Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"If it weren't for you, Miss Noah, I probably wouldn't even be able to get in touch with these things... After all, I'm just an ordinary person." Jody scratched his head shyly and said, "Is everyone outside okay?"

"There's a helper outside, so nothing should go wrong—" Noah shook his head, "Besides... he seems to want to tell me something..."

"?"

"It's okay, it's just a small detail. Your responsibility now is to make sure whether the ship still exists..." Noah shook her head. In fact, she just had this intuition. What's more important now is to find that ship, the ship called the Fool.

"Yes——" Jody quickly began to operate the dashboards, and soon he exclaimed.

"It's unbelievable... After all these years, these signal receiving devices are still working... How does this work?"

"Maybe this is Agor's technology." Noah couldn't understand the dashboards and could only put his hopes on Jodi. After Jodi called up the log records, he immediately found something strange. "Data... too much data?!"

"What do you mean?"

"If this lighthouse has been abandoned for so long, it shouldn't have accumulated so much data... Why... Could it be..."

"Can you be more direct?" Noah also thought of a possibility, but she needed Jodi's confirmation.

"There's a ship that's been sending signals to the lighthouse for decades!" Jody said. "It's not even that far away!"

"...Can you give me a coordinate? This is very important to us." Noah asked. Soon, she got an exact coordinate location. After careful calculation, she found that the distance was indeed not far.

In other words, the fact that there are so many sightings of this ship indicates that it has always been lingering in this area.

"Have you guys figured it out? After those monsters die, they'll form something very troublesome on the ground. The last knight can't attract all the sea heirs for us." Gloria entered the control room and looked at Noah beside her.

"The coordinates have been found, it does exist. The next question..." Noah looked at Jodi and began to feel troubled. The lighthouse was very dangerous now, but breaking through was even more difficult... Even she was not sure she could take Jodi away.

"I want to stay here." Jody immediately understood Noah's hesitation. "I've checked the control room. It's very sturdy. As long as I lock the door, I'll be very safe inside."

"...Is it really okay?" Noah was still a little worried. "They can get in anywhere."

"But Miss Noah, you still have things to do, right? Taking me with you to break out is obviously a irrational choice. Besides... I also want to see more of this lighthouse," Jody insisted. "This is where my parents and ancestors once lived. If I really have to choose a burial place, I hope it's here."

"We don't have much time..." Gloria urged, "We must rush out immediately..."

"...Jordi, take it." Noah threw the music box in his hand to Jodi. "If you really get into trouble, open this thing and remember to cover your ears."

"This is……"

"This is the Siren," Noah said. "Before I set out to sea, I sealed this song in a music box. Once you open it, everything around you will lose its aggressiveness, which will at least give you time to move."

"...I...I understand!" Jody nodded and put it in his pocket. "Good luck!"

"Why don't you prepare more of these good things?" Gloria looked at Noah and asked in confusion.

"This thing not only eliminates the aggression of other creatures, but also your own. It's not meant for fighting at all. It's just for stalling time—in this song, you'll forget even to swing your sword."

As the composer of the song and the person who turned its Originium into a skill, Noya naturally knew the function of this thing.

Listening to this song will eliminate all fighting spirit, and even the memory of the battle will be temporarily blocked. It does not distinguish between friend and foe, and is considered an AOE hard control, so it cannot be used as a decisive weapon.

It can only delay time... or save lives, and it would be perfect for Jody to use.

"I see—" Gloria didn't expect Noah to have prepared something like this. "The Originium techniques on land are truly amazing."

"After all, my teacher is that..." Noah thought that Gloria had probably never heard of the Witch King, so he changed the word to describe him, "the greatest sorcerer in the world."

When Gloria and Noah were talking, they had already left the lighthouse. Obviously, the place had to be guarded by no one, and the first person who planned to stay and guard the lighthouse and wait for support was the Grand Inquisitor Dario. He was an Iberian, and he wanted to protect the wealth of Iberia.

"...I want to stay too!" Elini shouted, "I can too..."

"No, you can't stay." Dario looked at Elini. "The Fool is also Iberia's wealth. You must go there as Iberia's representative."

"……But……"

"No buts. I will hold out until the Punishment Army arrives to support me—this is an order." Dario's eyes were serious. "Besides, I'm not fighting alone."

His eyes fell on the last knight who was still fighting among the group of sea creatures. With this person's presence, the number of sea creatures he had to face was actually not as many as he had imagined.

"This is an order..."

"..." No matter how reluctant she was, Elini couldn't resist the order. After all, she was the judge...

"Your weapons can't burn them, but I can." Daario held up the lantern. "Get your people out of here. Take the boats, or you won't be able to locate them."

"You should know—"

"—I know, Agor."

"Alright. Try your best to survive, Grand Inquisitor." Gloria saw determination in the Inquisitor's eyes. She understood that this was the look of a warrior who was ready to die, so she turned around, "Shark! Skadi!"

"Mr. Dario...if you really can't hold on any longer, go inside the tower. Jody has something I prepared that might be able to protect you," Noah could only advise. "Wait for us to come back—or wait for the Punitive Forces to arrive. But that thing has a very small range, so it's best for you to stay in the control room and don't wander around."

"I understand. Thank you, Miss Noah."

“…Good luck to you.”

Noah turned and left, and before leaving, he gave Dario a respectful look.

This Great Inquisitor truly lives up to his title.

Dario raised his head, looked at the towering lighthouse, and then turned to the endless sea...

"There is no justice, nor... no evil, between the ocean and Iberia."

"Only the sword and the lamp—"

"--just me."

Chapter 31: The Fool

There is no doubt that staying in the lighthouse is not a good idea -

Jody thought so. If he followed Noah and the others to break through, he would still have a chance of survival. But now...

"...I overestimated myself..." Jody leaned against the gate. Only this heavy iron gate could give him a slight sense of security. Surrounded by the sea and trapped in the lighthouse control room, he was doomed no matter how he looked at it.

When a person is about to die, he naturally has many thoughts. If he thinks carefully, his life is indeed full of boredom and dullness, lacking poetry, distant horizons, and pursuits. But now, he seems to have achieved the most important thing he came to this world for and completed his life goal. As the saying goes, if you hear the truth in the morning, you can die in the evening. So now that he has completed his mission, can he wait for death?

Jody couldn't help but think pessimistically, but he quickly stood up and slapped himself - what am I thinking about? I can't give up. The people outside are still fighting. The dangers they face are not much less than mine. It was also their own choice to stay here. What is there to complain about?

What else can an ordinary person do? Think about it, Jody - what else can you do.

He stood up and felt his cheeks burning. He felt that he might have been a little too heavy-handed. Covering his cheeks, he quickly returned to the pile of dashboards. As a strategic-level building, the Eye of Iberia must have its own defense mechanisms. What he had to do now was to try to open all the defense mechanisms that could still be used and provide as much support as possible to Mr. Dario who was still fighting outside the tower.

Referring to the notes and the dial one by one, Jody summoned up all the courage in his life. When his hands were shaking, he slammed them on the steel plate, and when his legs were weak, he stomped his feet hard. Jody had heard that when people are extremely nervous, they will secrete adrenaline, which can make them temporarily ignore the pain. In this situation, he wished his body could secrete it violently to give himself more courage.

"Found it - defense mechanism, defense mechanism... No, there are so many switches, which one should I turn on?" Hard work pays off. Jody finally found the dial to turn on the defense mechanism, but he soon became stumped because there were so many buttons on it that he didn't know which one to press.

Why are there no notes in the notebook? What do these colorful buttons mean?

Forget it! I pressed them all! There can't be a self-destruct button!

Jody's face rolled over the keyboard in an instant, and he pressed every button he could. Immediately, the entire lighthouse began to vibrate, and various mechanisms that had not been activated for a long time were activated one by one, causing the entire hill to vibrate. After killing a large number of sea creatures, Dario, who was already standing on the hill made of sea creatures, raised his head tiredly, and saw that holes began to appear one after another in the outer brick wall of the lighthouse, and then a black gun muzzle stretched out from it. Dario's expression was stern, and he immediately turned around and hid in the tower.

He had just climbed into the lighthouse when he heard a burst of rumbling cannon fire outside. Agor Technology did not use source stone, but solar energy, tidal energy, and geothermal energy. These energy sources are renewable and will accumulate naturally. The lighthouse is now in an unprecedented fully charged state, and the shells ejected from the muzzles are high-end products that have never been damaged in the great silence. The damage these creations cause to the sea is devastating. Not to mention the power of the shell explosion, the flying fragments alone are enough to kill these sea people.

Dario looked out through the observation window. After a salvo of artillery shells, these sea urchins had been completely defeated. It was worthy of being a lighthouse designed by Agor's genius Bréoghan. The defensive facilities were actually several self-propelled artillery batteries. These artillery batteries could even calibrate automatically to expand the fire coverage of the artillery shells as much as possible. Moreover, this firepower... Could it be that Bréoghan was designed from the beginning to deal with sea urchins?

After all, this kind of firepower is really not necessary except to deal with Hai Si's human wave tactics...

-

"We're almost there." Under the protection of the three deep-sea hunters, they had no difficulty breaking through. "But the ocean... is too vast, and vague coordinates will lead to huge errors..."

"Is this the little bird's first time out to sea?"

"Yes... No, just talk if you want to. Don't come close and don't keep touching me. Believe it or not, I'll chop off your hands and feet." Before Elini could finish her words, she felt the ghost shark approach and quietly hugged her waist. "We are all girls, how can you be so naughty!"

"...I'm worried that you'll get seasick. I remember that land creatures sometimes have this problem?" Ghost Shark smiled, but it was obvious that she was just making up an excuse.

She seemed to have been interested in Elini ever since she met her.

"It's too peaceful. After leaving the lighthouse, we've encountered fewer attacks." Skadi changed the subject, asking doubtfully, "There's even... no wind or waves."

"What does this mean?" Noah asked doubtfully, "Isn't it a good thing that there are no waves?"

"I'm not sure either, I just feel uneasy." Skadi also shook her head. Although it is more reassuring when the sea is calm, it also makes people worry whether a bigger storm is brewing.

"Poor little bird, are you nervous?" Ghost Shark quipped, "It's true that few people can go this deep into the ocean."

"I... I'm not sure..." Elini stared at the foggy sea. Visibility was no more than five meters. With no reference points, aside from the still-shining light of the Eye of Iberia, she felt completely disoriented, even though she still had a compass in her hand to determine her direction.

"Don't be nervous, we're not far away. I can already smell that big ship," Ghost Shark comforted. "We just need to veer slightly to the right and we'll be able to see that big ship."

"...smell? Why can't I smell anything?"

"That's the difference between us, little bird." Before Ghost Shark finished his words, Elini witnessed a scene he would never forget: mist swirled over the sea, like a mysterious veil shrouding the vast expanse. As far as the eye could see, there was only a hazy gray, as if the boundary between heaven and earth had blurred. A cold breeze brushed against Elini's skin, causing her to shiver. Then, she witnessed the vague outline of a massive ship slowly becoming clearer. It was like a giant beast emerging from the clouds, ready to display its majestic presence.

Compared with this ship, her own boat looked like a dwarf. This ship was even bigger than Elini had imagined, and it even made her tremble all over.

As the ship approaches, the sound of waves crashing against the hull grows louder, each impact a call to the passengers on board, inviting them to explore the depths of the fog with this giant vessel. And the fog, like a gateway to another world, quietly awaits Noah and his companions to uncover its mysteries.

This scene was deeply engraved in Elini's memory. Even decades later, she would not forget the shock brought to her by the big ship named Fool.

"Are we...really going to board this ship?" She swallowed, a little nervously, "Why hasn't it sunk yet... No, I shouldn't ask that, but...I haven't noticed the sailors on board...even though we're so close, why don't they react?"

"Pay attention over there, there is a rope ladder hanging on the side of the boat. We can go up through this ladder--" At this time, Jian stood up and found a way to get on the boat.

"Welcome home, hunters." Gloria took the lead, grabbed the rope ladder, and climbed onto the bow first.

The sea breeze pushes away the night, delivering a familiar smell.

A large, tranquil ship, soundly slumbers on the sea. It is a subject of the sea breeze and a distinguished guest of the times.

It was an era full of ideals, and people's spirit of exploration was fully reflected in it, as was their arrogance.

Skadi and Glaceia looked at the ship silently.

In an instant, they remembered a lot of things, but in the end they undoubtedly returned to their past, childhood, hometown, and the frequency of the ship shaking at the moment.

Only the ghost shark slightly clenched the weapon in his hand, feeling the gentle sea breeze.

She hadn't expected the ship to be so quiet; she had thought it would be crawling with sea urchins, or perhaps sailors were waiting for them.

But... nothing.

On the quiet deck, there were no sailors or seamen. This ship... was just like a ghost ship in myths and legends, seemingly empty.

"This is... the Stutifila, the 'Fool'..." Elini climbed onto the deck. Unlike Ghost Shark's doubts, she was even more shocked by the ship's structure and size. "This flagship, filled with scholars and soldiers, the fallen royal family's palace on the ocean... and the records in the books... are very different."

She hadn't expected that her first meeting with the Fool would be on such an occasion.

"Such a large ship, constantly drifting near the Eye of Iberia and continuously sending signals to it... It doesn't look like an abandoned, unmanned vessel..." Noya was also puzzled, but the ship was indeed eerily quiet. "Sixty years... sixty years without anyone operating it. How could a ship survive that long without sinking?"

"Perhaps a young land dweller like you hasn't encountered many ships like this. But even with Breogan's assistance, it's too crudely built." Gloria explained the situation. "But you're right. No ship in this situation can withstand the test of the sea. This place is definitely not deserted. Someone is maintaining this ship. The proof is the deck beneath our feet—there's not even the usual moss growing on it."

"Someone is maintaining this ship..." Noah nodded. "And if there really is such a person, he would have discovered us by now, or even..."

"..." Mace suddenly became alert and placed her hand on the weapon at her waist. She looked towards the cabin. Following her gaze, Noah's eyes lit up slightly, and she discovered that a strange creature was [spying] at them.

Just by looking at each other for a moment, Noah could feel the emotions coming from the other person... which were actually human emotions?

The emotions of the Haisi are different from those of humans. The Haisi are a collective will, and they rarely have the emotions that humans have. Noah can easily distinguish these... and immediately stopped Gloria and Mace who were about to rush forward, "Wait, she may not be an enemy!"

"How is it possible! That's definitely a sea heir!" Skadi also took out her greatsword. She saw clearly just now that the other party even had the blue-gray skin unique to sea heirs - this was definitely a sea heir.

"He didn't attack us!" Noah stretched out his hand to stop everyone, "Perhaps, we can talk!"

"...This is very dangerous." Gloria was the first to retract her weapon. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I want to try." This was the first time that Noah felt human emotions from Haisi. Since he had human emotions, she could get in touch with him - but the other party was not completely hostile to her and others, so Noah stretched out her hand cautiously.

"We are not here to cause you any trouble. Can we talk?" She used the language of the Agor people. The other party obviously reacted to this language. Fortunately, she and Skadi had learned this language for a while, otherwise there would be a lot of trouble now.

"...(low roar)." The opponent's hostility seemed to have indeed decreased a lot, but it did not relax its vigilance. Instead, it roared at Noah, then turned around and hid in the warehouse.

Judging from the emotions just revealed... the other party didn't seem to have any intention of attacking them. This emotion was more like curiosity, vigilance, etc. Noah judged.

"Could she be... a human who has retained her sanity after being infected by Hai Si?" Noah, having already seen the last knight, speculated. "Although she had no interest in Hai Si from the beginning to the end, I can guarantee that she does have human emotions. My ability rarely makes mistakes."

"...If she can communicate, and understands Agor... sixty years of wandering could very well have caused some mental problems, perhaps even forgotten how to speak." Gloria touched her chin and said seriously, "Then if we want to find the truth, we'll probably need her to continue communicating with us. Let's go into the cabin first... maybe we can find other clues."

"But entering the cabin is obviously a disadvantage for us... We don't know what's going on inside the Fool," Elini said worriedly. "How are we supposed to find our way inside?"

"We can only take things one step at a time for this kind of thing - finding a Hai Si with human will is already a major discovery." As the commander, Noah could only come to this conclusion.

"Let's keep moving forward."

No. 32 Alfonso

The hymn of mankind is the hymn of courage. I don’t know where this famous saying came from, but Noah thinks it is quite correct - only by mustering the courage to move forward can mankind achieve various achievements one after another.