Chapter 82 The Lock Can't Protect You

Gerald's movements were too fast.

It was only after the broken arm rolled on the ground twice that Ocot came to his senses.

“Aaaaaaah!”

He desperately covered his wound and screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

"Jellal! Your heart lock has indeed failed. You are now betraying Tianqin..."

He endured the pain and roared at Jellal with all his might, but Jellal did not give him a chance to finish his words. He pulled out the metal bar and chopped at Ocot's other arm.

"clang"!

With a crisp sound, Gerald's metal bar collided with a thin mechanical arm, producing sparks.

Jellal looked up and saw a mechanical arm extending from Ocot's back.

At this moment, Ocot's back was heaving wildly, as if something was trying to break out of his body.

Jellal sensed something was wrong and attacked Orcot's head, but the sudden mechanical arm began to block it.

Ding, ding, ding!

There was a series of blacksmithing sounds, and sparks bloomed on Ocot's forehead, but he didn't even look at them. He just held his head tightly, as if he was suppressing something.

After a moment, he let out a terrible howl. His expression was even more painful than when Jellal chopped off one of his arms. The movement behind him also reached its limit at this moment. One tiny mechanical arm after another emerged from behind him. It was unclear whether the "ripping" sound was tearing clothes or flesh.

In a very short time, Ocot has changed dramatically.

He jumped from an ordinary person who did not seem to have undergone much metal modification to a weirdo with eight mechanical arms hidden in his body. The fully extended mechanical arms made him look like a tall-legged spider.

Then Okot controlled the eight robotic arms and poked them towards Jellal. Jellal immediately stepped back, and the robotic arms left holes one after another on the floor in front of him.

After temporarily forcing Gerard back, Ocott covered his head again and gasped for breath. It was obvious that these eight mechanical arms were a big burden for him.

At this moment, Gerard finally had time to express his inner astonishment - he did not expect Okot to become like this.

"It seems that I was not the one who betrayed Tianqin." Gerard said slowly, "You are the most direct evidence. Your transformation is absolutely not allowed."

After hearing what Gerard said, Ocot immediately laughed, and his face was twisted in pain, which looked extremely hideous. "I'm sorry, Gerard, your knowledge is already outdated. Tianqin introduced a new bill three years ago, allowing some mechanical modifications that were not allowed before... Just like what you see."

Jellal narrowed his eyes slightly.

He did know the new bill that Ocot was talking about.

According to Tianqin's previous rules, metal prostheses can only be added when they replace the original prostheses, and new ones cannot be added to a complete body. In simple terms, a new prosthesis can be used to replace the original flesh arm, but it cannot be added out of thin air to become a "third hand".

This was once a strictly prohibited red line that no one could violate.

But the bill three years ago moved the red line back a little, but at most it only allowed "five fingers" to become "six fingers".

As for people like Ocot who just added eight robotic arms to their bodies...

"You crossed the line," Gerald said. "A lot."

"Yes, yes, I did cross the line, I don't deny that." Ocott was still smiling, "But what is the penalty for crossing the line? Sir Gerard, let me tell you, the punishment rules of this plan are not yet mature, so you may not understand. But the penalty for crossing the line in this plan is... a fine of 3,000 silver coins, but it does not require the removal of the part that crossed the line. Unfortunately, I have already paid the fine of 3,000 silver coins."

Ocot's smile grew wider, and his eight mechanical arms pointed at Jellal at the same time.

"So, I paid the fine but did not betray Tianqin. And you, Lord Gerard, you have no authority to punish me... But you still attacked me. You have violated the 'lock' in your heart. You are the one who betrayed Tianqin. You are the rebel!"

Gerard had no way to refute what Ocot said because he knew that Ocot was right.

The "lock" in his heart was long gone.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to obtain Carol's information from the archives so smoothly today, nor would he have been able to remove Ocott's arm as smoothly as just now.

He is now a true...rebel.

And Ocot is still a legal citizen of Lyra.

As he looked at Ocott, the image of Carol's death involuntarily emerged in his mind. The family photo that he had cherished in his heart was destroyed along with his life.

Gerard gripped the metal bar tighter and tighter, and the fingers that were not replaced by metal were cut by the sharp metal bar and bled profusely.

"When did Tianqin become like this?" Gerald asked softly, "Is it because of you guys?"

Ocot still looked at Gerard with a playful expression, but in his heart he was still alert, wary of this knight who had unlocked the "lock of heart".

"Well, it seems that guy is right." Gerard slowly raised the metal bar in his hand and pointed it at Ocot. "Sometimes, I also need to do things that were unimaginable before."

Ocott frowned slightly.

That guy?

Who are you referring to?

Gerard had no intention of explaining, he just leaned down slightly.

"Don't worry." Gerald said, "After I kill you, I will pay the fine."

…

Tower of Babel.

The young man sitting alone in the office opened his eyes, looked at the setting sun, and suddenly asked, "Why hasn't Okot come back yet?"

An old man just walked in and heard what the young man said. He immediately bowed and said, "Lord Yongxin, Okot is on the cog train to District 5. According to his report, the Knight of Xixing did something out of line today. He went to deal with it, and then something unexpected happened."

Then the old man told the young man everything that happened today.

The young man was silent for a while, then he said softly, "Jellal's heart lock is really broken."

"Yes." The old man replied, "This is the first time in ten years that he has entered the archives room and the first time he has done something 'out of line'."

"...Interesting." The young man said with a smile, "For the past ten years, we have been trying to stop him and get rid of him by saying that he was contaminated and the 'Heart Lock' was unstable, but we all know that it is false. But now... his 'Heart Lock' is really broken."

The old man was silent for a while, then said, "This is indeed surprising. What on earth could have caused the 'lock' in his heart to break?"

"It's been ten years. The fact that the heart lock has locked him up for ten years is beyond our expectations." The young man said, "That's why we arranged for him to go to the Rhine, hoping to really put an end to him... Unfortunately, he was lucky, or rather, the archbishop of the Rhine was not very lucky, which caused some errors in our plan."

After saying this, the young man fell silent again. He looked at the sun in the distance that had already sunk halfway. From his angle, the sun looked like it was about to be swallowed up by the steel city of Lyra.

The old man waited for a long time, but the young man showed no intention of speaking, so he couldn't help but say, "Then what about Okot..."

"Hmm?" The young man seemed to have suddenly woken up. "What?"

"He said he seemed to be targeted, so he went to District 5." The old man said, "What do you think targeted him?"

In the old man's impression, the young man is the kind of person who can deal with anything calmly, giving people the feeling that nothing will be beyond his control.

But this time, a hint of hesitation flashed across the young man's face.

"Honestly, I don't know."

The old man's expression immediately turned into surprise.

"What a coincidence, everything is just a coincidence." The young man frowned slightly, and he said softly, "I didn't feel anything before, but now I think... it's just a coincidence. The final moment is coming, and Xiaoxing, who was supposed to die in the Rhine, came back intact, and unlocked the heart lock that had not been unlocked for ten years. He started to act in such a short time and found the entry point accurately. And today, Ocot was targeted by someone again. It's just a coincidence, it's just a coincidence."

The old man felt uneasy from the young man's words: "What do you mean?"

The young man was silent for a while, then said, "I feel like there's a reason for this change, but I can't find it based on just this. I need to take another look... But I have a feeling that Okot won't be coming back, and the one chasing him is most likely Gerard."

The old man's eyes widened little by little: "How could this be? Let's not talk about how Jellal can find Orcot. Even if he really finds him, he shouldn't be Orcot's opponent, right? Orcot has undergone a new life transformation, and Jellal... Even if his 'heart lock' is unlocked, the 'body lock' is still there."

"I just said that I had this premonition." The young man said softly, "But unfortunately, my premonitions often come true. Moreover, if I rely on the 'body lock' to completely restrict the former Xiaoxing..."

The young man didn't finish his words, but the old man already understood what he meant. However, he didn't know how to respond.

After a long time, when the sun in the distance finally disappeared in Tianqin's iron body and darkness spread to the sky like ink, the old man heard the young man say.

"Prepare for the worst and...get rid of Okot. Now is not the time for a showdown."

The old man's body trembled slightly, but he didn't dare to say anything more. He just promised and left quickly, leaving the young man alone to look at Tianqin after nightfall.

…

What happened?! What happened?! What happened?!

In the narrow compartment, Okot kept driving his mechanical arms to attack Gerald. These mechanical arms of his were specially made, and their attack speed was faster than that of the most agile and deadly venomous snake when hunting.

In such a space, an old thing that should have been eliminated by the times should not be able to make any effective dodge.

Of course, Jellal did not dodge. He rushed straight towards Okoto and swung the metal bar in his hand into a circle. This metal bar, which was not supposed to be a weapon, was like a sword drawn from its sheath in Jellal's hand, cutting off one "poisonous snake" after another that was biting towards him. The moment the metal collided with the metal, an ear-piercing and sharp buzzing sound was emitted, and golden sparks burst out.

Surrounded by these Mars, Jellal was moving forward unstoppably. Under this extremely oppressive attack, he was unharmed.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

Ocott was not a combat specialist, nor had he joined any of Lyra's troops, but until just now he had never taken Jellal seriously because he had undergone transformation, the most top-secret, latest type of transformation.

Each of his eight robotic arms is stronger than any prosthetic limb on the market, and the technological content contained in them is beyond the reach of even the "devil" troops fighting against pollution.

So how can an old guy who lived ten years ago compete with him?

People are like machines. The newer and more advanced ones will naturally replace the older and less up-to-date ones.

But why can this guy...

"clang!"

Gerard had already rushed in front of Okoto, raised high the metal bar that was full of gaps but not yet broken, and then swung it down at Okoto's other arm.

Okot immediately drove his two mechanical arms back to defend. At the same time, sounds were heard from Jellal's metal body. Chains spread out from the deepest part of the metal body, trying to lock up Jellal who was in a violent state.

This is the oldest and most severe of all Tianqin's metal products - the "body lock".

At first, this "body lock" was only used for troops stationed in the contaminated area to prevent the troops in the contaminated area from using these powerful weapons to harm Tianqin after losing control. Gradually, this lock was extended to all Tianqin people, and everyone had such a lock in their metal prosthesis. This lock was also the most important guarantee for maintaining Tianqin's safety.

And now it has become Ocot's greatest hope.

Jellal's "body lock" was triggered. Even though the degree of his body transformation was far lower than that of Lyra's new generation of troops, the "body lock" could still limit more than 70% of Jellal's power.

In this way...

"clang!"

The two mechanical arms that Orcot used to block Gerald's attack were cut off again, but the slashing action did not stop. The metal bar full of gaps still cut into Orcot's right shoulder at this moment, and it did not stop until the bar was completely immersed.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

Ocot wailed again.

The remaining mechanical arms immediately attacked Jellal. Realizing that this attack would not achieve greater results, Jellal did not want to fight anymore and quickly retreated, retreating to a safe position in an instant.

Then he lowered his head and saw that the "locks" on every metal part on his thighs, chest, and shoulders had been deployed. Now his every movement was greatly restricted.

The ancient rules of Lyra still protect Ocot.

but……

Gerard looked at Ocot who was wailing madly not far away, and silently wiped the blood off the metal bar.

It can't be saved.

(End of this chapter)