Asura in Arknights

“My job is to face these dangers,” ACE said.

“Hey, where’s truly safe outside of mobile cities? I’m used to it by now,” Huang said.

“I think… if we just break the contract like this, it might not be good for Rhodes Island’s reputation if word gets out,” Provence said.

Although their reasons differed, the Rhodes Island operators did not back down despite Warfarin's threats.

How could they not have faced life-or-death crises to become messengers of natural disasters and elite operators? ACE even fought his way out of the Kazdel battlefield back then.

“彳亍口巴”.

Seeing that no one objected, Warfarin could only smack her lips and give up the idea of ​​running away.

If everyone agreed with Warfarin's idea, even just one or two people would be fine, and going back like this would definitely be okay, but now not a single person agrees... Going back like this would almost certainly get us hung on the mast.

"Thank you, thank you all," Elena said excitedly.

At least she wouldn't get a scolding from her tutor, and she cheered inwardly.

Elena's undisguised gratitude made the others a little embarrassed. ACE coughed and said, "There's nothing to thank me for. This is just what we should do."

"But... little girl, don't you really have any suspects? Such a large ruin, even if all Rhodes Island operators were to be mobilized, it wouldn't be easy to search it all."

ACE was just talk; Rhine Labs didn't hire all of Rhodes Island's operators. It wasn't that they couldn't afford the price, but rather... it wasn't worth it. Paying such a high price only to end up with nothing would make even Ferdinand want to vomit blood. It would have been better to give up from the start.

If things don't work out with the Grand Knights, then we'll have to try targeting the head of the Originium Arts Application Department. If all else fails, we'll just have to admit to the Colombian Ministry of Defense that the plan has failed.

After realizing Christensen's plan, Ferdinand was less fixated on the 'Dream' project and simply handed it over to his student to practice on.

Success is better, but failure is also acceptable.

After all, the Ministry of Defense still needs RheinLife for the time being, and RheinLife cannot do without the Ministry of Defense's investment.

However, Elena had no idea what Ferdinand was thinking; all she knew was that her mentor had given her another huge problem.

"This one……"

Elena was immediately stumped, because ACE had indeed asked the most crucial question.

Viviana has helped them break down the gate and create a passage to the surface of the ruins. Their advance team has completed its final task. The next step is to work with Elena within the time limit of the protective suits to see if they can find the storage location of the experimental data of Project 'Dream'.

Even if you ask me that, I have no way to answer it.

Elena said with a worried look, "The experiment is being conducted independently by Pol Pharmaceuticals. They only share some of the research data and results with us, and they would never tell us the exact location of their lab..."

"At least, you still have some other clues."

At this moment, Li Ang, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "For example, what exactly is 'Dream Illusion' research? We know absolutely nothing about it except for the name."

"Different studies require completely different experimental environments. If you can tell us what this project is researching, we might be able to deduce the location of the laboratory from the design and layout of Plot 21, or at least greatly narrow down the search area."

Let's put Viviana's plans aside for now. As long as she's still here, she'll eventually reveal some clues.

If that doesn't work, Li Ang can also talk to the Grand Knight Commander and ask her to inquire about what his daughter wants to do.

As for now... taking advantage of the opportunity unintentionally created by ACE, Li Ang said these words that he had been planning for a long time.

Although Li Ang already had some guesses about the truth behind the 'Dream' project, he still needed to confirm it with the person involved.

As soon as Li Ang said these words, everyone present turned to look at him.

A hint of doubt flashed in Viviana's eyes, but she did not recognize Li Ang's identity.

Wearing a heavy protective suit, not only was his face obscured, but even the sound transmitted through the speaker was distorted to some extent due to the interference of Originium radiation. Viviana and Leon had only met him a few times, so it would be strange if they could recognize him.

"..." Elena fell silent.

It must be said that what Li Ang just said was absolutely correct.

They are like headless flies, without even the most basic clue. But Rhine Lab is different. Surely they can't be completely unaware of what they are researching?

Whether or not to reveal such trade secrets is up to Elena's next choice.

After much deliberation, Elena finally made her decision.

"That project was personally overseen by my mentor, and its confidentiality level within Rhine Labs was extremely high, so I don't know much about it."

The so-called trade secrets are merely a fear of rival companies finding out and launching targeted attacks against them.

However, the Dream Project itself is on the verge of failure and urgently needs to recover the experimental data from Pol Pharmaceuticals. If they continue to keep it a secret, it will only lead to the failure of the project, and then the secrets they are keeping will be meaningless.

Therefore, Elena made a decision that violated company rules.

"I belong to the Rhine Life Energy Department, which mainly studies the application and storage of energy sources such as Originium, sunlight, geothermal energy, and biological energy. The projects that our department is responsible for are naturally related to energy research."

Elena exuded confidence when explaining her areas of expertise.

However, before Elena could continue explaining, she was interrupted.

"Hmm? Excuse me for interrupting."

Without much hesitation, the outspoken Huang voiced his doubts, "You guys... are collaborating with a pharmaceutical company on energy research? Isn't there something wrong with that?"

Energy? Medicine? How are these two seemingly unrelated fields connected?

Not only Huang, but everyone else present had the same question in their minds. Although there weren't many energy giants in the Great Knight Territory, there were still a few. Why would Energy Science cooperate with a pharmaceutical company?

Unlike companies like Rhode Island that are a hodgepodge and dabble in everything, Ball Pharmaceuticals was a pure pharmaceutical company founded by Adams to select the right body for himself.

However, a thought suddenly occurred to Li Ang.

[Pharmaceuticals...energy? I see.]

However, this little bird knew that this was probably just a facade; Rhine Lab's motives for initiating this research might not be so simple.

Now, Li Ang has a rough idea of ​​what the so-called Dream Project is, and he even knows where the experimental data of the Dream Project is located.

In theory, apart from Li Ang, no one knows the whereabouts of those experimental data, but Li Ang does not intend to tell Rhine Lab these secrets.

It's too dangerous; those things must never be leaked.

However, they were too precious, causing Li Ang great inner turmoil. He preferred to forget about their existence rather than make up his mind to completely destroy them.

Wow, that's really impressive... Ayin.

Countless times, Li Ang sighed deeply in his heart. That scientific madman was indeed the most outstanding researcher he had ever met, but... his research results brought no progress or development to the world, but rather more chaos.

The Terran civilization itself is built on a very fragile balance, beset by constant internal and external troubles. If Ayin survives, he will surely bring even greater changes to this world—giving it a kick from behind and sending it plummeting into the abyss at an even faster pace.

[The fusion potion, along with the sediment of human hearts—it really did use Loken's water tank technology. No wonder it felt so familiar.]

A sudden realization dawned on Li Ang's mind.

Human heart sediment, fusion potion, and the human modification that happened to Rosemary are all essentially technologies used to enhance Originium Arts, only with different focuses.

[However, what Rhine Labs expected Ayin to research was something else entirely; Ayin simply took that part of the technology and improved upon her own research.]

Therefore, the experimental data of Project Illusion that Ferdinand was pursuing was hidden in the secret laboratory beneath that original hospital.

Moreover... Li Ang had once asked Ayin to move the laboratory to Plot Zero so that all experiments would be conducted under supervision.

As Li Ang's mind raced, Elena's voice rang out, explaining their reasons for collaborating with Pol Pharmaceuticals.

"Because what we are researching is a new type of energy based on the human body."

"Simply put, it is a bioreactor that can be implanted in the human body."

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

Chapter Sixty-Three: Clues in the Laboratory

A biological...reactor?

Li Ang: "?"

Even Li Ang, who was in the middle of a brainstorming session, was stunned by the information Elena revealed, causing him to pause in thought.

Why does this seem different from what he guessed? What exactly are those guys at Rhine Lab researching?

A bioreactor embedded in the human body? Are they trying to create an Iron Man?

For a moment, Li Ang felt a bit dumbfounded, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem impossible.

[The bioreactor... is essentially no different from the implanted magical units researched by Loken, except that it also serves as an energy source.]

Most of the energy consumed by people using Originium Arts is paid for by the spell unit, with the caster only needing to bear a small portion. However, in most cases, the caster's own power is exhausted first. This implanted reactor may be intended to solve this dilemma.

However... if the goal is simply to extend the lifespan of Originium Arts, Loken's initial research was sufficient; simply stuffing a reactor inside would be going too far.

Even the smallest reactor is still a reactor; it's used to provide energy for large equipment, which is what Li Ang guessed as 'Iron Man'.

Cyber-ification is also a direction, but it's unclear which one Rhine Lab will choose.

"A bioreactor? What's that?" Huang asked, puzzled.

Although Huang did not receive a complete higher education, she had taught herself a lot about physics, otherwise she would not have been able to control that thermoelectric cutting saw.

Originium Arts is essentially just a very complex tool. Without the corresponding knowledge, one cannot unleash the full power of Originium Arts by relying solely on instinct.

But the thing Elena was talking about... she recognized the words "biological" and "reactor" individually, but when put together, Huang had absolutely no idea what it was.

As for the others... they are an astrologer, a soldier, a doctor, and a catastrophe scholar. They know nothing about biology or reactors. Only someone like Leon, whose imagination far surpasses that of the locals of Terra, can conjure up so many possible truths from a simple name.

“I’m sorry, that’s all I know.” Elena shook her head. “Although I’m the director’s student, I’m just a regular senior researcher. If it weren’t for this mission, my mentor wouldn’t have told me about this classified project.”

Although it was a bit of a pity, everyone expressed their understanding.

For Elena, knowing this information was enough to prevent her from targeting the wrong person.

As for more research details... sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing, and this can be seen as Ferdinand's way of protecting his students.

"I probably understand."

Li Ang nodded thoughtfully, "It can be implanted in the human body... So the purpose of your cooperation is probably for human experiments."

Upon hearing this, Elena's expression immediately became somewhat unnatural, but she still nodded reluctantly.

Elena was already a mature adult, and she understood that human experimentation was inevitable.

Every year, many companies in Colombia are exposed for conducting illegal human experiments and are fined into bankruptcy by the government, but no one expected that they would be implicated this time.

Although Elena knew nothing about this beforehand, she still felt very upset when it happened to her.

My advisor would actually do something like that...

This almost completely overturned Ferdinand's image in Elena's mind; in her mind, her mentor was not the kind of person who would touch such sordid things.

Meanwhile, Li Ang paid no attention to the girl's complicated thoughts and continued to damage Ferdinand's image.

"Moreover, it is highly likely to be illegal human experimentation. Due to the multiple reviews by the Melander Foundation, it is inconvenient for you to do such a thing on your own turf, so you have joined forces with a company in Casimir to conduct joint experiments."

As he spoke, Li Ang took out the urban land structure map that Rhodes Island had obtained from the secretary.

Although the location of the secret laboratory could not possibly be marked on it, and it even differs greatly from the actual site structure, it can still provide some reference for their actions.

“Let me think… This plot of land belongs entirely to Pol Pharmaceuticals. Without a suitable reason, even the Securities and Futures Commission has no right to enter here, so secrecy is secondary… Following this line of thought, these locations in the city are quite suspicious.”

After considering for a moment, Li Ang quickly marked several areas on the map.

Those areas are mostly close to densely populated areas and transportation hubs. If we only consider convenience and not worry about being discovered, these places are indeed somewhat suspicious.

Although Li Ang did not stop moving at all, he deliberately missed the laboratory located in the hospital's basement.

Such places generally have good protective conditions, and even if they encounter natural disasters, they can preserve a lot of things. Rather than worrying about the danger of data leaks from there, it is better to conceal their existence from the beginning.

With everyone watching, Li Ang couldn't easily make any underhanded moves.

Let's lure them to the wrong place for now, and after today's exploration is over, Li Ang will come back and completely destroy it.

"Let me see... these places are indeed suspicious."

Warfarin and Provence studied the areas marked by Li Ang and agreed that he made sense.

"Which place do you think we should investigate first?"

"Whatever, it's all the same anyway, it's all about luck."

Just as Provence and Warfarin were discussing where to begin their investigation, Viviana, who had been quiet all along, suddenly spoke up.

"The company knows the location of a laboratory, but it doesn't know what they are researching there."

"That laboratory is here."

Viviana pointed her sword at a spot on the map. "This place was originally designed as a shopping mall, but it was later converted into a hospital. It wasn't marked on the design drawings, so I think we can start our investigation here."

"..."

Li Ang fell silent.