Asura in Arknights

Although it is unclear what exactly Ayin and Rhine Labs colluded to do, that part of the research data is presumably stored in the now-damaged Plot 21.

According to the contract, they are indeed required to hand over this data to Rhine Life, otherwise they will have to pay a huge penalty for breach of contract.

Pol Pharmaceuticals has only just begun to recover, and the development of the No. 0 plot has only just started. The funds invested in advance have not yet begun to flow back. If Rhine Life seeks compensation at this critical moment, Pol Pharmaceuticals will definitely suffer a heavy blow, and the worst-case scenario is that its cash flow will be disrupted.

Therefore, Li Ang would hand over the data to them, but that didn't stop him from tampering with it during the process.

"We're still a bit short-handed..." Li Ang thought to himself.

Hinterlea was already busy enough, and Leon felt a little embarrassed to assign her any more work. It seemed he would have to wait until things were settled on Rhodes Island before making a trip there himself.

However, there's no need to rush for now.

The fishing plan on Shuiyue's side has only just begun, and there's been no movement from Sona's side for the time being. The so-called Radom Hometown Association is still hiding in some unknown corner. Li Ang has plenty of time to solve these problems.

Moreover, even though Plot 21 has been reduced to ruins, that place is not easy to enter.

The natural disaster left severe Originium contamination there, and a real Originium life form once appeared there. Several months was simply not enough time for the contamination to dissipate.

Even with the most advanced protective suits, one could not stay in such a place for more than two hours. Before the contamination dissipated, even if Rhine Lab wanted to retrieve the data from there, it would be quite a hassle.

After a moment's thought, Li Ang sent a reply to Xintela, telling her that she didn't need to do anything, just to slack off.

At this moment, Kal'tsit also noticed Li Ang, who had stopped at the door of the ward.

She frowned and asked, "What happened?"

Hearing Kal'tsit's question, Leon put his phone back in his pocket and casually said, "Unexpected news. My secretary just contacted me and said that people from Rhine Labs have arrived."

"The person who came was Ferdinand, the head of the Energy Department. They had a previous collaboration with Pol Pharmaceuticals, and this time they came to ask me to fulfill the agreement and hand over some research data to them."

"...It really is them."

Kal'tsit rubbed her forehead and sighed.

She wasn't an idiot; she knew perfectly well what Rhine Life's presence here meant, especially since it was a director who had come this time.

"Alright, I have my own plans for Rhine Lab, so you don't need to worry too much. Let's get back to our previous topic."

Upon hearing this, Kal'tsit nodded.

Although Rhine Labs is a troublesome entity, it doesn't have a direct conflict with Rhodes Island itself; in fact, the two sides have had many pleasant cooperative experiences.

"She's Rosemary?"

Li Ang saw the film girl in the ward.

Hearing someone call her name, little Felin looked at him with a slightly bewildered expression.

No… it shouldn’t be called bewilderment, but rather a complete blank. There was nothing in the girl’s eyes, like a doll. Her empty gaze made everyone who saw her feel heartbroken.

Amnesia caused by a foreign object implanted in the brain...?

"Alright, now let me use my senses to see what I can discover."

But when Li Ang swept his senses over the area, he was stunned.

"...What the hell is that thing?"

It's positive again.

My parents traveled a long way to poison me, so I stayed in Bengbu.

My body wasn't properly cared for to begin with, and now I've suffered a massive hemorrhage. These past few days, I've been in so much pain all over my body that I can't even lie down. I really don't know what to say.

Anyway, there definitely won't be any updates this month. Let's wait until next month...

He was killed by COVID-19

Reinfection is terrifying... My parents had a fever for two days and then recovered, but I had a recurring fever for a whole week before I finally recovered, and I lost several kilograms in that week.

The aftereffects are even more terrifying. Yesterday, I went out and brought back two cases of soda in a trolley. As a result, I was so tired that I lay in bed for two hours before I could recover. Even sitting in a chair for a while made my whole body ache. I spent more than 12 hours a day lying in bed in a coma.

I was worried about this before, but even though I was so careful, I still got infected. I don't know what to say. And given the current situation, multiple infections are almost inevitable. I don't know what to do.

In short, I'm just venting a little. I definitely don't have the energy to get full attendance right now, but I'll try my best to update every day.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

Although it was impossible to see with the naked eye, Li Ang's senses did indeed detect the alien floating in the air.

The thing looked like a composite of several human bodies, comparable to the monsters corrupted by the Hai Si gene. Its enormous and twisted limbs almost filled the upper half of the infirmary. Li Ang never expected to see such a stimulating thing here.

Of course, what surprised Li Ang was not the monster's appearance, but that... the monster actually 'grew' out of a person's body.

Yes, it's the child Kal'tsit mentioned earlier.

Rosemary, the sole survivor of the 'Loken Tank' experiment, had her brainstem artificially removed and replaced with an artificial, infected organ.

Because of this inhumane surgery, she developed intermittent amnesia, losing most of her memories every now and then, and can only barely make ends meet by writing memos.

Judging from her appearance, Rosemary was a young girl of about eleven or twelve years old. Perhaps because she had been in the hospital for a long time, Rosemary's body was very weak. Although she was not exactly skin and bones, she was not far off. It seemed that a gust of wind could break her slender arm.

While Li Ang was processing the messages sent by Hinterlea, Adele had already entered the ward and arrived at Rosemary's bedside.

After this routine treatment, Rosemary, as usual, lost most of her memories.

Rosemary, whose mind was blank, was not alarmed by the unfamiliar surroundings. She simply sat quietly on the hospital bed, watching the medical staff coming and going around her.

Perhaps because she meant no harm, Adele easily gained Rosemary's trust, and she gently hugged the poor child and rubbed her little head.

Rosemary, like a kitten, squinted her eyes slightly, enjoying Adele's caresses.

From any perspective, rosemary is an endearing and well-behaved child. However, in Li Ang's perception, it is not so at all. The deformed monster grew out of rosemary's body.

To be precise, something resembling an umbilical cord extended from the back of Rosemary's head and connected to the monster above.

That thing is the result of Loken's water tank modification? Could this be what Kal'tsit asked him to solve?

What are you talking about?

Hearing Li Ang's shout, Adele gave him a disapproving look, "This child is clearly so cute."

As she spoke, Adele also...

As if in response to Adele, Rosemary's fluffy ears twitched slightly, and then she nuzzled affectionately against Adele.

"...I wasn't talking about her."

Li Ang explained somewhat helplessly, "I meant the thing attached to her, but you probably can't see it."

The monster existed in a very peculiar form; it could not be observed with the naked eye and had no physical form, but it could indeed affect the real world. One could sense the ripples in the air caused by the trembling of its limbs.

Clearly, just like its terrifying appearance, this monster is not as harmless as it currently appears.

Kal'tsit's expression changed slightly, and she quickly asked, "What did you discover?"

She was just trying it out, but she never expected that Li Ang would actually discover something from the rosemary.

For Kal'tsit, Rosemary's problem was also somewhat thorny. If she could obtain all the experimental records from the Loken Water Tank, or if time could be turned back several thousand years, Kal'tsit would have a better chance of curing Rosemary. But now... all she could do was keep Rosemary's condition from worsening.

"Well... it's hard to describe in words. It's like a bunch of bloated corpses crumpled up together. Anyway, it doesn't look like anything good."

The thing looked so abstract that Li Ang couldn't find a good adjective to describe it, so he could only give a simple description.

"...several corpses crumpled together?"

"Yes, and it doesn't look like an adult."

Kal'tsit raised an eyebrow slightly, as if she had thought of something, looking thoughtful.

After weighing the options in her mind, Kal'tsit chose the most direct method: "Can this be resolved?"

Whatever Li Ang saw, it must be related to Rosemary's current situation.

Although what happened to Rosemary was inhumane, the experiment also granted her immense power. If Rosemary were to lose control, even Kal'tsit would have a headache for a while. Rhodes Island doesn't have many combat forces available right now, so subduing her without harming her would undoubtedly be extremely difficult.

To avoid irritating the rosemary, the surrounding medical staff did not wear their iconic white coats, and even the medical equipment was disguised to some extent, making the ward look ordinary.

Rosemary is like a time bomb with no visible countdown; no one knows when it will suddenly explode. Kal'tsit took a huge risk to keep her.

If all goes well, Rhodes Island will be able to add a powerful new operator.

As for issues like Rosemary being too young to be ready for battle, Kal'tsit never even considered them.

With so many patients on Rhodes Island, do they all have to pay for their own medical care? You know, the medical expenses for Oripathy are not cheap. Even early-stage suppression is enough to weigh heavily on the shoulders of a middle-class family.

Therefore, Rhodes Island's approach is not fundamentally different from that of Leon, and the treatment on Plot Zero is even more generous.

After all, being on Plot Zero is just like 007 working overtime, while being on Rhodes Island means being sent to the battlefield.

“I suggest we don’t do that,” Li Ang shook his head. “That thing is connected to Rosemary’s head; such rough handling could cause problems.”

Although the monster looked rather ugly, if you ignore those factors and think about it carefully, you can only conclude that Kal'tsit's idea was unreliable. Rosemary has lived on Rhodes Island for quite some time now, and the fact that the monster has remained quiet until now already says a lot.

"And...it seems like it's looking at you right now."

Seemingly understanding the meaning of Kal'tsit's words, the frozen alien monster suddenly turned around and pointed a part of its body at Kal'tsit.

Chapter 41 The Possibility of a Cure (4k)

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the medical room suddenly became strange.

The two did not deliberately lower their voices, and several medical operators who were close to the door heard the conversation between Leon and Kal'tsit.

An invisible monster was hovering above the medical room... Even though they couldn't see anything, the medical operators still felt a chill run down their spines and quickened their pace, wanting to leave this terrifying place as soon as possible.

With fear lurking in their hearts, the operators were clearly unable to settle down and work under these circumstances.

So Kal'tsit simply let them leave. After all, Rosemary's routine treatment was over, and all that was left were some simple physical examinations, which wouldn't take long even if one person did it.

"You guys go first, I'll take care of the rest of the checks."

The young people felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They quickly put down their work, apologized to Kal'tsit, and left the medical room one after another.

As for Kal'tsit, who was involved, she walked into the room as if nothing had happened and came to Rosemary's side.

The monster turned its body in sync with Kal'tsit's steps, but made no further moves, simply staring silently at Kal'tsit.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang followed him inside.

Leon's arrival did not arouse the monster. Its body trembled slightly before it returned to its previous posture and continued to watch Kal'tsit's every move.

Now, only the four of them remained in the empty room.

Rosemary seemed a little sleepy; her eyelids kept drooping, and even her furry ears drooped listlessly.

After a few moments, the kitten finally succumbed to sleepiness, curled up in Adele's arms, and gently closed its eyes.

As Rosemary fell asleep, the monster connected to her body not only did not disappear, but became even more powerful. Its chilling aura seemed to materialize, creating ripples in the air.

Upon observing this situation, Li Ang raised an eyebrow, which made him even more certain of his earlier guess.

The connection between that monster and rosemary is closer than imagined; if it is destroyed by brutal means, it will definitely cause irreparable damage to the rosemary.

"Put her down; there are only a few more tests left."

Adele gently placed the rosemary on the bed without waking the sleeping girl.

Seeing Kal'tsit take out some electrode patches with wires attached from the equipment next to the hospital bed, Li Ang guessed what she was going to do next, so he simply turned around, turned his back to the three people next to the hospital bed, and turned off his senses.

What happened next was not something he should have seen.

With a rustling sound, Kal'tsit suddenly spoke up, "What you observed should be this child's brothers."

"Um???"

Brothers...?

Li Ang was immediately startled; many questions he hadn't been able to answer before were now answered.

But if he could, Li Ang didn't want to hear such an answer; this truth... was far too cruel for a young child.

As the electrodes were attached to Rosemary's body, Kal'tsit calmly said amidst the beeping sounds, "Rosemary grew up in a small orphanage, a situation not uncommon in Colombia, in every mobile city there. The constant influx of immigrants has injected vitality into that young country, but it has also exposed many problems, and the abandoned newborns are just a small part of it."

"The only problem is... the sponsor of that orphanage is Loken, and even the Melander Foundation can't keep an eye on every welfare institution all the time."

"Sponsor... Ha."

Li Ang had tried to guess the worst possible outcome, but he still underestimated the Colombian's limits.

What sponsor... Loken was clearly plotting to use those innocent children as experimental subjects, and in fact, he did just that.

Admittedly, human experimentation is an essential part of scientific development, but Loken's methods are far too despicable. Compared to him, even Ayin seems less hateful.

Of course, Ayin is also a scoundrel who deserves to go to hell, and that will never change.

"The experimental logs provided by the Melander Foundation were incomplete, and we do not know what Loken did to the rosemary at the end."