Infinity, progressing from Arasaka

stab.

Tap tap!

With a soft thud of her hard heels hitting the hard ground, Vera jumped off the carriage. She walked past the guarding soldiers, looked around, and finally headed toward the tribal ruins.

She could feel the gazes directed at her from all directions as she landed.

Tsk, of the third rapid response team to arrive, she was certain that at least two were informants.

Not much to say, just 'search'!

After turning the tribe upside down again, Vera found that the underground storage facilities and water channels were simply not enough to handle. She had to switch!

Vera got into the car and drove along the Congo Riverbed. She quickly found the next tribal site, 'searched' for it, but found no suitable ruins, so she moved on to the next one.

As people got on and off the bus, night fell.

Vera's face showed obvious signs of annoyance, and the gazes of the onlookers also became much less intense. The convoy continued forward, passing through one isolated and abandoned town after another.

"Let's spend the night here. Set up camp and establish sentry posts."

At the entrance of a tribal ruin nestled between two barren hills, one could vaguely see a huge, wind-eroded stone carving leaning to one side and a wooden carving that was mostly destroyed. Vera got out of the car slowly, as if she was just going through the motions, and led a few soldiers inside.

search.

boom!

Inside the tribe's best-preserved and largest stone house, dust filled the air, with dirt and gravel flying everywhere, creating a chaotic haze.

bang.

illumination.

The entrance to the cave was dark and gloomy.

Finally, we found a tribe that was big enough.

Vera exhaled a breath of stale air.

These primitive tribes still exist today, especially those built on stone structures on the slopes between two similar flat-topped stone ridges. Generally speaking, they must have relied on natural caves to build their settlements.

That's it.

Wearing a protective mask and ignoring the guards behind her, Vera stepped inside.

Da da.

The further in you go, the more irregular the rock walls become. Vera also saw more and more traces of man-made excavations and natural caves on the surrounding rock walls, as well as wooden frames used for support that were already severely decayed and sacrificial masks hanging on them.

There was a lot of spoiled food on the ground, which Vera couldn't recognize, as well as human remains and many animal bones.

Even in the 20th century, armed conflicts over water and food were common in African tribes. This place was probably used by the tribe to store food, but I don't know why it was abandoned in the end.

Perhaps it's because the company is developing in Africa, the environment has deteriorated drastically, and people are either forcibly relocated to work as laborers or die in the chaos...

tick-

They continued walking for a while, and the natural cave became extremely narrow, only wide enough for two people to pass through. There was a very faint sound of flowing water. Vera looked in the direction of the sound and saw water.

In a corner, very rare and sparsely populated, spring water, its veil unknown and possibly poisonous, trickled out; human remains, animal remains, animal hides, shamanic painted masks, large quantities of grain piled up, rotten, clumped, and blackened into fertilizer-like soil, and various scattered, decaying seeds...

A faint smile appeared on Vera's lips.

"do not move!!"

Swish!Swish!

Several soldiers following Vera closely were startled and instinctively raised their guns, their prosthetic bodies activating. "Director Russell?" Vera ignored them completely. She crouched in the corner, her eyes flashing crimson light, and said, "Found it."

boom!

Vera's gloved hand pierced into the gray-black fungal soil piled up in the corner, and dug it open. In a dimension unseen by them, another 'she' picked up a large bunch of Sun Step flowers in front of her, and the illusion turned into reality.

Very gently, Vera made a pulling motion, and a vibrant color, extremely vivid in the cave, 'emerged' from the ground, catching the eyes of the soldiers. "What is this?"

"Look, the Sun Steps Flower."

Vera's voice trembled as if from excessive excitement. She raised the dark red, round-stamened flower high, grinning like a famous corn enthusiast, revealing her bright teeth in a radiant smile.

"Go get my petri dish! Seal off the area."

She breathed a sigh of relief, excitedly turned her gaze to the soldiers standing in place, and gave the order in a deep voice.

Before she finished speaking, she had already squatted down again, her hands repeatedly digging through the gray-black soil, throwing aside the shaman masks and skeletons mixed on it, and one after another, dark red flowers, some withered and some upright, 'broke through the soil'.

Dengdeng!

At that moment, the soldiers in the front row received their orders and quickly left. One of the two soldiers left behind unconsciously turned his gaze to the sun staircase flower that Vera had carefully placed behind her.

The high-precision recording camera disguised on his body was emitting a faint light.

------

Chapter 052 At this moment, Vera begins her evil virus research.

Boom!

The shockwave from the blasting instantly spread outwards, scattering dust and debris. As the smoke cleared, the seemingly solid wind-eroded mountain wall began to collapse on a large scale. At a safe distance of 500 meters, where the Aragaka convoy was parked, Vera crossed her arms and tapped her fingers absently.

"Keep looking: long stem, single-topped flower, dark red stamens."

She has been very excited ever since she 'discovered' the Sun Steps flower deep inside a sunken natural cave carved into the mountainside in the center of the large African tribal site, which resembles the interior of the stone house where the tribal chief lived.

After collecting the dozen or so flowers of varying quality—including broken, wilted, and dead plants—as well as some rotten and carbonized seeds, in petri dishes, Vera ordered the entire rapid response team to begin searching.

She herself kept updating the exploration log with the data tablet, showing a strong desire to return.

That kind of eagerness to conduct relevant research.

Under her orders, within two hours, all the tribal ruins within a mile or two—mud houses, wooden houses, stone houses, grass huts, and dung huts—were turned upside down, dug up to the last three feet, and some were even completely leveled, a scene comparable to violent demolition.

"Director Russell, we have investigated and found no red flowers on the buildings on the east side of the site."

"No findings were found on the south side."

“Traces of homeless people’s dwellings were found on the west side, including campfires and remnants of abandoned garbage. Some buildings contained remnants of oxidized grain with black spots, but it is speculated that they had been rummaged through and exposed to high temperatures and sandstorms for too long.”

"Report: During the targeted blasting and excavation of the mountain, although some caves resembling grain storage were discovered, these newly discovered caves are too small... Should we move the search to other sites and expand the search area...?"

boom.

"It's up to you."

Vera sighed and waved them off, seemingly with some regret, before lightly tapping the hood of the car.

"That's right, such precious herbs would definitely be kept and treasured by the tribal chief. How could they possibly be leaked and shared? Such selfishness and backward superstition... I was too greedy." It was unclear who she was cursing, but she muttered to herself without trying to hide it, and many soldiers heard her.

"Never mind... that's enough. It's a stroke of luck that I found these few..."

Listening to Inspector Russell's complaints, the rapid reaction soldiers standing around remained silent.

Unnoticed by anyone, a few people made a stealthy approach to the Behemoth armored transport vehicle behind Vera, which contained the Sun Ladder Flowers. But before they could get close, a faint sound came from the horizon.

hum…

That was the roar of the hovercar's engine.

The blue exhaust plumes of the vector thrusters flickered in the night sky as a heavy Octagonal drone and two airborne armored vehicles bearing the Arasaka Clover logo streaked through the air.

On the ground, the Aragaka rapid reaction soldiers, who were blasting and digging deep into the earth, were taken aback at first. Then, a notification from the commanders of each team rang out in their communication headsets: "Internal identification passed. They are our people, the emergency task force from Lubumbashi (a city in southern Congo)."

Upon learning that they were on their side, some people remained as cautious as usual, while others continued doing what they were doing.

"Are they here?" Vera looked up.

She called it the armored airborne vehicle.

Although Central Africa, including Congo, is a buffer zone between Arasaka and the European Community and does not have such branch buildings, how could major economic and political entities, including Arasaka and the European Community, let go of this piece of the pie?

There were still basic offices and factories, after all, the area was rich in non-ferrous and rare metal deposits, it was a pity to give them to the local impoverished black warlords.

Sadly, this is a rare point of consensus among companies.

As the hovercraft descended, the airflow generated by the vector engine began to create noticeable whirlwinds on the ground, gently lifting the surrounding dust and gravel.

Boom!Boom!

Several fully armed figures jumped directly from the side platform of the hovercraft and crashed to the ground.

"Director Russell!"

"it's me."

Without exchanging pleasantries, Vera nodded, displaying the assertive and capable demeanor befitting a high-ranking security officer at Arasaka Night City, and said, "Stand firm here. Please wait a moment. It seems the travel portion is over. I need to collect the biggest takeaway from this study trip to Africa."

Before getting back into the Behemoth armored transport vehicle, Vera summoned the three commanders of the Arasaka Rapid Response Team.

"Your escort mission is now over. Thank you for your escort. Believe me, you will receive a generous bonus sponsored by 'Dangerous Girls' once you return to your base in Cape Town. After cleaning up this area, you may return to South Africa."

"Yes!"×3

After speaking, Vera returned to the carriage, and soon after, she jumped off the carriage carrying several boxes containing flower petri dishes and carrying large and small bags.

At this moment, the airship had landed, and several heavily armed soldiers who came with the airship immediately stepped forward to help Vera transfer the box onto the airship. Another armored airship set up its machine gun and patrolled in mid-air.

hum…

Sitting on a simple folding stool on the belly platform, Vera slowly ascended as the rapid reaction soldiers watched her go. Finally, a hidden smile appeared on her lips as she gazed at the distant, layered mountains. Under the desolate night sky, a faint gray haze filled the air, and the sandstorm had unusually subsided.

Tsk, why are you hiding so far away...

Vera lit a cigarette.

The informant didn't act secretly when I 'discovered' it. Was he not planning to do anything? Or was he saving a big one for me?

......

"Fuck it!"

Covered in dust and dirt, the Arasaka agents crawled out of the hiding pit and cursed under their breath.

In the sky, an Octagon roared low overhead, its blue-white vector thrusters spewing flames, followed by two armored airborne vehicles that were rising and climbing.

"The target showed no abnormalities throughout. No contact with suspicious individuals was detected, and no additional communication frequencies were found in the vicinity... So, this kind of loyalty-testing surveillance mission is completely devoid of any profit. We're Arasaka too, so why are we treated like thieves?"