Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“We’re almost there,” Lion Scorpion said, carefully examining the map. “Once we cross that mountain range, Drip Village is on the other side.”

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu immediately accelerated and sped towards Dishui Village.

Titi, I'm here!

-

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain range.

"Stop her! Stop her, all of you!" the desperate bounty hunter screamed hysterically.

"What are you doing?! Didn't you see they were all wiped out?!"

His companions were equally desperate.

"Go ahead and do it! Aren't you usually very good at this?"

Even at this point, they were still passing the buck to each other.

They're really... a complete mess.

"I...I can't do it! This guy is a jinx!"

Finally, someone recognized the figure.

"That's a 'jinx'! That monster! Who can stop her?!"

But this was not a good thing; their last glimmer of hope was shattered by the word "jinx."

Anyone in the bounty hunter business knows the name of the Calamity.

“(Agor’s words) Anyone who tries to stop me will die.”

Amidst the terrified gazes of the bounty hunters, the jinx they spoke of finally broke through.

“(Agor’s words) Those who swung their weapons at me were all smashed to pieces.”

“(Agor’s words) If you want to die, take a step forward.”

The words were quite forceful, but unfortunately, Miss Disaster seemed to have overlooked something.

"What on earth are you talking about?!"

The leader of the bounty hunters, a man known as the captain, yelled at the jinx in a fit of despair, "Can't you speak something we can understand?"

“Ah, I forgot,” the lady opposite him, known as the jinx, tilted her head and suddenly realized, “I forgot you can’t understand.”

While talking, she didn't stop moving. She casually waved her greatsword, as if shooing away flies. In the blink of an eye, the captain who was blocking her way disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Captain?"

"Where is the captain?"

"Oh my god! The captain has fallen into the river!"

The bounty hunters were thrown into chaos.

"Tell me, where is she?"

Miss Calamity's tone was straightforward.

"Her? What 'her'? Which 'her'? Who are you talking about?" The bounty hunters were about to collapse. Boss, can you please stop being so stingy with your words?

What do you want? Tell us, and we'll take care of it perfectly for you.

You mentioned her...who knew it was...

she?

Those with quicker minds have already figured it out.

What else could bounty hunters be coming to Dishui Village at this time of year?

For the knight's treasure, of course.

So, this woman...

Is it that village chief?

Although I understand it now, it's actually better not to understand it at all.

The reason for this is certainly not because everyone shares the same goal; after all, they are clear about which is more important, money or life.

In Dishui Village, they only bullied the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and they deliberately controlled their methods so that no murders occurred.

It's important to understand that while Kazimierz doesn't interfere with these small villages, if they were to massacre one of them, it would be a slap in the face to the local nobles.

He still has the title of knight, after all. If his village is slaughtered and he doesn't say a word, how can he live in the village?

Of course, that's all there is to it. As long as no one dies, the nobles don't bother with such trivial matters.

Bounty hunters know their limits.

Besides, who knows who's behind these bounty hunters?

Maybe it's some nobleman's black glove?

On the surface, the nobles certainly couldn't be interested in the so-called knight's treasure. After all, they were also knightly nobles, and it would be too disrespectful to dig up their ancestors' graves. They would be embarrassed to go out if word got out.

But if bounty hunters dig it up, then it's no big deal; after all, they're a bunch of hyenas who are obsessed with money.

But who gets the lion's share of the treasure they finally unearthed, and how do the others know?

Although this group of bounty hunters seemed to be doing all sorts of evil in Dripwater Village, they hadn't actually committed any truly heinous crimes.

He acted as a local thug, harassing the villagers every day, waiting until they got fed up with him and handed over the secret of the treasure.

But the people of Drip Village were too stubborn, refusing to hand over the goods no matter what. As so much time passed without any results, the bounty hunters became anxious, and even the people behind the scenes couldn't stand it anymore.

This suggests they could use slightly more extreme methods.

Having received their instructions, the bounty hunters promptly tied up and hung up Dripping Water Village Chief Chlor, forcing her to talk.

But they were thwarted by a guy with a long spear. Before they could find the two men, one problem after another arose, and disaster struck again.

The bounty hunters blocking Skadi's way were on the verge of tears. "Sister, I really don't know where that village chief is. We're looking for her too. Well, here you are, just as we were looking for her."

That's what they thought, but everyone looked at each other, and no one dared to speak up.

There was nothing they could do; this jinx had such a terrible reputation that even their own boss could only ask, "What did you say?" before she slammed him into the river with her greatsword.

I don't know if they're dead or not.

With past examples to learn from, who would dare to approach and strike up a conversation?

What if this jinx finds out, and they don't know where the village chief is? If he gets upset, he might send them to the river to join the captain.

As their eyes met, they solidified a belief.

This is someone I can't afford to mess with. If I can't mess with them, can't I at least avoid them?

"You just wait!" A bounty hunter standing at the back, blustering but ultimately cowardly, raised his knife and shouted at Skadi, "One day, we'll get our revenge!"

After making those harsh remarks, he turned and ran away.

The person standing in front of him was stunned.

The harsh words were said later, so he got beaten up...

Upon realizing this, everyone immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in panic.

"Hey, don't run away yet! Get the captain out of here first!"

There are still loyal people who remember the leader who only said one line before leaving the stage.

But they clearly didn't dare get close to Skadi, and took a long detour before finally retrieving the person from the river.

With that kind of skill, even a captain could swim up by himself.

After all, Skadi wasn't serious; she just waved her hand casually.

Although even with that casual wave of the hand, the captain would definitely not have fared well, at least he survived.

Seeing the bounty hunters scatter like birds and beasts, Skadi did not give chase.

If she wanted to chase after them, none of the people here could escape.

Titi was quite clever; she could tell from the look on these bounty hunters' faces that they hadn't found their target.

Then he could just stay in the village. How could someone who could persistently ask for help from the outside world again and again for the sake of the village possibly abandon it?

With that thought in mind, the little orca wobbled towards the village.

At this moment, in the warehouse next door.

The two Kurantas were huddled together, shivering.

"That...that person is..."

Little Ma was completely stunned when he saw Skadi displaying her incredible power outside.

"You know her?" The most sought-after woman in Dripwater Village, the woman that bounty hunters dream of, the village chief of Dripwater Village—Koro—asked nervously, "She...is also here for the treasure?"

“She might be my colleague…” Grani seemed unsure as well. Although she had heard of Skadi’s impressive record and terrifying legends on Rhodes Island and had even seen her in person from afar, the scene before her was still too shocking.

Grani was deeply shocked to learn that the bounty hunters, who had just been chasing them around in a chaotic frenzy, had been defeated by Skadi alone.

"But shouldn't I be the one who received this commission? I went through so much trouble to snatch this task from Sister Meteorite..."