Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Terra...

The stars are twinkling, and the lonely figure is facing the starry sky. Accompanied by the stars, the figure seems to be swallowed by the starry sky.

This back figure was so familiar that Noah was a little dazed, but soon she recognized it.

That's Kristen's back!

How... did she succeed?

Did she really break through the sky? Did she really see the stars?

She turned her head excitedly, only to see a bored figure.

Precious lazily raised her hand in greeting, slumped over the table, looking bored, as if this coveted achievement were a trivial matter.

Noya's emotions instantly calmed down. She wasn't stupid, and she quickly came to her senses. This was just a picture Precious had given her to see; it wasn't real. Her excitement felt like it had been poured with a bucket of cold water. She looked at Precious with a sullen expression. This time, she was truly angry.

"Why are you showing me this? Is it fun to play tricks on me?"

There are only a few things that can make Noah angry, and insulting other people's dreams is one of them. Noah respects other people's dreams very much and will never discourage them even if he thinks they are unrealistic.

After all, everyone knows that dreams are not something that will come true just by thinking about them. It is more normal that they will not come true.

But dreams are called dreams precisely because they are unrealistic.

She wanted to realize Christen's dream, so naturally she hoped that what she had just seen was true, but it turned out to be just a little joke from Priss. Anyone would be angry at this.

"That's unfair. I'm not kidding. I'm just offering a little treat for my clients," Precious said with a smile. "These aren't fake. To be more precise, I'm just helping you deduce the likelihood of your desired outcome."

"...possibility?" Free things are the most valuable. Noah knew this all too well. A small benefit given to him for free? Wasn't it just another attempt to trick him into using his wish at will? "Tell me about it?"

"This is what would happen if you succeeded and broke through the Star Pod," Precious explained, as if he were selling a pitch. "After using the energy from the Preserver Project and the energy of mind visualization, it's indeed possible for you to break through the Star Pod. But the question is, can you get out? Can you come back?"

"……What do you mean?"

"The Star Pod isn't a bubble. It won't shatter once it's broken. It will slowly heal. The time you have to escape after piercing the Star Pod is limited, and there's no way back," Precious explained. "So, this is a one-way ticket. You do have a chance of escaping, but even if you do manage to do it—your friend, Kristen, will naturally do it herself, given her personality. But once she's out, it's unlikely she'll come back."

"...Star Pod, you mean the barrier is called Star Pod? The Star Pod will heal after being broken... Then, can't it be broken again from the outside?" Noah immediately thought of a good idea. Since it can be broken the first time, then breaking it the second time should not be difficult. Then just carry the energy to break the Star Pod twice!

"Why do you think you could possibly break the Star Pod?" Precious laughed. "This Star Pod isn't meant to trap you. It's inherently weak, so you might be able to break it. Note—it's 'possible to break'. Want to break the Star Pod from the outside? If you truly have the ability, then you can try."

"……what do you mean?"

"You seem to think the Star Pod is meant to trap you, to restrict your existence. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Without it, you would have been dead long ago." Precious shook his head. "Are you all just a bunch of paranoid people?"

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. We used to travel the universe—why would we target a bunch of little critters like you who can't even leave our home planet? Just use your brain and you'll understand. Don't think that everyone is out to harm you, like if I gave you three wishes, you shouldn't be wary of thieves. Can't you just trust that I'm doing this for your own good? After all, you're half pre-civilized. Why would I harm you?"

There was actually nothing wrong with what Prissais said. The strength level of the former civilization was indeed far beyond the imagination of the Terra civilization. There was really no need to build a star pod against the Terra civilization.

This star pod... is indeed more likely to be some kind of external protection, but that doesn't mean that Priss is trustworthy.

"Your previous civilization was so powerful, why did it disappear?" At this moment, Noah asked back.

"That has nothing to do with you." But these were obviously not part of the benefits. With a smile, Precious crossed his lips. "I'll let you know."

"..." Noah sighed helplessly, but looking at that figure, she still felt fascinated. Then she suddenly realized something and turned her head abruptly. "You mean, if it can succeed, that means..."

"Yes, there's a good chance you won't be able to penetrate the pod at all. A failed takeoff would likely result in you crashing into it and disintegrating into a fireball, right?" Precious nodded. "That's the problem. Do you think space exploration is guaranteed to succeed? Even in my civilization, when we were developing aviation, we didn't dare send humans up right from the start. You know, every exploration comes at the cost of lives."

When Precious said this, his expression grew serious. "Your expectation of success is a gamble in itself, but... unless you can unite all of Terra, without a second Preserver Plan, there's naturally no second chance to destroy the Star Pod. You really only have this one chance. At least within a few hundred years, it should be your only chance."

"...only one chance..." This answer may be the most despairing.

No wonder Christen was so anxious, and no wonder she wanted to collect as much energy as possible, and even set her sights on the containment.

She was not too impatient, it was just that there was only one chance.

"...What is the Preserver Project you're talking about?" Noah grasped some clues from Precious's previous words and asked doubtfully, "The energy of the Preserver Project...are you saying there's enough energy to penetrate the Star Pod, and it's already in Christen's control?"

"It can be considered a benefit. The Preservator Project is one of the plans left by the previous civilization and is still running today. It attempts to allow a group of elites from the previous civilization to survive the catastrophe and rebuild civilization through a long period of hibernation." Prisseth had no intention of hiding this. It would be better to say that this thing has actually been exposed. Otherwise, Christen would not have been able to create so many singularity technologies in Rhine Life.

The long-term plan managed by the Preserver's Master, the AI ​​Friston, is one of the several backup plans left behind by the previous civilization.

Although Friston was still around, the Preserver Project had failed. Although Priss had originally thought they should have abandoned all other backup plans and focused all their resources on the Originium Project, she had always firmly believed that only the Originium Project could save the former civilization. Therefore, she wasn't surprised by the Preserver Project's failure, and even thought that Friston must have had a serious bug in his head to choose to help that bastard named Kristen.

However, in front of Noah, she had no intention of giving Friston any face. Although her description of the Preserver Project seemed fair, it actually contained some derogatory meaning.

"You also think it's stupid, right? Trying to challenge the limits of hibernation and allowing a group of people to cross time and build a new civilization - it's stupid."

Precious clearly disliked what she considered a wasteful plan, but Noa saw it differently. She believed these plans were simply a means for the previous civilization to survive. No plan should be ridiculed, even if it was a relic of a previous civilization.

But she didn't argue with Precious - she just stared at the future deduced by Precious, lost in thought.

She once thought about using a wish in exchange for a successful future for Kristen, but now, Precious told her as if to mock her.

In the best-case scenario, Krysten would simply launch herself into orbit and eventually become a satellite orbiting Terra.

That was practically a death sentence for Kristen...

But this is obviously not the future Noah wants.

What's the scariest way to deceive someone? It's not lying, but putting the truth before you, and telling you, when you can't accept it, that you have a chance to change it all.

As long as you say you are willing...

Noah understood that this was what Precious wanted.

She can even know what the other party's purpose is...

But, can she refuse?

"...Precious." Noah grabbed the first card from the table, "Tell me—how to change all this."

"Can I assume this is your first wish?" Precious smiled. "Don't you think it's a pity? You actually wished for such a lunatic?"

"...I just don't want to regret it." Noah shook his head. "What should I do?"

The card in Noya's hand turned to ashes, indicating that she had used her first chance, and Precious immediately placed a coordinate in front of Noya.

"This is where the Preserver Project is located, and it's also where Kristen's new laboratory is located." Precious pointed to the coordinates. "If you want her plan to succeed and you want the puppy back safely, there's only one way."

Precious clapped his hands, and instantly, the small room transformed into a strange, weightless space. Noah and Precious began to float around involuntarily. Through the transparent window, Noah saw a huge sphere, a magnificent sphere with two satellites, and a strange mechanical structure suspended on the periphery.

"This is... Terra?"

"You could say that—" Precious nodded, "But these are memories from before the Star Pod enveloped the planet Terra. This is Terra before the Star Pod, and we're in the spaceship we used before landing."

"…Why did you let me watch this?"

"I just want to let you know one thing—" Precious said with a smile, "You can't stop Kristen from leaving Terra and breaking through the star pod, so all you can do is bring her back."

"……so?"

"So, we need to use—" Precious pointed to the huge steel ring that suddenly appeared outside the porthole and floated next to Terra.

"Let me introduce myself. This is the Star Gate."

"……what?"

"I know you may not understand what this is used for. Anyway, this thing can allow you to return to Terra—" Precious explained, "I can teach you how to activate the stargate. Although it has been so long, it should still be usable. Then you can drive the spaceship into it—"

As Priseth was speaking, the huge steel ring began to gather energy. Immediately, several rings suddenly appeared in the empty core of the ring, and several strange-shaped spaceships appeared out of thin air from the rings.

These are undoubtedly challenging Noah's cognitive limits——

"This is an orbital stargate placed in Terra's orbit, originally intended for interstellar travel—but, coincidentally, there's also a stargate on Terra. The technology behind these two stargates is theoretically identical, so while it's not been used before, you can definitely connect the orbital stargate to the Terra stargate and make a short-distance jump."

Precious explained, "Of course, this is only theoretically possible—after all, stargate jumps are inherently risky, and there are even more dangerous things inside the stargate. But this is the only way."

Compared to penetrating the star pod from the outside, the star gate is the most feasible way to return to Terra.

Although Precious was a devil who tried to tempt Noah to use her wish, she was also a trustworthy person. She did not do anything but sincerely intended to teach Noah how to use the star gate. These memories were implanted into Noah's mind by Precious in a special way, allowing her to use this knowledge in a short time.

But as she said - the star gate itself is a very dangerous thing, especially now. The star gate itself has been in disrepair for many years. It is a miracle that it can be activated. Moreover, it is necessary to accurately locate the star gate on Terra and make a small-scale jump.

This may result in a lot of time being lost, and you may even be attacked by monsters appearing between wormholes.

That's another story.

Miss Precious has made the risks clear—this is the only way.

"As for whether or not to use it, that's up to you. Don't worry, if you can come back without using my method, I can forgive your wish."

written request for leave

Not feeling well, taking a day off.

My stomach has been feeling bad recently and I have diarrhea all the time. I should go to the hospital.

Take a day off!

over!

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Chapter 48: Iron Rider

“…Ah…Huh…”

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Mace asked curiously, noticing Noah yawning constantly. After all, while Noah's sleep quality wasn't great, as long as he went to bed early, he could generally stay alert all day. Yawning frequently so early in the morning was definitely not normal, and he hadn't done anything bad last night, had he?

Although Jian and Noah do have a very clear physical relationship, she is not a sex-hungry person. It is better to say that she understands that Noah cannot always indulge in this kind of physical pleasure, so she deliberately restrains her desires and does not let her selfish desires affect Noah's normal life.

She is the person who knows Noah best and knows how to treat Noah.

Let her rest well when it’s time to rest, and let her be unrestrained when it’s time to be unrestrained.

A lot of times, it really depends on the occasion.

"Nothing, I just had a weird dream last night. You know, I often have these weird dreams, but they're not nightmares, just disturbing at best."

Last night was more than just a trouble. She was forced to memorize the secret keys, star gates, and spacecraft operating knowledge for a long time. Moreover, considering the incompatibility issues in the system, Noah also forced the other party to pay for another wave of customer benefits, which was to teach her the tricks of flying a spacecraft step by step.

You know, Terra's aircraft technology was basically discovered by archaeologists, and it was similar to the operations of previous civilizations. Prissith was forced to help her lay the foundation. Probably because it was finally opened, Prissith seemed very patient and taught Noah the skills of flying a spacecraft step by step to prevent Noah from being completely in the dark after going into space.

If Noah really died because of something like this, wouldn't Priss's investment be wasted?

Noah understood the importance of steady progress, and Precious understood it even better. So she didn't think there was anything wrong with what she taught her. Rather, if they were setting a trap for her, there wouldn't have been any need to limit her to three wishes.

"It feels like I'm back to when we first started our business in Casimir. Back then, we only had a small office building and only a dozen people working there. We were so busy every day that we were dizzy, and you had to overcome your blindness, so you always asked me to read. Do you remember?"

"How could I have forgotten..."

Noah complained helplessly that the troubles she encountered when she first started her business were much simpler than now. She remembered everything that happened back then very clearly, including her employees at that time. Later, she gave them some dry shares as a thank you for their continued support for Noah until the company went public.

"Thinking about it now, I was pretty happy back then. It was just that we were constantly being harassed, and you had to deal with us. Some of them were probably members of the Knights' Association, deliberately trying to hinder our development. A group of knight followers pretended to be thugs and started a disturbance, but you caught them and broke every one of their hands. At the time, I thought you were too harsh, but now I think you were just making an example of them."

"Sometimes it's better to strike once to start the fight, to prevent a hundred blows. Especially when someone comes here intentionally to cause trouble and test you. Since they're pretending to be thugs, they should be treated like thugs."

"Too……"

Noya smiled. Back then, she could have used violence to solve most of the problems, but now… well, if violence could solve the problems that bothered her now, she wouldn't mind letting the mace help her solve them. Unfortunately, it couldn't…

No matter how powerful the mace is, it's impossible to penetrate the star pod with one punch...

Alas, there are always things that are beyond human power.

Noah finally gave the mace a subtle smile, feeling a bit absurd about the image of the mace punching through the star pod in his mind. However, when Noah talked about the past of the company, he did recall a lot of things. After all, everything seems so beautiful at the beginning. Some of the old employees left for personal reasons, while others stayed until the end.

Noah’s success today is inseparable from the help of these employees.

She remembered, she remembered everyone who had helped her along the way. She carefully kept their names and placed them in the softest place in her heart.

Thinking of these people, she always had a gentle smile on her lips. These people gave Noah the courage to keep moving forward and the strength to continue living. Perhaps, Noah had lost her home a long time ago, but Noah still had so many people she could trust.

In the past it was Margaret, then it was Mace, and there are many more...

Although still very young, the girl with white hair already sat at the desk and talked about the past with her guards. To be honest, it seemed like it happened a long, long time ago.

What I have experienced in this year may be more exciting than most people's lifetime -

If you think about it carefully...it's almost Chinese New Year, right?

Noah thought that the original plan was to prepare for the exhibition this year and start in March of next year. After all, transportation in Terra was not that fast, and preparing for an exhibition of this magnitude was definitely not something that could be solved now.

Everyone needs time to prepare. I think it is impossible for Christen to rush to launch the spacecraft this year. All these things require time to prepare.

In other words... I have to be the chief for at least four months...

Alas, I am destined to be a hard-working person. I keep asking for a rest, but I can never be idle.

I even regretted coming up with this so-called Terra Expo idea. Wasn't that just giving myself something to do? I was so excited at the time, but now that I'm actually planning it, I'm having a hard time.