Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Ritsuka," Natsume suddenly called out to her.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Fujimaru Ritsuka turned around in confusion.

“I’ve got your back here,” Xia Yu gave her a bright smile. “Don’t worry, at least in Terra right now, I can keep my word.”

Lostbelt... I can't help you much, but at least in this world, you can put aside your responsibilities and relax as if it were a vacation.

"..." Hearing this, the girl was silent for two seconds, then looked at him with the same bright smile, "Then I'll leave it to you."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Welcome to Storm Borde!" As soon as the two boarded the ship, several Nemo sailors lined up and sprayed out a bunch of colorful firework barrels.

"Hello, hello, you must be Mr. Xia Yu, right?" The chubby new director walked over with a big smile, grabbed Xia Yu's hand and shook it excitedly. "I am the new director of Chaldea, Goldruf Mujik."

"We are affiliated with the Clock Tower Law and Politics Department. Welcome to our site!"

“Um, there’s no need to be so polite,” Xia Yu replied. “After all, Chaldea and I are old friends.”

"I learned all my magic knowledge at Chaldea!"

“Yes, yes, yes,” just then Leonardo da Vinci walked over with a smile, “the kind of learning that involves kidnapping Chaldea’s only Master and extorting knowledge from us.”

"Haha, even the person who was kidnapped didn't have any objections," Xia Yu said with a smile, putting her arm around Fujimaru Ritsuka's shoulder. "We've become very good friends, haven't we?"

"Pah! Who said I have no objections!" Upon hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka ducked out of his arms, then stood tall and proud next to little Leonardo da Vinci, righteously and sternly accusing him: "I have a huge objection, okay!"

“Every time they kidnapped me, they would hang me back. The whole of Uruk went from being astonished at first to getting used to it... Do you know how much of a blow that was to my fragile heart?”

"Not to mention you're also eyeing my cute junior!"

"Ha, you and Mashu have no future," Xia Yu raised her head and looked at her with disdain. "Only I can give her true happiness!"

"Hmph, I don't care!" Fujimaru Ritsuka retorted sharply, refusing to back down an inch. "As long as there is love, that's enough!"

"Naive! What can your so-called love possibly achieve?"

"Hmph, you just don't understand..."

The new director was dumbfounded when he saw this. No... is everything between you guys really that messy?

Leonardo da Vinci, meanwhile, watched the two bickering figures with a wistful look, sighing...

However, we can't let them continue like this; there are more important things to do.

"Ahem," she coughed lightly, thinking of this, and said to the two of them, "Actually... Mashu was very worried about you, so she never lost contact with us..."

Upon hearing this, the two men froze.

"Mash, let me explain!" Fujimaru Ritsuka wailed as she lunged at the communications console in the control room. "That's not what I meant..."

“Ahem, Mashu,” Xia Yu said awkwardly, “we were just joking.”

“Yes, I was just kidding,” Little Da Vinci said with a sweet smile. “Actually, Mashu isn’t on the channel.”

"Phew," Fujimaru Ritsuka and Natsume both breathed a sigh of relief and simultaneously reached out to wipe away non-existent cold sweat from their foreheads.

“Da Vinci, dear…” Ritsuka looked at Da Vinci with a resentful expression.

“Teacher, this joke isn’t funny at all,” Xia Yu said, looking over at the teacher.

"Ahem, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing," Leonardo da Vinci said with a smile. "More important is the business at hand."

“Oh, right, business comes first,” Xia Yu said, taking out the Holy Grail from her chest and handing it to Little Da Vinci. “I replenished my mana with Originium before coming here, so it should be enough now.”

"Hmm? This Holy Grail..." The latter took the Holy Grail from his hand, but then felt that something was not right.

"Is there a problem?" Xia Yu asked, puzzled.

“Oh, no problem,” Little Leonardo da Vinci said, handing the Holy Grail to Nemo, the sailor, and instructing him to load it onto the Storm Borde before quickly taking off and leaving that awful place.

“Phew, with the magic supply, we don’t have to worry about Storm Borde being attacked anymore,” she said to Xia Yu with a smile. “Thank you so much.”

"Hey, why be so formal?" Xia Yu waved her hand when she heard this. "If I hadn't learned so much at Chaldea, I wouldn't be doing so well now, would I?"

"By the way, what about Miss Sion? I'm counting on her and my teacher to help me improve my simulation of Gaia."

“She’s researching Originium,” Little Da Vinci said, troubled. “You know, she’s an alchemist from the Atlas Institute, and she goes crazy when she sees something like that…”

“Originium…sigh,” Xia Yu sighed upon hearing this, “This thing has a complicated origin; it’s a creation of a previous civilization.”

"However, one person's research is ultimately limited. I have a large group of local scientists there, as well as all kinds of papers on Originium research. Maybe I can find some inspiration there."

"Speaking of which, to what extent do you need our help?" Little Leonardo asked curiously. "If it's about completely analyzing the technology used to create Gaia using local technology, I'm afraid we don't have that much time."

There is another world waiting for them to save.

“There’s no need to go to such extremes,” Xia Yu waved her hand upon hearing this. “We don’t need to replicate the pseudo-Gaia using local technology. We just need to find a way to control the pseudo-Gaia system using local technology.”

"After all, what I want to do is not just one or two eco-parks, but to make them a line of defense on the border. I can't control so many by myself."

“It sounds spectacular,” Leonardo da Vinci exclaimed, marveling at the sight of a defensive line built of civilization to repel enemy attacks.

“I have serious doubts that the simulated Gaia can achieve what you expect,” Sion said to Xia Yu as he walked in from outside, frowning. “If the demons are really as terrifying as you describe, then this technology won’t be able to stop them at all.”

"The technology of creating Gaia was indeed invented to continue civilization under extremely harsh conditions, and it did take into account the impact of pollution on the human mind, so it added the function of anchoring reason."

"But compared to a demon that could destroy an interstellar civilization, such an effect is almost negligible."

“Ah, as for this, I didn’t go into enough detail during the previous communication due to time constraints,” Xia Yu quickly explained, “I didn’t expect this technology to keep demons out of civilization.”

"It only needs to block the pervasive influence and pollution of the evil. Once people develop a fear of the evil, the evil will pollute them with memes and turn them into collapse bodies. But the natives of Terra can actually deal with the collapse bodies."

"All I need is a line of defense, to prevent the vile corruption from destroying the defenses of Terran civilization before I defeat the possible true evil that appears on Terra."

"As for using this technology to fight against real evil... I'm not that naive."

“That’s fine,” Sion breathed a sigh of relief. What she feared most was that Xia Yu would place all his hopes on this technology… So, before it could withstand the evil spirits, would he really provide Chaldea with enough magic to let them leave?

There is a coordinate in Storm Borde, which is the diving point they set when they escaped the alien gods, right in the Arctic Ocean.

According to Captain Nemo, Stormborde's journey here is not a one-way ticket; as long as they have enough magic, they can return to their own world.

The problem lies in the magic.

Although Xia Yu was an old acquaintance of Chaldea, trusted by Ritsuka and Da Vinci, Sion had never met him.

And...it's too suspicious...everyone could see Ritsuka's genuine joy after he met her, and Sion even asked Leonardo da Vinci about their past.

In her eyes, this person was extremely suspicious!

He was neither Enkidu nor did he acknowledge Kingu's identity, yet he appeared in that divinely created body, deliberately approached Chaldea in Babylon, and ultimately sacrificed himself heroically in front of everyone.

Then here, when they encountered difficulties once again, he appeared again... even though he should have died at that singularity!

How did he survive? He has many secrets, and what is his connection to us drifting here?

These are all problems, and big problems at that. Sion has to be on guard. His confrontation with the alien gods is like walking on thin ice, and he cannot afford to make the slightest mistake.

Her so-called obsession with Originium research was just an excuse; she had been secretly observing this person all along.

When he casually pulled out the Holy Grail, which was now of paramount importance to Chaldea, and generously handed it to Leonardo da Vinci, Chion's investigation came to an end.

This person has many problems, but at least for now, after clarifying the demands of both sides, he poses no immediate threat to Storm Borde.

496 Teacher, Cai Cai, let's make some scooping!

"Hmm, you've done quite well these past few years."

After learning about Xia Yu's accomplishments over the years, Little Da Vinci nodded in satisfaction.

"I haven't neglected my studies either, teacher, I'm very satisfied!"

Seeing the tiny Leonardo da Vinci strike such a mature pose, Xia Yu smiled and asked, "Da Vinci, look here..."

"This... let me think..."

The two began a heated discussion, with Sion occasionally chiming in, and even the new director was able to offer his own opinions, after all, he was a member of the Clock Tower.

Only Fujimaru Ritsuka stood there dumbfounded, watching their enthusiastic exchange, and then listened carefully...

Can't understand……

These questions are way beyond her level!

Although she is generally a competent support magician in practical combat, her competence is limited to the field of competent support in practical combat.

The term "combat-oriented" refers to magicians who don't conduct any research on magic and simply use magic to fight. In short, unless you're exceptionally skilled in combat, these types of magicians generally don't have a very high status.

She's currently in a situation where she's a high school dropout who's barely passed the exams, facing a group of professors discussing her graduate students' research topics.

Who am I? Where am I? What are they saying? .jpg

I don't understand! I can't understand it at all!

She looked at Xia Yu's back.

Back in Babylon, he was an even worse student than me, while I at least had some basic magic skills. He really just relied on the physical strength of a divinely created weapon to fly away.

How come after such a long separation... the underachiever became a top student?

He was self-taught!

Even Leonardo da Vinci himself praised it highly!

At this moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka really wanted to slap Xia Yu on the back of the head and say to him fiercely: You scoundrel! This is a shameful betrayal!