Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

"Ital, it hasn't evolved..."

"Where are you looking?"

The knight roared and charged, sending the Butcher flying.

The Butcher rolled around in the murky seawater, trying his best to control his body, but he couldn't help but feel his anger rising.

"What's wrong with you, this strange fellow countryman?"

It was so annoyed by the knight that it started muttering to itself: "You refuse the group, and the group won't bother you. Why do you have to cause trouble at a time like this?"

And what about that special fellow citizen? Isn't it Isamara's blood relative? Isamara would never agree to its current actions, so what exactly is it trying to do?

Large groups need new generations, but now all the new generations are gone. Wouldn't it be better to patiently wait for Ital to become the new generation?

"Kill the sea!" the knight roared as he continued his charge.

The butcher's proclamation: "*A large chorus of profanities*"

This unfortunate fellow countryman in front of me is impossible to communicate with!

It has to come up with a solution!

Meanwhile, inside the ruins of the Deep Blue Tree, Ital thrashed about wildly, escaping through the intricate corridors.

It is a branch of the lineage that follows Qi Yan's promotion of acting cute and charming, but it is far inferior to many of its compatriots in the large group in terms of both strength and dexterity.

Meanwhile, its brethren, which was chasing it from behind, were actively absorbing the latest evolutionary information from the group and walking at the forefront of the group's evolution.

The two individuals are not on the same level at all.

Exhaustion continued to build in Ital's body, and the seemingly indestructible floor of the ruins had worn down the claws on its limbs, making it even more difficult for it to turn.

Behind it, the special Hai Si continued to follow at a leisurely pace.

“Ital, the name you gave yourself… a name… an ancient word.”

The special sea creature floated slowly, always maintaining a certain distance from Ital: "I once had a name, Maritus. Since you like to distinguish your specialness by your name, then I will speak to you by that name as well."

Ital remained silent, his breathing disordered, and ran around another bend.

Its worn-down claws screeched wildly across the smooth floor as it barely managed to navigate the corners in a drifting motion, continuing its escape.

Despite this predicament, Ital is still trying to keep thinking.

It has to come up with a solution!

"It seems you haven't given up yet."

Maritus clearly saw Ital's thoughts, and the biological core slightly diffused before gathering back together.

It said with a hint of sarcasm, "Let me guess, you're thinking about how to seek outside help again, aren't you?"

The road ahead of Ital came to an end.

The once straight corridor has collapsed for some unknown reason, and a large amount of rubble has piled up in the corridor, forcing it to stop.

“It seems you can finally stop.” Maritus floated behind Ital.

"You don't seem to be planning to make a move right away?"

Ital turned his back to the pile of rubble, his back slightly bent as he gathered his strength, the hair on his body standing on end to make him appear even larger.

Unfortunately, Maritus saw these actions as nothing more than whining.

“Answer my question,” Maritus said in a commanding tone.

Ital hesitated for a moment, then calmly replied:

"Large groups never shy away from exchanging information."

“Very good.” Maritus seemed extremely satisfied. “Why did you give up on evolution? Examine your own weakness. Your attempt has failed, and your brethren have long since abandoned this direction and continued to search for new evolutions for survival.”

Ital didn't answer immediately; it glanced sideways at the window on the corridor wall.

Its current appearance is reflected on the special membrane of the window.

It's fluffy and cute, but it's not dangerous at all.

"What is existence?" Ital chose to ask in return.

"The expansion and growth of our population means that even the most terrible disasters cannot defeat us," Maritus offered his answer.

What is the significance of this continued existence?

"We are meaning itself."

Ital shook his head: "The swarm can collect any information: the ocean, the land, creatures, even the clouds floating in the sky, and the ancient stones on the ground."

But information is just information; it's not an answer, and it has no meaning whatsoever.

The biological core of Malitus trembled slightly:

"When darkness recedes, the multitude can re-evolve everything through information, and everything you seek can also reappear."

"Are the things that reappear the same as the original things?"

"I understand."

Maritus understood Ital's thoughts.

It denied this, saying: "What you are pursuing is a spirit, a spirit called 'self,' and so-called civilization is constructed by multiple 'selves' together."

But when the meaning of civilization ceases to exist, what meaning does the so-called 'self' have?

Moreover, the 'self' you pursue is not a praiseworthy quality, and the humanity you expect is not pure. Let's take a test.

"The large group never shies away from exchanging information; you, as the individual who serves as a bridge between humans and others, have been captured."

Maritus slowly uttered the test questions that made Ital's pupils shrink: "When this individual is destroyed, will the fragile relationship built on words collapse instantly?"

Can connections between civilizations be established through the approval of a large group?

"You attacked the teacher?" Ital demanded, baring his teeth. "You're also a member of the group. How can you maintain the relationship between the two parties if you disrupt the deal in this capacity? This test is fundamentally invalid!"

"The large group never refuses any attempt, even if it requires the individual lives and nutrients of its fellow citizens."

Maritus reiterated the words of the previous slayer and continued to deduce: "If your connection with mankind cannot withstand this test, you should give it up and choose to integrate it into the larger group, so that the larger group can lead their message to continue in a superior way."

“…A large group is not always the right thing to do.” Ital growled menacingly.

“Error, the great multitude represents countless possibilities, the great multitude will eventually reach the final destination.” Maritus’s biological core trembled with excitement. “Generation, that is, all things.”

"It seems our differences are destined to be irreconcilable."

Ital completely abandoned the confrontation with this compatriot, turned his head and shouted at the rubble behind him: "Slayer, make your move!"

A violent impact arrived from the perimeter of the Deep Blue Tree ruins.

Gravel flew everywhere, murky seawater rushed into the corridor, and the figures of the Butcher and the Knight, entangled together, burst into the narrow passageway.

Maritus realized Ital and the Butcher's plan and decisively chose to withdraw and avoid them.

But its reaction was a moment too slow. The Butcher withstood the knight's blow and used its limbs to kick the knight hard towards Maritus.

The knight, sent flying backward, accepted all attacks and, with the help of the Butcher's power, thrust his spear with all his might at the conspicuous biological core of Maritus.

Chapter 1107 Knight: When I get ruthless, I'll even beat myself up!

The granular organelles surrounding Maritus's body slid rapidly, steadily blocking the knight's thrust.

Its body remained completely still, seemingly unaffected by the knight's attack.

The knight, undeterred, thrust his lance forward once more.

Maritus slowly retreated, trying to create some distance, but then he saw a shadow flash by.

The Butcher blocked Maritus's retreat, and by taking advantage of the knight's frenzied, indiscriminate attacks on Hai Si, he forced the two sides to clash.

Faced with this desperate situation, Maritus remained calm, with granular organelles swirling around his body, and several filamentous energy bands that the Butcher could not comprehend emerged from Maritus.

These filamentary energy bands ignored physical collisions, penetrating directly through the walls of the Deep Blue Tree ruins, with two even striking the Butcher and the Knight respectively.

"Kill the sea!"

The knight ignored all that and raised his lance to stab the filamentous energy band.

But His spear passed straight through the filamentous energy band without affecting it in the slightest, and He was instantly wrapped up by the filamentous energy band.

He was not harmed in any way.

Glancing down at the filamentous energy band connecting him and Maritus, the knight reaffirmed his resolve and thrust his spear at Maritus.

The Butcher kept dodging, but he still couldn't get around these filamentous energy bands that completely ignored physical collisions, and eventually he was also entangled by them.

A feeling of blood connection instantly surged into the Butcher's heart.

"Wait, don't stab!"

It growled softly.

But it was all too late.

The knight thrust his spear into Maritus, who neither dodged nor flinched.

The next second, all three sides in the melee let out a muffled groan, sharing the force of the knight's attack.

Maritus's biological core trembled, completely abandoning its defenses, and it calmly said:

"The great group connects all our compatriots; we are all one."

The Butcher rolled over and got up from the ground, feeling pain all over his body, and finally understood the power of Malitus.

Connecting fellow citizens, sharing harm!

This ability allows Malitus to have almost unlimited damage resistance.

Using this ability in a large-scale civil war is a despicable act of mutual destruction.

The knight clutched his chest to steady himself, a surge of anger burning ever brighter within him.

I don't care about this or that!

"Kill the sea!"

With roars echoing through the ruins, the knights continued their charge.

Maritus: ?

No, are you sick?!

The knight's lance and claws struck Maritus simultaneously.

All three let out another painful groan and fell to the ground in a sorry state.

Maritus: ? ? ?

It looked back at the butcher who had ambushed it and saw the latter struggling to turn over and gather its strength again.

Seriously, are you two crazy?!

Under Martius's bewildered gaze, the Butcher's muscles tensed:

“Isamara’s blood relative, you are a fellow countryman, but you don’t seem to be pure.”

"You want to die with me?" Maritus asked in astonishment.

"To perish together?" The Butcher's tone was full of sarcasm. "When you develop this ability to bind your fellow human beings and use it on them, you are destined to expose your habit of thinking outside the box."

You cherish your individual life and are unwilling to return to the group, but death is never something your fellow countrymen avoid.

Even Isamara never cared about her own death.

For the first time, the biological core of Malitus began to tremble violently.

The knights and the Butcher launched another attack on it.

It finally chose to withdraw and evade the attack, its biological core moving around its body, searching for Ital's figure.

However, in the messy corridor, there was no trace of Ital.

“Butcher, I question your ideas.” Maritus released more filamentous energy bands. “Survival is the instinct of the herd, and all choices made by the herd are for survival.”

Ital's escape is my strongest evidence. When Ital is also connected to our lives, what choice will you make? What choice will it make?

The Butcher answered with his own claws.