Asura in Arknights

"...I need to make sure my friend is safe first."

“Absolutely no problem,” Lucifer said happily. “They’ll be here to meet you in a little while.”

"Actually, you don't need to worry so much. We didn't want anything from you, we just used a bit crude methods."

Lucifer knew that this kind of person was not easy to persuade, so he never intended to take the persuasion route from the beginning. Now he was just saying a few nice words to go along with what the other person wanted to hear. "And after it's done, you will definitely get your share of the benefits."

Upon hearing this, Sona said expressionlessly, "I don't need any benefits, I just need to ensure my friend's safety."

In her heart, the hot-tempered Zalak had already cursed Lucifer to the point of being a liar.

Does she look like the kind of idiot who believes everything people say? She didn't believe a single word of the nonsense Lucifer was spouting.

Since being tricked into the underground arena, Sona has basically stopped trusting anyone except for a few friends who have had similar experiences.

"Tell me what you plan to have me do first?"

"You know the hospital in the center of Plot Zero, right? There's a secret space underground in that hospital, and I need you to send something in there."

"Are you crazy? You want me to infiltrate a place like that?" Sona's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Lucifer. "Do you think the security measures in a place like that are so easy to breach?"

Lucifer wasn't embarrassed at all; he smiled and said, "There's always a way."

"Besides... you don't necessarily have to sneak in. The press conference three days from now is the best opportunity. You can use that time to force your way in."

Hearing Lucifer say this, Sona was once again certain of a fact.

That bastard really wasn't planning to let them off the hook.

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

Chapter 84

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Soon, it was time for Pol Pharmaceuticals to hold a press conference.

No matter what, Pol Pharmaceuticals is a leader in the pharmaceutical field in Kasimir, so naturally many reporters would come to the press conference.

However, when the reporters arrived at the press conference, they found the atmosphere somewhat unusual.

First, the press conference had an exceptionally strict verification process for journalists' identities.

Media outlets below the second tier were all refused entry, and those who tried to sneak in were all caught and thrown into detention.

The person in charge of maintaining order at the press conference was surprisingly a heavily armored warrior.

These people are the top combat force of the Great Knights Territory, apart from the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights. With these people in charge of maintaining order at the scene, many timid people started to back down.

Secondly, some observant people noticed that among the reporters present, there were an unusually large number from official media outlets affiliated with the Securities and Futures Commission, accounting for almost half of the total.

In contrast, only a very small number of people from the Rose Newspaper Alliance were granted entry.

This was something that no one was notified of beforehand.

Backstage at the press conference, Cintrea and Shuiyue, who had disguised themselves as Li Ang, were already waiting in ambush.

Shuiyue's disguise was quite successful. As long as he didn't say a few words, even someone like Xintela, who was quite familiar with Li Ang, couldn't see any flaws.

Not to mention that 99.99% of the people in this city have never even seen Li Ang.

If you think about it, this was actually Li Ang's first public appearance.

The Knights of Conquest are responsible for maintaining order, official media guarantee the authenticity of their reports, reporters who might cause trouble are prohibited from entering, and the witnesses who have been bribed in advance are also prepared to ensure that the impact of these unexpected events is minimized.

While preparations were in full swing here, the real Li Ang had already quietly entered Plot Zero.

After finishing his conversation with the Grand Knight that day, Li Ang went back and met with Nian, from whom he learned about the strange man who called himself 'Trevor Friston'.

Unsurprisingly, that's the guy Ferdinand is looking for.

The words left behind by the other party plunged Li Ang into deep thought. The dangerous goods lost by Rhine Life... Could it be the special substance that Adele extracted from the blood of those rioters?

If so, that thing is indeed dangerous.

As for the Star Pod fragments that the other party wanted... Li Ang could not possibly entrust such an important item to a stranger whose identity and purpose were unknown.

After a moment's thought, Li Ang simply moved the Star Pod fragment to Plot Zero as well, placing it together with the experimental data left behind by Ayin.

From any perspective, if someone takes the bait, the only place they'll likely attack is Plot Zero.

"So... they all ended up in one place..." Li Ang sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead.

Although it was just a coincidence, all these troublesome things eventually came together.

No one knows what Ayin was thinking back then. He placed the new laboratory in the basement of the Central Hospital without even thinking about it.

However, the Central Hospital is indeed one of the few places that they completely control. They can make concessions to other factories and so on, but this is their base of operations. No matter how much those people jump around, they will not back down in the slightest.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to protect them if they were all kept in one place?” Shining said.

As the director of the Central Hospital, Shining would naturally be here.

Moreover, she is quite capable, so staying here is a safe bet.

"It's convenient, but if a conflict breaks out, this place will be the first to be affected... I don't want this place to be destroyed like Plot 21," Li Ang said helplessly.

If this plot of land is destroyed, then Boer Pharmaceuticals will be completely finished, and Li Ang will probably need to consider how to escape. He doesn't want things to develop to this point at all.

But who can blame them when someone keeps eyeing the things here? You can never kill all the fools, and Li Ang is also having a headache over the current situation.

Ferdinand, Trevor, the Radom Association, the infiltrator of Plot 21, the unknown person, and even Viviana—their targets are most likely all here.

With so many people clashing here, how could it be described as a chaotic mess?

And most importantly... Li Ang glanced at the distance.

Adele stood beside two hibernation pod-like devices, quietly watching the figures inside.

Her parents' bodies are also preserved in this place.

Behind the glass hatch, a middle-aged Caprini couple appeared to be asleep, their chests rising and falling slightly.

In fact, if medical tests were conducted on them, the result would definitely be that they were 'asleep', and the lack of their souls cannot be detected by conventional methods.

Ayin's laboratory was located right next to this room.

In fact, Li Ang's best option would have been to move Adele's parents to a safer location.

However, neither the information left by Ayin nor the bodies of Adele's parents can be transferred in a short period of time.

The former numbered too many, while the latter, under the careful treatment of the two Sarkaz doctors, had stabilized their vital functions. If their souls could return, they would likely be able to resume normal life soon.

However, if they were to leave this life support device that used a large number of Sarkaz wizards without warning, even the Shining who created it couldn't say what the consequences would be, since the couple's symptoms were so rare that they might be the only two cases in the world.

This is not Shining's fault; she obtained everyone's consent when she created the life support device.

"Forget it... let's not talk about this anymore, let's just take it one step at a time."

Leon scratched his head and casually asked, "Speaking of which, how is Liz doing these days?"

With some time still remaining before the press conference began, Li Ang's senses detected nothing amiss.

Liz doesn't have much fighting ability, so Shining sent her to Nearl Manor a few days ago so she could hide there for a few days.

"Thanks to your treatment, Liz's condition has been very stable for the past six months, but recently her condition has shown signs of relapse."

Perhaps because of her past experiences, Liz has always been dedicated to treating those infected; her Originium Arts can help delay the onset of Oripathy.

Six months ago, Li Ang tried to treat Liz in his own way, and almost all the Originium particles in her blood that had not fused with her body cells were extracted. Even though he couldn't do anything about those crystallized organs, Li Ang's treatment minimized the impact of Oripathy on her.

"It only lasted for six months...?"

The effects of one treatment lasted for six months... To be honest, this timeframe is rather nuanced; it's not long, but it's not as short as one might imagine.

“If Liz doesn’t use Originium Arts, I think she can last for two to three years, but on this one thing, Liz never listens to my advice.”

Shining said this with a very helpless tone.

Treating infected people? No problem, they were doing the same thing when they were homeless, just like Margaret.

But the problem is... this is the only hospital in the Great Knight Territory that is normally accepting infected people. Even though Liz only deals with the most severe cases, she is still busy almost every day.

Such frequent use of Originium Arts naturally aggravated Liz's condition.

If it weren't for that previous treatment, Liz would probably be dead by now.

"It's alright, I'll treat her again later," Li Ang said nonchalantly.

As long as the amount of Originium in the blood does not exceed a certain threshold, the cell fusion rate of the infected person will not increase further.

Compared to the deadly rate of somatic cell fusion, the amount of Originium in the blood is just a minor issue that can be resolved with a little effort. It's just that no one can be as thorough and clean as Li Ang. Dozens of hemodialysis sessions are no match for one treatment by Li Ang.

"Thank you for your help."

"It's nothing, it was part of the original deal," Li Ang waved his hand.

In the past six months, Shining and Liz have managed the Central Hospital very well, which has even changed many people's impression of the Sarkaz.

The two apostles were working so diligently that Li Ang couldn't possibly break his original agreement. In any case, the treatment would only take a few minutes, and he could just take some time to meet with Liz.

After chatting with Shining about Liz and Margaret for a while, Leon felt it was about time and headed towards Adele.

Shining glanced at them, then wisely slipped away quietly, leaving the space to the two of them.

"Sometimes I really feel like this period of time has been a dream."

Hearing Li Ang's footsteps, Adele said softly, "But whenever I see my father and mother, I clearly realize that this is reality."

During this time, whenever Adele had time, she would come here to visit her parents.

Li Ang could clearly sense that Adele's emotions had been becoming increasingly tense lately, and she probably didn't even realize that visiting her parents was a way for Adele to relieve stress.

Pre-wedding anxiety?

That might be it...

The wedding in the painting world was mostly due to the requirements of the ceremony, and there were hardly any onlookers. The two of them didn't really take it to heart.

But this time it's different. Their elders, relatives, friends, and many acquaintances will be participating. As the preparations gradually come to an end, even Li Ang feels a little nervous, not to mention Adele, who is naturally introverted.

Li Ang put his arm around Adele from behind, gently resting his head on her shoulder, and asked, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"I was just thinking, how wonderful it would be if my father and mother could wake up at this time..."

"Is it because I missed our wedding?" Li Ang thought for a moment and guessed why Adele said that.

Upon hearing this, Adele nodded in agreement.

“I remember my mother always telling me to go out and meet other people, and not to always stay in the library reading books, or I might not be able to get married in the future.”

Adele said nostalgically, “My father would stand up and argue with my mother, saying, ‘How could our daughter, who is so beautiful, not get married?’ He would also say, ‘It’s better if she doesn’t get married, so little Adele can stay with us forever.’”

"Then my father and mother would start arguing, and they would only stop and apologize when the argument got so bad that I couldn't concentrate on my studies."

"Later, when I decided to take over their research, my father and mother's attitude suddenly changed completely."

“My father thinks I should settle down, find a suitable person to marry, and do this dangerous job like him.”

"My mother actually supported my decision, believing that I should pursue my ideals... and that marriage could be put aside..."

As she slowly recounted the events of the past, Adele's eyes were filled with longing for that peaceful period of life.

Adele rarely talks about her past life, and Leon has always been paying attention to this aspect; the two have maintained this unspoken understanding.

But now, Li Ang felt that something about Adele seemed to have changed.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang suddenly asked a rather strange question.

"If, and I mean if, none of this had happened, would they have agreed to our relationship?"

Adele paused slightly, glancing at Li Ang out of the corner of her eye before speaking in a subtle tone, "If it were you, Li Ang, you could probably get along with Father, but Mother... I don't think she would agree."

"Why?" Li Ang asked curiously.

He thought that given Professor Nauman's doting care for Adele, it should be the father-in-law who would be harder to deal with. He never expected to run into trouble with his mother-in-law, but Adele seemed extremely confident, which made Li Ang a little curious.

"Because... you don't even have an elementary school diploma."

"real or fake?"

"Of course it's true."

The two looked at each other, and then laughed at the same time.

The difference is that Adele smiled happily, while Leon's smile was somewhat subtle.

"This is no joke."