Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"Goodbye, Director Noah." Although Alex was reluctant to let Noah go, she had no intention of stopping him. The director was very busy, and the fact that he could spare time to chat with her showed that he cared about her performance very much. She couldn't ask for more.

But after Director Noah left, she still felt a little unsatisfied——

Director Noah looked young, but he spoke with remarkable maturity. Despite his disability, he possessed knowledge and experience far beyond the average person. Many of the stories he shared were unheard of to Alex. Furthermore, to become the Director of Rhine Life at such a young age with such a body was truly remarkable. More importantly, he was also quite beautiful; even the faint clusters of Originium crystals that appeared on his face held a strange beauty.

Alex had to admit that she did have some strange thoughts about Director Noah.

But she didn't find it strange. Who doesn't like an older sister who cares about them, has outstanding abilities, speaks gently, and is also extremely beautiful?

It would be great if I could talk more to Director Noah, but unfortunately I am the dumbest and can never think of a reason to keep her.

Her face turned slightly red, and after a long time she shook her head, getting rid of the strange thoughts in her head.

"No... How can I think of Director Noah like this..."

"——" But Alex was not the only one here. Muirseth secretly listened to all the conversations between the two, but she had a strange feeling. This child - Alex was probably being played in the palm of Noah's hand. This was really strange.

After all, even if Muirseth has never seen Noah's bad side, from what he sees now - Alex is about to be hooked into a black carp.

Noah...Ah, sinful woman.

Muirseth sighed, fortunately he was smart and his relationship with Noah had always been stable, so he was not kept as a spoiled child by Aquaman Noah.

But now that Noah was gone, Muirseth naturally had to seize the opportunity, so she prepared herself and coughed before popping her head out from behind the pillar. "Alex, good afternoon~"

"Director Muirseth? When did you get there?!" Alex was so frightened when he found Muirseth that he almost fell off his chair. "Director Muirseth, please don't be so mysterious!"

"Ahaha, sorry, sorry. Actually, I was here when you were chatting. I eavesdropped for a while out of curiosity. After all, Director Noah is also a good friend of mine." Muirseth reminded intentionally or unintentionally, "Actually, I came here to see you, Alex, so of course I had to wait until Noah left before showing up."

"Looking for me? Why?" Alex pointed at herself. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no." Muirseth curled her lips. Before coming here, she got a letter from Diana specifically, and her purpose was to secretly take Alex's hair out. As long as she had her hair, she could use DNA comparison to determine whether the Alex in front of her was the so-called clone.

"Ahem, actually, it's like this." Muirseth took out the envelope in his hand, "I got a letter for you from your sister—hey hey hey, don't be in a hurry!"

When Muirseth took out the envelope, Alex's face suddenly became excited, and Muirseth quickly took the letter back. "I'll give it to you later. Before that, can you give me a hair?"

"Hair?" Alex asked doubtfully, "Why my hair?"

"Never mind—just tell me whether you'll give it to me or not." Muirseth began to play dirty. "If you don't give it to me, I'll give you this letter next time."

"...Well, okay, Diana...is she okay?" If anyone else had kept her in suspense like this, Alex would have been angry, but Muirseth was her former director after all, and she knew that Muirseth was that kind of person, so she could only pull out a hair of her own helplessly and hand it to Muirseth, and then she got the letter from Diana from him.

"It's pretty good, I just miss you a little." Remembering Diana's expression as she cried while holding the urn, Muirseth could only give this answer. "There's nothing wrong with her life, except that you're not here. You and she must have been a close pair of sisters, right?"

"Of course—" Alex nodded, "Thank you... Director Muirseth."

"That's too formal." Muirseth, after receiving the hair, placed it in a sealed test tube and put it in his pocket. "Don't tell Xiaoya about this meeting—I'm here to deliver a letter in secret. Tell her that I won't be able to come next time."

"I understand—" Although she felt guilty about keeping it a secret from Director Nuoya, she nodded out of longing for her family. "I promise."

Chapter 23: Containment Breach

After bringing the test tube containing Alex's hair out of the underground base using the previous method, Muirseth immediately began DNA comparison.

Honestly, she wasn't sure about the outcome. After all, if they matched, then they were likely clones. But if they didn't match... then what was this Alex she'd seen? What on earth had Noah locked up?

She even began to doubt whether her actions were within the other party's expectations...

Forget it, don’t think about it too much. Muirseth turned on the instrument, put the test tube into the testing machine, and then waited for the results.

Rhine Life's testing equipment is undoubtedly of the highest level, and the test results do not require a whole day to wait. The results came out in the time it took Muirseth to take a nap.

Just as Muerses was about to retrieve the results, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared in the lab. It was two Ouroboros members in black combat uniforms. They barged into the lab, confirmed the results, and immediately pointed their crossbows at Muerses, shouting a warning. "Director Muerses, we suspect you of stealing company secrets. Please raise your hands and do not resist."

"..." Muerses' expression froze. It seemed that his infiltration had been discovered. After the Ouroboros took control of Muerses, Saria arrived soon. She did not question Muerses, but signaled the Ouroboros members to take Muerses away. She walked alone into the interior where the experimental machines were stored, wearing combat equipment.

She was wearing isolation equipment and was covered in special spell units designed to enhance Originium skills. This set of Fortress Combat Clothes was specially designed for her by Christen, and she had also undergone a series of reinforcements while she was away from Rhine Life. There was only one reason why she wanted to wear this equipment -

The opponent she was going to face was so powerful...

When Saria approached the huge machine, she heard a strange hissing sound, like the sound of a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue. She held up her shield and moved forward cautiously step by step. As she approached, the power supply of the laboratory began to flicker. When she came to the core area of ​​the test equipment, she was stunned at first, and then immediately raised her shield.

The next second, she was sent flying. An arm, entwined with crimson veins, was enormous, terrifying, and incredibly powerful. Saria adjusted her stance mid-air, slamming her foot against the wall. Calcareous enamel armor formed on her arm, and with a sudden burst of force, she transformed into a cannonball, slamming fiercely into the flesh-and-blood monster that had emerged from the laboratory's core. The Ecology Laboratory housed not only various machines but also specially cultivated plants—and the one infected by the black light was a parasitic vine.

Now, the dancing vines wrapped in scarlet blood, under the erosion of the virus, have taken on a posture similar to that of the tentacles in some R18 pornographic books.

These tentacles were nearly as tough as metal and extremely fast. Even Saria found it difficult to get close to the main body of the plant, and the violent aggressiveness also caused Saria a lot of trouble.

Relying on the shield and enamel armor to block, Saria barely got close to the main body of the scarlet plant. She didn't expect that the leakage would be so serious this time. If she was slower, the vine would devour all the plants in the ecology department. After all, this was assessed as a high-risk containment that could destroy the world.

As for how they discovered it - no one noticed Muirseth's infiltration, but all of Rhine Life's equipment is connected to the Internet.

Once the detection equipment detected the Blacklight virus, Noah and Saria were immediately notified, allowing them to quickly address the leak. Fortunately, Muirseth was immune to the Blacklight virus due to her constitution, but the problem was that the hair she brought with her, Alex, was a pure prototype of the virus, and everything on her body was infected with the Blacklight virus. This Blacklight virus was a terrifying virus that could assimilate both organic and inorganic matter, penetrating almost any pore.

After separating from its original body, the virus will go completely out of control and devour all nearby DNA to strengthen itself.

This virus is not a product of Rhine Life. Its true form is a tube of mysterious blood that was originally sealed in a relic. It was brought back to Rhine Life by Mariam. After many studies, people realized the horror of this tube of blood.

Object No. HA-04-21 Blacklight Virus

Introduction: Director Mariam discovered an ancient virus during a relic survey. Its function is to accelerate the speed of evolution. Its greatest use is to construct a fast channel for matter to complete various evolutions. Simply put, it enters, changes and assimilates each cell. The new cells activate and replicate the previously dormant non-coding regions, causing drastic physiological changes, expanding genetic capacity, accommodating high-quality genetically modified bodies, and increasing cell activity, that is, engulfing and fusing other organisms and evolving.

Containment advice: The virus prototype Alex is to be contained in a three-story locked room. Her personality must be strictly maintained to prevent any disclosure of her true identity.

Current risk assessment level: High

Containment Breach Probability: High

One of the reasons why it was assessed as high-risk was the terrifying property of the Blacklight Virus, which could even infect inorganic matter. This property made it almost impossible for the Blacklight Virus to be contained by anything, and the only way to control the spread of the Blacklight Virus was to allow Alex, the prototype or mother of the Blacklight Virus, to maintain human cognition and control the Blacklight Virus through the manipulation of her consciousness.

However, Muirses took a hair away from his body. After it separated from the prototype body, the hair naturally began to assimilate the body. After finding a suitable host, it began to try to devour more and better quality DNA.

Although this virus leak has not caused any casualties, it is already a major experimental accident. Saria then asked all members of the Ouroboros to stand by, and she tried to suppress the virus variant in front of her alone. Compared with the prototype which is almost immortal, the variant is much worse. It has not had time to be completely transformed by the Blacklight Virus. As long as its original body is killed and strictly disinfected, it will be extremely difficult for the Blacklight Virus to spread.

Once again using her shield to slap away the vine's attack, Saria was finally able to get close to the main body of the plant. She punched the plant's body, which was already covered with blood. Saria clearly heard the monster's scream - it was obvious that this mutant, which had evolved a vocal organ, was gradually improving itself. Accelerated evolution required a large amount of energy, which meant it needed to [eat], so it was so crazy.

It longs to devour Saria's flesh and blood to complete further evolution.

After being infected with the Blacklight virus, there are only two choices: absorb the DNA and flesh of others to accelerate their own evolution, or starve themselves to death in the face of drastic evolution.

The infected are undoubtedly miserable. Except for Alex, the mother, no one can control their own evolution. The evolution that would take hundreds or even thousands of years to complete will become extremely fast under the interference of the blacklight virus, and this rapid evolution is not something that ordinary people can sustain.

All the energy consumed will be converted into appetite to a certain extent, and appetite will be converted into aggressiveness. The virus itself also has the desire to spread itself.

With these three factors combined, the monster's aggressiveness will increase exponentially.

When Saria was fighting the mutant vines, Noah also rushed to the scene. She immediately came to Muirses' side, and her first words were not accusations, but concerns. "Are you okay?"

"...No, it's okay." Muirseth was a little afraid to look Noah in the eye. She knew that what she had done could be considered stealing corporate secrets, at the most basic level. At the most basic level...well, it wasn't that small either. Just triggering a biological leak was enough to put her on administrative leave.

"I'm glad you're okay..." Noah breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know that Muirses had actually sneaked in twice and was immune to the blacklight virus through his special physique. She was not sure whether Muirses was infected.

Fortunately, the results of the examination are very optimistic——

As the director of the Special Containment Procedures Department, she has the obligation to supervise the objects under her control. She is well aware of the dangers of these objects and the great impact they would have on the outside world if leaked.

But as a human being, she cared more about the safety of those around her, so she did not blame Muirseth right away, but was concerned about her health.

After confirming that the other party was fine, Noya asked the Ouroboros member beside him, "Has Director Saria gone in?"

"Yes, Director Saria won't let us participate in the battle..." The Ouroboros captain nodded. "Now Director Saria is fighting alone inside."

"...I want to go in." Noya frowned. She knew why Saria didn't allow the rest of the Ouroboros troops in. If they were infected by the monsters inside, the number of victims would increase. But Noya was different. As the head of the Special Containment Procedures Department, she had the obligation to control those out-of-control containment objects.

"...But Director, Director Saria said that no one can enter..." The Ouroboros captain also began to feel troubled at this time.

"I'm the director, Saria is the deputy director. You should listen to me first." Noya's tone wasn't harsh, but for some reason, the Ouroboros captain broke out in a cold sweat. She heard a hidden meaning in his words: who should you listen to, Saria or Noya Kyrielight?

Although Noah himself may not have meant this, this problem is much more serious... After so many years in the workplace and even rising to the position of captain of the Ouroboros, it is natural for him to understand the meaning of this sentence.

He swallowed hard, and without further hesitation, he picked up the intercom and said, "Make way, let the director enter the lab, and then continue the lockdown."

"Thank you." Noah thanked him sincerely, then turned his wheelchair and planned to enter the laboratory surrounded by the Ouroboros troops. Muirses wanted to stop him, but he had no reason or excuse.

She caused this incident... She has no right to stand for anything...

To stop the current Noah...

"If Director Saria and I don't come out in ten minutes, notify the general manager, or simply abandon the entire lab. The general manager knows all this." Noya didn't wear any protective equipment before entering. If even gray matter couldn't eliminate the Blacklight virus, then other protective equipment would be meaningless. She simply smiled at everyone and waved. "See you later."

The gate closed, and everyone felt heavy in their hearts. Normally, at this time, the Ouroboros members should have been fighting one after another, but since Director Noah Kyrielight took office, the Ouroboros had not suffered a large number of casualties.

These Ouroboros troops had already written their suicide notes after learning that the containment had failed.

But when they arrived at the battlefield, the deputy director and the director were rushing forward one after another, so they were left behind.

No one except Noah and Saria knew what happened behind this door. People could only pray and wait for the return of the two directors.

Muirseth's mood was the most complicated as she had pushed her best friend into the trap with her own hands. She had never expected that just taking out a hair would cause such chaos - she didn't even know what she had brought out until now.

The Ouroboros troops remained silent, and the captain was looking at his watch to count the time, turning a deaf ear to the questions raised by Muirses. Now he was only concerned about the safety of the two directors.

As for Muirseth...it's a good thing he didn't turn against me.

"Five more minutes... The director has been in there for five minutes."

This kind of waiting made many people feel a little suffocated, just like the family members waiting in front of the operating room. None of them were ungrateful for Director Noah's kindness. These people were the members closest to death in Rhine's life, and naturally understood what Director Noah had done to protect them. If something happened to Director Noah, no one knew what kind of person the next director would be.

Besides... they really don't want anything to happen to such a gentle and kind director...

The Ouroboros members stared at the door. When the timer hit eight minutes, someone requested reinforcements to rescue the director, but the Ouroboros captain just shook his head and continued to stare at his watch.

Ten minutes, the director said, and then notify the chief commander in ten minutes—

He must trust the Director...

Although he himself wanted to kick the door open...

And when the time falls to eight minutes and fifty seconds...

The door slowly opened to both sides.

In an instant, everyone held their breath and raised their weapons slightly.

But what slowly emerged from the darkness was Noah Kyrielight, who was sitting in a wheelchair with a collection container in her arms, and Saria, who was like a guardian angel, standing beside her.

"Containment successful."

Noah spoke up and responded with a smile.

"We won."

Chapter 24: Newcomers

After all the vines of the vine creatures mutated by the Blacklight Virus were cut off and stuffed into containment containers, the containment failure finally came to an end.

Fortunately, the only person involved in the entire incident was Muerses, and Muerses happened to have a physique that could not be infected by the Blacklight Virus. This meant that the Blacklight Virus could only choose this plant as its host. In this case, no matter how powerful the Blacklight Virus was, it would be difficult to deal with Saria, who was already a Terran superman, not to mention Noah's assistance.

The black light virus has no effect on Noah, let alone infection. Even if the virus is directly injected into Noah's body, the gray matter in Noah's body will immediately divide and eat the virus. It is simply crunchy and tastes like chicken, and poses no threat to Noah at all.

One was too hard to defeat, and the other was useless even if they were beaten. The two nemesis of the Black Light Virus could be said to have beaten the newly born mutant plants into a state of no temper. The reason why it took so long was mainly because there were too many vines and it was troublesome to collect them.

But dealing with it was a small matter. The real troublesome thing gave Noah a headache after the results of the treatment came out.

Especially since the person in front of him who almost made a big mistake was Muir Seth, his good friend.

Muirseth stared at her toes in embarrassment, not even daring to look at Noah. After all, the trouble she had gotten herself into was quite serious. She had secretly taken out a classified containment object and nearly caused a biochemical leak. It was not like she had never seen a zombie movie before; she had almost created one herself. If she hadn't done it alone, if there had been other people inside when the leak occurred, there would have been several more containment objects.

Moreover, the damage caused to the laboratory by the vines alone was enough to make her suffer. Besides, even if Noah was willing to help her cover it up, there was no way to hide it from the eyes of the finance department.

More importantly, what she did was indeed a bit too much...

Saria took off her equipment on the side. This level of containment failure was not difficult for her. The enamel armor on her body was not something that could be penetrated by everyone. Even facing the bullets of the Laterans, she was confident that she could block the opponent's close-range shooting. Otherwise, how could she be called Terra Superman? However, considering that what Muerses did this time might be more serious than imagined, she did not express her opinion, but waited for Noah, the director, to give his own way of handling it.

"...Miaomiao." Noya sighed. She thought for a long time before coming to a conclusion. "I can't pretend I know nothing about this."

"...Yes." Muirseth nodded, "I was wrong..."

"Yes, but do you know where you went wrong?" Noah asked, "Or, what do you think is the worst thing you should have done about this leak?"

"...Take Alex's hair out?" Muirses thought this question was quite strange. After all, wasn't the biggest problem with this containment breach the hair she took out when she met Alex privately because she doubted his identity?

But she didn't know that Alex was actually the prototype of the virus, and every tissue in her body was carrying the Blacklight virus.

It's better to say that before Noah handed the containment information to Muirseth, she didn't know why the biochemical leak happened...

"If it's just the hair that was brought out, then forget it..." Noah shook his head. "The Special Containment Procedures Department exists to deal with situations like this, and it didn't cause much damage this time, so if it's just this one incident, I'll turn a blind eye and it's fine."

"...Then?" Muerses looked at Noah doubtfully, "What exactly is..."

"Miu Miu, you sent Alex a letter, right?" Noah's eyes were pitch black. Few could meet their gaze. That darkness seemed to pull one's soul down, like a bottomless abyss. "That letter is the last thing you should have done."

"...Why?" Muirseth was even more confused. "Although I know that the Alex in the containment procedures is not the real Alex, her memories and consciousness are no different from the original Alex... I think..."