Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

But it is precisely because of this character that she pushes herself into desperate situations time and time again, and survives time and time again, taking on responsibilities that are not her responsibility time and time again.

Too much responsibility is not a good thing...

But who made Jian meet this stubborn girl?

Such a person really has a kind of charm that ordinary people can hardly imagine. As long as she keeps moving forward, even if she herself doesn't want it, there will still be people who will be inspired by her footsteps and move forward.

Sometimes, Jian would really think of his former travel companion, Tora, the descendant of Nightmare Qiexue, who still didn't know where he was going. He said that Noya was a descendant of the ancient king Khan and an extremely noble person. He recognized Noya's bloodline and her leadership position. He even regarded Noya as the Khan of the new era.

Indeed... people like this will always have people wanting to follow them...

If she were born in ancient times, perhaps she could become a king?

"She's living like this, it's too tiring." Even Skadi, with her slow-witted little head, felt a tingling sensation on her scalp just thinking about the pressure Noah was currently bearing. She couldn't help but complain, "Can't she just take it a little easier?"

"...As long as she can see all this suffering, she won't stop, right? Come to think of it, perhaps fate took her eyes away to avoid overexerting her with fatigue and pain..." Mace folded his arms, helplessly saying, "All we can do is stay by her side and do what we can to help her."

Skadi doesn't understand Noah's behavior, but she undoubtedly understands that what she did was right and well-intentioned. For Skadi, who has been accustomed to following orders since childhood, she might also think... Are the three captains who once taught her not to think too much and just need to follow orders also bearing pressure that they are not aware of to protect them?

Even though the Third Captain had thrown him into the sea herd during training, forcing him to fight alone for five days, two days to heal, and five days for combat training. Even though the Third Captain had never shown mercy when sparring with him, breaking every bone in his body, then healing it and breaking it again. Even though the Third Captain had always called for a hateful fight, then swung the anchor at him—

...Okay, I won’t recall the three captains anymore.

After careful recollection, Skadi found that she didn't seem to have any particularly good memories. Instead, the second captain took Laurentina to see a play and even took her to learn dancing. They were both on vacation at the same time. As a result, one of them was covered in bruises and spent more time in the infirmary than in the dormitory, while the other seemed to have received an aristocratic education and was proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

——No, they all go to be deep-sea hunters. Isn’t the treatment a bit too different?

The more Skadi thought about it, the more unbalanced she felt. Wasn't it just that she used to be an electrician, Shark, and a sculptor? She still had a little bit of artistic talent in her, right? Didn't the third captain ever think of letting her cultivate it?

Oh... that's true. You have to learn the rhythm. If you can't match it, you will be executed as a traitor...

"Why did your expression suddenly darken?"

"I remember some happy things."

Skadi had a dark face and didn't want to talk, then she asked Mace cautiously.

"What are the requirements to become Miss Noya's bodyguard? Do I need to fight in the sea for seven days and seven nights, in and out of the sea for seven days and seven nights?"

"...Why do you have such thoughts?"

"……That?"

"I don't have any requirements. I just need to learn how to help her relieve her inner panic when she's being stubborn." Jian said, counting on his fingers. "And then I just need to help her with some things that she's not comfortable doing."

“…Is it too late for me to change careers now?”

Skadi looked at Mace eagerly, but received a smile from Mace in return.

"you guess?"

"I see."

Originally, Skadi was thinking of waiting for Noah to wake up. Skadi has been wandering for half her life and has never met a wise master. Now that she meets you, she is willing to serve you for the sake of loyalty - no, that's not right.

In short, they get what they deserve, and they get what they work hard for, but I, as a deep-sea hunter, don't even get five social insurances and one housing fund...

Besides, in terms of strength, although I have never fought against Jian, I don’t think I will lose...

Perhaps her covetousness was too obvious, and Jian, who was standing by, could only look at her with amusement, until the taciturn Miss Skadi averted her gaze herself.

The two of them stayed with Noah until the evening, when Noah slowly woke up. She rubbed her eyes. She had just wanted to take a nap in the sun, but she didn't expect that after Jian carried her down and placed her next to the tree, she fell asleep all of a sudden.

I still have a lot of things to do - what's the point of falling asleep?

Nuoya was about to ask Jian to carry her to the wheelchair, but she was a little confused as she had just woken up, so she just stretched out her hand and whispered, "Hold..."

Then she suddenly realized that her behavior was too childish, so she coughed and said, "Help me get into the wheelchair—Mace?"

"Let me help."

"..."

At this moment, Skadi took over the conversation, but when Noah heard this voice, his body stiffened instantly.

"...Miss Skadi, why are you here?"

"I... came here for something, and then I saw you lying here, Miss Noah."

"...just now...did you see everything?"

"……Um."

Noah's face instantly turned red. "Ahem... I hope Miss Skadi won't tell anyone about this..."

"No. So do you need my help?"

"sorry to bother you."

Chapter 8 Explosion

Skadi carried Noya to a nearby wheelchair, with Mace watching from the side. Skadi was a little nervous, even during her final battle with Hai Si, she hadn't been this nervous. But she felt that Miss Noya in her arms was incredibly light. It wasn't because she was too strong, but rather a surprising lightness—it was hard to imagine this was a normal person's weight. She probably hadn't anticipated that with Noya's current condition, she only needed minimal nutrition to maintain her physical mobility.

Gray matter uses nutrients to its full potential. To save food for the disaster victims, she ate very little herself. While gray matter helps her maintain a healthy body, the reduced intake undoubtedly caused her to lose weight. It's just that she usually wears thick clothes, so it's not very noticeable.

Of course, Jian knew about this, but at Noya's request, she never told anyone else -

Of course she wanted to stop it... Unfortunately, Noah didn't refute anything at this time, but just smiled silently.

Under this smile, Jian couldn't refuse her request.

At this point, she realized that her dissuasion was meaningless, and she also promised that she would never have any problems due to reducing her food intake.

"Ms. Noah, are you a little too thin?"

“…Will it?”

Noah said with some lack of confidence that she certainly knew her situation.

"Maybe it's just because I'm losing weight?"

"You can't lose weight like this..." Skadi frowned and said, "Have you been eating well recently?"

"Of course, I eat at regular times and in regular amounts, and I'm in good health." Noah didn't lie. There was nothing wrong with eating at regular times and in regular amounts, it was just that three meals were compressed into one, which made it easier for him to save time for work and reduce the amount of food he ate.

"Okay." Things had come to this point, and as a not-so-close friend, Skadi could only give up the difficult task of persuading Noah to eat for the time being.

Noah's actions and connections changed the face of Saltwind City, and also made the Deep Sea Church, which had originally planned to proceed smoothly, somewhat uneasy. Fewer and fewer people came to collect the dried fish meat, and more and more people lived in mobile cabins. These church members who had originally been confident of victory were now caught in a strange anxiety.

If they didn't know that sea transformation was almost irreversible, they would have probably gotten impatient long ago.

"It's just that progress has slowed down. Hehe, their actions are ultimately like trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm. Joining the glorious evolution is their only way out." Believers in the Sea Si firmly believe that the Sea Si is the future of human evolution and that Terra will ultimately be assimilated by the Sea Si. They are merely accelerating the process. To them, the actions of Noya and the others are like Sisyphus, pushing a rock up a mountain in vain, only to watch it roll back down.

If you can't dodge in time, you might even be crushed by the boulder—

However, the discussion of the believers did not cause any reaction from the real Deep Sea Bishop Quintus. He just rang the bell, prayed, and then walked the streets every day, preaching attentively as before.

Maybe he is really not in a hurry, or maybe he is really Buddhist. This old man whose face cannot be seen clearly seems to have stopped caring about many things.

One day he came to this dying town and spread his teachings in the town. He knew that these citizens believed not in his teachings, but in the food that his teachings could bring.

And when someone offers other food, they will naturally go where they want to go.

But none of this matters, he has captured his best masterpiece, look... the beautiful girl floating in the bubble-like culture chamber. It must be said that although the Agor people are a group of ignorant and arrogant fools, they have created the most perfect creatures in the world, the deep-sea hunters, warriors transplanted with sea cells. They share the same roots with sea cells, have the appearance of humans, but have the power of sea cells.

They can indeed be called perfect creations, but unfortunately - this is a perfect creation, but also a terrible blasphemy.

Haisi's life form is perfect. Even if the transplant surgery is done perfectly, it is a blasphemy to the perfect life itself!

It is hard to imagine that those foolish people do not understand the backwardness and ignorance of human beings themselves, and even want to control Hai Si's power for their own use!

What blasphemy! What foolishness!

He sometimes found it difficult to control his anger, but before he became what he is now, he was a scholar, a scholar who spent his life pursuing the perfect form of life.

Therefore, he still has the curiosity that a scholar should have. The deep-sea hunters' unusual resistance to Originium makes him particularly curious and obsessed. This may also be one of the most perfect manifestations of Hai Si. They are the few life forms in the world that can completely reject Originium. Even hunters who have transplanted Hai Si cells can benefit from it. Under the immersion of high-concentration Originium liquid, the ghost shark did suffer from mineral disease, but the growth of the Originium crystal cluster was far below Quintus' expectations.

When he was conducting experiments on the seriously injured Ghost Shark, his colleague implanted a completely new personality into her heart. Although the Ghost Shark accidentally escaped in the end, Quintus would never let his experimental subject escape from his control.

So he deceived Gloria and brought the ghost shark to his side.

Alas, Quintus' actions are all a scholar's curiosity about the unknown itself, and this curiosity often makes him feel a little strange. Human beings can't help but be curious about some things, but at some point they are determined not to look back.

Sea urchins are the most perfect form of life.

It took him a long time to reach this final conclusion, and because of this conclusion, he has transformed from a scholar to what he is today.

Someone will know in the future that he is right.

"I think you're getting panicked."

"Oh, panic, why?"

"Because someone is proving that your teachings are wrong. Those doctrines you hold as your guiding principles seem to be being shattered by the will of humanity itself. You rely only on the power of Hai Si himself, and the will of humanity, which you deny, is changing everything. So... you panic."

"...Foolish. They've already eaten the flesh and blood. Sooner or later, they'll become part of the evolution. Why should I panic? What she's doing is just useless."

"Whether or not she succeeded is irrelevant. It's her actions that were beyond your expectations. You thought humans would abandon this place, or even massacre it, after learning of the situation here. But what you saw was that the land civilization you rejected was showing a glorious side of humanity. They were helping each other, and the outstanding people among them were sabotaging your plans. Let's put it this way, if there really are so-called gods in this world—I think they should help this girl who is running for others."

There was sarcasm in every word Goletia said, but Quintus found it difficult to refute her.

This feeling of frustration caused ripples in his already far-from-calm emotions. After his disguised calmness was torn apart bit by bit by Gloria's harsh words, the hideousness beneath his calmness was finally revealed.

"It doesn't matter—that girl will become a part of us, it's just that the time has not come yet." He smiled grimly, "She is indeed outstanding, one of the best humans I have ever met, but precisely because of this, I think she should have become a being similar to us earlier. She just doesn't understand that becoming a Haisi is her future. When she grows tentacles and gains eternity, our camp will grow stronger again—"

"No, even if she became a Sea Heir, she would never go along with the likes of you." Gloria shook her head. "You don't understand her. Her will is far beyond your imagination."

"Let's wait and see... In her dreams, there will always be the salty smell of the sea breeze."

Bishop Quintus narrowed his eyes and spoke.

"let us wait and see."

-

Noah had a dream. She didn't know if it was because of the psychological trauma she had experienced after seeing the strange blue-gray figure that day, but in her dream she always saw a blurry figure walking on the beach, distant, dark, and difficult to identify its appearance. Noah followed behind the figure. Strange currents were surging on the sea, and occasionally a huge back would appear from under the water, pale in color, covered with thorns and shells.

There is no sound of seabirds, only endless waves.

Noah felt like she was having a lucid dream. Unlike the past, she could move freely in this dream, but as long as she stopped, the figure would also stop, as if waiting for her. Noah walked around on the empty beach and even walked into the dark ocean at one point, but she found nothing. This place seemed to be stagnant everywhere, as if everything was dead.

The only living things might be the monsters in the tide, the dark shadows walking on the beach, and myself—

This strange dream lasted for a long time, until Noah could no longer bear it. He quickly caught up with the shadow, grabbed the shadow's arm, and wanted to ask who she was.

But she saw a face that looked exactly like her own, and she woke up with a startled look.

The exhaustion of these days made it difficult for her to wake up immediately, and she also made some jokes, but she did not think that this dream was just a dream - because she could always feel that something was calling her.

Noah didn't know where the call came from or what it was saying, but she could just feel it.

However, she did not tell anyone about these things. After all, these things were too bizarre, and even if she told them, no one would believe her.

Oh...it's better to sleep less and work more...

Noah had no choice but to throw himself into work again.

Skadi's presence allows Mace to spend more time with Noah, but she can't share Noah's work. Before Hemer arrives, her work is the only one she can complete. After all, she can't ask Muirseth, who is researching sea rice, or Dorothy, who is preparing the transmitter project, to help her, right? Those who have this skill tree here are really rare.

Soon, the outside world sank into darkness. Inside the mobile house, the lights were on. Noah continued to work, and Mace stayed by her side, never leaving her side for a moment.

At this moment, a gust of cold wind blew into the mobile home, causing the lights to flicker twice. Jian raised his head and looked at the flickering lights in confusion.

"what happened?"

Noticing something unusual about the mace, Noah spoke.

"The light seems to be broken. I'm going to go check if there's something wrong with the wiring." Jian thought it was a problem with the external wiring or something, so she decided to go out and check. The wiring was just outside the cabin, less than ten steps away, but she didn't care. She wouldn't be able to get there if something really happened anyway. So she left the cabin, leaving Nuoya alone. She yawned, and then she heard the door open.

Noah looked up again in confusion.

"you are?"

"..."

"...Good evening, this is not a place for playing around. Children should go to bed at this time."

Noah judged from the frequency and movement of the other person's heartbeat that the other person should be a child of five or six years old, and instantly relaxed his vigilance. He could feel that the other person did not have any hostility.

The other person is very calm, but a little confused. Maybe he is lost?

Noah was thinking this, but he heard the other party approaching him quietly. Noah frowned subconsciously and spoke.

"Little boy? What do you want? Are you here just to see me?"

The other party still said nothing. This strange silence made Noah feel something was wrong. Then, her eyes shone slightly, and the Eye of God allowed her to see the appearance of the child in front of her.