Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"How could this be?" Upon hearing this, both the Earth Spirit and Eyjafjalla were stunned.

"Even in the far north snowfields... this frequency is too abnormal, isn't it?" Eyjafjalla asked incredulously, "An average of one natural disaster every six months... even the legendary Foehn-scorched earth couldn't be more extreme than this, could it?"

“If these records are true…” Di Ling also said seriously, “then this area should have already been designated as an uninhabitable area for humans. Regardless of the scale of the natural disasters, with such frequent occurrences, it would be impossible for Cheprini to maintain a city of this size. People’s lives and production would be severely affected!”

"Not to mention that Ciprini is a city that is extremely dependent on the mineral trade."

“Moreover, I have never seen any record of Cheprini on the communication platforms of Crisis Contract or Catastrophe Messenger,” Eyjafjalla frowned and pondered. “If the environment here is really that harsh… then it should have spread internationally by now… researchers all over the world would be going crazy over it.”

“I know what you two are suspicious of,” Alexstrasza said, his scrutinizing gaze sweeping over the Earth Spirit, Eyjafjalla, and Skadi, who had been silently and boredly looking out the window and playing with her hair since arriving at the coffee shop.

"Yes, even though it's shameful, I will honestly expose this scandal to the public."

He took a deep breath, as if summoning immense courage.

"The so-called natural disasters are all fabricated."

A ridiculous smile appeared on his face. "Even someone like me who doesn't understand professional academic knowledge about natural disasters knows that no matter how small a natural disaster is, it won't exactly cover an entire manor. Natural disasters only generate Originium, not steel arrows."

"Gentlemen, this so-called natural disaster happened in the year I took office. The only family in the Cheprini family that expressed goodwill to me was wiped out by the so-called 'natural disaster' in the second week."

“That’s why I hate politics,” Earth Spirit said, giving Alexei a deep look. “Natural disasters are not as unpredictable as man-made ones.”

“This kind of thing…” Eyjafjalla took a deep breath, her expression grave. “Isn’t anyone in charge? I mean, the nobles? The officials? Or…”

“Or perhaps the emperor,” Alexei continued, “Miss, you look so young to have become a messenger of natural disasters; you must be considered a prodigy in your country.”

“Perhaps you have never encountered such a thing in your past life, Caprini. You must be from Letania. Indeed, in a country like Letania with such a strong academic atmosphere, as a scholar, your status must be quite high, and you would not usually encounter such a thing.”

“I don’t know Letania, but I know Ursus.”

“Here, at least in this city, people have long been accustomed to all of this that you find unbelievable.”

“Yes,” he took a deep breath, “nobody will care!”

“Mid- to low-level officials won’t care. It’s ridiculous, you know? Ursus does have relief funds for civilians who have suffered from natural disasters.”

"But do you know what? In the four years I've been in office, there have been natural disasters every six months, and not a single civilian has ever seen a single penny of relief money."

"And the relief funds were actually distributed from the central government."

"So, where did this money go?"

"And what about you?" Upon hearing this, the Earth Spirit suddenly interrupted Eyjafjalla, who was about to speak, and quietly looked at Alexei. "Aren't you the deputy mayor of Cheprini?"

"Have you ever intervened?"

“Of course I did manage it!” Hearing this, Alexei seemed to feel insulted and shouted back, “How could I not have managed it!”

The sudden loud noise drew the attention of other customers in the store.

The earth spirit just stared at him without saying a word.

At first, he stood up straight.

Then, under the gaze of the Earth Spirit, it bent down little by little.

Finally, he slumped weakly in his chair, muttering, "I can't control it..."

"When I first discovered this, I angrily reported it to the Council of Nobles."

"Then, when I was overjoyed to welcome the inspection team, I watched them chatting happily with the mayor, and my heart sank."

"The remaining half, they told the inspection team with great confidence that the reason they did not directly distribute relief funds was because they wanted to adapt to local conditions. The gambling industry in Cheprini was well-developed, and they considered that some people would gamble away the entire area if they received relief funds, so they directly converted it all into food for distribution."

“Sounds reasonable, right?” Alexei gave a wry smile. “But, but, those so-called warehouses full of grain were actually filled with sacks of dirt and stones!”

“Ha ha, dirt, stones,” his laughter was somewhat manic. “I tore open the bag with my fingers in front of the inspection team, revealing what was inside. I thought I had exposed their hypocritical mask.”

"As a result, no one cared about me."

"They were chatting and laughing happily, as if they didn't see me or anything behind me, as if I and those things didn't exist."

Alexei's eyes were vacant. "At that moment, I felt like a clown."

"Did you know? The result of that incident was that they received commendation from the parliament for their flexibility and adaptability. Ha, commendation."

"And I, it seems, have been forgotten by everyone... There is not even the revenge I had anticipated."

At this point, he looked out the window at the city hall, a hint of madness in his eyes. "You say I'm the deputy mayor, but I don't even have an office in the city hall."

Then, he turned to look at the Earth Spirits and Eyjafjalla, "This is the first half of my life, a failed first half."

"I resisted and fought, but nothing changed."

Upon hearing this, Eyjafjalla opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Skadi's eyes flickered inexplicably for a moment, then returned to normal.

“I… am sorry about this,” Diling said, maintaining her usual composure, “but we are just scholars, and there is nothing we can do about these things.”

"After we return home, I will report everything here to the Crisis Contract and the familiar Catastrophe Messenger, but I'm afraid... it won't make much of a difference."

“I understand,” Alexei forced a smile. “After all, the so-called crisis contract is just a platform… How can a platform change a corrupt country like Ursus…”

He declared passionately, "What Ursus needs now is not one or two papers, but a ruler with the same talent and vision as His Majesty the previous emperor!"

"Only a His Majesty like that could..."

At this point, he seemed to realize something and lowered his head again, "Ha, why am I telling you all this?"

"What can it change..."

Upon hearing this, Eyjafjalla lowered her head.

The previous emperor of Ursus, frankly, didn't have a very good reputation in Letania.

After all, it had launched so many wars, and Letania was also a country bordering Ursus.

But perhaps... in the eyes of the Ursus people, they would be more supportive of such an emperor?

His hero is my enemy.

“According to Mr. Alexei, perhaps… we won’t get the answer in Chiplini,” Diling sighed, knowing he had to work overtime again.

Ugh.

"It seems I have to go to the site and take the measurements myself."

"After all, if Cheprini could keep up with his deception for so many years without being discovered, the messengers of natural disasters here must have already... Sigh, another troublesome matter."

She recalled Kronin of Siesta and sighed, "If you're going to be a messenger of the Scourge, why get involved in politics?"

“That’s not necessarily true,” Alexei suddenly said upon hearing this. “You two may not know this, but just two months ago, the previous messenger of the Cataclysm died, and the city hall has rehired a new messenger of the Cataclysm.”

"This Cataclysmic Messenger has just graduated from the academy, but he seems to have a very solid professional knowledge. What's even more remarkable is that he grew up in the Cheprini slums and managed to become a Cataclysmic Messenger with only a meager scholarship from a public school. That's quite a legend."

"Moreover, legend has it that he was a very upright person, and before going abroad to study, he had repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with Cheprini's constant false reporting of natural disasters. If it were him, he might actually have data that could help the two of you."

Upon hearing this, Di Ling frowned slightly, but Alexei on the other side did not notice and said, "If you two are interested, I know his address."

“Then we’ll have to trouble Mr. Alexei,” Earth Spirit thought for two seconds, then gave him a grateful smile. “Perhaps we really can get the answer from him.”

“I’m glad I could help you both,” Alexei smiled slightly. “After all, there’s not much I can do as a helpless person. All you need to do is inform the messengers of the natural disasters about what’s happening here.”

"Even if it doesn't make much of a difference in the end, at least I've made my voice heard."

……

"Hmm, that's what he said," Xia Yu's intrigued voice came from the other end of the communicator. "Di Ling, how believable do you think that is?"

“Fifty percent,” Di Ling said, frowning as he pondered. “Perhaps the past he mentioned does exist, and he was indeed suppressed by the local bureaucratic forces, but Alexei is definitely not as incompetent as he describes himself.”

"What's the reason?"

"How could an incompetent person find us so accurately?" Di Ling said calmly. "Could it be that he has been suppressed to the point that he has no proper work to do and can only feed pigeons in the city hall square every day and tell his story to every person who comes out of the city hall with a gloomy face?"

"and then?"

Hearing this, Di Ling knew that this new boss was going to squeeze every last drop of value out of him...

These things shouldn't be done by a researcher like me, you bastard!

Originally, Di Ling wanted to quit, or at least protest, but he offered just too much... a completely new knowledge system, environmental modifications, and so on. This made other ambitious scholars so eager to work that they were willing to pay out of their own pockets to get the job...

Seriously, I couldn't refuse!

"He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's money is bound to him." What else can one do?

“He clearly knew where we came from and what we were doing. He pinpointed the three of us in the crowd and tried to gain our sympathy by sharing his real-life experiences. Eyjafjalla clearly fell for it, but Miss Skadi… she never cared about such things. I repeatedly interrupted his performance, making him realize that we were not just ordinary scholars.”

"So after I suggested leaving the city, he immediately threw out the news that the newly appointed disaster messenger might not be willing to collude with the city hall in order to attract our attention."

“Very good,” Xia Yu’s voice of praise came from the other end of the communicator. “So, what will happen next?”

“We’ll probably come up empty-handed,” Earth Spirit sighed. “Then he’ll reappear before us with the same old tricks.”

"But we still have to find that messenger of natural disasters. After all, a super cold wave is no joke. If it really exists, it would be unwise to rush to collect data under these circumstances."

"It can only be used as a last resort."

353 Trust and Betrayal

"Mr. Victor, aren't we going to evacuate?"

Looking at the expectant eyes of the infected people around him, Victor opened his mouth, but ultimately lowered his head in dejection.