Asura in Arknights

Ferdinand was at a loss for words.

It's not surprising that a fan dressed as Hurricane Knight appeared at Hurricane Knight's company; he had thought so too. But who would have guessed that it was actually the real deal?

"To correct you, what I'm wearing now is indeed cosplay gear. The equipment I used for the competition is long gone," Li Ang kindly reminded him.

Whether it was the armor sponsored by Howling Guard or Boul Pharmaceuticals, it had long since been reduced to rubble. Later, because the need for this type of armor was not particularly important, Li Ang never commissioned a new one.

Now that he has stolen the Constellation Guardian from Astro, Li Ang has even less need for these armors. What's more useful than Originium Arts?

"It was such a simple trap..."

After figuring out the key to everything, Ferdinand let out a deep sigh.

It turned out that they had anticipated this all along, and had even set a trap for them to walk right into it... What made Ferdinand most uneasy was that these fools actually fell for it, and no one saw through this 'I'm playing myself' trick... Perhaps that weirdo Trevor saw through it, but he clearly had no intention of sharing this secret with anyone else.

"Alright, enough of that nonsense. Just tell me if I'm qualified to talk to you."

"Of course...no problem, Chairman Kennedy."

Ferdinand felt a slight headache coming on. Why did he have to be caught by the chairman himself? He should have held back...

Being caught red-handed by the chairman and being caught by the security captain are two completely different things. The former is far more troublesome than the latter, and he is prepared to suffer a huge loss for it.

However, what Li Ang said next made Ferdinand's heart sink.

“I’m not short of money. I won’t ask you to pay me any amount of money. Besides, you didn’t even have time to destroy anything.”

"I just want you to answer a few questions for me."

I'm not looking for money, but rather intending to use this opportunity to ask a few questions. Isn't that just making things more complicated?

"...Ask away, but if your question involves Rhine Lab's secrets, I have the right to refuse to answer."

"Don't worry, I have no intention of prying into your company's trade secrets." Li Ang waved his hand. "Our main businesses are different. Even if you told me some secrets, what difference would it make? I just have a few things that I'm interested in."

"For example... how much do you know about your company's general manager, Kristen Wright?"

"I heard she seems to be studying... the starry sky?"

Li Ang's question seemed to have stirred up some unpleasant memories for Ferdinand, and he clearly saw that Ferdinand's face darkened in an instant.

"Okay, if that's all you wanted to know, I can tell you."

After a moment of silence, Ferdinand said through gritted teeth, "I can tell you everything about that crazy woman, Christensen."

Chapter 90 Kristen Wright

Kristen Wright, a name that Ferdinand both loved and hated.

Ferdinand was not stupid; a fool could not have graduated from Columbia's top university and become the head of the Rhine Life Energy Department.

He had already gleaned something from Li Ang's attitude just now, and his brain, which had been somewhat dazed from the beating, started working quickly again.

After deciding to confront Kristen and vie for control of Rhine Lab, Ferdinand realized a problem—

Compared to the power wielded by Christen, he seemed rather weak.

Ferdinand was referring to those who truly obeyed him and stood with him.

Do the employees of the Energy Department count? Of course not. They were just receiving wages from Ferdinand and doing what they were supposed to do. Essentially, it was just an employment relationship. It didn't mean they shared the same ideals or stood on the same side.

For them, Rhine Life is just a company. They might feel very regretful and disappointed if they lost their jobs, but they wouldn't have any other thoughts about it.

But for Ferdinand, Rhine Life held an extraordinary significance.

His student could barely be considered half a student, but Elena was still too young. Even though Ferdinand was consciously training her, she still lacked experience and wouldn't be able to play much of a role in the confrontation with Christensen. She might even become Ferdinand's Achilles' heel.

Ferdinand was not hesitant to assume the worst about Kristen, after all, if she could treat Rhine Life, which she had built from scratch, in this way, what else was that crazy woman incapable of doing?

He had known Christensen for ten years, but at this moment Ferdinand suddenly realized that his understanding of Christensen had always been superficial; he had never truly understood what that woman was thinking.

However, after witnessing Trevor's power, Ferdinand realized that he seemed unable to defeat Christen, whether within or outside the rules.

Ferdinand's only advantage seems to be that he controls the economic power of Rhine Life, and even Justin Jr., the head of the business department, sometimes has to be mindful of his mood.

But that's pointless. Ferdinand can't exactly cut himself into the lifeblood of the Rhine, can he?

Ferdinand wanted to save the Rhine's life from the clutches of that woman, Kristen, from its impending doom, not destroy the culmination of his ten years of hard work.

Therefore, if Ferdinand wants to fight against Kristen, he needs helpers, some who at least won't hold him back.

He has many partners in Colombia, but only a few are truly capable of helping him, such as the Colombian Ministry of National Defense.

The Ministry of Defense has the hard power, but its desires are truly despicable. Ferdinand cannot, and absolutely will not, hand over his hard work to those greedy hyenas.

Having ruled out the domestic forces, Ferdinand naturally thought of things outside of Colombia, and his gaze toward Leon became deep and profound.

Although he didn't know what the hurricane knight's purpose was, Ferdinand did sense a hint of hostility from him towards Christensen, as he always seemed to be causing trouble for that woman.

Moreover, he does now have something on Li Ang's hands.

Li Ang was unaware of the complex psychological state Ferdinand had gone through in those few short seconds. He only knew that the other party had compromised, and at least he could use this opportunity to pry some useful information out of Ferdinand.

The turmoil in the Great Knight Territory is drawing to a close, with only the final cleanup work remaining. Li Ang's gaze has already turned to the future, to that emerging nation located on the western side of the Terra continent.

In any case, the subsequent trip to Colombia would inevitably involve dealing with Rhine Life.

“Please sit down. We have plenty of time to talk before the press conference ends,” Li Ang said to Ferdinand, gesturing to the sofa beside him.

Unlike the others who wanted to cause trouble for Li Ang, this time it was Li Ang who took the initiative to cause trouble for Ferdinand. Since the other party had compromised, Li Ang no longer needed to be as aggressive as before.

Ferdinand didn't stand on ceremony. He tore off the few pieces of power armor still hanging on his body and collapsed onto the sofa.

He was a complete civilian employee, yet he put on an unverified power armor prototype and went to fight with others. He must have been outraged by Christensen and her lackeys.

Now that I've settled down a bit, all the fatigue just hit me.

"Then I won't bother you any longer."

Shining has no interest in Rhine Lab and is ready to leave.

Both the battle between Ferdinand and Trevor, and her battle with Monique just now, have caused quite a commotion. The hospital is in chaos, and it is precisely the time for her, the hospital director, to appear and take charge.

Before leaving, Shining pointed to Monique and Sona, who were tied up, and asked, "Do you need me to take these two with me?"

“Just leave them here,” Li Ang replied casually. “I’m worried they’ll run away if I leave them anywhere else. I feel more at ease having them under my watch.”

As for his conversation with Ferdinand? There's nothing to worry about; they weren't talking about anything shameful.

After Ferdinand rested for a while and looked better, they resumed their previous conversation.

“What do you want to know about Christen?” Ferdinand asked.

"She seems to be conducting research on astronomy? What do you know about her purpose, or the progress of her research?"

Upon hearing this vague question, Ferdinand frowned.

"This is a rather complicated issue, and it even goes back to Christensen's background... Have you ever heard of the Wrights?"

Li Ang shook his head as a matter of course.

His understanding of the world was at a very subtle level. He knew a lot of secrets and had no problem with common sense, but there was a large blank in the middle.

Although the Wrights seemed to be quite famous, where did Leon hear about two Colombians?

After hearing Li Ang's answer, Ferdinand remained silent for a moment before slowly recounting the story of the Wrights.

Kristen Wright, that's Kristen's full name. She was born into a very famous academic family in Colombia, but this 'fame' didn't mean anything good.

The Wrights were infamous, and for a time newspapers were filled with attacks and slanders against them. The two of them alone supported at least half of Colombia's news industry.

The couple are experts in the field of aircraft, and they invented a very mature manned aircraft decades ago.

Such an invention would make them famous throughout Colombia and even the whole of Terra. And that is exactly what happened. After the successful test flight, the couple instantly became two rising stars in the Colombian scientific community.

“But they weren’t content with keeping the aircraft at a height of a few hundred meters,” Ferdinand said. “They turned their gaze to the sky above everyone’s heads… to the dark expanse of stars.”

Naturally, the couple's audacious idea attracted a lot of criticism. Some of them just couldn't stand their arrogance, while others were jealous of their talent. But the last group of people... were astrologers.

The group of astrologers is very interesting. Their origins are unknown. They flourished in the Gallic Empire and eventually spread throughout the entire continent of Terra as Victoria grew stronger. Their traces can even be seen in the land of Great Yan.

They weren't very strong, but through deception and trickery, as well as some special Originium Arts, they acquired wealth and power that were completely disproportionate to their status, and established an organization called the 'Astrological Association'.

Columbia was once a pioneering territory of Victoria, and the Astronomical Society had been deeply rooted in this land since its inception. Although Columbia's independence hindered their development, the Astronomical Society still wielded considerable power decades ago.

Under these circumstances, the Wrights' research attracted the attention of the Astronomical Society.

"To them, the Wrights were undoubtedly heretics, daring to meddle in the sacred starry sky?"

It may sound ridiculous, but the Astronomical Society held a certain amount of influence back then, and their accusations and slanders overwhelmed the Wrights like a storm.

However, the Wrights did not back down. They even withstood pressure from all levels of society and obtained research funding from the Colombian government. The Colombian government was very optimistic about the Wrights' research and provided them with assistance.

This is a good thing; in just a few more years, the couple's story could be promoted by the Colombian government and become a well-known legal case.

But all of this depends on the Wrights' experiment succeeding.

"Unfortunately, the Wrights ultimately failed. In an attempt to prove their research, they personally boarded the aircraft they designed, but it crashed in an accident, and their remains were never recovered."

Ferdinand shrugged. "Sounds ironic, doesn't it? When someone fails completely, even the way they were breathing before is wrong."

Colombia was in a frenzy during that period. The arrogant Wrights finally received their due punishment, and some fanatics even held a large-scale sacrifice at the crash site of the aircraft.

The Astronomical Society was very satisfied. Now no one could interfere with them, and the Colombian government had no intention of standing up for the two dead losers. The Wrights' reputation underwent a complete reversal in a very short time. Some of their original supporters turned around and joined the ranks of mockers, believing that this was the fate that should befall those who overestimated themselves.

No one stopped them, because the Wrights proved them wrong with their deaths, and no one jumped out to refute them, because they were already dead, not even a speck of ashes remained.

"Back then... how old was Christensen again? Anyway, not even 10 years old. You can imagine what she went through. I think... if it were me, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it."

Ferdinand’s words revealed a hint of admiration for Christensen.

Regardless of how one thinks about it now, for at least a period of time in the past decade, Ferdinand genuinely believed that Kristen could lead Rhine Life and the entire Colombian nation to glory.

In the end, Ferdinand was disappointed; Christensen only had eyes for herself.

More than a decade has passed, and people have long forgotten those two fools who wanted to challenge the sky, and they have also forgotten that they left behind a girl.

The girl graduated from Trimont University with outstanding grades. She gathered a few like-minded people who were dissatisfied with the current state of the scientific community in Columbia and, with the support of several venture capital firms with official backing, founded a company called Rhine Life. Ferdinand was one of the original founders. That was ten years ago.

"The research of the General Components Department has always been unclear. We didn't pay much attention to it at the time. After all, it was just a group of people with completely different research directions who came together to live together. We didn't have the right to interfere with other people's research."

"But it seems now... Christensen has never forgotten her parents' research."

Even... the very establishment of Rhine Lab could have been orchestrated by Christen, who, for this very moment, unhesitatingly used Rhine Lab as a stepping stone to get closer to the sky she had longed for.

"What projects does she have? What's the progress?" Li Ang asked again.

Because he controlled the finances of Rhine Lab and maintained a good relationship with the military, Ferdinand, unlike the people in other departments, was completely unaware of the research conducted by the General Components Department.

After a moment's thought, Ferdinand replied, "Gravity, the Department of Components mainly studies technologies related to artificial gravity, and it is now possible to artificially simulate gravity in specific experimental environments."

"Apart from that... there shouldn't be any other large-scale projects."

"Wasn't she having people collect star fragments?"

“Collecting meteorites is just Christensen’s personal hobby and has nothing to do with her research,” Ferdinand replied without hesitation.

Li Ang nodded thoughtfully.

Gravity... artificial gravity... does that Christen want to build a spaceship?

Gravity technology not only helps people adapt to the environment in space, but it is also one of the essential technologies for going into space. Isn't that a bit too big of a leap? Terra can't even produce a decent spacecraft right now. As the daughter of two spacecraft experts, Christensen shouldn't be unaware of this issue.

And most importantly... doesn't Christen know about Star Pods?

Although Ferdinand's account gave Laon a little understanding of Christensen, it did not provide him with any substantial help. Indeed, Ferdinand's understanding of her was quite limited.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang asked again,

"And what about Trevor Friston? How much do you know about him?"

Chapter 91 They've Found You

“He said he was an employee of the General Construction Department, but I have never met him. I think he is very likely a member of the Melland Foundation.”

Ferdinand replied without hesitation, "In all of Colombia, only the Melander Foundation has the technology to produce that kind of technology."

Even their engineering department at Rhine Labs, and large companies like Raytheon Industries, are still somewhat lacking in hard power compared to the institutions directly under Melander.

"Moreover, I have seen people who were completely mechanical like him before; that person was an agent of the Melander Foundation."

This is the real reason why Ferdinand dared to make such a conclusion.

It wasn't until the employee of the General Components Department was dismantled to pieces before his eyes that Ferdinand finally realized where the disharmony he had felt earlier came from.

His guess was actually right... Just like that bastard Tin Man, this guy was also a robot.

However, Trevor is clearly more advanced than the Tin people.