Hello, Arknights

Chapter 337 Whispers and Turning Point

"Activating the mechanical press with bare hands..." Serkiak was dumbfounded. It was hard for him to imagine that in the era of Originium engines, there were still humans who could do such an incredible thing. According to the design, the gate could only be opened by Originium power generation.

After confirming that the valve hub was fixed and the passage was safe, the Silver Spear Pegasus rearranged themselves. Their arrival opened a way of evacuation for Cavaleliaki, but while they felt relieved, a conspicuous figure also caught Russell's attention.

That was an Agor bounty hunter. After noticing the look that Grand Knight Casimir was giving him, he didn't react much. The surrounding Silver Spear Pegasus also showed some fear of her. There were eight external hubs to open the gates, and each was activated by a team of five Silver Spear Pegasus. The bounty hunter who was willing to provide help completed the activation of a hub alone, which made these warriors look at her sideways - whether out of respect or caution.

"Grand Knight Commander, this...hunter helped us, but also brought a request. It seems she's here to find one of her own."

"Are you their leader? I helped you, can you let me in to find someone?" The girl with white hair and red eyes raised her head, her calm gaze projected from under the brim of her tricorn hat. She rubbed her wrist, her tone quite matter-of-fact.

The eye-catching sword on the hunter's back was as silent as a reef, and his red eyes reflected a faint light, as if he was a sea beast lurking in the deep sea.

"...Ms. Skadi? Why are you here?" Amiya felt incredible. She remembered that Skadi had left the ship on her own long before they set off, with the simple reason of "mission requirements", but with Kal'tsit's approval, she and the Doctor did not ask any questions.

"Hmm... looks like you've found the target you were looking for?" Russell smiled, but she wasn't so relieved in her heart. The reactions of the Silver Spear Pegasus told her that the person in front of her was quite dangerous. If the Doctor from Rhodes Island was the person she was looking for, then she would definitely stay in the team. Although she knew that she had no reason to pose a threat to safety, it was still unsettling to have a person who was even more dangerous than the Silver Spear Pegasus around, and who could decide life and death with just one step.

She has seen too many shameful scenes.

However, the latter glanced at Amiya and the doctor, nodded to indicate that he saw everyone as a greeting, then shook his head and asked bluntly: "Can I come in?"

The doctor looked up thoughtfully at the center of the storm in the city——

few days ago.

Since a few days ago, Skadi felt that a voice was talking to her, telling her to go to a place and giving directions.

She took a moment to recall and found that she had heard this voice a long time ago, but what made her angry was that this voice was brought out by her from the sea stained red by corpses, and she felt disgusted.

But she couldn't block out this voice, as if it "respected" her life. When she was fighting and busy, the whispers disappeared. Once she rested and slept, its voice was omnipresent, but it was not to destroy her spirit, but to become more and more anxious.

But Skadi turned a deaf ear.

She had gotten used to it long before, it was just that she couldn't enjoy the comfort of daydreaming for a while, but this time, His voice became clearer and clearer, even when she washed herself in the water, her reflection reflected unfamiliar light and shadow.

Skadi felt that she should rest more. Oh no, even if she was sleeping, she would be disturbed by Him, so she had to stay awake.

It was not until the voice struggled to bring a name to her ears that she stopped wandering in hesitation.

……Why?

After a long time, she responded to Ishamara's voice again.

But after saying the name and the place, He fell silent again. No matter how she asked, He just left Skadi with uneasiness and hesitation.

However, faced with the uneasiness caused by the name that was tentatively approaching her and concerned about her, she finally started running.

It was Isama who spoke up. If the Deep Sea Cultists were doing something bad to him, she couldn't just sit back and watch.

"...I told you, if you stay with me, you will die."

Time goes back to the present, Cavalleriachi, dreams and reality.

Tianma's gradually broken body was still tightly protecting the plot No. 0 below him. This was the place that Ling Dengxian had noticed and defended desperately when he was sublimating against the "Storm Sword". He could sense that Huang, Ye Dao and the others were here.

After the separated personnel of the Rhodes Island advance team arrived in Plot Zero one after another, they quickly organized a defense line against the monsters in the virtual dream reality. The main strategy was to use concealment, making this area a safe zone where the survivors could breathe for a while. However, when the monsters rioted and found this place accurately, the defenders were in the most difficult moment and their blood was constantly gushing out. Until a "tower" rose up, the monsters left without warning just as they had attacked without warning before. After that, it was the crisis of Pegasus.

They desperately protected Plot Zero from being destroyed by the destructive storm that came through the sky. From the moment the city-breaking spear shattered, the blood sublimation of Ling Dengxian and Bai Jin began an irreversible collapse process. Ling Dengxian had experienced it once, but the time when he fought against the evil demon with the Patriots, he collapsed very quickly. But this time he managed to hold on until now. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because they were in a virtual dream reality. After "becoming" Tianma, the two had a lot of extra power that they had no time to process and understand. In a hurry, Bai Jin followed his instincts and seized some control of the virtual dream reality.

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that the virtual dream reality is a transitional area where the transformation process of the information sea eroding reality has not yet been completed. Ling Dengxian and Bai Jin cannot close the invasion channel of the information sea through this incomplete control.

"Ling Dengxian...it hurts so much, I can't stand up...what should I do..."

"...Shinobi, I told you I would do my best to keep you alive. I wasn't lying."

"If you leave your sublimated state and I control the power alone, I should be able to eventually send you and Lot Zero out of the virtual dream reality. If I can then use my remaining body to resist, it shouldn't cause the entire city to be destroyed. We've already taken on quite a few threats already."

"...Ling Dengxian, why... aren't you afraid of death?"

"If you're afraid of death, yes, I can survive and crawl out of the Great Knight's Territory, but who can I take with me? If Bagpipe, Texas, Huang, Dr. Nightingale, and the others all die here, what the hell did I come here for! If I don't fight for hope, what have I been trying to destroy along the way? Is it my fault that I was brought into this world by fate? Is dying here asking for death?"

Xinteleya was speechless. Although they had agreed not to look at each other's memories, she inevitably saw some of Ling Dengxian's strange and novel memories. In her impression, Ling Dengxian was easy-going and gentle, but the high intensity of pain seemed to reveal his concealed confusion and anger bit by bit. Because of the sublimation, she empathized with him. She tasted a little bit of the unwillingness of being led by the nose, the anger of having her scars exposed, the confusion of having no clue... and the resentment and hatred towards a certain irresponsible existence.

"Of course I want to live and go home, but if I go back like this... the person who goes back won't be Ling Dengxian at all!"

The white Pegasus carried the flames, and its broken body shone again. Xinteleya immediately followed Ling Dengxian's deployment. She no longer asked questions, but silently expressed her decision with actions.

"……idle!"

"*Syracusan swear*! Ling Dengxian!"

"Your sword!!"

The former giant wolf's mouth was covered in scars and bleeding terribly, but at this moment she burst out at the fastest speed she could reach, finally attracting the attention of "Tianma".