Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"...Mr. Friston...can only one person be rescued?"

"...If you're asking if the foal can survive, then I can only inform you that the energy I have available is limited to using only one repair chamber," Friston replied, his voice muffled and lacking the emotion expected of a living being. Even saving the bunny was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so naturally, he wouldn't spare much energy for its companions.

"...Then...I want Miss Noah to go in!" Amiya raised her head, her body trembling. This is the instinct of living things to seek benefits and avoid harm. She didn't want to die, and the desire to survive made her tremble all over, but Amiya still stated her decision.

Of course she was very scared. She knew that she could not survive in such a place. Entering the sarcophagus should be the best way.

But she didn't act, she was thinking.

If Miss Noah survived, she would definitely bring more changes to the world and make it a better place.

Compared to people like her, Miss Noah is more suitable to survive!

She looked up at Friston and pleaded. "Please... let her live... Mr. Friston. Her life is worth saving."

"You're going to die, little rabbit," Friston warned. "There's no food or water here. You can't survive a week here. There's a strong information blockade here. Your distress signal can't be sent out, and you have no reinforcements, little rabbit. I hope you understand this. Giving up the sarcophagus is equivalent to giving up your life."

"I'm sure." Amiya nodded. When Friston declared that there was no way she could survive, she had actually expected it. After all, this was not the first time she had encountered such a situation. The only difference was that it was Uncle ACE who sacrificed for her last time, and this time, it was her turn.

She thought this was a good idea. She should have left with the Doctors Without Borders staff a long time ago, and perhaps she could have caught the last bus.

She did not regret following Noah here. She was just glad that she could help Miss Noah survive.

I am not a burden——

"...Ah." Friston sighed. He had thought that so many days had worn away his humanity and his rationality had taken over. If some time passed, he might really turn into a fleshless cyber psychopath.

But the arrival of the little rabbit and her choice of sacrifice made him vaguely recall a person...a person who gathered all the geniuses together, a person who suppressed all the geniuses with his own strength.

A person who, in the end, was willing to die for civilization.

"...I actually saw you in her, Miss Administrator." Perhaps it was this spirit of sacrifice that moved him, but he silently raised the second sarcophagus.

"You've lost... little rabbit," Friston said. "I'll use my backup energy to keep the other repair chamber running. You can put her in there."

"...Will this...do any harm to you?"

"It's just a short nap, it's not a bad thing." Friston planned to enter a dormant state for a while, and the energy saved in dormancy would be used to supply the second repair chamber. "Little rabbit, from now on, I'll leave it to you."

After the setting was completed, Friston, the huge mechanical eyeball, instantly became dim. Just like what Noah and Amiya had seen at the beginning, it seemed that only two sarcophagi were left in the entire underground space.

It took Amiya a long time just to get up, but compared to Noya who was unconscious, she could at least still move. Of course, she couldn't carry the fully armed Miss Noya. After secretly apologizing in her heart, Amiya reached out and helped Noya to remove the broken armor on her body. After removing Noya's armor, Noya was basically left with only a one-piece undersuit on her body, and it was damaged everywhere because of the explosion just now... Amiya didn't even dare to look at Noya now.

Fortunately, these wounds are basically not deep and have even begun to repair... If this place had not been blown down, maybe Miss Noah could recover on her own.

Amiya carried the now much lighter Noah and brought her to the repair cabin step by step. The repair cabin sensed Amiya's arrival and opened automatically. This thing really looked like a coffin.

Amiya put Noah into the sarcophagus with great effort and helped her adjust her posture. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. After sensing that Noah had entered the chamber, the repair chamber automatically began to close. Amiya watched the sarcophagus close completely. She stayed there for a long time before she came to her own sarcophagus and walked into it herself.

The cabin door closed, all the indicator lights turned off, and she heard the sound of something releasing something. Soon, some substance enveloped Amiya. She didn't feel suffocated, only the pain fading away, followed by touch, then perception, and then...

Noah and Theresa watched the two people enter the sarcophagus. Noah knew what it was. It was a repair cabin of the previous civilization and a redundancy in Friston's original plan. She didn't expect that in this world, Friston would be awakened by Amiya and herself. Amiya had slept for a long time, so this memory ended after entering the sarcophagus, and the next memory was after the sleep ended.

Before this, Noah sorted out the amount of information that exploded. In fact, the secret to ending the war that Noah in this world was looking for, according to Noah's own understanding... might be herself.

That’s right, the last creation of the previous civilization, the product of Plan Zero of the salvation plan, is Noah himself.

Perhaps creations from previous civilizations are attracted to each other. Noah, a creation from previous civilization, found Friston. If he keeps searching... maybe he can even find the Doctor, who's still sleeping in his sarcophagus, or even Prissus...

However, it's clear that while the Noah of this world isn't weak, she's definitely not as powerful as the Noah of today, practically a god on earth. Ordinary explosions can injure her. This is due to a different growth path. After all, the Noah of this world didn't inherit the Star Child, nor did she acquire Gray Matter as a cheat. To have reached her current level solely through her own efforts is already quite remarkable.

"—Looking for yourself, that sounds like a bit of black humor..."

Noah couldn't help but complain, but Theresa beside him was thinking about something.

The sarcophagus was clearly a turning point in Amiya's life. If Amiya, previously unaware of the Demon King's power, had simply gained it by accident, then something had clearly changed after entering the sarcophagus, leading to the appearance of the Amiya now covered in Originium crystals. However, she also understood that the current situation wasn't something she could resolve hastily.

"Noah, the next memory...maybe the truth will be revealed..."

"I know... the sarcophagus is where it all started."

Looking at the two closed sarcophagi, Noah prepared himself mentally and let time continue to flow.

Chapter 11: Overview

Sarcophagi are healing devices from previous civilizations and may not be generally applicable to Terrans.

But Amiya may be an exception. Because she holds the power that keeps civilization going, which is passed on to her by the Sarkaz, she is looked at differently by the preserver. The source of this power also comes from the Void Relics. It can even be said that although the continuation of civilization was created by the previous civilization, it has not fully understood the secrets therein.

Amiya didn't sleep for long, but when she woke up, she found that her vision had been changed forever.

This small space is filled with stagnant humans who sleep here with hope, but many have been dissected by death and will never wake up.

Their guardians were imprisoned in that vast sphere, a cage built with duty and devotion, as if this would prevent them from being crushed by despair and loneliness.

Some corpses were scattered at the entrance. It was the desire to survive that ultimately led to death. Of course, that was only part of the reason. The fundamental reason was—

Standing on the earth, one can see more clearly: war, famine, natural disasters, greed, hatred, jealousy... so many diseases are imposed on everyone, so that no one on this earth is intact. Every year, every generation, people live in pain. In the end, illness becomes commonplace, and the desire for recovery becomes a pathology.

These memories obviously belonged to Friston, the self-proclaimed preserver who preserved the dawn of humanity in his own way—yes, humans, not Terrans, but real humans.

Entering the sarcophagus, Amiya clearly experienced her body being swallowed by the Originium with a clear mind. She crystallized herself, turned into dust, and then turned into a vein. She seemed to suddenly understand the essence of Originium. After all, no matter how good the describer is, it is impossible to truly and accurately describe this strange state. She lost her form, but did not die... On the contrary, her consciousness became clearer after leaving her body.

She understood Originium more accurately, understood herself, and could even be said to understand the world...

This can be said to be a very wonderful experience. The soul left the body and floated among the Source Stones, as if each Source Stone became an extension of her limbs. She used this transcendent perspective to observe everything in the world as a bystander.

Seeing the war ignited in Victoria, the grand dukes starting to fight each other, and high-speed warships colliding with each other, this great industrial empire completely activated its war machine, but pointed the blade at its own heart.

She saw young Aslan holding the royal sword, rushing through the war, building an army, calling himself the Paragon Army, and with the help of a fairy, he invaded Londinium and came to the execution ground where the nobles had hanged her father.

This was a meaningless war, and Victoria's glory was gone forever. Tara became independent, and Lower Gaul became independent. Victoria fell from the category of a powerful country, and all the grand dukes were executed, and like the former emperor, they died on the gallows.

The glory of the empire had fallen, and Amiya looked away.

-

She saw the twin queens of Leithnia turn against each other. The White Queen used the Witch King's legacy to defeat the Black Queen and imprisoned her in her own tower.

Of the twin towers of Leithnia, only one remained.

This pair of created sisters ultimately could not escape the fate of attacking each other.

Later, Leitania called the only empress - the White Emperor.

The mysteriously missing queen was called the Black Emperor.

The battle and ending of the Black and White Queen is like a stage play, the loser is imprisoned forever, and the winner sings praises.

Under the White Queen's leadership, Leitania seems to be thriving, but in Amiya's opinion, this country is being swallowed up by the White Emperor's desire for control and... more fundamentally... the weakening of the Golden Rule.

The White Emperor seeks the future, seeks change, but ultimately falls into the carnival of Dionysus, with one play after another being performed...

This stagnant country has no future...

Amiya made a judgment and shifted her gaze.

-

Her gaze crossed the snowy plains of Ursus and came to Sami, a land cursed by evil spirits.

She saw the black snow, the tribes that relied on the big trees for survival, and the warriors who resisted the evil spirits.

The warrior walked under the tree and prayed for shelter.

He placed a bowl of hot tea, then his offering. Then, he held out his palm to the tree and waited calmly. If disaster struck, the tree would predict the people's fate, but for a Sami warrior willing to accept whatever fate presented, whether his palms were empty when he left the tree was not a concern.

However, what he saw wasn't a tree. Instead, it was a massive cluster of ice, with countless branches extending outward. It had instinctively grown into the shape of a cold sandalwood tree.

Once upon a time, the ice cluster possessed a magical power that could protect everyone. The howling snow and wind formed a line of warriors and maintained the stability of space. But now, it was like a dead tree, exhausted of vitality, and all that remained was the slow process of melting.

Many years ago, a Snow Priest completed this spell with her own life. Flesh knotted into thorns, life woven into ice, she took root, hoping that "giving life to the living through death" would be the answer to her continued existence.

But in the warrior's cognition, there is only one tree worth praying to.

The warrior stood there motionless for a long time, palms extended upward, until his weapon rusted and his leather armor damp and decayed. Then, after confirming that he had gained nothing, he leaned over, thrust his hands into the offering he had brought, and began to eat the rotten flesh that had assimilated with the earth—a necessary preparation before battle, a solemn ritual.

However, he did not know what his enemy was, nor did he know what fighting meant.

Amiya watched all this with sympathy. But she could not help them... She could only watch and remember.

She couldn't bear it and looked away.

-

She came to the edge of Terra, an unfathomable deep ocean, a place she had never set foot on.

She met an acquaintance. To be precise, it was not an acquaintance of Amiya, but an acquaintance of Miss Noya. However, this time, the person she met was no longer the original her.

A girl named Skadi was walking on the beach, wearing a red dress and humming a song softly. Her bare feet stepped on the beach, sand squeezed between her toes, and the huge weapon box on her back left a long trail on the beach.

Not far away, the tide seemed to be echoing her singing. In the deep sea, the back of a huge monster emerged from the water. The back alone was huge enough. It was hard to imagine what kind of horrible thing the complete body of the monster in the deep sea would be. The giant was just churning in the sea, and it made the waves surge. Amiya couldn't understand it... but maybe she could understand it.

When Skadi grows tired of walking aimlessly on the beach, the horror lurking in the deep blue sea will sweep across the entire land.

...We must think of a way...

Amiya thought, but no matter how hard she tried, she seemed powerless.

Because she could only watch, she felt that her body had long since disappeared and she might have died...

She was very worried about Noya's situation because Noya had entered the repair chamber just like her. If she was swallowed by the Originium, what about Miss Noya?

She didn't find Miss Noya in the Originium...

Where has she gone?

I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but when Amiya was worried about Miss Noya, a force pulled her perspective back to its original place.

Light dispelled darkness. Light brought darkness. When light flooded into her eyes again, time seemed to rewind to the moment before the collapse. This time, what greeted her was no longer Terra's scene, but a strange space—

And it was here that she met the person she had been thinking about day and night.

"Ms. Noah!"

She trotted forward in surprise, wanting to hug the figure in front of her. Surprise overflowed from every inch of her expression. Noah, who was standing there, was a little dazed, as if thinking about something, but soon, she caught Amiya and accepted her hug.

"Ms. Noah! I thought you..."

"..." Noah did not respond to her, but his gentle eyes were always looking at her. She was so excited that she didn't even realize that something was wrong. But when the excitement passed, Amiya's intelligence would naturally make her realize that there didn't seem to be any emotion of reunion in those eyes.

Even... a little... strange?

"Hello, you are?"

"I am...? Miss Noah, don't you recognize me?" Amiya began to panic, because the doubt in Miss Noah's face couldn't be faked. "I'm Amiya, your... friend."

"Amiya...is this your first time here?" She smiled. After knowing the other party's name, this [Miss Noah] was not shaken by it. Instead, she asked with a smile.

"...Ms. Noah...you have to be kidding, right?" Amiya still couldn't believe it. Why did Miss Noah in front of her seem to not recognize her at all? What on earth was...

"...I'm sorry, Amiya, I'm not the Noah you're talking about." At this point, Miss Noah finally shook her head and said, "You can call me Administrator."

"Administrator?" Amiya repeated the title, "But... you are clearly Miss Noya... there's no way I could be mistaken."

The warmth of the hug just now, the way she smiled, and even the smell she smelled, all proved that the person in front of her was the Miss Noah she knew, but she herself denied it.

"I'm the administrator. Amiya, I'm not the 'Miss Noah' you're talking about. I'm sorry." But the administrator didn't get angry. On the contrary, she asked with concern, "You seem very down. Is there something wrong with my response? Amiya, this is your first time in Eden, so you're definitely not used to it. It's okay, you'll like it here."

"……Garden of Eden?"

"Yes, this is the Garden of Eden." The administrator nodded. "It's different from any place you're familiar with. You have to get used to it, because you'll be living here in the future."

"...I...I don't understand, Miss Noah." Amiya was a little confused. "Why do I have to live here? I...I should go back to Terra."

"Terra..." The administrator's eyes trembled slightly, as if reacting to the term. But soon, the confusion was completely swallowed up, and her eyes regained their original rationality. "It's a very familiar term. It seems to be the name of the Earth-like planet we will be transforming in the future. Where are you from?"

"…Reform? What do you want to transform?" The moment Amiya heard the word, goosebumps broke out all over her body. She had a feeling the word wasn't a good one, or perhaps she instinctively sensed a threat. "What are you going to do to Terra?"

"In order to make Terra a home for humanity, we must transform Terra's environment. This is imperative," the administrator explained. "We will launch three Originium missiles, which will transform Terra in a very short time, creating an environment suitable for human survival. This transformation will be gentle and will not harm existing life on Terra."

"Originium..." Amiya's eyes narrowed, "Three Originiums?"

"Yes, three Primordial Originiums. This is Priss's latest achievement, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do." The administrator said with a smile. "By the way, you probably haven't met Priss and the doctor yet, right? How about I take you to meet them?"

Amiya was a little flustered. The amount of information was too much for her to understand the current situation, but she could understand... something was not right with the Miss Noah in front of her.

Primordial Originium...deployment, Terra...transformation?

Amiya chewed over these nouns over and over again, but after all, she had no concept of what these things were, and she found it difficult to combine them together.

But perhaps the administrator realized this, and before taking Amiya to see Priss and the doctor, she reached out and touched Amiya's head.

"Okay, don't worry, everything will be fine. I will protect you no matter what." For the administrator, she was just comforting the girl in front of her, but for Amiya, these words were like yesterday. She once again confirmed that the person in front of her was Miss Noah. Something must have happened to her... and this change was very likely related to Priss and the doctor she mentioned.

And this place called the Garden of Eden is really weird...