Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“Petal… he can’t possibly have a problem, can he?” Andrew asked tentatively.

“Oh, no problem,” Merlin replied with a smile.

Hearing this, Andrew breathed a sigh of relief, but was so shocked by his next words that he almost jumped up.

"If his sexual orientation is normal, then he's just a simple spy chief."

"What? This..." Andrew was shocked. Was this a serious problem?

"If that's the case, then why would he expose the spy plan?"

“Who knows,” Merlin said, stroking his chin. “Maybe it’s because of me. The way he looked at me was so intense that I almost suspected I was too charming and attracted him. But if his sexual orientation is fine, well, then there’s a big problem.”

“After all,” Merlin said with a smile, “when you brought me to the warehouse looking for him, he was hiding behind you outside with his impressive Originium Arts.”

"Including what you told me, about me treating Patriot, everything was overheard by others."

"What?" Andrew exclaimed in shock. "But why didn't you say so sooner?"

“Because I thought he was a sentry placed by your guerrillas,” Merlin spread his hands innocently. “I’ve never seen him before, how would I know he’s the Petal you found?”

"We've been together ever since, but we haven't had a chance to say it, have we?"

Hearing this, Andrew hesitated, not believing a word of Merlin's reasoning. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better to just reveal his identity when he was first questioned?

With so many shield guards and a captain present, how could they not capture a spy?

“No, if that’s the case, we have to catch him quickly and not let him spread your message,” Andrew said, remaining rational despite his disbelief.

“No, no, no, of course we can’t arrest him,” Merlin shook his head upon hearing this. Facing Andrew’s questioning gaze, he smiled and said, “Don’t look at me. This is a request made by Frostnova and the others. That person wants to use these spies as bait to pull off a big operation.”

"How can you arrest them all?"

"I'm just telling you this so you're aware of it. Now, let's get down to business."

438. Did the Yan people get involved?

It's getting dark.

The infected individuals' base, however, was in a state of jubilation.

First, the plot by spies from Ursus to blow up all the food supplies was foiled, and then their claim of food shortages to incite unrest among the infected was exposed in the face of overwhelming evidence.

The guerrillas were decisive, allowing ordinary infected individuals to choose representatives to go to the storage area and inspect the base's grain reserves.

Those three fully stocked warehouses undoubtedly gave the infected a great deal of confidence; at least if nothing unexpected happened, they would have no problem surviving until aid from their allies arrived.

But while the infected were happy, the spies were anything but.

Especially Petal.

His face was full of disbelief. After receiving the news, he personally went to see the three warehouses that were originally empty but were now filled to the brim with grain.

How is this possible?

Can guerrillas conjure up food out of thin air?

He had considered other avenues, such as Merlin mentioning illusions when he sent him away... But today, the guerrillas not only showed the infected the granary, but also distributed the food so that everyone could have a long-awaited feast.

Petal himself also ate that food. Well, because of the Ursus people's eating habits, they are not used to eating rice, so the cooks don't know how to cook it very well.

But at least it is food, and it can certainly fill one's stomach.

Although the taste was not exactly flattering, the morale of the people in the base was calmed down. No matter how bad the taste was, it was still real food, food that would give everyone a good meal!

And the bad taste is mostly due to the chef's fault...

For Petal... illusion?

He touched his bloated belly, feeling utterly lost.

What kind of illusion could actually fill people's stomachs? Where in the world could such a thing exist?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

But the food shortage at the base a few days ago was real... Could it be that these infected people have other ways to obtain food?

But who in Ursus would dare to provide them with food at this point?

Wait, it might not be Ursus...

Just think, this is the eastern border of Ursus, and the nearest place is Yan Kingdom... and the relationship between the two countries is quite tense because Ursus tried to cause trouble in their commercial stronghold of Lungmen.

Damn it, could it have been done by those Yan people?

Petal thought about it more and more and felt that this must be the case, otherwise where did all this rice come from?

Even the ship that came from Kazimierz wasn't carrying mostly rice. The places in the world that consume the most rice are Yan and the Eastern Kingdom...

Further west, everyone eats bread!

Petal could only think of this much. It was probably that the Yan people wanted to retaliate against Ursus's previous actions against Lungmen, so they secretly crossed the border and contacted the guerrillas.

Otherwise, what? It's impossible that all this rice just appeared out of thin air, right?

That's ridiculous, isn't it?

The so-called illusion was just an excuse to get rid of them. In reality, they were supposed to be making contact with the Yan people. The entire base was under military control by the guerrillas. If they wanted to, they could easily deceive ordinary people.

That was all Petal could think of.

Damn it, the snowfield was already shrouded in mystery because of that variable from Kazimierz, and now the Yan people have interfered... This is even more of a headache.

Not to mention the doctor who brought the Patriots back to their peak...

Petal touched his bloated stomach, feeling his brain cells burning rapidly.

To be honest, the infected people really lacked supplies. Even though he had reached the middle management level, he wasn't always able to get enough to eat.

Petar couldn't understand this: apart from the soldiers, everyone's rations were reduced, including Andrew, who usually ate the same food as Petar.

Are these people saints? How can they resist the urge to squander their power?

He even took the lead in advocating thrift, which resulted in even he, a middle-level manager, not having enough to eat.

Just as he was complaining, a large hand suddenly reached out from the dark alley and grabbed him, pulling him into the alley.

"Petal Stojanovich! I need an explanation!"

A man with bristling hair and beard appeared before him, his face contorted with rage. He grabbed the man's right hand with one hand and placed the other on the weapon at his waist, as if a fight was about to break out at the slightest provocation.

Ah, Petal knew him, David Colby, the top spy under the Grand Duke of Vanya, who infiltrated the front-line shield guard training team as a veteran of the Eastern Udon war. He fought very bravely and was highly valued by the front-line commander.

The spies who infiltrated the infected base consisted of several groups. These spies of this rank were all assigned by their respective Grand Dukes, and they all knew each other's identities beforehand.

There was no other way; the interests of the dukes were not aligned. To prevent others from tripping them up, they simply had the top-ranking spies in charge of infiltration missions meet the others and become familiar with them. Then, if anyone tried to frame someone, the framed person would expose everyone's identities, and if anyone was going to die, they would all die together.

Frankly, this method is incredibly stupid. If one of them were to be exposed by accident, the entire spy network could be wiped out. But what can be done when the dukes each have their own agendas? In the end, this clumsy method is the only way to keep the others in check.

Nobody wants to be kicked out at a time like this, so let's just tie everyone together.

Of course, this was limited to the few leaders in charge who knew each other's identities; the spies below them naturally did not have this authority.

That's why Petal so easily betrayed the spies who tried to blow up the grain silos, because they weren't his people at all.

So whose people are they working for?

Isn't the answer obvious? Well, the person in question is coming to us.

"What's wrong with you? Aren't you afraid I'll expose everything you've done in front of the dukes?"

David Colby never expected that, even though his spies had come up with such a stupid plan so as not to hold each other back, someone would actually dare to trip them up.

Isn't Petal afraid of the dukes' punishment? You know, how advantageous it would be if the infected's granaries were destroyed.

“Don’t be so hasty,” Petal said with a smile to the furious David. “I have my reasons for doing this.”

"What's the reason?" David pressed, while simultaneously preparing his weapon.

He knew very well that Petal's Originium Arts were extremely slippery and unpredictable, and he would take immediate action as soon as he sensed something was wrong.

"What else could it be?" Petal smiled slightly. "What else could it be but that that could make me give up such a tremendous contribution as letting the infected completely descend into chaos?"

Upon hearing this, David's breathing suddenly became heavy.

You mean...that?

“Yes, that’s it,” Petal said slowly. “You know what that thing means to us.”

439 Freedom is more valuable

What could have driven Petar to risk betraying his own men?

He gave the answer.

that.

David knew about that, and if that's the case, it's no wonder Petar made that choice.

What I'm talking about is freedom.

If they had no other choice, who would willingly become a spy whose life and death are in the hands of others?

Yes, the so-called suicide soldiers are the real suicide soldiers in Ursus.