Hello, Arknights

Chapter 352 Mission? Order?

Letania.

A hurried man appeared alone from the end of the forest path. It seemed that he had traveled a long way. Every groove on the soles of his exquisite boots was filled with mud. The short knife at his waist, which was used to clear the way, had half a blade of grass bitten in its sheath. It was obvious that the man had not taken the usual route halfway - or he had not found the way.

At the end of the forest path is a wooden house. A gray-haired and gray-eyed Sakota man sits on the stone steps in front of the door, tending to parts in the bright sunlight.

This work looked like it had just begun. He was wiping the metal parts with an oilcloth. The tools for cleaning the inner chamber of the gun were placed aside, but there was no tester for debugging the operation circuit.

Hearing the movement of the approaching man, Sakota did not look up. The approaching man did not stop for a moment until he stepped out of the forest path. The sunlight flashed, and a murderous cold light hung on the muzzle of the gun. The approaching man did not doubt the seriousness of the other party's warning and stopped tactfully.

"...Schneider, it seems your talent hasn't been eroded. That's good. My hard work on this trip was worthwhile." Although being pointed at, the man didn't show weakness. Instead, he took out a cigarette and lit it. After lighting it, he smiled as if he had just remembered something. "Oh, I forgot. Do you mind?"

"Whether I care or not, you'll light up a cigarette and leave the damn smell of cigarettes here with me. You know I won't get carried away over such a thing."

"Put down your gun. I have a mission for you." The man stopped talking nonsense. After testing the other party's mental state, he crushed the cigarette in his palm, clapped his hands, and announced in a tone that could not be refused.

“I remember I had already retired.”

“So it’s more appropriate that if you are caught in Victoria please take personal responsibility for your actions.”

"Bang!" The muzzle of the gun only trembled slightly, almost unaffected by the recoil, and the non-etched bullet used for practice grazed the man's cheek and disappeared into the woods.

"..."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I will really ask you to leave something here, Your Excellency the Elector's lackey." Sakota stood up, his clothes fitting his figure showing off his strong muscles, and the halo on his head and the wings of light behind him seemed to be brighter.

"You have to go. That's the conclusion. We just hope you can complete a mission along the way and try your best to find the truth about the Victorian blood monster disaster."

"Why should I go? Why should I continue to work for you?" Schneider said coldly, "Do you think I don't remember who abandoned us in the heart of the battlefield and walked away?"

"No matter how many times you lose your temper or vent your grievances, I must remind you that if we don't divert the main force in time, the war will not end quickly, and there will be no chance to return and rescue you."

"...You know whether to rescue people or clean up the battlefield."

"Being alive is a good thing, isn't it?" The man said no more. He didn't think a few words could convince a desperate man who had witnessed the death of his comrades because of his command decisions. "Your comrade has a child, a posthumous child."

Kuhn Schneider put down his gun and said, "Go on."

"Out of consideration for his father's contributions, the child, under the Queen's care, received state funding to attend university. After graduating, he entered the journalism industry. This time, he traveled to Victoria as a war correspondent to document the bloody war. He lost contact at nine o'clock last night."

"...Why are you telling me about this child's existence now?" The coldness in Sakota's eyes grew even stronger.

"Tell you? He still has a mother. Although she's physically weak and can't do manual labor, she can still teach him well. In terms of relationships, your priority can't be higher than the child's mother, right?

"Besides, telling you wouldn't be good for his growth. A frustrated and paranoid person will only raise an equally paranoid young person. Let's end this topic here. Your former comrades have been considerate and haven't told you about this, as it would burden you. There's no need for us to engage in a meaningless argument right now."

The man from the Elector's Territory did not feel the slightest bit uneasy, because he had completely anticipated what the former soldier would do. With his Originium skills, it would be very easy for him not to see him. Since he was willing to see him, there was room for negotiation.

"...I am not continuing to serve the army." Sakota softened, his eyes becoming colder.

The visitor smiled. "Of course, of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been chosen to negotiate. So, do you need a new nickname, 'Shadow'?"

"It's complicated. The child's appearance, age, and name."

"It's all here. Don't forget there are side quests, and they'll be rewarded as well."

"I don't care." Sakota prepared to go back to the house. He was going to leave immediately.

"If you really didn't care, I wouldn't have come to tell you."

"...You won't even give me any information?"

The man turned serious. "I can't give you the documents. Besides, what we know is pretty much the same as the rumors out there. That's why I need you to make this trip. Remember to avoid the Queen's men. I still don't want you to get into any trouble."

"At worst, I won't come back." Sakota, codenamed Shadow, said calmly and closed the door.

The Elector's messenger sighed after completing the arrangements. Old people and old things are inseparable, and each has its own reason.

Ying put away the supplies, wiped the photo frame in the corner of the room, put away the gun, took the knife and went out.

The wings of light flickered slightly, and white light appeared in his eyes. He once again sensed the vibrations around him, the movements of the Elector's messenger, the flapping of feathered beasts in the forest, and the traces left by the wind. His perception of the vibrations weakened and ended dozens of meters away, and his gaze stopped at a place farther away.

After collecting the Origin Stone Skill, he confirmed again that the Elector's messenger had not brought anyone else with him, and walked straight out the door.

Victoria, three fallen counties occupied by bloody monsters.

Artillery fire tore through the night, illuminating the dark crimson landscape. The mobile land, battered for days, lay scattered with shattered walls, a scene of devastation. The roaring fireworks, rekindled by yet another blow, dimly lit, the figures of calamity-ridden creatures spun dark shadows in the dim flames. Scarlet, beast-like eyes emerged from the smoke, densely packed together.

As the smoke filled the air and the fire grew, many things in the darkness gradually became visible. Large chunks of charred matter occasionally appeared on the wide streets, some cracked, revealing faint white bone fragments in their cross-sections. Broken streetlights revealed source stone circuits that were emitting sparks. The pitch-black road surface was stained and torn by bloody claws. The monsters hiding underground were smaller than their counterparts exposed on the surface. They roared at the remaining flames in the distance, and as they approached each other, hoarse, low whispers rang out:

"They are still waiting and watching."

"Flesh and blood... those raised within the city have been lost..."

"When will the next round of evolution be?"

"Hehehe, looking forward to it? I'll eat you up."

"I don't think so... my companions have increased again."

"Hehe... drive them out, they're too weak, a waste of blood and flesh."

The dim firelight seemed to have become brighter, but it was because a huge shadow was cast. The towering limbs lifted up and swept across, and the ruins were pushed down like a pile of cards. The huge monster was flashing with blood-red fluorescence, and its mouth exhaled blood-red mist. The opening and closing pores on its back greedily absorbed large amounts of poisonous smoke. Its sharp arms and claws searched in the ruins, and the flesh and blood of the corpses of its fellow creatures torn apart by the artillery fire were swallowed into its stomach mixed with the ruins and stones. Several slender tongues pulled away some smaller surviving fellow creatures. The hideous head was bombarded by the artillery fire just now, with large and small irregular holes and scars, deep enough to see the bone. The blood-red fluorescence surged, but it was covered with flesh and blood again at an incredible speed.

Initially, the outbreak of this disaster did not attract Victoria's attention because it behaved like a flu, except that the patients were more manic and unruly. It was not until dozens of villages and towns and five mobile plots suddenly lost contact overnight that the various leaders in Victoria realized that this was not a disease but a disaster.

In other words, some of the people in power failed to cover up their tracks and their plans collapsed.

However, Victoria's soldiers were still confident that they had the strongest military system among the core circle countries. It was not until half of the regular army lost contact in the blood mist and a reserve high-speed battleship was paralyzed by the assimilated bloody monster that they realized that this did not seem to be a routine riot.

However, at this time, an entire county was on the verge of collapse, and the impact of the "bloody plague" had already shrouded the two neighboring counties in a bloody cloud.

Until this moment, Victoria believed that the crisis was still within the scope of "riot" and "minor rebellion", until a bloody figure taller than a house appeared on the moving land, followed by two, three...

These huge individuals are a mobile source of infection, and ordinary artillery attacks do not pose a real threat to them. The various dukes of Victoria, on the grounds that "civilians may still survive", kept their troops in place and did not use more powerful artillery to bombard the infected areas.

In fact, no matter what the dukes think, there are indeed survivors who have not been infected. However, they can be divided into two types. One type is struggling to survive between artillery fire and the claws of bloody monsters, and the other type is raised by the bloody monsters.

Yes, raising.

Not all of these bloody evils were completely irrational; some possessed thoughts, a rudimentary level of rationality, language, and the ability to communicate. It was their very existence that overwhelmed the commanders of Victoria's first army, leading to their tactical hunting, assimilation, and ultimate defeat.

"Report, the 47th strike has concluded! The primary target remains alive. Approximately % of the enemy's outward expansion has been killed. The target's mobile area remains paralyzed."

"This spread data... make arrangements. Continue sniping key enemy targets tomorrow. The suppression cannot stop. We must further prevent those monsters from escaping."

"Captain, why are we still sitting there doing nothing? The supporting high-speed warships have arrived. The longer we delay, the lower the chances of survival for the survivors in the city will be..." Seeing that his superior's face was still as gloomy as water, the messenger asked in a low voice, risking punishment.

"... Cage, do you also think that those things are beasts and patients, and the current situation is due to our inaction?" The captain took the document and threw it in front of him.

"Dussel thought the same thing. Now he and his high-speed battleship are stranded in the countryside 120 miles away, and we don't know if he's alive or dead—most likely dead. Half of his troops were lost, and the neighboring county fell. Do you think I, the superiors, haven't considered the survivors?"

"But..." The soldier was speechless.

"The truth is, we have to kill the biggest *Victoria swear* first before we have a chance to take back our city. And because those citizens don't know whether they're dead or alive, we can't use more dangerous weapons. We can only advance the front line little by little and wait for a turning point."

"You don't want your hometown to become the next hell on earth, do you?"

"Captain, my hometown is right there." Cage said in a trembling voice, blood flowing from his palms and dripping from between his clenched fingers.

"...Go to the infirmary. That's an order." The captain said, not continuing the topic.

The soldier stood there for a long time and finally turned and left.

The captain was also silent. His hometown was indeed not the city in front of him, but his hometown was right next to another fallen county. How could he not be anxious?

But the Duke's orders were frighteningly cold.

It was colder than the fishy wind blowing across the wilderness outside.