Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

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"It's nothing, it's just my stress response."

Ange accepted the red wine offered by Eugen and drank it down in one gulp.

...and then silence fell again.

"Let's not think about those old conflicts for now. Let's have a couple of drinks first, and we can talk about the rest later."

"Um......"

Pascal knew she wasn't into such affectations, so he handed her a can of beer from the side of his feet. As an old friend, Ange wouldn't refuse, so she took the beer and began trying to forget the unpleasant past.

Judging from Pascal's tone, it seems that Gray and she are on good terms now. Plus, the leader said that almost two years have passed, so we should be able to rest assured...

My impression of Gray improved a bit; after all, during their eye contact earlier, Gray didn't seem very aggressive...

Forget it. If the Defiant Squad can accept this reality, why can't I? They're just partners anyway, so I'll just minimize contact.

629 Casual Chat

"Let me introduce you. This is Anna Victorovna Tsui, but she prefers the codename Angelia. Enterprise, Essex. From now on, you will be following her orders during the mission."

While everyone was gathered, Luo Fan began to act as a matchmaker, getting the ship girls to get to know Ange first.

The company had no objections and nodded, saying, "Okay, Ms. Anjie, we'll leave the rest of the operation to you."

“Same here. I hope we can have a pleasant working relationship,” Essex echoed.

Ange was pleased by their friendly attitude and then raised her glass, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you to work with me, this veteran commander. Please bear with me."

“Ange, I’d better give you a heads-up. These are two genuine World War II aircraft carriers. If you need to give them orders, I advise you to be careful with your words. Otherwise, it could easily cause some unnecessary misunderstandings, whether it’s the enemy or us.”

Lofan solemnly reminded Yu Anjie that this was a necessary precaution. After all, the Navy and the Army are of different sizes and may have slightly different understandings of the scale of fire support. If the Enterprise and Essex start dropping bombs because of this, the situation will become even more complicated.

Anjie nodded in response: "Okay, I'll be careful."

The first meeting went very well, and everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together. It was a pity there weren't two dishes, otherwise we could have had a proper breakfast.

Pascal raised his glass and casually asked, "Since you've even called Ange here, Luo Fan, is there some new plan that requires manpower?"

“Of course, I need a third commander to share some of the pressure,” Lovan replied. “The current situation is different from the special operation we planned before. It’s more like preparing for war now. It’s not just Umbrella; we’ve already run into the military several times, and our identities could easily provoke their hostility.”

Especially the Rebellion Squad; if the military notices their weapons, they might easily assume they're from the Ross Federation, leading to numerous conspiracy theories, like the classic Ross infiltrating the White Eagle for intelligence warfare...

But who knows, we might actually be able to make a big deal out of this later...

"What, you've changed your background, but you're still doing pretty much the same things as before?"

Luo Fan understood An Jie's joke and couldn't help but laugh at himself: "Almost? Far from it. At least I used to be a really good person, but now I've become more and more like the kind of person I hate."

Undeniably, the commanders in Girls' Frontline strive for the ideal of updating the world's edge. In contrast, what Lofan is doing now seems no different from causing destruction, except that no one knows they are doing bad things.

Ange saw everything Luo Fan described as annoying in the leader's video. To be honest, she found it more acceptable than she had imagined. At least he hadn't really killed anyone with pure malice, and he had tried to avoid some unnecessary deaths. Even with the most serious incident of blowing up the bridge, it seemed that only a handful of civilians were actually injured or killed in the end.

But Luo Fan had no idea how the leader had obtained this part of the video footage...

"Alright, that's enough chit-chat. Let's all go back and get some rest. We'll be setting off tonight."

After finishing his last glass of wine, Luo Fan leaned back, intending to take a quiet rest.

Perhaps sensing Luo Fan's annoyance, the girls didn't say much. After tidying up the scene, they returned to their rooms and remained silent.

Perhaps only Luo Fan himself was unaware of the irritation in his tone, which he thought he had hidden well enough.

Anjie pretended not to know and took a bottle of vodka to the balcony: "Then I'll go get some fresh air."

"Ugh......"

P.S.: The following text recommends "Serendipity" – anhydrous copper acetate. I'll be using this music a few more times later, so feel free to save it.

......

......

Do you have time to spend alone with me?

Luo Fan, who had intended to quietly drown his sorrows in wine, was stopped by Pascal before the new wine could be poured into his glass. Pascal reached out and placed his hand on Luo Fan's hand holding the glass.

Luo Fan naturally understood that she wanted to say something to him alone, so without thinking much of it, he pushed the cup aside, stood up, and said...

"Okay, is there anything you want to say?"

"Follow me..."

Why couldn't they say it here? Luo Fan didn't know, but watching Pascal get up and walk towards the elevator, a faint bitter smile playing on her lips, he realized he'd never actually seen her with that expression before...

A sense of unease crept into Luo Fan's heart, and he slowly followed, waiting for the elevator with the woman beside him.

After being shaped by the bustling metropolis of New York, Pascal transformed into a stunningly beautiful woman. Her vast knowledge added an intellectual touch to her charm. However, beneath the rouge and rouge lay a weary and gloomy face. It was only in the presence of Luo Fan that she could shed her disguise and stand beside him as her true self.

Hey~

The two entered the elevator, and only after Pascal pressed 2, -1, 2, 1, 01003 in sequence, and then pressed -1, did the elevator doors slowly close and begin to move downwards.

"Is that a password?"

Luo Fan asked.

“Yes, it’s the password. It’s to go to the underground laboratory. Since the elevator doesn’t have a floor 0, we use -1 instead of 0,” Pascal nodded slowly, then smiled and said, “The password is our wedding anniversary.”

......

"I'm so sorry..."

Luo Fan then realized that it was now June of the following year since he arrived in this world, four months after their first wedding anniversary. He had been so busy with his mission that he had completely forgotten about it...

But Pascal still smiled gently: "It's not your fault. I know you're very busy. Although I don't know what you've encountered over there, I know very well that the current situation has left you no time to take care of things at home. After all, I've never seen you so nervous. Around the time before and after our wedding, you were a very easygoing person."

......

Yes, it's only been a year and a half, which doesn't seem like a long time in a lifetime, but why have I changed so much...?

"..."

Luo Fan didn't speak, his eyes blankly staring at the numbers above his head that were gradually decreasing, as if it were a countdown, and something would happen once it ended.

And he didn't want to leave this four-meter square space...

630 is thinking about things.

"You know what? I've successfully reproduced a simple cloud map system. Although it was a bit difficult, I managed to reproduce it on the lab's computer with a simple ensemble algorithm, thanks to Gray's help."

Seeing that Lofan didn't speak, Pascal took the initiative to speak and started talking...

"Currently, its functionality is very limited, and it is only used to monitor the physical condition and psychological fluctuations of the dolls, including the cloud synchronization process of cloud map data. However, I still frequently check the girls' psychological state. As for this, if I were to use an electrocardiogram to describe their psychology, then describing it as calm as a mirror would be perfectly appropriate."

Pascal's words caught Lofan's attention. He looked at Pascal, seemingly wanting to ask something, but then swallowed his words, waiting for her to continue...

"A straight line doesn't mean they're dead, but it doesn't mean they're healthy either. In other words, it means they haven't had any emotional fluctuations for a long time. In this desperate struggle, they, like you, fell into a state of depression, or to use a more emotional term, 'numbness'..."

Pascal shook his head, then continued, "Because of this, I haven't contacted you privately for a long time, nor have I contacted them. I was worried that my concern might bring you unnecessary impulsiveness. Perhaps this... 'composure' will help you achieve your goals, but I am, after all, human, and we are, after all, human. Living in a normal human society, it's hard for me to understand how optimistic and carefree girls like you and them could have become like this over such a long period of time..."

......

"Because we can't see the end."

Luo Fan spoke slowly, his tone revealing exhaustion, which made his explanation sound like a cover-up.

But he wasn't lying. This was his biggest worry right now: he couldn't see the end. When would he be able to go back to how things were at the beginning, without having to run around like crazy, without having to cower in the shadows and live in constant fear?

If we had never intended to bring down Umbrella from the beginning, would the situation be completely different now?

Originally there was nothing, so where can dust settle?

But what kind of good ending is it to reign supreme in a wasteland overrun by zombies? This is not what the girls want to see. Ange, in particular, is naturally inclined to confront Umbrella without hesitation from the very beginning.

Luo Fan hesitated when it came to calling An Jie because he was considering leaving. He didn't dare to face his former friend in his current state.

"Did you plan where the destination would be from the beginning? Or did someone define a specific destination for you?"

The elevator doors slowly opened, and Pascal stepped out, turning back to look at the weary man behind him.

"I don't know. Maybe there was no finish line from the beginning. The moment I decided to take the first step, I had already broken the flag of the finish line."

"Yes, even you can't tell, so they certainly can't either. They haven't even considered where the destination is. It's like an off-road vehicle that's lost and almost broken down on a desert highway. It sees a country car driving forward with a clear destination and two red taillights on, and chooses to follow it. The off-road vehicle doesn't know where the other car is going, but at least it knows one thing: that car, which looks somewhat dilapidated, even impoverished, knows where the road is. It can find a place for them to settle down and make a living. And all they have to do is follow. If it goes, they go; if it stops, they stop. Because they can't see the road, only it knows it."

......

"How did they know where the car was going? They themselves had lost all sense of direction. The only guiding light was right in front of them. Even if they encountered a pack of ferocious wolves, they would use their own strength to drive them away. All of this was just to keep up with the car and get to where it was going."

Her gentle gaze seemed to melt into his eyes, and Luo Fan didn't even dare to look directly at her. However, he understood everything she meant, but he couldn't help but question whether he really had the ability to find that path. If in the end, even the sedan didn't know where it was going, and they were both in the same boat, what would the SUV think in the end?

“I know what you’re thinking. In the end, the SUV will never leave the sedan, because they’ve gotten used to this kind of life. The meaning of companionship ultimately surpasses the meaning of moving forward. No matter where the final destination is, as long as they can still see each other in the field of vision, there’s nothing to worry about anymore.”

She reached out her hand to the man before her, her smile a reminder of that morning a year ago when she had extended the same invitation to him. Only now, the dim light couldn't compare to the bright sunshine ahead, and the shadows beneath her eyelids seemed to stir restlessly between the lines.

"Perhaps your girls understand the meaning of companionship better than you do. You should learn from them. The end is up to God to decide. What we need to consider is how to postpone the end. We can lie down on the spot, throw a tantrum, or take a detour, but in the end, we must avoid meeting God too soon..."

...Luo Fan reached out and took her hand. It was still as warm as before, but with some traces of time and hard work. The diamond ring on her ring finger looked a little rough, but it was filled with the most touching tenderness, etched in time.

"Struggle with them, raise your middle finger at fate. Maybe Angela will teach you how to do it properly. I believe she'll want to teach you this skill when she comes here, after all, she's done this kind of thing quite a few times."

......

"Ah."

He nodded slowly, whether in acceptance or simply to appease the situation, it didn't matter what the actual outcome was. What mattered was that he was still willing to move forward, and that was enough...

Yes, it's enough that they're still willing to move forward. There's no greater sorrow than a broken heart. If one day he loses all motivation to move forward and can only drown in his ideals with regret, that would be the most terrifying thing. Pascal never dared to imagine such a future. Without exception, the once confident, optimistic, and witty commanders have all become like this.

"I hope you can understand that they are sitting here because they trust you, and that's why they have no regrets. I feel the same way."

“…Miss Helian, what are you saying?”

Looking at Dido beside her, Helian slowly shook her head, leaning against her tattered sleeping bag with a smile on her face...

"Nothing, just thinking about something..."

P.S.: I've been waiting for the Girls' Frontline collaboration with CODM lately. Sorry for the delay, but I pulled for the Little Princess character, so I can't just not play it (lol).

631 Eagle's Nest, Common Falcon

"Well then, the five minutes of touching and emotional moments are over, and it's time for us to get down to business."

As the two ventured deeper into the laboratory, more and more astonishing sights unfolded before Luo Fan's eyes: a spacious server room, diverse and personalized rooms, numerous storage rooms, a Nito body storage room, and even a weapons testing area... Just look at the bullet holes in the walls; one can only wonder how many terrifying little toys they've been tinkering with underground...

"Oh right, next door is Gray's workshop, a particularly spacious laboratory. It's best not to go in normally, as it contains a lot of dangerous materials. If you want to visit, just look for me."

As they passed through a heavy black iron gate, Pascal turned back and gave a word of advice. Lovan nodded in response and then continued to look around at the scenery.

They even plant some plants in the corridors, which is quite elegant...

Compared to a hidden underground laboratory, this place can now be called a "facility". How did they manage to create such a large space underground without being noticed by the outside world?

After the initial surprise came vigilance. Luo Fan couldn't help but wonder if Paradis had prepared more than just this one facility for research purposes outside of their mission.

Looking at Pascal, who seemed quite at ease, Lofan asked, "Is this the only facility you have, or are there others outside?"

“I don’t know about that. Gray didn’t mention it to me, but judging from the fact that I’ve been seeing Morido running around a lot lately... I think, personally, that’s probably true.”

......

Perhaps I should find an opportunity to ask Moridor what they've been researching lately...

"Here we are."

While they were thinking, the two arrived at the door of a laboratory. Luo Fan glanced around but did not see any signboard. He could only follow Pascal and enter using iris recognition.

It seemed that the lights in the entire underground facility were always on. Even in areas where no one was using them, the lights were still working, and Lovan was able to see several new things in front of him by the light.

A cabin can be seen, inside which sits a strangely shaped black drone. Its structure is not the four-fan drive that ordinary people can understand. It looks more like a black... huge eye socket...?

“This equipment is still in the experimental stage. There are two models, ‘Eagle’s Nest’ and ‘Red Falcon’,” Pascal said, tapping the control panel a few times. The robotic arm then began to operate, detaching from the drone. “Their role is not limited to reconnaissance. They can also assist humanoids in combat. By linking with the cloud map imprint of the humanoid, they will work according to the humanoid’s needs. Take ‘Eagle’s Nest’ in front of us as an example. It can be classified as a drone carrier. It stores several drones equipped with small machine guns and 7-15 rockets. It can be said that with them, snipers will no longer need to worry about being surrounded.”

This is one of Pascal's masterpieces. When she mentioned its functionality, her tone was full of confidence, as if she were showing Lovan a picture of a successful battle, rather than the motionless iron shell in front of him.

But the content of this introduction alone is enough to attract attention...

Luo Fan leaned forward and asked with a smile, "This specification doesn't seem to be prepared for special operations, and its functionality doesn't seem to fit our style either. In what scenario should it be used?"

"These things are designed to deal with real large-scale firefights. They can perform battlefield observation, fire support, and signal transmission. Except for being inedible, they can do almost everything else you can think of."

Pascal confirmed Lovan's guess, but this only puzzled Lovan more: "Is this for war?"

“Sort of, but don’t you have a tablet that can carry anything on your person?” Pascal turned around, nudged Lofan with his hand, and hinted in his eyes: “After completing the first imprint connection, every subsequent connection will be completed within thirty seconds. You can carry it with you and use it anytime, of course, only after this thing is completely finished…”

Pascal had barely finished speaking when he suddenly stopped, then turned his gaze back to the drone.

"what happened?"