Asura in Arknights

Indeed, disaster messengers also undertake some disaster relief functions, and no one has more experience than them in operating in contaminated areas.

"The last one..."

When Li Ang was mentioned, Warfarin hesitated for a moment.

Having anticipated this, Li Ang seized the opportunity to continue the conversation and revealed his disguised identity.

“Just call me ‘Knight.’ I’m in charge of reconnaissance in the contaminated area,” Li Ang said.

"Yes, that's it."

Warfarin nodded quickly, then, feeling that she hadn't said enough, added, "The Knight was in charge of fieldwork before, so you probably don't know him. He just returned to Rhodes Island these past two days and was thrown overtime by that woman Kal'tsit."

Rhodes Island is a large island, and it's perfectly normal for members of different departments to be unfamiliar with each other, so no one doubted Leon's identity.

At most, he would just mutter to himself that Li Ang's codename was too old-fashioned.

Knights... There are probably a thousand or eight hundred self-proclaimed knights in the entire Kazimierz region, but since there are only a few of them this time, there's no need to worry about confusing the titles.

Elena glanced at Li Ang with some curiosity, recognizing him as the strange man she had met in Kal'tsit's office yesterday.

However, Elena quickly looked away.

Li Ang wasn't in a hurry. He was in charge of the most important work in the team, and he would have plenty of opportunities to get to know Elena.

"Alright, is there anything else? If not, let's get ready to leave."

Warfarin clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"We are ready."

The man named ACE tapped his shield, and Huang nodded in agreement.

As elite operators, the two naturally made all the necessary preparations before setting off.

"Wait, I have a question. Wasn't it said that Pol Pharmaceuticals would send someone to monitor our operations? Where are the people they sent?"

Li Ang remembered that he had already reminded Hinterlea. The secretary would not make such a low-level mistake. Surely the people of Rhodes Island would not try to sneak away without their knowledge?

Warfarin, who was in a bad mood, was initially reluctant to answer the question, but after thinking about Li Ang's identity, she still managed to offer a brief explanation.

"You mean this... The people over there said they'll come over on their own later, we can just go and wait near plot 21."

"I heard she's a big star? I think her name is Viviana? Anyway, I don't know her," Warfarin said with a shrug.

"The Candle Knight?" Li Ang was taken aback.

"What? She's the Candle Knight?" Warfarin looked even more surprised than Leon.

Why is it her who came?

Li Ang thought they would just send anyone, but he didn't expect it to be Viviana.

Viviana holds a rather special position in the company. She is the adopted daughter of the Grand Knight Commander and serves as a channel of communication between Li Ang and the Supervisory Council. Li Ang has personally inquired about matters concerning her, so it is impossible for her to engage in any abuse of power.

Therefore, it's only possible that Viviana herself took on this task.

However, Li Ang didn't know her very well and couldn't figure out why she came here. Could there be something about plot 21 that she cared about?

The name of the Candle Knight also caused a stir of whispers.

Rhodes Island had been staying in the Grand Knights' territory for more than half a year. They might not know the Candle Knight's real name, but they had definitely heard of her title.

"The Candle Knight? Is she very famous?" Elena asked doubtfully.

The only people who haven't heard of her name are probably outsiders like Elena.

-------------------------------------

In any case, meeting the Candle Knight is a matter for later.

After everyone was ready, they entered the land vehicle provided by Rhodes Island.

The vehicle's design is similar to that of an armored vehicle, but it is much larger. The outermost armor plate does not have any pre-drilled firing holes; instead, it is completely sealed off.

This design can block Originium contamination from the external environment as much as possible, extending the armored vehicle's operational time in contaminated areas.

The only downside is that the vehicle is not equipped with weapons, so it may be unable to fight back against the onslaught of infected creatures. However, most infected creatures are also unable to damage this armor.

The fact that Ferdinand could produce such a vehicle proves that he made the right choice; Rhodes Island is indeed skilled at exploring contaminated areas.

The interior of the vehicle is very spacious, and can easily fit about twenty people. Apart from the driver and front passenger, it can comfortably accommodate five people.

The two elite operators took the driver's and passenger's seats. The Ubika sisters sat together and whispered to each other, while Warfarin and Provence didn't seem inclined to chat either. The carriage was quiet.

Li Ang also sat silently in his seat, checking his equipment.

He had already changed into the protective suit provided by Rhodes Island, which was similar to a fully enclosed metal armor. However, because it used special anti-radiation metal materials, the protective suit was not as heavy as a full set of knight armor, and of course, its defensive performance was not as strong.

With the addition of various modules such as the internal circulation life support module, environmental monitoring module, communication module, spellcasting unit, etc., this protective suit can actually be considered a prototype of powered armor. The design in all aspects is very complete, and it even has the most important central control system. The only thing it lacks is a power module and a reliable power source.

In terms of technology, the protective suits produced by the Rhode Island engineering department are no less advanced than those from large companies in Colombia.

Or rather... Rhodes Island did it this way on purpose.

Is it really that difficult to replace this protective suit with stronger armor and stuff a small Originium engine inside?

It's not difficult at all. Even for the most challenging power system, Li Ang felt that Rhodes Island had the technological reserves in this area.

Unexpectedly, such details revealed a glimpse of Rhodes Island's strength. The Ubika sisters, however, didn't think much of it; they were simply marveling at the weight of the protective suit. For Elena, a typical scholar and sorcerer, the suit was rather heavy.

Li Ang didn't actually need any of that. Even a simple protective suit and breathing mask, along with some special Originium Arts, would be enough to penetrate deep into the contaminated area. Adele was very good at this. Moreover, Li Ang wasn't afraid of radiation at all; on the contrary, he could directly utilize the radiation energy.

However, in order to avoid attracting attention, Li Ang still put on this somewhat bulky outfit.

The ruins of Plot 21 are at least 60 kilometers away from the current location of the Great Knight Territory, which is beyond the range of Li Ang's normal perception. Even if he could sense that place by concentrating his mind, Li Ang would not be idle enough to do such a thing.

Therefore, Li Ang was completely unaware of the situation there.

A distance of 60 kilometers is not too far. At the speed of the armored vehicles, it would only take half an hour to reach the vicinity of plot 21.

After Li Ang became familiar with all the functions of the protective suit, Plot 21 was also within his perception range.

In his perception, most of the structures on the surface of the land were still intact, but more vulnerable places such as windows and vents had been destroyed by the natural disaster. The contaminated rainwater had ravaged the interiors of the buildings, and some of the more enclosed structures were still filled with rainwater, and the situation was very bad.

Li Ang couldn't confirm where Ferdinand was looking for, but he wasn't worried at all. He was the one in charge of reconnaissance in this team, and the little bird would tell him the key clues sooner or later.

Just as Li Ang was thinking this, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.

“Strange, something’s not right about this place…” Li Ang frowned.

Hearing Li Ang's mutterings, Warfarin immediately jumped up, sat up, and asked nervously, "What did you find out?"

"Look at the Originium radiation readings outside, aren't they a bit too low?"

By sensing that the residual Originium radiation in the vicinity was very weak, and after confirming the reading on the radiation counter, Li Ang was certain that he had not made a mistake.

Pointing to the radiation counter on the wall, Li Ang said, "1491C... This value is indeed very high, but we are now close to the center of the natural disaster. It wouldn't be a problem if this value increased seven or eight times. The current data is clearly not normal."

This level of radiation... is at most like the radiation from an unreacted Originium leaking out of a household reactor that was accidentally blown up. If you're lucky and run fast enough, this amount of radiation probably won't have any effect on a physically strong Terran.

"Five months is not enough time for the radiation to decay to this extent."

Chapter Fifty-Six: Part of the Truth

Li Ang almost got a bachelor's degree in Originium Arts Application, and Originium Arts Application is closely related to Originium radiation. He wouldn't be wrong about this basic common sense.

The half-life of Originium radiation is neither long nor short, only about one year.

However, without human intervention, given the ridiculously high radiation levels caused by the natural disaster, it would take at least 20 years to restore the area to a habitable state.

However, based on the current detected radiation intensity and the rate of decay, it is estimated that it will only take about another year for the environment here to return to normal.

With Li Ang's current knowledge, he cannot explain what exactly happened here.

"What? Let me see." X3

Upon hearing Li Ang's remarks, the three people, except for Xingji, exclaimed in unison and crowded towards the radiation counter.

Naturally, the three heads collided.

Although the space inside the carriage was relatively spacious, it couldn't support such a large amount of movement.

"Hiss...you two...never mind."

Warfarin rubbed her head and gasped.

As she spoke, Warfarin took a step back, deciding not to join in the fun.

“Provence, you have the most experience among us, so you should do it.”

Elena hesitated for a moment and consciously took a step back, but she was still somewhat resentful.

No matter what, she is a senior researcher at the Rhine Life Energy Department, and her mentor is a renowned figure in the entire high-energy physics academic community. Originium radiation also falls under her research scope, so she is not necessarily inferior to the so-called natural disaster messenger.

However, there's really no need to argue over those few minutes.

Elena was also pondering why this phenomenon was occurring.

[First, we can rule out natural decay; something definitely happened here... Could it be some kind of infected creature that feeds on Originium radiation?]

Although this creature is rare, it does exist.

Samples of this type of organism have been captured in joint projects involving the ecological, structural, and scientific research departments.

But after thinking about it, Elena felt that something was not quite right.

If they really are this kind of creature... then their numbers must be incredibly vast...

After a quick calculation of the residual radiation intensity from the natural disaster and the absorption rate of the infected organisms, Elena couldn't help but shudder.

If her guess is true, Elena thinks they need to call in an army for support, as the few of them alone cannot stop the overwhelming horde of infected creatures.

Just as Elena was lost in thought, Provence rubbed his reddened forehead and walked to the control panel next to Li Ang, staring intently at the data displayed on the panel.

Li Ang had no choice but to dodge to the side to avoid accidentally touching her excessively large tail.

At this moment, Warfarin ran to the front of the carriage and turned on the communicator to contact the driver's cabin.

“ACE! Find a place to park the car, something's not right.”

"Hmm? No problem."

The burly man, Phildia, sounded somewhat puzzled. "But what about that Candle Knight? We haven't reached the designated meeting point yet."

According to the original plan, they would meet near the entrance of plot 21, but now that this unexpected situation has occurred, it is necessary to stop and find out the truth.

"Turn on full-band broadcast and tell her our current coordinates; she should be able to receive it."

Warfarin considered for a few seconds before making this arrangement: "Also, contact our main ship and ask Kal'tsit what she thinks."

They have proper authorization, so there's no need for them to act secretly. They can just broadcast directly without any problems, and they're not afraid of anyone overhearing what they're doing.

Although Provence was in charge of the operation, Warfarin's decision was not problematic. The people in the carriage silently put on their protective suits and prepared to go out.

The natural disaster almost destroyed everything here. In addition, the mobile city was built on a plain. ACE drove around the area for a long time but couldn't find a place to use as cover.

Left with no other option, he could only park his car haphazardly next to a small mound.

Anyway... it's not wartime now, so it doesn't matter where you park the car, right?

perhaps.

After getting ready, everyone gradually exited the carriage.

The location ACE chose was not bad. On the small mound grew a large tree of unknown species. All the leaves and branches had been destroyed by the natural disaster, leaving only half of the bare trunk standing there.

Perhaps it was because of the tree's root system that this small mound was able to survive a rainstorm comparable to a flash flood.

Elena, along with her sister, was collecting samples from different locations on the tree trunk. These were very valuable research subjects, and perhaps they could help determine the cause of the anomalies in this place.

Meanwhile, the experienced Provence was not idle either; she was squatting on the ground, analyzing the condition of the soil.

They all had their own things to do, and Li Ang couldn't do much to help, so he could only stand by and watch.

I checked the radiation counter built into the protective suit, and the reading was 1427C... There was an error, but it was small and still within the acceptable range, proving that the equipment on the vehicle was not faulty.

We'll have to wait for their investigation results to find out the specific reason.

At this moment, Warfarin, who also had nothing to do like Li Ang, walked over and asked with a worried look, "I have a very bad feeling... Tell me, do you really not know anything about the inside story?"

"..."

Coming to his senses, Li Ang glanced at Warfarin and said rather strangely, "The inside story... if there really is any inside story, it's probably what happened here a few months ago. Weren't you there too? Kal'tsit really didn't tell you anything?"

If anything happened in this region, it's probably only a few months ago when a hole leading to the outside world was opened here.

At that time, Li Ang accidentally fell into the outer world. After he returned to reality from the 'other world', it was the people of Rhodes Island who took him out from Plot 21. Without their help, Li Ang would probably have had to brave the natural disaster to break out of there.