Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"I was just wondering what to eat tonight?" Noah smiled and covered it up, "How about something you like?"

"What a coincidence, the things I like to eat are also the things you like to eat."

"Then let's eat something we both like!" Noah smiled. Indeed, their preferences for food were quite similar. It was probably because they had lived together for so many years that their recipes overlapped.

On the other hand, when Noah and Mace were heading to the cafeteria, Viviana originally wanted to go to the residence prepared for her, but was caught up by Maria on the way. The two have always been at odds with each other. Although Viviana does not hate Maria, and can even see the shadow of Margaret and Noah in her, her position is rather delicate after all. In Maria's eyes, Viviana is the love rival of herself and her sister, so it can be regarded as Maria's one-sided hostility.

But despite her hostility, Maria herself doesn't actually hate Viviana.

They say enemies in love can be friends in private. Viviana's character and strength are both worthy of respect. Maria even collected Viviana's player cards back in the day. You know, collecting a complete set of Arena Knight trading cards was a truly impressive achievement back then. The most sought-after cards were the Candle Knight, Black Knight, and Radiant Knight.

Maria and Viviana were both competitive knights of Casimir, so they were more or less colleagues. And more importantly, she now had a sense of crisis.

Compared to the less threatening Viviana, there were too many people who wanted Noya's body. Even Enthyodis seemed threatening to her.

After all, the other party started talking and called her "Saint Lady". What was this? This was a naked declaration of sovereignty! How could this be tolerated?

But apart from that, she had something more important to ask about.

So Maria came after Viviana, "Candle Knight, I want to ask you for help with something——"

"Hmm? What's going on?" Viviana stopped and asked, "If I can help, I will."

"Actually...it's about the things in Leithania." Maria didn't know where to start. "...These things might get you into some trouble, and I'm also hesitant about whether to..."

"You can ask for it," Viviana said, shaking her head. "As long as I can help, it doesn't matter if it's a little troublesome."

"...That's right, Sister Noah's... parents went to Leithania and disappeared... I want you, Viviana, to help investigate." Maria felt a little guilty. After all, this matter involved a lot of things. It not only involved the two major knight families of Casimir, but also the secrets of Leithania.

However, after Maria returned to Casimir, she learned a lot from Grandma Russell that she had never known before, including the whereabouts of her parents and Noah's parents.

You have to know that Noya's parents, like her own, are the true pillars of Casimir. Having someone of that caliber traveling to Leithania is definitely no small matter, and it's likely to involve the cooperation and grudges between Leithania and Casimir. Honestly, she wanted to investigate on her own, but soon heard that Sister Noya was hosting the Terra Expo, so she rushed here first. Even so, after hearing that Viviana had become the Queen's Voice, she couldn't help but speak.

"Of course, you're completely free to refuse. I just..." The more Maria understood the danger of this matter, the more hesitant she became. If Viviana refused, that would be completely understandable. After all, she had become the Queen's Voice at such a young age, and her future was limitless. To lose her future for such a thing was not something to be happy about.

However, Viviana hesitated only slightly, then nodded immediately, "This matter... I'm not too sure either. I will start investigating after I return home."

Viviana searched her mind and found no relevant information, but she took the matter to heart.

As for the threats...

As long as it was Noya's business, it was her own business, and this matter was related to Miss Noya, which made it impossible for her to stand idly by.

"Don't worry. Miss Noya's affairs are my business. It also concerns Knight Yao's parents, so I can investigate. If I have any news, I'll let you know immediately," Viviana responded gently. "But don't get your hopes up too much. I'm just a new official, and I don't know what will happen when I return. The remnants of the Witch King have been particularly active lately, so we may have to deal with that first."

"I understand... Then I'll leave this matter... to you." Viviana's response made Maria feel relieved. Of course, she wanted to investigate it herself, but as a Casimir, her investigation was greatly hindered. Few Leitanians would trust a Casimir knight, let alone reveal any information.

Choosing to ask Viviana for help was already a last resort, and she didn't want Sister Noah to get involved in this matter. Sister Noah had been busy enough recently, so the only choice was Miss Viviana.

Maria felt that when she could really take on the position of Grandma Russell's successor, Grandma Russell might tell her about this, but she really couldn't wait.

She also wanted to do something for Sister Noah, no matter how insignificant it was, to repay her gratitude and to find the whereabouts of her parents.

If—she was thinking, if Sister Nuoya’s parents and her own parents were still alive…

Then they will definitely go to bring them back at all costs——

Whether it is Sister Margaret or Sister Noah, they are the same kind of people.

So... I have to find a way to investigate it myself first, and then decide whether to tell Sister Noah and Sister Margaret.

Chapter 46: Civilization

She sat on a wooden stake, humming a song, looking up at the sky and observing the shapes of the clouds.

Today was a beautiful day, perfect for a test flight. The low-altitude flight they were about to undertake was already familiar to her parents, otherwise they wouldn't have brought her along.

As an academic leader in this field, her father was a little serious. After she got on the plane, he kept reminding her to wear goggles, while her mother just smiled, stroked her head and helped her fasten her seat belt.

She wasn't actually worried about anything, but when she actually sat on this machine that could take humans to realize the ultimate dream of flying, the vibration of the engine still made her nervous.

Her mother held her hand the whole time, and she noticed the stiffness in that moment, but she just smiled and shook her head. The aircraft taxied on the runway, and the wind blew on her little face in the open cockpit, which was at a loss. She closed her eyes in fear and clenched her mother's hand.

Then, as the plane ascended, she felt her body lighten, as if freed from gravity. Then came dizziness and nausea, though she didn't vomit. Airsickness is said to be quite common, but as the daughter of these two men, she didn't want to experience such a shortcoming.

Fortunately, the plane quickly regained its stability and she began to relax, but she still held her mother's hand and did not dare to open her eyes.

Her mother knew she would be timid about her first flight, but she said gently, "Open your eyes, Kristen—if you keep them closed, you won't be able to see the future."

future?

Little Christen may not know what the future will be like yet, but the tone of these two people seems to indicate that they are certain that flying is the future of mankind. All their research is aimed at flying higher and breaking through the upper limit of flight. For them, this is the future of mankind.

And Christen—she had been bound underground by gravity before, so it was naturally difficult for her to imagine how the winged beasts flying in the air actually viewed the world.

But she was… curious.

So she finally opened her eyes and looked around.

From this angle, the city she had always lived in seemed strange and new. The crowds she usually couldn't squeeze through now seemed as small as insects. She was captivated, and kept looking down. It was as if she had truly transformed into a winged beast, soaring through the sky, shoulder to shoulder with the clouds.

But at this moment, her mother patted her shoulder, she turned her head in confusion, and then her mother pointed upwards.

As if to remind her, the scenery below is what the feathered beasts can see—

And above is the realm where humans will go.

She raised her head, and the sight of the cloudless blue sky captivated her.

-

Christen opened her eyes from the hibernation chamber. She didn't know why she had this dream, but it was much better than dreaming about her parents being in a plane crash. At least it was a good dream.

First flight?

Or was it the first time you felt that gravity wasn't necessary?

Christen didn't know either, but her experiments day after day, her progress day after day, were ultimately all for the purpose of breaking through this sky.

The rest of the scientific breakthroughs were just completed for this purpose, and as she continued to move forward in this way, she finally became a great scientist in the eyes of others.

This title once belonged to his parents. Before the plane crash, they were highly regarded scientists. After the crash, people began to reflect - to reflect that their scientific research funds were stolen by these two fame-seeking scholars, and that the field they studied was meaningless. From that day on, no one tried to break through that sky again. Everyone, like a soul bound by gravity, began to stay safely on the ground.

Became the same as the group of ants that he once looked down upon.

Sometimes, Kristen would also doubt that she had become a member of the vast majority of people, a cog in the wheel of this society, and had to worry about car loans, mortgages, marriage and having children all her life, and then suddenly found that she seemed to have accomplished nothing when she was old.

The original dream has long been fragmented and even difficult to recall.

Can such a life be called happy?

No, everyone has their own happiness. Just like Muirseth's happiness was being like a family at RhineLife, and Ferdinand's happiness was being the leader of RhineLife, or building a domain that stood out from the crowd. People have ordinary happiness, and you can't deny its importance to them.

But for Kristen, the moment she saw her parents' plane go down...

Her happiness was shattered.

"Preserver, how long have I been asleep?" Christen asked. Unbeknownst to anyone in this dim underground space, she had secretly built a laboratory. It had ample space for almost all of her instruments. As for any missing parts, she only needed to call, and Thomas Jr. would procure them, then have Muirseth deliver them.

That's right, here she has not completely severed her connection with Rhine Life, and when Muirseth comes, he often talks about Noah Kirilet.

She did a good job. Under her initiative, the Terra Expo is about to begin, and Christen is not indifferent to this matter. She even plans to take time to take a look. She also wants to see whether there are any technologies in the current Terra that even she needs to look at differently.

She is not as arrogant as most people think. It is better to say that she has completely lost her arrogance since she participated in an archaeological site.

Pre-civilization

There are projects to excavate archaeological sites of pre-civilizations in many places, but the place where Christen is now may be one of the most important sites.

I don't know what other people call this place, but Kristen marked it on the documents.

【Forest of Steles】

There are large hibernation chambers everywhere that look like coffins, just like a large mass grave. It is really impossible for ordinary people to fall asleep in such a place.

But she is not alone—

"Three hours, forty-two minutes, and twenty-one seconds. Christen, the deep sleep time is two hours, three minutes, and seven seconds." The owner of this strange synthetic mechanical voice is not an electronic assistant... but calling it an electronic assistant is appropriate. According to Christen's understanding, this AI called "Preserver" has been in this place for who knows how many centuries.

"My sleep quality is amazing." Kristen curled her lips. "The technology of the hibernation chamber needs to be further developed."

"That's true, but for your current civilization, analyzing the principles of the hibernation chamber is nearly impossible." The Preserver poured cold water on him without hesitation. "If you can analyze the technology of the hibernation chamber, Rhine Life will have another singularity technology."

"Reverse engineering is impossible, so I plan to take the right path—" Christen stroked the prototype of his hibernation chamber and said, "It just proves to me that taking this path in the future is the right path."

"——" The Preserver remained silent, perhaps even she thought Christen's idea was fanciful. Indeed, the hibernation chamber she had restored was already considered Terra's top technology. If she really lay in it, even a hundred years would be no problem.

But the problem is time—time eats away at everything.

A hibernation chamber might protect you for a while, but it could never protect you from the erosion of time. These hibernation chambers, or "sarcophagi," in the Preservator Project were the best civilization could come up with.

But even so, the Preserver Project has failed—

Now, no one within the sarcophagus could be awakened. Time had taken away everything, any grand plans, any remaining hopes, along with the life reactions within these sarcophagi, completely becoming eternal.

The sad gravekeeper survives in the gaps of time, but is powerless to stop his compatriots from passing away one by one before his eyes.

Before entering the sarcophagus, these people had greeted him, some of them were his former friends and colleagues. Now they have all become completely silent and have become part of this forest of steles.

The passing of life proved the failure of the Preserver Project, and also proved that even with such brilliant technology as the previous civilization, it was unable to create a perfect [hibernation device].

However, these were not secrets to Kristen. She had long known that her technology could not reproduce a real life support device, but she also knew that she needed a life support device.

This is the last way to survive that I leave for myself after breaking through the sky.

"You don't even plan on coming back, so why are you preparing a hibernation chamber?" the Preserver asked curiously. "You don't seem like someone who thinks ahead. I thought you were determined to die in outer space."

"No, I'm not going to die," Christen replied as she inspected the hibernation chamber she had built. "In the near future, Terra will enter the space age. I just plan to go take a look, then get some sleep. When I wake up, I'll have crossed the gate of time and arrived in the future I long for."

"Haha - but what if Terra is not what you think? Maybe you will sleep in the universe for a very long time, or maybe your energy will be exhausted along the way, and eventually become like the tomb under my management." Every word of the preserver's question was heartbreaking, but Christen paused and looked up.

"I believe in the potential of this land." Christen gazed at the Preserver's massive mechanical body. "When my parents took me on my first flight test, I was intently looking down, enjoying the feeling of superiority that the world seemed small. Then my mother told me to look up, to see the boundless sky. At the time, I didn't understand why she did that. Later, I realized that those who look down on others with arrogance, who treat this land as nothing, can never see the view beyond the sky."

Kristen smiled.

"I have never considered myself superior to others. Nor do I think what I do can be called 'great', because I am a selfish person. My actions are all driven by my own desires, my own ideas, and my own arbitrary will. But this does not prevent me from knowing the beauty of this earth. I have never looked down on the earth, nor have I ever looked down on all living beings. There will be people who come to stop me, and there will definitely be people who will follow my path."

Kristen paused for a moment before continuing.

"Some will fly to the sun with wings made of wax, while others will steal the sacred fire and return to the earth. All people need is to see the truth behind this road. I just want to do this..."

"I don't know whether to say you're overly optimistic or just stupid," the Preserver Friston sighed. "But since I've already made the decision, I'll definitely continue to help you."

For Friston, perhaps many things had become blurry. Ever since he'd transformed himself into this state, he'd been abandoned on the periphery of time, a state neither human nor ghost. Maintaining a normal mind was already a real struggle.

He watched the development of Terra civilization to this day. Even though he knew that these successors were born only by accident, he gradually observed and accepted the existence of this civilization.

He is a dying "preservator", but this civilization is full of vitality.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, he was just assisting a small animal's crazy plan, but in his eyes—he was witnessing a young civilization taking its first steps out of its cradle.

In fact, such things are not uncommon in their civilization.

They have long traveled the starry sea, even setting up observation stations on many planets with life, and occasionally even intervening in the progress of civilization.

Of course, they are usually friendly and don't mind helping some civilizations survive disasters. In some civilizations, they are even praised as gods. They are happy to play the role of God, or rather, their science makes them on par with the Creator.

Including Terra, everything on Terra is strictly speaking a creation of the previous civilization.

Including the current Terran people, except for the indigenous Tikkaz, they were all influenced by the Originium of the previous civilization and became their current form.

This gave Terran civilization a very clear mark of being a pre-civilization, and also allowed Terran to almost legitimately claim to be the successor of a pre-civilization. At least the preserver, Friston, recognized the civilization formed by these small animals.

Through the Columbia network, he has seen Terra's history, culture, language, race, and technological level clearly.

And from it, he also discovered some interesting things.

For example - Rhode Island.

Or maybe it's the evil demon from the north.

This civilization was born because of Originium, but it was also deeply restricted by Originium. The various back-up plans of the previous civilization now seem to be causing headaches for these successors.

Before they struggled out of their cradle, Terra was not a good place compared to the birthplace of their true civilization.

That's why he helps Kristen.

After all, it would be a shame to let a new civilization pay for the actions of the previous civilization, or even be trapped and die on a planet.

Yeah... what a pity...

Chapter 47: Wishes

Good night--