Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Uh..." The mayor standing to the side was completely baffled. Was this captain really that famous?

But that didn't stop him from standing up and saying, "I feel the same way."

It's obvious that there are things about Kayne that I don't know, so I just need to follow her lead.

"Am I really that famous in Ursus?" Xia Yu asked curiously upon hearing this, "Who told you two that?"

“It is Your Majesty the Emperor,” Kaine said, looking down at her trembling fingertips, “Your feat in Kazimierz… is truly admirable.”

“Yes, yes,” the mayor replied, though he had no idea what the man had done in Kazimierz. He figured he should just go along with the flattery.

"Oh? That's quite surprising. After all, I thought a capitalist like you would back down after hearing what I do," Xia Yu said with a meaningful smile.

"Um, forgive my ignorance, but what does 'capitalist' mean?" Kaine had genuinely never heard of this term before.

“You mean a merchant like Kazimir?” Xia Yu said with a puzzled look. “Interesting. You don’t seem to know what I did in Kazimir.”

Hearing this, Kaine's heart skipped a beat. The Emperor and Speaker Witt had indeed not told her what this man had done in Kazimierz, only that he had done something of immense importance. And if he really was on this ship, the respect shown to him would be no less than that shown to any royal court.

However, based on the words of the man in front of me, it can be deduced that the so-called great thing he did must be related to businessmen.

But what exactly it was, she had a vague idea, but she just couldn't quite grasp it.

Besides, he didn't have time to think about it further; he was still waiting for his reply.

“Someone like me would naturally not dare to pry into Your Excellency’s secrets,” Kaine replied, taking a deep breath. “I only learned a few bits and pieces from His Majesty and the Speaker.”

The mayor, standing to the side, remained completely silent, because he had no idea what the two were talking about.

Therefore, it's best not to interrupt.

“Oh, okay then,” Xia Yu nodded upon hearing this. Kaine looked up slightly, but his face was expressionless.

Are you two satisfied with the dinner we prepared?

Just then, Froststar suddenly asked.

"Oh, dinner," the mayor said, glancing instinctively at the table. "Of course, it's very lavish...?"

The lid that had been covering the tray was nowhere to be seen, and underneath, hmm, was it the dish? Or perhaps dessert? Or...?

Several fruit platters were placed on the table, the translucent fruit flesh displaying an enticing color under the light.

All sorts of tropical fruits, both familiar and unfamiliar, were cut up, arranged in fruit platters, and placed openly on the dining table.

Although these fruits were extremely precious even to nobles in this era, time, and place, some of them required traveling across several countries to the distant Sargon to obtain them, and even the more common fruits were very popular in Ursus.

But I've never heard of anyone eating fruit as a main meal.

"Is this... some kind of Kazimierz style?" the mayor asked cautiously, afraid that he might make a fool of himself due to his lack of knowledge.

“No, it’s just that the first phase of the Eden Project was a complete success today, so we’re just celebrating,” Xia Yu replied. “These fruits are the fruits of our labor.”

Upon hearing this, not only were the two people in front of them confused, but even Frostnova beside them was full of questions.

What is the Eden Project? I've never heard of it.

But now is clearly not the time to ask.

“That’s truly…congratulations,” Kathy said with a stiff smile. The smooth talk she used to use to get by in the industry suddenly seemed inadequate.

She and the mayor exchanged a glance.

What kind of charter is this?

Is there a deeper meaning behind serving fruit at dinner? Is it hinting at something? Or does it contain some kind of warning? What is this Eden Plan? Why would they tell us about it?

Weren't we here to check if the Sarkaz royal court was actually on this ship?

Why did things turn out this way?

"Please," Xia Yu said, picking up her chopsticks just as the two were still confused. "We can talk about it after we finish eating."

"Oh," upon hearing this, Kayle and the mayor seemed to snap out of their daze and quickly looked at the dining table.

Oh wow.

There were no familiar knives and forks, only a pair of chopsticks and a bowl placed in front of me.

And it doesn't look like it's served separately...

If this were at a banquet in Ursus, those two would probably have already thrown down their chopsticks and left.

But alas, there was no wine or various dishes in front of them, nor a luxurious banquet table. A typical cafeteria table, about a meter wide, was right in front of them, and they could clearly see the two people opposite them just by looking up...

At this moment, Kaine could only be thankful that she had a wide social circle and had interacted with many people from Yan, so she at least knew how to use chopsticks and had even tried it herself.

Although I'm not very skilled at the movements, at least I know how to do them.

Meanwhile, the mayor, standing to the side, was in a terrible predicament, holding a chopstick in each hand and completely at a loss.

puff.

Frostnova burst out laughing.

Then he got up, went to the counter, took out a set of cutlery, and placed it in front of the mayor.

"Thank you, thank you," the mayor said, expressing his deepest gratitude.

He breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to put down the two small wooden sticks, then picked up his knife and fork and took a piece of orange-yellow fruit.

Ah, it's a pineapple.

The mayor hadn't even had time to admire the enticing aroma before he realized he'd already swallowed a piece of fruit.

It tastes so good.

You should know that even he couldn't eat such fresh fruit whenever he wanted; only the temperature-controlled gardens of the truly noble families had a few fruit trees that could bear fruit.

Otherwise, they could only transport the fruit from the distant Sargon or Minos. However, after calculating the costs, the merchants found that large-scale cold-transport of fruit was not as profitable as transporting canned fruit directly. Therefore, only a few channels transported pure fruit, and the prices were extremely high.

Just as he was about to take a second portion of fruit, he noticed that Ms. Kaine beside him was not moving.

He turned his head and saw that the other person was staring intently at the two people opposite him, or rather, at the dining table in front of them.

He followed the gaze and discovered the problem.

There were no bowls or chopsticks in front of the two people.

They just watched quietly as they ate with Ms. Kayne.

"You two are..." The mayor's face was stiff, and he forced out a few words, "Why aren't you together..."

Late at night (actually, the sun had just set), in a spacious but empty restaurant, two people who looked like they were no ordinary individuals sat opposite each other, a lavish but rather oddly presented fruit platter for dinner, while the two people opposite them simply stared without eating...

In an instant, countless terrifying stories about the Sarkaz legends played back and forth in his mind, and speculations about sacrifices almost made him scream.

If this were a horror movie, it would be a huge success, but it wouldn't be pleasant to be a part of it.

“Oh, we’ve already eaten,” Xia Yu said, feeling very happy to see their expressions. “These are just to treat you two.”

“Yes, don’t worry about us,” Froststar chimed in. “Eat up, it’s alright.”

Although she appeared calm on the surface, she was secretly overjoyed.

To be honest, the initial arrangements were definitely not like this, and the consultant had also discussed future plans with me.

I know some things are necessary, but I just feel uneasy about it.

Prostov, a city that used to be very hostile to infected people, many of my compatriots escaped from there, and I had a lot of dealings with the military and police there back then.

She also doesn't particularly like businesspeople like Kayne.

However, for everyone's future, all of this could be tolerated; that was Frostnova's original thought.

But Xia Yu still saw through her thoughts, and then this usually willful consultant chose to take care of her feelings in a willful way, and in a willful way, she pulled this stunt.

To be honest, it was really awesome.

As for considering the bigger picture... the advisor convinced her with just one sentence: if she didn't want to, there was no need to greet these people with a smile.

The big picture? What big picture? Oh, you mean them? It's okay, those people who keep talking about the big picture will soon find out that I'm the one who's in charge of the big picture.

They should all be considering my needs; if they're unwilling, then they're the ones who don't care about the bigger picture.

What's there to say to someone who doesn't know what's good for them? Just throw a heavy punch.

Froststar, recalling the advisor's many past achievements, nodded in agreement.

So, there is this scene now.

And the two people opposite.

What's this called? A show of force? Seeing this, Ms. Kayle couldn't help but think, "Damn it, what are these two doing?"

Or……

She recalled what Froststar had just said.

'Eat quickly'...

Then a face of a Yan person appeared in my mind.

"Can't finish it? If you can't finish it, you're in for it!"

That's what they said, right? It seemed to mean... a threat, didn't it?

Is that what they mean? Probably, after all, they are all from Yan country.