Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

The synthesized electronic sound of the Siren Mermaid also reported the situation outside, and then Noah took the lead and was the first to walk out of the hatch.

"No problem, come out." She spoke only after confirming that there was no problem with the air and that the oxygen valve in the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory was not damaged.

And now, she truly realized how big the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory was.

It is no exaggeration to say that... even the entire city of Agor that Noah saw at the beginning would pale in comparison to the scale of this laboratory.

Chapter 34: Inscription

"The air pressure is normal, the oxygen content is normal, and the humidity is slightly higher—but we're at the bottom of the ocean, so this level of humidity is normal, right?" Noah couldn't help but joke. "I didn't expect the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory to be operating normally. Should I marvel at the durability of the buildings of the ancient civilization?"

"You're kidding! This is the work of Eden." Precious and the doctor removed their oxygen masks. They were quite familiar with this place; the doctor had single-handedly constructed the early stages of the Deep Blue Tree project, including the transformation plan for the behemoth and subsequent data calculations. "You're doubting Eden's creations!"

"I didn't - the administrator said that anything produced by the Garden of Eden must be of the highest quality." Noah responded to Prisseth's question with a smile. Of course, neither of them took it seriously. Instead, the doctor frowned as he looked at the situation inside the Garden of Eden.

The doctor's knuckles tapped lightly on the wall, and a strange ripple-like halo appeared on the metal surface: "Something's wrong. The hibernation system shouldn't react so quickly to our arrival." He turned to the depths of the corridor. Behind the explosion-proof glass, the culture chambers were lighting up one after another with faint blue lights, like a swarm of fireflies awakened.

"The person in charge of this place originally was Lu (according to recent intelligence, this was a translation error; the real name should be Lu. It's going to be difficult to change it, so let's just standardize it. Essentially, it's Luo → Lu). That child was also a rare genius... Perhaps she programmed this place to automate before she left?"

"Are you saying that Lu predicted long ago that we would return to the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory and even prepared a self-starting preset specifically for us?" The doctor complained helplessly, "She couldn't have known about our situation. That's logically unlikely... It's more likely that she knew someone would come... but it wasn't us."

"Who else could it be... Lu doesn't have a hibernation chamber, and she gave up the chance to enter one." Precious frowned. "The hibernation chamber in Chernobog originally belonged to Lu, but she gave it up and stayed in the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory the whole time. Under these circumstances, she couldn't possibly have survived..."

"...That's not necessarily true." The doctor shook his head. "You also said that she is a genius. Geniuses always find their own way..."

"...To be honest, I don't really want to think about it this way, but if there really is a way to survive that catastrophe, and it's not a way to hide in a hibernation chamber, then the price we pay will probably be far beyond our imagination."

Precious' words made everyone present feel a little creepy. If there was a genius from a former civilization who survived by some unknown means, then where would she be now?

Noya unlocked the system with the secret key. As the airlock slowly opened, she turned back to her companions. "Whether Lu is still here or not, our goal on this trip is clear—" Her voice echoed strangely in the corridor. "Find a complete void salvage device. The rest... we'll have to wait and see."

The three of them agreed with Noah's opinion and followed the corridor that was gradually lit up, entering the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory that had not been disturbed for a long time.

It has to be said that the scenes along the way were shocking to Skathi. Although the Agor civilization was almost the eldest son of the previous civilization and inherited most of the bloodline of the previous civilization, when the real previous civilization technology unfolded in front of Skathi, she was still shocked.

Floating bionic machines can be seen everywhere on the ground. Having lost their power, these bionic machines have almost become scrap metal. However, just from their transparent shells that reveal their internal mechanical mechanisms, one can tell how sophisticated these bionic machines were when they were still moving. The internal wiring connections are like works of art to professional electrical personnel like Skadi.

If she had not been accustomed to the work of a deep-sea hunter, she would really pick up one of them to study, and she would probably spend half the night studying it.

It wasn't just bionic machines; there were also all sorts of everyday electrical appliances everywhere. For example, outside the porthole, the transparent membrane surrounding the Deep Blue Tree, like jellyfish skin, danced lightly in the ocean current. Noya couldn't help but reach out and touch the reinforced glass, feeling the unique chill of the deep sea at his fingertips. This flexible shield technology far surpassed Agor's existing rigid protection system, evenly dispersing the pressure of tens of thousands of tons of water, like silk dispersing the impact of a heavy hammer.

"That's a flexible shield, effectively dispersing water pressure and saving energy. We also have a device specifically for collecting tidal energy, but it's probably been scrapped. I can give you the prototype later." The doctor explained, "The civilization we created wasn't as poor as you imagine. Although we came to Terra to resist the apocalypse, we never gave up on research and development and progress. The brilliance of our civilization is an unfading morning star. No matter who tries to extinguish it, we will at least burst out enough light and heat to burn their hands."

"You're speaking more and more like Prissus. Do you pre-civilized people all like to talk in roundabout ways?" Noah couldn't help but complain. "We should be on the second floor now. The entire Deep Blue Tree Laboratory is built around the Deep Blue Tree itself, a circular structure. We're only now diving into the second floor. Once we reach the deepest point, we'll enter a paradoxical space... Wait, what is a paradoxical space?"

"I thought you would know this. After all, it was the technology created by Miss Administrator." Precious blinked and said, "Aren't you Miss Administrator's successor?"

"Her memory is too long. It would take me almost my entire life to read it all—" Noah rolled his eyes. "And I need to at least know the name of this thing before I can follow the instructions, right?"

"Alright, alright. The so-called Paradox Dimension is actually a theory similar to the Originium's internalized universe. Simply put, within the Paradox Dimension, there are special properties similar to those within the subspace. This is to ensure the safety of the Deep Blue Tree. If it gets out of control, we can directly close this dimension and disconnect the Deep Blue Tree from the real universe."

The doctor explained, calling up a holographic model. An unclosed Klein bottle structure spun before them. "Imagine the critical state when blowing a bubble," she extended her hand, piercing the light and shadow. "When the bubble is about to close, the inner and outer worlds are both connected and separated. The Deep Blue Tree is housed within this quantum foam."

"I see..." Noah was not stupid and immediately understood, "Then will it be dangerous for us to enter the paradox space?"

"If it were before, it probably wouldn't happen... But now, I'm not sure. After all, this is a paradoxical dimension that has existed for tens of thousands of years." The doctor frowned. "No one knows what will happen. After all, although the paradoxical dimension has no theoretical time limit, it is... a derivative technology of the subspace."

"Okay... I almost understand. I'll go in first. You guys stay outside. Just come in after I make sure everything is stable." Noah made a decision and warmed up on the spot. In fact, she didn't need to warm up. The gray matter would help her maintain peak condition all the time, but she had already gotten used to it.

"Indeed... you are the most suitable explorer, but at least you should leave a safety net. Otherwise, if something happens, how can we save you?" The doctor judged rationally that Noah was indeed the most suitable intruder, but she was more worried about Noah's safety.

"I'm not going to die..." Noya whispered softly, her fingertips gleaming with a silvery-gray glow. The flowing gray matter condensed into a metallic rope in her palm, the other end of which she solemnly handed to Skadi. "The gray rope should be strong enough. If things go wrong, I'll pull it immediately."

Skadi gripped the rope tightly, her knuckles turning slightly white from the strain. As a deep-sea hunter, she understood the meaning of this sentence better than anyone else. "Be careful," she said briefly, a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

Noya stretched her shoulders, took a deep breath, and pushed open the rippling portal. To everyone's eyes, her figure seemed to pass through a translucent film, her outline suddenly blurring, like the image on an old television with a bad signal. But Noya herself seemed oblivious, continuing steadily forward.

"Everything...is...normal..." Her voice echoed from the other side of the door, each word like a stretched tape, strangely distorted. Skadi stared at the taut rope in her hands, her knuckles white from the strain. She suppressed the urge to pull Noah back immediately—after all, he hadn't sent a distress signal yet.

The doctor's gaze was fixed on the monitoring screen, the data stream fluctuating violently, as if twisted by an invisible hand. His knuckles turned white from excessive force, and his brow was twisted into a knot - this signal degradation pattern completely violated all known spatial theoretical models.

"The spatial topology is being distorted..." He said, his voice strained between his teeth. "But the specific mechanism..."

Precious dug her nails into her palms. Noya's figure in the holographic projection was distorting at a visible speed. The pixelated edges reminded her of a data stream eroded by a virus, or an ancient mural dissolving. "If this keeps going on..." her voice tightened. "Will she just turn into a mosaic?"

There was nothing unusual about the gray rope in Skadi's hand, but the deep-sea hunter's keen senses detected some abnormality beyond the physical level - the touch from the other end of the rope was becoming "thin", like holding a handful of melting snow.

Memories flooded back to the doctor—she remembered the unfortunate researcher who had been dismembered by space debris during a subspace experiment. She could always remember how the two halves of the body floating in the incubator blinked and spoke simultaneously, even seeing the neatly dissected heart beating in the clear fluid. The most ironic thing was that the medical team confirmed that his "vital signs were completely normal."

Paradox space seemed so fragile at this moment, like a sword of Damocles suspended by a spider's thread. Although it was a more stable improved version of the subspace, who could guarantee that the nightmare wouldn't repeat itself? After all, even the most basic laws of physics became ambiguous here.

Noya's fingertips lightly touched the corridor wall, and the metal surface felt just as cool as the outside world. This was strange—the paradoxical space should have caused cognitive disturbances, but she didn't even feel a hint of dizziness. Just as she was wondering, her peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of a white figure passing around the corner.

"Anyone there?"

She spun around, only just catching sight of the corner of her lab coat disappearing down the hallway. Noya sprinted after him, only to bump into a solid metal wall around the corner—there was no path to cross. A chill ran down her spine, and a terrifying thought formed in her mind.

Paradoxical space, like a shattered mirror, faithfully reflects those "erased." The power of cataclysm may annihilate matter, but it cannot completely erase this independent dimension's memory of life. Those wandering shadows are the final echoes of a previous civilization.

As he went deeper, the corridor gradually filled with more and more white figures. Some hurried along, clutching datapads, while others gathered in groups of three or four to chat in corners—all ignoring Noa. A female researcher wearing glasses walked straight through Noa's body, and for a moment, Noa could smell the faint aroma of coffee.

"It's not a ghost..." Noya stared at his unchanged palm. "It's space replaying images of the past."

Like a stuck film reel, it kept looping a certain scene. These afterimages might reveal the truth behind the Deep Blue Tree's loss of control. She quickened her pace, running toward the core area. The phantoms of the white-coated men grew denser and denser, eventually converging into a flowing galaxy. At the airlock at the end of the corridor, Noa finally stopped.

In front... is the experimental floor.

These ghosts seem to be still living in another dimension that Noah cannot reach, continuing their eternal work. They are members of the Garden of Eden and companions trying to save the world. Their time is frozen in this great work of saving the world. Perhaps they are lucky, they will not despair, will not feel pain, they will always move forward endlessly for the goals in their hearts.

Compared to those orphans of the previous civilization, they are indeed lucky...

Noah stood in front of the gate, and she suddenly realized that she was not in front of the gate of a laboratory.

But their hurried appearances in front of the tombstones of those who saved the world should be remembered...

There are densely packed characters in front of the gate.

Noah learned some ancient civilization texts from Prisseth, and now she can decipher what is written on the gate.

It was not a warning, nor a code, nor a riddle or mumbling, it was... a densely packed list of names.

Christie, Gustav, Veron, Artemis...

Names were written one after another across the entire gate. They weren't painted, but carved with a blade. This gate was made of a special metal, making it extremely difficult to scratch. But someone was indeed there, carving these names...

Noah suddenly felt an indescribable loneliness. This door separated not only space but also the final wail of a civilization. Six thousand meters below the sea, even mourning seemed so silent.

This is... a monument to the man who saved the world.

Chapter 35: Recording

The names engraved on this door belong to researchers from the former civilization, who continued to work until the very end. Naturally, no one forced them to do so. Many of them likely had the qualifications to enter the sarcophagus, but they gave up. They worked for the survival of humanity, and even at the very last moment, they persisted in guarding their final shift.

Noah didn't know what they were thinking in the end, but she felt these warriors had no regrets. They had fulfilled their duty. Everyone only has one life. A person's life should be lived so that when they look back on it, they will not regret wasting their time, nor be ashamed of their mediocrity. When they die, they can say that they have dedicated their entire life and energy to the most magnificent cause in the world - the survival of mankind.

This is just the situation in one laboratory of the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory. It is hard to imagine how many times situations like the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory have occurred in previous civilizations.

No wonder the administrator was willing to sacrifice herself for human civilization without hesitation. The civilization she loved did have a huge and shocking charm.

Under the threat of terror, they united as one, unwavering in their resolve, unleashing the best and most resilient qualities of humanity. Driven by this spirit, they fought the Destroyer to the death. They never surrendered, let alone given up. Before their fate arrived, they chose to give it their all, fighting to the very end. Such was the humanity that Miss Administrator loved.

Noah bowed her head respectfully in silence. She had witnessed all of this and naturally had to express something. In this paradoxical space, she expressed her respect for these pioneers, then reached out and entered the secret key.

[Secret key confirmed, Deep Blue Tree Laboratory, welcome to visit Miss Administrator.]

As the synthesized electronic sound rang out, Noah used the administrator's secret key to unlock the door to the experimental floor of the Deep Blue Tree Laboratory and soon saw the situation inside. What surprised her most was the purpose of their trip - the [Void Salvage Device]. At this time, it was intact and placed inside the laboratory, like a gift waiting to be opened.

Afterwards, Noah's gaze remained on the giant object in the center of the laboratory.

When the Pearl Tears Sorrow Song tribe opened the Deep Blue Tree laboratory, they told Noah that the Deep Blue Tree was actually dead - this man-made behemoth had passed away a long time ago, but she had never thought that even if it was a corpse, yes, this thing could only be called a corpse, but its terrifying size also made its death extremely slow.

The Deep Blue Tree is part of a planetary transformation plan left behind by a previous civilization, or rather, it originally was.

According to the doctor's description, originally, the Deep Blue Tree was indeed just a one-button restart device for the ecosystem, but later, they discovered more possibilities for the existence of the giant beast, especially after the ability of the giant beast to nurture a complete ecosystem was developed, the former civilization immediately realized that each giant beast was actually like a small ecological planet, and each giant beast could be transformed into a biological ark after another to the depths of the starry sea with a little modification.

This breakthrough came too late, and the original doctor could only ask Lu to continue the research but could not continue to assist in the development. After all, the doctor at that time was fully committed to the Originium Project.

The Deep Blue Tree is the core of the Bio-Ark Project, and the entire laboratory exists for the Deep Blue Tree. This laboratory, which hollows out the rock layers, penetrates deep into the mantle, and can even draw energy directly from the core of Terra, exists for the development of the Deep Blue Tree.

The biological arks that had been transformed were called [Newborn]. These transformed behemoths had the ability to even isolate observers from destruction. If they had been completed earlier, they might have been able to use [Newborn] to carry the former civilized people on Terra to other galaxies - the losses caused by long-term voyages would be compensated by the powerful ecosystem of the Newborn.

Moreover, these newborns have the ability to transform planets individually. This is a true biological ark that can truly transform a lifeless planet into a habitable planet.

In fact, this is also part of the fight against lumberjacks, or rather, this is why it is called the Deep Blue Tree.

Because these are deep blue trees with tenacious vitality, growing everywhere and growing very fast, one of the conclusions reached by the previous civilization for the lumberjacks who could not be defeated by normal means was to let the entire universe be covered with trees so that the lumberjacks would never be able to completely destroy the previous civilization.

——In a sense, it means that even if it means losing face, you still have to fight for your life to survive.

Even if the means are a little dirty, at least you can survive... That's probably what it means.

However... the deep blue tree that appeared in front of Noah now... Noah raised his head and had a rather subtle feeling.

"Yin... the corpse of one of those two behemoths?" Noya immediately recognized the Deep Blue Tree's original form before its transformation. It was Yin, one of the Yin-Yang behemoths. The Administrator had created the behemoth that ultimately brought death, and now, surprisingly, even used its corpse. "No wonder the transformation went so smoothly... After all, the Administrator is a Star Child himself, so he's naturally well-informed about Yin."

After the Yin-Yang giant beasts completed their founding responsibilities, they were given death by the administrators. After all, as long as these two giant beasts are alive, there will be eternal fighting, which is not a good thing for Terra. Unexpectedly, after sinking to the bottom of the sea for tens of thousands of years, Yin would still be pulled up by the administrator to work overtime... Thinking about it this way, has Yang also been pulled up to work overtime?

In a sense, the administrator's Star Child authority is so rogue that it can completely decide the life and death of the behemoth. It can even bring it back to life after being dead for a long time. This is the special feature of the behemoth. It is said to be life, but it is more like a machine that can be shut down and restarted at will.

——Although he felt a little sympathetic towards Yin's experience, the Yin-Yang beasts did not have real personalities after all, so Noah did not need to sympathize with these two beasts.

It would be better to say that if the Yin-Yang Beast had a personality, it would have probably called the administrator "stepmother" long ago.

After knowing that the true form of the Deep Blue Tree is Yin, Noah actually had an idea. The death of the Deep Blue Tree might not be a real death. After all, whether the Yin-Yang beast is dead or alive actually depends on a word from the Son of the Star. In other words... as long as he uses his authority, it will not be difficult to resurrect the Deep Blue Tree.

...But isn't it a bit unethical to force people to work overtime now?

Noah hesitated for a long time, but still didn't make a move. He decided to wait for the doctor and others to come and see the situation. After all, it was just sitting there, and the Deep Blue Tree wouldn't rot, so he could use it anytime, anywhere.

As one of the behemoths of creation, Yin has a body that is larger than most behemoths. No wonder it was chosen to be the carrier of the Deep Blue Tree. In terms of vitality and carrying capacity, Yin is much stronger than most behemoths. It is also strange to say that the Son of the Star will gradually lose its original abilities after leaving Terra, but the behemoth as a creation does not have so many restrictions. Thinking about it this way, the Son of the Star is the existence that is bound to Terra.

In the cracks between the experimental layer and the barrier, the phantoms of the researchers from the previous civilization dissipated like morning mist. Noya realized that these lingering afterimages could only exist at the interface between paradoxical space and real space—a quantum realm that lies between this world and that world. Within the true paradoxical space, even these "echoes of memory" cruelly could not survive.

When the hum of the backup power supply shattered the silence, the entire laboratory seemed to awaken from a thousand-year slumber. Dormant fluorescent veins on the walls gradually lit up, like the rhythm of life coursing through blood vessels again. The dim blue glow of energy-saving mode transformed into bright operating lighting, revealing the entirety of this scientific temple that had slumbered for countless years before Noya's eyes. Each terminal screen that rebooted silently spoke of the final moments of the former civilization's perseverance.

"Everything is well preserved... but there's no trace of Lu..." Noya sighed. Honestly, if Lu still existed, it might be a good thing for them. After all, Lu was one of the geniuses of the previous civilization. If she were still alive, Noya would not hesitate to restart the Deep Blue Tree. After opening the terminal, Noya first saw a recording file. These were the last few experimental records, saved on the host computer.

[Recording File No. 45]

My name is Lu. The Deep Blue Tree was experiencing unusual conditions, and the administrator was supposed to perform routine maintenance. According to her instructions, once the Paradox Dimension is sealed, nothing can penetrate it unless it's reopened from the outside. I exploited this feature to complete the space lockdown before the apocalypse, preserving the core data of the Deep Blue Tree Project.

I must apologize to you all—Prophet, Precious, Administrator, Friston, and Ed. I failed to reveal the true value of the Deep Blue Tree sooner.

In paradoxical space, every additional observer accelerates its collapse. My companions chose to leave, leaving me alone. They said... if someone had to survive, it should be me.

…It was me who killed them.

[Recording File No. 46]

A month has passed since the Great Destruction. Verification has confirmed the Doctor's theory: all newborns possess interstellar capabilities, their life systems completely self-sufficient. We could... should have allowed them to carry gene seeds, spreading the seeds of civilization to the stars.

This discovery came too late. When I finished the verification, I realized what we had missed.

Just one month left...we had a chance.

[Recording File No. 47]

The Deep Blue Tree began to spontaneously breed new life forms. This was clearly a stress response to the apocalypse—these life forms displayed astonishing adaptability, evolving traits capable of withstanding extreme conditions within a few generations. They were perfect beings born for the apocalypse.

The flow of time within Paradox Dimension seems disconnected from reality. I'm unsure how much time has passed in the outside world, still waiting for someone to restart the lab. The Deep Blue Tree has become my only connection to the outside world, existing simultaneously in reality and Paradox Dimension.

This state would be fatal to ordinary life... but the Deep Blue Tree adapted.

Maybe... I should release these life forms?

[Recording File No. 48]

I began to release those special individuals. They might change the ocean ecology of Terra and might even become an ecological disaster, but I had to understand the situation outside.

I have been thinking about how to defeat the loggers and how to keep humans alive.

I even wondered if I was the last human being left.

I can't let my mind wander anymore. I have to put all my energy into my work. No matter what, all I can do is continue to verify the data and complete everything I can.

I will reduce the recording...

Perhaps, when the next breakthrough comes...

[Recording File No. 49]

Today, we successfully isolated the Deep Blue Tree-01 genome. This discovery is astonishing—its genetic structure displays breathtaking simplicity and elegance, each base pair like a meticulously orchestrated musical movement. The very existence of this life form may be the universe's final gift to us.

Before I celebrate, however, I must face a harsh reality: all specimens exhibit a severe lack of intelligence. They possess perfect survival instincts, adaptable to any extreme environment, yet they are unable to display even the most basic signs of civilization. This reminds me of the prophet's warning: the flame of civilization requires both sensibility and intellect to ignite.