Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"When we look up, there's only one thing we're equal to—we can all see the same sky. Regardless of bloodline or country, as human beings, as part of a civilization, Terrans, we share this land. This has been true throughout history," Noa said. "Although everything you said is true, for a long time, I couldn't give an answer, and I couldn't solve it."

Noah took a deep breath. "But I have always believed that—beneath this starry sky, before we even had the concept of a nation, the emotions surging within us were real and the same! What we share as human beings isn't just hatred and conflict, but also dreams and sincerity. What sets us apart from beasts is precisely our ability to create things with our own hands that don't exist in this world."

——The mobile city, the Originium furnace, everything——

"Since you haven't even tried it, how can you say it's impossible?!" Noah asked. "Nothing is impossible in this world. Isn't science the study of making the impossible possible? Nothing is impossible in this world unless you don't try."

Noah's words were powerful. If she were just an ordinary person, perhaps these words would be just empty talk.

But her identity is the chief administrator of Rhine Life, the forefront of civilization on the land of Terra—

Her will leads Rhine's life forward.

So what she said was not empty talk, but something that can really be achieved.

She really intended to use the power of Rhine Life to make the impossible possible and the dangerous road a smooth one.

The smile on Mastema's lips disappeared, but soon she smiled again.

"I have to admit that your words impressed me." Mastema stood up and bowed, as gracefully as a well-trained noble.

"As the Pope said—you may truly be able to change Terra," Mostima said. "Now, Lateran is with you. All your proposals have won Lateran's support."

From the very beginning, she had been testing something, and only when she was truly sure did Rutland's true attitude come to light.

"The Lateran has always been with justice, and now we are with you. Your path is justice."

Chapter 41: Mace and Compensation

"The Lateran has always been with justice, and now we are with you. Your path is justice."

"......?" Noah was really confused. No, you were saying that I was an idealist before, how come I was suddenly righteous? Noah knew that justice, or in religion, what can be called justice is not a simple thing.

"Don't be nervous. What Mostima means is that your opinion is consistent with Lateran's, and Lateran will fully support you." Fiammetta on the side immediately explained, but perhaps because Mostima's words were so convincing, she was actually stunned for a few seconds. Fortunately, she was familiar with Mostima's nature.

Mostima is definitely not a bad person, but to be friends with her, you usually need to have a good temper.

Although Fiammetta looks like she has eaten explosives, her temper can be said to be quite good. Usually, she can sit at the same table with Mostima and talk for more than three sentences without being anxious. This is considered to be a top-level skill in cultivating her qi.

This shows how bad Mastema's character is——

After reaching a consensus, the rest of the time was undoubtedly pure commercial nonsense. Noah found an excuse and just finished it. Although it was quite interesting to listen to the crosstalk of these two crosstalk groups, she couldn't be idle recently.

She was a little overwhelmed now. After all, she was suddenly accused of such a serious crime. Her first reaction was - could it be that Rutland wanted to use this World Expo to cause trouble?

While this World Expo was spearheaded by Rhine Life, the true partners involved were national powers, including Columbia, Lateran, and others. In fact, to a large extent, Rhine Life was the primary organizer of the Terra Expo in name only. After proposing this idea, the Colombian government put in a lot of effort.

Even that bird president called himself over for another round of questioning. After confirming that this was not the idea of ​​the previous general manager Christen, he nodded and agreed to the exhibition. He also approved a considerable amount of funds for Rhine Life to be responsible for the construction of the venue. Of course, all these things were also thrown on Nasti's desk.

Noah felt a little guilty, and that night there were more than a dozen voice records on the terminal - the average length was two and a half minutes. Noah didn't dare to listen to them.

Although sufficient funds were provided for the construction of the venue, Nasti still had dark circles under her eyes.

But there is good news. After Alex's rampage, the Melander Foundation seemed to have calmed down a bit. The loss was not concealed internally. It was actually reported. That is to say, the Melander Foundation knew that Diana had terminated the cooperation with them and that Rhine Life had not liquidated Parvis.

Anyone who isn't stupid knows that this time the new commander-in-chief doesn't want to tear his face off. The other party has given him such a way out, and it would be a bit impolite not to give in.

After the Melander Foundation went dormant, Diana focused all her energy on ecological research. According to Muirseth, with Diana's help, there was hope of recovering some of the research data she had previously destroyed. Diana's excellence was undeniable; as long as she used her intelligence righteously, nothing would go wrong.

Everything seemed to have returned to normal, and what made Noah happiest was that someone from Rhodes Island had arrived.

When footsteps sounded in the corridor of Rhine Life, Noah actually knew who was coming. That's right, how could she not come?

The automatic door opened, and the blonde lady, dressed in a white lab coat, walked into the general manager's office. His eyes fell on the young lady, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, and he finally smiled strangely.

"——Mace." Noah coughed, "What? Can't you recognize it?"

"To be honest, this is the first time I've seen you in a white coat." Mace nodded. "You haven't been wronged in Rhine Life, have you?"

"I've made it to the position of commander-in-chief, what do you think?" Noah said helplessly, "I won't be bullied everywhere, right?"

"That's not necessarily true." Jian looked at the girl in front of him, reached out his hand, and stroked her cheek. "I am indeed worried about you. I feel... you seem to have lost weight?"

"...Your imagination." Noah shook his head speechlessly. "I don't eat badly here, how could I have lost weight? Honestly..."

Noah touched her belly and found that the extra fat had indeed disappeared. Then she realized belatedly that it might be due to the extra gray matter in her body. This thing really tasted delicious as long as it affected her body... not only Originium crystal clusters... but also fat.

Mace's arrival was certainly a good thing, but more importantly, accompanying Mace to Noah's office was Miss Hemer, who had just arrived from Rhodes Island. She was also a consultant recommended by Saria for the Ethics Supervision Department. Although they had been acquaintances in Rhodes Island, this was their first formal meeting.

Before, he was just playing with Ifrit, and every time Ifrit got into trouble, Hemer would always come to lead him away.

I never thought that I would be able to rise to the position of General Manager and even have Hemer rehire me back to Rhine Life. In a sense, it can be considered as karma.

"--Miss Noah, long time no see." Behind Hemer, Ifrit was much more generous than Hemer, waving and making faces at Noah, while Hemer, as a guardian, remained polite. "I heard that you participated in Rhine Life's experiment. Ifrit has been worried about you. Now you must be too excited."

"It's okay. There's no need to be so rigid. I'm still the original Noah. Having an additional identity won't affect my relationship with Ifrit." Noah shook her head. She understood why Hemer was so rigid. Her relationship with Rhine Life was quite complicated, and her relationship with Saria was also very delicate.

If she hadn't become the general manager of Rhine Life, she would probably never have returned to Rhine Life.

But on the other hand, since she has decided to come back, she is definitely not here to be a mascot. She is absolutely serious, and Noah can feel her fighting spirit.

The friendly exchange between the two sides didn't last long before an uninvited guest—not really an uninvited guest, but the moment she appeared, Ifrit smiled, but Hemer's face darkened. The visitor paused briefly at the staffing arrangements before entering Noah's office.

"Saria—you're here?" Noya felt the change in the atmosphere, but she remained as calm as possible. She wasn't quite sure why the awkward atmosphere between Saria and Hummer was so awkward, but her intuition told her it was best not to ask.

"Well, I went for a walk around the site. Nasti said she missed you very much, so it would be best to tell her when you go. Then Ferdinand told me that you still owe him a sum of money for the project. He was very resentful about you using her robots to be responsible for infrastructure manpower replenishment, but he also said it was a new research direction." Saria didn't give Noah any face, and she exposed the fact that Noah had recently sent these two big directors to do dusting.

Noah coughed guiltily. "Wait a couple of days for the money. Lateran's money hasn't arrived yet. And we're not asking Ferdinand to do it all by himself. We're just asking him to get some engineering robots..."

"I know, but Ferdinand is probably just worried about speeding up Nastie's project." Saria nodded. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I can't possibly ask you to go to the construction site and do the plastering. You've been working hard these past few days. If you don't have anything else to do, just work half a day and take a break in the afternoon. By the way... accompany Ifrit to familiarize herself with this place. There won't be any bad experiments here now, I promise."

Noah's tone suddenly softened, "Hemer too, I promise that Rhine's life has changed now."

"Thank you." Hemer nodded, but after looking at Saria, the atmosphere immediately reached freezing point - no one knew where the huge conflict between the two came from.

In addition to these polite words, there was also content about work arrangements. When listening to these, Hemer was very serious and even took notes.

Saria stayed nearby, but she didn't speak to Ifrit, as if out of consideration for Hemer's feelings. Noah could sense the turmoil in the office. Could Rhine Life have such internal affairs?

Thinking back to the complicated relationships between Kristen, Hemer, Saria and others, Noah felt that his own situation didn't seem so bad anymore.

At least there hasn't been a fight on our side yet, right?

After handing over the work, Noah and Mace were the only ones left in Noah's office. Noah stretched his back and hammered it. Although his back didn't hurt, he subconsciously felt that it would be quite uncomfortable. Then he turned around and said, "What do you think about me putting Saria and Hummer in the same working environment?"

"A forced melon is not sweet." Jian took over the topic naturally, just like when the two of them were arranging Uncle Maenna. When she was the boss, she often asked Jian for his opinion.

Although Jian is a warrior and knows nothing about business, she has a very sharp intuition. So when Noah is undecided and decides to believe in metaphysics, she will choose to let Jian make the decision.

I didn’t expect that I hadn’t been a boss for many years, but this habit was naturally inherited.

"Oh, right..." Noah said helplessly, "We're all trying to do the same thing, but you insist on causing conflict with each other. This is not a good thing."

"You're tired. Go get some rest." Mace observed Noya for a long time. Although she looked rosy, she had probably been working for hours straight. It was hard to say whether she had eaten or not. So he spoke. "I advised you before, and I'm still advising you now. Can't you be more self-disciplined?"

"Sometimes I forget about time when I'm working," Noah whispered. "Besides, here, no one except Miu Miu will remind me to eat. And Miu Miu has been very busy lately and doesn't have much time to eat."

"Then I'm here. You can't go on like this." Jian stepped forward and pressed down Noah's wheelchair. The meaning was already very clear.

Noah wanted to struggle, but how could she struggle in front of the Black Knight? She could only lie on the chair and helplessly become the Black Knight's prisoner.

"I surrender and request preferential treatment for prisoners of war." Noah raised his hand and said, "I want to eat... fried rice with eggs."

"Okay, I asked where the cafeteria is before I came here." Jian pushed Nuoya out of the office. When they were alone, Jian wasn't as taciturn as outsiders would think. Rather, she would only remain silent when she had nothing to say. When she was with Nuoya, she could even be called talkative.

On the way to the cafeteria, Noah also asked Mace about what he had seen and heard on Rhodes Island, such as the situation of Amiya and others. Although Mace was not too sure, at least he knew that Amiya, the doctor and others were fine, which made Noah feel a little relieved. After leaving Victoria, she had been worried about Amiya's safety.

During her stay in Rhodes Island, Mace basically didn't do anything remarkable, but after not seeing Noah for a long time, she felt a little lonely.

This bit of loneliness was mixed in with the joy, but Noah could still sense it clearly, so Noah quietly tapped Kuro's palm. She paused with understanding, then found a secluded place to park the wheelchair.

Noah stretched out her hand and asked Jian to bend down so that the two of them were as level as possible. Then Noah offered her lips shyly with a blushing face. She was somewhat inexperienced in such an active kiss, but Jian was much simpler and more direct. She pushed the wheelchair against the wall with a thud, and launched a unilateral counterattack against Noah in an aggressive manner.

Finally, Noah was almost short of breath, so he gave up, licked his lips, and resumed his original standing position.

"...Huh...I was just going to give it a kiss and leave it at that." Noah complained. The sound of the wall-bang was quite loud, and she was worried about being seen. But Jian didn't care. If she wasn't afraid that Noah was too shy, she would have announced to the whole world that Noah was hers. "Forget it, just consider it as compensation."

"Is this the compensation?" Jian blinked. "You've been owed salary for a long time."

"...Let's talk about it tonight." Noah did not respond directly, but just delayed the time for the time being. However, she also knew that she would not be able to sleep well tonight.

I hope this doesn't affect my work tomorrow. If I go to see the messenger from Rutland with a neck full of marks, how will I face her?

Chapter 42: Maria is coming!

"...Um, Miss Noah?"

“…Actually, I can explain.”

"Nothing. I think your private life is your freedom. I'm just surprised—" Mostima's smile gradually became subtle. "Is it true that there are more than 130 genders in Colombia?"

"...I don't know, I'm not Colombian." Noah refused to answer the question, but if you really want to calculate, Saria's gender must be diamond.

Noah has never liked giving others nicknames, so this nickname was given by Joyce, also known as Doctor White-Faced Owl. Noah agrees with it very much. Of course, she would not say it in front of the person herself. After all, giving nicknames is not very polite, even though Noah thinks that Saria would not mind.

"That's right, Miss Noah is from Casimir, right? I think she's a big entrepreneur there," Mostima said thoughtfully. "Casimir, Casimir, come to think of it, I just came back from Casimir, and the Miss Noah they described wasn't as considerate as I've seen her."

"I don't care what others say." Noah shook his head. What he did in the past was to make himself the public enemy. As the hero framed by this public enemy, Margaret could get more support from the people. It is no exaggeration to say that if Casimir implemented a voting election system, Margaret would probably become the youngest Grand Knight of Casimir.

Although he was called the Grand Knight, in reality, he held the same power as President Casimir. His heart and actions were as clear as a mirror, and everything he did was just. After all, she was Margaret, and she would not tolerate any sand in her eyes.

"Is that so? Your Excellency is quite generous," Mostima quipped. "But if I remember correctly, the Casimir Business Association was also invited to the Terra Expo this time, and they specifically invited the 'Howling Guards', who specialize in knight equipment. Wouldn't the meeting be awkward?"

"If it were anyone else, that would be the case." Noah nodded, "But the person who came this time is an old acquaintance, so it doesn't matter."

The new Howling Guard is a new enterprise that I have created myself. I didn’t expect that it can now represent the highest level of technology in Casimir.

Noah was actually quite surprised, and this time there were two representatives -

One is the craftsman Master Mao, who is a true technical backbone after all, so there is no problem at all.

Then, the second one...

Noya took a sip of the vanilla tea, savoring the mellow and mild flavor of the tea, but the faint aroma of the vanilla tea did not suppress her doubts.

Well, the second representative of the Howling Guard... is Maria Linguang.

When Noah heard the news, she was confused and even thought it was an April Fool's joke, but she soon realized that it was not a joke. The list submitted by the Howling Guards clearly stated Maria Linguang's name. Unless someone dared to pretend to be from the Linguang family in Casimir, this was the person she knew.

Wasn't she still in Rhodes Island before? When did she become the young director of the Howling Guards?

At that time, Noah directly asked Mace who had just returned to her side. After all, she was in Rhodes Island before. Then Mace gave Noah an answer that made her even more difficult to understand.

After Maria learned about Noah's situation, she immediately applied to return to Casimir. Before leaving, she also issued a challenge to Mace.

She thought she was too weak to protect her sister Noah, so she wanted to find a faster and more helpful way to Noah.

The solution she came up with was to become an apprentice.

As for this master, the most suitable candidate should have been Uncle Mainna, but Uncle Mainna has been out of contact for a long time, so there is only one person who can be found in Casimir and is willing to teach her skills.

That is...Ms. Russell.

After arriving in Casimir, Maria not only asked Grandma Russell for help, but also did not neglect her old profession. She directly joined the Howling Guards to be responsible for technology research and development, and also became an apprentice to the craftsman Master Cat.

Ms. Russell's apprentice, Artisan Cat's apprentice, these two identities combined...

In the knight class, absolutely no one dared to question the behavior of Ms. Russell's apprentice. Even if Maria caught him with both hands, he would never be treated the same way as Noya. On the one hand, Margaret Linguang's reputation is now at its peak, and she has also suppressed the Chamber of Commerce. At that time, the first thing to be retracted was the media.

If the media writes too much nowadays, they will really be investigated.

In short, Casimir's environment is much better than Noah's time... It laid a good foundation for Maria to do both things well.

The identity of the junior director of the Howling Guards was probably given by the old craftsman. Anyway, he was planning to find a time to retire. By then, the Howling Guards, as the top knight equipment supplier in Casimir, would have a lot of say in the Chamber of Commerce. In this situation where the knights are so powerful, Mr. Reporter probably would not suppress the momentum of the Howling Guards.

In short, in a nutshell——

After Maria returned to Casimir, she took the same path she had taken before, and it worked.

Now she can represent Casimir to attend the technology summit. When you haven't seen someone for three days, you should look at him with new eyes. Maria, who has taken the same path as herself, is still on the road, but Noah also realized that Ms. Russell and Mr. Reporter are probably placing their hopes on this lovely sister of theirs.

During her initial conversation with the reporter, she realized that the reporter actually hoped that the knight class and the capitalist class would reconcile and work together for the prosperity of the country.

And this expectation mostly falls on Maria now.

Indeed, Maria, whom he had personally trained, was not only an excellent knight but also a willing investor, making her a perfect choice. Thinking about it this way, it wasn't surprising that Grandma Russell and Mr. Reporter chose Maria as the representative for the Terra Expo. This was clearly a plan to make Maria a familiar face on the world stage.

After figuring this out, Noah decided to cooperate with Grandma Russell. After all, even she felt that Maria might be more suitable as a leader than Margaret.

By then, one of the Linguang sisters will be the leader of a faction, and the other will be the spiritual leader. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Because the visitors were all acquaintances, Noah was not worried about embarrassment. After all, both the craftsman cat master and Maria knew the truth of the past. It was more like Maria came here most likely for him.