Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

"I haven't had enough fun yet. You probably only froze him to death, and didn't freeze all his companions to death, right?"

Qi hummed in agreement and continued to remain submerged, playing the role of a mute wolf.

Having received a satisfactory reply, Qi Yan clicked his tongue and turned to look at Qiao Na, who was trembling at the door.

At this moment, Jona was no longer the arrogant person she had been before. Her face was pale from the cold, and her long eyelashes were covered with frost.

She opened her mouth, about to beg for mercy, but was suddenly interrupted by a voice behind her.

"Qi Yan, you will pay the price for your arrogance. Since you didn't kill me outright with your full strength, be prepared to face my furious counterattack!"

Thirteen held a black obsidian-like crystal, his face contorted in a ferocious expression, with traces of blood still clinging to the corners of his mouth.

He poured all his strength into the crystal, and with a do-or-die mentality, he charged straight at Qi Yan.

"After all that, it turns out it's just an autopilot unit from an L-44 phonograph."

Qi Yan recognized the true nature of the crystal in Thirteen's hand and was immediately filled with disappointment.

The L-44 phonograph is a standard city defense weapon of Letania, belonging to the strategic weapon category. It is very powerful. An ordinary person in such a confined space would be seriously injured, if not killed, if hit head-on by a single shot.

Unfortunately, Qi Yan is clearly not among them.

When Jona saw the deranged Thirteen, she felt no joy, but rather fear.

"No, he's not someone we can fight against. There's an even more terrifying being with him!"

Having witnessed firsthand how her boss was silently killed from thousands of miles away, Qiao Na now only wanted to obediently beg Qi Yan to let her go as easily as farting.

But with teammates like Thirteen who are as incompetent as pigs, her shouts had no effect whatsoever.

A massive surge of Originium Arts energy erupted from the autonomous spellcasting unit, and Thirteen launched a suicidal attack on Qi Yan without regard for the consequences.

Flames erupted from the autonomous spellcasting unit. Under Thirteen's desperate urging, the autonomous spellcasting unit itself could not even withstand this power, and cracks appeared on its surface.

Faced with the explosive device right in front of him, Qi Yan inexplicably patted the air beside him:

"Help me protect that little white lamb, I also want to play in the fire and be myself."

As soon as he finished speaking, the autonomous spellcasting unit in Thirteen's hands went into full swing.

Thirteen's ferocious face was the first to be engulfed by the flames, followed closely by Qi Yan, who opened his arms and calmly welcomed everything.

Jona's beautiful face was contorted with terror, and her screams, along with her body, were completely engulfed by the flames.

The citizens of Viseheim suddenly felt the ground shake, the houses swayed, large clouds of dust fell, and various pieces of furniture inside the houses overturned.

"An earthquake? Has a natural disaster struck?"

"Run! Get out of the house and take refuge in an open area!"

The screams of alarm filled the entire city of Viseheim, and countless citizens rushed out of their rooms, covering their heads.

Then, in a physical sense, their eyes lit up.

The sun, which had set not long ago, seemed to rise again before them.

Flames burst through the earth, licking the vast night sky and illuminating the unfortunate city-state as if it were daytime.

A mushroom cloud grows at a seemingly slow pace, piercing the sky.

Murphy emerged from the hotel bathroom in a bathrobe, a glass of red wine in his hand, ready to admire the night view from the window and savor the rare tranquility of the past few days.

As soon as he reached the window, he witnessed a giant mushroom appear out of nowhere in the distance. He stood there dumbfounded, not even noticing the wine glass slipping from his hand.

"Damn, bro!"

Without any hesitation, Murphy pinned everything on Qi Yan: "Weren't you practicing your Earthly Voice at my house? Why did you suddenly run off to grow mushrooms?!"

He turned around abruptly, not even having time to change out of his bathrobe, and rushed out of the hotel to his manor to check on the situation.

In a hotel room shared with Murphy, Arturo silently gazed at the large, freshly unearthed mushrooms in the distance, his expression complex, even tinged with a hint of fear.

If it were in the past, she would have been unable to contain her excitement upon witnessing this scene and would have picked up her violin and played a piece.

But at that moment, only one thought remained in her mind.

Qi Yan, you must restrain yourself and not get carried away and start having a wild time!

That will not be a simple death, but a fear that will transcend death for everyone.

In stark contrast to the chaos in the city, in the underground chamber of Gertrude's manor, she looked at the ice sculpture in front of her with an uncertain expression.

"What kind of power is this? My phantom has absolutely no loopholes that allow anyone to retaliate."

Gertrude's forehead was covered in cold sweat: "There is only one possibility, that is, in that instant just now, Qi Yan's will forcibly enveloped Viseheim, found my location, and then carried out a precise kill from thousands of meters away."

But why didn't he just kill me too?

Chapter 287 After the Explosion

Gertrude couldn't understand it.

She didn't blindly explore this incomprehensible path, because there was another problem right in front of her.

"This guy died cleanly, but his body is still here with me... I'm in trouble."

Gertrude looked down at the ice sculpture at her feet, her lips gradually tightening.

She didn't even know how to contact the forces behind this guy.

She was merely a puppet, unilaterally receiving communications from an unknown force above.

The only channel for feedback was that group of remnants of the Witch King's faction.

But from the roaring sounds outside the secret chamber, Gertrude was certain that the poor remnants of the Witch King's party were probably gone forever.

Gertrude kicked the ice sculpture away, took long strides, and left the secret room where she was.

As she followed the corridor back to her study, the roaring sound in her ears became even clearer.

She pushed open the study door, went out into the hallway, and looked out the window at the city, which was as bright as day.

"It was truly a breathtaking scene, as if the sun had fallen onto this earth, scorching and dazzling."

Gertrude's previously somewhat agitated mood improved slightly upon seeing the massive, destructive mushroom before her, even becoming somewhat joyful.

"I can only say, he truly lives up to his reputation as Qi Yan." Gertrude pushed open the window to get a better look. "He possesses suffocating power and acts without restraint. The only downside is that he doesn't seem to enjoy killing unless someone crosses him, which is unacceptable."

"If you don't kill, how can I use you to take revenge on those bastards?"

Inside the manor, Gertrude's laughter echoed, gradually becoming shrill and manic.

The servants who had been standing there in various parts of the manor suddenly snapped out of their daze. Hearing Gertrude's laughter, they felt a chill in their hearts and quickly lowered their heads to hide back in their rooms.

The mushroom cloud over the city of Viseheim is still growing slowly, its tip rising gradually and breaking through the clouds in the sky.

The impact of the autonomous spellcasting unit's self-destruction overturned the soil, transforming into visible, translucent ripples that swept across the surrounding streets.

Wherever they went, houses collapsed, and the neat streets became soft, like farmland that had just been plowed.

The impact spread throughout the entire block before gradually showing signs of abating.

Nearly half an hour later, the aftershocks of the self-destruction began to dissipate, the flames dimmed, and the night regained its territory, leaving only a last flame stubbornly burning, defiantly resisting the darkness.

A white-haired boy crawled out of the burning cave entrance, his face pale with fright and his legs trembling.

But he was unharmed.

"what happened?"

Bai'e, as one of the parties involved, had no idea about the situation at all.

Why did such a terrifying explosion suddenly occur? Why am I unharmed? And where is Qi Yan?

He scanned his surroundings and, with a barely discernible glimpse of the ruins, determined that he was in the Sunset District.

Just as Bai'e was at a loss, another figure crawled out of the hole he had just escaped from.

The figure was still engulfed in flames, but its movements were not affected in the slightest. It hopped and skipped out of the fire and then rolled around on the ground.

"Qi Yan?!"

Bai'e recognized the other person, quickly took off his coat, and rushed over to help Qi Yan put out the fire.

"No need, no need, I was just practicing how to handle a fire." Qi Yan, in his flame form, quickly got up and waved to stop Bai Er from getting closer. "The fire is too big, rolling around won't put it out, and your tattered clothes are even more useless."

As he spoke, blood spurted from Qi Yan's body, instantly extinguishing the flames.

Then, blood swirled around Qi Yan, transforming into a red cloak that enveloped his body.

Bai'er stared blankly at Qi Yan.

The flames seemed to have completely unharmed Qi Yan. Qi Yan's already fair skin, accentuated by the red cloak, exuded an eerie aura, and his white hair danced in the scorching wind.

The cloak, formed from blood, had a subtle, flowing texture that, upon closer inspection, suggested it possessed a life of its own.

"I know I'm handsome, but you don't have to be dumbfounded," Qi Yan said with a smug look.

"Ah, I'm not!"

Bai'er blushed and waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "I'm just a little surprised that we're both alright."

"If something bad were to happen in such a small situation, I might as well find a secluded place and bury myself."

Qi Yan straightened his hair, waved for Bai Er to follow, and led the way towards Murphy's manor.

Walking along the dilapidated streets of the Sunset District, Bai'e was met with a scene of utter devastation, a sight that seemed like a living hell, and a look of unbearable sorrow appeared on his face.

"What exactly happened? Why did it suddenly explode?" Bai'e asked.

"A remnant of the Witch King's faction detonated the phonograph's automatic spellcasting unit, trying to take me down with them. Laughable, I can't die at all."

After hearing Qi Yan's explanation, a look of disgust, unlike anything seen before, appeared on Bai'e's face:

"How could they do this? This is a city! This explosion has destroyed an entire block. How many people have they killed!"

"That's not so bad."

Qi Yan chuckled: "I once encountered an opponent named Kosich, who used trickery and deception to expose an entire large mobile city to natural disasters."

You've probably heard about the Chernobog incident that the Reunion Movement orchestrated last year.

Bai'e felt a chill run through his body, sensing a deep-seated fear and anger from the tragedy Qi Yan described.

He shook his head and said, "I have been wandering in the wilderness and from village to village without any means of receiving information, so I know nothing about the Chernobog incident you mentioned."

But I'm furious. Why would those people do something so cruel? What were they after?

Qi Yan walked ahead, shrugging as he said:

"There are too many reasons, such as vying for power, expanding one's own influence, and reclaiming the glory that once belonged to them."

"What does this have to do with them killing people?" Bai E retorted angrily. "Does that mean they can't fight back if they don't use such brutal methods?"

Are the power struggles between those factions simply a contest of who kills more people?

Qi Yan turned around in surprise.

This was the first time he had ever seen Cretaceous so angry.

Bai'e met Qi Yan's gaze, was startled, and realized that there was no point in him getting angry at Qi Yan.

Just as he was about to apologize, Qi Yan spoke first:

"They never actually intended to kill anyone. They were just seriously plotting various schemes and calculations. The casualties they caused were just some insignificant side effects of their plan."

Whether those ordinary citizens live or die has little impact on the overall situation.

Bai'er felt a moment of mental confusion.

He turned his head and looked around. In the vast ruins, his figure was so small that it was almost invisible.

If someone were looking down from the sky, they might not even notice that a small boy like him was standing in these ruins.

He once thought that the misery of the lower classes was due to being oppressed and enslaved.

But then he suddenly realized that the real tragedy was that they had never been noticed by anyone.

Luxury cars, brimming with desire, drive across this land, unaware that their path will soon run over an anthill.

Chapter 288 The Little White Lamb is Going to Be Eaten (laughs)

Golden morning light burst forth from the horizon.