Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Lukashenko asked me what to do."

"Then, I told him to calm down and not to do anything."

"Today, right here, in front of all those infected, I want to clarify something."

This is not a rumor!

As soon as he finished speaking, the infected people around him erupted in cheers, shouting the Patriot's name with fanaticism.

Patriot was a little unaccustomed to it; he hadn't seen such a scene in many years. He remembered the last time was before Ursus set out for Kazimierz.

What he found even more unfamiliar was this set of words, but since it was all pre-arranged, he could only read it word by word.

Anyway, the infected people around them won't care about these things.

“My Oripathy has indeed improved. Some of the people who have been with us for a long time should know this. In the past, I would have to pause after saying just a few words because of my throat problems. Now I can stand here and speak at length.”

Patriot gestured for the infected around him to be quiet, then continued, "I need to correct something here: Oripathy has not been cured, it has only been reversed back to the state it was in when it was first infected."

The infected people around them cheered again. Even if they couldn't be completely cured, being able to return to the state they were in when they were first infected was still a life.

Even Martha, in Charles's arms, trembled with excitement. If she had no other choice, who would want to watch themselves turn to stone little by little?

"Then, I must explain to you that this is neither a medical technology nor a magical spell."

Patriot had to signal to those around him to be quiet again before announcing, "It is... a priceless treasure... or rather, a miracle."

"Yes, I can't treat everyone."

Amidst the astonished gazes of all the infected, Patriot said, "We can't even guarantee its supply."

“That is a gift from the ancients… the miracle flower of Avalon that blooms only once every ninety-nine years.”

"There is nothing I can do about it."

“There’s not much I can do,” he said, looking down at Charles, then taking a bright green leaf from his pocket.

"Whether you can obtain the Crystal Flower after his appearance depends on yourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, the emerald green leaf in his hand suddenly transformed into countless petals and scattered.

Before the infected people around them could react, suddenly, as if spring had suddenly returned to the earth, countless beautiful flowers appeared one after another on the road, from the snow, from the eaves, and from around them.

"Oh dear, brave warrior, you still used the token I gave you," a white figure formed from petals scattered by the wind, holding a long staff and dressed in ancient style, "still for someone else."

"Well, I already knew that. Someone like you wouldn't use it for your own benefit."

“I was only invited here, but if I use a token, the meaning will be different.”

So, which lucky person caught your eye?

“Wizard,” Patriot’s silent voice rang out before everyone, “look at her, the woman tormented by illness, can her courage and love win her an everlasting flower?”

“Ah, a brave lady,” the wizard said, raising his staff. Martha flew out of Charles’s arms.

He could tell that this so-called wizard was the same person he had talked to that night.

So he was such an important person?

Martha floated in mid-air, her warm blanket stripped off, revealing a hideous crystal covering her body that made everyone gasp.

Her right hand was completely covered in Originium crystals, and there were several abnormal bulges on her body beneath the hospital gown. And her face... large chunks of Originium crystals spread from her neck all the way to her face, and all the hair on the right side of her head had fallen out, her scalp covered with Originium crystals...

Even his feet were covered in Originium crystals, and starting from his right hand, almost half of his body was covered.

Even the medical operators at Rhodes Island were stunned. With such severe Oripathy, it was no wonder that Dr. Aya still judged it to be hopeless even after the existence of an incredibly effective inhibitor.

The black crystals covering his entire body shimmered with an eerie light under the sunlight, but how terrifying they were to all the infected people around him.

Their grotesque and miserable appearance seemed to be a reminder to everyone that this was their future.

That is the fate of those infected.

No one can escape it.

“Ah, this is really serious,” the wizard holding the long staff said, looking at the Originium crystals covering Martha’s body. “Let me see, let me see your heart.”

"Let's see if you're really as brave as the hero claims to be."

"Oh? You and your husband were abandoned together?" The wizard shook his head and said, "Right at the border?"

Upon hearing this, Charles lowered his head with a bitter expression.

The so-called border is the starting point where the Ursus army drove infected people captured from all over the country to the snowfield.

The first hurdle the couple encountered there was that no one wanted to be with them.

Charles was already ill at the time, and no one would want to carry a burden across the snowfield.

"You set off alone, made a stretcher from broken curtains and wood found in the ruins, and dragged your seriously ill husband across the snowfield?"

"You encountered bandits and used a sharp Originium crystal to cast a spell and scare them away?"

Martha recalled the situation at the time, saying that no one would want to fight a woman who looked crazy, especially since she was a highly skilled sorcerer.

Touching the Originium crystal with bare hands and then using it to cast spells—this woman won't live long. There's no need to provoke such a madwoman.

Even thieves calculate the profits from robberies.

"You've encountered packs of wolves, which you drove away with magic; you've faced giant bears about to hibernate, which you killed with all your might; you've faced countless crises, but you've never given up on your seriously ill husband..."

The wizard looked at Martha in mid-air, "Five hundred kilometers... You walked across the snowfield like that, never once thinking of giving up..."

"Brave warrior, you have truly found an extraordinary person."

The infected people around them nodded in agreement. Yes, they knew all too well how remarkable Martha was. Even those of them who were sticking together had lost many lives along the way. A woman had risked her life to bring her seriously ill husband to the base...

"So, does she deserve an everlasting flower?" Patriot asked methodically.

"Of course it is worth it. Such an indomitable and indomitable spirit, a golden spirit full of courage and love, certainly deserves an everlasting flower."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand in front of him.

A shimmering crystal flower slowly emerged, displaying its brilliance under the rare sunlight on the snow-covered plain.

All eyes were drawn to it, that was... the priceless treasure the Patriot leader had mentioned... a treasure that could return the infected to their newly infected state?

Not only them, but also the shield guards maintaining order around them, the Rhodes Island operators behind Xia Yu, and the spies hidden under the Originium Arts...

All eyes were fixed on the crystal flower that radiated multicolored light.

Everyone's eyes were filled with fervor; the infected, Oripathy... what a heavy fate this was.

Everyone was harmed by this fate.

They could only flee to this desolate snowfield to eke out a living.

But while the enthusiasm was high, no one was hot-headed enough to dare to snatch it.

Even the spy chiefs who were eager to get their hands on it dared not make a move.

With the Patriot standing there and a wizard of unknown strength, who would dare to make a move?

They could only watch helplessly as the crystal flower, a symbol of hope, slowly approached Martha's body.

Finally, it transformed into light and enveloped her, and then, before everyone's eyes, a miracle occurred.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, enveloped in that light, the Originium crystals that almost completely covered normal flesh in Martha's hands shattered and fell from her body with a crack.

The skin underneath was fair and tender, without a single wound.

As the light from the everlasting crystal flower gradually entered her body, the Originium crystals slowly shattered into fragments and fell away bit by bit.

From the arms, from the feet, from the gaps in the clothes at the waist, from the face...

Black fragments fell, and new life gradually emerged.

The long chestnut-colored hair that had long since fallen out caused the Originium crystals on the scalp to grow at a visible speed, like green grass pushing aside pebbles.

Even Frostnova was stunned. Did she really go through something like this?

Amidst the intense anticipation of the crowd, the transformative metamorphosis was gradually completed. An infected person who was on the verge of death regained life, and his grotesque body, originally covered in Originium crystals, gradually returned to normal.

Martha opened her eyes only after the last fragment of Originium had faded away.

"I...this is..." She looked at her body, which seemed to have been reborn, and was too excited to speak.

“Brave lady, perhaps you need to sleep for a few hours to prepare for your new life,” the wizard said, extending his staff and tapping it on her forehead.

Martha fell into a deep sleep and slowly drifted into her husband's arms.

"Thank you... thank you... I..." Charles stammered, "If there's anything I can do to repay you... please take it..."

Despite receiving assurances from the Patriot, he was so overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing his wife's new life that he was almost speechless.

“No need to thank me. This lady earned herself a chance to be reborn through her courage and strong love,” the wizard shook his head, then looked at the Patriot. “Well then, this matter is settled, and the promise to that old friend has been made.”

“Hero, it’s time for us to say goodbye,” the wizard smiled slightly. “I hope that when I travel the world again, I will still see the traces you left behind.”

"Now, I should go back to Victoria. Alas, I've heard that my homeland has been plagued by disasters recently. Why is everything in Victoria always so bad?"

As he shook his head, his body gradually transformed into flower petals, drifting away in the wind.

Upon seeing this, everyone around felt a sudden tightness in their chests.

If this wizard leaves... then what will happen to their illness?

but……