Hello, Arknights

Chapter 292 The Hand of Public Opinion

Lin Guang’s house is big, but very empty.

This was Ling Dengxian’s first impression. From a visual point of view, the unnaturally simple facade was like Kong Yiji trying to be respectable when he paid nine copper coins to pay in a tavern.

There is also a kind of twisted feeling, as if some people care about this decency and are trying hard to maintain it, but some people don't care at all. The steps and windowsills are cleaned very clean, but the broken doorbell is not replaced or repaired.

"What are you thinking about?" Seeing that he seemed to be pondering something and hesitating to take any action, Surtel poked him with a piece of grass stalk he had just broken.

"Do you think there's something wrong with Lin Guang's house? The decoration seems so weird." Upon hearing this, Ling Dengxian also wanted to listen to her opinion.

"Huh? I have no home and you ask me this?" Sartel tilted his head and looked at him.

"I'm not referring to my own house, I'm asking about the decoration of your home."

"No." Surtel frowned. Seeing him turn around in surprise, he answered without waiting for him to ask, "My memory is a mess. Only the memories from a few years ago are clear. The memories before that are either forgotten or occupied by other memories that don't seem to belong to me. Moreover, they are all fragments that cannot be connected."

"So you don't have a home, which means..."

"Before I came to that huge ship, I had been wandering on my own, looking for clues to my appearance based on the chaotic scenes in my mind." Surtel shook his head and rolled his eyes at him. "How long have we known each other? Why are you asking now?"

"You didn't tell me your experience was so bizarre!"

"Then you didn't even ask."

Both sides stared at each other with some sense of righteousness.

"I remember there are no visitors today. May I ask who you two are?" A deep voice reminded the two that now was not the time to make a fuss. Turning back, they saw a tall blond Kuranta man who smelled of alcohol and frowned slightly. It was obvious that he was not interested in the uninvited guests.

After taking a look at the situation, Sartel felt that this situation was not her responsibility, so she stepped back and let Ling Dengxian out.

"Hello uncle, we are Lin Guang's friends. We are here to play with Lin Guang, not to discuss something with Lin Guang." Because of the other party's extremely oppressive eyes, Ling Dengxian almost subconsciously thought of this as the scene when he was a child and went to his friend's house to play and was questioned at the door by the other party's parents.

"Lin Guang, who are you looking for? Margaret or Maria?" The man's expression did not become softer.

Ah? Are there two more Lin Guangs? Lin Guang, you didn't tell me you have any brothers or sisters.

When he met Lin Guang on the island, he always called him by his code name, and Lin Guang never formally introduced his name.

Just as Ling Dengxian was trying to recall whether Nightingale called Lin Guang Margaret or Maria, footsteps were heard behind the door, and then the door opened. A blonde Kuranta girl with facial features that looked 50% similar to the Lin Guang he knew poked her head out: "Uncle? You got off work so early today... Did your work go well?"

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but when Ling Dengxian saw her wearing armor, he felt that the man’s expression seemed to have added a bit of dissatisfaction.

It seems that Lin Guang’s family is not very harmonious...

"It's just that I don't have to work overtime today... Are you planning to go to Zofia again?" The man showed a stern expression without concealing his expression.

"No, no... My sister said she had something to do and would be home late, so she asked me to come and see if the friends she invited had arrived..."

"Are you looking for Margaret?" After learning the whole story, the Kuranta man's face became even colder, and he didn't seem to want a response. But in the end, he didn't order them to leave. He went into the house on his own, leaving the three of them looking at each other awkwardly.

"Well, my uncle has a bad temper, please forgive me... I am Maria Linguang, Margaret's sister. Please come in and sit inside for a while and wait for your sister to come back." The nervous Kuranta girl looked around and waited until her uncle went upstairs, then she laughed dryly, looked at the two of them, and invited them into the house.

"We really won't disturb you? You look like you're going out." Based on the conversation between the two just now, Ling Dengxian asked tentatively.

Maria shook her head vigorously and glanced upstairs with a guilty look: "Actually, I've already returned from training, but I haven't had time to take off my armor yet. Luckily, my uncle didn't notice."

"Your uncle gives people a very bad impression." Sulter suddenly spoke, staring at the corner of the stairs upstairs and squinting his eyes.

"Big sister, can you please be more careful with your words? And don't you always have a sour face as if you have no right to criticize others?"

Ling Dengxian apologized to Maria awkwardly: "I'm sorry, my colleague is a bit outspoken."

Maria also laughed dryly and waved her hands to indicate that it was nothing.

Surtel rolled his eyes at Ling Dengxian, but still put Lewontin beside his legs thoughtfully.

Before Lin Guang came back, Ling Dengxian planned to find some topics to talk to her sister, who didn't seem as serious as she was, to learn about the situation of Lin Guang's family and the conflicts among the infected people.

"Ms. Maria, from what you said before, you are also a jockey?" In fact, he asked this question even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, but, but I'm not as good as my sister. I just wanted to do something that I wouldn't regret before my sister came back, so I participated in the knight competition."

"After my sister came back, I was actually a little hesitant about whether to give up. Uncle Mahenna has always been against us participating in these competitions. I don't know if it's the right thing to do."

Maria quickly recovered from her distressed look, scratched her head and smiled, "Sorry, sorry, I was a bit self-centered. I heard from my sister that you are from an external pharmaceutical company. You probably don't understand what's going on, right?"

"Well, it's okay. I've been in Cavaleliaki for a while and have watched the games. I know a little bit about it."

Ling Dengxian thought for a moment and asked, "Ms. Maria, to be honest, we want to ask about the conflict between the Infected Knight and other knights a few months ago. The information we can find is either exaggerated or vague. This is also related to what your sister wants to tell us."

Indeed, this is a factor that prevents them from obtaining real information. Even Casimir's journalism itself may not be able to control the truth and falsehood. Under the promotion of people with ulterior motives, it is easy to hide the conflicts they want to hide.

"That time... was a continuation of a conflict on the field." Thinking of that incident, Maria's face darkened a little. "An infected knight was targeted, and the Rusty Bronze Knight Olmer Ingra 'accidentally' killed the infected knight on the spot. The furious infected knights almost broke through the blockade of the field and besieged the Rusty Bronze Knight.

"Although they were stopped in the end, they blocked the Rusted Bronze Knights' path in the street after the game and demanded that Olmer Ingra pay the price immediately. However, the matter came to a temporary end with Olmer being detained by the relevant authorities and awaiting interrogation."

"Isn't there any casualties?" Surtel couldn't help but interrupt.

Ling Dengxian realized something and his eyes suddenly became gloomy.

Maria lowered her head. As a Casimir, she found it difficult to speak out what she was going to say next:

"...After official investigation and evidence collection, Olmer Ingla was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison...His family paid the bail and he was released after only two months in custody..."

Ling Dengxian could guess what would happen next, and it was the same as what he thought.

"This caused public outrage among the infected knights, who gathered on his way back to the arena. Afterwards, no one was able to stop the conflict in time, and a bloody fight broke out between the Rusted Bronze Knights and the infected knights. In the end, both sides suffered casualties... Olmer killed another infected knight and was detained again..."

Ling Dengxian took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart towards the malicious handling of this incident, and tried his best to calmly say: "But now it seems... no one is continuing to investigate the matter?"

"The infected knights are still being investigated, but ordinary people's attention has been quickly diverted because of the return of the 'Knight of Glory' and the hype of several single-word knights. The infected have no chance of winning the war of public opinion." A familiar voice sounded at the entrance behind them. The three of them turned around, and Maria blurted out, "Sister..."

"Operator White Dove, we meet again." Facing those golden eyes, Ling Dengxian was silent for a moment. Thinking of Nightingale, he subconsciously looked away guiltily.