Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“What are you planning to do…” Ignoring Xia Yu’s large hand wreaking havoc on his head, the Doctor muttered to himself, “Barrier… Siesta Volcano… You said it could be delayed for three months…”

"Yes, you plan to cover the entire volcano with a so-called barrier to adjust the environment and delay the eruption..."

"No! Wait!"

Thinking of this, the doctor suddenly looked up, "A barrier covering the entire volcano... a spell that can adjust the natural environment..."

Her voice trembled.

"Such a thing... such a thing... used in a tiny place like Siesta... is a huge waste of its potential!"

“Let me think… Rhodes Island… Kazimierz… everything you did… Red Pine… the Snowfield trade route…”

The doctor exclaimed in horror, "Could it be that you intend to..."

"Is it not allowed?" Xia Yu smiled slightly.

"No...it's just...but..."

The doctor was momentarily speechless.

After a long while, she finally sighed.

"Ursus will go crazy."

"From dukes to emperors, ministers, generals... every nobleman... every commoner..."

"Everyone will go crazy for it, go crazy for you."

"Is it not allowed?" Xia Yu asked again.

"Yes, of course!" The doctor's voice was tinged with excitement. "There's nothing that can't be done!"

"We can't, but you can!"

"To be honest, I've been annoyed by that idiot Ursus for a long time too!"

Rhodes Island alone is not enough.

A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime; Rhodes Island is incapable of protecting such a treasure.

But Xia Yu... is perfectly fine!

With the technology in his hands, who dares to steal it?

How many divisions do you have? And how many meteorites can you withstand?

Who knows, Xia Yu, that ruthless killer, is secretly hoping those people will come and snatch it away!

“No, we should keep it a secret for now,” the doctor excitedly planned, gesturing wildly. “We’ll build it up in secret, first creating a small decoy in an inconspicuous place, and then leak the news to the nobles.”

"Then they embellished it with great enthusiasm, making it as elaborate as possible. Weren't the nobles curious as to why the Patriot had suddenly regained his former glory?"

"Look at this oasis of birdsong and fragrant flowers in the icy wilderness of Ursus this winter! Isn't this a miracle?"

"Let the Patriots show themselves around there a few times, and when they come to probe, the Patriots must act as if they want to wipe them out!"

Dr. Lian Xiayu was secretly rubbing her head without her noticing. Normally, she would have jumped up and down, but now she was completely absorbed in it.

"First, kill one or two waves of spies. When it's almost time, send a 'lucky one' back to let them know that the Patriots value this place very much."

"Then, hehehe, combined with the previous rumors about eternal youth and immortality, the Patriots put on a show of fighting to the death, waiting for their army to advance..."

“A pair of arch-enemies passing by,” Xia Yu continued with a smile, “The battle between Karna and Arjuna affected those armies, resulting in their immediate demise.”

"The dukes' armies were wiped out in a single day, while we, on the one hand, demonstrated our strength and rightfully eliminated all the nobles who were capable of threatening the snowfield."

"On the one hand, it also boosted its reputation, and Ursus's popularity skyrocketed..."

“Yes, yes, that’s it…” Hearing this, the doctor nodded, then snapped out of his frenzy and finally noticed that Xia Yu was rubbing her head.

Enraged, she slapped away his mischievous right hand. "We're talking about serious matters!"

"Also, who are Karna and Arjuna?"

"Didn't I already say?" Xia Yu shrugged. "A pair of arch-enemies."

"And another thing, I think you're even crazier than me," he said, looking the doctor up and down. "We were just talking about changing the snowfield environment, and you've already veered into the topic of killing to establish authority..."

"Or just gather people together and kill them, tsk tsk tsk."

Upon hearing this, the professor retorted defiantly, "Is scheming considered insane?"

Then he started muttering some incomprehensible words.

“Finally, you should have come to us to discuss something this big beforehand,” the doctor complained, “instead of talking to me alone here.”

“It’s still far from being finalized,” Xia Yu said, shrugging. “I’ve never used this technique before; this is my first time using it.”

"What if we fail? If I tell you beforehand, where will I put my face?"

"Besides, haven't I already told you?"

"Wait!" The professor noticed a blind spot. "It can fail again???"

Her face was filled with terror. "We told Siesta we had three months, just like you said... If we fail..."

"Don't worry, do you think I'm that unreliable?" Xia Yu waved her hand. "I don't have the surname Tohsaka."

"We have backup plans, so don't worry."

313 The Almighty

Which backup plan is it?

The doctor looked horrified. "Wait, is this a problem with the backup plan?"

"We're still on the volcano!"

"What if something goes wrong with your magic array and it detonates the volcano?"

"A magic array capable of altering the environment would be in big trouble if it had even the slightest problem, right?"

"Temperature, climate, and so on—if something goes wrong, people will die!"

"No, do you think I really don't understand anything?" Xia Yu looked at the doctor helplessly. "Relax, relax, there really won't be any big problems."

Even if it exists, there's nothing to fear with the Holy Grail in hand.

"Wait a minute..." Xia Yu suddenly looked at the professor with suspicion, "Are you such a coward?"

He looked the latter up and down, then stroked his chin. "Hmm, just say what you want to say directly. There's no need to beat around the bush."

"I'm just... well, I'm just curious," the doctor said with a grin, his previous fear gone. "Really, I'm just curious."

"You're curious about what gives me the confidence to clean up the mess even if I mess things up, right?" Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her after hearing this.

"Heh heh," the doctor chuckled awkwardly, trying to bluff his way out of the situation.

"Alright, alright, I'll satisfy your curiosity this once," Xia Yu smiled slightly, looking at her expression. "Do you really think I'm going to use this so-called magic array to stop a volcanic eruption?"

"Isn't that right?" the doctor asked curiously.

“Of course not,” Xia Yu sighed, “It takes a lot of magic power to achieve that level… It hurts my heart!”

He declared confidently, "I'm not going to be that sucker!"

In fact, the suppression of volcanic eruptions mainly relies on the Holy Grail diligently absorbing Originium particles from the Siesta volcano.

Natural disasters are called natural disasters because, under the influence of Originium particles, large-scale natural disasters that could have been prevented occur far too quickly.

Often, there's no time to react before disaster strikes.

The existence of Originium particles will greatly shorten the time it takes for a natural disaster to develop, and also greatly increase its scale.

Conversely, if we exclude the influence of Originium particles, it can at least extend the time from the incubation of a natural disaster to its outbreak.

However, Terra is currently unable to implement this technology, and if it weren't for the Holy Grail's power, Xia Yu wouldn't have had any good solutions.

Relying on this large-scale environmental barrier technique to suppress volcanic eruptions is simply wishful thinking.

After all, this technique is designed for the surface environment, while the root cause of volcanic eruptions comes from underground.

Xia Yu was merely testing the effects of this barrier while the Holy Grail was continuously absorbing Originium particles and converting them into magic power.

It might have some impact on the volcano, but such an impact would be negligible.

As for the Originium particles absorbed by the Holy Grail, well, they're better than nothing.

Having grown accustomed to warehouses full of refined Originium Ingots, Xia Yu was naturally not used to such slow efficiency, but storing magic power was just a side effect, so it was still acceptable.

“Magic…” the doctor said thoughtfully. “We actually discovered a long time ago that everything about you is so out of place in the current Terra.”

"I didn't expect that even the energy they use is different..."

She said thoughtfully, "That explains why all the scholars and craftsmen were so confused by your so-called magical weaponry..."

“To be precise, the original name of that thing was Mystic Code,” Xia Yu sighed upon hearing this, “but Kroos and Nian absolutely refused to accept that name.”

"What is this 'formal attire'? It doesn't show any purpose at all! Why give it such a meaningless name? It makes people think we're going to some kind of banquet!"

“That’s what they said,” Xia Yu shook her head. “That’s what you call cultural differences.”

"To be honest, I don't understand why this thing is called a ceremonial uniform, when it's clearly meant for combat."

The professor shrugged, then pulled a gold card from his pocket and examined it closely. "Perhaps this is what you mean, cultural differences."