Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Noah and Gloria found a place to refuel and stock up on resources. Since they were traveling in a straight line, they didn't have to worry about Skadi reaching Saltwind City before them. The low-altitude aircraft manufactured by Rhine Life were incredibly reliable, a hallmark of Rhine Life. After landing, Gloria stayed with her team, while Mace and Noah refueled at a pre-arranged vendor.

The market is located in the wilderness, where the living conditions are harsh. Most of the people who settle here are traveling merchants, and of course, there are also people who do robbery.

The markets at the checkpoints on this trading route are mostly run by some families. Because the mobility of people is very high, if you don’t have any special skills, it is better not to consider shopping here after entering such a market.

There are not only petty thieves, but also people who specifically target fat sheep and rob them. As a settlement of merchants, many people choose to set up stalls at the entrance of the avenue. Some of the things on the stalls are good things picked up on the way, and some are even stained with blood - the biggest rule of trading here is not to ask where the goods come from. In Terra, not everywhere can be decent, especially for those who take the path of traveling merchants. Most of them have some skills, otherwise they would not know how they died on the road.

You know, the nickname of traveling merchants is fat sheep, and their job is to live on the edge of a knife.

Buying local specialties at a low price in one place and then selling them at a high price in another place to make a profit from the difference, although this seems to be a good job, there are dangers along the way.

In such a place, it is difficult to distinguish between businessmen and bandits. There are no laws in the wilderness, only the law of the jungle.

After Noah and others appeared, many pairs of scrutinizing eyes fell on them, but most people looked away after seeing the mace next to Noah.

Although Noah seems easy to bully, anyone with a little insight will know that the mace behind Noah is a character not to be trifled with.

Noya hadn't gone out for a stroll on a whim; she knew the rules. However, there was something quite interesting about these markets: these seemingly unreliable street vendors. As mentioned before, the items sold here were of no concern for provenance, and some even had blood stains still on them. These were items with spirit rings, but among these items, there were often items that the sellers had overlooked.

Terra is a vast land with many good things. Not all robbers have good eyesight. Sometimes they will sell things in the market that they are not sure about. Once someone shows interest, they will ask for a high price and try to sell them.

Noah knows the rules, but she has a cheat -

Noah narrowed her eyes slightly, and then her pupils began to glow with a faint golden luster. She then glanced at the goods spread on the ground by these small vendors. Sure enough, most of them were garbage, but her divine eyes were observant and she soon noticed that there was indeed a strange little thing among these garbage.

She was stunned for a moment, then noticed the merchant's appearance. The first thing that struck her was the strange, large iron mass on his head—was it a helmet? A cylindrical one?

Noah's wheelchair stopped in front of this person and he asked, "How much are you selling it for?"

"Hey, sir—you've arrived at the right time! Here are Sargon's gems! Dayan's Dragon Spring Sword! And..." The other party immediately launched into a flurry of discussion, but the item Noya noticed wasn't as simple as he'd described. "Anyway, anything made in Cannot is a top-notch item. What are you eyeing? We only accept Originium ingots."

"...What is this?" Noya pointed at a pile of seemingly ordinary 'dried meat'. Most people wouldn't even glance at it, but when Noya used her divine eye to examine it...she discovered that, though almost devoid of moisture, it was still 'alive'. Furthermore, the texture of the meat seemed familiar, so she stopped to inquire.

"Oh, these, I got them from Iberia—what do the locals call them? Oh, 'dried fish.' Those guys told me this was the only food they had. I thought it was something special, so I bought it. But I wouldn't eat it all, so I'm selling it. Anyway, it looks delicious. What do you think? Is this young lady interested?" The tin can who called himself Cannot introduced himself. "Although I haven't eaten it, it's something the locals would rather starve to death than eat. I guess it's a good thing."

"If he'd rather starve to death than eat it, why would he be willing to sell it to you?" Noah seized on the loophole in the other party's words and asked back. Naturally, Cannot could not answer this question, so he could only emphasize it.

"This is a rare item. If you miss this opportunity, you will never get it again!" Kannot emphasized. However, Noah was indeed attracted by this special thing, so she spoke.

"Although I don't think this is a delicacy, but you name a price. I'll pick a few things from your stall, and this thing will be given to me as a gift? How about it?" If you say you want to buy it right away, the other party will definitely ask for a higher price. So why not just buy something affordable and use this thing as a gift - sure enough, the other party hesitated for a while, as if making a big concession, and gritted his teeth.

"Great! This lady must have a unique eye. Take a look and pick out some good things. Everything here is unique!"

Noya wasn't fooled by his words, but instead scanned the stall with her divine eye. It had to be said that at first, Noya only noticed the odd piece of dried meat, but a closer look revealed something truly unique. Noya selected a strange bronze ring and a piece of strange fish skin—it looked shimmering, and it seemed to refract light, unknown what it was made of.

These two items were already very expensive, but Noah did not hesitate. After paying enough Originium ingots, he also put the strange dried meat into his arms.

After putting the three strange things into her pocket, Noah originally planned to leave directly, but before leaving, Cannot called her.

"Dear lady, are you planning to go to Iberia?" Although it was a question, Noah felt that the other party's tone was full of certainty, as if he already knew what she was thinking.

"Yes, so what?" Noah didn't feel any hostility from the other party, so he nodded and asked, "Is there anything you want to remind me?"

"No, no, no, nothing. I'm just an ordinary businessman. Since you're so generous, I'm giving you a little extra—" Cannot groped under his cloak and took out a lantern—well, a lantern that looked quite old. He placed it in front of Noya and said, "This is something I got by accident. It can be lit with lamp oil made from night-sun grass. It's said to bring luck to lost people and help them find their way home."

"I see..." Noah nodded. Her divine eye scanned the lantern, but after finding nothing special, she nodded, took the lantern, and hung it next to her wheelchair. "Thank you for the gift. See you next time, Mr. Cannot."

"See you next time, Miss Noah."

The two of them said goodbye politely. After Noah left, Cannot immediately got up to pack up his stall, wrapped himself in a cloak and blended into the crowd - he disappeared in a moment.

After Noah left, he signaled the mace to stop and thought for a moment before speaking. "Did I mention my name just now?"

"No."

"...When he said goodbye just now, he called me Miss Noah..." Noah was certainly aware of it, but she thought about it over and over again, and still couldn't imagine that she had any intersection with this Mr. Cannot.

However, I just bought something that interested me from the other party, and the other party had no ill intentions, so there was no need to ask too many questions.

After thinking about it, Noah and Mace returned to the landing point of the aircraft first.

As soon as Noah came back, Gloria, who had been with Laurentina, came out with her weapon. The appearance of the Changshuo was very exaggerated, which reminded Noah of Margaret's sword. When she observed it with the Eye of God before, she still couldn't figure out the material of this weapon. She could only attribute it to Agor's special casting process.

However, Noah was still stunned by the other party suddenly coming out with weapons, and Gloria's eyes quickly fell on Noah.

she spoke.

"What did you bring back?"

"Some... gadgets?" Noah took out a few things from his arms, a ring, a strange fish skin, a lantern, and a bag of dried meat. When Gloria's eyes fell on these things, she quickly realized where the strange smell emanating from the other person came from.

She picked up the dried fish and examined it for a moment before asking.

"Are you going to eat this?"

"Of course not." Noah shook his head. "If I'm going to eat it, I'd rather eat something normal. I bought this from a man wearing a strange helmet. He called it 'Dried Fear Fish'. I thought it was a bit weird, so I brought it back."

"Indeed, it's very strange." Gladia agreed with Noah. "Do you know what kind of meat this is?"

"That gentleman said it was dried ichthyosaur, meaning the flesh of a creature called ichthyosaur?" Noah speculated. "Is it some special scaly creature? A specialty of Iberia?"

"Rather than saying it's a specialty of Iberia, it's more like it's everywhere in the sea. But you can't just eat it casually." Gloria smiled. "Do you know Haisi?"

"...Hai Si." Among Noah's collection was this creature. When Noah remembered its appearance, his face changed. "Is the Terrorfish the Hai Si?"

"That's right. In other words, this thing in your hand, although its vitality is very weak, is still alive. It's a living piece of jerky." Gloria put the dried fish down and said, "I suggest you either send it back and seal it up, or destroy it outright. Believe me, this thing can't be dealt with by a healthy stomach."

"..." Noah had never thought about eating this thing, but Cannot said that he bought it from an Iberian... If this thing is really the meat of Haisi, according to Noah's understanding of Haisi's experimental data, human stomach acid cannot completely eliminate the activity of Haisi cells, which means... once this thing enters the stomach, it is probably like swallowing some kind of parasite, and sooner or later it will gradually begin to invade normal cells in the human body.

The Iberians probably knew the dangers of this thing... but they still chose to make it into jerky...

Has Iberia really reached the point where it has to eat the meat of sea bass?

Noah's expression was solemn, but Gloria also spoke up at this time, "If that were all, it would be fine, but the appearance of the dried fish is no different from ordinary dried meat. If this stuff were to be circulated everywhere, it would not be a good thing. Fortunately, because it is far away from the ocean, the activity of this piece of dried meat is already very low. Eating it should not directly transform it into sea heir. However, long-term consumption is another matter."

As she spoke, Goletia began to feel a little strange… "Can you find that merchant? I have something to ask him."

"I think it's probably impossible to find him." Noah shook his head. "The market here is very mobile. It's unlikely that we can find that vendor now."

"Indeed." Gloria vaguely sensed that the appearance of the dried fish wasn't entirely simple. It was likely related to the Deep Sea Church. Although Gloria herself had come into contact with the Deep Sea Church, she knew full well that they were no good. They believed in the Sea Heirs, even attempting to convert humans into Sea Heirs to obtain their so-called Instrumentality. For the Deep Sea Hunters, this was their greatest enemy.

If it weren't for treating Laurentina, she would have cleaned these things up long ago.

However, it is not too late to resolve the matter. She also looked at Noah with a higher opinion and found the key clue as soon as she went out - the existence of this dried fish has proved that some people are deliberately spreading sea meat to others.

Although nothing will happen in the short term, if long-term consumption of these things really leads to sea poisoning... then it will not be a simple matter.

Her eyes fell on the other things Noah brought back, and she ignored the fish skin for the time being. When she saw the brass ring, her expression changed.

"...This is also...you got it from that merchant?"

“…Hmm?”

“…” As a consul, Gloria believed that she would not be wrong.

The original owner of this ring must have been one of her former teammates... because the ring, called [Guide to the Distant Hometown], looks like a ring, but it's actually a specially designed navigation device. With it, one can find emergency supplies that Agor had secretly stored across the ocean.

And the appearance of this ring... seems to have some kind of foreshadowing.

Chapter 2: Saltwind City

The Drifting Guidance, a unique device originally meant for every deep-sea hunter, was destroyed during the brutal and chaotic battles of the past. Both Skadi's and Gloria's malfunctioned and were rendered useless. This Drifting Guidance now appeared, seemingly guiding Gloria. Perhaps it was a device that had been sacrificed by a companion, its appearance here at this moment truly akin to fate.

Goletia quickly composed herself. In fact, even from Enoy's observation, her emotional instability only lasted for a few seconds. She had a strong control over her emotions and was worthy of being the Archon of Agor.

With the help of this fully functional guide to the distant homeland, Gloria gave a coordinate to Muirses, who was in charge of driving the transport plane, and said that they were going to retrieve some things. Several people quickly left the market and quickly entered the border of Iberia after informing the identification number in advance.

Although the Great Silence happened many years ago, after entering Iberia, the huge contrast with Colombia still surprised Noah who was observing with the Eye of God. Iberia, the former overlord of the sea, was famous far and wide. Even after the Great Silence, many people still believed that Iberia should not be underestimated.

But after actually seeing this country, Noah felt that he had underestimated the impact of the Great Silence on Iberia.

"After that disaster, Iberia never recovered. Most fatally, they lost contact with Agor in the deep sea. This meant that Iberia, once nearly independent of Terran technology, couldn't even repair the energy cores it relied on for survival. As a result, the Great Silence was followed by a massive power outage, shutting down numerous factories and even disrupting electricity supply for residents. In this situation, Iberia had no choice but to seek assistance from inland areas."

"The original Golden Empire was destroyed in a catastrophe. The lighthouse lost its light, and the palace sank into the ocean. After the Great Silence, Iberia fell silent under the blockade of the Inquisition. Even the Iberians could not tell whether today's Iberia was a continuation of its former glory, or a tombstone to its end. Today's Iberia... is no longer the Golden Kingdom."

Noah had heard about this. When much of Iberia was swallowed by the ocean, the first to establish order were the Inquisition, as Goletia had described it. They used almost cruel rules to maintain this fragile order. Furthermore, after a large amount of land sank, when the tide receded, the fertile farmland turned into saline-alkali land, unsuitable for growing crops. This instantly transformed the once-rich Iberia into a country struggling to even sustain itself, and it still relies heavily on foreign food imports.

When people could not even get enough to eat, the original currency began to depreciate rapidly - the Dobloon gold coin, which was almost equivalent to gold, had to be paid hundreds of times the price to buy a piece of bread.

There is a very ironic anecdote that says that the nobles of Iberia at that time had huge wealth. They relied on this wealth to build castles and manors and lived a life of luxury.

But when the glory of Iberia came to an end, it all happened too suddenly. These nobles who had nothing but money suddenly found that the things they held could neither be exchanged for food nor respect. The precious things they collected could not even satisfy their hunger. In the end, this stingy noble was still holding a pile of pure gold before his death, with his teeth embedded in the gold bars... Even the noble lords were in this situation, let alone imagine what kind of life the common people led.

If you think about it this way, maybe those dried fish are not a conspiracy of some evil cult, but the only thing they can eat.

Due to the influx of saltwater, Iberia has lost almost all crops, most of which have died in the face of the poisonous saline-alkali land. Even the most diligent farmers have been forced to abandon their farmland, and the only ones who have made the best livings are the fishermen who occasionally catch some unusually large fish.

Communications were paralyzed, the landscape drastically altered, and post-disaster Iberia felt unfamiliar. People wandered aimlessly across the wasteland once known as a land of gold, seeing no familiar roads or buildings, hearing no familiar broadcasts or the occasional doctrinal texts from the Lateran. These people... truly were like the walking dead.

Noah closed his eyes, unable to bear to watch any longer. Iberia had actually reached this point...

At a time when material resources were extremely scarce, in order to maintain stability, Iberia chose to continue spreading the teachings from the Lateran, allowing people to begin to seek spiritual transcendence.

If you seek spiritual transcendence when you have material abundance, then that may be more than enough, but if you seek spiritual transcendence when you have nothing, then you are just paralyzing yourself.

"Iberia has collapsed." Noah said, "What can we do... or rather, what can we do?"

"Perhaps you could help me contact Agor. Perhaps Agor would try to lead Iberia to new prosperity—" Gloria began, though even she found it ridiculous. "Perhaps you could put away your cheap compassion. You can't save a country, especially one in its current state."

The aircraft found a flat ground to land. After Noah and the others got off, Muirses took off again. She wanted to find a hangar that could store the plane. She probably had to contact the Iberian Tribunal for this matter. She couldn't just leave the transport plane here. Maybe by the time she finished her business, the transport plane would have been dismantled into scrap metal.

Don't ignore the hunger of the masses; they may do anything to survive.

Once, Iberia, nestled on a fertile peninsula in the south and dominating the channel connecting the inland sea to the open ocean, possessed such a geographical advantage that the country could simply collect money from travelers to make a killing. But things are different now; the days of easy money are over. The dangers of the ocean have caused most landlocked nations to abandon ocean exploration, and without money to collect, Iberia has naturally fallen into a difficult situation.

It has to be said that even if Agor had not suddenly lost contact and there had not been a great silence, this would naturally have been the result when the inland areas realized the horror of this ocean.

It's certainly not that everyone isn't aware of it, but their worries can probably be called groundless worry...

"I can walk into Saltwind City—and retrieve some of the supplies left behind by the Agors," Goletia said to Noya and Mace. "You can go into the city first and find an inn. I have a way to find you."

"Be careful." Noah nodded, and after reminding Gladia, they parted ways temporarily. Noah and Mace entered the city first, but just as she entered the city, her sensitive ears heard the groans coming from the city.

This city... is indeed dying a slow death.

Noah, who had listened to the voices of many cities, had to come to the conclusion that the lower-class people were overwhelmed and extremely dependent on external trade for food. The people were bound by strict rules and could not cover up the rumbling of their stomachs while chanting doctrines.

A city that had long lost its vitality was half-buried under the sea-scented dust... and the people who struggled to survive there were also trapped in the sorrow of this slow death.

The sea breeze carried the city's fading atmosphere. Noah tried to stop one of the pedestrians who looked like he could still walk, but he ignored Noah's call. They were like... the walking dead.

Her outfit was obviously out of tune with them. If it weren't for the mace beside her and the two scary-looking weapons hanging on her body, she would probably have been robbed. Fortunately, violence cannot solve all problems, but it can deter those who intend to cause trouble.

Noah did not intend to blame those who showed malice towards her. She knew that these people were just too hungry.

There's an old saying in the Yan Kingdom: "When the granaries are full, people learn etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they learn honor and disgrace." In a country where people are starving, it's meaningless to expect them to have noble morals. But Noah stopped the traveler anyway, and let Mace slip a piece of bread into his hand.

The passerby's expression suddenly became lively. He quickly stuffed the bread into his worn clothes, fearing that others would see it. Then the look he gave Noah changed from being numb at first to being full of flattery.

"Hello, I'd like to know... if there's a hotel or something like that here. We're scholars here on an expedition... hoping to find a safe place to stay." Noah lied to the passerby, "What I just gave you is my welcome gift. If you can provide me with enough information, I also have—"

"Well... Miss, yes, there are. There are many empty houses here. If you like, just pick one and live in it." The passerby was clearly respectful, pointing casually at a few houses on the road. "Nowadays, everyone who has the ability to leave Yanfeng City has left. The people who are left here simply can't live in all the houses. You can pick any one you like."

"...like this." Noya hadn't expected the situation to be this bad. She gestured once again for the mace to hand the passerby a piece of bread, saying with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work. This is your reward. See you next time."

The pedestrians left happily. Noah was stunned for a long time before he sighed.

She knew that she alone could not open the granaries and distribute food to the entire city, so she could only use this method to gather intelligence.

These houses are deserted, and most of them don't even have doors. They must have been torn down and burned as firewood. Beneath the ashes of this once prosperous city, there is a hellish scene on earth.

Noah suddenly thought of Miss Shu who had come to Colombia to remind him before. She said that Dayan had developed a new type of rice, but she didn't know if it could bring a turning point to Iberia... No, even if it really could, what reason did Miss Shu have to help these people?

Noah couldn't be generous to others, and soon this thought disappeared from her mind.

Although she wanted to help the people here, she must not cause trouble to others. Otherwise, she would be taking the good reputation for herself and using the moral high ground to point fingers at others.

I don't have this habit...

"Anyway, let's find a place to stay first. I think we should stay here for a while... Well, the door is a problem, though."

"Door?" Jian looked at the doorless houses along the road and nodded. "I'll make one for you later. I did carpentry work back in Kjerag—making a door isn't difficult."

"Then I'll trouble you." Noah nodded, and after randomly selecting a small house, Noah first began to use the Originium skill to summon several small shadow people, and began to clean the house, while Jian went out to find a big tree, broke it with his bare hands, and dragged the tree directly to the side of the house, and then began to use the sword to cut the wood bit by bit. In the end, he really made a rough wooden door in a very short time. As for the remaining wood, it was piled next to the house, intended to be used as firewood.

Maybe because it was by the sea, the house felt a little damp - or perhaps the whole of Iberia was very humid, so a fire was needed. Fortunately, there was a ready-made chimney and a fire pit for making a fire in the house. After helping Noah make the bed, when Mace returned to Noah, she found that Noah was surrounded by a group of children.

"Look, this is the Originium skill - don't pinch it, it's very fragile, it's just a shadow." Noah said to the children with a smile. There were several small shadow people dancing beside her. These children had never seen such a performance before and watched it with fascination.

"Are these... monsters?"

"It's a Originium technique."

"Can everyone out there perform magic like this?"

"Not everyone can do it, but I just happen to know a little bit."