Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“Hey, I told you you can’t generalize about people,” the researcher sighed. “I graduated at twenty-seven, but a year before I graduated, my senior, Eyjafjalla, was already able to build her own project team, while I was still looking for a job…”

"What was that saying again, hey, Bai Dong, that phrase you said to me in Yan language last time..."

“That’s called ‘learning has no order of precedence, and those who master it first,’” said Bai Dong, a Yan countryman, helplessly. “It means that there is no order of precedence in learning knowledge; whoever understands and masters it first will be ranked first.”

“Yes, yes, that’s it,” Alcott nodded vigorously, puffed out his chest, and said, “Well said! Losing to a genius is not shameful!”

“Alright,” Cindy smiled at his attempt to make amends, then looked at Bai Dong, “By the way, you Yan people are so strange, you can finish such a long sentence in just a few syllables.”

“This is actually quite normal… never mind,” Bai Dong was almost numb from explaining so much, “Yes, our language is just that concise.”

“And it’s hard to learn,” Alcott chimed in. “I still don’t understand the difference between the words pit, hole, hole, and eye.”

"This..." Bai Dong was speechless upon hearing this. He had explained it to the other party many times, but the other party just didn't understand, and he was almost driven to his wits' end.

"Sigh, I don't think you have much teaching talent. If you really want to learn, you should find a professional language teacher."

Sailing across the snowfield is always tedious, but after the researchers got to know each other, they came up with all sorts of recreational activities, one of which was learning each other's languages.

Well, no wonder he's a top student who stood out from thousands of applicants.

However, Alcott's seriousness during this process almost drove Bai Dong to the brink of despair.

"Speaking of the consultant claiming to be from Yan, do you believe it?" Cindy nudged Bai Dong, who was lost in thought, with her elbow. "You decide whether it's true or not."

"How can I explain this..." Bai Dong was very conflicted upon hearing this, because... well, the advisor didn't even know how many prefectures there were in Yan Kingdom... no, let alone prefectures, he didn't even understand the prefecture system itself...

Not to mention the various situations in the imperial court and local areas, all I can say is that if he were a citizen of Yan... he would be someone who grew up in another country but holds Yan citizenship.

But how should I put it? The innate cultural atmosphere can't be faked. Like the Syracuse Mafia, the fighting spirit ingrained in Ursus's bones, the poetry and music of Letania, and so on. Judging from the influence of these cultures, he can only be a Yan Chinese.

Other countries don't have this either. Even the East, which has a similar culture, only looks similar on the surface, but in reality, it's a misnomer.

Amidst these contradictions, coupled with that heavenly, book-like technology, he made a bold guess.

But he dared not speak, nor dared he ask.

“They must be from Yan,” Bai Dong replied. “Absolutely!”

“But I always felt that he was different from the Yan people I had met,” Alcott muttered upon hearing this. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he just felt different.”

"How many Yan people have you met?" Bai Dong chuckled. "It's like you only graduated at twenty-seven, while Miss Eyjafjalla was already able to conduct her own research at that time. You're both Letanians, are you the same?"

“How can that be the same thing?” Alcott retorted stubbornly, “But you said it yourself, success comes first…”

“Yes, the accomplished come first, that’s right,” Bai Dong nodded upon hearing this. “The consultant is so capable, he must be different from me and the ordinary Yan people you’ve met. Is there a problem?”

"Uh, this... no, that's not what I meant," Alcott was almost confused.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing," Cindy said with a helpless smile as she watched the two of them going back and forth. After checking the data in her hand, she said with a smile, "Alcott, you still haven't answered my question. What did your advisor say?"

“What else can I say?” Hearing this, the latter shrugged. “They just don’t believe me. They think I’ve been scammed, just not as outrageous as Nydia’s mentor who hired mercenaries to prepare for a rescue.”

"Hey, Bai Dong, what about you?" Cindy turned to another person, "What about your advisor?"

“He’s not planning to come either,” Bai Dong sighed. “He didn’t think I was lying to him. He honestly told me that Ursus is in chaos lately and it’s not a good place to go. He even advised me to be prudent and get out of this mess as soon as possible.”

"Sigh," the three of them exchanged a glance and sighed simultaneously.

As for why... it's because Xia Yu revealed the secret to them: the so-called "Eternal Flower" that the person who makes the greatest contribution gets is actually prepared for scholars like them.

Whoever can overcome the immediate technical hurdle will own the Everlasting Flower.

These researchers don't expect to be able to do it themselves, after all, the difficulty is obvious and it's beyond their capabilities, but the teaching staff behind them is a different story.

The researchers here are outstanding students from almost all of Terra's top universities, so they could naturally guess that the Everlasting Flower wasn't prepared for them.

Rather, it's a prestigious brand used to attract the top scientific researchers behind the scenes.

But everyone on Terra knows that Ursus is currently in chaos and war. They think they can get those precious scholars from various colleges and even countries to come to the Infected Base, which is in the eye of the storm, to do research based on just a few words from these students...

To be honest, even if those scientists wanted to come, they would have to consider whether the country behind them was willing to release them.

You can't blame them for that; their concerns are perfectly normal.

We can only hope that this war will end soon.

This eco-park in front of them is the hope for ending the war, or at least that's what they believe.

"You must be the researchers in charge of building the eco-park," a woman dressed as a doctor approached with a gaunt man, and asked, "Are you hiring?"

"Huh? Hiring?" Cindy was taken aback when she heard this, then exchanged a glance with her two companions.

"Excuse me, shouldn't we be looking into the logistics department if we're hiring?" she asked, puzzled.

“Oh, it’s like this, the logistics department said they didn’t know either, so they asked us to ask you scholars,” the doctor said with an embarrassed smile, extending his hand to Cindy. “Hello ma’am, my name is Elena, I’m the base’s doctor, and I’m currently in charge of medical affairs at this construction site.”

“Oh, just call me Cindy,” Cindy said, shaking her hand before looking behind her. “And this is…”

"Ah, he is..."

"You're Charles? Right?" Elena was interrupted excitedly by Alcott before she could finish speaking. "You mean Charles from that day? That lucky Charles?!"

"Lucky Charles" is his nickname now. With such a perfect wife and such a legendary miracle of coming back from the dead, he can hardly be described as lucky.

“Yes, sir,” Charles, who was behind Elena, looked up and replied with a smile, “Although there are certainly many Charleses in the base, I’m sure you’re talking about me.”

"Oh my god!" Upon hearing this, Cindy and Bai Dong finally realized what was happening. Cindy exclaimed and darted past Elena to Charles's side, "You're Charles!"

Then she realized what was happening and turned to look at Elena, grabbing her hand again. "You're not that Martha, are you? Um, but you said your name is Elena, is that your middle name or something..."

“No, of course I’m not Martha,” Elena replied helplessly. “I’m just a doctor. Although Ms. Martha has basically recovered, the doctors at Rhodes Island have arranged a lot of tests for her, so we won’t be able to see her for a while.”

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry," Cindy said, quickly letting go of the doctor's hand.

“It’s alright, I can understand everyone’s fervor for Ms. Martha,” Elena said with a smile. “After all, I’m a medical doctor myself, and what I saw that day also turned my world upside down.”

“Sigh, who isn’t?” Bai Dong sighed upon hearing this. “Even the lesions of Oripathy can be reversed…it’s practically a miracle.”

"What did you two come to ask again?" Alcott interjected.

“Oh, is that so?” Charles said helplessly. “Martha is better now, and I can’t be as despondent as before. I want to do what I can for the base and everyone.”

"But after asking around, they all recommended that I come here."

“Including me,” Elena continued. “Charles and his wife are graduates of St. John’s University and later taught together at Carsten University. Their professional abilities are absolutely outstanding. It would be a waste to let such talents work in a mine or as an accountant.”

"So we unanimously recommended him, and Ms. Martha came here to work after her check-up. We just didn't see any recruitment notices from you, so I, as the medical supervisor of the construction site, had no choice but to shamelessly bring him over to ask."

Are you hiring?

Upon hearing this, the three researchers exchanged glances and then said in unison, "Confess! How could we not confess!"

Let alone seeing Masa after recruiting her, just the fact that we can encounter a wild scientific research talent when everyone is recruiting people everywhere but with little result is something we absolutely cannot let go of!

459 Completely eliminate the possibility of natural disasters

"Charles, when will Ms. Martha's examination be completed?"

It was another morning, and Charles, who had come from the base, heard the familiar greeting once again.

Yes, that's right, he hears that greeting many times every day.

These fellow researchers made no attempt to hide their curiosity; it was written all over their faces.

But that's normal. Who wouldn't want to take another look after hearing about the miracle that happened to Martha?

These researchers' ideas were perfectly normal; they didn't even want to study Martha, they just wanted to see her for themselves.

It's similar to idol worship or something like that.

If it were a few researchers with no moral compass, he wouldn't have let Martha work here. But after these days of interaction, Charles found that these researchers were the conscience of the scientific community... everyone's moral standards were above average.

This is understandable, given that it aligns with their research projects.

“Don’t think about it for now,” Charles replied helplessly. “Martha’s research is also related to high-energy stones. She’s currently on the Orville with a group of doctors studying herself. Those doctors want to study whether Oripathy, which has been partially cured after such a miracle, will develop in the same way as ordinary infected people. Martha… she’s the same.”

"But aren't you living on the Orville? Why don't you just ask the doctor about this? Why are you asking me?"

“This…” The researchers around them exchanged glances. “Well, how should I put it, our relationship with the medical department isn’t exactly… well, harmonious.”

“The main problem is that they don’t really like us,” Cindy said with a smirk.

"Uh," Charles said, too embarrassed to ask any further questions.

"Well, since there's no news, everyone should go back to their workstations. Let's disperse," Alcott waved his hand and said to the researchers around him.

They all obediently dispersed.

Only one person remained. "Um, Charles, perhaps this is a bit offensive, but my teacher really wants to see Ms. Martha..."

Hearing this, Charles frowned. He hadn't had much contact with this researcher, let alone his teacher. What if the researcher had any ill intentions...?

Don't blame him for being cautious. What happened to Martha was enough to drive most scholars crazy. It was Oripathy, and it could actually reverse the rate at which Originium eroded the human body. It was as unbelievable as turning a stone into flesh.

Before he could figure out how to refuse, Cindy exclaimed in surprise, "Your teacher? Simmons, isn't your teacher in Colombia? Do you really want Charles to take Ms. Martha to Colombia?"

"Forgive my bluntness, but this is not a good idea. We all know how unscrupulous some researchers at Columbia University are. I don't know your teacher, but I know the methods of our country and some of our predecessors."

Hearing this, Charles was even more determined to refuse. He knew a thing or two about how crazy the Colombian scholars were in Ursus, even if it was just hearsay. But since Cindy, a Colombian herself, was saying so...

"I'm sorry, Simmons, I can't..."

“No, no, no, you’ve misunderstood,” Simmons quickly said. “Of course I can’t let you and Ms. Martha go to Colombia. As a Colombian, I know better than anyone what it’s like there. If word gets out about Ms. Martha’s story, you’ll most likely disappear.”

"So you mean..." Bai Dong asked thoughtfully from the side.