Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Still sleeping? What time is it?" came a soft voice from outside the door.

dong dong dong! !

Xia Yu rolled over, still wrapped in the blanket.

"Oh, Amiya, you can't do it like that, let me do it!"

Boom boom boom! ! !

Hearing this, he resignedly sat up in bed, his dead fish eyes drooping, and opened the door.

“It’s 6:41:25 now,” Xia Yu said expressionlessly, looking at the two little ones in front of her. “Even the Siesta people, who love music festivals the most, are still mostly asleep.”

"Ah, this..." Amiya realized what was happening when she heard this, and then lowered her head embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Xia Yu, I'm still used to Rhodes Island's schedule..."

"Amiya!" Upon hearing this, Xia Yu reached out and firmly grasped her shoulders.

"I...I'm here!" Amiya was startled, and her two long ears stood up straight in an instant.

“Remember, Rhodes Island’s sleep schedule was extremely unhealthy for a while,” Xia Yu said with a serious face. “We didn’t go to bed until after midnight and had to get up at six in the morning…”

"It's okay to persevere for a while because the mission is so demanding, but now that the Rhodes Island matter is over, and the volcano and barrier in Siesta have been dealt with."

"So, can I sleep in?"

Xia Yu sighed, "Even if it's just for a month, let's all relax a bit. After all, it's a holiday! A hard-won holiday!"

“Yes…yes,” Amiya was completely overwhelmed by Xia Yu’s imposing manner.

"Okay, goodbye," Xia Yu said, grabbing the door and trying to close it.

But don't forget, Amiya isn't the only one outside the door.

"Hey! You're all awake now, are you going back to sleep?" Ifrit glared, pressing herself firmly against the doorframe. "Even I'm up!"

“Yes, yes, yes,” Xia Yu said, glancing sideways at him. “You’re still a child, you can play all day long. You’re so great, so high and mighty!”

Do you know what sleeping in during a holiday means to an adult?

"This is a gift from heaven, a miracle that we cannot afford to miss. It has nothing to do with whether you're awake or not. Even being half-asleep or half-awake is a wonderful experience," Xia Yu said, reaching out to flick her forehead. "Do you understand, you carefree little brat?"

“I don’t understand!” Ifrit said matter-of-factly, covering her forehead with one hand. “Instead of this nonsense, let’s tell a story.”

"Hurry, hurry," she looked at Xia Yu expectantly, "what is the next line of the prophecy?"

"..."

Xia Yu looked at her silently.

"Want to know?"

“Mmm-hmm,” Ifrit nodded expectantly.

Upon seeing this, Xia Yu revealed a sinister smile and waved her hand to summon the communicator from the bed.

"Wait, what are you trying to do?" Ifrit's eyes widened, and she realized something and tried to reach out and grab it.

Unfortunately, her height prevented her from doing so.

So he could only watch helplessly as Xia Yu slowly and methodically found a number and dialed it.

it's over...

Ifrit felt a wave of dizziness wash over her... Why couldn't she get angry when she was next to this person... Otherwise, it would be just a mere communicator...

But contrary to her expectations, the voice on the other end of the communicator wasn't Himer, but rather...

"Hello?" the Doctor's lazy voice came through the communicator, "What's wrong now?"

"It's nothing," Xia Yu smiled slightly, "I just wanted to see if you were awake."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the doctor fell silent.

"Are you crazy?" After a long silence, she finally snapped, "Do you know how important a lazy morning on a holiday is to a corporate slave? You think you're so great just because you've completed your task!"

"I still have a lot of handover to do with Siesta! I don't know how much of my month-long vacation will be left!"

"do you know……"

Snapped!

Xia Yu calmly hung up the communication and then looked at Amiya and Ifrit.

“See?” he shrugged. “A nice, lazy sleep is really important to us.”

“Who cares about that?” Ifrit swelled up instantly when she saw that the call wasn’t to Himer. “Tell a story, tell a story… never mind… never mind.”

When Xia Yu smiled and placed her hand on He Mo's phone number, she shrank back and shut her mouth, looking aggrieved.

Very well, Ifrit is still quite pragmatic.

“Doctor…” Amiya, standing to the side, became much more serious, “She’s so tired, why don’t I handle the rest of the negotiations…”

“No need,” Xia Yu chuckled upon hearing this. “Negotiation? What negotiation?”

"What else needs to be negotiated with Siesta?"

He shrugged. "Volcano situation? But these are all handled by operators like Eyjafjalla in shifts. They will naturally report any problems that arise."

"Besides that, what else needs to be negotiated?"

“Uh…” Amiya was stunned when she heard this.

Yes, what else needs to be negotiated?

"An inhibitor?" she asked tentatively.

“There’s no need,” Xia Yu shook her head. “Siesta Ricazimir is quite far away, and our channels can’t be laid here anytime soon.”

"Without a sufficiently stable and secure channel, selling inhibitors is just a pipe dream."

"Even if someone does realize its effects, what good will it do?"

“Even if Siesta goes to a place thousands of miles away to source goods, it will still be a losing proposition after factoring in shipping costs, unless the city is willing to pay out of its own pocket to support the infected.”

"Perhaps Siesta was willing in the past, but with the volcanic eruption, even if Siesta can handle this incident perfectly, a period of economic downturn is inevitable."

"I want to, but I can't."

At this point, Xia Yu shrugged, "So, there's no need to rush at all."

This is not something that can be rushed.

"Then..." Amiya hesitated upon hearing this, completely confused, "What does the Doctor want to negotiate?"

"Negotiation? Ha," Xia Yu rubbed Amiya's little head, "What negotiation? She just wants to be lazy."

"Of course, this is a holiday, so there's no such thing as slacking off. The so-called negotiation is just a bluffing excuse."

"You have to overwhelm your opponent first by asserting the legitimacy and justification of their actions. For example, you could say that you did this to work better and complete your tasks more effectively. Basically, you have to highlight the legitimacy of your actions and then label the other party."

"Whether it's moral or legal."

"Truly worthy of being called the evil spirit of the Tower of Babel, these words come out so easily without any thought."

"I reckon she was really half-asleep, just blurting it out on instinct. If she were truly awake, she'd probably be just as confident as I am, saying she wanted to go back to sleep..."

"After all, it's a holiday."

"I see..." Amiya said somewhat awkwardly. "It seems I still have a lot to learn..."

“You don’t need to learn it,” Xia Yu smiled slightly. “Leave all of this to us now.”

"You're still young, you don't need to learn these things yet. You can learn them slowly later."

“No, that won’t do,” Amiya shook her head. “We can’t just leave you guys at the front. I can fight too.”

"No, I must fight."

“…Sigh,” Xia Yu sighed upon hearing this.

"Mr. Xia Yu, please rest first," Amiya said with a bright smile, clutching her notebook. "I'll come back this afternoon to ask you more questions..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Yu interrupted him.

“Amiya, it’s the holidays now,” he said listlessly. “You can go out and have fun—concerts, amusement parks, beaches, sunshine…”

"You should enjoy your youth now. As for studying... put it aside for now."

Amiya was stunned when she heard this.

Ifrit, standing to the side, looked at Xia Yu with stars in her eyes, completely forgetting about studying... She was really looking forward to this.

“But,” Amiya frowned, looking troubled, “I still have a lot to do, I can’t rest yet…”

"Who told you that?" Xia Yu reached out and flicked her long ears.

"Ouch," Amiya covered her ears with her notebook, a blush rising to her face, "it's so itchy."

"Tell me, who told you that?" Xia Yu looked at her irritably. "They said you can't rest yet."

“Nobody told me,” Amiya said, lowering her head. “It was just me… I didn’t want to let everyone down.”

“…Sigh,” Xia Yu sighed upon hearing this.

This child lives a very tiring life, although she doesn't think so, but anyone who gets to know her can see it.