Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

The Scientific Exorcism Department, as the name suggests, is scientific—

So it was established in the engineering department, consisting of Mel, the master of bionics from Rhine Life, Axiao, the famous firefighter from Lungmen, and Glaucus, the young genius advanced weapons tester from Thor Industries. Although no one knew why this group of people got together, Noah felt that it was unexpectedly a serious lineup, after all, they were firefighters, scientists, and advanced weapons testers.

Well…even though they are all professionals in their respective industries, there is still an indescribable weirdness about them.

And there's even a golden Pegasus who aspires to be a craftsman... Sigh, Noah has wondered more than once if he's been too lenient with Maria's upbringing. Being a craftsman isn't a problem, but the problem is that this kid's starting to get interested in all sorts of weird things. The ghost hunting team is a bit off-topic.

Should I let Maria learn something serious? Just like the Miss Anaconda I saw in the engineering department that day, she looked very serious.

Noah didn't object to Maria becoming a craftsman, but if she was to be a craftsman, she had to be a serious craftsman. If she followed those messy guys and learned bad things, that would not be a good thing.

Therefore, I have to correct Maria in time, as she may go off track at any time.

Opening the door of the engineering department, as soon as Noah entered, he heard the sharp squirrel roar——

"There's a fire. You guys, think about fire safety. You'll have to pay a fine in Longmen for doing this. You'll have to pay a lot of fines. This is not a simple matter. Nothing is more important than fire safety."

"Alright, alright, Xiao, I don't understand you saying that..." Glaucus scratched his head as he looked at the Ghost Buster Cannon that had just exploded. "I think there was just a problem with the Originium powder. It's nothing serious, just an explosion, perfectly normal."

"Ahem, that's right, it was just a barrel explosion, nothing serious." Maria, whose face was charred and clearly the victim, wiped her face and said with a smile, "It's quite powerful! I think we can continue to study it!"

"Little Maria is really amazing! I'll let you conduct the next weapons test!"

"Okay! Commander Mel!"

"..." Noah's face was as dark as it could be, and this group of guys who were obsessed with weapons manufacturing and didn't notice other people coming in also shuddered inexplicably at this moment.

"...Although I don't know what just happened." Noah stepped forward with a dark face, "But Maria, can you explain to me why you went to test the power of the weapon?"

"...No...Sister Noah...you, why are you here?" Maria was also panicked. After all, it was she who took the initiative to propose testing the weapons, and she was the most thick-skinned person here.

"If I hadn't come, you would have been blown to the sky." Noah glanced coldly at the group of culprits, except for Xiao, who was the only one who was safe.

"I just came to see how you plan to deal with the wandering spirits." Noah sighed. "Also, Maria, I need to talk to you later."

Chapter 7: Maria's Thoughts

Noah never thought that he would see such a horrifying scene when he just came to check on the post.

Although she didn't see the explosion of the thing in Maria's hand, which could only be described as a cannon, there was no doubt that Maria not only did not feel scared, but even felt quite excited.

Has my education of Maria deviated to this extent...?

Noah suddenly had a sense of mission. Maria had deviated from her course, and it was his responsibility to correct her deviation.

But... she also knew that forcibly correcting Maria would only lead to her resentment, and that proper guidance was necessary. As Maria's de facto guardian during those years in Casimir, Noya had actually rented a garage to Maria to work on her amazing inventions. Although she hadn't always supported her inventing those practically useless things at first... now that she thought about it, it seemed more dangerous than those useless inventions.

Rhodes Island has done a lot of harm! Maria has only been here for a short time, and she's already becoming a blasting genius.

This won't do. How am I going to face Margaret?

My sister has only been in Rhode Island for less than three months, and she has already gone astray to this extent. She used to just be making some imaginative inventions, but now she has started to develop into the military industry.

If you dare to play the cannon now, you will dare to play the Originium Dust Bomb tomorrow, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Noah now has a sense of responsibility like Spider-Man pulling a train. He must suppress Maria's evil tendencies, otherwise what will he do in the future!

Noah prepared himself mentally, took Maria to a secluded place, and started talking.

"Who taught you how to make a cannon?"

"...um...this..." Maria still wanted to fool her, but there was no way Noah could be fooled by her. The little girl was too young to lie to her.

"No lying, no fooling around—didn't you just enjoy ironwork before? Occasional welding and car repairs are fine, but military equipment is a whole other story," Noya warned sternly. "It's dangerous. Don't mess with this kind of stuff. You might think Golden Pegasus is strong enough to handle accidents, but when it comes to explosives, the power of the blast is one thing, but the Originium dust contained within is even more dangerous. Do you understand?"

"I'm in quarantine..." Maria retorted weakly, "And we're using safe doses, so there won't be any problems."

"Do you really have to be like me?" Noah suddenly clenched his fists, his tone becoming a little fierce. This was the first time Maria had heard Noah scold her in such a tone. She immediately shrank her neck and huddled up in a ball with a look of "I'm wrong." "Maria, you still have a bright future. I won't stop you from becoming a craftsman, but you can't and shouldn't participate in unstable weapon experiments—you're not hurt, are you?"

As Noah spoke, his tone softened. He reached out, took Maria's hand and checked it - even using the Eye of God.

Fortunately, the Golden Pegasus had thick skin and flesh, and even after being hit in the face by a bullet, the skin was not broken, but only slightly charred. As long as the skin was not broken, or there were no obvious wounds, it was basically safe.

After all, Originium dust is ubiquitous in the air. If it were really that easy to get oripathy, most people on Terra would be dead.

After letting go of the snack for a while, Noah's tone softened a lot, "...My tone just now was a little harsh, but I was really worried about you..."

"I know, Sister Noah, you're not wrong. It's me who's wrong... I shouldn't have been so reckless." Maria certainly couldn't blame Noah. After all, she knew exactly why she was angry. She'd volunteered to test the weapon out of anger, which was always dangerous. She hadn't even told her aunt or Noah before going in on her own...

After all, it was just because of concern. Maria not only didn't feel bad about being scolded, she was even quite happy.

This shows that Sister Noah still cares about me in her heart. This kind of concern has not disappeared because of the short separation time. They are still the best family.

However, when Sister Noah held her hand and anxiously examined her, she felt inexplicably shy.

It was clearly just an act of concern, but Maria had only one thought, which was - Sister Noah's hands were so soft.

It wasn't that she had any inappropriate thoughts, but Sister Noah's hands were really soft, smooth, and cool. When she examined Maria's arm, she brushed it several times because she was very careful.

"Why are you giggling?" Noah slapped Maria on the head, who had already started giggling. "This matter is very serious. I am responsible for you. Your sister asked me to take care of you."

"...That was a long time ago, wasn't it?" Maria grumbled softly, "My sister hadn't returned to Casimir yet at that time."

"Even if I leave Casimir, I will still protect you. This is my responsibility." Noah said bluntly, "If anything happens to you, I will never forgive myself in this life. You are my support. It is because of you that I can hold on until now."

"...Sister Noah."

Noah's words were sincere and without a trace of falsehood. Although the specific situation was still unclear, if Noah had not made the promise to herself by Margaret after returning to her country, perhaps she might have really given up and even accepted Uncle Lime's advice to marry a knight to maintain the name of Kirilet.

Margaret has always been a very smart person. Perhaps she really did it on purpose to give this responsibility and this bond to Noah.

While taking care of the Linguang family, she also truly became a member of the Linguang family. The Linguang family filled the missing piece in her heart, and they were her true family, and the only thing she had to protect.

She really regarded herself as Maria's sister. Three years, three full years of getting along with each other, were enough for Noah to understand Margaret's intentions.

She knows exactly what she wants and knows what she will do. They understand each other too well, so they can always make decisions that are best for each other.

"Okay, just go back to sleep tonight. As for the ghost issue, I will discuss it with the doctor later. You, the Ghost Hunting Rangers... just stay out of it. If you feel uncomfortable or something, just tell me immediately. Don't neglect it, understand?" Noah flicked Maria's forehead with his finger very hard, and Maria was in so much pain that she almost cried.

But the tone was so gentle...

Oh, Maria then remembered that she seemed to have heard this tone before.

It was my own mother...what she used to say to me when I was naughty.

Maria blinked and looked at Noah, who, though no longer blonde, looked about 70% like Yolanta after fully grown. She reached out and took Noah's hand. "But what should I do if I'm still afraid of ghosts?"

"...Are you really scared?" Noah hesitated for a moment. Although he didn't feel any fear from Maria, he still softened his heart. "Then tonight, do you want to sleep with me? Like before?"

Although it was only three years, Maria grew from a fourteen-year-old girl to a seventeen-year-old girl during these three years, which was the time when she grew the fastest. Noah could reach out and touch Maria's head before, but now Maria needs to squat down on her own initiative.

Noah's feelings towards Maria are more like his own little daughter than a sister.

And she has a little daughter who is growing up very fast...

Noah reached out and touched Maria's head, who had crouched down. "You're that old, and you're still afraid of something like that? That's not how you're supposed to be a knight."

"Hehe, I don't want to be a knight in the future. I want to be a craftsman—" Maria said with a smile, "Sister Noah, is this really possible? I mean, sleeping together or something? It won't be a bother for Sister Noah, right?"

"When have I ever thought you were a bother?" Noah said angrily. "Even when you blew up my garage, I didn't scold you, did I? I just said a few words to you, and you're ready to draw a line between us? Girls can't be kept at home anymore, right?"

"Didn't we agree not to talk about the car... garage incident?" Maria blushed slightly. "It was just my immaturity that caused the accident, and I apologized..."

"Hey, kid, why don't you grow up?" Noah said helplessly, "Okay, okay, I've already said it, I won't go back on my word, we can sleep together, just remember to behave yourself, you always sleep badly... When you were little, you liked to bite my breasts... I don't know who taught you that, you little pervert."

"I... I was only fourteen back then! I didn't want to do that!" Noah had revealed as much of Maria's dark history as she wanted. If she were to hold a press conference about Maria's dark history, she could hold it until the morning after tomorrow. However, Maria clearly didn't want to recall these events anymore and quickly stopped Noah from revealing them. "Besides... maybe I confused Sister Noah with Mom..."

"..." Noah was silent for a moment, "I miss her too. Okay, I won't continue to expose your dark history, but this time, be quiet. Do you understand?"

"Okay——" Being able to sleep with Sister Noah is a privilege he hasn't had since he was sixteen!

As for Ghost Rangers? I'm not familiar with them, really not. Noah is still better.

Noah, who came back with Maria, gave a gesture to Kuro who was on guard. Kuro had of course heard the conversation just now and knew that it meant that he should not act recklessly when Maria was around.

Kuro actually found it quite interesting. She had no plans to continue tonight, but since Noah had warned her, she could only smile bitterly.

In fact, Kuro and Noah's dormitories are separate, and both of them are single dormitories, but the beds in Rhodes Island's single dormitories can easily accommodate two people.

Maria slept in Noya's room, so Kuro naturally had to go back to her own room to sleep. She also knew the importance of the Linguang family in Noya's heart, so she would not be so ignorant as to disturb her.

With Maria's help, Kuro changed into his pajamas. He also changed the sheets before leaving the room, so he wasn't worried about Maria noticing anything. However, Maria wasn't thinking about that at all. She was still happy to be able to sleep with Noah.

She couldn't wait to jump onto the bed, then took the hand of Noah who was sitting on the bed, and held one of Noah's hands in a rather coquettish manner, "Sister Noah, I knew you still doted on me the most."

"Okay, okay, time to go to bed, little silly." Noah pinched Maria's nose lovingly. Before going to bed, Noah and Maria both took a shower, and now their bodies were filled with the same smell of shower gel. Maria liked the feeling that she and Noah had the same smell, and even her tone sounded soft.

Maria lay on the bed, covered herself with the quilt, and turned off the lights, but she didn't want to close her eyes so early. In the dark room, there were only the breathing sounds of two people. Maria was listening to Noah's breathing and heartbeat.

Because they were so close, Maria could hear both sounds clearly. She didn't know why, but she was very satisfied just to hear them.

It was as if she was confirming again and again that Sister Noya was by her side. Sister Noya, who was like her sister and her mother, was back by her side again.

During the time when she was separated from Sister Noah, the girl finally understood what sorrow was. Those things that were originally taken for granted seemed extremely precious after Noah left.

She finally understood that the so-called daily life is a series of miracles—

The days in Casimir were like a dream. Although she didn't have her sister by her side, she had her sister Noya, who would almost unconditionally support her decisions and would even persuade her uncle for her.

If it weren't for Sister Noya's insistence, her relationship with her uncle might have become very bad. The same goes for her aunt. Although she didn't say it much, she also felt that Sister Noya was the biggest contributor to maintaining the relationship in the Linguang family.

The fact that I and my uncle can maintain such a relationship is all thanks to Sister Nuoya, but Sister Nuoya never mentions it——

My uncle told me that Sister Noah arranged for him to leave work early and not work overtime so that he could go home for dinner and make up for even a little bit of the time he spent with them.

She did all these silently, with no intention of telling Maria at all - if her uncle hadn't mentioned it, she wouldn't even know that Sister Noah had done so many things.

She really worried about the Linguang family.

However, the Linguang family is definitely not a family that knows how to repay a favor!

Maria's body had suddenly pressed against Noah's, her arms wrapped around her. She could clearly hear Noah's breathing pause. But Maria didn't stop, holding her tightly, pretending to be dreaming, letting her emotions flow in this cautious yet firm embrace.

——Thank you, Sister Noah, thank you for protecting me and my family.

So... I will definitely protect you...

No matter what method...

Chapter 8: Spring Phantom

In Rhode Island, you can live without living, but you can't live without living.

Soon, Noah almost understood the value of this sentence, not because something happened, but because he was worried about Maria's situation. When he went to the engineering department the next day, Noah saw with his own eyes through the Eye of God that Miss Anaconda was driving a five-meter-high Iron Gundam to test the output in the engineering department. Although she was known as a masterpiece of engineering, Noah felt very weird no matter how he looked at it.

She couldn't understand why so-called engineering was just to modify a bunch of old Originium power engines, put them together, bind them with rivets and tape, then buy two industrial hydraulic rods from the garbage dump, weld them together, and finally use industrial sawmill arms to weld together this large industrial machine?

The only safety feature Noah could notice was an ejection seat, an old model, probably a modified one.

The structure of the entire Gundam cannot be said to be exquisite, it can only be said that this thing can actually move——

If Noah saw correctly, at least three or four nuts fell off when he was testing the output just now!

The safety of this thing may not be as good as India's high-load train... How on earth does this thing move? It seems unlikely based on common sense.

But there might be no such thing as common sense in Rhode Island—at least in the Engineering Department.

Perhaps they rely on the Steel Soul to power their machinery...

Shouting that this is our friendship and bond can make the impossible machine move... sounds pretty awesome. Oh, Messiah, this is too much Soul of Steel.

While Noah was pondering whether he needed to revise what he said to Maria that anacondas should be trustworthy, the technical test had been completed. This thing that could move for some unknown reason actually passed the technical test.

Anaconda dismissed Da Chou and waved to Noah, who had just arrived at the Engineering Department. "Morning, Miss Noah. Are you here to see Maria?"

"I guess so..." Noah woke up and found Maria missing. Noah thought she must have gone to the engineering department, so he went to check. But he saw something that looked like the crystallization of greenskin technology. "Is Maria here?"

"Sister Noah—" Maria, who was debugging data in the back, immediately raised her hand happily, "I'm here."

"Maria didn't participate in any dangerous work today. She was debugging the data in the back. Don't worry." Sen Anaconda added, "She also said that she wanted to reassure you."

"I promise I won't do anything out of the ordinary—" Maria ran over to Noah. This time, Kuro wasn't following Noah. This was her request. She felt Kuro needed to have his own private life, and since he was safe in Rhodes Island, there was no need for him to follow her around.

Kuro has always been unable to persuade Noah, so he had to agree. However, she didn't have anything to do when she was free, so she probably went to harm the elite operators of Rhodes Island in the training room again.

Anyway, before the elite operator came to complain, Noah planned to pretend not to see it. There was no other way. Kuro was a typical martial arts fanatic, and his pursuit of martial arts was endless.

When she is not by my side, she is either pushing her limits or on her way to pushing her limits.

In order to prevent her from having nothing to do and racing against Rhodes Island, Noah decided to find something for her to do, which was to work hard as the operator on duty in the training room - today it seemed to be Miss Huang.

After a moment of silence for the operators in the training room, Noah returned his attention to Maria's work. Apparently, after he had banned Maria from participating in weapons testing, she had focused her energy on improving them. She was currently modifying a prototype sword and spear she had previously made for Margaret. Margaret had two swords and spears, one of which she currently used, a modified longsword from her past.

The other one is the prototype in Maria's hand. Compared with the official version, the prototype has fewer mechanisms. Except for the handle extension mechanism, it is basically a blank slate. It is precisely because of this that Maria is thinking about how to improve this sword and spear, so that she can help her improve the weapon when Margaret comes to Rhodes Island again.