Arknights' Lock of Heaven

He walked towards the champion's wall exhibition hall, stepping through the pool of blood beneath his feet. Thick drops of blood stained his coat, but he seemed not to notice.

There were still a few 'important people' who hadn't been hoisted up yet, and Xia Yu deliberately left them for last.

We need to speed things up, or Margaret will be here soon.

262 You're right, then why don't you obey me?

"Let me go, I'll do anything if you just let me go..."

"I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."

"I'm a board member, a board member! Do you know the consequences of killing me?"

In front of the Champions Wall exhibition hall are some of the most dazzling streetlights in the Great Knights Territory.

After all, this is a prime location in the country of Kazimir, so it naturally has to be arranged to be bright and impressive.

And here it is, it comes in handy now!

Some of these people were very old, with gray hair, while others were in their prime, shrewd and capable.

Everyone was impeccably dressed and meticulously groomed.

Oh, that was before dark.

They were disheveled and their clothes were in disarray, looking exactly like they had suffered a disaster.

No matter how gorgeous their clothes were, they changed their situation.

“You’ll get your comeuppance,” old Olmer cried hoarsely before he was hoarsely hoarse. “I’m Olmer! Olmer! You’ll get your comeuppance! You’ll get your comeuppance!”

“Perhaps,” Xia Yu replied casually, “but I don’t know when I will suffer retribution, but your retribution is coming right now.”

"Where exactly have we offended you?" a middle-aged man asked desperately as Xia Yu drew closer. "Wasn't the money we offered enough?"

"Or has someone been so foolish as to offend you?"

"If you just say the word, I'll immediately offer you my entire fortune; there's no need for such a fuss..."

"You... cough cough, don't you understand yet?"

Just then, an old man coughed twice and said sarcastically, "Still unwilling to believe it?"

As he watched Xia Yu hang the middle-aged man who had begged for mercy from a lamppost, completely ignoring the man's pleas, he said, "Ha, justice and righteousness..."

"Did those peasants really finally get a just and upright official who would stand up for them?"

"I just don't know what you, this upright official, are capable of changing?"

The old man, acting like a madman, roared, "Do you think they'll be better off if they hang us?"

"Dream on! Dream on! Human greed is insatiable!"

“Even if we die, more people will join the Business Federation. You can kill us, but you can’t uproot us!”

"Go ahead and kill all the employees of the Business Federation if you dare!"

"That's almost half the population of Kazimierz! Do you dare?"

"Dare you...?"

Snapped!

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Yu slapped him across the face.

"You're a vicious person," Xia Yu said, giving him a disdainful look, feeling somewhat bewildered.

"Employees of the Business Federation? Aren't they just ordinary workers?"

"Why would I kill them? What would I gain? I'm not crazy."

"You wouldn't dare! You wouldn't dare! You wouldn't dare!!!"

Hearing this, the old man seemed to have won a victory, "You don't dare to kill them, do you!"

"Ha, employees? Employees? Our Ronald family, cough cough, was just an employee in your eyes decades ago!"

“My ancestor was just a lowly knight’s squire; his parents were both penniless commoners!”

"And now? After several generations of management, cough cough, I am worth hundreds of millions. Even nobles have to greet me with a smile. With such a shining example before me, how many people do you think are eyeing my position?"

“Countless! Even if you kill me, there will be thousands upon thousands more who want to take my place. Someone will always take my place.”

"Every so-called working-class person you mention could be like this!"

"Cough cough, can you kill them all? Can you kill them all?"

"Who in the world wouldn't want to live the life I'm living? Given the chance, who wouldn't want to take my place?"

"Do you think you can eradicate all the innate greed in people by killing them?"

"Daydreaming!"

"You can't kill them all! You can't kill them all! Human greed is boundless! For money, for power, for climbing the social ladder, people will do anything!"

"I've seen it all over the years!"

He glared maliciously at Xia Yu, "I'll be waiting for you down there, waiting for your beliefs to crumble, waiting for you to be abandoned by everyone, waiting for you to turn to the dark side..."

"I'll wait until the day you drown in your pathetic ideals!"

Xia Yu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Then, without hesitation, he hung him up and sneered as he watched the old man, whose neck was being strangled, bounce and twist uncontrollably in mid-air.

"Huh? Don't you think too highly of me?"

"Do you really think I'm a saint?"

"A saint who shoulders the burden of eliminating inequality and oppression throughout the world?"

"I'm sorry, I really don't have that high level of ideological awareness, I'm really ashamed."

"You're right, yes, it's true that we can't kill them all, but why should I kill them all?"

"Shouldn't businesses be regulated by the government? Why should I take the responsibility upon myself?"

"Shouldn't corruption be corrected by oversight mechanisms? Why should I be held responsible?"

"When a nation declines, there will naturally be people who can't stand it anymore and rise up to bring about a new era. What does that have to do with me?"

"Isn't this just asking for trouble?"

"The world has become like this, and it's not my fault, so why should I take full responsibility?"

"I'll do my part for the liberation of all mankind; how could I possibly shoulder the entire burden?"

"I'm not stupid!"

"Just recently, an old man reminded me that liberation achieved by the power of one person is not true liberation at all; people have simply been replaced by a more lenient ruler."

"If you don't get people to stand up ideologically, all your words will be in vain."

Xia Yu shrugged.

The old man, who had been hung from the street lamp, stared wide-eyed and struggled desperately.

"Oh, I know what you want to ask," Xia Yu smiled faintly, "Since I'm not a saint, why should I meddle in your business, right?"

"You're really confused, aren't you?"

“It’s very simple,” Xia Yu looked up, her eyes full of sincerity, “I just don’t like you guys.”

Is this reason sufficient?

"Do you think that just because I've hanged you, I'm going to take over this country, control the malignant tumor that is the Business Federation, and manage the basic needs of the Kasimir people?"

"What does all this have to do with me?"

“I am not a Qasimir, and I have never owed anything to the people of this land.”

Why should I be responsible for them?

"Don't they have a government? Don't they have their own heroes? Can't they even find a single trustworthy person?"

"Do they have no hands? Or no legs? Or no heart?"

"Can't they get up on their own?"

"You expect them to stand up..." the old man managed to squeeze out, "Haha, you expect them to stand up on their own?"

"How could those lowly people possibly stand up?"

"You... cough cough, you're daydreaming!"

"No, quite the opposite," Xia Yu smiled slightly upon hearing this, "Why do you think I haven't completely overthrown this country that disgusts me?"

"Because a group of people have already stood up."

"Even if they are very inexperienced, their methods are crude, they have no guiding principles, and they are just subconsciously banding together, even if they are very weak and you can easily wipe them out with a little force, their minds have begun to awaken."

"Outside your proud mobile city, a group of people have already come together, a motley crew of all sorts of people, all of whom you look down on."

"You...you are clearly not one of those peasants at all!"

Just then, a middle-aged man, driven mad by the fear of death, broke down and shouted at Xia Yu.