Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"No, Petal, you actually let her attend the meeting at this time? After what happened, how could the guerrillas not investigate anyone who had contact with Charles?"

"With such a high chance of her being exposed, why..."

“Because until now, no one has come to arrest me, understand?” Elena said coldly. “The guerrillas did come to investigate, Charles, but he didn’t mention me. On the contrary, many people can testify that I tried to dissuade him several times.”

“If they had evidence, I would have been arrested long ago, according to the guerrillas’ methods.”

"What if they're planning a long-term strategy to catch a big fish..."

“Elena is right,” Petal nodded. “I deliberately used Originium Arts to hide around her for a long time, and I didn’t find anyone monitoring her.”

He has great confidence in his Originium Arts.

“But Elena, if possible, let’s leave some things to the people below. Don’t get yourself into trouble so easily,” Petar nodded to Elena. “It’s not easy to get a few of us who share the same views together.”

"..." Hearing this, Elena fell silent. Was it because she didn't want to pass the difficulties on to her subordinates?

Who could blame her for not having anyone capable of handling things? It was only possible for her, as a doctor, to easily sway Charles. Others either had no contact with Charles normally or lacked the necessary medical expertise, and Charles would have to believe them if she tried to talk to him.

So she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

“Since things have come to this, let’s think about how to clean up the mess,” Petal sighed, “the dukes’ responses, cutting ties with those exposed subordinates, and our plans…”

Let's discuss it.

“Your Grace… alas,” David was the most frustrated of them all, “I have failed two missions in a row.”

He then glared at Petar, saying that if he hadn't burned down the granary himself, the mission wouldn't have failed.

It was precisely because of the repeated failures of the missions that he was so angry today, biting anyone he could.

"Don't worry, we'll vouch for you on this point. It's all not a matter of war," Petal could only comfort him.

“Report the truth,” Elena sighed and said, “After all, no one could have predicted that the Patriots would make this public.”

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Yes, who would have thought they would do something like this?

Thanks to him, everyone now knows the secret to the Patriots' return to the top.

An everlasting flower... such a priceless treasure!

But what good will it do to know?

The wizard who possessed the Everlasting Flower has left, and the only remaining one has been publicly designated as a prize for the so-called Eden Project.

If they were truly infected, staying at the base to receive Rhodes Island's inhibitors would have been a good option, but unfortunately they weren't.

I can't possibly be a spy here for the rest of my life.

Neither the Duke nor he himself wanted to do this.

"The scheduled communication time is almost up, let's talk about the rest later," Petal sighed, seeing that the group was listless and unable to say anything, and could only take out his communicator to contact the dukes.

"..."

“Petal, I hope to have some good news before I go to sleep tonight,” the Duke of Belgrade’s voice came through the communicator. “Tell me, how is your plan progressing?”

Has the base where the infected individuals are based experienced unrest?

“I’m sorry, Your Grace,” Petal said with a bitter face, “our plan has failed, and an unexpected situation has arisen.”

"However, I think the adults will like this surprise."

"Oh? Does that mean there's another surprise?" Grand Duke Vanya said sarcastically. "You didn't just mess things up and are now making up some excuse to fool us, did you?"

"David, I'm about to lose another group of loyal subordinates, aren't I?"

“I’m sorry, Your Grace,” David replied helplessly, “there was indeed an unforeseen accident.”

"Hmph, an accident? What kind of accident makes you so self-righteous in your defense of us?" The weak voice of the Grand Duke of Ural came through the communicator. "Elena, my favorite child, tell me what this so-called accident is."

Has something strange happened on that ship again?

The dukes are having a major headache lately. The unrest that is spreading throughout the country is not entirely caused by the power of their few families, but also by the countless vassal nobles below them.

They were merely representing the interests of the nobles as a few of the largest powers, and although they were powerful, they could not completely ignore the voices from below.

The recent setbacks in the dukes' actions have drawn criticism from the nobles below. The hundreds of thousands of troops are awkwardly stationed on the defensive line, and the daily rations alone are not a small amount.

This is not entirely the army of these few noble families; there are also the forces of many vassal nobles. The original plan was to force the infected to rebel due to the harshness and barrenness of the snowfield, but with the aid of that ship, the infected in the snowfield will definitely be able to survive this winter.

The nobles below were not happy. Their troops were idle all day and were just sitting on the defensive line, which cost money. It was okay in winter, but if the infected could survive until next year and then take root in the snowfield, when would that be?

Who has that much spare money to waste here with them?

The prevailing opinion now is either to take advantage of their unstable foothold and launch a decisive attack, or for everyone to disband and go their separate ways.

The dukes were under immense pressure every day, waiting for the spies at the infected base to send back some good news to reassure their men.

And now you're telling me you guys messed things up for me?

That's why the dukes reacted this way after hearing that the plan had failed.

Elena shuddered slightly upon hearing the Duke of Ural's voice, especially the words of her favorite child. She suppressed the dark memories that surfaced and forced herself to remain calm as she replied, "Your Grace, this is indeed wonderful news for you."

"Patriot...he did not hide his illness as we had planned, but instead made it public."

"Yes, although his Oripathy has not been completely cured, he has returned to the stage when he was first infected."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the Duke on the other end of the communicator fell silent.

“Well, that’s certainly good news for you, Grand Duke of the Urals,” Grand Duke Vanya finally said after a long silence.

This was indeed good news for the Grand Prince of the Urals, whose health had been deteriorating ever since the Sixth Army was dealt a disastrous defeat by that ship.

“I need the whole story,” the Grand Duke of Ural said, ignoring the Grand Duke of Wan’s sarcasm, and demanded that the spies recount the entire process.

His voice trembled slightly.

“…That’s it,” Elena recounted everything that had happened that day in one breath.

"..."

"A crystal flower that never fades?"

"Victoria?"

"Avalon?"

"Queen Vivian? Is there such a person as Victoria?"

Puzzle, doubt, excitement—a mix of emotions swirled among the dukes.

"That infected person... has he really been cured, Elena?" the Grand Duke of Ural asked, trembling.

“Yes,” Elena replied immediately, “tens of thousands of people witnessed her rebirth.”

"But please allow me to correct one point: she was not cured; her Oripathy simply went from a life-threatening condition to a mild case, similar to the initial symptoms of infection."

“A complete transformation…a new life…” Grand Duke Vanya murmured to himself upon hearing this, “Such a precious treasure was used on a lowly infected person…what a waste…”

"They should all be dragged back and hung on the gallows!"

“Victoria…sigh, that land does indeed have legends of fairies…”

They did not doubt the spies' words because of the existence of the blood pact.

"Isn't there still one left?" the Grand Duke of Ural commanded weakly. "Elena, I order you to enter that so-called Eden Project... to find out the truth about the people on that ship..."

"At the same time... make sure you obtain the Everlasting Flower. I know what you need most. I promise you that if you complete the mission, I will set you free."

"I swear on the honor of the Grand Prince of the Urals."

454 Researchers' Demands

"consultant!!!"

After a long day of work, Xia Yu returned to the Orville.

As soon as I reached the bridge entrance, I saw a group of people rushing over eagerly.

“That, that, that everlasting flower…” The leading researcher looked at Xia Yu expectantly.

The earth spirit behind her facepalmed, and Eyjafjalla stood awkwardly beside her.

"Hmm? What's wrong with the Everlasting Flower?" Xia Yu asked knowingly.

"Can we take a look?" the researchers asked all at once. "I promise, we won't touch it! We'll just look at it!"

"Yes, yes, we'll just take a look."

"Yes, we promise not to touch it!"

"Let's take a look!"

"Oh, I see," Xia Yu drawled, "No way!"

"Huh? Why?" Upon hearing this, the researchers were filled with despair. "We really just wanted to take a look."

"Heh, guess whether I believe it or not," Xia Yu chuckled, "This is a reward for the winner. What if you guys ruin it?"

"I can't possibly go to Merlin and get another one."