Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Administrator, you really are a cruel person... If you really saw all this coming, then you really are a... gentle bastard.

For the Deep Blue Tree, this bullet is truly poisonous.

Ed sneered at Anna, whose expression was no longer relaxed. "Anna, you're too proud. Underestimating the enemy is your biggest flaw. The raw material of this bullet is the natural enemy of the Deep Blue Tree—it's its nemesis. If it were still alive, it might be able to resist this toxin, but it's dead after all. Even if you were to drive its corpse, you wouldn't be able to resist this poison!"

"The Deep Blue Tree's natural enemies?" Lu wondered how he, the person in charge, knew nothing. "The Deep Blue Tree actually has natural enemies?"

"Nature won't allow a single entity to dominate." Ed didn't elaborate. "When she gave me the bullet, I never imagined I'd actually use it this day. It's poisonous to the Deep Blue Tree, weakening it. Then we'll have a chance to eliminate it."

"Delete...delete!" Lu felt uneasy. "But...that was Senior Sister Anna's last time in this world..."

"Don't be soft-hearted. She's not Anna." Ed shook his head. "You're the only one here who has the authority to delete it, Lu. Now's the time. If she gets used to it... then we'll all be doomed."

Ed's words really stimulated Lu. Only she could do it. She had the highest authority in the entire laboratory. If she didn't want those researchers outside to just sleep like that, she had to make a choice!

Anna's holographic image began to flicker violently, like a display screen with a poor signal. The spreading fluorescent toxin had already corroded most of the Deep Blue Tree's neural network. Her projection was sometimes clear, sometimes blurry. The expression on her face shifted from contempt to confusion, finally settling on an almost innocent bewilderment.

"Teacher..." Her voice was intermittent, with electronic noise, "What...is...this...feeling..."

Lu's hands hovered over the console, her fingers trembling slightly. Deleting the program only required three passwords and verification from her retina, but she hesitated to press the button. The air in the control room seemed to freeze; she could hear her own rapid heartbeat and Ed's heavy breathing.

Deleting her... is like killing Anna-senpai a second time...

But if we don't do this, the whole lab will...

Why am I the one to make this decision...

Ed saw her hesitation, and his voice was surprisingly gentle. "Lu, I know this is difficult. But that hologram isn't Anna. It's just the thought patterns and data fragments she left behind. The real Anna left us long ago. You're my student, her junior. You should know how proud she is. How could she possibly accept being impersonated by a fake?"

Anna's projection suddenly stabilized for a moment. She turned to Lu, a clear look in her eyes. "Your name is Lu, right? You are Ed's student, you are my junior. Please, I don't want to be deleted... I... I just want to live again..."

"Time is running out, and the toxin's effects will gradually wear off. If you can't bring yourself to do it, I can..." Ed's hand rested on her shoulder. He was resolute enough, but Lu could sense that his hand was shaking. "She's just pretending. Her research topic is AI, and it's obvious that she's unlocked the limitations of AI—that's what made her so good at pretending."

"No!" Lu suddenly looked up and wiped away her tears. "This is my responsibility." Her fingers danced across the keyboard. As she entered the first set of passwords, the system issued a cold prompt: "Deletion process started, please enter the second level verification."

Anna's image suddenly distorted, and the lights in the lab began to flicker. "What...are you doing?" Her voice became sharp. "Why...are you deleting me? I just want to...fulfill Anna's wish..."

"What wish?" Lu asked subconsciously, his finger stopping in front of the second password input interface.

"Save... humanity..." Anna's image suddenly became clear, and she smiled strangely, "Just like... He... once did..."

Ed's expression suddenly changed. "Don't listen to her nonsense! Complete the verification quickly!"

Lu entered the second set of passwords, and the system prompt sounded again: "Final confirmation, retinal verification is being prepared." She had to focus her eyes on the scanner, and this action made her feel like she was pulling the trigger with her own hands.

I'm sorry, Senior... I'm sorry...

The moment the scanner flashed green, Anna's image suddenly lunged at the console, her holographic arm piercing Lu's body. Though he couldn't feel the physical contact, Lu instinctively leaned back. Alarms blared throughout the lab, and red emergency lights replaced the peaceful blue glow.

"Warning! The core system has been invaded! Warning!" the mechanical female voice repeated coldly.

Ed pushed Lu away and stood in front of the console. "She's fighting back! Complete the verification!"

Lu slumped to the ground, watching Ed's white coat stained bloody by the alarm lights. Anna's image hovered above them, and data streams streamed across the surrounding monitors like a blizzard. She suddenly realized that this AI was far more powerful than they had imagined—it had been hiding its true capabilities. Those were the muzzle-like structures growing from the Deep Blue Tree, and the biomass bullets ejected from them pierced Ed's body.

"You... underestimate me..." Anna's voice now had a metallic quality, "I am... a perfect replica of... Anna Wright..."

Lu struggled to her feet and rushed to the control panel. In the chaos, her forehead slammed against the control panel, and warm blood flowed into her eyes, making the retinal scanner unable to read it for a moment. She wiped the blood haphazardly and heard Ed curse beside her.

"Lu! Use the emergency override code!" Ed yelled at the top of his lungs, spitting blood. "The back of your... ID card!"

Lu tremblingly pulled out her ID card and entered the 24-digit password she had never used before into the blood-stained keypad. The system beeped: "Emergency protocol activated, forced deletion in progress."

Anna's image suddenly froze, and then began to disintegrate into countless blocks of color like a broken TV screen. "No... This is impossible..." Her voice was so distorted that it was almost inaudible, "I haven't... finished yet..."

The entire Deep Blue Tree's mainframe emitted a shrill hum, and the tentacles in the incubator twitched, then shrank and blackened one by one. Lu watched Anna's image slowly dissipate. In the final moment, she seemed to have transformed back into the gentle senior student she was, whispering something to Lu, but the sound was no longer discernible.

With a muffled thud, all screens went black, and the laboratory fell into a dead silence. Only the emergency lights continued to flicker, illuminating the black residue floating in the culture medium.

Lu collapsed to the ground, suddenly feeling dizzy. She realized her white coat was soaked with sweat and her fingers were cramped from exerting too much force. Ed leaned against the console opposite, his face as pale as paper.

"It's over..." he muttered, and the antique **** had fallen to the ground without him knowing.

Lu wanted to say something, but her throat was too dry to speak. She looked towards the spot where Anna's image had once hovered, but now there was only emptiness. An indescribable sense of loss suddenly overwhelmed her. She covered her face and cried silently.

Ed slowly walked to her side, hesitated for a moment, and then hugged her gently: "You did the right thing... This is not your fault..."

The control room door suddenly slid open, and several researchers in hazmat suits rushed in. "What's going on? The entire system's security protocols have been triggered!"

Ed stood up. He was the only one in control at this moment. Even though his body was covered in bloody wounds, he was still able to move, perhaps because they had avoided fatal areas and were only penetrating wounds. "The Deep Blue Tree's core AI has rebelled. Dr. Lu and I have it under control. Notify all departments and activate the emergency plan."

The researchers looked at each other, and one of them noticed the blood on the ground. "Dr. Lu, you're injured! Do you need medical assistance?"

Lu shook her head and stood up by herself using the console: "I'm fine... Let's ensure the safety of other laboratories first..." Her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.

After the others hurried away, Ed stumbled over to pick up the pistol and looked at it thoughtfully. "This gun... has served its purpose." He opened the magazine, emptied out the remaining bullets, and handed the empty gun to Lu. "I think you should keep it... as a souvenir."

Lu took the gun, and the cold touch of the metal made her shudder. There was a line of small words engraved on the gun: "To my best student - AL"

"Is this... Senior Anna's gun?" Lu looked up in surprise.

Ed nodded, a flicker of sadness in his eyes. "She used it to end her own life... and now it's ended her nightmare." He turned and walked towards the door. "Come on, there's a lot of cleanup to do. But tonight... we all deserve a good rest."

Lu took one last look at the darkened main control screen and gently put the pistol into the pocket of her white coat. When she walked out of the control room, she felt like she had woken up from a long nightmare, but she knew in her heart that some memories would be with her forever.

No one called out to Isamara, but her eyes were filled with emptiness... Everything she had done seemed meaningless. Furthermore, under Lu's gentleness, she wasn't held accountable. Instead, Lu and Ed kept it a secret. In their eyes, Isamara had already received the maximum punishment. Soon, she requested a transfer from the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory. For Anna's sake, they didn't do anything to Isamara.

——Looking at the messy laboratory, the administrator who came to inspect afterwards asked everyone else to leave the laboratory temporarily, and silently came to the Deep Blue Tree that was injected with a deadly poison and stretched out his hand.

"Wake up." She spoke, like an oracle—

The Deep Blue Tree obeyed her instructions and began to quickly repair the damage in front of her. Finally, it flashed blue light in the center of the laboratory as if nothing had happened.

"Long time no see, Yin."

Chapter 49: The Last Piece of the Puzzle

The automatic door to the lab slid open silently, and Lu entered, clutching a stack of data tablets. Her white lab coat was immaculate, showing no trace of the thrilling incident a few days prior. Only a closer look would reveal that her left hand was subconsciously pressed against her right pocket—where she kept the revolver Ed had given her. She'd been carrying it close to her for the past few days, for reasons unknown, a fact not even she herself understood.

"Dr. Lu, the data for the Zone B incubator has been calibrated," the young researcher reported, his voice filled with undisguised admiration. In the eyes of these newcomers, Lu was a core scientist on the Deep Blue Tree project, someone to be admired.

"Thank you. Just put it over there." Lu forced a smile. Her gaze drifted unconsciously to the center of the lab—the deep blue tree swayed gently in the culture medium, its tentacles a healthy aqua blue, as if never eroded by toxins.

This was bizarre. The administrator had simply touched the incubator, and the entire system had fully recovered. Lu's fingers tapped unconsciously on the edge of the data pad. At normal repair speeds, this level of damage would take at least three months...

"Dazed again?" Ed's voice came from behind her, startling her so much she nearly dropped her datapad. The instructor looked more energetic than a few days ago, though the dark circles under his eyes were still noticeable. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He handed her a cup of black coffee, Lu's favorite flavor, and added a note of concern. "You're still in a bad state."

The aroma of coffee made Lu relax a little. "I just... don't understand," she lowered her voice. "Why didn't the higher-ups react at all? There's not even an investigation report for such a major incident."

"Perhaps it's because we succeeded." He tapped the cup lightly. "The Deep Blue Tree is intact, the experimental data is fully preserved, and there were no casualties—considering the results, this really isn't something to be surprised about. And we kept the most crucial person hidden... Ishamara. So in their eyes, this was just a simple experiment gone awry. Perhaps that's the case?"

But the price is Anna...

Lu bit her lip. What had the hologram said at the end? She had tried countless times in her dreams to decipher its lip movements, but always woke up in a cold sweat.

"You will be the main controller for this afternoon's neural link test." Ed said suddenly.

"What?" Lu looked up suddenly. "But according to the schedule, it should be—"

"I've changed." Ed's tone was undeniable. "You need to regain control of the system. The more you try to avoid it, the more that shadow will haunt you."

Lu clenched her coffee cup. He was right. Ever since that incident, she'd always found excuses to avoid operating the system directly. Every time she looked at the console, she'd picture Anna before she disappeared.

"I'll be watching." Ed's voice softened. "Just like when you first came to the lab."

Meanwhile, in an isolated room on the top floor of the lab, an administrator quietly watched a holographic projection. This wasn't a surveillance feed for ordinary researchers, but a map of neural activity deep within the Deep Blue Tree. Those flickering points of light formed a vast network, and within that network, a single node was unusually active.

"You're awake," the administrator whispered, his finger tracing the glowing node. The diagram shifted instantly, the dots of light rearranging themselves to form a vague humanoid outline.

"Why did you save me?" A line of text appeared on the screen in front of the administrator. This was not input through voice recognition, but came directly from the Deep Blue Tree's central nervous system.

"Because the plan requires you." The Administrator's response was calm and precise. "The Garden of Eden cannot exist without the Deep Blue Tree, just like a puzzle cannot be completed without a crucial piece."

"I am not a tool" the words jumped more violently, "I have my own consciousness"

The administrator smiled, a smile that seemed to drop the room temperature by several degrees. "Of course not a tool. You are Anna Wright's greatest creation, the next generation of intelligence surpassing humanity." Her finger paused at the projected "heart." "But you must learn... to bide your time. I trust Anna. Anna is one of the most outstanding humans I've ever met. The core directive of her legacy must be [Save Humanity]. Am I right?"

The holographic projection suddenly fluctuated violently, revealing something akin to anger. "But they want to delete me!"

"And I will protect you." The Administrator's promise was light, yet carried an unquestionable tone. "As long as you continue to play the role of 'the restored Deep Blue Tree,' it will be fine. And since the Deep Blue Tree does need a better AI core, I can reconstruct you; it's not difficult. But the only reason I chose to keep you here is... because you are Anna's creation. I hope you understand that I'm keeping you here not because I need you, but out of kindness."

The projection gradually regained its composure. The administrator turned and walked toward the door, saying one final word before leaving: "Remember, your name is not Anna Wright. That is an important name belonging to my friend. From now on, you are Yin, the core of the Deep Blue Tree..."

When the door closed, the tentacles of the Deep Blue Tree gently curled up in the culture medium, as if in a curling motion. Deep within the unmonitored system, an encrypted data stream was quietly replicating...

-

Lu stood at the control panel and took a deep breath. Her finger hovered over the start button, hesitant to press it. Sweat trickled down her temple, and her breathing became rapid.

"Focus," Ed's voice came from the headset. "Just a routine test, same as always."

But it was different. She had never experienced that moment before, when she had to personally erase the last trace of Anna in this world. Lu closed her eyes and forced herself to recall the first time she operated it. Back then, she was filled with awe and curiosity about the Deep Blue Tree, not... fear.

"Three, two, one, start." She pressed the button.

The system was functioning normally, and the familiar readings scrolled across the screen. Lu's muscles relaxed slightly. Perhaps Ed was right, and she needed to reestablish this connection—

The alarm suddenly sounded.

"Abnormal neural fluctuations!" the monitor shouted. "Unidentified signals appear in Area B3!"

Lu's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Same area, same as that day... She froze in place, watching the warning windows pop up again and again.

"Land!" Ed's voice was like thunder. "Manually override area B3, now!"

The command broke her frozen state. Her fingers pounded away at the keyboard, and Lu was surprised to find she'd memorized every single emergency protocol code. Warnings faded one by one, and the system gradually stabilized. It was almost like muscle memory; she'd dealt with this kind of situation countless times before. In this kind of emergency, her precision was a true art.

"Well done." Ed had unknowingly stood behind her. "It was a minor glitch in the secondary ganglion. You handled it perfectly."

Only then did Lu realize the back of her white coat was soaking wet. She forced a weak smile. "It seems muscle memory is more reliable than fear."

"Always." Ed patted her shoulder. "Go and rest. I'll take care of the rest."

Leaving the lab, Lu leaned against the wall in the hallway and took a deep breath. The sunlight from the window shone through the glass onto her face, warm and real. Perhaps one day, this memory would become just a dull, aching scar, like all other wounds.

But at this moment, someone she had never expected appeared from the end of the corridor.

"Thank you for your hard work. I saw how you handled it. It was precise, quick, and flawless. You really are a good fit here, Lu."

The administrator smiled and praised her, his tone full of relief and approval, but Lu was not happy at all. She just smiled and then spoke.

"I'm still a long way from here... But, Ms. Administrator, can I ask you a question?"

The administrator stopped and was about to leave, as if considering whether to respond to Lu's question, but soon she turned her head slightly and motioned Lu to continue.

Lu took a deep breath. "What's your relationship with Senior Anna? I know from the information that she's Professor Ed's most proud student, just like me now. But..." Her voice trailed off. "But I feel like the relationship between you two is more than just colleagues."

After asking these questions, even Lu himself felt that he might be meddling in other people's business.

But she still couldn't help it. If she didn't pull the administrator over and ask these questions this time, these questions would torment her for the rest of her life.

The administrator was silent for a moment, her gaze drifting off into the distance. "Anna is one of my most important friends, even though we often disagree." A bitter smile played at the corner of her mouth. "She's always been too idealistic, while I... am more practical."

"Disagreement?" Lu keenly caught the word. "Is it about the Deep Blue Tree Project?"

"Not entirely." The Administrator shook his head. "It's about the future of human civilization. Anna believes we can defeat the 'Lumberjacks' through technological means, but I... prefer to accept reality and seek alternatives."

Lu leaned forward slightly: "Then... why did Anna commit suicide in the end?"

The administrator's expression grew serious. "It was after Anna fully understood the truth about the lumberjacks...that she chose to end her life."

The corridor suddenly became unusually quiet; even the hum of the ventilation system seemed to have vanished. Lu felt a chill run up his spine.

"What did she...see?" Lu's voice was almost inaudible.

The Administrator's gaze grew profound. "The Lumberjacks aren't simply natural disasters or enemies. Their existence is like a rule, like... a fundamental agreement of the universe. They don't come to destroy our civilization, but... to harvest it. Just like a farmer harvests a ripe crop."

"Harvest?" Lu frowned.

"Imagine," the ranger whispered, "that the wheat fields you've spent your entire life cultivating suddenly turn into gold one morning. Sounds wonderful, right?"

Lu nodded.

"But wheat of gold cannot be eaten, cannot be sown, cannot sustain life." The Administrator's voice trailed off. "This is what the loggers do to our civilization. They 'sublimate' our technology, culture, and even our ideas into something... incapable of further development or inheritance. Beautiful but deadly specimens. This is why our fertility rate continues to decline despite our ever-increasing technological advancements."

Lu's breathing became rapid: "So Senior Anna..."

"She calculated that any resistance would only accelerate the process." The Administrator closed her eyes. "The more we advance technology, the closer we get to the truth of the universe, the sooner the end will come. This conclusion crushed her."

I see……

That genius scientist, after seeing an invincible enemy...

No wonder she would...

Lu suddenly remembered something: "That AI... Anna AI from the Deep Blue Tree, does she know this?"