short time; I'll inform you as soon as the results are available. Major Angelia, go and take care of the injured students first."

"Yes, sir."

Leaving the office, Angelia let out a long sigh of relief. After reading the report, she was somewhat incredulous—just how big of a job had Nesario done? The follow-up processing would probably be quite troublesome.

"Sigh...not a single day has been easy for me."

Chapter 103 Concern and Apology

"Am I...in a hospital?"

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling, an experience Nesario was having for the first time.

He looked around and saw that Rita, Fiona, Chen, and Losley were all waiting around. They were either asleep or drowsy, fishing with their heads down.

"..."

Nesario sat up quietly. He pulled open his hospital gown and found that he had almost no injuries. There were no Originium fragments, bone spurs, or bloody holes. He was just a perfectly healthy body.

I don't know if the hospital found anything abnormal in me. If they didn't find anything, that's fine... but what if they did?

Although the Colombian government has always proclaimed that humanity is the bottom line of science, and the Ministry of Information has constantly criticized matters related to human experimentation, Nezario has been living in the gray area since childhood. Although gangs and human experimentation have nothing to do with each other, he still occasionally discovers some fragmented clues.

Human trials are the fastest way to obtain results from various experiments. They can eliminate the need for most clinical trials and provide results in a leapfrog manner.

Throughout the history of the nations of Terra, war has never ceased. Although no large-scale war has broken out in modern times, the ever-upgrading weaponry has long revealed the ambitions of each nation.

Human enhancement—what an alluring term! What kind of combat power could an already formidable army unleash after enhancement?

Nesario could only hope that while Victoria was one of Terra's powerful nations, its industrial focus was purely on Originium mechanical engineering. Steam-powered knights propelled by massive armor, high-speed warships traversing wilderness and destroying city walls; those rumbling mechanical behemoths were common in Victoria, but high-end things like biological experiments and human medicine were relatively rare.

Currently, the companies and research institutes most proficient in this field are probably all in Colombia; Nesario's choice to leave his hometown to study now seems to be a smart decision.

"Nesario? How are you? Is anything bothering you?"

Rita was the first to feel the commotion and wake up. Her voice then alerted the others, and in an instant, a group of distinctive women surrounded Nesario's bed.

"It's okay, it's okay, I feel great now, don't worry about me. You must all be very tired, right? Don't worry about me, go and rest first."

"How could you be alright! You were in a high concentration of Originium dust for several tens of minutes! The hospital has already given you an injection of blocking agent, and now you need to rest."

During the post-battle on-site investigation, investigators quickly ran out of the pipe shortly after entering, describing it as being filled with high concentrations of Originium dust—"Are these demons insane?! They actually detonated an Originium bomb in a place like this!"

So, the personnel wearing hazmat suits went back in and saw the pile of limbs and flesh and the leaked Originium mixture deep inside the damaged pipes.

It's said that a newbie was being guided to gain on-site experience—but was so terrified by the sight of so much flesh that he vomited inside his helmet. It's unclear whether he'll regret entering this profession afterward; all Nesario can say is sorry.

"That place is now strictly sealed off. The high concentration of Originium dust and the leaked Originium compound have caused serious pollution, and the aftermath will probably be very troublesome. Of course, none of this has to do with you, Nana. You just need to focus on recovering and waiting for the medal."

"Will I get more medals?"

"Why not? One person thwarted a mercenary plot, and so much Originium Extract. If it were all leaked, it might destroy one or two districts."

Chen's tone was full of praise. She had dreamed of being a hero since childhood, but after growing up and learning about the risks and burdens of heroism, she sealed that dream away. However, that didn't stop her from admiring everyone who stepped forward. Nesario had truly acted heroically this time!

"Actually, I caused all the trouble. I guess you could say I'm cleaning up the mess..."

After a short while, Rita suggested that Nesario rest, and that they should also go and rest for a while.

After a day of intense drills and continuous cooperation in investigations and care, even an iron man is about to give out.

Rita and the other two left the ward, with Rita lagging behind. As she exited the room, she glanced at a corner—Roselli was standing there, seemingly not intending to leave. Roselli had already spoken to Rita beforehand, asking her to be alone with Nesario for a while; they had something to discuss.

Rita was a reasonable person, and she did not blame Losley for deciphering the cipher—the responsibility was not on her, so she did not reprimand her roommate.

Chen and Fiona were the same, but now—it was Lucille herself who was blaming.

"So, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

As Rita and the others' footsteps faded into the distance, Nesario looked at Lothiri with interest. Her usual mischievous smile was nowhere to be seen, and her expression was quite downcast.

"......sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I shouldn't have let you investigate that coded message. If I had reported it directly, none of this would have happened. It almost caused you... Anyway, I'm sorry..."

Nesario was now at peace, even somewhat content; the worries and exhaustion from the fierce battle had dissipated.

He discovered that he was quite good at making friends—the friends he made were all trustworthy people.

He caused such a huge mess all by himself, and as a military-related person, Loser must have been in a particularly difficult position—but instead of immediately betraying or absolving herself, she waited quietly and then apologized at the first opportunity.

Rita, Fiona, and Chen, on the other hand, did not distance themselves from him immediately; instead, they regretted not being able to support Nesario right away.

In fact, Nesario felt that he was entirely responsible for the whole thing—because his greed had led things to the worst possible state and even dragged many other people into it.

“I am entirely to blame for this. You bear no responsibility whatsoever. On the contrary, I am sorry to have dragged you into this.”