Hello, Arknights

Chapter 359 Information Exchange

"Sure enough, there's a blood tide..." Mandela glanced over and saw the shadowy dark red figures were already vaguely visible. She turned around and was about to give up. "Let's go. If we dare to provoke a three-digit blood tide, we'll be courting death."

But it was also she herself who, when she turned around, caught a glimpse of a thin black smoke rising in the valley, and couldn't help but sneer: "There are other unlucky people."

Ling Dengxian narrowed his eyes and put his hand on the sword at his waist: "Someone."

"I see the smoke. Let's go, kind-hearted man. Don't think about anything else. It's already a burden to take care of a child." Mandela couldn't help but say something to him.

At this distance and in this situation, no matter whether that group was large or small, they must have experienced a bloodbath. The result of having wounded people would only increase the hidden dangers of instability. This was also the reason why she disliked Hanni. However, since he had been under the strict supervision of Bai Ge himself for so many days and had not caused that unfortunate result, she was not so repulsive.

"I'm not just talking about the group of soldiers who are making a fire. I've already spotted those people. There are other people on the opposite ridge, and they've also spotted us." Ling Dengxian's gaze did not move away. Even from a distance, he was also using his status to convey that he had spotted the other party.

Mandela followed his gaze but didn't see anyone until the other party removed the optical Originium technique disguise, stood up from behind the opposite rock, and shook his concealing coat.

"How did you find him?" Mandela was puzzled.

"Because he discovered me first. I just felt that someone was spying on me. If he didn't care, I wouldn't have discovered him." Ling Dengxian said nonchalantly, as if he didn't know that he had just stated a very abstract and mysterious fact.

"What kind of explanation is this?" Mandela simply didn't believe it.

Ling Dengxian did not argue. What he said was half true and half false. He could feel that he was being spied on, but he could not use this to lock the other party's position, not to mention that the other party's concealment conditions were so perfect.

It was Ling who pointed out the other party's location to him, but according to Ling, her "current ability requires the help of his own prerequisites to be realized", just like if Ling Dengxian didn't notice anything unusual, she would not be able to use her means.

Although it was Ling's credit, what Ling Dengxian wanted was to indirectly deter Mandela, the unstable factor. He really didn't want to create any more trouble.

The person across the canyon glanced at the distant, temporarily subdued blood flow, and took what looked like a device from his person, as if trying to contact them. As the two cautiously prepared to respond at any moment, the other party first selected Ling Dengxian, but nothing changed. He then scratched his head, as if puzzled, and then switched targets, activating the device at Mandela. The next moment, Mandela "heard" a voice, stunned, and somewhat bewildered.

Ling Dengxian immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"Uh... there was a voice, and he said he was coming over." Mandela said with a confused expression.

The next moment, confirming Mandela's retelling, the other party suddenly threw out a heavy hook, which hit the cliff not far away from the two of them, but unexpectedly there was not much noise. Then the other party's figure leaped down directly, the hook line contracted, and after it came into contact with the cliff in some unknown way to relieve the impact force, the hook shook, and the powerful force sent him steadily to the top of the canyon. With a flick of his wrist, he retracted the heavy hook and hung it on his back.

"You... just flew over here like that?" Mandela couldn't help but ask, "The distance must be at least fifty meters, right?"

"Don't ask about the special commissioner, Ms. Magician." The man who came was a Filin. He smiled heartily and then looked at Ling Dengxian, who was staring at him with a gloomy look. He raised his hands helplessly.

"Be reasonable, buddy. Now is not the time to hold a grudge."

"...the scepter and the thing." Ling Dengxian spoke word by word, his eyes almost overflowing with anger: "You guys made all these things this time too?!"

The film man quickly waved his hands: "No, we could use such a big hat as a warehouse. This is too unfair to us. At most, we are accomplices who provided the tools for the crime."

"That means there is still a connection." Ling Dengxian said coldly.

"You can't stop others from opening their doors to do business, right? Well, this kind of blame-sharing meeting is not ours. According to the current situation, we should be 'exchanging information'." The man spread his hands.

"...Why us?" Ling Dengxian glanced at Ling without a trace, and Ling nodded, confirming his thoughts. It seemed that even the scepter and the others, with its cunning and varied methods, hadn't noticed Ling's manifestation.

The man smiled. "Mr. Bai Ge is a well-known figure in our institute. You may be more famous than you think. As a subject of attention in the Scepter and the institute, it is necessary to understand their movements."

"Why would I reveal my information to the enemy?"

"First of all, we're just 'acquaintances,' and secondly, the term 'enemy' depends on the situation. For example, right now, we're definitely not your enemies." The man said calmly, spreading his hands.

"You have the choice. Whether it's exchanging information or parting ways, you have to make a decision."

Ling Dengxian finally calmed down: "Fangdi, have you seen her?"

If the Scepter and the Sovereign had been observing him, it was impossible for them not to know who the Bagpipes were.

"I haven't seen her," the man said decisively, as if he already knew what he was going to ask, but he immediately changed the subject, "But some of my team members have noticed her.

"You're chasing her in the right direction. She's indeed in the area near Xiaoqiu County. However, you don't need to contact the Victorian Army. She hasn't actually returned to the barracks. Instead, she's temporarily joined a local self-help group and is fighting on the front lines against the Blood Soldiers."

In a few words, the whole situation of Bagpipe was explained, and Ling Dengxian's worries finally disappeared. Although he hated the Scepter and the Institute, as Planster said, the Scepter and the Institute had never lied to him, at most they concealed certain facts from him.

"What do you want to know about me?" Ling Dengxian took a deep breath and asked. He also had to pay the "price".

"Don't be too nervous, we're not such bad people." The Filin man smiled and then calmed down. He asked, "Has anything strange happened in your life recently? And, did you really come to Victoria just to find that little girl Vayfan?"

Ling Dengxian was a little confused by his two questions, but he still answered seriously: "Strange things? I don't remember anything, nothing strange or supernatural. As for the other question, I'm not a conspirator, never have been."

"Okay, thank you. Anything else you'd like to ask—I don't have any more questions, but I'm in a good mood, so I can give you some more information."

"The specific location of the bagpipe." Ling Dengxian asked without hesitation.

The man said nothing and simply gave a marked map.

"Um..." Mandela listened for a long time and spoke hesitantly, "I'm sorry to bother you, but can I ask you something?"

She was instinctively wary of this man, and her intuition told her that he was not someone to be trifled with.

The man glanced at Ling Dengxian, who seemed to be in a good mood, and nodded: "Go ahead, I can't guarantee an answer."

"'Deep Pond'... where are the two Deep Pond teams that came to Xiaoqiu County now?" she asked anxiously.

The man was stunned, then laughed out loud.

The two of them were confused. The man's loss of composure didn't last long. He then put on a smile. However, the first sentence made Mandela's pupils shrink:

"Two red dragons leading different teams, right? One of them is already in Xiaoqiu County, and the other one..."

"It's right here in the canyon below us. We're stuck."