Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

Several cries of alarm rang out, but it was too late for Amiya and the others to come to their rescue.

Just as the absolutioner's attack was about to succeed, a crystal formed by magic blocked Ascalon's chest, thwarting the absolutioner's attack.

'Theresia' gently pushed Ascalon out and landed him in a safe position.

"What do you mean by this?" the absolution master asked, displeased.

The pardoner was puzzled.

Theresa offered no explanation, only gazing into the distance.

At the edge of his vision, a transport ship was hurtling towards him at full speed with an air of certain death.

"Your time is running out, and so is ours."

Theresa said regretfully, "We can help you delay these people from Rhodes Island, but the price is the wrath that will inevitably fall upon us in the future after we acted in a way that is almost insulting to His Highness."

Go do what you need to do, you ambitious hyena kept by Theresis.

The absolutioner never dreamed that he would be insulted by these emotionless shapeshifters with such subjective language.

Theresa closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, a hint of sadness flashed in them:

“We respect Your Highness, so we are willing to respect her decision. However, if possible, we hope that the story of Qi Yan and Rhodes Island, and Qi Yan and this land, will not be a repeat of the story of that god born in the cold wind.”

The pardoner frowned, clearly indicating that things had not turned out as he had anticipated.

But the current situation is clearly not a good opportunity for him to think things through.

On the Rhodes Island side, Amiya and the others who had experienced the Tower of Babel era were filled with rage that defied description.

They were prepared to face Theresa, and even knowing that Theresa was no longer the person she once was, their answer wouldn't be so angry.

But they absolutely could not tolerate seeing an imposter using Theresa's face.

A black crown appeared above Amiya's head, and a shadowy figure materialized within the enormous rhombus-shaped magical phantom, which was tightly grasped by her small, childlike hand.

The golden runes emerging from the tip of the pen almost enveloped the small battlefield.

Driven by rage, the assassin remained expressionless, his eyes as cold as ice, slowly blending into the shadows of the surrounding scenery.

Even Kal'tsit couldn't utter any words to calm everyone down. A green crystal flew out of her pocket, sensing Kal'tsit's emotions, and transformed into a ferocious Originium behemoth, blocking the retreat of 'Theresia' and the Exorcist.

'Theresia' calmly faced the crowd's anger, slowly stepped forward, and activated the magic crystals around her to attack Amiya.

"Shadow Sky - Absolute Shadow!"

Amiya swayed, dodging the attacks while unleashing countless sword energies that cleaved all the crystals in two.

The attacks from the others followed closely behind, surging towards 'Theresia'.

'Theresia' was not surprised. She waved her hand and scattered a green liquid, transforming into several Theresia figures to attack together, withstanding all the attacks despite the increasingly intense anger of the crowd.

They knew that they, as individuals, were destined to be reduced to ashes by the wrath of Amiya and the others, and they were prepared to accept whatever fate befell them.

This was an unavoidable consequence of their decision to grant Theresa's request.

But they didn't care. All they wanted to do was create an opportunity to arrange a special meeting for Qi Yan.

In the chaos, the Exorcist bypassed the others and rushed toward Shining.

As he passed by Salus's corpse, he didn't even glance at it before stepping past, but a black spell still fell and merged into Salus's chest.

Salus's bloodied and mangled neck writhed eerily, the wounds healing in the blink of an eye. Her dilated pupils closed again, and she gasped for breath like a drowning person who had just been rescued.

"Do what you're supposed to do."

The orders left by the absolutist reached Salus's ears.

She felt no resentment; on the contrary, she was overjoyed that the pardoner was willing to save her and to make her continue her work.

"Come out, all of you, come out!"

Salus roared, blood foam spurting from his mouth, but she ignored it, frantically pounding the ground with her scepter as if possessed.

Huang and the others, who were blocking the absolution master, suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet tremble. Then, countless hideous and bizarre monsters, as if several races of creatures had been forcibly squeezed together, emerged from the ground.

"I'll stop them."

Mud Rock shouted and squatted down, channeling his bloodline power to connect with the earth.

The earth, which was originally fair and impartial to all things, suddenly turned against them at this moment, and a large number of monsters that had not yet successfully emerged were crushed into mincemeat by the soil in the blink of an eye.

The Pardoner was not surprised by this; he had prepared corresponding restraint measures for the Rhodes Island team before taking action.

With a wave of his hand, he released a spell to force Huang and the others away, and the Absolution Master continued to advance.

Huang and Thorn were having some trouble dealing with the Pardoners, but Logos and the others were tied up by the Shapeshifters and had no time to attend to this side for the time being.

"Honestly, I really hate this guy."

Shuiyue grumbled in dissatisfaction and summoned a large number of tentacles to wrap around the Absolution Master.

Faced with Shuiyue's attack, the Absolute Master finally felt threatened, but he ignored it and let the tentacles tear his body to pieces.

Upon seeing this, Shuiyue was taken aback.

"That's his method!"

Shining's warning came from behind, but it was too late.

Suddenly, a gray mist rose from the pile of mangled flesh scattered on the ground, enveloping Shuiyue and the others. Then, the Master of Pardons emerged from the mist, his body covered in blood.

His breath was extremely weak, but his expression was joyful as he walked step by step to Shining and Nightingale.

Shining shielded Nightingale behind him, raised his hand to the hilt of his sword, and was about to draw it.

The absolutioner smiled expectantly: "Come, sister, kill me with your sword. Then we will be united, my soul will merge with yours, and a new life will be born. We will become the most perfect demon king!"

Do not resist; this is your destiny. The vessel behind you that you care about—I will make good use of it, repairing it into the perfect tool to contain the power of the Black Crown. It will also forge the closest bond with you!

Shining hissed hatefully, gritting his teeth as he slowly pulled the blade a little further out: "I will kill you, and then I will kill myself!"

The pardoner still smiled: "You can't do it, sister."

Shining said nothing more, and with a firm resolve, pulled the blade out with all her might.

A warm, golden glow filled the air, bathing Shining herself, the Exorcist, and the nightingale behind her.

Just as Shining was about to thrust her sword forward, a weak and feeble hand managed to grab her arm with all its might.

Nightingale had somehow broken free from that strange state, her face already covered in tears. She knew she couldn't stop Shining on her own, so she could only shake her head vigorously, trying to persuade Shining to give up his plan to die together with her.

The pardoner's smile slowly faded, his gaze turning icy as he looked at the nightingale:

"As a vessel, your behavior is truly unpleasant. You are nothing but a bubble filled with false memories. Accept this reality."

“Perhaps my memories are false,” Nightingale said, her eyes filled with sorrow. “But I can feel the most genuine emotions within them—the travels I took after leaving the laboratory, the countless times I woke from my coma with Shining’s concern by my side—there is absolutely no falsehood in them!”

The absolutioner hissed, stepped forward, grabbed Shining's sword, and prepared to meet it head-on with his chest.

The Shining is caught between two people who are inextricably linked to her fate, and the emotional turmoil causes her so much pain that she almost suffocates.

That's enough!

The boy's clear voice suddenly broke into the argument between the three.

Shuiyue burst out of the gray mist and grabbed the absolution master's shoulder.

He looked rather disheveled, clearly having paid a price for breaking free from the fog as quickly as possible.

“You made my friend cry,” Shuiyue said coldly.

"You can't stop me now."

The pardoner thrusts forward with all his might.

Countless tentacles pierced through the absolutionist, attempting to tear him apart.

But this time, it encountered an obstacle that Shuiyue could not understand. The tentacles that pierced through the Absolution Master seemed to be affected by some force and gradually lost their power.

Shuiyue tightened his grip on the absolution master's shoulder. Faced with this critical situation, he disregarded his inner resistance and the possibility of being frightened after revealing his true self.

Pale blue tentacles emerged from Shuiyue's arm, clinging to the Absolution Master and devouring his flesh bit by bit.

"You...you're eating me?" The pardoner's pupils contracted.

"It's disgusting, like the rotting entrails of a dead fish. Don't talk, I'm in a terrible mood right now."

Shuiyue's clear eyes subtly turned cold, almost inhuman.

The pardoner turned and roared, "Quisassina, kill me!"

Shining's eyes trembled as the absolutist called her by her real name, and those past experiences she didn't want to recall surfaced in her mind.

Those were all sins she committed: the inhumane experiments she conducted on Nightingale time and time again, the false lies and false magic she used to selfishly weave nonexistent beautiful memories for Nightingale.

"This is my sin, and I must pay for it."

A tear slid down Shining's cheek.

Without further hesitation, she stepped forward, ready to plunge the blade into the pardoner's heart.

"*Eastern swear words*!"

Seeing this, Shuiyue became somewhat exasperated: "I can't care about that anymore, let Amiya and the others scold me if they want!"

He unleashed all his might to try and pull the pardoner away, while raising his head and shouting desperately:

"Qi Yan, Shining and Nightingale were both bullied and cried!!!"

Chapter 709 A Chance to Choose Again

Qi Yan sat cross-legged on the edge of the transport ship's deck, tilting his head slightly back to feel the wind blowing on his face.

The transport ship wasn't slow, and the wind it created was anything but gentle, yet Qi Yan squinted slightly, his hands behind his back, appearing quite content.

He's been in a really good mood lately, better than ever before.

After his conversation with Huang, Qi Yan couldn't quite explain it, but he just felt very relaxed.

Not far away, the Doctor was talking to Windermere, but Qi Yan was too lazy to worry about such things.

He felt like he was becoming lazy, avoiding using his brain whenever possible, since the doctor would take care of everything anyway.

The dark clouds in the sky continued to churn, becoming even lower than before, and even the wind blowing on Qi Yan's face seemed a bit thicker.

After finishing his conversation with Windermere, the doctor walked over to Qi Yan and sat down to enjoy the breeze with her, just like she had done.

"You're about to meet your beloved airship. What are you looking forward to?" the doctor joked.

"If anyone's looking forward to it, it's meeting Theresa. Who's the airship?" Qi Yan shook his head. "We're really not familiar with it. Let's not contact each other in the future. I'm afraid Theresa will misunderstand."

"That might be a bit difficult. It seems that Theresa is trying her best to avoid meeting you."

The doctor took out two vials of sanity potion from his pocket and casually handed one to Qi Yan.

The two skillfully unscrewed the caps of the sanity serum, tilted their heads back in unison, took a swig, and then exhaled contentedly together.

After swallowing a mouthful of sanity potion, both of them fell silent.

After a few seconds, the doctor slowly spoke:

"Do you still remember Rhodes Island's goal in getting involved in Victoria's affairs?"

"To stop the Sarkaz's plan to start a massive war on Terra," Qi Yan said, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yes, I’ve been working on it all,” the doctor said slowly. “Gathering intelligence, getting to know all sorts of people, disrupting Theresis’s various plans, and now I’m busy finding the Sarkaz supply lines and destroying their air superiority. I’m really busy.”

"and many more……"

Qi Yan accurately captured a certain piece of information revealed in the doctor's words.

But the doctor ignored Qi Yan's words and continued:

"To be honest, I really don't like war, even though everyone seems to trust me a lot and acts like I understand war very well and can control its course."

Sometimes I feel really helpless. Having lost my memory, I haven't even gotten to know this land, yet I'm being forced to interfere with its course.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Qi Yan was a little scared. "No, buddy, I only betrayed you for fun, but if you betray me, you're really in big trouble!"

The doctor didn't answer, but tilted his head back and took another gulp of sanity potion, swallowing back the words that were about to come out.

He paused for a few seconds before speaking:

"I've never thought about changing jobs or anything like that. I'm just a little worried that, given the current situation, I'll lose to Theresis."