Arknights' Lock of Heaven

The second son of the Meshchenko family, who witnessed all of this, was terrified. If he hadn't been so clean-cut, he probably wouldn't have escaped either.

Then I heard the news that that scoundrel was actually leaving Kazimierz to go to Ursus...

Almost the entire Kazimierz region was going all out to give them a send-off, providing whatever they were lacking. After discussing it with the military, they decided that since the ship was no longer needed, they might as well do the other a favor.

Then the ship was sold to Rhodes Island for an incredibly low price... and with a 100-year loan, which was practically a freebie...

All so that Xia Yu could leave Kazimierz as soon as possible, he plunged headlong into the vortex of Ursus.

If it weren't for the fact that it was simply unacceptable, they wouldn't even want the interest.

Once you reach that position, money really just becomes a string of numbers. As long as you can keep your life, what does a ship matter?

Or, to put it another way, if you can send away a powerhouse of the Witch King's level with a single comprehensive supply ship... you should be secretly happy!

If it were the Witch King, would he really think he could get rid of him with just a mere supply ship? Who do you think you are?

Even with the addition of food and other supplies, it's still not enough.

These people are actually quite easy to talk to, incredibly nice, as long as you demonstrate your strength and attitude!

Xia Yu refers to this collectively as the weakness and compromising nature of the bourgeoisie.

Little did they know that if they ceded five cities today, they would cede ten more tomorrow. After a night of peace, they would rise and look around to find Qin troops already at the gates.

And so, after a few back and forths, the ship ended up in the hands of Rhodes Island.

Before long, it will set sail fully loaded with 30,000 tons of grain and all sorts of supplies, including weapons, medical equipment, and even daily necessities.

Heading to the boundless snowfield.

Since the Rhodes Island ship itself is not a dedicated transport vessel, it will be handed over to a new ship this time.

Thirty thousand tons of grain sounds like a lot.

But for a force of nearly 200,000 people under the guerrillas' control, being able to feed them for a year would be a miracle.

We have to be careful with our food.

It's already quite impressive that so much food could be gathered in just one month. Although we could gather several times more food if we waited longer, the snowfield is urgent, and we don't have much time to waste.

"We were scheduled to set sail the day after tomorrow," Xia Yu sighed, looking at the bustling police station in front of her, "but we haven't even managed to gather everyone..."

“After all, a month is too short,” Frostnova said, turning her face away. “We haven’t even been able to recruit many staff to operate the Orville. The vast majority of them were recruited from the Rhodes Island main ship.”

"Without these people, if Rhodes Island didn't have a lot of upcoming voyages and its main focus was on building Red Pine Valley and developing pharmaceutical and research centers, Rhodes Island would have trouble even getting moving."

At this point, she felt a little embarrassed, after all, such a big move was all to support her compatriots, and she had seen and remembered everything Rhodes Island had done for them.

Putting everything else aside, Rhodes Island is currently in a complete financial deficit. If it weren't for the huge loan they squeezed from the Kazimierz National Bank, everyone would probably be packing up and leaving tomorrow.

Everyone goes back to their respective homes to find their respective mothers.

"So even the vacancies in the defense personnel are waiting for me to come back and fill them?" Xia Yu sighed.

Hearing this, Frostnova turned her face away again, too embarrassed to say that the question about W... Kal'tsit was too busy to deal with it before, so she just tossed it to Chen, who had come to apply for more police officers.

W has been sidelined for over half a month, and Chen has been forced to take over this batch of Sarkaz mercenaries... I guess both sides are resentful.

In fact, the crew members on board had already made plans, including an elite squad of officers and several field support squads.

And then there's W and his mercenaries.

Kal'tsit could probably guess W's purpose in coming. Whenever this topic came up, this usually unpredictable woman was surprisingly easy to understand.

It's nothing more than killing Theresis.

So out of sight, out of mind, she simply handed the problem over to Xia Yu to handle. To be honest, she still couldn't quite manage this woman who was sometimes too blunt.

You subtly or overtly tell her a lot of things, implying various considerations, but she will only give one response.

**** (Sarkaz profanity)

Simple bad breath, ultimate enjoyment.

Kal'tsit knew that this person was her nemesis, so she simply handed the task over to Xia Yu.

That's why Xia Yu had to personally come to find this last defensive force...

Huh? You mean a ship that's over 600 meters long can be handled by just a few small squads?

All I can say is, don't judge a book by its cover.

The publicly acknowledged armed forces are indeed limited, but in reality...

Doctors from the medical department, including those who went to the Ursus snowfield to provide medical assistance, such as the Nightingale Gavial and many others.

Also accompanying them were scholars, from Eyjafjalla's heavenly fire to the earth spirits—unassuming messengers of natural disasters.

Commanders include the legendary Ursus general, Herag.

Also, the 'staff' transferred from Rhodes Island to operate this ship.

Don't forget who these staff members are.

Even the most ordinary Sarkaz boiler worker is someone who can talk to elite mercenaries like W.

How could Theresa's team, which once rivaled Theresis, only consist of the ones Rhodes Island openly displayed?

Theresa died by assassination, not from defeat in battle, and she had no shortage of elite troops under her command.

That's why W was so puzzled by her mysterious assassination. Why did this happen?

Why did this happen? We still have so many troops!

In short, although there weren't many people on this ship, there were enough to surprise any invaders.

Moreover, Xia Yu's team members were also among them, and each of them was a top-notch expert.

Unless they encounter a regular army, who can hold back the Orville, a ship teeming with talented people?

Under normal circumstances, the military cannot launch a legitimate attack.

After all, the Orville entered the country with the seal of the Emperor of Ursus.

The nobles knew the emperor's purpose, and the emperor knew the nobles' thoughts, but on the surface, with this stamp, no one could touch the ship.

As for what happens in private, who knows...

If, in the very end, the nobles, driven to desperation, resort to military force...

Then Xia Yu has to open your eyes and show you what it means to be a passerby Karna and a vengeful Arjuna. It's normal for these two to fight each other to the death, right?

I'm not afraid of them having ulterior motives, I'm just afraid they won't come!

Xia Yu couldn't possibly tie himself to the ship and escort goods on every trip; he had many other things to do.

So the last time I beat those people until they were in so much pain, so much pain that they didn't dare to stop.

It would be a real headache for him if those nobles didn't come.

Of course, it's impossible for them not to be anxious. They're about to force the Patriots south, and once he's burned most of the North to the ground, they can justify sending troops to wipe him out and then happily divide the spoils.

Since we can't start an external war, let's start from within.

But at this critical juncture, a company that appeared out of nowhere managed to procure so much food and supplies for the infected people in Kazimir...

Wouldn't all our previous preparations have been for nothing?

Everyone had their napkins and knives and forks in hand, and they were all gathered around the table, waiting for dinner to start, when someone tried to flip the table?

Can this be tolerated?

My uncle can tolerate it, but my aunt can't!

The nobles, having reached their limit of tolerance, had already sent letters of condemnation to Kazimir, openly and covertly threatening him that if he didn't let them get this meal, they would come to his house to eat!

It means war is about to break out.

To everyone's surprise, Kazimir was not intimidated at all and directly retorted with "free trade and legal transactions permitted by your emperor," a stark contrast to his previous attitude.

Before, everyone could see that the internal conflicts in Ursus were about to erupt, and under such circumstances, no one wanted to become the target of its venting of these conflicts.

The fact that Kazimir is so tough has left the Ursus dukes somewhat bewildered.

Where did your timid and submissive demeanor go?

How did he become so unruly?

If it weren't for the fact that the snowfield here was already poised for action, Ursus would have definitely pulled some tricks on Kazimir.

But it doesn't matter, here comes a ready-made excuse, doesn't it? Once the chaos caused by the infected is quelled, the existence of this ship will be a fact.

When the time comes, they'll have to make up for it by taking something from you, Kazimir.

Well, the idea was wonderful, but the reality was harsh.

Why is Kazimir so defiant?

That's because they knew Ursus was going to be in big trouble!

Is it any better to be targeted by that evil star?

They're supposed to be quelling the chaos caused by the infected, but they'd be lucky if the infected themselves turned the tables on them.

In Kazimir, that fiend caused rivers of blood to flow, and that was even though the vast majority of high-ranking officials and nobles didn't provoke him at all.

If it were Ursus, where you oppressed the infected without even trying to hide it, would it be any better? It would be hard to believe that half of the country hadn't been lost.