Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

Lacey looked at the dark, even somewhat dry, bread in silence for a moment before reaching out to take it.

"Thank you."

He could sense that the girl's kindness was genuine and without any ulterior motives.

Serafina seemed pleased that he accepted it. After giving him a few more instructions to be careful, she picked up the basket and continued walking deeper into the slums. Her figure soon disappeared around the corner.

Lacey looked at the bread in her hand, then at the direction she had left, lost in thought.

Unbeknownst to him, after he turned to leave, the girl named Serafina stopped at the corner.

She leaned against the wall, the smile on her face gradually fading, replaced by a complex expression.

Serafina Ivanovna Petrova, a former interrogator who escaped from the Ursus Special Service, is her true identity.

Her Originium Arts allow her to clearly perceive electrical signals within living organisms, and use this to judge the other person's emotional fluctuations.

This made her an invincible "human lie detector".

But in Ursus, those infected whose lies she exposed were often subjected to inhuman torture.

The daily torment became unbearable for her kind heart. In the end, she used a confidential list to exchange for her freedom from an elector of Letania.

She thought that by escaping to Letania, she could live a peaceful life.

But what she saw was a completely different hellish scene.

The "Great Purge" that the Twin Queens took over caused countless innocent people to lose their homes and lives. The cruelty of their methods was even greater than that of Ursus.

She witnessed too many tragedies and felt utterly powerless.

She came to the slums every day to give alms, just to seek some psychological comfort and to prove that she was different from the perpetrators.

But she knew very well that this wouldn't change anything.

She had even started thinking about leaving Letania for a more remote and peaceful place.

Until today, she met Lacey.

Just now, when Lacey was confronting the thugs, she "saw" his inner emotions.

It was an extraordinary calm, and beneath that calm, she also felt another burning emotion.

She had never felt this kind of emotion from anyone else.

Even those nobles who spouted benevolence and morality, or the rebels who shouted slogans of "correcting the wrongs," all harbored greed, ambition, and desire deep in their hearts.

But this man didn't.

His heart was like a piece of refined steel tempered by blood and fire.

For the first time, Serafina felt a strong sense of curiosity.

She wanted to know: Who was this man? What had he been through? Why had he come to the slums, and what did he want to do?

……

Holy Lytanian Empire: Chapter Six: The Beer Hall Speech

"My neighbor is a blacksmith."

"He would get up before dawn every day, swing a hammer heavier than himself, and hammer in front of the furnace all day long. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and sparks burned his skin!"

In a slum, inside a beer hall, in the small open space in the center, a young man is giving a passionate speech.

"He works so hard just so his son can go to school, learn a few words, and not have to do this kind of manual labor like him for the rest of his life!"

A group of men surrounded the young man, listening quietly to his speech.

The young man was, of course, Lacey. He glanced at everyone around him and continued loudly, "My father was a teacher."

"He dedicated his life to teaching and nurturing students. He told me that knowledge can change one's destiny."

"His greatest wish was to see every child in Letania, whether poor or rich, able to sit in a bright classroom and study!"

“I also know a soldier.” His voice gradually rose.

"He fought desperately against the Gauls on the battlefield to defend this country, and he wore the War Medal on his chest, which was the highest honor in Letania!"

"He thought he had protected his home with his blood and life, but when he returned, his home was gone, and his parents were hanged in the square as 'remnants of the Witch King'!"

Lacey pointed to her chest and said, word by word, "That soldier, that's me!"

boom!

The entire beer hall erupted in chaos.

People's faces were filled with shock, sympathy, and anger.

"Why should I!" Lacey's voice boomed like thunder, echoing through the small beer hall.

"Why should we, the hardworking commoners, be treated differently?"

Why should our sons be unable to go to school, while our daughters are subjected to arbitrary humiliation?

"Why should heroes who defend their country end up with their families destroyed and their lives ruined?"

"Is it because they were born nobles, while we were born commoners?"

"I don't agree!"

These words struck a deep chord in the hearts of everyone present.

The men, who were struggling to breathe under the weight of life, had their flames reignited in their eyes.

They remembered the humiliation they had suffered, the land that had been taken from them, and their families who had been unjustly oppressed.

"Well said!" someone shouted first.

"Damn those nobles!"

“_

Angry roars rose and fell, almost lifting the roof off the beer hall.

Your words have ignited a flame in the hearts of the people.

The dozens of people present all felt a strong sense of identification with and high expectations of you.

In an inconspicuous corner of the beer hall, Serafina held a drink and quietly watched everything.

Her Originium Arts allow her to "see" things that ordinary people cannot.

In her perceived world, every person here radiates bioelectric light representing "anger" and "expectation".

These faint lights were continuously converging on the man in the center, making him radiate a dazzling glow.

She was deeply moved.

This man, with the simplest of words, awakened the long-dormant dignity and resentment in the hearts of these people at the bottom of society.

In recent days, such speeches have been taking place in every corner of the slums.

Lacey's figure was everywhere—in dirty alleyways, in crowded markets, in front of shacks distributing relief food.

His followers grew rapidly, from a few dozen people in the tavern at the beginning to hundreds.

They are no longer numb, walking corpses; their eyes have light, and their backs are straight.

Serafina observed silently.

She watched as Lacey rallied a disorganized group into a cohesive force, and as tender shoots of hope sprouted anew on a land of despair.

Unbeknownst to her, the scales in her heart had completely tipped in favor of this man.

Her desire to leave Letania had long since vanished.

leave?

No, she wants to stay.

She wanted to witness with her own eyes whether this spark could truly ignite a prairie fire.

Finally, on a drizzly night, she took the initiative to approach Lacey.

When Serafina pushed open the creaking wooden door to the attic, Lacey was sitting at the table, writing something on a rough parchment by the dim light of an oil lamp.

"It's you?" Lacey looked up, somewhat surprised.

He was deeply impressed by this kind girl who quietly helped others in the slums every day.

"May I come in?" Serafina asked with a smile, her hair damp from the rain, making her look somewhat delicate.

Lacey nodded, gesturing for her to come in and sit down.

“Serafina Ivanovna Petrova, that’s my real name.” After sitting down, the girl stated her full name directly, hoping to gain some basic trust from the man.

"Of course, in some places, they are more used to calling me by my code name—Arc."

Lacey's eyes instantly became wary.

Code names are usually only used by military personnel or special agents.

“I am not your enemy.” Serafina seemed to see through his thoughts as she met Lacey’s gaze calmly. “I come from Ursus and was a member of the special department of Saint-Germain, responsible for… interrogation.”

She briefly recounted her past, from her work in Ursus, to her escape due to the unbearable cruelty there, to her arrival in Letania, where she witnessed an even more chaotic situation after the Twin Queens came to power.

“My Originium Arts allow me to sense bioelectric signals,” she said earnestly, looking at Lacey. “In other words, I can ‘see’ other people’s truest emotions; lies have nowhere to hide in front of me.”

Lacey's heart skipped a beat; he instantly understood the value of this ability.

“I’ve been observing you these past few days.” A faint smile appeared on Serafina’s lips.

"I see that beneath your calm exterior burns a flame powerful enough to start a prairie fire."

“I see that your compassion for those who suffer is genuine.”

“I see that your determination to change this country is pure.”

She paused, leaned forward slightly, and her silver-gray eyes shone brightly in the dim light.

Lacey's heart sank.

Seeing emotions? What kind of Originium Arts is this?

He instantly understood why he always felt that this girl's eyes could see through everything.

She doesn't rely on guessing; she can actually "see" it.

"You are doing what I've always wanted to do, but haven't dared to do, or haven't been able to do."

"You have given me hope."

"So, I don't want to run away anymore."

"Lassie, I'm willing to join you and use my abilities to be your eyes and ears, helping you achieve your goals."

Lacey fell silent for a moment, then asked the question that had been bothering him: "Why me?"

“Because you are the first ambitious person I have ever met with such a ‘clean’ heart.” Serafina’s answer was somewhat unexpected.

“Your wish is not for yourself, but for those who, like you, are being trampled into the mud. I feel that I am willing to help someone like you.”

Lacey looked at her, remaining silent for a long time.

A long silence fell over the attic, broken only by the crackling of the oil lamp flame.

An intelligence expert who can see into people's hearts will undoubtedly be of great help in what he wants to do.

Lacey was worried that she was outnumbered and unable to keep track of the upper echelons' movements or discern the loyalty of her followers. Serafina's appearance perfectly filled this gap.

only……

"Why should I believe you?" Despite having accepted it in her heart, Lacey still maintained the necessary caution.

The main reason was that the other person's identity made him feel somewhat unfamiliar.

Although he wasn't a dedicated Arknights player in his previous life, he had played it for a few years. He had never seen this person among the operators on the island, nor among the enemies that appeared in those levels.

She said she was a Liberi from Ursus, but the only Liberi he knew from Ursus was Helag.

If it were an operator like Exusiai or Texas who came to join him, he would agree without hesitation.

“Just because…” Serafina’s expression suddenly changed, and she said in a low, urgent voice, “There are people outside! Three people, all armed, walking very lightly, they’re coming for us! They’ve surrounded us from both ends of the alley!”

Almost the instant she finished speaking, Lacey's ears caught the faint sound of footsteps.