Asura in Arknights

Following this line of thought, those three Xuan Tie Grand Masters who have never shown their faces... could they be completely covered in black?

While Li Ang was lost in thought, Monique's heart sank suddenly.

Upon hearing that Li Ang had guessed her identity, Monique remained outwardly calm, still displaying her usual furious demeanor, but her increasingly rapid heartbeat betrayed her true thoughts.

Li Ang knew he had guessed correctly this time.

“So, a few ropes can’t hold her down.” Li Ang shrugged.

With those dangerous individuals around, Monique didn't dare to make any big moves, but once they left, it was time for Monique to act freely.

So, to avoid any accidents, Li Ang simply chose the most time-saving and labor-saving method: he wrapped the woman up in an iron shell. If she could still escape like that, then Li Ang could only admire her.

Judging from the final result, this woman who was suspected of holding the Azure Gold rank clearly did not have that kind of power.

"You didn't learn this from Sister Nian, did you?"

Looking at this familiar style, Adele asked rather subtly.

"Ahem... Anyway, as long as it works, that's fine."

Li Ang coughed twice to change the subject.

The public opinion surrounding the year was already quite delicate, and Li Ang couldn't afford to add fuel to the fire.

“I’ve already notified Hinterlea, she should be here soon,” Li Ang said.

To deal with the Unarmored Alliance, we naturally need to bring in former members of the Unarmored Alliance. I wonder if this Lapis Lazuli lady will jump up excitedly when she sees Hinterlea?

However, the press conference has just ended, and many reporters are still pestering Hinterlea and Shuiyue with questions, so she may arrive a little later.

During this time, the two men naturally focused their attention on Viviana.

Monique, who was locked up, and Sona, who was still unconscious, were temporarily placed next door. Leon and Adele then found a medical bed and placed Viviana on it.

"You're saying that Viviana was chosen by the followers of Dionysus to be the lead actress in a large-scale live-action stage play?" Li Ang asked with great interest.

His previous speculations about Viviana were somewhat flawed, but not entirely wrong.

Viviana did indeed come following the lingering scent of the Witch King, but this also involved another dangerous figure—the God of Wine.

The feud between Dionysus and the Witch King has lasted for over a century and continues to influence the world in a subtle way. Strictly speaking, the Twin Queens are the biggest mess he left behind.

“Yes, that’s what my teacher told me. He was once a lead actor in that role, but in the end, he successfully rebelled against his own script.” Adele nodded in response. “And I did indeed see the Dionysian mark on Viviana?”

"Angmar had the same experience? Interesting... Could we call him out for a chat?"

Compared to the unconscious Viviana, Leon was more interested in the story of the Witch King. How exactly did he defeat so many enemies in his old age and finally sit on the throne of Letania?

The ancient texts clearly record that the Witch King's strength only exploded after he ascended the throne. Before that, he was just an outstanding sorcerer, far from reaching the level where he later crushed all living beings.

However, Adele shook her head with a regretful expression.

"The teacher has fallen into a deep sleep again, and we don't know when he will wake up next."

“I see…” Nodding, Leon suddenly said, “Adele, don’t you think Angmar’s slumber is happening a little too frequently?”

The Witch King was awakened by the aura from outside the world six months ago.

At that time, the Witch King still possessed considerable power, and even had the capacity to make a deal with Adele in exchange for helping to close the passage.

After reaching an agreement with the Witch King, he was awake for more than twelve hours every day, accompanying the two of them through the Eastern Kingdom and the Great Yan Kingdom. However, he didn't know when it started, but the Witch King's sleeping time became longer and longer. Until now, after sleeping for a whole week, he could only be awake for one or two hours.

It was obvious to everyone that the Witch King's condition was deteriorating at a visible rate.

Upon hearing this, a hint of worry flashed in Adele's eyes as well. "I've asked my teacher about this too, but he always tells me it's normal and there's nothing to worry about."

The spell of possessing a soul in an object is extremely obscure, and it can even be said to be the most outstanding achievement of the Witch King's life.

Even if the Witch King were willing to tell Adele, she wouldn't be able to understand the magic in a short time and wouldn't be able to tell whether the Witch King was telling the truth or not.

"Is this a normal phenomenon...? At least in my perception, the Witch King's soul has not changed at all compared to before."

Li Ang nodded thoughtfully.

The lack of change means that the Witch King didn't actually need to sleep for so long; he must have had his reasons for doing so.

After thinking about it, Li Ang decided not to investigate further.

The influence of Dionysus and the Gemini Queens has begun to manifest, and even if they don't want to deal with these things, trouble will always find them.

They naturally share the same stance: the Witch King wants to cause trouble for the Twin Queens, and the Twin Queens also have a grudge against Adele. No matter what the Witch King's plans are, he can't hide them for long.

Afterwards, Leon had Adele lift Viviana's long blonde hair, allowing him to see the strange mark on Viviana's neck.

In an eye-shaped pattern, there are two faces standing back to back, one weeping and the other laughing wildly. A long sword cuts the pattern in half between the two faces. The eye pattern contains a large number of radiating lines.

Perhaps because it combined two completely opposite elements, crying and laughing, this mark made Li Ang feel quite uncomfortable.

Using his senses to examine the mark, Li Ang discovered that there was indeed a faint energy reaction on it, but it was only the kind of energy found everywhere in daily life, like a cigarette lighter. Even if one knew of its existence beforehand, it could easily be overlooked if one was careless.

No wonder Li Ang had met Viviana quite a few times, yet he had never noticed anything unusual about her... Unless one thoroughly examines Viviana from head to toe, inside and out, it would be almost impossible to find this mark.

Li Ang is not a pervert, so naturally he wouldn't do that.

Now that they had plenty of time, Adele recounted her conversation with Viviana in its entirety.

However, Adele was interrupted by Leon halfway through her retelling, who questioned what she had just said.

"Wait, wait, wait, Viviana said all the Queen's Voices have gone mad? And been turned into monsters by the Twin Queens?"

“But I also met an envoy from the Queen’s Voice before, what was his name again... Robert?”

"It seems like that's the person who told us about the professor's disappearance in the East, right?"

After Li Ang's reminder, Adele also remembered this matter, "Could it be that Viviana was wrong?"

"That Robert is just an ordinary Elafia, with decent strength, but I don't see anything about him that makes him seem like a monster."

“But that’s strange…” Adele tilted her head, looking at the unconscious Viviana with a puzzled expression. “She wouldn’t need to lie to me like that…”

The members of the Queen's Voice have all turned into monsters. This can be found out with a little investigation, so there is absolutely no need to tell such a lie.

Li Ang pinched his chin, lost in thought.

The memory of that brief meeting gradually became clearer in his mind.

"Speaking of monsters... Robert seemed to have said that Willard didn't die, he just needed to recuperate for a while... a monster, huh?"

"Who is Willard?" Adele had never heard of the name.

“It’s that big guy who fell from the sky when we just escaped from Brandenburg.” Li Ang gestured with his hands.

At that time, Li Ang's strength was not yet very good, and he was not fully familiar with his own abilities. He suffered a near-fatal injury when fighting the tower knight.

But if he were to face the same enemy now, he could probably be dealt with with just one slap.

Enemies of that caliber have long since disappeared from the meta. Just take a quick look in the ocean, and you can easily find hundreds or even thousands of sea creatures of equal strength.

"So his name is Willard..."

Adele nodded slightly. The scene was so chaotic that she hadn't heard the knight's self-introduction when he appeared.

However, Adele soon realized what the name meant.

"What? That person is still alive?"

Turning her head to look at Li Ang, Adele's expression was quite stiff.

After the battle ended, Adele clearly saw how devastating the battlefield was.

The Tower Knight was beheaded, his body neatly split in two at the spine, from which a large amount of black, unidentified substance, whether internal organs or something else, flowed out.

Li Ang had practically torn that Tower Knight to pieces, but now he's saying he's still alive?

"So, that's what makes it a monster, its vitality is clearly abnormal."

As he spoke, Li Ang subconsciously touched his abdomen.

Even with his head severed, he retained his vitality. Willard took advantage of the moment when Leon relaxed and almost ripped open his abdomen with a single sword strike. The excruciating pain is still fresh in Leon's memory.

The armor of the Tower Knights wasn't just a tall frame with their heads perched on the chest or shoulders; Willard was indeed that tall, and Leon did indeed cut off his head.

Or perhaps it was once some kind of organ of the brain.

It's uncertain whether the Queen's Voices have turned into monsters, but one of the Tower Knights who guarded them has indeed become a monster.

This proves that Viviana was at least partially right.

The two fell silent, reminiscing about their time living in Brandenburg.

Although Adele lived there for a long time, it was mostly ordinary people's daily life, from which she couldn't extract any useful information. And although Li Ang came into contact with some messy things, his time there was too short to find any useful clues.

The only possible explanation is that Willard and his empress's voice were the only people in Brandenburg at the time, which is why someone was able to bypass the security measures and poison the city's water supply.

However... this discovery doesn't seem to be of much use.

Viviana has already told Adele that the Queen's Voices are searching for all the earthly voices, and Willard is probably the only one left behind.

The two reminisced and discussed, and time flew by.

Almost an hour later, Hinterlea finally arrived at the Central Hospital.

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Bad News

After the press conference, after dealing with the endless stream of reporters, Hinterlaya hurriedly headed to Plot Zero. The chaos she witnessed along the way only added to her anxiety.

The closer they got to the central hospital, the more chaotic the situation became. Fortunately, a large number of trained knights maintained order, preventing the place from descending into complete chaos.

However, this only temporarily suppressed the problem and did not address the root cause.

This was completely different from what she had predicted.

According to Hintel's predictions, Plot Zero should be the least affected area.

Those were specially selected infected individuals who had received some education and had a mild temperament; they should have been able to discern the purpose of the press conference...

Is it like the last riot, with someone sabotaging things behind the scenes?

When Hinterlea arrived at the Central Hospital, she saw the traces of the battle near the hospital, as well as the door to the director's office that had been split in two.

Rushing into the room, Hinterlea saw Leon and Adele sitting on the sofa, and Viviana lying on the medical bed beside them.

"Oh, you've finally arrived! We've been waiting for you for ages." Li Ang waved to Hinterlea.

Seeing Li Ang's calm demeanor, Hinterlea frowned slightly, thinking to herself that the situation was not quite simple.

"Boss, what brings you here this time? Is it because of the harassment outside?"

"It has nothing to do with that, and you don't need to think too much about it. The chaos outside is because someone launched an attack. If no one is causing trouble behind the scenes, the infected people here are quite rational."

Li Ang saw the hidden worry in Hinterlea's heart and said frankly, "Most of those troublemakers have been caught, and this fishing plan was quite successful. However, I didn't call you here for that. There is a guest who wants to meet you."

"She must be someone you know?"

Hearing Li Ang say that the commotion outside was unrelated to the press conference, Cintraya breathed a sigh of relief.

The impact of the press conference is within a controllable range, and her subsequent workload will undoubtedly decrease by several orders of magnitude, which means her vacation is now settled.

Although Hinterlea didn't dare leave the Great Knight Territory because she had offended the Business Federation, she was already quite happy to be able to play freely within the Great Knight Territory. After working overtime for almost half a year, Hinterlea had almost forgotten what rest felt like.

As for the acquaintance Li Ang mentioned earlier? Hinterlea didn't take it to heart at all.

Where would she get any acquaintances? Her acquaintances from the Unarmored Alliance era were either killed by her or by the Securities and Futures Commission. After joining Pol Pharmaceuticals, she was surrounded by her acquaintances, which had already annoyed her to no end.

"What acquaintance?"

Hinterlea asked casually, already mentally planning how to spend her vacation after this work was over.

"She's right next door, go see for yourself."

"So mysterious..."

She muttered something under her breath, but didn't pay much attention. She casually walked over and opened the door leading to the next room.

The next moment, Hinterlea met Monique's gaze, who was frozen in a strange pose.

Monique was still struggling, trying to break through the iron shell on her body, but when she saw Hinterlea, dressed in a business suit, push open the door and enter, her movements froze.

Monique: "......"

Hinterlea: "..."

"boom!"

Hinterlea closed the door expressionlessly and took a few steps back.

Seeing her strange behavior, Li Ang couldn't help but feel puzzled.