Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Chapter 37: Everything is ready

Of course, Actor was not killed by his own daughter.

No matter what, he is her own father. Rosaline is not so cruel as to do that.

but……

"You were a little too harsh..." Noah said helplessly, looking at the bruised and battered Actor in front of him, "After all, he is your father."

"I don't have such a father!" Rosalyn retorted angrily, "How could my father be such a coward!"

"..." Rosaline was probably the only one who could call Axtus a coward in front of Kjerag, but the frustrating thing was that Axtus had no way to refute it.

"Liexia...ah, I'll just call you Rosalyn here. I understand the details clearly. In my opinion, it's fine for you to deny this father. After all, I know how complicated your feelings are. But as for your mother's affairs...you'd better explain it clearly."

"...What? What's there to explain clearly..."

"Rosaline...about your mother..." Actor also spoke, "I don't expect your forgiveness. Whether you blame me or hate me, I deserve it. If scolding me isn't enough, hit me twice with this axe, and I won't dodge. But after that, after that... Rosaline, can you give me another chance?"

"..."

"I don't mean to embarrass you! I... I just want you to know that I still love you. It was the same in the past, and it will be the same in the future." Actor was not very good at speaking, and even though he was beaten and his words were limp, he still tried hard to express himself clearly. "My feelings for your mother and you have never changed. So... if you are willing, Rosaline - can you call me father again?"

There was a flicker of expectation in his eyes. Noah was somewhat moved by the scene. After all... her parents were still in critical condition.

The Witch King had promised to bring them back, but in reality, only after Noya truly reached the Witch King's level did she realize that finding two people in a state of superposition between life and death in the Warp was as difficult as piecing them together from the atoms. And even if they were found, they would likely be completely different from their parents. The Warp distorts everything, and by now, her parents had likely become something like quantum ghosts.

They may always be by your side, or they may never be there.

The difference in their existence made it impossible for Noya to reach them or touch them. They were everywhere, yet nowhere... This was the price of being lost in the subspace.

They did not lose, they did not lose to the demons in the warp, but they lost to the warp itself.

Even the previous civilization has not fully analyzed the truth of the subspace. In the administrator's memory, the subspace is like a shadow of the real world, a world where the total amount of matter is equal to that of the real world, but in this world, there are no rules and regulations. The science that humans are proud of can only maintain their rationality when exploring this world. Every glimpse into the subspace is like diving into a bottomless well.

People who are lost in the subspace sometimes return unexpectedly, and sometimes are lost forever.

Some returned centuries later, while others traveled back in time, traveling far into the past. The Warp lacks the concept of a timeline, not even distance, speed, or gravity. Basic scientific knowledge is meaningless in the Warp. It is precisely because of its disordered nature that the Warp can exceed the speed of light, allowing humanity to travel faster than light. It is also precisely because of the Warp's disorder that humanity has been able to establish such a vast cosmic alliance.

But all this is meaningless, because in front of the lumberjacks, human technology... is almost meaningless.

Facing an almost unknown enemy, both the Administrator and Noah, the two Star Children, could only feel terror... but they would not despair.

She was even ready to disappear along with the Terran civilization. She had already thought of how to save herself. The administrator left behind everything about Project Zero. As long as Noah was willing, she could create her successor in the Star Womb. If it didn't work this time, then next time. Next time, civilization would find a way out on its own. Noah had already prepared for the worst. The new Project Zero was even being manufactured.

If she is unable to recover in the end, Noa will return her soul to the Womb of the Stars.

Although lumberjacks will destroy all civilization and life, they will not destroy the planet.

Alas... But this is also the final plan. We are not desperate to this extent now. Rather, if we have reached that situation, it is still unknown whether the next generation will have such a huge legacy of the previous civilization.

Noah turned her attention back to the relationship between father and daughter. Although she had just thought so much, in reality...

"Stop, Liexia, you're going to tear his head off."

At this time, Rosaline had already started to choke Axtos. Axtos' face turned red, but he had no intention of resisting.

"This bastard cursed my mother to death!"

"Ahem... I... I just made a mistake!"

"..." Noah covered her face and sighed. She probably understood what had happened. Because Liexia was not proficient in Kjerag, she called the things her mother asked her to bring back "relics". Therefore, Aktos misunderstood that Liexia's mother had passed away, which led to a series of misunderstandings afterwards.

"Um, what? I mean, I came here with a keepsake from my mother." Rosalyn checked the translation on the terminal and corrected herself. "Tsk, Kjerag is so difficult to speak. My pronunciation is just a little off, but it's not completely wrong..."

"..." Noah and Actos looked at Rosaline with a weird look at the same time. Rosaline felt a little embarrassed and pouted to avoid their sight.

Fortunately, Actor was only happy that it was just a misunderstanding.

"Tatiana is alive? Is she, is she okay?"

"My mom's fine, but she broke her leg before we left, so I had to come alone," Rosaline responded unhappily, though not as angry as before. "But about that Chernobog incident a few years ago... well, forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Anyway, I had an accident a few years ago, and my mom ran to the disaster zone to look for me... I was lucky, and was eventually rescued by Rhodes Island, but she contracted oripathy."

"How could this happen..." Actor gritted his teeth. "Where are you living now? Rhodes Island... Oh, Rhodes Island can cure oripathy! Are you staying there? Are the people there nice to you?"

"Mr. Actor, don't worry. Oripathy is no longer a terminal illness. Don't worry, Miss Tatiana will be fine." Noya smiled. "Transmitter therapy is very mature now. The only problem now is production. Just give us time and we can solve the problems of oripathy one by one."

"My mom isn't as fragile as you think..." Rosalyn put her hands on her hips. "Okay, let's talk about this later. I get angry just by mentioning it."

"Rosaline, I know you're angry, but you still have to say what needs to be said. If you want to talk, I'll do it." Noah sighed helplessly. "Mr. Axtos, I shouldn't say much about your family affairs, but I still want to remind you that no matter what, this is a matter between you two. If you want to see Miss Tatiana again, you should seek her consent."

"...Tsk." Rosalyn curled her lips in disdain. "Hey, you're not a handsome man with a sloppy beard at all. Remember to pay the child support for the past ten years. I'll send a bill to your family later--"

After saying these words, Rosalyn finally breathed a sigh of relief. She was not a generous person, but after saying these words, she felt that the anger in her heart had dissipated a little.

"By the way, Miss Noah, I just wanted to ask, why are you here?"

-

Let's turn our attention back to Victoria, or more precisely, back to Vina.

After her proposal to reorganize MI6 was strongly opposed by the Duke of Caster's followers, Vina felt that it was almost time and put the issue on hold. After all, her original intention was not to really abolish MI6.

There is a theory that when you are in a house, if someone suggests opening a window inside to improve the light, there will usually be opposition, but if you propose to remove the roof, most people will agree to open the window.

What Vina is doing now is a similar situation. After ending this issue, it is obvious that the Duke of Caster's mood has calmed down a little, and Vina put forward another proposal at this time.

"I plan to begin a friendly visit to Kjerag tomorrow."

Vina said that as the speaker of the Londinium Parliament, she was the apparent supreme leader of Victoria, and basically no one would object to her proposed visit.

After all, visiting a country and establishing friendly relations is a reasonable diplomatic move.

But the moment Duke Kast heard Kjerag's name, his brow furrowed. Why Kjerag? You know, Duke Kast had staked a lot on Kjerag in order to control him, and just when the harvest was about to come, the Speaker actually wanted to pay a friendly visit to Kjerag?

"Can I ask why?" But on the surface, after forcibly rejecting the previous agenda item, the Duke of Castle was already a little lacking in confidence. After all, if he continued to sing against Vina, Vina would now be quite famous in the whole of Victoria. Those members of the Model Army who had been dismissed were truly tempered in battle. If Vina made a call, most of these Model Army soldiers would gather directly under her banner no matter where they were or what they were doing.

This kind of influence cannot be eliminated by simply disbanding. These exemplary armies seem to have disappeared, but if the dukes really think that Vina is fighting alone, they would be foolish.

"It's very simple. Ever since Kjerag opened, Victoria seems to have been busy with domestic affairs and has never paid any attention to our good neighbor. In diplomacy, we have an obligation to build good relations with the surrounding countries, from small to large, from shallow to deep. I think Kjerag is a good target. We can establish an embassy in Kjerag and conclude business contracts. What's more, Kjerag is still in a period of rapid development. They will need various resources within Victoria. It is also a very suitable target as a source of foreign exchange." Vina had already prepared her arguments. These arguments were very official, and Duke Kaster couldn't even find a trace of unreasonableness.

"Since Mr. Speaker has made such a decision, I have no objection." Duke Caister looked around. Those dukes were obviously just watching the fun. Without support, Duke Caister thought that stopping the previous issue alone was already the limit.

She sighed.

"It's just that I happen to be interested in Kjerag. Can I come with you?"

"That's exactly what I wanted." Vina smiled. As expected, the Duke of Caister himself would never allow her to move freely. But that was fine; that was exactly what she wanted. "We can also maintain some rapport. I'll leave domestic affairs to Daphne for now. I plan to depart tomorrow, so please remember to make preparations, Your Excellency the Duke of Caister."

"You are really anxious, Mr. Speaker." Kaister didn't intend to believe a word Vina said, but there was indeed no better way now.

Once he arrived in Kjerag, he had the support of Gray Hat and the others, so he had the confidence to fight back against whatever Vina planned. Duke Kast had suggested going to Kjerag together not only to monitor Vina's movements, but also because Vina actually had a lesser advantage there. The intelligence network he had deployed in Kjerag was no pushover, and after this meeting, the people at MI6 would be somewhat wary.

These agents should have no idea what to choose between a Speaker who intends to reorganize MI6 and a Duke who has always supported their actions, right?

Humph...he is just a young man after all.

However, Duke Caister did not realize that the intelligence network she mentioned was now dead in name only.

Gray Hat, who single-handedly maintained the operation of this fake network, also completely sided with Noya. After arriving in Kjerag, the person who was truly isolated and helpless was actually herself.

After the meeting, Vina returned to her office. At that moment, Dai Fen came in, placed the latest news from Noah on the desk, and said, "Ms. Noah said she is ready and is waiting for you, Vina."

"I know, she's worthy of it... If she could come to me... I wouldn't have to worry so much."

"Vina, there's no way Miss Noya will be recruited by us. You'd better give up on this idea."

"...Isn't it okay if I think about it?" Vina forced herself to sit up straight. "Okay, now let's figure out how to make Duke Kaster suffer a complete and utter loss."

Chapter 38: One Night

The news that Vina Victoria and Duke Kast were planning to visit Kjerag soon reached Enthiotis's ears, so he had already learned about this possibility from Noya. However, after it really happened, he thought for a moment and decided to call someone immediately and asked Noya to come to the office.

"I understand you have your own plans for this matter, but could you please share them with me first?" Enthiotis crossed his hands in front of him. This was the first time he felt that he could not keep up with Noah's thinking. In the past, the two of them basically cooperated with each other tacitly, but this time, Noah was simply acting first and reporting later. It was no small matter for these two people to come to Kjerag.

Just looking at Enthyotis's serious expression, Noah was stunned at first, and then realized it.

"Didn't I tell you that?"

"You certainly didn't say that."

"..." Noah slapped his head, "Sorry, I've been too busy lately and forgot."

"It's best if you really just forgot about it." Enthiotis almost couldn't hold back his breath. "But it's not too late now. What are your plans?"

"—Look, I think it's nearly impossible for you to rely on Kjerag to fight Victoria's infiltration on your own." Noya thought for a moment, gathering his thoughts, and spoke. "So, my idea is... since Victoria wants to swallow Kjerag, why not just find him some opponents?"

"...I've thought about your idea, but Kjerag's situation, to be honest, is quite limited to Terra itself... aside from the lack of natural disasters, we have very little competitiveness. What exactly is our reason..."

"Yes, that's where I came up with the idea." Noah nodded. "Perhaps, the absence of natural disasters is much more serious than you imagined."

"...Explain in detail?"

Noah then told him in detail how he had persuaded Agent Victoria to defect, and how he planned to establish a cooperative relationship with Colombia, especially how he had asked Saria to help build a space base. If Enthiotis could hold back at the beginning, he began to feel uneasy when Noah said that the Gray Hat had wiped out the entire Kjerag intelligence network. Later, when Noah mentioned his plan to build a space base in Kjerag, Enthiotis had already picked up the water glass to calm himself down.

Finally... when Noah started talking about completely settling accounts with Duke Caister, he finally couldn't hold it in any longer, his hand shook, and the precious teacup fell to the ground.

"...You have so many plans, but you don't even plan to tell me anything?"

"I forgot because I was busy." Noah was telling the truth. Not only that, she also had to find time to adapt to her own powers, and she also had to give instructions to the giant beasts and beast masters that Shelagh was waiting for. To be honest, she really did everything during her trip to Shelagh, and she was so busy that she forgot to inform Enthiotis. She was really helpless. She was too busy, and these things required delicate operations, so her brain capacity was basically full.

Fortunately, Theresa was helping me think about these problems, such as how to deal with Duke Caister's plan, which she helped me think about.

After all, she is a woman who has been a demon king, and in this respect she is better than Noah.

The entire plan might not be completely interconnected, but it was enough. According to Enthiotis's understanding, he also believed that if it was carried out according to the plan, Shelag would even have more room to maneuver between the two countries. Colombia and Victoria originally represented the emerging powers and the old powers. Colombia actually liked to do things that could disgust Victoria. This could be regarded as the grudge between the two countries.

In this situation, Kjerag was able to find opportunities everywhere and even get some benefits.

All of this was brought about by Noah's connections. It could be said that everything Noah planned was to buy time for Kjerag, to buy him time to catch up with the other countries on the continent.

"I understand everything..." Ensioudis took a deep breath. He needed to give himself some time to accept the current situation and then cooperate well. "Ms. Noah, go ahead and do it."

"I knew you would say that." Noah nodded, "But Enchiodis, I still want to emphasize one point."

"Ok?"

"I'm not doing this as an honorary saint."

“…This is your will.”

-

The evening breeze blew, instantly making the fire inside the house flicker. Harold squatted beside the fire, adding some new wood. The flames outlined the face of the elderly middle-aged man, half of his face hidden in shadow, the other half illuminated by the fire. Flames danced in his eyes. This soldier, who did not look aristocratic at all, was warming himself by the fire.

A grill was a must-have at night in Kjerag, and on the stove stood a kettle of water. He could already hear the gurgling sound of the water in the iron kettle.

In a little while, he will be able to drink a sip of hot water.

He did not close the window tightly, and a gust of cold wind blew through the window and swirled around the room several times, disturbing the fire again. This time, the room was dim for only a moment, and then there was a person, a dark visitor wearing a top hat.

"..." Harold was silent for a while. He slowly stood up, patted the sawdust on his hands, hid the sad expression on his face, turned his head with an expression as if nothing had happened, pretended to be frightened, and then showed a flattering expression.

"Isn't this Mr. Gray Hat? How did you find time to come to my place? Would you like some water? You must have been outside for a long time in winter, right?"

His tone was frivolous, a skill he'd acquired through his time in aristocratic circles. For him, pretending to be a good gentleman wasn't difficult. However, the appearance of someone wearing a gray hat in the middle of the night wasn't a good sign.

"Sir Harold, I'm here to tell you some good news."

Gray Top Hat sat with his legs crossed in the chair Harold usually loved to recline in, his head resting on the pillow as he rocked back and forth. Harold had built that rocking chair himself, chopping every piece of wood from the mountains himself and assembling it. It was his favorite, used frequently, and it was sturdy and reliable, a testament to his craft. But the sight of the person rocking in that chair made his hair stand on end. This sense of danger came from Harold's perception of Gray Top Hat.

The existence of the Grey Hat was no secret in Victoria. Initially, it was a top-secret organization, but it was well known that MI6's confidentiality regulations had effectively been abolished since Ursus's unilateral infiltration. And Harold, a knighthood earned through military merit, was also somewhat familiar with the Grey Hat. This showed that the Grey Hat's existence had evolved from a so-called secret agent to a... blatant threat.

Firearms are certainly more lethal in the dark, but firearms displayed in the open often mean that actions can be more obvious. When the grey hat emerged from the dark side of history, the Victorian nobles realized that Victoria had always had a secret service composed of invisible spies. Although the grey hat displayed in the open had lost its secrecy, it had not lost its edge.

They have more iconic costumes, more sophisticated equipment, many weapons are no longer used for assassination, and their style has quietly changed.

Now they are more like a special forces unit than assassins.

In frontal combat, they are no less capable than most elite troops.

"Good news? You've got to be kidding, right? I'm here on behalf of Victoria to congratulate the Yelagund statue on its completion. The ceremony is tomorrow, and I'll be heading home after it's over. Come to think of it, I'm a little reluctant to leave this place," Harold said with a broad smile. "So I took advantage of this last opportunity to walk around and buy some souvenirs for my wife and daughter."

He pointed to the gifts piled up in the house. Most of them were well wrapped, and it was obvious that some thought had gone into them.

"...It seems like you really have a lot of free time." The man in the gray hat responded with a smile, "Why don't you listen to my good news first, and then make a decision?"

"Do I have the right to refuse?" Harold's tone was still a bit frivolous, but the underlying emotion was completely different. "Mr. Gray Hat, why don't we be frank and honest? What do you want me to do?"

"I don't want to beat around the bush, Sir Harold. It's you who keeps changing the subject." The man in the gray hat sat down, lowered his crossed legs, and straightened up. "The recliner is very nice. If Sir Harold is willing to part with it, I can buy it for a high price."

"Forget it, I plan to take this recliner back with me. After all, I need it for my retirement—" Harold shook his head and refused.

"I see... Come to think of it, you bought so many things for your wife and daughter... Maybe it was a bit wasteful."

"……What's the meaning?"