Arknights' Lock of Heaven

But as long as it doesn't involve Masa... as long as it allows Masa...

“Whatever you ask, I confess,” he said, bowing his head. “But I have one request.”

Charles pleaded, "Can you let Martha get a good night's sleep?"

"Oh, Mr. Charles, what are you saying?" the mysterious man in front of him said with a smile. "Why would you think you are guilty?"

"Did our arrival cause you to misunderstand?"

“Don’t be nervous, come, sit down,” Merlin waved his hand and a wooden stool appeared in front of Charles.

"We're just here to ask you for some information."

Upon hearing this, Charles instinctively sat down in the chair.

"Then may I ask, do you know that Dr. Elena is a spy for Ursus?"

Upon hearing this, Charles, who had just sat down, jumped to his feet, his face filled with disbelief.

“Come, have a seat,” Merlin said with a smile. “Don’t be nervous. I told you I’m just here to find out what’s going on.”

444 The Spy's Plot

"Dr. Elena..."

During rounds the next day at noon, Elena felt that Charles was looking at her very strangely.

His eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion before he lowered his head.

“Charles,” Elena said, puzzled but assuming he was thinking about what she had said.

After all, it was the first time he had seen light in his eyes.

It's like finding a target.

“Remember what I told you, Charles,” Elena said, still maintaining the demeanor of a concerned doctor, “Don’t be too curious.”

"Even for Martha's sake, you must live on."

“Yes, for Martha’s sake, I have to live,” Charles said, clenching his fists tightly.

I have to live on, with Martha... to live well.

Charles looked at Dr. Elena, who had come to check on him, his eyes flickering with uncertain emotions.

He's not a good actor.

But Elena had no doubts, because anything could happen to Charles at this stage.

She still tried to persuade him with a kind look, saying, "You're an adult, Charles. You should know that some things... are not for people like us to hope for."

Under the guise of persuasion, it was actually instigating trouble. If it were the Charles of the past, what would he have thought in this situation?

However, after his late-night conversation with Merlin, Charles now discerned a different meaning in Elena's words of advice.

It can only be said that different perspectives lead to different views.

After learning Elena's true identity, he also sensed the underlying meaning in her words.

“Doctor, there’s no need to persuade me. I won’t give up,” he said softly, lowering his head so that Elena wouldn’t notice his eyes and expression. “Martha… she never abandoned me, so I will never abandon her no matter what.”

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Elena naturally understood what those words meant.

After all, it was she who led Charles down this path step by step.

Seeing Charles's resolute expression, Elena's lips curled up slightly.

She assumed Charles couldn't see her expression because he was looking down, but she didn't notice the unusual glint in his gleaming watch.

This is Charles's Originium Arts. Well, it's useful, but not particularly useful.

The refraction of light sounds sophisticated, but he can't perform very advanced operations on it.

However, it's quite easy to see the expression on the person in front of you clearly through your watch.

Charles caught the slight upturn of the corners of his mouth with his eyes, and he finally realized it.

As expected, Dr. Elena was not so innocent.

“If there’s nothing else, Doctor, I’ll be going now,” he turned and left. “I have an appointment to discuss something.”

"By the way, could you please keep this a secret for me?"

He said this, but his steps never stopped.

Elena didn't even have time to answer.

But she didn't need to answer; after all, wasn't this exactly what she wanted?

"Let me see for myself, Patriot, what are you hiding?" Elena thought to herself as she watched Charles's retreating figure.

If Patriot doesn't tell anyone about his health condition, no one else will know.

Their plan was simple: the Patriots valued the infected above all else, which was common knowledge.

Then all we need to do is use an infected person to get him to talk.

Among those infected who were guiding Charles were their subordinates, and they would naturally make Charles, in front of everyone, plead with the Patriots about his seriously ill wife when the ship arrived.

With everyone watching and allies coming from afar to provide support, what can the Patriots do?

It's absurd to think that the Infected would betray the Patriots, but if we used the cure for Oripathy, something all the Infected dream of, to force the Patriots to reveal certain secrets, it might not be so bad, right?

As we all know, he values ​​the future of the infected more than his own life. If he chooses to run away in front of everyone, an irreparable rift will inevitably appear between the guerrillas and the infected.

'Is she really doing this for your own good?'

Charles heard the words of the man who called himself Merlin again last night.

As he turned the corner, he recalled their conversation from the previous night.

'If you truly care about your health, the best approach is to deny everything about Patriot's improved condition.'

'But what about her? She told you a whole lot, but every single word she said revolved around one thing.'

That means Patriot's condition has indeed improved.

“But Dr. Elena…she’s a really good person,” Charles continued to defend her at the time. “All the patients think so. She’s incredibly caring towards every patient and doesn’t discriminate against anyone who is infected…”

"Disdain? What's there to disdain?" The shield guard officer beside him sneered. "Isn't she an infected person herself?"

“I understand your concerns, Mr. Charles,” Merlin continued with a smile, “but there’s something you probably don’t know.”

"Ms. Martha's condition is not incurable."

Upon hearing this, Charles suddenly raised his head and looked at Merlin with intense eyes.

"At least, Rhodes Island, which is about to be established, is not unable to stabilize."

"As an organization whose purpose from its inception has been to cure Oripathy, Rhodes Island is not lacking in experience in treating severe Oripathy patients like your wife."

“If you don’t believe me, look at your wife,” he said, turning to look at Martha on the hospital bed. “Don’t misunderstand, I have great admiration for this woman’s deeds. To travel alone through the vast snow-covered plains with a patient who is unable to move, to get here… that is an unparalleled feat.”

"So, within my authority, at least she can get a good night's sleep tonight."

"And Rhodes Island, there is hope that Ms. Martha can survive."

"So, what do you need me to do?" Hearing this, Charles finally wavered. Looking at his wife's peaceful sleeping face, he was completely bewildered. With a bitter expression, he said, "Do you need me to come out and identify Dr. Elena?"

"If that's the case...I'm afraid..."

A flicker of struggle crossed Charles's face. After all, even though the two people in front of him said that Dr. Elena was a spy, he hadn't discovered anything...

“No, you’re overthinking it,” Lukashenko shook his head upon hearing this. “We don’t need you to identify anyone, much less to frame anyone.”

“We have enough evidence against Elena and can arrest her at any time. The only reason we are keeping her alive is because we need her to pass on the intelligence we want to convey to the Ursus side.”

"Besides, keeping a known spy alive is much simpler than eliminating her and then dealing with unknown spies that have infiltrated later. After all, we don't have that much energy right now."

Lukashenko made up a reason on the spot, and although he made it up, he guessed that Rhodes Island used these spies in much the same way.

Hearing this, Charles breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, if he were to actually accuse Dr. Elena of being a spy, his conscience would be tormented, since he had never found anything wrong with Dr. Elena.

It's fine if we don't need it.

"Then why did you two come to me?" He knew the matter was not over yet.

“We need you to continue doing things their way,” Lukashenko nodded and said, “They want to use the captain’s Oripathy to create a media storm at the base, so let’s go along with them and give them that opportunity.”

"But we can't just let them do whatever they want, so you, they chose you as this pawn, because your story with your wife is known to almost everyone in the base, isn't it?"

“They have their eye on you for that, so we need you to take control of this situation.”

"Don't let it get out of our control."

"Is the media storm referring to... Mr. Patriot's illness?" Charles hesitated upon hearing this. "You... no, they want me to..."

"Three days... oh no, two days from now, the Orville will arrive fully loaded with supplies from our ally Rhodes Island. At that time, if an infected patient were to stage a coup against the base's leadership..."

"A husband, in order to save his wife who had never given up on him and who had overcome numerous obstacles to bring him to the base despite her serious illness, begged the captain in front of everyone to save his wife."

"It also includes the thing that all the infected people care about most: the cure for Oripathy."

"If the base is not prepared, there will definitely be a lot of trouble, and no matter what we do, our allies who have come from afar will not have a good impression of the guerrillas, right?"