Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

Shuiyue raised her hand and clenched it in the void. Countless tentacles materialized around Manfred, folding inward like flowers.

Faced with this dense attack, Manfred dodged left and right, seemingly in danger but escaping the attack range unscathed.

A red Originium aura condensed around Manfred, transforming into magic that shot towards Mizuki.

But these attacks always inexplicably missed, repeatedly brushing past Shuiyue.

Manfred's offensive continued unabated, and the speed at which he condensed magical rays increased, with dense red energy beams surrounding Watermoon.

Water Moon's tentacles also kept pouring out, attacking Manfred relentlessly.

The two exchanged blows under this intense offensive, but neither could gain the upper hand, as all their attacks were dodged by the other.

After a brief standoff, both of them stopped moving at the same time.

“I knew I wasn’t wrong, you are special,” Shuiyue said earnestly.

“You’re not bad either, Rhodes Island guy.” Manfred looked at the other person with surprise.

He was very confident in his dodging skills, but now he has finally met his match.

"Unfortunately, I'm not here to spar with an opponent today," Manfred said regretfully. "See you next time."

Shuiyue frowned and decisively made a move to try and entangle Manfred.

But Manfred dodged and weaved among the tentacles, quickly escaping the area and running into the factory.

Shuiyue hesitated for a moment, then turned to report to the doctor instead of acting on her own.

On the Doctor's side, he and Shan kept their distance from the large group of Qi Yan, silently watching them pick fights with each other, and those who were exposed were immediately strangled by countless blood threads.

"How is Fester and Lolo's rescue operation going?" the doctor asked, turning his head.

Shan raised his hand and tapped the communicator on his ear, reporting:

"Kroos said the two had infiltrated the factory and were looking for Bill's location."

They also encountered another group taking advantage of the chaos—the Storm Squad—and exchanged communication methods.

The doctor showed no joy, continuing to mentally analyze what might happen next.

Just then, Mizuki returned and reported Manfred's actions to the Doctor.

Before the doctor could react, Huang and Fengdi led a group of people out of the workshop.

"Doctor, we've rescued them! Ms. Heidi is inside, and even Old Bill is there!" Huang reported from a distance.

"It was so easy?" The doctor was filled with doubt.

The people on the other side of the mountain have already started reporting the situation to Kroos, asking her to contact Fester and the other two to evacuate the factory as soon as possible.

"No, there's something wrong!"

The doctor suddenly spoke up: "Manfred, as the Sarkaz commander, personally intervened and even went to great lengths to restrain Qi Yan. He certainly won't let us succeed so easily..."

Manfred's goal wasn't to stop the prison break; his target was the Stormtroopers!

Chapter 598: Capture the thief first and capture the king first

The aftershocks of the explosion and battle caused the ground to tremble.

Horn led the Storm Assault Team members to cling tightly to the corridor walls, maintaining their balance while avoiding being crushed by suddenly collapsing heavy objects.

She turned to look behind her and saw that in addition to the members of the Storm Assault Team, such as the oboe player, there were now many more figures wearing city defense uniforms.

These people included those she had found in Lentinium, who were hiding but still had the will to fight, and those she had just rescued from the prison.

"Everyone stay alert. Those who are still able to fight, take the weapons that have been assigned to you. Those who are wounded, stay in the center of the group and don't try to be brave."

The horn urged, "Rhodes Island and our allies are drawing fire for us now, so we must speed up our operations."

"Horn, should we evacuate now?"

"A city defense soldier who had just been rescued asked."

The bugle shook its head: "There's still one person to save."

“We will all listen to you,” the city defense soldiers said firmly.

"Be prepared." As the bugle sounded and the troops advanced, the speaker gave them a heads-up: "The person we're going to rescue next has a somewhat sensitive identity."

Just as the city defense soldiers were puzzled, Triangle Iron reported:

"Target location detected. Mandela's companion is in the second cell on the left ahead."

The horn led the charge into the corner, where it encountered a Sarkaz soldier.

Without the slightest hesitation, she stepped forward and punched him to the ground, then pressed the crossbow bolt against the Sarkaz soldier's throat and decisively pulled the trigger.

The crossbow bolt pierced through flesh and blood, sending up a spray of blood.

The Sarkaz soldiers didn't even have a chance to resist; after struggling for a bit, they gradually lost their strength.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the oboe bypassed the horn and forcefully slammed open the cell door.

Inside the cell, a man dressed plainly but bound hand and foot looked surprised.

He heard the sounds of fighting outside and realized that someone was breaking into the prison, but he never expected that someone would come to rescue him.

"You are... soldiers of Lontinim?"

The spy was even more surprised after seeing everyone's attire.

The oboe, using a dagger, cut the ropes binding the spy and explained:

“We were sent by Mandela to rescue you.”

"But...when did Deeppool start cooperating with the Lontinim military?"

The spy was highly vigilant and resisted the oboe's outstretched hand: "If you just want to get some information out of me, then I advise you not to waste your time. I was exposed and arrested without knowing anything."

"You don't trust us, and you don't trust Mandela?" the oboe said quickly. "It was Mandela who sent us to rescue you, solely out of her own will, and it has nothing to do with Deeppool or Lentinium's position."

"That's...ok."

The spy hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, whether out of a yearning for freedom or trust in Mandela, he chose to follow the oboe's steps.

When he entered the corridor and saw that everyone was wearing the same enemy uniform, his suspicions deepened.

The city defense soldiers weren't much better than the spies. After hearing the conversation between the oboe and the spy, they finally realized the meaning of the words spoken before the bugle call.

The horn didn't give them a chance to think too much, and decisively said, "I'll explain after we get out. Let's figure out a way to break through first."

The city defense soldiers suppressed their emotions, and their eyes regained their resolve.

"I'm sorry, you can't go any further."

A calm male voice suddenly reached the ears of everyone present.

Horn and his men were on high alert and assumed a fighting stance.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Hedley led a Sarkaz mercenary squad to the end of the corridor.

"To be honest, I still have a lot of things to do."

Hedley's eyes were icy, revealing his murderous intent without reservation: "If only you weren't causing trouble in this prison I'm in charge of."

"Unfortunately, there aren't so many 'what ifs' on this land."

The bugle retorted, and immediately gave the order: "Fire!"

Arrows flew, enveloping the narrow corridor.

Hedley drew his military-grade sword from his waist and swung it, slashing down all the crossbow bolts.

This scene made Horn's eyes narrow slightly, realizing that the newcomer was no weakling.

"Stop them, you can kill them."

Hedley pointed his sword forward and gave orders to the mercenaries behind him.

"Use grenades!"

The horn is also not going to hold back any longer.

Her rear guard quickly reloaded and launched an attack.

Both sides unleashed their full firepower in the narrow corridor, causing dust to rise everywhere, walls to collapse, and houses to crumble.

The bugle seized the opportunity, using its shield to protect itself as it rammed into the already damaged wall, forcibly creating a breach leading to the open space outside the prison.

"Don't linger in the fight, I'll cover your retreat!"

The horn arrived at a favorable position and turned to use its cannons to begin a barrage of fire.

The stormtroopers and city defense soldiers took the opportunity to flee quickly, retreating along the designated route.

Horn thought her attack would be enough to delay Hadley and the others, but just as she was about to cease fire, she witnessed a shocking scene.

The dust and smoke kicked up by the exploding shells seemed to be kneaded and shaped by an invisible giant hand, constantly changing and converging to form a barrier.

Hedley and his mercenary squad, protected by the barrier, walked out of the bombing zone unharmed.

"It seems my embers are somewhat restrained by you."

As Hedley spoke, he manipulated his Originium Arts, condensing the dust and smoke into a solid sphere, which whistled as it hurtled towards the horn.

Horn rolled sideways to dodge the attack, then fired two more shots into the barrel.

Unsurprisingly, Hadley easily neutralized the horn's counterattack and used the dust cloud to launch another attack.

Realizing it was outmatched, the horn decisively put away its cannons and turned to flee for its life.

Hedley led his mercenaries in hot pursuit, constantly using ranged attacks to disrupt the horn, making it increasingly difficult for the enemy to keep up.

The fleeing leader felt a growing anxiety. His eyes flickered, and he gritted his teeth, turning around and fleeing in the opposite direction of the planned retreat route.

Hedley glanced at the two groups of soldiers, hesitated slightly, and then waved his hand, saying:

"Go after that commander; to catch the thief, first catch the king."

"Makes sense."

A cold female voice rang in his ears, making Hadley's blood almost freeze.

The voice was very close to him, so close that he could even feel the dampness from the breath as the other person spoke.

Strangely, even though the other party had gotten so close to him, he hadn't noticed it at all beforehand.

“H...Hedley, behind you…”

The mercenaries' trembling voices rang out in warning.

"Shut up if you don't want to die!" Hedley's muscles tensed, and he dared not move.

Ascalon gracefully stepped out from behind Hadley and came to stand before him.

The cold dagger, like an eternal iceberg, pressed against Hadley's neck, so cold that his heart almost stopped beating.

"To catch the thief, first catch the king; that's what you said."

Ascalon seemed to be joking, but his tone was so cold that no one dared to be joking at all: "So I'm taking your head now, you shouldn't mind, right?"

Hedley forced himself to remain calm:

"If you want to kill me, I will be powerless to resist, but the Lupo warrior you want to save has fled in a rather unsafe direction."

Are you sure you want to waste your time with me?

Ascalon's eyes narrowed slightly: "Taking care of you won't be a waste of time."

“Perhaps, but I haven’t been without progress since our last meeting at the Tower of Babel.” Hedley, determined not to lose face, displayed remarkable backbone.

Chapter 599: Concern leads to chaos

The horn flew a long way before stopping.

"Who is that Sarkaz woman?" Horn asked, slightly out of breath. "Could she also be from Rhodes Island?"

She looked back and saw that no one was chasing after her, and secretly assessed the situation.

The Sarkaz woman dared to stop Hedre, so she must have her own reasons. If she were to go back rashly, she might actually strengthen Hedre's Originium Arts.

Now that she has deviated from the planned retreat route and is separated from the main force in Sarkaz territory, her best option is to take advantage of the time to hide.