Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"Are you talking about conservatives who think radicals are too conservative?" Sikunda was speechless. "She fused herself with Hai Si...isn't that radical enough?"

"What if I say her goal is to have Hai Si transform humanity?" Noah said helplessly. "That's a completely different concept. Her initiative to merge with Hai Si proves that she truly wants to find a path for humanity in her own way, to eliminate hatred and class divisions between people and unite them... I have to say, although her measures are radical, her idea is always for humanity."

"Good intentions are one thing... but the results are another." Sikunda, fully aware that good intentions don't always lead to good deeds, sighed. "Alright, go back and rest for a while. I'll arrange a checkup. If all goes well, the Deep Sea Hunter surgery should be complete by then. You've worked hard today, so get some rest."

“…Alas, how can I sleep…” Noah sighed as he recalled Ulpian’s terrifying face.

——How should I tell Skadi?

Chapter 62: The Back Road

Inside the Deep Sea Hunter's operating room, the lights were dim, and the equipment on the operating table emitted a faint blue glow. After a period of adjustment and repair, the team members gradually regained consciousness. This operation had not been risky to begin with, and the current situation was completely within expectations.

Gloria stood in the center of the operating room, her expression focused. Her gaze darted from one team member to the next, checking their condition. She was the one who adapted the most quickly, and as the surgery completed smoothly, despite its many twists and turns, the outcome was still somewhat satisfying.

According to Brandos, no further adjustments will probably be needed.

Soon after, they arrived at Governor Clemenza's office. Dark blue screens lined the walls of the room, displaying real-time surveillance footage of various areas. In the center was Clemenza's serious and calm face.

"You're here." Clemenza raised her head, her eyes scanning each member before stopping at Gladia. "Did the operation go well?"

"Yes, Clemenza," Gloria replied calmly, "All the team members have completed their adjustments and are in good condition."

Clemenza nodded slightly, a hint of relief flashing in her eyes. "That's good. The situation we are facing now is more complicated than we imagined. The Dome Incident not only affects the work of our deep-sea hunters, but also poses a threat to the safety of the entire city."

"Are you sure that only the dome in the city has been eroded by the Deep Sea Church?" Gloria asked. "And Amaya's motives..."

"Amaya's motives remain unclear." Clemenza paused for a moment, seemingly considering her next move. "The relationship between the Deep Sea Church and the Sea Si is becoming increasingly complicated. If we allow this situation to continue unchecked, we will find ourselves in even deeper trouble."

"Our top priority right now is to continue implementing the Channel Plan. The Deep Sea Church's intense reaction to it only proves that it truly poses a threat to them. Doing what the enemy doesn't want us to do is the right thing to do," said Gloria. "Of course, the final decision rests with you, Clemenza."

"The Coast Guard will be responsible for the situation on the dome. You have more important things to do." Clemenza's voice was firm. "I have reviewed your previous application to eliminate the nest of newly born sea urchins. The latest intelligence we have is that the abilities of those jellyfish-like sea urchins are related to the mind. In other words, they are a group of mind-controlling sea urchins. Ordinary Agor soldiers are simply unable to resist this invisible and intangible attack. After discussion..."

"Only a determined deep-sea hunter could possibly accomplish the extermination mission—right?"

Gloria was not surprised at all. As expected, she had felt uneasy when those jellyfish appeared. As expected - those things had unique abilities and were very dangerous even to most Agor soldiers.

Gladia nodded in agreement. "We will be ready to go as soon as possible. I will make sure no details are missed."

"Then it's settled." Clemenza's eyes grew sharp. "You must be prepared to respond to any possible situation at any time. This mission not only concerns the future of us deep-sea hunters, but also the fate of humanity."

As Clemenza finished her words, the entire office was instantly filled with a sense of urgency. Although this sense of urgency also came from the unknown nature of the Haisi community, at least they had the courage to fight back.

"Let's get ready to go." Gloria broke the silence, turned and walked towards the exit, and the team members behind her quickly followed.

On the way back, Skadi suddenly stopped, a hint of hesitation on her face. "Golatia, I want to go see what's going on with Noah—"

"Time is running out. I can only allow you to return to the team twenty minutes later—" Gloria didn't agree directly, but set a time. "If you exceed this time limit, we will go out on our own."

Skadi nodded, her eyes firm. "I understand. I'll be right back!"

Watching Skadi's departing figure, Laurentina shrugged and said to Gloria beside her, "To be honest, there's no set time limit for us to organize our equipment. It's okay if you give her a little more time. This mission is no small undertaking—perhaps this will be the last time we see each other."

"I know, but if we really treat it this special, Noah will definitely be worried about us—" Gloria knew Noah's character and sighed, "Our mission is inherently threatening, so I've always supported you. Go meet whoever you want to meet and do what you want to do."

"Swordfish, you are so sentimental."

"...Perhaps I sensed something was about to happen. The storm is brewing, and it will eventually come. All we can do is prepare, face the storm, and overcome it. That's all."

*The Stargate renovation project was apparently successful, and we have reestablished connection with Talos. Two years of accumulated information has flooded in, but there is no good news.

*First, the research stations outside the asteroid belt, then the interstellar hubs of the entire system, and finally, the cruise fleets in the orbits of habitable planets fell silent.

*Even the old colonial fleet, which had become a mobile museum, was not spared.

Along with these alarming news came the last of Valeria's notes, which, like Valeria herself, were always chatty.

* However, in addition to technical documents, she seemed to have spent her final days repeatedly reading literature and history, the death scenes of great men and heroes, their last words and epitaphs...

*It’s like a child, the day before his coming-of-age ceremony, confusedly rummaging through his parents’ wardrobe, trying to find a dress that’s formal enough.

*Does she feel that her life is not great enough or heavy enough?

No, she left almost everything she had at Stargate. If it were in the past, how could her achievements not be recorded in history?

*But now it seems that it is just a narrow door opened between two locked dark rooms. I am afraid that it will be closed again in a short time.

*Human history has finally exceeded human scale, haha.

Noa put down the book "The Death of Life," a translation from a prehistoric civilization she had skimmed through before. It recounted the despair of an ordinary middle-aged man in a prehistoric civilization facing the end of the world. The destruction they faced was what Priss and Luo had dubbed the "Lumberjack," and its devastation affected research stations, interstellar hubs, and patrol fleets—everything.

When everything that once represented the glorious achievements of civilization is gone, the fragility of civilization seems so ridiculous.

When faced with destruction, they were still as helpless as children, and even wanted to die with dignity.

Noah had a lot of feelings, and the translator did not exaggerate the despair, but these emotions, even when expressed in a straightforward manner, were overflowing with the oncoming despair.

Even though it was just a glimpse of the distant past through a diary, it was enough to make people despair.

"I thought oripathy was painful enough, but it turns out that each civilization has its own final exam paper?" Noah couldn't help but complain. This complaint was not said directly. In her eyes, the empty seat next to her was not empty, but a Miss Precious sitting there, pointing and talking. Hearing Noah's complaint, she couldn't help laughing.

"This is just the beginning - we even have to classify the end of the world." Prisseth was not lying. In their view, the crisis that could lead to the destruction of a planet was only at a relatively early stage. Red giants, black holes, the extinction of the sun, and even neutron explosions were commonplace in this dimension of the universe.

The Terran civilization has been able to survive to this day, in large part due to the fact that the previous civilization gave the planet a major physical examination when it came to Terra, solving most of the hidden dangers, and leaving behind the Star Pod, an external interaction generator. It even created an ecological transformation machine, which was not called Haisi at the time, to transform the environment. The Originium actually solved the problem of the planet's lack of coal and oil resources.

——It is no exaggeration to say that the current Terra civilization is a giant baby civilization born in the cradle of a safe planet.

The funniest thing is that this giant baby civilization has the strength and the legacy left to them by the previous civilization. These legacies that could have helped them fly out of their home planet were made into weapons for attacking each other by the giant babies of the Terra civilization. It is as stupid as making arrows out of chips.

Precious had been observing the Originium for many years, so she naturally knew that the essence of this world was just a makeshift team.

While the two were chatting, Skadi finally came to the door of the lounge. Noah had already heard her footsteps clearly, so she raised a finger to signal Precious to stop her long speech.

Then, Skadi pushed the door open and walked in.

“…Noah!”

"...Why are you here?" Noah looked at Skadi with a smile on his face. "I thought you were going to set off soon. How come you still have time to look for me?"

"I just wanted to come see you." Skadi approached, her voice low, "I heard about what happened in the dome control room. The situation is really complicated. I'm a little worried about you."

"Okay, okay, I'm fine, aren't I?" Noah did not suffer any harm in this incident. Amaya would rather get hurt herself than let Noah get hurt. After all, Noah's position in her mind may be much more important than the entire Deep Sea Church.

"But things are getting worse and worse, and the threat of the sea snakes is becoming more and more apparent. You know, I heard that those jellyfish-like sea snakes can affect the mind and make people lose their minds. I... I don't want to see such things."

Skadi didn't finish her words, but Noah already understood her concerns. Attacks from the mind were indeed hard to defend against, but Noah was not worried about that.

In all of Terra, there aren't many people who understand mind control better than her.

Precious interrupted from the seat next to him, "What's that? Aren't you fighting all kinds of threats? You're even afraid of jellyfish. Are you looking down on me or you?

"..." Noah gave her a helpless look. She was no longer able to complain about Precious's inexplicable competitive spirit.

"Will the next mission be dangerous?" she asked, though her question was somewhat knowing. A mission that would send out the Deep Sea Hunters was inherently dangerous. Still, she asked, adding, "Isn't this mission coming a little too soon? Even though Archon Clemenza contacted me, you're already carrying out the mission right after the surgery?"

"I feel the same way," Skadi sighed. "Every mission is like walking a tightrope. Any mistake could lead to even bigger trouble." She paused, worry in her eyes. "You've got to be careful too. Don't get yourself into too much trouble."

This was too much of a problem. Noya couldn't tell if she was telling him not to get too involved in Agor's family affairs, or if she was telling him to stop taking risks. Noya didn't think much about it. Judging from Skadi's personality, she was probably just worried about her safety. Any more than that would be disrespectful to Miss Killer Whale's innocent personality.

Tulia had been safely rescued, and no traces of sea cells were found in her body. This meant that Amaya harbored no ill will towards her. In fact, both Tulia and Cassia were merely bargaining chips to lure Noya to a meeting. Speaking of which, Precious was actually curious about why Noya had used her wish at that moment. Although Noya certainly couldn't use her Originium skills at the time, after all, the psychic jellyfish-shaped sea cells surrounding her made it nearly impossible for her to exert her mental power.

But Precious is the creator of Originium, and no one understands the Originium craft itself better than her. Perhaps it is an almost impossible task for Noah, but for Precious, it is just a piece of cake.

But what she didn't understand was why she had to use a wish in such a place. Noah's previous cautious attitude towards wishes was obvious to all. Even her desperate temptation was useless. As a result, Noah took the initiative to use it once, and he only shared his own memory with Amaya.

What is this for?

Perhaps she noticed Precious's doubts, and while comforting Skadi, she also asked Precious a question.

——Tell me, Priss, can humans and Haisi really be perfectly combined?

——?

Precious frowned in confusion, but this question was not a secret, and she didn't even think it was a problem.

So as part of her after-sales service for the customer, she gave the answer.

"Yes, of course."

"Then my choice is not wrong."

Noah smiled.

——Although Amaya’s path is extreme, Precious has already told her that this path is indeed feasible.

So, instead of cutting off one's own retreat, what's the harm in leaving a retreat for humanity, for Hai Si, and for oneself?

However, perhaps Precious did not expect that his answer would completely end Noah's idea of ​​closing the Deep Blue Tree.

——If Haisi is a viable path, then it should be retained.

The more ways to deal with lumberjacks, the better.

Chapter 63: Questioning

When it comes to survival, there is no right or wrong.

Even Hai Si, who seems to be a formidable enemy now, may become a helper to mankind in the future.

Noah had gradually begun to see things from a higher perspective, just as the seasons depend on the angle at which the sun shines on Terra. With a change of perspective, things might not always be what they appear to be. Admittedly, it was Amaya who reminded Noah of this. In fact, the Deep Sea Church viewed the Deep Sea Hunters as a thorn in their side, largely because their existence had shaken their fundamental theoretical foundation.

Humans and Kaiji cannot coexist—

The Deep Sea Hunter surgery completely destroyed the foundation of this theory. Humans can accommodate sea cucumber cells through surgery. In other words, there is a possibility between humans and sea cucumbers.

That is the experiment that Amaya completed at the risk of her own life, the assimilation of humans and sea creatures, and the use of human will to control the power of sea creatures.

This is also the reason why Noah looks at Amaya differently. If Amaya can do it, what about others?

It was precisely because of this that Noah decided to completely change Amaya's position away from the Deep Sea Church. At the very least, he had to let her establish her own organization. As for cooperation, as long as the other party was not anti-human, everything would be fine.

After the incident in the dome control room, Noah was not released back to the embassy, ​​but was detained in the lounge. In fact, this was not a problem at all - although no sea cells were detected in Noah, anyone would have doubts about staying with the cultists for so long. Although her movements were controlled, Noah's treatment did not decrease at all. She could only rest in the lounge for the time being, read a book, and chat with Precious. If Skadi had not come, she would probably have chatted with Precious for a while.

However, compared to herself and Amaya, who was almost impossible to catch, she was a little worried about Ulpian's situation.

His symptoms have reached a very dangerous level. It is a miracle among miracles that he can maintain his sanity. And Ulpian's uncooperative behavior... It is estimated that he is unlikely to choose to accept help from Noah.

——Everything is going wrong...

Noah looked at the glass container placed beside her. Surrounded by reinforced glass, there was a mass of gray substance inside that looked like liquid metal and was still wriggling. This was the gray matter extracted from her body. She always carried it with her. Even in Agor, this kind of thing with powerful artificial intelligence and self-purification ability was not common. Noah could often feel that the reason why the gray matter was willing to leave her body was largely because Noah herself rejected the gray matter.

It's like a child who was kicked out of the house by his mother. He didn't know what he had done wrong, but he didn't dare to disobey his mother's decision, so he was separated by surgery.

The reason she carries the gray matter with her is not just because she is worried about leaving it in other people's hands. The gray matter itself is also one of her trump cards. If absolute violence is really needed to accomplish something, Noah is ready to release the gray matter.

Whether it can be closed back then is another matter...

Noah was not the only one with Precious, there was also an old acquaintance, who was being controlled at this moment because he had just been accused by Gloria of tampering with the operation. He was the doctor who helped Noah to remove the gray matter, consultant Brandus.

But compared to Noah, he seemed to be very silent all the time, as if the deterioration of the relationship with the deep-sea hunter had hit him hard.

"Counselor Brandus, are you okay?" Noya couldn't bear to watch, so she took the initiative to ask. "As for you, I heard about it from Sikunda. You protected the Deep Sea Hunters—I think you at least did what I believe was right."

"Of course, of course." Brandus raised his head and responded with a smile, "Those Deep Sea Cultists couldn't stop me from performing surgery on the hunters."

"...I'm asking about your physical condition."

"Thank you, Miss Noah. You are still..." Brandus twitched the corner of his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but unfortunately, Noah interrupted him in advance. In fact, Noah would not do this normally, but Brandus's situation was special this time. When he knew that the other party wanted to tamper with her surgery against the wishes of Gloria and others, Noah's impression of her dropped rapidly.

Regardless of whether the motives were good, she had also experienced other people going against their will, so-called "for your own good."

And the phrase "it's for your own good" is one of Noah's few sore spots.

Because of this incident, she completely severed her ties with the knight class and even had a falling out with her swordsmanship teacher.

"Given your inexplicable resistance to medical help, someone needs to proactively confirm your safety, that's all," Noah emphasized. "Given your health condition, many people must have tried to get you to the hospital before I asked you."

"Perhaps the burden of the Passage Project is simply too heavy. I'm a half-doctor, so I know how to stay healthy—as long as it doesn't hinder the progress of the Passage Project," Brandus explained. "There's a reason why I don't go to the hospital."

It seemed that this persuasion had failed. However, perhaps because of the special relationship between Noah and Gladia, Mr. Brandus, who loved both Noah and Gladia, did not seem to interrupt the conversation. Instead, he continued.

"But you really should see the plants that the deep-sea cultists use to kill people. It's hard to imagine that anyone in the Ecological Art Creation Institute would use that kind of thing to paint." This seemed like a change of subject... Noah thought, it seemed that he really didn't want to continue talking about the topic of deep-sea hunters, and he actually used such a clumsy way of changing the subject.

"I heard that you and Ulpian are friends." And the next sentence, Noah's words obviously made him silent.

"It used to be."

"Before? Then now..."

"Ulpian is an excellent man. He decides on his own whether to become friends with others, and he also decides on his own whether to cut ties with others—" Brandus began. "In fact, I saw him in the battle of wits, and I know he has returned."

"But you didn't tell the Coast Guard about this?" Noah asked doubtfully, "Because of friendship?"

"Just catching a glimpse of a familiar figure in the crowd isn't something worth writing a report about, is it?" Brandus smiled and shook his head. "Besides, I think you have some connection with Ulpian, or even that you're his spokesperson?"