Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Well, perfect.

It's just a pity about my newly recruited Cataclysmic Messenger. Tsk, who told you to be so disobedient?

Why don't you learn from your predecessors? Look how well he's lived under my wing his whole life; he really doesn't know what's good for him.

359 Messenger of Natural Disasters, Igor

“Kid, you seem pretty defiant, don’t you?” The guard named Lemon scoffed at the worried messenger of natural disaster, Igor.

The latter listened to his words but remained unmoved, looking out at the sky.

That's the eastern part of the city.

It was also the direction in which he was coerced into issuing warnings about non-existent natural disasters.

Lemon didn't say anything about it, after all, Igor had been refusing to communicate with those who came to monitor him for a long time to express his dissatisfaction.

“I really don’t know what you’re insisting on,” Raymond couldn’t understand Igor. All the survival experience he had accumulated since birth made it impossible for him to understand the person in front of him.

“You know what, kid, I’ve known you for a long time,” he said, taking a deep drag on his cheap cigarette and slowly exhaling. In the dim light streaming in from outside the curtains, several smoke rings dissipated.

"Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm only six years older than you."

His words successfully attracted Igor's attention, causing him to turn around.

“You know what? You’re actually the pride of our neighborhood,” Raymond said, his eyes filled with a complicated look. He shrugged at Igor, who looked slightly surprised. “Yes, we grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same school.”

"However, I graduated five years earlier than you. When I graduated, you had just started your studies."

“I don’t remember you,” Igor said with a complicated expression. People who grew up in the same neighborhood would have some impression of each other, but he really couldn’t remember this burly thug in front of him.

"Of course, of course, you probably don't remember. After all, even though we're from the same neighborhood, we're like people from two different worlds."

Raymond shrugged. "You're diligent, smart, and eager to learn. You're the teachers' darling, while I, or rather most people, simply can't learn anything."

"In the eyes of adults, you were always that other person's child, the sharpest weapon used to highlight how worthless we were. Ha, you probably have no idea how many kids in the neighborhood hated you back then."

“I’m quite self-aware about this,” Igor said, lowering his head and scoffing. “So what’s the point of telling me all this?”

"Don't tell me that you're willing to let me out just because we grew up in the same neighborhood. That's ridiculous."

“You know this is absurd,” Raymond said flippantly, exhaling a smoke ring. “How could I possibly let you go for no reason? I have a wife and children to support, and my mother’s health is deteriorating day by day. If I were to let you go without permission, not only would I not be able to support my family, but I might not even be able to survive.”

"I'm telling you all this because I'm so bored. Staying here all day is making my bones rust. I need to find something to do."

Hearing him mention his family, Igor looked toward the courtyard, where an old woman was enjoying the few remaining rays of sunlight in the season while reclining in a chair.

That was his mother, and the reason he compromised with the mayor.

“And another thing, I’m really curious,” Lemon continued, looking at him, “what exactly are you after?”

"Isn't this good? Look at this villa. How long would it take you, as a proper natural disaster messenger, to buy one? It's all-inclusive, with servants and furniture. Many people would beg for such treatment."

He sighed as he said this, "I've worked for the mayor for seven years, and I managed to move my family out of that old neighborhood that was always surrounded by exhaust fumes and sewage. Now we live in a decent house."

"And you, in just three short months, have moved into a mansion that I could never have imagined in my entire life."

"So what exactly is the reason you're so stubborn, refusing to back down no matter what?"

"After studying for so many years, is this the result?"

“Reading…” Hearing this, Igor looked up at him, “You also think that reading is useless?”

He had heard this argument countless times, from his childhood peers who went to work in factories, and from adults, over and over again.

As a child, Igor envied them a little. After all, those who dropped out of school to work had some money at their disposal when they were still poor students. They could buy cheap but enviable snacks, cigarettes, or even a new set of clothes.

And all I could do was watch them live so carefree.

I comforted myself with my mother's words, telling myself that what they did was wrong.

Of course, now I can stand tall and tell anyone that they are wrong.

But we can't stand on moral high ground to condemn them, after all, they are just ordinary workers who spend their whole lives working in the factory, and that small factory is their entire life.

If I hadn't had a mother with such a long-term vision, I probably would have become one of them.

“Reading is wrong?” Raymond shook his head upon hearing his words. “How could that be?”

"Do you know why most people my age are still toiling away in factories, earning meager wages to support their families, looking fifty years old in their thirties, while I can move into an apartment in the city center with my family?"

“Because I finished high school,” Raymond said with emotion. “Speaking of which, I must thank my mother. When I was dropping out of school with my peers and planning to go to work in a factory, she chased me back from the factory with a kitchen knife. Although it made me a laughing stock among my peers at the time, it also made me who I am today.”

Upon hearing this, Igor was stunned.

He couldn't help but recall how his mother had pointed to the school and told him that this was the future when he was feeling lost and had lost faith in it.

Yes, without his mother... he wouldn't be where he is today.

“Of course, in the eyes of a high achiever like you, a graduate of a small public high school is nothing,” Lemon continued. “You are someone that even a big shot like the mayor would respect, while I am just a small henchman.”

"But it was that graduation certificate that my peers laughed at that made me who I am today. I no longer have to work long hours in the factory, and I can support myself and my family with dignity."

"Indeed, a certificate doesn't mean much. I'm not good at studying and haven't learned much. But at least I have it. Apart from those ignorant circles, I can at least be taken seriously in other places."

"Therefore, I never belittle reading. My child is already eleven years old, and I check his studies every day when he comes home. I have never missed a parent-teacher meeting, and I treat my child's teachers with utmost respect..."

“Studying can indeed change one’s destiny. My expectation for my child was that he could be like you.”

Raymond looked at Igor and said, "Like you, leave this city, go see the world, go to university, don't be a thug like me. Even if you can't be as good as me, at least you can come back and be a respected teacher."

"And you know what," he grinned slyly, "you asked me before where all your things from your old house went, and I told you I threw them all away and that you could have anything you wanted here, but that was a lie."

“All your books, your notes and textbooks from childhood to adulthood are in my house. Notes used by a high-achieving student like you must be very useful. I took a look, and my son has been using the same textbooks as us for so many years. He should be able to use them.”

"Don't ask me for it back, even if you do, I won't give it back to you."

Upon hearing this, Igor fell silent.

Before this, he had never imagined that this savage man who had brought his mother here and imprisoned his henchman would turn out like this...

So...

This is completely different from what I thought.

In my mind, how could a thug who makes a living through violence possibly respect knowledge?

But the expectation in the eyes of the person in front of me cannot be faked.

Igor's heart began to soften.

"Then I wish your child can leave this city."

“Before this, I would have thanked you for your blessings,” Raymond said, lowering his head with a somber look in his eyes. “But now, I’m not so sure.”

"Is it really good for him to leave this city and see the outside world?"

"Why?" Igor was stunned when he heard this.

“Because of you!” Lemon looked into his eyes.

"Me?" Igor couldn't understand, pointing to himself and saying, "Because of me?"

"why?"

“Because I don’t understand you,” Lemon chuckled self-deprecatingly, pointing around as he said, “Look, look at this house.”

"A house that I could never afford even if I worked my whole life, was given to you by the mayor so easily because of your knowledge."

"And you, although you are living here with your mother now, we all know what's going on."

"You'd rather go back to that dirty neighborhood, wouldn't you?"

"Just because you don't want to tell a lie?"

“I don’t understand, I can’t comprehend it,” Lemon shook his head. “If telling a lie could get you a villa, do you believe those paupers could bankrupt the mayor in ten minutes?”

"And you, I don't understand, why would you refuse something so good?"

“We grew up in the same neighborhood, and we both experienced how education can change our destiny. We should be the same, right…”

"I've thought about it for a long time and I think the problem is that you've gone too far. You've seen too many worlds that I've never seen and learned countless things that I can't understand. That's why I can't understand you."

"So I'm hesitant about whether to let my son really leave this city. What if he becomes like you?"

“You survived the rebellion against the mayor because of your knowledge, but I know my son very well,” Raymond said, lowering his head. “How could that brat possibly be as good as you?”

"You defied the mayor and you live, but if it were someone else, they would die!"

“So, I’m asking you now as a father,” Raymond looked at Igor earnestly, “why did you refuse the mayor?”

"Why?" Upon hearing this, Igor remained silent for a long time, then looked out the window. "Because of ideals."

"Ideal," Raymond said, somewhat bewildered.

"Ideals?" he asked again.

“Yes,” Igor nodded, “ideal.”

Faced with his answer, Raymond opened his mouth, seemingly unfamiliar with the word, but he knew its definition for sure, only he had never seen it before.

"You might as well have told me that your teacher, lover, or something like that were on that ship, or even that you wanted to be a hero," Raymond said with a bitter smile after a long silence. "And in the end, it was all for some damn ideal?"

"How much is that thing worth?"

"A ship?" Igor was stunned. "What ship?"