Asura in Arknights

However, he was not focused on things that could be directly observed with the naked eye. Li Ang was observing the world itself, searching for the weak point on the barrier of reality.

The first thing Li Ang discovered was the weak point located at the center of the explosion.

Ayin, Roy, and Monique, working together from the inside and outside, almost managed to create a hole in the barrier of the real dimension, but unfortunately, they fell short in the end.

If they could get Monique to complete her last deal, or get the Sea Legions to absorb all the remaining Originium radiation here, their plan would indeed have a very high probability of success.

However, the explosion still created a weak point in the barrier, which could be easily opened by poking it with a little force, creating a passage to the outside world.

But this wasn't the place Li Ang was looking for.

"It's roughly around this area..."

Li Ang muttered to himself as he wandered around the ruins, eventually stopping at a garbage dump that seemed slightly more spacious compared to the other areas.

"This is it."

Compared to when I left six months ago, this place is completely different now.

This was the very center of the battle between Li Ang and the proxy, and also the place where the previous passage closed.

Even after six months, the wound that was violently torn open on the barrier has not fully healed, making it an even more vulnerable point than before.

If Ayin and his team could accurately locate this position, it would likely save them more than half the effort, but given their circumstances, it would probably be difficult for them to do so.

Since it was unclear whether reopening an old wound or creating a new one posed a greater threat, Li Ang simply chose the easier option for him.

The pitch-black cracks spread silently behind Li Ang, emitting streaks of dark red light.

As the rift expanded to a certain limit, a force suddenly appeared around Li Ang. He did not resist, but instead fell backward along with that force.

In the next instant, Li Ang's surroundings underwent a dramatic transformation.

In the distance, the immense aura of the banished 'gods' lingered on the earth. Li Ang did not touch their territory, but quickly withdrew his senses, covering only a small area around him.

After all, he came here to find someone, not to cause trouble.

With a 'thud,' he landed on the ground. With most of his senses sealed, Li Ang also regained some of his vision. It was the first time he had seen the true appearance of the outside world in people's eyes.

Decay, decay, everything seemed to be covered by a gray-white filter. Although the world was still colorful, everything here exuded a strong sense of death, as if all vitality had been stripped away, leaving only a shell remaining here.

However, the deathly silence gave Li Ang a sense of déjà vu.

"...The Will of Originium?"

Long ago, when Li Ang delved into the Originium Will through the memory space, he saw a scene very similar to this one.

That space was covered by a vast white light, while this place was a deathly gray filter. Although they looked completely different, the feeling they gave Li Ang was extremely similar.

He never expected such an unexpected gain... He didn't notice anything at all when he came in last time.

Li Ang paused, rubbing his chin, and after carefully observing the area for a while, he did make some discoveries.

If we compare this world to an onion, then the layer where the Originium Will resides is very likely the core of this onion, while the 'outer layer' he is currently in is probably just the easiest layer to peel away from among the countless layers of this onion, the one closest to reality.

The reason for this speculation is that this place is too similar to reality. Apart from being lifeless, it is almost indistinguishable from reality. Moreover, the explosion that occurred in reality a few days ago has also affected this place.

Li Ang also spotted the large crater created by the explosion not far away.

As for the location where the Originium Will resides... it has basically nothing to do with reality anymore. Leon can even regain normal vision there... no, to be precise, it's more like he's directly crammed the surrounding scenery into his head in a form similar to telepathy.

However, that's all Li Ang can see for now.

Shaking his head, Li Ang confirmed the direction and then walked towards the other side, away from the explosion point.

In that direction, Li Ang spotted a male from Film, presumably Roy who had accidentally fallen into this world... He hadn't expected that Roy would actually survive; he was truly resilient.

However... Li Ang did not find Ayin's figure. He searched the ruins of the entire city and even the reflection of the Great Knights in this world in the distance, but he could not find any trace of the second person.

Where did Ayin go?

Could it be... that he left this place and ran off somewhere else?

If he could die outside, that would be a good thing, but what Li Ang was worried about was... that scourge survived and accidentally ran into the territory of another god. The territory around Kazimierz is not safe at all.

Letania is the territory of Dionysus, and there is an existence in Victoria that is similar to Dionysus but completely opposite. Columbia does not exist in Li Ang's perception, so there is obviously something unusual there. Even Sherag, a small country, has an existence of the same level.

Last time he came in too much of a hurry and didn't have time to observe carefully. Only now did Li Ang realize how wonderful the nearby countries were. No wonder Kal'tsit had mentioned to him before that Kazimierz was a relatively safe country.

It doesn't matter if Ayin is dead. If he falls into the hands of other gods, the future becomes uncertain. Li Ang just wants to find out Ayin's whereabouts from Roy.

Roy was hiding in a factory in an open area, which, in reality, seemed to be used to process some dangerous chemicals, so it had a high level of protection and remained perfectly intact even during the natural disaster.

As a high-ranking official in the Azure Gold Sect, Roy naturally possessed some special abilities. He seemed to have made numerous modifications to the factory, blocking all the windows and vents, reinforcing the two entrances, and carrying out many renovations inside the factory that Li Ang couldn't understand.

If it weren't for the limitations of tools and materials, Roy should have been able to build this place into a formidable fortress. The methods he used to create traps... don't seem like something an assassin should possess.

However fascinating Roy's past may be, the traps he set are of little use to Li Ang.

"boom--!!"

Li Ang kicked open the reinforced door, tearing off most of the door frame in the process.

The burst of air swept the door as it spun out, smashing through all the traps in its path, and finally landing precisely in front of someone with a thud.

Roy, who had been lying listlessly on a makeshift bed, was startled by the loud noise. In an instant, he displayed Phil's agility and sprang up from the bed.

Then, Roy saw Li Ang storming in through the main entrance.

"Lapis Lazuli, Roy."

Li Ang called out the name of the blue-haired man, Felin.

However, before Li Ang could utter another word, he saw a gleam of surprise flash in Roy's eyes.

Roy leaped into the air and performed a jaw-dropping slide, shouting "I surrender! Don't kill me!" as he scrambled to Li Ang's side.

Of course, Roy stopped at a rather delicate distance, enough for Li Ang to see all his movements clearly without instinctively killing him with a single sword strike.

It's clear that Roy's moves are quite skillful; he must have practiced them countless times in secret.

Roy wore a fawning smile, rubbing his hands together incessantly, and said in a somewhat nauseating tone, "Boss, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for ages."

Li Ang was a bit taken aback by Roy's attitude.

He had considered using torture to extract clues from Roy, just like with another lapis lazuli, Monique.

If Li Ang hadn't grasped her weakness, it wouldn't have been so easy to get Monique to talk. He thought Roy was as principled as Monique, but he didn't expect him to be so...shameless.

Speechless, Li Ang almost forgot what he had originally wanted to ask him.

Li Ang opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and finally managed to utter, "Oh? Then why are you waiting for me here?"

Upon hearing this, Roy carefully observed the expression on Li Ang's face. After confirming that there was nothing amiss, he cleared his throat and replied, "Of course, I have very important information to give you, boss."

Li Ang didn't care about the information Roy mentioned at all. He had been an outsider in a series of events, and in the end, he was so unlucky that he was forgotten and locked up on the outside of the world. How important information could a nobody like him know?

So Li Ang waved his hand and said, "Let's put the intelligence aside for now. Where is Ayin? I know you definitely know him. I also left him in this world. You should have seen him before."

In this converted factory, Li Ang clearly discovered traces of a second person, besides Roy, having lived there.

If nothing unexpected happens, then that's a trace left by Ayin.

“Ayin? He’s dead, just recently.” Roy raised an eyebrow and said, “Boss, I have some very important information here. I think… I want to use this information to exchange for… my freedom.”

"Dead? How did he die? Where is his body?" Li Ang raised an eyebrow, completely ignoring Roy's second half of the question.

Having learned his lesson from the previous experience, Li Ang was determined not to believe Roy's side of the story this time.

You say Ayin is dead? No problem, but Li Ang has to see his body with his own eyes to believe it.

Seeing that Li Ang was completely uninterested in the information he had mentioned, Roy became anxious. This was his only hope of escaping from this godforsaken place, so he couldn't help but worry.

So Roy gritted his teeth, steeled himself, jumped up from the ground, and shouted loudly,

"The Consciousness Empire! I have intelligence on the Consciousness Empire!"

"......What did you say?"

Upon hearing the name, Li Ang immediately turned around and glanced at the man.

Chapter 102 You're not qualified!

“I mean… I have intelligence about the Consciousness Empire.”

Seeing that his desperate gamble had finally attracted Li Ang's attention, a hint of joy appeared on Roy's face.

However, before he could even be happy for two seconds, a strong gust of wind hit him, forcing Roy to squint.

The next moment, Roy felt a tremendous force coming from his collar, and his feet suddenly lost their footing.

Just like the scene six months ago, he was once again grabbed by the collar and lifted up.

Where did you hear that name from?

"Ayin! It was that researcher who told me!" Feeling the increasingly intense suffocating sensation, Roy shouted loudly, "Boss, you have to calm down! Calm down! Calm down!"

In his desperation, Roy even blurted out Victorian.

However, Li Ang completely ignored Roy's shouts, pulled him close, and carefully observed his soul through his senses.

Roy suddenly called out the name of the Consciousness Empire and claimed that he had relevant clues... Li Ang felt no joy at the clues that had been delivered to his door.

Did Ayin tell him that? That's impossible.

Neither Ayin nor Roy could possibly have any access to information related to the Consciousness Empire.

The agent of the Consciousness Empire was extremely secretive about his origins and had no intention of revealing them to anyone else.

Li Ang's situation at the time was very special. The aftershocks of his battle with the Proxy were enough to trigger several natural disasters. The concentration of Originium energy was so high that it was almost tangible. Coupled with the special environment they were in, the Proxy accidentally leaked some fragments of his thoughts, which allowed Li Ang to come into contact with a small amount of information about the Consciousness Empire.

Otherwise, even if the proxy dies, he would not reveal a single detail.

So how did Roy and Ayin find out?

The most reasonable guess is that Roy, like McKee back then, has had his identity replaced by the agent of the Consciousness Empire, and the so-called intelligence about the Consciousness Empire is just bait thrown out by this agent.

Although the time was very short, Li Ang did have a contact with Roy, and he recorded the fluctuations emanating from Roy's soul at that time.

The reason why the substitute was able to deceive Li Ang was because McGee was in a replaced state from the beginning. Li Ang only saw the substitute from beginning to end. He had no idea what the real McGee was like, which gave the substitute an opportunity.

But this time it's different. Roy is, after all, a Grandmaster of Azure Gold and one of the actual controllers of the Unarmored Alliance, unlike those ordinary soldiers.

Out of politeness, Li Ang still remembered Roy's soul fluctuations, never expecting that buying them would come in handy now.

"...No change."

To Li Ang's surprise, Roy's soul fluctuations were no different from those of six months ago.

This also means that the guy standing in front of him is indeed the original Azure Gold Grandmaster. As for Roy being replaced by the Proxy even earlier... it's best not to think in that direction for now, otherwise, wouldn't Leon be unable to trust anyone?

It is obvious that becoming an agent of the Consciousness Empire requires meeting extremely demanding requirements. Li Ang also had to admit that the agent's eventual transformation into a near-perfect Originium life form was largely due to the influence of McGonagall himself.

As for Roy... well, forget about him.

Seeing that Roy was almost rolling his eyes from being strangled, Li Ang finally let go and threw him down.

"You said Ayin is dead, so where is his body now?"

Kneeling on the ground, Roy coughed incessantly, clutching his neck, but he still raised an arm and pointed deep into the factory.

Looking in the direction Roy pointed out, Li Ang didn't see any corpse, but rather a... disgusting thing that was hard to describe in words.

It looked like a piece of dark blue flesh had burst open from the middle, with disgusting minced meat evenly smeared on every inch of the surrounding space, making Li Ang frown.

"Cough cough...that pile of minced meat...that's Ayin's corpse."

At this moment, Roy regained some strength and stood up unsteadily, walking to a short distance behind Li Ang and saying something.

Even after being treated so roughly by Li Ang and almost teetering on the brink of death, Roy's voice remained remarkably calm, without a trace of dissatisfaction.

Regardless of Roy's actual strength, at least in terms of emotional management, he truly deserves to be the leader of the Unarmored Alliance.

"That thing is Ayin? Are you sure you're not lying to me? Shouldn't you reconsider?"

Upon hearing the words "Consciousness Empire," Li Ang realized that the things these two guys had done on the outside of the world were far more complicated than he had imagined, so Li Ang decided to start investigating from the beginning.

The first thing to determine is the whereabouts of Ayin and Roy, and whether they have been replaced by the agents of the Consciousness Empire.

After the verification just now, Li Ang felt that he could give Roy a little trust. However, when Roy pointed to a pile of unidentified substances on the ground and said that it was Ayin's corpse, Li Ang still felt a sense of being fooled.

"How could I dare to lie to you, boss?"

Roy spoke with a chuckle, but when he saw Leon's expressionless face, he quickly realized what he should do.

He cleared his throat, his frivolous smile fading, and said in a serious tone,

"Ahem... This matter is rather complicated. In the end, Ayin completely transformed into a monster, so it was indeed his... corpse? Or something left behind after his death."