Inside the temporary gathering point, after recovery with regeneration potions, most of the injured had regained their mobility.
Although they were still somewhat mentally fatigued, their physical wounds were no longer a major concern.
Brother ACE checked the condition of the last team member and said in a deep voice, “All the injured have been treated, and their condition is stable.
It’s time for us to depart.” “But it seems we’ve completely lost contact with the reconnaissance team.
The signal is completely cut off.” “Understood.” Instructor Dobermann nodded, “But as a matter of urgency, we must proceed to the rendezvous point as planned.” The team began to move quickly along the predetermined route, everyone maintaining a high level of vigilance.
The street was eerily empty, with only the hurried footsteps and heavy breathing of the group echoing.
“Did none of the reconnaissance team make it?” Dobermann muttered to herself as she advanced, her unease growing stronger.
“It’s too quiet…
suffocatingly quiet.” She suddenly looked at the Doctor, who was protected in the middle of the team, and voiced the worst possible guess.
“Doctor, could this be…
a trap?” “Beep beep beep!” The tactical terminal that the Doctor had been holding suddenly emitted a sharp, piercing alarm!
The screen instantly lit up with a blinding red light, and a line of warning text flashed frantically: [WARNING: Heat source detected from the rear] “What’s going on?” Amiya leaned closer to look, her small face full of confusion.
“Doctor, does this ‘heat source’ refer to a fire?” She subconsciously looked back, but the street behind them was still empty, with no sign of fire.
However, Ivan, who stood on the Doctor’s other side, instantly changed his expression upon hearing the words “high-energy heat source.” Ivan, who understood the ‘plot’ of Arknights, knew that this was Originium Arts released by the Black Snake.
“No!!!” Ivan almost roared, shouting at all the Rhodes Island personnel who were still walking aimlessly or looking back.
“Scatter quickly!
Everyone!
Immediately scatter to both sides of the street!
Quick!” Although they didn’t understand why, Ivan’s previous performance and the undeniable panic in his voice at that moment made the Operators of Rhodes Island choose to trust him.
The conditioned reflexes formed by long-term training made them almost instinctively follow the command.
The Rhodes Island personnel suddenly lunged towards the ruined buildings and cover on both sides of the street.
“Mr.
Ivan?
What exactly…” Amiya was pulled by Ivan, and together with the Doctor, he forcefully pushed her behind a thick broken wall nearby.
Amiya still wanted to ask, but her question was pushed back by what was happening before her eyes.
Just behind where they had been standing on the street, in the middle of an abandoned building, without an explosion or impact, it instantly turned crimson, softened, and then, like melting wax, caved inward and disappeared in a terrifying manner.
A massive fire hole, several meters in diameter with molten magma flowing along its edges, appeared out of nowhere.
Immediately after!
“Boom!!!” A torrent of flames, hot enough to distort the air, roared out from the molten fire hole like a volcanic eruption.
It was not natural fire, but highly condensed Originium Arts imbued with destructive energy.
The scorching heatwave swept over them like a tsunami, almost igniting their hair!
“This…
this spell?!” Nearl held up her shield.
Brother ACE’s face also turned incredibly grim, and he gripped his shield tightly: “It’s far more troublesome than what we saw in the data!” “The tyrant of the Reunion Movement!” Amiya’s pupils reflected the destructive flames, and she murmured, “Talulah…” Amiya suddenly stood up, trying to calm herself: “The command for engagement will be…” Amidst the surging torrent of flames, a highly concentrated, relatively small but even more dangerous crimson fireball came hurtling towards them.
The scorching breath of death instantly enveloped everyone.
“He (Lungmen vulgarity) of!
You think I don’t exist, huh, Black Snake!” Ivan’s figure instantly shifted like a phantom, blocking directly in front of the fireball’s trajectory.
His right hand suddenly grabbed in the air—the “blade of slaughter” reappeared out of thin air!
No parrying, no dodging.
Facing the terrifying fireball that could melt steel, Ivan’s eyes gleamed with ferocity, he gripped the hilt of the blade with both hands, pouring all his strength into the blade.
A dark blade light, from bottom to top, slashed upwards with unparalleled precision.
The violently incoming fireball was split in half by Ivan’s single strike.
The split fireball whistled past Ivan’s sides.
Finally, it slammed violently into the outer walls of the buildings on both sides of the street behind him.
“Boom!” “Boom!” Two deafening explosions rang out.
The outer walls of the buildings that were hit instantly exploded into two huge holes, and gravel mixed with molten bricks splattered like raindrops.
Under the reflection of smoke and fire, Ivan’s figure, standing with his blade, and a faintly visible figure in the distant building, formed an intense standoff.
The air was filled with gunpowder, molten rock, and cold killing intent.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The crisp and cold sound of high heels tapping on the ground, with a highly oppressive rhythm, pierced through the crackling of burning flames.
She stopped, her gaze like a physical branding iron, sweeping over the well-prepared but clearly disadvantaged Rhodes Island personnel.
It finally settled on Amiya and the Doctor, who were protected in the very center.
Her voice rang out, not loud, but carrying a hint of cold mockery, clearly reaching everyone’s ears: “You people…” “Are the ones who should, most of all, be standing with us.” “Tell me, what have the Infected…
done?” “What have those you call ‘innocent’…
done?” “And you people!” “What have you done?!” “Full of empty’salvation,’ ‘peace,’ ‘future’—what can your naive theories accomplish?
Besides watching more people die in despair, what else can you do?” “What can idealists who only speak empty words accomplish?” “This is the…” Before the word “end” could be uttered, “Shut up!!!” A roar of extreme rage, like a thunderclap, interrupted Talulah’s words.
Ivan’s blade-wielding arm trembled slightly from extreme anger, and the eyes that stared directly at Talulah burned with a fiercer rage than hers.
It was an extreme anger of knowing her true nature and hating her downfall.
Ivan took a step forward, almost breaking through Nearl and Amiya’s subconscious attempts to stop him.
The blade of slaughter pointed directly at Talulah, his voice hoarse with emotion, yet every word was like a blade, cutting through her dignified facade: “Don’t you dare spout this high-sounding bullshit here!
Who do you think you are?” Ivan’s furious roar echoed through the silent street, full of undeniable penetrative power: “You haven’t been ‘her’ for a long time, have you?
The thing hiding in Talulah’s shell, ‘Black Snake,’ Kashchey.
You are nothing but a pathetic wretch who stole another’s body, spreading hatred and destruction.
Is everything you’re doing truly for the Infected?
It’s nothing more than to satisfy your twisted, insane desires!” Ivan’s words, like the sharpest daggers, precisely pierced Talulah.
Or rather, the entity occupying her body.
The flames that had been steadily burning around Talulah violently fluctuated the moment Ivan roared out the names “Black Snake” and “Kashchey.” For the first time, her cold, crimson eyes showed fluctuations that were not deliberate acting, but genuinely belonged to’surprise’ and ‘being provoked.’ The air seemed to solidify.
The Rhodes Island personnel looked at Ivan in shock, then at Talulah with uncertainty.
Ivan’s accusation was too sensational, yet it also seemed to…
explain why this Talulah before them was so unfamiliar and terrifying.
I’m right, aren’t I?
“Kashchey.”