Asura in Arknights

With the series of riots finally coming to an end, Li Ang's life returned to its usual routine.

Time moved forward little by little, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

Of course, this also includes Leon and Adele's wedding.

One day at the end of July, inside the Linguang Manor, the two finally held this small wedding.

Professor Valcke has experienced far too much in the past two years.

As Adele's only elder, he couldn't hold back his tears when he saw Adele appear in her wedding dress.

Rui, who had largely recovered, gently comforted the agitated Professor Valk. The fabricated experience in Sagazaki City had ultimately left an indelible mark on the heart of this divine priestess.

The wedding was a small affair, attended only by some of Leon and Adele's acquaintances.

The best man was Marna, who has recently had a lot of help with her work and looks much healthier, though she has lost some of her ethereal beauty.

It's rather strange, but among the acquaintances in the Great Knight Territory, only Marna was suitable to be a groomsman.

Although Marner was somewhat reluctant, he took on this important task because there were no other suitable candidates.

Marner, who usually has a stern face, also wanted to show a smile on this occasion, but after being criticized by Zofia for smiling too strangely and saying it would be better not to smile at all, Marner reverted to her stern face.

Compared to the limited pool of suitable groomsmen, the competition for bridesmaids is extremely fierce.

In the end, Xi narrowly defeated Maria and won the bridesmaid title.

The older sister, Nian, seemed to enjoy the drama and kept fanning the flames; while the other good sister, Margaret, wanted to stop her younger sister but didn't know how to start, so she could only smile wryly.

However, all of this happened before.

Xi somehow bribed Maria to withdraw from the competition, and the two would occasionally glance in Nian's direction and whisper to each other.

But Nian seemed oblivious to the fact that he had been betrayed by his own sister.

Everything seemed so peaceful.

Halfway through the wedding, a strange fluctuation suddenly appeared in the small courtyard.

As space distorted, a young man and woman suddenly appeared in the shadows in the corner of the courtyard.

Many people at the scene noticed the commotion, and after nodding to the two young people, the wedding continued in an orderly manner.

"Brother, aren't you going to see him?" Ling asked.

“Not this time, it’s not our time to meet yet.” The man in the brown robe shook his head. “I… just came to take a look.”

"This is... already very good," the man said softly.

"Then let's do as you say, brother." Ling waved his folding fan nonchalantly.

The two then fell silent, turning their attention to the wedding ceremony taking place not far away.

The wedding ceremony remained unchanged despite the arrival of these two unexpected guests. Ryan, the officiant, stood on the stage, reciting the final vows.

"Whether in poverty or wealth, in health or sickness, I will love you and respect you until death do us part."

Amid cheers from friends and family, Leon and Adele exchanged gold rings on their ring fingers.

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P.S. I'm finally finished writing this... This volume was definitely the most painful one I've ever written...

First, I contracted a potent strain of the virus during my time in Yangkang and almost died at home. It took me half a year to recover. Then, a lone star completely backfired, rendering the outline obsolete. The latter half of the writing became a mess, and my head is throbbing... Fortunately, I've finally finished editing it. Sigh...

Chapter 105

August 17, 1095

10:07 AM

Weather conditions: Sunny turning cloudy

Rhine Life headquarters, Trimont, Colombia.

As the most renowned and perhaps most powerful scientific organization in Colombia, Rhine Life Sciences is still bustling with visitors today.

Some came to discuss cooperation with the business department, some tried to steal secrets and were thrown out by the defense department, some came for interviews, and of course, many more were employees working at Rhine Life.

Energy Department, Structure Department, Originium Arts Application Department, Ecology Department, Engineering Department... Apart from the Scientific Research Department, which has very few people staying at headquarters all year round, these five departments are home to the elites of the entire Rhine Lab, and even the entire Columbia Lab.

Of all the things Rhine Lab promoted back then, they actually accomplished at least one thing.

"Independent research and independent project initiation" – having abandoned the nauseating atmosphere of Columbia academia, most scholars can find a place to showcase their talents at Rhine Life.

As the core of Rhine Labs, the General Components Department has absolute control over all of Rhine Labs' business and research. It has the highest level of authority and confidentiality. Almost no one knows the specific work of this department, and even the heads of other departments know very little about it.

In fact, this department should be considered someone's private laboratory, namely Christen Wright, the founder of Rhine Lab.

This department, and even the entire Rhine Life, was established from the very beginning to achieve a certain goal in Christen's mind.

Although the members of the General Components Department were conducting a great deal of research under Christen's leadership, none of them could actually explain what the purpose of their research was.

Only Christensen remained behind the scenes, secretly controlling everything in the General Components Department.

Even the research being conducted in other departments of Rhine Life has been secretly influenced by Christen. The current chaos that is beginning to emerge in several departments of Rhine Life is the result of Christen's deliberate indulgence.

Very unusually, Kristen showed up in her office today.

In order to keep abreast of the overall situation, Christen had to sacrifice some of her precious research time to process the data collected from various departments.

The first thing Christensen saw was the news that Ferdinand had recently returned to Trimont and met with military representatives.

After just one glance, Christen lost interest and tossed the report aside.

Ferdinand's actions were all under Kristen's control. Whether it was his secret dealings with the military or his private contacts with foreign companies, Kristen had solid evidence in his hands.

However, Ferdinand's actions were generally beneficial to Rhine Lab and her plans, so Christensen turned a blind eye and allowed Ferdinand to flirt with those forces.

Sometimes, Christensen felt that Ferdinand was somewhat pathetic now. Was he a businessman or a researcher?

Kristen shook her head and looked at the next report.

This was an application submitted to her by the head of the Structural Medicine Department, Palvis, who said that his chimera experiment had made considerable progress and that he was preparing to test a new treatment method, and that he had come specifically to ask Christensen for her opinion.

As a veteran who had been working in academia for over forty years, Palvis, the original gold standard of Rhine Life, had done a flawless job in every aspect, and Christensen saw through his intentions at a glance.

New developments? It must be the gains from that 'fragment of a star'.

As expected, that old guy Palvis secretly kept a portion of the sample, which was actually something Christensen had anticipated.

Shaking her head, Christen wrote "Rejected" directly on it and signed her name.

Unlike the 'Flame Demon Project' led by the Structural Engineering Department, this new thing that Palvis has come up with is playing with fire. If an accident occurs, even Rhine Lab might not be able to handle the mess.

After thinking for a moment, Christensen warned Palvis again, but she didn't mention the possible consequences of doing so.

In a sense, Kristen and Palvis are the same kind of people; they are both fanatics who are willing to sacrifice everything, even themselves, to satisfy their thirst for knowledge.

That's why Christensen knew all too well that if she told Palvis, the consequences would only make things worse.

She simply warned Palvis that the Melander Foundation might have its eye on his research and advised him to tone it down a bit.

This should dispel some of his unrealistic ideas.

"Transforming yourself into a garbage disposal unit? Your hobby... is quite unique."

A malicious voice suddenly rang in Christensen's ears.

A second person appeared in Christensen's office, which was originally occupied by only one person.

The 'Bohai' defense system, which Christen had placed high hopes on and whose hypothetical enemy was the strongest person in the entire Rhine Lab, proved to be completely ineffective. The seemingly ordinary Luper man appeared beside Christen as if he were in an empty room, looking at the report in her hand with great interest.

Since Christensen received a mysterious signal more than two months ago, similar scenes have been playing out around her frequently.

Habit is a truly terrifying force; now Christen is no longer surprised by sudden sounds around her.

Christen didn't turn around, calmly replying, "Garbage processors...that's only in your eyes. For the current Terra civilization, that kind of life form is undoubtedly perfect, surviving in space with a physical body...even I would be tempted to study it."

"Then why don't you prepare to give yourself an injection after you break through the Star Pod? You don't even need to prepare a spacesuit."

“That is indeed a good suggestion. If I have the opportunity to prove the feasibility of this plan, I will consider it,” Christen replied indifferently.

This answer clearly did not satisfy the man who had suddenly appeared, and he clicked his tongue in obvious displeasure.

Everything Christensen knew about that creature came from this man.

In the previous civilization, those creatures might have been just garbage disposals or environmental modification devices, but to the current Terran civilization, they are near-perfect beings.

"Actually, I'm quite looking forward to you guys getting wiped out by that thing," the man said, smacking his lips.

"Perhaps that day will come," Christen said noncommittally.

This person... this AI left over from a previous civilization, harbors an extremely contradictory and distorted attitude towards the existing civilization on Terra.

On one hand, he wished the current Terran civilization would be destroyed immediately, but on the other hand, he was not stingy in extending a helping hand to them. Even now, they are still acting with the goal of saving the world.

Perhaps in the eyes of this advanced AI named Trevor Friston, they are just a group of parasites living on Terra. It doesn't matter if they all die, but the planet cannot be destroyed.

In short, they are cooperating within this twisted relationship.

After a few seconds without hearing Trevor's harassment, Christen turned to the next page of the report.

This was an ad-hoc report given to her by the head of the Ecology Department, a report on Originium exposure, intended to study the contact between biological individuals or groups, including humans, and the natural environment, with the impact of Originium on the entire ecosystem and even life forms being of paramount importance.

Around the beginning of this year, a report submitted by a member of the scientific expedition team who returned from Sami attracted the attention of multiple departments. Due to his special condition, the member had been confined to the ecological park of the ecological department and was not allowed to leave. The ecological department and the structural department jointly provided him with treatment.

However, after studying for so long, they gained almost nothing.

An infected person... should be an infected person, right? How exactly did they manage to maintain a 0% somatic cell fusion rate even when the blood Originium crystal density reached 0.7u/L?

With such a high density of blood crystals... no one would be surprised if she could explode at any moment, but she's been perfectly fine, lively and energetic for over half a year without showing any abnormalities... The head of the ecology department is almost going crazy because of this.

This was not the direction Christensen was researching, and she couldn't offer any useful suggestions, so she had to set the report aside.

"Wait! Let me take another look at that report."

At that moment, Trevor suddenly spoke up to stop Christensen.

"Didn't you say you weren't interested in these things?"

Despite saying that, Christensen picked up the report she had tossed aside again.

As for why Trevor doesn't do it himself... because he's currently in a form similar to a hologram, capable of communication but unable to make direct contact.

The mechanical body that Christensen had specially prepared for him, which he obtained from the Melander Foundation, was destroyed last month, and he was unwilling to reveal what had happened to him.

Since we can't get a second body of that caliber in a short time, we'll have to make do with a holographic projection for now.

"This, Sami... has the anomaly in the northernmost part of the continent been eliminated?" Trevor asked, pointing to a seemingly insignificant line in the report.

"You mean the demons of Kitahara? Director Mariam of the Scientific Research Division has confirmed this news. The influence of the demons has indeed disappeared, but the special environment there still exists."

"Without the demons as a buffer, the situation between Sami and Ursus has become more tense, and a new round of war is likely to break out. Most of our members there have been expelled, so we cannot confirm more details about the situation."

After briefly explaining the situation, Christensen asked, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"Interesting... How was the problem over there solved? And who solved it? What was discovered deep within that ice field?" Trevor asked, squinting.

Christen shook her head. "Unfortunately, the researcher lost consciousness at the most crucial moment. She didn't know what happened in the end. All she knew was that... there were several tiny insects living there, suspected to be the true form of a demon."

"In the end, all of this should have been resolved by the combined efforts of two Sami Snow Priests and two sorcerers from Letania."

"Snow Priest? A warlock?" Trevor scoffed. "That's a cataclysmic disaster that even we couldn't handle, only barely managed to control... How interesting..."

"However, if the problem there is truly solved completely, then you can rejoice. In the far north of the continent, you can find a natural stargate, but... hahaha, even if your civilization is destroyed, you might not be able to build the equipment to cross the stargate." Trevor laughed wildly.

Christen ignored the raving Trevor and simply wrote down what he said.

Although I don't understand what a stargate is, as long as I can save the records, they will come in handy someday.

After Trevor calmed down, Christensen asked, "So what level of disaster are we facing this time?"

Trevor's expression darkened, and he remained silent for a moment before replying, "If everything goes smoothly, then it will only be a catastrophic event. If the worst-case scenario occurs... then it will be the same doomsday event."

Upon hearing this, Christen nodded silently.

Even in the best-case scenario, the catastrophic disaster as defined by the previous civilization... seems to be beyond their ability to withstand.

Quietly ending the topic, Christen turned to the next report.

But when Christensen saw those few lines on the report, her face darkened.

"The Horizon Arc Light Project has been approved, but you don't seem happy."

The report contained a project proposal titled 'Horizon Arc Light,' bearing the official seal of the Department of Defense, indicating that her plan had been approved by the Department of Defense and would receive support from them.

"...It's nothing, I just feel that this country is truly beyond saving."