Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Just as Xia Yu said, can they afford to pay such an exorbitant penalty for breach of contract?

Although this penalty for breach of contract was just something he made up on the spot.

So Dr. Anto paid such a high price to help us?

They wanted to step forward and condemn the so-called consultant, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

"Bad guy!"

Just as everyone was silent, a child who had not yet experienced the harshness of reality threw the doll in his hand at Xia Yu.

Anna stormed up angrily and threw her prized toy at Xia Yu.

The tattered rabbit doll hit Xia Yu and then fell limply onto the lawn, which was covered with a little morning dew.

Ignoring her beloved rabbit doll, Anna continued to glare fiercely at Xia Yu, as if punishing the villain with her eyes.

"Anna..."

Seeing this, Anto silently bent down, picked up the tattered doll, came to Anna, and reached out to hug her.

“That’s all I have to say,” Xia Yu shook her head as she read this. “I’ll give you one last day, Anto.”

"I want to hear your answer the day after tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Only the silent crowd remained.

“Go do your own thing,” Anto said, releasing the little girl from his arms, patting her head, and then addressing those around him, “Don’t worry, I won’t leave.”

"I promise."

……

"How well have I played the villain?"

Inside the tent, Xia Yu said to Eyjafjalla, "Don't you feel like punching me in the face a few times?"

"It's really... incredibly lifelike, senior," Eyjafjalla searched for an adjective for a long time before finally managing to utter this sentence.

"If I didn't know the reason, I'm afraid I would have terminated my contract with Rhodes Island on the spot..."

"Haha, don't worry," Xia Yu waved her hand, "The millions in breach of contract fees are all fake. Rhodes Island isn't some heartless company."

-

"Doctor, as long as you..."

A Sarkaz warrior who was testing for Oripathy had just started to speak when Mudrock interrupted him.

But his meaning was already quite clear.

As long as you ask, we'll act as your consultant.

Although he was the only one who spoke out, the approving looks from the Sarkaz around him betrayed their inner thoughts.

They greatly respected doctors like Anto, who didn't look at them differently and treated the Sarkaz the same way.

Surprisingly, Anto not only enjoyed a good reputation among the infected in Wolumonde, but she also earned respect from the Sarkaz who had come from afar.

Anto angrily tapped the Sarkaz's horn, telling them to mind their own business.

Actually, they were afraid the consultants would beat them to death.

Mudstone watched them silently from the side.

-

“Get ready, I’ll bring the ‘thing’ in tonight,” Thor and Biederman said, standing apart from the crowd. “Tomorrow, we’ll find an opportunity to act.”

"We can't delay it any longer!"

Biederman looked at Thor, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

Thor ignored this wavering ally and continued to implement his plans.

"To get close to both Anto and Sarkaz at the same time, there must be a suitable reason..."

“Oripathy… I can pretend to be infected and enter the ward when Anto is treating Sarkaz.”

"By the way, when you helped me in, you could have pretended to have an abdominal injury so you could bend over and bring the phonograph's device in."

"We can't put it in beforehand, or those well-informed Sarkaz might discover it."

"Damn it, the plan was rushed too much. How are we going to incite the infected to hate Wolumond?"

"We can't wait for natural fermentation. Wolumonde's food supplies can still last a while, but if we wait for natural fermentation, the food will be running low..."

"After another battle with the infected and the depletion of a large amount of food, we might not even be able to wait for reinforcements before another civil war breaks out!"

"The process of rioting by infected individuals must be accelerated."

Thor slammed his fist into the ground in frustration as he finished speaking.

The arrival of this so-called consultant disrupted too many of his plans.

This forced him to launch an operation within the next few days.

“Perhaps there’s no need to worry, we can take it slow,” Biederman said tentatively. “Dr. Anto said she won’t leave…”

“How can you pin your hopes on a possibility?” Thor turned and glared at Biederman. “What if it’s just her being polite?”

"Don't even mention the day after tomorrow, I even think they'll sneak out of the camp tonight!"

Biederman glanced at the somewhat hysterical Thor and thought to himself, "Your plan is riddled with flaws..."

But he didn't say it.

"If all else fails..." Thor's eyes flashed with madness, "If all else fails..."

"My identity...yes, my identity!"

"The prepared corpses are no longer needed; I just need to disappear after the explosion!"

"The infected who find Anto dead will definitely search for the cause of the explosion immediately. As long as we disappear from the medical room in broad daylight, that's fine!"

"Using our Originium Arts in combination, we can easily escape the camp amidst the chaos."

“I am the son of the Warrenmund Sheriff. When something like this happens, the infected will naturally turn their anger towards Warrenmund.”

"But Father... Father..."

Even if it will implicate my father, I can't care about that anymore.

"For everyone in Wolumond!"

Thor's eyes flashed with a morbid fanaticism, and he excitedly grabbed Biederman's hand.

"For everyone, for Wolumond!"

"Oh right, that damned consultant, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had to drag my father into this..."

"Hmph, I bet Anto will be torn to shreds by the enraged infected after he dies, after all, he's accumulated so much hatred here these past few days!"

"You'll help me, right?" Thor suddenly stopped his anxious steps and stared intently at Biederman. "You'll definitely help me, right?"

"This is the consequence of your negligence. Everyone in Wolumonde is in crisis because of you."

"It's just your chance to atone... You won't give it up, will you?"

“No…” Biederman didn’t dare to meet his gaze and lowered his head deeply.

"This is to correct my mistake... I certainly won't run away from it."

"That's good," Thor nodded in satisfaction.

Biederman was key to the success of his plan.

In the plan, his Frost Originium Arts could protect the two of them from the thousands of degrees of heat that the casting unit could unleash in an instant.

Although this would exhaust all his strength and even cause him to faint on the spot, with Biederman there, he would take him away.

Biederman's disguise-type Originium Arts would allow them to smoothly leave the angry crowd after their plan succeeds.

After that, he will also rely on his Originium Arts to infiltrate the Infected and incite their hatred.

There's a reason why Thor was so dedicated to recruiting Labidman.

His plans are inseparable from Biederman.

This cowardly man was so easy to control; a few righteous words were enough to make him obediently listen to him.

His cowardly nature is also a double-edged sword.

Even now, Thor can still see hesitation in Biederman's eyes.

However, once the plan succeeds, there's no going back.

They could only obediently follow behind him.

“For Wolumond,” Thor stared intently at Biederman and reached out his hand.

“…For Wolumond,” Biederman avoided Thor’s gaze, but still reached out and clasped his hands together with Thor’s.

With a third person as a witness, they said in unison, "It's all for Wolumond."