Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"I see..." Xia Yu shook her head dismissively. "What do you think they're after? I think the technology isn't advanced enough. I'm so fed up with staying in hotels without even a flush toilet."

“Exactly, exactly,” Nian was clearly a bit tipsy, waving a bottle while holding Xia Yu’s shoulder. “Don’t they know their own capabilities? Back then, their most powerful counterattack was still suppressed by that generation of Demon King!”

She clearly didn't think there was anything to hide from Xia Yu, her fellow "survivor," and, fueled by alcohol, poured out her grievances.

"And then there was the Great Yan incident, where they colluded with seven or eight prefectures, claiming that more than half the country was in rebellion. And what was the result?"

"They were being used as pawns without realizing it, and were smugly thinking that those bureaucrats and landlords genuinely supported them."

"They're just using them as henchmen and scapegoats, treating them like royalty. The reason they support them is because the emperor's new tax law is going to cut into the wealth of those powerful families, so they're making a scene to make the emperor hesitate and compromise with the powerful families."

"Later, when the emperor saw that this wouldn't work, he made peace with the powerful clans, and the turmoil that had supposedly engulfed the entire country was quelled within three days. Those powerful clans were transformed into government troops, and the emperor even reaped considerable military merits from them..."

"Isn't that ridiculous?"

"They've been holed up in the mountains for thousands of years, and then they come out to play mind games with the most cunning people chosen from over a hundred million... They're not even as good as that black snake from Ursus!"

"At least they know that if they can't beat someone, they can join them."

"It forced me to pack my valuables and flee from Xuzhou overnight, fearing I'd be implicated. My life's savings accumulated over hundreds of years! My grand mansion with three courtyards! Just like that, it's all gone..."

"Why didn't they jump out when the Great Yan Emperor wanted to slaughter the gods? They all cowered in the desolate mountains and wilderness, afraid of being found and killed."

"They're all just a bunch of fools who can't see the bigger picture," Xia Yu commented nonchalantly. "If they were truly powerful enough to hinder the development of civilization, they wouldn't have ended up like this today..."

Chen listened with trepidation.

Are these secrets really things I should be able to hear?

Although she knew from Black Serpent's repeated questioning of Xia Yu on the command tower in the core city that this person was far more than just a master of martial arts, but...

Half of the prefectures and counties in the country rebelled... and then, dramatically, the rebellion was quelled within three days by an imperial edict. This refers to the Jia Chen Rebellion...

This happened five hundred years ago... which means that the girl in front of him, who on the surface seems to be a fellow dragon, has lived for at least five hundred years...

Five hundred years... or at least...

What about Xia Yu, who was chatting with her?

Chen suddenly realized that his understanding of the world was still too shallow.

"My grand mansion, with its three courtyards and three gates!" Nian muttered to herself, still clutching a wine bottle, "is just ruined like that..."

"How much would it be worth now! The furniture and decorations inside would be antiques by now, wouldn't they?"

Even gods need to eat. Although with his skills, he could never go hungry anywhere, no one would be happy to lose such a large sum of money for no reason.

"Even my dearest little sister has become withdrawn. She locks herself in a painting all day and won't come out. It's impossible to see her..."

Xia Yu knew, of course, who the younger sister she was talking about was.

evening.

Heaven has a great furnace, earth produces five metals, their brilliance smelted and their cold tempered, illuminating the clear clouds.

Stars are hidden amidst snowflakes, the moon is obscured by its brilliance. Amidst barren mountains and dried-up waters, a great river flows on.

This refers to these two sisters.

Xia Yu has a particularly deep impression of Xi.

When Dawn first launched, he prepared over 40,000 Originium to try his luck, and then casually clicked on the daily free draw first...

Then Xi arrived...

This was arguably the luckiest moment of his life!

none of them!

"Are we going to Letania?" Chen forced his thoughts to turn away from the big revelation from last year and looked at the two documents in front of Xia Yu.

"This country..."

"Hmm? Are you familiar with Letania?" Xia Yu turned to Chen upon hearing this. "To be honest, my knowledge of this country is limited to knowing its name."

In fact, his understanding of most countries in the world was limited to knowing their names.

It would be good enough if you could even remember the names...

After all, some countries that never appeared in the storyline... really don't have a strong presence.

For example, Sami.

“Leytania…” Chen’s expression was very complicated. “I don’t know much about her either. I just had a classmate from the Tower when I was studying in Victoria.”

"He's a really annoying person."

“I see,” Xia Yu nodded thoughtfully. “Actually, I’m quite looking forward to this mission.”

"After all, it's a chance to do things that I wanted to do but couldn't in the past..."

"That must feel amazing!"

Oh ho, upon hearing this, Nian quietly raised his eyes to observe Xia Yu's expression, then silently lowered his head, hugging the wine bottle and reminiscing about his old mansion that he had entered and exited three times, oh, and his younger sister.

As for Letania?

Well, wish them good luck.

She knew all too well what that scoundrel had done in the core city...

Things I wanted to do but couldn't in the past...

Ugh... I don't even want to think about it. I'm just a blacksmith; I don't get involved in all this fighting and killing.

Chen paused for a moment, feeling that something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

In the end, he could only nod to Xia Yu and say, "Have a pleasant journey."

88. A femme fatale?

The lion scorpion stood awkwardly in front of Xia Yu.

Behind her was a fully armed... well... armored off-road vehicle.

This combination, well...

It's reassuring in every sense of the word.

"These are medicines..." The lion scorpion timidly pointed to the several large and small bags beside him.

"Dr. Kal'tsit said there's no need to load it onto the truck..."

In fact, the Manticore was very puzzled by this order, since the dozen or so boxes of medicine piled up together were taller than her, and the prepared off-road vehicle definitely couldn't fit them all.

But no one else participated in this mission, only the two of them, at least that's what the mission briefing said.

“Okay, let me show you a magic trick,” Xia Yu said, stroking his chin, suddenly wanting to tease her. “Close your eyes first.”

"Hmm..." Upon hearing this, the lion scorpion obediently closed its eyes.

Two seconds later, Xia Yu said, "Alright, open your eyes."

The lion scorpion obediently opened its eyes and found that the dozen or so boxes of medicine that had been neatly stacked in front of it had mysteriously disappeared.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Xia Yu's lips curled up slightly.

"Wow...so amazing..." The lion scorpion turned its little head around, but no matter what it did, it couldn't see the dozen or so boxes of medicine.

“Alright, we should get going,” Xia Yu turned to look at the larger, more robust SUV behind the Lion Scorpion, “After all, a lady has been waiting for us for a long time.”

Although very curious about where the medicines had gone, Lion Scorpion obediently opened the car door.

Then he sat in the driver's seat.

This silenced Xia Yu, who was just about to get on the bus.

"Um..." He hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Scorpion, do you want to drive?"

Hearing this, the lion scorpion was also stunned.

"I received... a guide quest..."

"Guide..."

Xia Yu's lips twitched.

Since she was assigned the role of guide, she was to drive. Well, that makes sense.

Traveling long distances in the wilderness in an off-road vehicle is a rather tedious job that really tests one's patience.

Even if you encounter various supply points along the way, and if you're lucky, you might even find a moving city where you can rest properly, you'll still spend most of your time alone in the wilderness.

In Terra, where there are no railways or aviation industries, even the way of getting around is like this... retro.

Driving an off-road vehicle across an endless wilderness sounds romantic, but in reality...

It's really torturous.

However, since Lion Scorpion had already taken the seat, Xia Yu couldn't object.

“Even a guide mission can’t be driven by just one girl like you,” Xia Yu shook her head and walked to the passenger seat. “How about this, you take the morning and I’ll take the afternoon, we’ll take turns.”

“Yes, Captain,” Lion Scorpion did not object to Xia Yu’s arrangement. Instead, he skillfully started the vehicle and slowly drove away from Rhodes Island amidst the waving of the garage staff.

Heading towards the boundless wilderness.