Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Hermann".

286 You scoundrel, you tricked me?

“My father is the mayor of Siesta,” Ceylon said with a wry smile, “and Siesta’s preparations for natural disasters…”

"Right now, let alone preparations, citizens and tourists don't even know that a natural disaster might occur."

Ceylon looked worried.

“My father went to work in the new development zone three months ago and will not be back for a few days. Now all the big and small things in the city have been handed over to his secretary, Kronin.

"And Cronin is also the messenger of natural disasters in this city. All we need to do now is go back to the city government, bring back the data and other samples, and we can let him know what's going on."

At this point, her expression brightened. "Although I am the mayor's daughter, I haven't been very involved in matters concerning the city government."

"But now that I have confirmed the results, I can ask my family for help."

Seeing her confident demeanor, the Rhodes Island members exchanged glances.

Eyjafjalla gently tugged at Xia Yu's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Senior... things aren't that simple."

Although she dedicates most of her time to scientific research, Eyjafjalla is also very perceptive when it comes to matters related to her profession.

When she previously sought to share intelligence with Ceylon, Ceylon provided a variety of data.

This includes all the data from the so-called monitoring station that has been monitoring the volcano for the past few months.

These data are very abnormal, but Ceylon's words don't match up at all.

After hearing Eyjafjalla's account, Xia Yu walked up to Ceylon. Although he already knew the cause and effect, he didn't want to be labeled a prophet, so he asked a question he already knew the answer to.

"Miss Ceylon, you're saying you suspect there's a problem with the equipment at the monitoring station, right?"

“Yes,” Ceylon asked, puzzled, “Otherwise what?”

Hearing this, Xia Yu turned to the three of them and shrugged.

Provence remained silent, Skyfire sighed while holding his forehead, and Eyjafjalla turned her head away.

“Miss Ceylon,” she explained to Ceylon, “this is not true.”

"Why?" Ceylon asked, puzzled.

“It’s normal that you don’t notice,” Eyjafjalla sighed. “The Originium Studies program at Victoria National University isn’t really a program for professional volcanologists and natural disaster experts, and you don’t have much practical experience either.”

"Therefore, the flaws in these data cannot be seen at the moment."

“Instruments don’t lie,” Eyjafjalla said with a wry smile. “I’ve dealt with a lot of instruments related to volcanic research. If the instrument really was malfunctioning, these data…”

She pointed to the data provided by Ceylon and said, "Either you receive no data at all, or you receive a jumble of gibberish. At the very least, the data will keep looping for a certain period of time, but even so, this time unit will not exceed three hours."

"And the data you provided... this data is too 'real,' spanning more than several months. If I hadn't come to the site and looked at this data, I wouldn't have been able to find any mistakes, nor would I have realized the anomaly of the volcano."

"But instruments don't lie; they won't fabricate data to fool us."

“Only humans can do this,” Skyfire quietly tightened his grip on his staff.

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Ceylon was stunned.

"This...this is impossible...who is it..."

Upon hearing this, Tianhuo and Provence exchanged a glance.

They also considered that this was a conspiracy by Siesta, because they had discovered the truth about the impending volcanic eruption and planned to stage a scene to say that the equipment had malfunctioned.

And Eyjafjalla pointed it out like this...

But no matter how long they waited, the fully armed thugs never appeared.

Seeing their wary expressions, Eyjafjalla waved her hand gently, indicating that nothing had happened.

As for why, it's because Senior Xia Yu still looked as relaxed as ever.

"Kronin..."

Ceylon said a name.

“Kronin, the messenger of natural disasters,” she looked at Xia Yu and the others, “if… what you’re saying is true, then… only he could do this.”

"But why?"

Ceylon couldn't understand.

“Kronin was my father’s right-hand man. For so many years, he managed Siesta perfectly. Why would he…”

"Why? It's simple," Xia Yu smiled slightly upon hearing this, "How can a true man remain subservient to others for long?"

"What did you say?" Ceylon didn't understand at first.

"It means that guy named Kronin must be up to something," Skyfire sighed upon hearing this.

"That should be right, right?"

"Hmm...it's not entirely accurate, but it fits perfectly here."

Xia Yu stroked her chin and nodded.

“Now you understand?” Skyfire raised an eyebrow smugly and said to Ceylon, “Miss, your father’s position is in jeopardy.”

“No, that doesn’t make sense…” Ceylon still frowned.

"No, you've already graduated from university, surely you can't even accept this bit of the darkness in society?" Tianhuo asked in astonishment.

“No, it’s not that I can’t accept Kronin’s betrayal, but…” Ceylon bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and then looked at Xia Yu and the others, saying in a desperate tone, “My father, his methods… are not simple.”

"Although it's not nice to say that about Father, I don't think Kronin could do these things under his nose..."

“Who can say for sure about something like this?” Xia Yu shrugged. “Instead of worrying about it here, you might as well come back with us and find out the truth.”

"Perfect timing. The equipment here is too rudimentary. We've finished collecting our samples, and we can do more tests back at the hotel."

“Okay!” Hearing this, Ceylon stopped hesitating. “Then let’s go now.”

-

“So, that’s pretty much it,” Xia Yu shrugged at the doctor, “that’s how we found her.”

“Hey, saying you picked it up is really rude,” Ceylon rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not like I’m completely helpless.”

"Then who was being chased around by Originium Bugs on the volcano?" Xia Yu smiled slightly.

“Uh…” Ceylon rolled her eyes when she heard this.

She admitted that she couldn't win an argument with Xia Yu.

I simply turned my head to look in Eyjafjalla's direction, looking at the data on the instrument to calm my chaotic mind.

“The isotope comparison results and the final analysis results of other samples are out,” Eyjafjalla said with a somber expression. “The frequency of volcanic activity is indeed on an abnormal upward trend. Although it may not lead to an immediate natural disaster, we cannot ignore it.”

"My previous judgment was correct. Volcanic activity should reach a critical point within two to four weeks, after which it will trigger a volcanic eruption."

"The supporting evidence is the following data..."

As Eyjafjalla continued her eloquent explanation, Provence swallowed hard and looked around.

Ceylon was bewildered, Skyfire tried to understand, and the Doctor, whose expression was unseen, only nodded occasionally, seemingly in agreement.

Only Xia Yu didn't care at all.

"Did you understand?" she nudged Xia Yu with her elbow and asked softly.

“Not at all,” Xia Yu shrugged, “so I don’t plan to listen to any of it.”

“I…I can understand a little bit,” Provence breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Xia Yu’s reply.

Looks like I'm not the worst person in the room.

That's good.

Looking at the expressions of those other people, she thought she was the only one who hadn't understood anything.

"As expected of Eyjafjalla, even I have to learn a lesson again."

Tianhuo sighed.

"I still think we should go to the city hall and sound them out."

Ceylon took a deep breath and said, "Whether it was Kronin or not, he can do whatever he wants to me now."

"At least on the surface, that's how it is, and besides, I also have the underworld..."

"So I wanted to sound him out and see if he was really behind this."

Upon hearing this, the professor and Xia Yu exchanged a glance.

Well, while this plan is somewhat naive, it is generally feasible.

Without a complete breakdown in relations, Kronin couldn't really do anything to Ceylon; at most, he could only forbid her from going to the volcano under the pretext that it was too dangerous.

However, now that she has this data, Ceylon no longer needs to rush to the volcano; her next battlefield will be in Siesta.

"Keep going," the doctor nodded to her. "I'll be praying for you."

"You mean, you have the heart to watch her go into this den of tigers and dragons alone?" Hearing this, Xia Yu glanced at the professor. "Aren't you going to keep her company?"