Asura in Arknights

The girl, who grew up in the countryside, sighed inwardly, and quickly focused her attention on what she needed to do.

Under the cover of the loud bang, the sound of the two guards falling to the ground went unnoticed. Although Sona didn't know if there were any surveillance cameras, her reaction speed had been faster than her brain. By the time Sona realized what had happened, she had already rushed up and taken down the two guards. There was no time for her to regret it now.

She had originally planned to hide the two unconscious guards in the nearby storeroom, just like in the movies, but after thinking it over carefully, Sona realized there wasn't much time to waste now.

So Sona simply ignored them and plunged her short sword into the lock of the dean's office door.

He gripped the hilt of the sword and twisted it inside a few times, instantly destroying the lock cylinder to pieces.

Hearing the piercing alarm, Sona couldn't help but give a wry smile.

Luckily, I didn't waste any time... Even if I had hidden your two guards earlier, they would have been discovered anyway.

“There’s still time…” Sona murmured, her gaze quickly sweeping around the room.

The office furnishings were surprisingly simple, quite different from what Sona had imagined, such as leather sofas, wine coolers, and refrigerators. However, Sona quickly ignored these unimportant things and focused her attention on a bookshelf that was twice her height.

"It's right behind that bookshelf!"

With only one final step away from success, Sona's heart pounded with excitement.

She didn't have time to look for the mechanism to move the bookshelf; she simply stabbed herself into the gap between the bookshelf and the wall.

Sona used almost all her strength, even pressing down with her own weight, to barely pry open a gap.

With a series of creaking and screeching sounds, the heavy bookcase was forcibly pried out of its bottom slide and crashed to the ground with a thud.

What appeared before Sona was an elevator gleaming with silver light, and next to it was not an ordinary elevator button, but an unidentified green module.

Faced with such a high-end item, Sona had no good options. She could only sullenly raise her short sword, imbue it with her Originium Arts, and cut a hole large enough for her to pass through in the elevator door and at the bottom.

The Originium Arts of the Infected would worsen their condition, and Sona would only use them when her life was in danger. She never expected that she would use her Originium Arts for such a reason. Just thinking about it made Sona furious.

Sona grabbed the cable and slid down to the bottom of the elevator. Since the alarm had already been triggered, she didn't bother to hide her tracks anymore.

She simply used her Originium Arts once again, cutting a huge gap in the elevator door and swaggering into the hidden space behind it.

"here it is......"

In a vast, pitch-black space, only a few places were illuminated by a dim light.

However, with the help of these lights, Sona was still able to make out the general situation here.

Lucifer gave Sona only one task: after finding the laboratory, place a small Originium device near the laboratory's computer or the location where the documents are stored, the closer the better. Once she did this, she and her friends would be free.

However, Sona didn't believe Lucifer's explanation at all. Did she really think she couldn't guess what the device was for?

It was most likely some kind of spy device invented by the Victorians to steal military secrets from the Grand Knights.

This makes it clear what Lucifer is up to; he probably wants to steal the research results from this laboratory.

Anyway, Sona didn't believe that a Deeppool person would come here to act as a messenger of justice. His purpose, on the contrary, gave Sona an opportunity to take advantage of him.

Sona decided to find out what Lucifer wanted first, and then use that as a condition to make a deal with him.

However, before Sona's plan could even begin, she encountered a huge problem—

The hidden space wasn't large; the boundaries of the room were visible at a glance. However, Sona didn't see anything resembling a computer or filing cabinet, nor were there any doors leading to other rooms on the walls. Instead, there were two rectangular boxes of unknown purpose, and the faint light emanated from these boxes.

Because of her height, Sona couldn't see what was inside the two boxes.

When she got within a few steps of her, Sona couldn't help but gasp.

"There really is one..."

Lying inside the box were a man and a woman from Pritania who looked to be around fifty or sixty years old. Their chests were still rising and falling slightly, and they seemed to be still alive.

Human experimentation.

Because of her preconceived notions, coupled with the strange Sarkaz inscriptions emanating from the two hibernation pods, Sona instinctively assumed that some extremely evil experiment was taking place here when she saw the scene before her.

We must rescue these innocent people...

The thought had just crossed Sona's mind, but before she could act, she heard a whooshing sound behind her caused by a heavy object flying at high speed.

She wasn't wearing any protective gear at the moment, and judging from the loudness of the sound, if she were hit by that thing, she would most likely be seriously injured.

In the blink of an eye, Sona's body reacted instinctively.

A layer of silvery-gray air emanated from her body, and Sona's speed suddenly increased. She rolled to the side, avoiding the trajectory of the heavy object.

Looking back at her previous spot out of the corner of her eye, Sona saw something that looked like half a human body glide past the nearest box in a subtle arc, then crash heavily into the wall not far away, making a clanging sound.

"A corpse??"

Sona was startled by the shape of the thing, but she quickly realized that if it had been a corpse that had just flown by, why hadn't she smelled any blood?

Moreover... the sound that thing made when it hit the wall was somewhat like some kind of metal.

Just as Sona stood up and regained her balance, the light above her head was switched on with a snap.

"Sorry, you can't touch these things."

A familiar voice reached Sona's ears.

Stimulated by the sudden burst of bright light, Sona squinted, staring at the figure that appeared like a ghost, standing between her and the two boxes.

Although he had been monitoring Sona's every move through his senses, confirming that she had just broken in and hadn't had time to do anything yet, and that the hibernation pods created by Shining using Sarkaz wizards weren't something that could be destroyed easily, even if Sona did use her sword, it would most likely only leave two insignificant white marks.

However, Li Ang still personally checked on his parents-in-law's condition before he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You guys... I'm really impressed. Did you plan to come together? You all really know how to pick your time," Li Ang said helplessly.

Good news, a fish has been caught; bad news, a whole bunch of fish took the bait at once, leaving Li Ang somewhat flustered.

Just over ten minutes ago, the Central Hospital was in a very peaceful state, but the situation changed drastically the moment Shuiyue, disguised as Li Ang, announced the crimes of Boer Pharmaceuticals at the press conference.

Those whom Li Ang was wary of seized the opportunity and launched their attacks simultaneously.

Just as Li Ang had predicted, Viviana, following some unknown connection, approached Adele.

However, Viviana didn't seem to have any hostility; she just wanted to talk to Adele.

Meanwhile, another key person Li Ang was observing, Mr. Ferdinand from the Rhine Life Energy Department, also took out a set of individual armor and got into a fight with the mysterious Trevor outside the hospital. Li Ang had no choice but to rush over to stop them.

Otherwise, if it had been delayed even a few more minutes, those two idiots might have torn the entire Central Hospital to shreds.

Although Ferdinand's purpose was not Li Ang, his actions still caused Li Ang a lot of trouble.

Under the cover of the commotion caused by the two, a group of people, including Sona, began to take action. Shining was responsible for intercepting the large team that was targeting Ayin Laboratory, while Sona's side was outnumbered and less dangerous, so they could only wait for Leon to deal with Ferdinand and Trevor before stopping the little girl from Zalak.

What Li Ang just threw out was a piece of the wreckage of 'Trevor'.

"Alright, let's leave here. This isn't a place for you."

Catching his breath, Li Ang continued, "To be honest... I roughly guessed what you were looking for, but those things are next door... I really don't know how you found your way here..."

Li Ang didn't know how to evaluate it. The passage leading to Ayin's laboratory was located in the hospital's underground parking lot, and the level of secrecy was not actually very high. A little investigation would have revealed it.

Since Li Ang didn't intend for him to conduct any dangerous research here, at most it would be used to store some data, so there was no need for such strict defenses.

The location where the bodies of the father-in-law and mother-in-law were kept was very important. The entrance to the passage was built directly inside Shining and Liz's office, and Shining personally guarded it.

Although both are underground, they are not actually connected.

Li Ang hadn't expected that Sona would miss the obvious clues in the laboratory, and instead, following some unknown lead, directly discover the secret hidden in the dean's office...

I really don't know how she did it. If I didn't have a great deal of trust in the two apostles, I would have thought that some secret had been leaked.

"I'm guessing your friend has been kidnapped? I might be able to help you. The walls here are specially treated, so don't worry about anyone eavesdropping on our conversation."

Do you think I'd be like you?

However, Sona pointed her short sword at Li Ang, her eyes flashing with hatred.

"You lackey of Pol Pharmaceuticals!"

Chapter 88 Let's have a good talk

"you......"

Before he could finish speaking, a gust of wind rushed towards Li Ang's face.

Sona's expression was cold, her eyes filled with unwavering determination. She stepped forward and thrust the short sword in her hand toward Li Ang's chest.

Li Ang had to take a half step back, and he swallowed back the words he hadn't finished saying.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

In the instant he dodged Sona's sword strike at its fastest, Li Ang grabbed her wrist and threw her away.

Because Sona's attack was somewhat random, Li Ang didn't use much force; he simply kept his distance from her.

"And what's this about a lackey... Although I am one, isn't that a really harsh way to put it?"

Just two days ago I was happily calling him boss, how come he's suddenly been demoted to a lackey? That's quite a leap!

Moreover, Li Ang could tell that the emotions that Sona had just displayed were not feigned, nor were they a disguise made to lull others into a false sense of security.

Moreover, as Li Ang just said, almost all signals are blocked here, so it's impossible to contact the outside world even if you want to.

With a nimble half-turn in the air and a few small jumps to dissipate the force of flying backward, Sona's gaze toward Li Ang now carried an unusual meaning, and the slight contempt she had felt earlier had vanished without a trace.

Although Sona didn't intend to kill anyone, she didn't hold back much either, yet she was still easily stopped.

Being able to grab her wrist also meant that the other party could easily take away her weapon. The heavy pressure was overwhelming, almost making Sona subconsciously hold her breath, and she even had the illusion of returning to that underground arena filled with the smell of blood.

Li Ang said, "Your friend... must have been captured, right? That's why you risked doing this. Let me guess... was it the Radom Hometown Association that did it?"

Sona pursed her lips; although she didn't answer, the expression on her face said it all.

“Just as I thought.” Li Ang nodded knowingly. “Do you remember that lawyer Destreet from before? She was also ambushed by the Radom Association and almost died.”

“Those people are likely spies sent by other countries. Considering your previous help, I can cooperate with you to keep them occupied for now, and then find an opportunity to rescue your friend. What do you think?”

To be honest, this is already quite a show of sincerity.

To keep those people in check, Li Ang would have to release some information as bait. The risks and consequences of doing so were completely unknown, and he might even get himself into trouble. After all, it's not the theft itself that's scary, but the fact that someone has designs on you.

Sona was someone he had only met once. While he could sympathize with her, Li Ang could completely ignore what had happened to her.

For a moment, Sona was indeed tempted after Li Ang made his suggestion.

She doesn't have to deal with a powerful enemy right in front of her; in fact, the enemy will even help rescue her friend. All she needs to do is cooperate in setting a trap for those Deeppool people. It's a sure-fire way to make money.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that the other party is willing to keep their promise and help her rescue her friends, rather than treating them as expendable resources.

Some mistakes are best learned only once.

Since being tricked into the underground arena, Sona's trust in the Business Federation has plummeted to its lowest point.

Originally, because the chairman of Pol Pharmaceuticals was also an infected person, Sona had some trust in the company, which is why she came to Plot Zero with her friends.

But upon discovering evidence of human experimentation, that initial trust vanished instantly, replaced by an anger of being deceived.

She was fooled again.

So this time, Sona decided that no matter what nonsense the other party was spouting, she would no longer believe it.

Recalling her harrowing experience of being tricked into the arena, Sona reaffirmed her resolve. She knew her only chance was to defeat the traitor of the Business Federation and personally make deals with the Deeppool people.

Seeing that Sona remained silent and did not reply, Li Ang roughly guessed her answer.

“...Why bother?” Li Ang shook his head helplessly.

Why would they rather trust some foreigners with malicious intentions than trust this 'acquaintance' with whom they had cooperated once? Is he less trustworthy than those foreign spies?

Amidst Li Ang's sigh, Sona resolutely rushed forward.

Sona was enveloped in a thick layer of silver-gray aura, which not only distorted her figure but also increased her speed out of thin air, clearly indicating that she had used her best skills.

But... it's pointless, Sona is just too weak.

With strength approaching that of a high-ranking knight, and considering Sona's age, she should be considered a rising star in the world of competitive knights, but she is still too weak.

Putting aside the fact that competitive knights are inherently weaker than conquest knights, there are also quite a few high-ranking knights in the Great Knight Territory, at least a hundred of them. Sona is barely at the bottom among them.

Sona may grow to a very impressive level in the future, but among the people who were caught today, she is undoubtedly the weakest.

Even Ferdinand, who had just been beaten up next door, was able to overwhelm Sona with the power he unleashed with the help of technology. Li Ang was even a little embarrassed to bully this little girl.

However, their current position is ultimately quite unique.

Before Sona could get close, Li Ang took the initiative to meet her, ignoring the layer of gray aura wrapped around her, and placed his hand directly on Sona's neck, pressing it gently.

A strong wave of dizziness surged up instantly, and Sona felt her vision go black as the short sword in her hand clattered to the ground.

Li Ang picked up the short sword and crumpled it into a lump of scrap metal. He then looked at the unconscious Sona and fell into deep thought.