Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

What Noah can do is to make everyone feel at ease. Her presence makes people feel at ease.

In order to seek this kind of peace of mind, many people even regard Noah as an unreachable existence, or even as a god.

After all, isn’t that what faith is?

They believe in the statues in their hearts and gain false peace of mind.

And Noya is even more terrifying, she really exists...

If Noah founded a religion one day, it would probably be more deviant than many other religions.

"I didn't expect that you... were such a devout believer."

"...Haha, I don't deny what you said." Duke Caister smiled bitterly, "I desperately need this... peace of mind. Even when I hear that I was so close to her, I feel at ease."

The Duke of Caister, no, Elizabeth Caister Victoria, finally stood up from her seat. She looked down at Enchiodis in front of her and finally spoke.

"At first, I just wanted to warn you—but now..."

"Where is she?"

Chapter 54: She is the only one who has no right to despair

At this time, Noah did not have so much time to care about Duke Caister's affairs. During the meeting of the giant beasts, she accidentally learned some information about the great destruction. In the eyes of these beings whose lifespans were much longer than normal humans, the great destruction was like a memory that could not be recalled. It was obviously not damaged, but it could not be recognized.

There are many possibilities for this situation. The simplest one is that this memory has been modified by some force, so no one can fully recall the details of the great destruction. Noah has even contacted Priss and others, but they don't have detailed information about the great destruction in their memories. After everyone compared this information, the two people who were once in the Garden of Eden understood how terrifying this situation was.

You have to understand that the reason they've worked so hard so far is to fight the lumberjacks, but they can't even remember the Great Destruction - it's like you're a repeat student. You should have had experience once, and you've studied the teacher's test habits, but when you look at the question, you suddenly realize that you can't remember whether you need to rely on math or Chinese...

This strange feeling entangled Noah, and she even confirmed with Kal'tsit that the information about the great destruction... was almost impossible to remember.

It would be fine if they simply couldn't remember, but the problem was that before Noah realized this problem, no one had even tried to recall... They remembered the memories before and after the Great Destruction, but they knew nothing about the memories during the Great Destruction.

What does this mean... It means that the lumberjack did take action, and they witnessed it, but... after that, everyone only remembered that the lumberjack took action.

As for how to do it, what it causes, and what the principle is, they don't know.

They only know that there was a great destruction...

This is a very terrifying thing. No matter how to fight against the lumberjacks, we must first understand them, to know whether their opponent is a cosmic phenomenon, or a higher-level civilization strangling a lower-level civilization, what weapons they use, and what caused the former civilization to be almost completely destroyed, except for some people who survived through special means... where did those former civilization people go.

"I don't want to use the word 'no remains left' to describe the current situation... but I really can't understand... what happened back then..." Noah's tone in the conference call was a little panicked. They talked about lumberjacks, confrontation, and even began to unite the Terran countries, but as soon as they checked the intelligence, they found that no one knew how the real lumberjacks acted.

So…if the lumberjacks strike again, how can they avoid it?

This problem is too serious... so serious that once everyone realizes it, they are stuck in a mental block.

They were surprised to find that... apart from the lumberjack theory, they knew nothing about this enemy.

"...Could it be... the Warp?" Noah offered his own thought. "The devil can corrupt human will. Perhaps the so-called Great Destruction is a large-scale Warp invasion... Your memories are blank because of the devil's own corruption of concepts?"

"Impossible. We also fought against demons when we used the warp, and we found a reasonable way to fight them... the Gray Spike. Implanting Gray Spikes was a very common practice in previous civilizations. A simple demonic invasion cannot destroy us." At this time, the doctor shook his head and raised an objection. "Regarding our memories, I tend to believe that this is a conceptual erasure... and an erasure of the concept of intelligence. Have you noticed? Aside from the memories during the Great Destruction, we don't actually have much memory loss. I can recall every detail of the information before the Great Destruction until I entered the sarcophagus."

"Who among us was the last to enter the sarcophagus?" Noah asked curiously, "Pureseth, was it you?"

"I didn't even enter the sarcophagus, remember? My consciousness is preserved by Originium. I thought using Originium to preserve my memory was the best way to fight the lumberjacks, but my memory was tampered with, which shows that Originium is not completely safe... We can even be said to be toyed with by the lumberjacks..." Precious sighed. She might be the one who was hit the hardest today. Her memory was also problematic. "And if you really want to talk about it, there is another person who didn't enter the sarcophagus..."

"...Miss Administrator's memories don't contain any relevant information... Star Children can't resist this kind of memory erasure." Noa shook her head. "Miss Administrator's own uniqueness didn't bring any better results... I hate to say this, but Miss Administrator thought I could save the former civilization. But in reality, even if I reshaped the souls of everyone in the former civilization... assuming they still have souls, they're just waiting for the next destruction."

"...It's incredible... How could such a thing happen..." The doctor's tone became a little intense. "We have never imagined that the entire human civilization, hundreds of millions of people, disappeared from the face of the earth, leaving no trace behind... Is it possible?"

"...Theoretically, yes." Precious frowned. "We can use macro-atomic weapons to do this... But the problem is that even macro-atomic weapons can't affect memories."

"Macro-atomic weapons can't affect you, who's already transformed into Originium..." The doctor shook his head, "But it's true, this is the closest possibility."

"What exactly is our enemy... and why is it targeting humans? Have you ever thought about it?"

"Perhaps it's technology... When technology reaches a certain level, it will attract the attention of the lumberjacks?"

"Technology is so illusory... Is there a possibility..."

"Stop, stop, stop... You've already started making wild guesses." Noah immediately stopped the two from making wild guesses. "Let's admit it first. We have absolutely no intelligence at all."

"..."

"..."

The conference room fell silent. Almost all present were human elites, geniuses, those who had entered the Garden of Eden. Not a single one was mediocre. But even they were powerless against a completely unknown existence...

The unknown is terrifying enough in itself.

"I think our only clue right now... might be the Void Relic in the Warp." Noah sighed. "Although it's just my conjecture, the Void Relic is very likely a message in a bottle left behind by a civilization destroyed by lumberjacks. It's just that the previous civilization didn't recognize its true nature and treated it as a scientific gift package. The technology contained within is very likely a message left behind by that civilization... Among all the civilizations, I don't believe there is a single one that doesn't understand lumberjacks."

"...But salvaging Void Relics...requires specialized equipment. Do we have any available equipment right now?" Prisseth frowned and questioned, "If we were to build one from scratch, it would take at least a decade of technical research. Do we have the time?"

"...It's not that there aren't any. As far as I know, although most of the former civilization's laboratories were destroyed in the Great Destruction and subsequent archaeological excavations, there is one laboratory that is believed to be the most complete." After a brief silence, the doctor suddenly thought of something. "The Deep Blue Tree! The Deep Blue Tree laboratory should have a complete set of equipment for recovering Void relics!"

"...But it's been so many years...Can that device still operate normally?" Priss was still in doubt, but Noah had already understood the situation.

"Even if it is damaged, repairing a device is much simpler than building it from scratch. Besides, Hai Si's underlying logic will not damage the test equipment, so it is very likely... I can discuss with the Pearl Tears Lamentation Clan. As long as we enter the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory, we can confirm whether the Void Salvage Device is intact." After thinking of a solution, several people finally had an idea.

But simply salvaging would be meaningless, so they must salvage in a targeted manner...

In the past, when humans salvaged void relics, they discovered that these void relics had certain differences. If the subspace was regarded as the ocean, then these void relics were like shipwrecks in the ocean. However, the previous civilization did not really screen these void relics. In fact, after completing some key advances through the technology in the void relics, humans realized the dangers of using void relics.

The salvage of void relics is strictly restricted. After all... before humans encounter an insurmountable bottleneck, relying on archaeology to develop their own science is an option that deprives them of their own progress.

But Noah and others are not going there for archaeological research. What they are looking for is information.

An account of the loggers themselves, or rather of destruction itself.

——In a sense, they were looking for a strategy.

"I'll take care of the technical issues. I'm somewhat familiar with void salvage devices. I've written several papers on void salvage before, so it won't be difficult for me to re-examine them." The doctor stood up. Without further ado, she was ready to reorganize the knowledge in her mind. Now she was in her prime, her memory had returned, and she was in a truly perfect state.

"I can provide enough energy to activate the void salvage device—Originium is already an infinite energy source, but other than that... I still think relying on the Warp is not very reliable."

"The subspace itself is neither good nor evil. It all depends on how we use it." Noa understood Priseth's concerns, but they had no choice. "It's been proven that Originium can't completely protect us, Priseth. If we enter the Originium, we might just end up being that guy's playthings..."

"...Ah." Precious was not stupid either. She was the one who suffered the most this time because she discovered the limitations of Originium. At least... Originium could not completely block the lumberjack's attack.

"Agor should be able to organize a scientific expedition team in time—my vacation should be over soon." Noah also decided to set off. "Puresise, Doctor, this time we may all have to enter the Deep Blue Tree, so we all need to prepare well..."

"Noah..." At this moment, Precious suddenly called out to Noah. She seemed to be hesitant, but after a moment, she sighed, "...Although it may be just my illusion, but... perhaps we are facing a true higher-dimensional existence, an opponent we absolutely cannot defeat... Now, the technologies we left behind are confirmed one after another to be like toys to the lumberjacks... So..."

“…” Noya knew that Originium had proven unable to cope with the magnitude of the blow the lumberjack had dealt to Precious, but at this point she could only give a response that even she had to convince herself of.

"...We can't win at all. I don't understand." Noya closed her eyes. "To us, that thing is too powerful to comprehend. But even so, humans can't just sit there and wait for death. Whether it's for Terran civilization, human civilization, or those civilizations before us...that may have already been destroyed, we shouldn't give up."

Noah placed his hand over his heart.

"I came into being to save the world... When Miss Administrator created me, she gave me this mission. I even suspect that she has set some setting in my brain that will never make me despair. But whether there is such a setting or not, I will not give up any hope." Noah knew that she was a product of Plan Zero and the reason for her appearance was to save the world. She was already late once - she didn't want to be late a second time.

In this world, there are people she loves and people she longs to protect. She never wants to see another great destruction.

Perhaps she could rely on her special soul to survive, and if that didn't work, she could escape into the subspace, where she should be safe. However, not everyone could enter and exit the subspace as freely as she did.

Even if the Grey Nail is replicated, humans cannot exist in the Warp for a long time. The Grey Nail is more like a device that delays humans from falling into a superposition state of neither life nor death in the Warp. Therefore, the Warp is not a refuge for humans. When Originium cannot provide a guarantee, the only choice they have is to take a gamble.

Noah turned off the terminal, and the entire room lost its lighting and fell into darkness.

She was silent in the darkness, thinking, the words she had just said were not only to convince Precious, but also to convince herself. She had to convince herself, she could not despair.

…A long sigh sounded in the dark room.

Noah turned his head in confusion, only to see an illusory shadow floating in the air.

“…Amiya?”

The shadow in white looked very much like the Amiya she knew, but when she reached out her hand, the shadow twisted and disappeared.

Only a sigh was left.

Chapter 55: Internal and External Use

Enthiotis is a speculator.

This is not a good word. After all, speculators represent indifference to feelings and will do almost anything to gain benefits.

It is indisputable that most businessmen are speculators. Even Enthiodis himself felt that he was not worthy of praise until he met Noah Kyrielight.

She was the most special person Enthiotis had ever met. When he first met her during a business negotiation, he admitted that he had underestimated the blind girl. Physical impairment often creates an inexplicable barrier between the disabled and the able-bodied, a barrier that is difficult to overcome.

For example, why are deaf-mute people often collectively referred to as deaf-mutes? Once they lose their hearing, even if they haven't lost their ability to speak, they are unable to hear sounds, making it difficult for them to learn and imitate language through hearing. Language learning is a process of imitation and practice, requiring auditory feedback to adjust and correct pronunciation.

Just like being isolated from others for a long time and not being able to hear other people's voices will also cause your language ability to degenerate.

The blind actually have a similar situation. They should have an inherent disadvantage in business negotiations because they cannot observe the expressions and gazes of the negotiators and cannot give reasonable answers through observation. It is precisely because of this that Enthyodis naturally believes that in this business negotiation, Kalan Trade will win a great victory.

But soon, he knew... that he was wrong.

I underestimated Noah Kyrielight, and I also underestimated the ability of someone who could stand out on his own in a place like Casimir.

During the entire business negotiation, not only did Enthiotis not gain any advantage, he was even at a disadvantage in several confrontations. Even in the end, Enthiotis felt that he seemed to be still within the other party's expectations. The other party seemed to have the ability to read minds. As long as those irrelevant eyes looked at him, he could judge where his bottom line was. Enthiotis did try to fight back, but every counterattack was like hitting cotton - making him feel a little ridiculous.

Since becoming a businessman, Enthiotis had never encountered such a crushing defeat, or even been completely suppressed.

There is no doubt that I lost.

Moreover, he lost in the area that he was most proud of. Whether it was courage or control over the entire negotiation, he lost by a lot.

The entire pace of the negotiations has been in Noah's hands and has never changed hands. Every time Enthiotis tried to take back the initiative, it would be easily resolved.

Let him be strong, the breeze blows over the hills; let him be arrogant, the bright moon shines on the river.

After the negotiations, Enthiotis realized that such a person could only be a friend, not an enemy, so the two established a so-called [alliance] relationship.

Fate has never been kind to Noa Kyrielight, but she is a warrior, a true knight. She does not need false titles or recognition from anyone. She will always stubbornly do what she thinks is right.

The more you get to know her, the more you will be amazed by her.

However, Enthiotis had to admit that he was indeed shaken by Duke Kaster's offer—especially the price he'd paid. From the beginning, he'd intended to use Noya's reputation to dissuade Duke Kaster. Who could have imagined Duke Kaster would actually be willing to let Kjerag go for Noya's sake? In a sense, this was good news—but instead of simply getting something for nothing, Duke Kaster now had a request.

She wants to see Noah...

If it were the Enthiotis of the past, he believed he would agree. Even if he was questioned by Noah later, he would be able to be honest and then regain Noah's trust through a series of transactions.

But this time… Enthyodice hesitated.

He knew that Duke Caister probably had no intention of doing anything to Noya, but he had borrowed her name without her consent, and now he was revealing her whereabouts. Ensiódis didn't think this was a matter of course...

Perhaps, it was a mistake to borrow Noah's name in the first place.

He was indeed inconsiderate. He had not expected that Duke Kaster would be so obsessed with Noah. Now he was in this difficult situation, and it was all his own fault.

Enthyodis's expression changed several times. After much deliberation, he finally made a choice.

"I'm so sorry... Your Excellency the Duke..."

"I'm right here. What can I do for you?" Before he finished speaking, Ya'er and Noya, who were beside Ensioudis, used Ya'er's power to come directly to his side. "Your Excellency, Duke of Caister, is this the first time we meet in our true colors?"

"...Noa? You..."

"Come on, don't I know what you're thinking?" Noah rolled his eyes at Enthiotis. "We've been partners for ages, and... I like Kjerag, too. If I could be kind to Kjerag, it's just a matter of meeting him. I'm not some high-handed person. Honestly, if you can help Kjerag, you shouldn't hesitate."

Noya shook his head, directly addressing Enthiotis's moral dilemma.

"Your Excellency, I am Noa Kyrielight. What can I do for you?"

At this time, Noah was truly setting out as the Honorary Saint of Shelag. She really regarded Enthiotis as a friend. She didn't mind just borrowing his name, and Enthiotis didn't disappoint her.

Although she felt at the beginning that Enthyodis would not sell out her whereabouts, Noah couldn't help but feel happy after hearing him actually say it.

She was not mistaken about Enthyodice Shivaash.

Then, it's your turn to solve the problem.

Yaer can use her power to understand everything that happens in her territory. It is no exaggeration to say that she has the ability to see and hear from afar. Noya can be said to have listened to the entire meeting based on Yaer's description. Although he is still very concerned about the shadow similar to Amiya that appeared before, it is more important to solve Kjerag's situation first.

——This is a rare business negotiation... although this time it is at the national level.

Noah narrowed her eyes slightly, and her vision fell into darkness again. She was very familiar with this darkness, which was the scene she saw when she was blind. But in that darkness, she listened to the sounds of all things through her ears, and also listened to the emotions of others. Although her ability appeared in the form of Originium skills, in fact, it was her natural affinity for souls.

After all, she is the ark of the soul, creation number zero. She can repair the soul and change the soul. She is almost invincible at the soul level, or at the psychological level.

As long as she remained unwavering, no one could invade her heart in any way... Ah, except for Precious, who was able to invade herself through the Originium within her body. However, Noya didn't have such a firm belief at the time, nor did she have such a clear understanding of herself, so it was a minor accident...

"Come, Elizabeth Kester Victoria." Noya closed her eyes and smiled. "I represent myself, the Honorary Saint of Kjerag, and I am here to hear your voice."

"...I've heard of you, Noa Kyrielight, a long time ago, even earlier than you might imagine." Duke Kaster gazed at the white-haired girl before him. Though it wasn't apparent on the surface, she was far from calm. "I learned of your existence and your predicament through various channels. I regret that Casimir didn't treat a talent like you well, but it's not too late—Noa Kyrielight, are you willing to return to your roots and Victoria?"

If a business negotiation is a gamble where each party brings their own chips, then this negotiation is actually completely unequal.

Even the Sarkaz attack on Victoria hadn't shaken its foundations. No matter how chaotic it was, it remained one of Terra's strongest nations. And what about Kjerag? Kjerag had only just opened to traffic; it was truly a rural village within a rural village. Kjerag's weakness had completely skewed the negotiations, and the only leverage Noya had...was himself.