Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Since they returned to Rhodes Island, the surgical plan was quickly finalized under Warfarin's examination.

Originopathy surgery is perhaps more brutal than most people imagine. Essentially, it's simply an overgrowth of Originium crystals within the body. Therefore, the most crucial aspect of surgery involves using tools like angle grinders and electric drills, tools most people wouldn't consider medical, to grind away the Originium crystals within the patient's body. This is a delicate task. Dr. Kal'tsit once mined gold within Noah's body, and it's said that the ore crystals she removed were made into a small souvenir for Noah.

——Of course, Noah didn’t realize the black humor in this act of giving soap to people who had undergone liposuction surgery.

However, because the memory of that surgery was still fresh, Noah had a slight resistance to undergoing another surgery. General anesthesia was a given, of course, but it didn't seem to be thorough enough. Although he didn't feel any pain, he could clearly hear the sharp grinding of the instruments inside his body. It felt less like surgery and more like some kind of sculpture, with him being the material.

By the way, after Noah got off the operating table, she lost at least three or four pounds out of thin air.

...It must be said that Rhodes Island is the foremost expert on oripathy. If even Rhodes Island is using improved mining equipment to deal with overgrown Originium clusters, then other places will be even more barbaric...

So she was even more worried about the possibility of being sent to Rhine Life for recuperation...

Rhodes Island is like this, Rhine Life... Rhine Life's reputation is not very good. Rhine Life has a military background and is said to be secretly developing weapons. There are even rumors that Rhine Life has been conducting human experiments.

This is also one of the reasons why Noah has always kept his distance from Rhine Life. Although it is very likely just a rumor, according to Noah's own investigation... this rumor is not groundless.

Rhine Life is an organization that advocates science, but it is also a very radical organization. Noah had cooperated with Rhine Life several times when she was in Casimir, but each cooperation shocked Noah, a country girl.

It’s not that Casimir is rural... but compared to Colombia, the technology capital, Casimir is really behind in science.

After all, most of the investment is in the entertainment industry, and even the technology of Silver Spear Pegasus' weapons and armor are imported from foreign countries. It has to be said that the entire Casimir is in a bit of a dilemma.

After becoming the spokesperson, Noah once wanted to invest part of the funds in talent training and science and technology. However, one by one, most of the scientists she invested in were scammers. After several setbacks, Noah could only invest this part of the funds in sponsoring scholarships and increasing funds for talent training.

Margaret would not change her policy at that time. If nothing unexpected happened, there would still be hope for the future generation of Casimir...

probably.

Noya wasn't sure either. With her life on the line, she didn't have the energy to worry about Casimir. She also believed that with Margaret around, Casimir wouldn't stray into other paths.

Once people have free time, they tend to have random thoughts, let alone before entering the operating room. While waiting, Noah thought about many things, such as whether the operation would be successful, and if not, how long he could live. He even thought about whether he should simply study with Teacher Herhunzolen how to survive, and whether the Nameless Harp could suppress the continued growth of Originium.

Of course, these thoughts only flashed through my mind, especially the idea of ​​working with my teacher to study a topic that would allow me to survive...

Although his cheap teacher saved him once, he seemed to have no obsession with letting his disciple survive. Even after his death, his soul might be captured by the Black Gold Palace, and he might be locked in a small black box to study Originium skills and music.

Anyway, the Lord Witch King will certainly not care about such a trivial matter.

Sigh... having a master who's too unrealistic isn't a good thing. A normal master would at least protect his apprentice. But a master who's too magical would just wonder, "How could such a small thing stump you? Are you a loser?"

This is the gap between the levels... and it cannot be filled for the time being.

However, his wild thoughts soon came to an end, because the operation was already underway, and it was only these well-trained Rhodes Island doctors who would decide Noah's future life.

Before entering the operating room, Jian stayed by his side. Noah was lying on the hospital bed, his face pale, but he forced a smile.

"Okay, okay, it's just another trip to the gates of hell. It's not like I haven't done it before. I'll be back soon." Noah was not very good at comforting people and could only speak clumsily. As the anesthetic gradually took effect, she even found it difficult to control her body. In the end, she couldn't resist the sleepiness and quickly closed her eyes.

Nuoya just needed to sleep, but Jian had a lot to think about. After Nuoya was pushed into the operating room, all she could do was wait. Waiting to see how her girl would finally see her.

This kind of waiting was even more unbearable than facing the Blood Demon Lord directly. Even though she warned herself countless times to stay calm, she still began to pace back and forth involuntarily. She couldn't help much, and the doctors in Rhodes Island were already the best, and they would definitely do their best.

Noah has always been one of the most popular people in Rhodes Island, and the doctor and Noah have a good relationship. In the final analysis... she should have nothing to worry about.

Trust Rhodes Island...

Time passed by minute by minute, and the inside of the mace seemed to be fried in hot oil, and the doctor inside was not much better.

"...No...Is it really impossible to cut it open?"

"I've been under the knife so many times, what's wrong with this skin?"

"How about trying the chainsaw?"

"...Using a chainsaw is excessive, isn't it, Gavial?"

"Shouldn't we first consider how to solve the problem that we can't open Miss Noya's chest?"

The biggest challenge facing the doctors was... they had originally planned to open Noah's body according to the normal procedure, but when the scalpel pierced the skin but failed to cut through the flesh, things started to go wrong. Dr. Warfarin was the surgeon at first, but when he couldn't make a cut, he was replaced by Dr. Gavial, and the scalpel blade broke first. Everyone in the operating room was stunned.

Didn't they give Noah anesthesia before coming in? Why was it able to penetrate then?

"...How about trying to poke it with a needle?" Huafalin whispered beside him, "But this doesn't conform to the regulations."

"...I don't think it's standard for the scalpel to not penetrate. This scalpel even cut Vayvan's skin!" Rhodes Island uses top-quality scalpels. When it comes to medical equipment, Rhodes Island doesn't skimp on funds. After all, they're truly racing against death. "This is theoretically impossible."

"Indeed, if the anesthetic needle can penetrate, there's no reason why the scalpel can't make an incision." Javier also complained, "Could it be because Noah is anesthetized?"

"...Anesthesia can have this effect?" The anesthesiologist, who was playing with his phone nearby, was stunned for a moment. "Why does it involve me? I gave the anesthetic according to the dosage."

"Anyway, let's not worry about anything else. What should we do now? We can't even do the first step of opening the chest cavity." Huafalin frowned. They never thought that they would fail in even the first step of the operation.

As expected of a patient who even made Kal'tsit frown, in some ways, he was truly invincible. After some discussion, they decided to try using a clean, freshly removed needle. The result was completely different this time; the needle wouldn't penetrate at all, and even broke like a surgical blade after applying enough force.

The entire operating room fell silent...

"...Could it be... that general anesthesia is impossible?" Huafalin guessed, "Because Noya retained consciousness before... that's why we were able to penetrate her. But now... we can't break through Miss Noya's skin."

"...Is there such a thing?" This matter is obviously known to most people from Chaoyu. From now on, the physical strength of the unconscious Miss Noah is even stronger than that of Waifan.

"Then what should I do..."

"... Let's wait until the anesthesia wears off." Warfarin finally had no choice but to give up the operation temporarily. There was no other way. There was a problem with the first step. He couldn't let Warfarin bite it with his upper teeth, right?

Looking at Miss Noya sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed, Huafalin couldn't help but shake her head. "I think I can write another paper and publish it in a journal."

Of course, this is just a joke. These are Miss Noah's privacy. If the other party disagrees, Huafalin also knows the limits.

This might be the most difficult illness she has ever encountered. Not only is it serious, but it is also incurable... Does it really mean that Noah has to undergo surgery while he is conscious?

That's a bit inhumane...

Of course, Noah, who was lying on the hospital bed, didn't know about this. It was not until her anesthesia gradually wore off that she learned a shocking piece of news from Warfarin.

"Ms. Noah, the previous surgery failed, so we decided that the next surgery should be done under partial anesthesia!"

"...?"

"So, you have to be mentally prepared." Huafalin carefully told Noya the details. "It may be a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't be painful. But... it may not sound like surgery."

"..." Noya's psychological shadow climbed directly up her spine, and she began to sweat coldly. If there was one thing in the world that Noya feared most, it would probably be going to the dentist—or having surgery.

Or perhaps there's actually not much difference in how terrifying these two are. Both times you see something like an electric drill tinkering inside your body. Your mind tells you that these doctors are well-trained and nothing will happen, but your body instinctively wants to escape immediately. Every time it's like torture.

I finally requested a general anesthesia, but the surgery failed and I need a partial anesthesia...

Noah almost fainted.

"Of course, besides this plan, we have another." Seeing Noya's pale face, Warfarin offered a second plan. "Our medical team has received a cooperation invitation from Rhine Life Sciences. We will be conducting a joint consultation on your special variant of mineralogy. I heard that Rhine Life Sciences has launched a biological treatment program. If you don't mind, you can try to learn more about it."

"...Does it have to be Rhine Life again?" Noah weighed the options of being used as a guinea pig and undergoing surgery under partial anesthesia. Having already experienced hell on earth, Noah raised his head and said, "I think Rhine Life is pretty good."

"...That's good." Warfarin wasn't surprised. After all, when she'd asked Noya whether she wanted general or partial anesthesia, Miss Noya had been very clear: general. The surgical records clearly showed that Miss Noya had been under general anesthesia, but it was said that the anesthesiologist had underestimated her physical condition, so Miss Noya remained semi-conscious throughout the entire procedure.

Even Miss Enoyah's optimism took a few days to return to normal... but that's normal.

In short... the olive branch arrangement that Rhine Life suddenly extended to Rhodes Island was impeccable. Not only did it allow Rhodes Island to station doctors, but Rhodes Island could also take charge of the overall situation during the entire joint consultation, and it made sufficient concessions.

Even Rhine Life had to admit that in the field of oripathy, Rhodes Island was the true giant.

Therefore, the intention of this cooperation seems to be very clear. It is hoped that by studying the rare case of Noah, we can get a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of Rhodes Island's technology for treating oripathy.

However, Warfarin needed to stay in Rhodes Island and naturally could not go to Rhine Life, so the contact person they chose was...

"Ms. Saria, can I ask you for a favor?"

Huafalin looked at Miss Saria who had an expressionless face and asked.

"Please go with Miss Noah. I feel at ease with you around."

Chapter 2: Muirseth

"..." If Saria had to choose for herself, she would definitely not want to return to Rhine Life. Not to mention that she had already resigned, and she even threw the resignation letter through the wall with her fist in front of the general manager of Rhine Life. Given her current position, returning to Rhine Life was not a good choice.

She knows the situation of Rhine Life best and also knows the least about it. She has the right to inquire about most of the experiments, but the truly critical ones are capable of bypassing her as the director of the defense department.

It can be said that in Rhine Life, she is the first person under the general jurisdiction and has the right to inquire about everything in Rhine Life.

But at the same time, the commander-in-chief can also bypass such a firewall and directly carry out some [secret] experiments.

Many times, Saria had to assure the media that the experiments conducted by Rhine Life did not violate any regulations. For a long time, she believed that she was telling the truth and scoffed at the outside world's doubts.

But it turns out that everything that Defense Department Director Saria said, although not what she meant, was still a lie.

After the incident with Ifrit's Fire Demon, Saria and General Christen had a real falling out. One of the founders of Rhine Life, the most powerful woman under the General, the strongest fighter of Rhine Life, and even an academic genius who had made achievements in most fields, resigned on her own due to [differences in ideas].

Under such circumstances, it was somewhat awkward for Saria to go to Rhine Life as a "Special Advisor to Rhodes Island."

But unfortunately, this responsibility has to be shouldered by her. After all, there is no one in Rhodes Island who knows Rhine Life better and has the ability to prevent emergencies in special circumstances.

Saria understood Rhodes Island's decision and knew that she was the only one who could do this. After careful consideration and inspired by her compassion as a doctor, she reluctantly agreed.

Human life is at stake. If she gave up the opportunity to treat Noah just because she had a conflict with Rhine Life, then she would be no different from Christen who disregarded life.

After Saria agreed, Rhodes Island promptly arranged a collaboration with Rhine Life. Due to technical reasons, Noah was transferred to Columbia for closed treatment at Rhine Life headquarters, with Saria accompanying him. Due to the special nature of the case, even Mace was not allowed to accompany him.

In other words, Noah's safety is entirely the responsibility of Saria—

And for Noah...

"It's been ages since I've been back to Columbia..." Noah sighed, sitting in his newly prepared wheelchair. "I went to college in Columbia, majoring in world history."

"It's no different than before. Columbia has always been at the forefront of science," Saria responded. She hadn't set foot on this land in a long time, but her papers were often popular in local journals. Even in Rhodes Island, Saria had demonstrated her scientific talent, successfully overcoming numerous medical challenges. It's no exaggeration to say that, aside from Kal'tsit and Warfarin, no one in Rhodes Island boasted greater academic achievements than her. "With so much progress, your impression of this city shouldn't be much different."

"That's right..." Noah nodded. During the handover, when she was communicating with Saria, she could feel that she had feelings for Colombia, but these feelings were hidden very deeply. More importantly, her insistence on the bottom line of science impressed Noah.

Although she is not a scientist, she studied history before and eventually became a businessman.

Thinking about it this way, her basic life experience was from a knight to a history graduate student, then to a successful businessman, and finally she spent all her wealth to become a traveler - she even became an honorary saint in Kjerag.

My life is really colorful, life is impermanent, and the big intestine is wrapped in the small intestine——

They didn't wait long in the reception area. Soon Noah heard hurried footsteps approaching from afar. They were very familiar footsteps. Although he hadn't seen them for a long time, Noah recognized them at the first sight.

Sure enough, after the automatic door opened, a beautiful girl threw herself on Noah, who was ready to hug him.

"Long time no see~Xiaoya~"

"Long time no see, Miu Miu."

Muirseth, the director of the Rhine Life Ecology Department, can be said to be one of the top scientific research talents in Columbia. When Noah was studying at Columbia University, he accidentally met Muirseth and became close friends.

Of course, that was a long time ago, but Muirseth remembered it clearly. After knowing that Noah had returned to Columbia, he rushed over to see his little sister.

"You should have told me you were coming to Columbia. No matter how busy I am, I'll always make time." Muirses held her for a long time before reluctantly letting go. The cute little elf said with a hint of annoyance, "And I told you a long time ago that you wanted to come to Columbia for treatment, right? But you always say next time. Do you think our Rhine Life is worse than Rhodes Island?"

"It was my grandfather who decided to go to Rhodes Island for treatment. It had nothing to do with my wishes." Noah could only put the blame on her grandfather who had passed away. When she received Miu Miu's letter, she did want to go back to Columbia for treatment, but her grandfather insisted on going to Rhodes Island.

Maybe there was some special relationship between my grandfather and Rhodes Island. Anyway, the final result was pretty good, and Noah's body was indeed temporarily stabilized at that time.

Moreover, when it comes to treating oripathy, Rhodes Island is not afraid of Rhine Life.

"Anyway, it's good that you're here. I promise that Rhine Life will make you feel at home." Muirseth said it as if Rhine Life was some large hotel. However, seeing his friend so energetic, Noah was happy for her.

However, she found it hard to imagine what could bother the naturally cheerful Muirseth. Even though they hadn't seen each other for so long, Muirseth still remembered her. This alone was enough to make Noah happy.

After the greetings, Muirseth's eyes fell on Saria, but the atmosphere between her and Saria was a little subtle. She looked at Saria, her expression still smiling, but somewhat cautious.

"—Welcome home," she said, a hint of tentativeness and anticipation. "Actually, the General Manager didn't agree to your resignation at all. If you want to come back, we welcome you anytime."

"No need. I'm just back as a special advisor to Rhodes Island, not as the director of the defense department, Muirses, she and I are no longer the same kind of people." But Saria didn't intend to have a good face, and still kept a serious look. Muirses didn't mind the other party's attitude. She also knew that Saria left for a reason. She just wanted to give it a try. After all, Saria was also a very important friend of hers.

"...If you have anything to say, you can talk about it slowly." Muirses shook his head helplessly, but Saria was too lazy to argue with Muirses about this matter anymore and left the reception room directly. She did not need any guidance, as she was more familiar with this place than most people in Rhine Life.

Muirseth was silent for a while, until Noah reached out and patted the back of her hand, "Are you okay? Miu Miu?"

"No, it's okay! What could possibly happen to me? That Saria is having a quarrel with the governor. It's okay. I'll always find a way to deal with it." Muirses said with a smile, "Ah, you finally came back. Did you bring me any gifts?"

"Of course." How could Noah forget this? She knew that Muirseth liked all kinds of plants, so she specially got the seeds of a very rare spice plant from the perfumer in Rhodes Island. It was said to be called Summer Snow Grass. Although Noah had never seen the appearance of Summer Snow Grass with her own eyes, it was said that this kind of flower was the most suitable to give to friends who had been reunited after a long time.

But the journey was long, and if it was fresh summer snow grass, it would have withered on the way, so Noah chose seeds.

When Noah placed the beautifully packaged summer snow grass seeds in Muerses's palm, Muerses was a little touched. She really liked all kinds of plants, and it could be said that this gift was very much in line with her wishes. However, she was even more touched that Noah had never forgotten the things she liked, and the flower language of summer snow grass was: innocence, longing and memories.

Indeed, it is very suitable as a gift for friends who have been reunited after a long time.

This touch of romance made Muerses's mouth curl up slightly. After accepting this precious gift, Muerses muttered, "I'm glad you still remember it. I'm very happy."

"How could I dare to forget, Miu Miu~" Noah said with a smile, "By the way, how is your botanical garden now? I saw it once and I can't forget it now."

"I'll take you to see it later. I'm the director of Rhine Life's Ecology Department, and I'm here to help you familiarize yourself with where you'll be staying." Muirses said with a smile. "You'll be undergoing closed-door treatment, so I can't take you out shopping. That's against the rules."

"I know, I won't make things difficult for Miu Miu." Noah certainly trusted Miu Miu, but just now, when Miu Miu was talking to Saria, she felt that Miu Miu was a little uneasy in her heart. In order to resolve these anxieties, Noah also made some efforts. Not only did she plant the seeds of summer snow grass, she also absorbed the emotions in Miu Miu's heart.

So, she made Miu Miu happy again with just a few words, which is also what Noah often does.