Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Streams of shimmering dust drifted freely across the Great Rift Valley, constantly falling and accumulating around it, eventually forming pieces of natural Originium.

Even though nearly a month has passed, the disaster caused by the Great Rift Valley has not subsided.

With such a concentration of Originium dust, an ordinary person would likely contract Oripathy simply by breathing in it, without even touching the newly formed Originium.

For some miners, these are priceless treasures once the disaster is completely over, but for the Great Rift Valley, these Originium stones on the ground are just the tip of the iceberg.

The real big one is below.

As a scholar, Eyjafjallajökull couldn't wait to get out of the car and investigate this rare natural disaster.

But now is not the time.

Eyjafjalla knew this perfectly well.

They still need to bring hope to the people of Wolumond, and even if they want to conduct research now, they cannot disregard the lives of those people.

Similarly, Xia Yu suppressed her emotions.

The Great Rift Valley held just as much allure for him as it did for Eyjafjalla.

The former was for research, while Xia Yu was purely after the Originium that was born from natural disasters.

Natural disasters like the Great Rift Valley are extremely rare, and even rarer ones are of such a scale.

This means that countless natural source stones exist beneath this rift valley that stretches for dozens of miles.

Even now, driving several kilometers away from the Great Rift Valley, you can still feel the rich Originium particles in the air.

For Xia Yu right now, this is undoubtedly paradise.

If we could absorb all the Originium below, the gains would be far greater than what we made in Chernobog.

Although it cannot compare to the Originium refined in the factory, its quantity is extremely large.

For the Terrans, mining Originium deposits dozens of kilometers underground might be a bit... difficult.

This is why, even after such a great natural disaster, the nobles of Letania did not react much to the Great Rift Valley.

Anyone with eyes can see how rich the Originium mines would be from a natural disaster of this scale.

However, due to the extraordinary nature of natural disasters like the Great Rift Valley, the vast majority of Originium ore has sunk into the fissures that extend more than ten kilometers into the ground, making mining extremely difficult. It is a case of being neither useful nor worth discarding.

The few minerals left on the ground might be abundant for some small mining towns, but they are not enough to make the nobles who control this land bow their heads.

However, the Originium mine located more than ten kilometers underground was not so troublesome for Xia Yu.

Regardless of the Originium dust that decomposes in the soil and still needs to be processed and extracted, the Originium crystals that can be used directly are enough for him to have a great harvest.

As for why Xia Yu didn't chase after natural disasters to obtain magic power, it's because natural disasters like the Great Rift Valley are not common.

Even though most natural disasters may generate a small amount of Originium crystals, most of them will sink into the ground and need to be processed and refined to be converted into magic power. This is too time-consuming and labor-intensive. If you are going to chase natural disasters, it is more practical to become a notorious bandit.

After all, those city-states had warehouses full of ready-made ore.

Xia Yu wouldn't hesitate to harm the feudal nobles and big capitalists of this era.

Of course, now is not the time to discuss Originium mines. This huge rift is right here and it's not going anywhere, so going to Wolumonde first is no big deal.

"I really want to do some serious research here..."

Eyjafjalla regretfully looked away from the car window and sighed, "Such opportunities are so rare."

“It’s not impossible,” Xia Yu said thoughtfully, “After all, we’ll probably be staying here for a while.”

"Uh, sorry..." Eyjafjalla paused for a moment, then looked at Xia Yu apologetically and said, "Senior, what did you say?"

The sound of the vehicle, combined with her already poor hearing, made the conversation even more difficult.

“I’m telling you,” Xia Yu had to turn around from the passenger seat and shout to Eyjafjalla in the back seat, “we still have some time if you want to do this research!”

"After all, the Wolumonde incident won't be over in a short time!"

"I see," Eyjafjalla said, her face beaming with joy. "That's wonderful, Senpai..."

Of course, this is just an excuse.

What's wrong with Wolumond?

It's just the madness of one or two lunatics. After dealing with them and stabilizing the town with enough food, we can leave.

After all, Rhodes Island isn't a charity. They've already done enough with the aid, so why would they let Xia Yu stay behind to be a babysitter for these people?

But who can resist the countless natural source stones beneath the rift valley?

So of course I'll be staying in Wolumonde for a while.

The reason? Humanitarian aid, isn't it?

Xia Yu turned her gaze away from the excited little lamb and looked again toward the Great Rift Valley.

It seems this round of fieldwork was worthwhile!

-

Suburbs of Wolumonde.

The three men's vehicle was stopped by several townspeople armed with makeshift weapons.

"Who are you people? Most of the caravans from the surrounding area should have arrived by now?"

They appeared calm and composed, without much wariness.

In other words, Dr. Anto's efforts have been very effective; at least Wolumonde is currently in order, and the conflict between the infected and ordinary people has been brought under control.

Therefore, those mentally ill people deserve to die even more.

Xia Yu glanced at them. Although they were everywhere in Letania, she still couldn't help but look at the huge antlers on their heads.

"we are……"

“Ah, I recognize that symbol!” He was interrupted by a townsman before he could finish speaking. “It’s called… Rhodes Island, right? Dr. Anto’s organization?”

“Yes, we are from Rhodes Island,” Xia Yu paused for a moment, as expected, Dr. Anto was quite famous here. “We were sent by the Rhodes Island main ship to deliver some medicine for Oripathy to Dr. Anto.”

“Really? That’s wonderful,” the leader put down his weapon and extended his hand to Xia Yu. “Thank you so much for your company’s help. We really need these medications.”

"This natural disaster has brought far too many infections. More medicine means less suffering for them."

"By the way, you can call me Kevin."

“Xia Yu,” Xia Yu reached out and shook hands with him, then looked at the ruined town behind Kevin, “Your losses… seem to be huge.”

“Yes,” Kevin said with a wry smile, “almost a quarter of Wolumonde’s area remained in the rift valley…”

"Fortunately, Commander Severin was decisive enough, otherwise even the people above would have been left there."

"We've also learned about the situation in Wolumonde through our communications with Dr. Anto. I must say you're really lucky; you only lost a small part of the town in the face of such a natural disaster..."

“It’s all because of Biederman!” Hearing this, a female townswoman behind Kevin complained, “If it weren’t for his negligence…”

“Anna!” Kevin turned around sternly, stopping her complaints. “The Cataclysmic Messenger is not a god! It cannot know what will happen in the future! Biederman just… made a mistake!”

"Don't place the burden of losses caused by natural disasters on Biederman's shoulders!"

"Not all natural disasters can be predicted! You should have learned this in compulsory education!"

“I know… but…” Anna’s voice trailed off under Kevin’s increasingly stern gaze, and she finally turned away in a huff.

“I’m sorry to have shown you this embarrassing side,” Kevin turned to Xia Yu and said, “Let’s go to the city hall first. Commander Severin will take good care of you.”

Xia Yu didn't seem to intend to introduce the two girls behind him, so he wisely refrained from asking.

As for why I didn't introduce it... well, there's a reason for that.

However, we'll leave those aside for now.

"Is Anto at the city hall?" Xia Yu asked directly. "Sorry, I need to check on her situation first."

“Dr. Anto isn’t at City Hall,” Kevin said, scratching his head. “She’s usually at a medical station she sets up in the suburbs near Twelve Sounds Street, and many infected people go to her for treatment.”

Eyjafjalla looked puzzled upon hearing this, but she could tell that Xia Yu's attitude towards the townspeople wasn't very good, so she didn't ask him about it.

“Well then, I doubt anyone will come by now,” Kevin glanced at the sky; it was almost dark. “I’ll take you to the medical station.”

"You guys guard this place. After handing over to your replacements, go back and tell Commander Severin that Rhodes Island's reinforcements have arrived."

Xia Yu nodded in response to his suggestion, then turned and went back to the car.

Kevin rode ahead on a motorcycle.

After Eyjafjalla returned to the car, she asked Xia Yu with a puzzled look, "Senior, why is the medical station located in the suburbs?"

Why set up medical stations in the suburbs?

Because Anto's patients were all infected...

While Letania may treat infected individuals better than other countries, that's only in comparison. If medical stations were set up within towns, many townspeople would object.

Because if the medical station is located within a town, then infected individuals would have to cross the town to receive treatment.

They strongly oppose infected people going out into the streets where they live.

Similarly, it cannot be located in the Twelve Sounds Block, which is a community of infected people.

It was a well-known problem that Dr. Anto didn't have enough medicine, so how much could she possibly carry with her?

If it were located on Twelve Sounds Street, the infected people who have lived there for a long time and know each other well would definitely band together to prevent other infected people from coming for treatment due to the lack of medicine.