Arknights: The Life Inside-Chapter 54

May 23, Rhine Life Experimental Base-4.

Today was the last day before Yoren's body reached its critical limit.

When he woke up in the morning, a strange sense of disorientation washed over him.

The moment he lost focus, the world around him turned black and white. When he regained his senses, color returned as if nothing had changed.

At the same time, unfamiliar images flashed through his mind—

The sky, the earth, fire, glaciers, stars...

If his body were a world, then this was the day before the apocalypse. Strange phenomena were occurring one after another, signaling the impending collapse.

To maintain his dignity, Yoren wrapped his scarf around his head once more.

As scheduled, he followed Hemmer to the underground laboratory of Base-4.

For the past month, Hemmer's scientific team had tried everything to suppress the expansion of his power.

Drugs, cellular separation, freezing, electric shocks—no matter the method, the power remained dormant within him, growing stronger by the day.

Now, Hemmer had finally identified some patterns.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

In a normal state, Yoren's body was indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person, his strength even weaker than average. But once the power was activated, his physical strength would skyrocket, and a dense black mist—destructive and uncontrollable—would emanate from his wounds.

Hemmer had named this force Black Power.

Once drawn out, Black Power required Originium to sustain it. Otherwise, Yoren's body itself became the fuel, tearing itself apart under the strain.

The key to activating it was physical trauma combined with emotional stimulus.

Just a few days ago, Yoren had also learned to suppress it by controlling his emotions.

This was everything they had discovered so far.

Today, Hemmer was conducting one final strength test.

Several white-coated researchers stood in the lab, watching him closely.

Yoren removed the scarf from his head and set it aside, then turned toward the battle room. He didn't fully understand these experiments, but if analyzing his body could help Ifrit's Fire Demon Project, then he had no reason to refuse.

Stepping inside, the heavy iron door sealed shut behind him.

Outside the observation window, he saw Hemmer watching the screen with her usual stern expression.

Yoren gave her an OK gesture, then unsheathed the dagger at his waist.

"Hah!"

A deep cut appeared on his palm, blood splattering to the floor.

Strangely, the pain wasn't as sharp as before. His sense of touch felt dulled, much like his disoriented mind.

Almost immediately, black veins surfaced in his left eye, and his pupils shifted to a deep red.

A dense mist of black energy coiled around his left arm, distorting the air itself.

He glanced at Hemmer through the glass. She was staring at the monitor, her expression more serious than usual.

But Yoren didn't have the time to dwell on it.

A tearing pain surged through his left arm, forcing him to grit his teeth.

Enduring it, he raised his hand. A mechanical arm extended from the wall, delivering a crystalized Originium shard.

Without hesitation, Yoren grasped it.

Instantly, a powerful current surged through his body. The chaotic force within him stabilized, and for the first time, he felt the energy settle—

Stronger.

Much stronger.

Outside the battle room, the researchers were speechless.

Inside, Yoren stood motionless, enveloped in a vortex of black energy. The very ground trembled under his feet.

Hemmer's narrowed eyes flicked between two sets of data on the screen.

On the left: Yoren's initial test results from when he first arrived at Rhine Life.

Rhine Life S-Class Classified Data

Date: April 25, 1093

Designation: 020-SP

Individual Strength: 504

Originium Energy Conversion Rate: 447

On the right: the current readings.

Designation: 020-SP

Individual Strength: 10,890

Originium Energy Conversion Rate: 6,106

And the numbers were still climbing.

In less than a month, Yoren had gone from a house cat to an elephant.

Now, he was on the verge of becoming Godzilla.

The Originium shard in Yoren's hand crumbled to dust.

Unlike before, it no longer glowed with crystalline energy. Instead, it was as black and lifeless as charcoal.

The stone had been completely drained.

Seeing this, Hemmer signaled to her assistant.

In the battle room, more than a dozen towering white cylinders, each two meters tall, rose from the floor.

These were Rhine Life's latest creation—an ultra-high-durability hybrid substance developed through Originium technology. They called it VMH material, far stronger than any conventional defensive material.

Unfortunately, due to its astronomical production cost, it was never mass-produced.

Hemmer picked up the intercom. "Yoren, attack these cylinders. Use up the Originium energy in your body and withdraw the dark power. If you don't, the lingering energy will accelerate your infection."

Yoren tilted his head slightly.

Raising his palm, he flexed his fingers.

The power within him responded instantly, moving at his command.

Like a trained bodybuilder flexing individual muscles, he could now manipulate this energy with precision.

Hearing Hemmer's instructions, Yoren narrowed his eyes, locking onto the nearest cylinder.

"Alright."

The black vortex around him spiraled into motion, growing into a raging storm.

Then, as if the hand of a demon had reached out from within the darkness, Yoren lunged forward, leaving a black afterimage in his wake.

Boom!

The impact shook the entire facility.

On the fourth floor, Ifrit was thrown from her bed.

She landed on the floor with a thud, rubbing her backside as she grumbled.

"What the hell? An earthquake?"

Five minutes later.

The black mist had dissipated.

Yoren knelt in the battle room, panting, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor.

Around him lay a scene of utter devastation.

The dozen VMH cylinders, designed to withstand immense force, had been reduced to rubble—shattered into countless fragments of varying sizes.

Like brittle foam, torn apart by a storm.

Yoren had returned to normal. The darkness had been suppressed once more.

Yet even in complete control, he could still feel it—

That overwhelming power, seething just beneath the surface.

And his body, barely holding itself together.

Tomorrow...

Would it really be his last day?

May 24, Rhine Life IV Experimental Base.

3 a.m.

The door to Yoren's room creaked open, and a tall figure stepped inside.

It was Saria.

Yoren wasn't asleep. He sat quietly at the edge of his bed, unmoving.

Even though he hadn't drawn out his power, a faint black mist lingered around him. The entire room felt like the center of an invisible black hole, pulling in the air, the light, and even the warmth.

A heavy pressure filled the space.

If the person standing in the doorway weren't Saria but an ordinary person, they would have been frozen in place by the sheer weight of it.

Saria's voice broke the silence.

"It's time. Let's go."

"Yeah."

Yoren stood up calmly and followed her out of the room.

Hemmer hadn't found a way to suppress his power's expansion. As agreed, he had to leave Base-4 before he lost control.

No one knew what would happen next, and it was better that way.

Yoren followed behind Saria as they walked from the fourth floor to the first.

They passed no one along the way. Only the sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty halls.

Standing in the center of the first-floor lobby, Yoren found himself feeling strangely nostalgic.

It had been a month since he and Snowsant arrived at Rhine Life.

To the outside world, Rhine Life was often painted as a ruthless organization, cold and calculating, conducting secret experiments that disregarded human dignity.

And to be fair, Yoren had been subjected to those very experiments when he first arrived, unconscious and unaware. But he bore no resentment for it—he knew that had been the work of the former head of the Originium project, not the people he had come to know.

In the end, Rhine Life had prevented his infection from worsening.

And that was thanks to Hemmer.

She had helped him because he had saved Ifrit during the catastrophe. And now, he finally understood what the power inside him was.

Hemmer had kept her promise.

Perhaps Rhine Life wasn't as dark as the world believed.

At least, not here. Not at Base-4, where Hemmer was in charge.

Here, Yoren had found something else—

Saria, Ifrit, Hemmer.

Not heartless scientists, but people fighting desperately against fate with nothing but their own hands.

Beep.

The heavy metal door slid open, revealing a passage Yoren had never walked before.

The exit.

And then—

Just beyond the threshold, he spotted someone hiding behind a pillar.

Half of Snowsant's face peeked out, watching him in silence.

Even though no one had told her, she must have sensed it. After all these days, she had realized what was happening.

Yoren didn't hesitate. He walked toward her, expressionless.

Stopping in front of her, he placed a hand on her head.

She lowered her gaze, letting him pat her, her voice soft and forlorn.

"Big windmill... you'll come back, right?"

"Of course."

"Don't take too long. If you do, I might forget you exist."

Yoren smiled and unwound the scarf from his head, wrapping it around Snowsant's neck instead.

"Snowsant, I'm leaving."

"Mm. Have a safe trip."

He took one last look at her small, worried face before turning away, stepping toward the passage.

He didn't see it.

Didn't see the single tear that slipped from her eye, falling to the floor just as he walked away.

Hemmer stood near the entrance, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes closed.

Yoren had nothing more to say. Without pausing, he stepped past her, following Saria into the corridor.

Just as he passed, he heard her voice, quiet and filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry."

Yoren stopped, smiling faintly.

"Hemmer, you did everything you could. The rest is my fight." He glanced at her. "Oh, and tell Aina—her cooking is really good."

Hemmer lifted her gaze. "Tell her yourself when you come back."

"Oh? Alright then."

As soon as the words left his mouth, something shifted in the air.

Yoren suddenly had the urge to run.

Without thinking, he picked up his pace, breaking into a light jog down the corridor.

Saria blinked. "Hey, what's the rush? Wait up."

Yoren didn't stop until he rounded a corner, finally slowing down.

For some reason, the atmosphere back there had felt eerily like the ending of a tragic war movie, right before the hero walks to his inevitable fate.

To be honest, he was pretty sure he could still survive this. But if he had stayed there any longer, he might have convinced himself that he wouldn't.

Saria caught up with him, looking confused.

"What's with you?"

"Nothing. Oh, shouldn't you be saying goodbye to me too?"

"Goodbye? I'm the one driving you to the drop-off point."

"Oh."

Beep.

The final iron door slid open, and a cool wind brushed against Yoren's face.

The sky was still dark, but he could see it now—

A barren wasteland stretched out before him.

Stepping outside, he glanced back.

The steel fortress of Rhine Life Base-4 stood towering behind him. From the outside, it was far more imposing than it had ever seemed from within.

The land surrounding them was nothing but bare rock and sand. Solid, unyielding earth beneath his feet.

Yoren turned to Saria. "Where... are we?"

"Northern Columbia." She looked out into the wasteland. "Eleven years ago, there was a city here. It was called Buda."

Yoren raised an eyebrow. "Was?"

"Yes. Eleven years ago, Buda was wiped out by a natural disaster. The city was too old to be relocated. When the black storm hit, it was reduced to rubble. The land remained a hazardous zone for years, until three years ago, when Rhine Life confirmed that the Originium contamination had finally dissipated. That's when they built Base-4 here."

Yoren nodded slowly.

"Makes sense. If you build an experimental base in a dead zone, no matter what happens, no one will know."

"That was likely a factor."

Base-4 was like an ancient castle, hidden in the desert. There were few personnel—no guards, no military presence.

But Yoren knew that a lack of people didn't mean a lack of security.

Sometimes, technology was safer than manpower.

Near the exit, a row of off-road vehicles stood waiting.

Saria casually opened the driver's door, pressed her fingerprint against the scanner, and activated the engine.

With a smooth flick of her wrist, she pressed down on the brake, making the tires skid in a neat arc before stopping right in front of Yoren.

From the driver's seat, she gestured toward him.

"Get in. We're leaving."