Asura in Arknights

"It all started a month ago... or maybe a month ago? Anyway, a huge vortex appeared in the sky that day, and a black stone fell out of it."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang knew that Roy was referring to the remains of the Road Shapers.

Sure enough, that thing fell right to this side... No wonder the Rhine Life people have been searching here for more than half a month without any results.

"Where is that stone?"

“Ayin ate it,” Roy replied.

"?"

For a moment, Li Ang thought he had misheard.

He looked up at Roy, and only after seeing the innocent expression on his face did Li Ang realize that he hadn't misheard.

"After eating that stone..."

While rubbing his temples, Li Ang sorted through the information Roy had just revealed.

The outer shell of that stone was merely for protection; inside, a small portion of living marine flesh and blood was hidden.

As for what will happen after eating this, no one is more qualified to speak on that than Shuiyue.

This kind of infection originating from inside the body is much faster than infection from external contact. In the fastest cases, it can turn into a bunch of mindless, food-hungry fish in less than a day.

The Deep Sea Church experimented on countless people, and in the end, only Shuiyue survived and retained her sanity.

Moreover... according to Shuiyue himself, he only gradually regained his senses after going through a period of confusion and disorientation.

"Ayin has become a monster, so why are you still alive?"

Roy showed no signs of being infected by the Sea Sparrow. If Ayin had been transformed into a Terrorfish, then Roy, who lived with him, would be the perfect prey.

Roy's expression turned somewhat grim when he recounted this experience.

After swallowing hard a few times, Roy said with lingering fear, "Because of that madman... he actually retained his consciousness. If I had known this would happen, I would have run away long ago. There's no way I would have stayed here..."

He didn't get a good night's sleep during those days; all he could see when he opened and closed his eyes was Ayin's terrifying appearance, constantly transforming into a monster.

But in reality, he didn't have many choices. The hope of leaving this world was in Ayin's hands, and if he ran away to find a new base, he would die either way. So Roy simply mustered up his courage and stayed, and as it turned out, he made the right gamble.

"He retained his consciousness... well, that's possible."

After comparing Shuiyue and Ayin in his mind, Li Ang had to admit that even if Shuiyue was exceptionally talented, before being infected by Hai Si's flesh and blood, he was just an ordinary fisherman's child from the countryside of the Eastern Kingdom.

As for Ayin... there may be people in this world who are better than him, but their numbers are definitely very, very few. Apart from the fact that he has a low adaptability to Originium Arts, he can easily beat Suigetsu in every aspect.

Elites like him, after being infected and transformed into Haisi, could indeed adapt to the entirely new life form in a short period of time.

"Later, Ayin, who had transformed into Haisi... the monster you mentioned, infected his real-world clones through some means to accumulate enough energy to help you open the passage to reality... Am I right?"

Upon hearing this, Roy gave a wry smile. "Although I don't know what a clone is, that monster... did send out a part of itself, and what happened next was exactly what you said, boss."

"Um......"

Li Ang nodded slightly.

Later, in the real world, Li Ang and the Rhodes Island group's exploration inadvertently detonated the low-level dinosaurs created by Ayin, not only blowing the entire laboratory to smithereens but also destroying their hopes of escape.

"So how did he die in the end? The life force of the sea creatures is extremely tenacious; ordinary attacks simply cannot kill them."

Not to mention dying so horribly, not even much of Hai Si's special aura remained.

"This is the intelligence I mentioned before, related to the Consciousness Empire."

After rambling on for a while, seeing that the topic had finally returned to the main point, Roy finally perked up a bit.

"Boss, there's really no conflict between us. I'm just a lowly henchman following orders... Boss, if you can spare my life, I'll tell you everything I know."

Saying these insincere words, Roy forced himself to put on a flattering smile.

It's impossible to say that he harbors no resentment whatsoever.

Roy's deepest hatred was for Kane, that bastard who abused his power as a director of the Business Federation and ultimately dragged him down with him. Unfortunately, Kane was already dead.

The second person I hate the most is Kyle's stupid son. At least half of all the trouble he's in is because of that mentally challenged son, but sadly he's dead too.

And the third person I hate... is Li Ang, who abandoned him in this godforsaken place.

As for Ayin, who was also the mastermind behind the scenes, Roy had mixed feelings about her.

While he certainly deserves credit for landing here, Ayin also placed her hopes of leaving this place on him.

Feeling the small box he kept close to his body, Roy quietly awaited Li Ang's answer.

His only task now is to persuade Li Ang to take him away from this hellhole, no matter the cost.

The intelligence about the Consciousness Empire that Ayin gave him was his last straw.

Do you think you have the right to negotiate with me?

Glancing at Roy, Li Ang suddenly thought of someone who had been handed over to the secretary, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"of course."

Knowing that this was his only chance to escape, Roy nodded without fear.

“Before Ayin did that, he personally told me that the information about the Consciousness Empire was very important to you. As long as I have the part of the information he left behind, it won’t be long before you come to me on your own.”

"And this... is also my only chance to leave this godforsaken place."

Roy's gaze turned slightly cold. He lingered on Li Ang for a few seconds before saying, "Now it's up to me to figure out how to interpret the information left behind by Ayin. Anyway, the Unarmored Alliance has already disappeared. As long as you let me leave, I will disappear immediately and never set foot in this country again."

This means Roy has to give up everything he's worked so hard to achieve in Kazimierz over the years, but that's no longer important to him; he just wants to get as far away as possible.

Is that so?

Leon nodded in agreement. "Alright... Ayin is right. Intelligence about the Consciousness Empire is indeed very important to me."

Before Roy could even smile, he heard Li Ang continue, "However, I don't think you're in a position to negotiate with me right now."

"Just so you know, a few hours ago, my subordinates caught a thief trying to steal from the company's classified lab. Interestingly... her hair color looks exactly like yours."

Li Ang acted like a complete villain; he snapped his fingers and said to Roy under his angry glare,

"By the way, after my secretary identified her, her name seems to be..."

"Monica?"

Chapter 103 A Gift for You

"You bastard!"

Upon hearing the name 'Monique,' Roy finally couldn't keep up the act any longer and roared as he lunged forward.

However, given his sallow and emaciated appearance, he didn't have much strength. Li Ang simply moved to the side and stretched out his leg, causing Roy to trip and fall heavily to the ground.

Glancing at Roy, who had been lying on the ground for a long time without getting up, Li Ang said calmly, "Don't get so agitated. I was just saying it; I didn't intend to do anything to her."

Or rather, he hadn't had time to do anything yet; he simply had Hintleya lock Monique up.

"Pooh."

Roy, his face covered in blood, struggled to his feet and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam as he stared coldly at Li Ang.

Feeling the anger surging from Roy's heart, Li Ang finally felt a little relieved.

That's right, Li Ang was deliberately provoking Roy just now.

Roy initially acted too smoothly, showing no sign of hatred whatsoever.

If such a person were placed in any literary work, people would only shout that this kid must not be allowed to live. Someone who knows how to be patient and disguised, who harbors hatred towards him, and who has no weaknesses, even if he values ​​the intelligence in Roy's hands, would Li Ang dare to let him go?

Moreover, Roy is no ordinary person. Even among management who sit in an office all year round, his skills far surpass those of ordinary people.

Faced with Roy's cold gaze, Li Ang did nothing but quietly watch him.

After a long while, Roy's eyes suddenly darkened.

He reached into his clothes and fumbled for a moment, then pulled out a glass test tube about the thickness of a finger and tossed it at Li Ang like trash.

"You win. Let Monique go."

Just a few minutes later, Roy's voice became incredibly hoarse. "In exchange, I can die here... or rather, I should have died long ago. Monique has no conflict with you. She only took those dangerous jobs because of my request."

"A life for a life, that's fair."

Li Ang said noncommittally, then bent down and picked up the glass test tube that Roy had thrown at him.

The test tube was of excellent quality; even after such an impact, it did not develop any cracks.

Staring at the small, still slightly wriggling, bluish-black flesh in the test tube, Li Ang frowned and asked, "A small piece of Hai Si's flesh? What are you going to do with this?"

This piece of flesh was clearly cut from the mother not long ago, and it still retained a high level of activity.

If more time passes and no target for infection or parasitism can be found for an extended period, the surface of these fleshy tissues will harden in order to maintain their activity for as long as possible.

However... Li Ang couldn't understand Roy's purpose in throwing this thing out.

“How would I know?” Hearing this, Roy laughed self-deprecatingly. “To be honest, I have no idea what that madman did.”

"Before he died, he tossed this thing to me, saying it contained information about some kind of consciousness empire. He also said that someone would come looking for me sooner or later, and that if I handed it over, I should be able to save my life."

As he spoke, Roy fell silent.

Clearly, Ayin was right about most of what he told him, except... there were a few minor mishaps along the way.

Roy didn't understand why things had turned out this way. Was it because he was too eager to get out? Or was it because he was arrogant and believed he knew what had happened here, and wanted to use that knowledge to gain some advantage for himself?

Or... did he make a mistake from the beginning and shouldn't have made that call for help?

Anyway, none of this matters anymore.

Roy felt an immense sense of peace within him, like a prisoner awaiting execution.

"Is information about the Consciousness Empire preserved here?"

Hearing Roy's somewhat self-deprecating words, even though he knew he wasn't lying, Li Ang still felt a little incredulous.

Is it possible for Haisi to preserve information within its own flesh and blood? Theoretically, it is.

The Pathfinders could preserve vast amounts of evolutionary information in their own remains, so preserving other data was naturally no problem. What surprised Li Ang was that Ayin was able to master Hai Si's instincts to such an extent in such a short time.

Hai Si is a terrifying creature that can even eat inorganic matter. Although the outer world is a bit strange, it is still relatively close to reality.

A sea creature with self-awareness wouldn't starve to death in a place like this.

So... how did Ayin die in the end? And why did she die so tragically?

“What has Ayin been doing in the past six months? Tell me everything you know.”

Roy has basically given up resisting and is quite cooperative in answering Li Ang's questions.

"Then we have to start from the very beginning..."

Roy fell silent, seemingly recalling a memory that wasn't so distant to him.

Even though only half a year had passed, Roy could hardly remember what had happened back then... just like this gray and white world, his memories had faded along with it.

After recalling for a while, Roy slowly spoke, "Six months ago, after waking up in this strange place, I quickly discovered that madman."

"At the time, he was kneeling in a large pit, shoveling a pile of orange-yellow powder and fragments into his white coat."

Upon hearing Roy's words, Li Ang instantly understood what Ayin had done.

Those were the remains left behind by Originium lifeforms after they died... At the time, Ayin begged him not to destroy those precious samples, but in the end, Leon ignored his advice and crushed the remains to pieces.

After Li Ang left, Ayin collected the powder from the remains. Was the information about the Consciousness Empire extracted from the powder by him in some way?

Originium can indeed serve as a medium for storing information; this is a recognized discovery in academia. Li Ang had seen related papers while reading some journals in the William University Library, but no one has been able to extract the information stored in Originium.

Looking around the factory, the conditions here were so rudimentary that they were even worse than some small workshops in the slums. The test tube Roy had just thrown was already considered to be the most advanced equipment here.

Hai Si... Considering Ayin's eventual transformation into Hai Si, Li Ang already had a vague idea of ​​what he had done.

However, Li Ang still listened to Roy continue.

“We are the only two people in this world who are still alive. No matter how much I dislike that madman, I understand that I must get his help.”

"Later, we turned the factory into a base. I was usually responsible for going out to collect food and materials, while the madman stayed in the factory to make some simple props."

"This monotonous period lasted for more than a month... Later, that madman took out a fist-sized orange-yellow crystal from somewhere. It looked a bit like a pure source stone, but it was completely different."

"I guess he probably found some way to glue the powder he collected together, but that's not important..."

"The important thing is, that madman started hammering those crystals... The sound was very strange; just hearing it made me dizzy for a long time..."

Even though Roy was currently acting like he was giving up, he still couldn't help but show a look of disgust. "But that madman said it's about whether we can get out of this hellhole, so I have no choice but to put up with it."