Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

However, she had previously paid attention to Rhine Life's attitude towards the Terra Expo. Surprisingly, these researchers seemed to welcome such an exhibition. Rhine Life was a young company and most of its recruits were college students. They were very receptive to new things and had the utmost enthusiasm for science. Chatting with these people was much more comfortable than negotiating with those experienced and shrewd guys.

Noah had only been in power for about a month, but the atmosphere of Rhine Life seemed to have changed dramatically.

Many things were standardized, no longer relying on the individual research capabilities of the directors. Innovation was encouraged, and newcomers were encouraged to take the lead in experimentation. The once rigid system was rejuvenated. Noah brought many things from the previous company, such as cat cafes, free water bars, free cafeterias, and improved treatment for graduate students. It could be said that the people who felt the most impact from Noah's actions were those who had previously held the lowest status in Rhine Life.

This group of graduate students have transformed themselves from cheap labor to valued research talents. Their ideas are no longer suppressed but are valued. Although these young people may not necessarily accept the new governor, there is no doubt that these graduate students have become the beneficiaries of the new strategy.

Naturally, the original voices discussing Noah gradually disappeared. Noah's humane rules and management methods made Rhine Life become warmer from a model where a superior coordinated everything.

It's like one big family.

After the Terra Expo was proposed, these graduate students were even more excited than the directors. After all, Noah had said in person that anything that wanted to be exhibited only needed to pass selection and review, and even a graduate student's work could be put on the world stage.

These people are the elites in the school, how could they not be ambitious? They are now busy trying to show the world their brilliant ideas.

Don't mention it - their ideas really sparked off with Maria who came here as a representative. As the saying goes, three people will immediately generate an idea king, and now there are more than three people. Under the encouragement of the Artisan Cat and Maria, they submitted a project that made Noah's nerves jump.

——Although Noah believes that there can be dreams and new ideas in this world.

But Noah felt that Director Ferdinand's self-propelled armor alone was already very powerful and very realistic. The combined robots described in the plan were still too special.

Noah naturally wouldn't approve something that was too outrageous, but as if they had known that Noah would deny it, Maria and the others soon submitted a plan B.

This time there won't be any random combined robots, but it's still very imaginative. This time they want to design a set of tactical supporting facilities, with tentative functions including grappling hooks, invisibility, strength enhancement, one-way shield of Originium skills, infrared detection mask, auxiliary shooting, dagger for cracking the system, jet backpack, and magnetic boots, etc. Moreover, what's more, paired with this super soldier - why is there another bipedal self-propelled robot?

Noah nodded repeatedly at first, thinking that although it seemed a bit exaggerated, it was still feasible, and even if only one set was built, it could be used to fool the Colombian military into obtaining funding sponsorship. She was about to agree, but when it automatically read the first few pages of individual equipment, which were all various supplies and equipment kits for the bipedal self-propelled mecha tentatively named Titan, her face suddenly darkened.

...I have no objection to you wanting to make a bipedal mecha. After all, Ferdinand's exoskeleton armor is no different from a mecha. But can you consider the production cycle first?

By the time you guys finish building these kits and Titans, how many years will the Terra Expo be over?

Moreover, just imagining the amount of investment is enough to give Noah a headache. Perhaps the Colombian military would be interested, but the military is not a bottomless pit. After a few years, there has been no news that research funding is going to be cut. Does that mean Rhine Life will have to pay for the production of these things out of its own pocket?

Just the concept of the super soldier and super mecha fighting together is indeed... it is indeed very cool, but the cost of this set of super soldier equipment alone is probably comparable to several of Director Ferdinand's individual exoskeletons.

But the one who submitted the plan was Maria, a known idea king in Casimir. It's hard not to believe she was influenced by Ms. Anaconda back in Rhodes Island's engineering department and fell in love with the idea of ​​bipedal humanoid mechas. So, when she came into contact with those graduate students who had nothing but wild ideas, she might have awakened her Soul of Steel, which led to her devious plan...

Noah wanted to deny it directly, but then he thought... the plan created by this group of people was not without its merits. For example, the extreme individual suit, even if it was separated from the mecha named Titan at the back, was still a remarkable set of equipment.

Besides, it’s not a good thing to dampen other people’s enthusiasm, so Noah could only sigh.

"...Okay. But I think the subsequent Titan still needs to be discussed. I can allow you to first develop the super individual armor codenamed Iron Rider. If this armor can be successfully produced, then consider the subsequent Titan. The funds I can allocate are limited, so this is all I can do."

In fact, Noah was already very tactful. He almost said that this plan was simply a fantasy, and he was willing to put up some funds to play with them. Presumably, the technical difficulties of this set of armor were definitely not something that a group of stubborn graduate students could come up with, so they would probably give up halfway.

However, having the courage to take the lead in submitting this plan is already an improvement, and Noah is still very willing to support the creative ideas of these newcomers.

After receiving Noah's permission, Maria cheered, and the graduate students eavesdropping outside the door immediately jumped for joy. Of course, Noah already knew that there were so many people squatting at the door, probably waiting for the new commander's approval.

Noah was helpless, but she had no other choice. After stamping the plan and letting Maria take it away, she silently said to Mace.

"Come to think of it... my company still has some savings - I remember giving it to Xintelaiya for safekeeping. Can you help me contact them and ask them to sponsor this project in the name of Originium Cloud Hand Sanitizer Company? I'll let Xintelaiya take care of the expenses. Let them have some fun. The money will just get moldy if it's left there anyway." Noah planned to pay for it herself. Even if she left Casimir, the wealth she had accumulated would not be reduced to zero.

Just in case, Noah deposited some money with Sintrea. It was a small savings that Noah had accumulated during his time in Casimir. Most of it had been spent on adapting Maria's armor and making armor for Margaret. The remaining money was just sitting there, so he might as well let these graduate students give it a try.

After all, the future is still theirs.

When the group of graduate students happily ran out with their plans, Ferdinand happened to be standing in the corridor looking at the scenery. He was in a very good mood having just stayed up all night. Maintaining an excited mood was his secret to staying up late.

After seeing a group of graduate students running out happily, Ferdinand's nerves, which were a little sore after staying up late, immediately began to throb.

"How disgraceful! Stop running around in the corridor!" Ferdinand was furious. After this director, who was second only to two people and above ten thousand people, got angry, the enthusiasm of the graduate students collapsed like an eggplant hitting Yan'er.

Ferdinand looked at the project plan in their hands and picked it up to take a look.

At first he was disdainful, but when he saw the Titan's body design, he was immediately stunned.

Then I saw Noah's signature below, which meant that the new commander-in-chief had agreed to the plan.

why?

This plan is full of immaturity and fantasy. Although it has its own unique features, it is definitely not a plan that can be passed.

unless……

Ferdinand knew about the existence of some internal singularity technologies. After all, he was involved in the in-depth development of one of them.

And this technology is called transmitter.

The biggest technical challenge for the Iron Rider and the self-propelled humanoid mecha known as the Titan is the human-machine neural connection—this is precisely where transmitters are most useful. Furthermore, Ferdinand has already overcome most of the technical difficulties of the Titan, which seems to be the most expensive. In fact, even producing a prototype in two weeks would not be a problem. However, these breakthroughs have not yet been translated into a published paper.

Could it be that the commander-in-chief already knew about this and agreed to this plan because of this?

A long time ago, when Noah announced that he would hold the Terra Expo, he said that he would consider putting some of the singularity technology into practical use.

——Could it be that this project is part of the so-called [Practical Application of Singularity Technology]?

This kind of plan...how could it be possible without my participation!

Ferdinand immediately looked up. "Are you sure the new commander-in-chief has approved this plan?"

"...Well, the Commander also said not to be too ambitious—first create the Iron Riders and then consider the Titans."

"..." Now they were on the same page. "As expected of you... the Commander-in-Chief."

Chapter 49: Agor

Experiment is the only criterion for testing truth!

Many researchers at Rhine Life regard this statement as a golden rule. After all, scientific progress is not like clicking on a technology tree. You click and wait for a long enough number of turns to develop it. Even if you are playing Civilization, you at least need to climb the primitive technology or complete certain tasks to trigger Eureka. Technology will indeed explode, but it will never come out of nothing. That kind of thing is generally called deus ex machina.

But—yes, there is a but.

So, what if—your technology is built on the remains of a previous civilization?

Agor... Noah had never thought that this mysterious country would appear on land again. When the white-haired lady elegantly held up the vanilla tea and stared at him with her eyes, Noah, who was particularly sensitive to sight, could feel that the other party's hunter-like eyes seemed to want to dissect him thoroughly.

"-Nice to meet you, Miss Goletia. We're sorry, but we don't know the preferences of the Agor people, so our hospitality may not be good enough." When Noah heard that Iberia had changed its representative, she didn't expect that the other party would directly replace him with a deep-sea hunter.

No... When the other party submitted his identity, he didn't even know what the group of deep-sea hunters was.

When Noah was in Rhodes Island, he also met the mysterious white-haired swordsman. The other party's voice was very unique, with a special melody - of course, ordinary people could not hear it, because Noah was very sensitive to this aspect.

This special frequency that is difficult for ordinary people to hear once made Noah very curious, and he even went up to talk to her. At that time, the girl named Skadi told him that it was a way for hunters to communicate with each other.

——Now it seems that the deep-sea hunter mentioned by this lady, who is also an Agor, is probably the same thing as the hunter mentioned by Skadi.

After all, she also caught the hunter's melody in the other person's voice.

This melody, or some special frequency, comes from the deep-sea hunters' body structure modifications that may be different from those of ordinary people. According to Skadi at the time, most Agor people were unable to emit this frequency. Only hunters could use this frequency to communicate at high speed and with a huge amount of information.

However, if the oppressive feeling that Skadi brought to Noah was simply [powerful], then her feeling was completely different when facing Gloria.

This is not to say that Gloria is much weaker than Skadi, but she has a more elegant temperament. Perhaps it is because she held an important position in Agor, and she has a special leadership quality that Skadi does not have.

"Nice to meet you, Noah Kyrielight." Noah's feeling was not wrong. Even within Agor, Godetia's status was considered high among the high-ranking officials. After all, not everyone could climb to the position of Archon. Even within Agor, where everyone was relatively detached, the position of Archon was not something that a mediocre person could hold.

Goletia stared at the girl named Noa Kyrielight. She also got some information from some channels about what this girl in a wheelchair had experienced.

Even within the super-elite society of Agor, outstanding people like the girl are rare. If the girl was born in Agor, she might become a respected leader in a very short time. However, she was born on a complex and difficult land, and suffered hardships that ordinary people could hardly imagine. Even with Goletia's personality, she felt a little regretful.

But it was obvious that the girl in front of her had not given up - this optimism reminded her of Laurentina, who had once been her subordinate. However, when she really faced this girl, the emotion she saw in her dark pupils was not what she expected.

The eyes are the windows to the soul. Even when she was blind, her eyes could still reveal some emotions. But when Gloria looked into Noah's eyes, what she felt was not the will she thought. She felt as if she was looking into the deep sea. Those eyes seemed to be able to directly pull her soul and emotions, with some kind of indescribable gravity. When she almost misunderstood that the other party wanted to use some Originium technique to harm her, she suddenly felt a glimpse.

Immediately, she put aside her hostility, and the figure gradually forming behind Noah made her give up her plan to strike first.

If I attack Noah, then the shadow behind her... will most likely start a war with me.

Her intuition told her so, and even with her fighting ability, she seemed unsure of being able to fight against the phantom holding two swords.

The fact that Noah is still alive today may be inextricably linked to this phantom...

Moreover, she had to be wary of Noah Kyrielight's strange mental power. As the governor of Agor, she had searched for some research results on mental pollution or mental resistance in the battle of wits.

Deep Sea Hunters are extremely resistant to mental pollution, and only those with strong mental resolve are allowed to perform Deep Sea Hunter surgeries.

With two layers of buffs stacked on top of each other, most users of telepathic Originium skills would find it very difficult to even influence Gloria, let alone cause her emotions to fluctuate. However, in front of Noah, this resistance seemed to be ineffective.

No—it wasn't that it was ineffective, but rather that the opponent could easily bypass her mental defenses. Gloria suddenly realized that the opponent probably didn't intentionally touch her inner space—this ability of the opponent was obviously restrained.

However, as a deep-sea hunter fighting against Kaiji—she was overly sensitive.

After the sudden hostility disappeared, the shadow behind Noah also disappeared. Unless a powerful enemy appeared that was enough to threaten Noah, this shadow would be very lazy in most cases. The moment Jian, who was standing aside, saw the shadow appear, he was already on guard.

This was enough to prove that, in Shadow's view, Goletia had the ability to threaten Noah's life. Otherwise, she wouldn't have shown up at all.

But the hostility faded just as quickly as it came, and Glacetia quickly regained her composure. "I'm sorry, I misunderstood. Spying on me wasn't your intention."

"--Sorry." Noah smiled awkwardly, "My ability to sense emotions is always there, I can't control it."

"I see. Sensing emotions is a very valuable ability, and it plays a crucial role in negotiations. It seems that in front of you, things like negotiation skills can be completely discarded. Then let's get straight to the point. I am indeed here to represent Iberia, but I am sure you also understand that my presence does not only represent Iberia."

"Of course, there are also the Agors—to be honest, this is probably my second time communicating with the Agors—"

"I think the first time I met Skadi was in Rhodes Island, right?" Gloria quickly guessed who the first Agor was, and a faint smile curled her lips. "She's an excellent warrior."

"Indeed, Miss Skadi is a very good person."

Noah didn't mind praising anyone, and her tone softened slightly when she talked about Rhodes Island.

"I'm collaborating with the Iberian Inquisition to negotiate for this Terra Expo, and I'm also assisted by Dr. Kel'tsit from Rhodes Island," Gloria explained. "She told me about you, including your physical condition."

"...Dr. Kel'tsit probably just wanted to help me find some treatment, but as you can see, I've already been [cured]."

Although the gray matter in Noah's body has not completely eaten up the Originium crystal clusters in Noah's body, Noah is no longer worried about dying from Originium disease. In a sense, although Noah still has a large amount of Originium in his body, he has been successfully treated.

After all, it no longer affects daily life——

"Indeed, you seem to be doing well." Gloria chuckled. "I'm not here solely with Iberia's will this time. I also carry some of Agor's technology, and I'll be participating in the exhibition. I'll also represent Agor at this Terra Expo."

"I didn't expect Agor to take my little fight so seriously—"

Noah's words were quite sincere. After all, it was said that the technology of the Agor people far surpassed that of Terra. Although they had been out of contact for a long time, they were still legendary.

Moreover, Agor's technology is completely different from Terra's technology. Just from the prosperity of the Iberian Golden Fleet before the Great Silence, it can be seen that Agor's technology had reached a very terrifying level a long time ago.

"We have always been generous in sharing our technology. The concept of Terra Expo is great, and there is no reason for us not to participate in it."

As she spoke, Gladia looked out the window—

The year 1098 was drawing to a close, and winter had arrived. Heavy snow had begun to fall outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Colombia had four distinct seasons, and beneath the accumulated snow lay the seeds of new life.

A few days ago, the battle report on the Londinium incident was sent in. Victoria's crisis was resolved, and Amiya and the Doctor also returned safely.

Time goes by, and even Noah feels that everything changes too fast. After this time, Victoria fell from the throne of the richest country, Leitania is ready to make a move, Agor appears, and Christen's plan to fly into space.

It’s hard to imagine what an amazing year next year will be…

Noah took a sip of the vanilla tea in her hand. As the warm tea slightly warmed her body, her conversation with Gloria finally came to a critical point.

"Does this mean that Agor will choose to return to Terra?"

Her question was simple, yet incredibly difficult to answer. She understood that Goletia couldn't fully represent the magical city of Agor. However, her question was crucial: if Agor truly returned to Terra's civilization, what kind of turmoil would this vast, technologically advanced nation, yet isolated from it, stir up on Terra?

The Terra Expo is an opportunity, the best opportunity to announce Agor's return——

However, as an envoy of Agor, Goletia only mentioned that she carried some of Agor's instruments with her, and even attended as a representative of Iberia.

This is very subtle...

Can Goletia represent Agor's attitude?

In other words, to what extent can she represent?

These all needed to be confirmed, after all, this was a matter of great importance. Agor's return would change everything. Would it bring a devastating blow to the Terran unity envisioned by Noya, or would it help... these were all issues she needed to consider.

"For now—no comment." Gloria didn't answer the question directly. "Let's continue to get to know each other better. If I believe you're truly trustworthy, perhaps I'll tell you everything I know."

"...You're trustworthy."

Noah frowned, but judging from the rules Noah had set before, it was completely reasonable for Agor and Iberia to share the venue. In other words, Agor's technical exhibition could be displayed through Iberia's venue, which was not a violation.

Naturally, Noah had no reason to stop the other party from participating in the exhibition.

After all, this is a problem between Iberia and Agor, but the appearance of Goletia also makes Noah more curious about this mysterious country.

If possible, she also wants to visit Agor...

Among the pieces she had composed, the ones for Columbia and Victoria were nearly complete, but if she wanted to truly complete the earthly echoes envisioned by the Witch King, then Agor and Iberia were obviously indispensable.

After all, Agor is also an inseparable part of Terra——

But now it seems that Godetia has not yet completely trusted Noah. After all, this is the first time they have met, and it is unrealistic to expect them to trust each other from the beginning. Both sides are also testing each other and inquiring about each other's situation.

The conversation between Noah and Gloria didn't last long; Noah soon left, citing busy schedules. The conversation with Gloria had become a battle of sorts. Ever since realizing Noah's abilities, she had maintained an emotional barrier, resisting provocation. Noah's repeated attempts were effortlessly rebuffed. Continuing this conversation wasn't going to be a good thing, so they decided to call a truce.