Arknights' Lock of Heaven

The order to harass the people disembarking from that ship was given from above. Although he didn't know why such an order was given, it was nothing more than the higher-ups wanting to extort money from him.

But clearly, this mission wasn't worth risking my life for.

After all, they wouldn't get a share of the money they extracted; it belonged to the noble lords.

I originally wanted to take advantage of this mission, but it's clear that they're not someone to be trifled with.

This woman in front of him could easily kill seven or eight of his men.

"Sorry, sorry, I must have mistaken you for someone else," he said, bowing and scraping as he backed away. His men behind him also quickly and quietly retreated, and several of the drunkards were dragged away as well.

"The discipline of Ursus's army is so bad," the Earth Spirit said, watching their disheveled figures flee, but his eyes were fixed on the street lamp that Skadi had cut down.

Good heavens, a street lamp as thick as a bowl, made of top-quality materials, yet it was sliced ​​in two with a single, effortless strike. Tsk tsk tsk.

Sure enough.

“Ursus…” Eyjafjalla’s expression was complicated when she heard this. Every country that bordered Ursus had been threatened by its massive military might, and Letania was no exception. Everyone knew that Ursus, whose land was mostly frozen soil, longed for warm plains.

In the most terrifying times, Letania's parents would also use the Ursus army to frighten their disobedient children.

Eyjafjalla didn't know how to describe this country, but it was certain that she had no good feelings towards Ursus.

From the discrimination and oppression against the infected to the conspiracies and intrigues of the upper-class nobles, Eyjafjalla never liked this country.

“They’re all birds of a feather,” Earth Spirit sighed, looking at the two moons in the sky. “From the city hall to these soldiers, this country is rotten to the core.”

For three days, she had taken Eyjafjalla and Skadi to the city hall every day, but to no avail.

Although I knew it would turn out this way.

“There are more and more soldiers around us,” Skadi, who had been mostly silent, finally spoke up. “Not only us, but everyone else who left the ship has also been harassed to varying degrees.”

“It seems they can’t wait any longer and want us to leave port. Judging by the time, it’s about time,” Diling nodded. “Let’s go back to the Orville. Maybe starting tomorrow, we won’t have to go out to the city hall every day and spend the whole day doing nothing.”

"I hope everything goes well with the consultant."

Hearing this, Skadi and Eyjafjalla followed the Earth Spirit's steps.

Of the three, she was the most opinionated. Although Eyjafjalla was a genius in scientific research, she was not good at dealing with people. Skadi... well, that goes without saying.

As they approached the Orville, they noticed that the usually quiet gate was quite lively today.

“Sir, I really can’t let you in right now,” a Rhodes Island operator said helplessly. “Our ship is special, no, it’s not a special ship, so there’s no reason to just let people in.”

“But the information I have here is very important, and I can’t stay outside any longer. What if they find out…” A young man, accompanied by an elderly woman with white hair, was excitedly arguing with the gatekeeper.

"So I've already contacted the supervisor for you," the security guard said helplessly. "But you won't tell me the specifics, so we can only wait for the supervisor to make a judgment."

"It's...it's related to a natural disaster!" The man glanced back at the old man, then gritted his teeth and whispered, "Listen, I can't let them find out."

"Cataclysm," the operator hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then her eyes lit up when she saw the approaching Earth Spirits.

“Miss Earth Spirit,” he called out loudly, “You’ve come back just in time. We really can’t make up our minds about what to do here.”

"What's going on?" Upon arriving at the door, Di Ling first glanced at the young man and the old man behind him, then turned and asked.

“They said they have important news about a natural disaster, but they can only tell you once you’re on board,” the agent replied in a low voice. “But you know our mission: we can’t let any strangers on board. On the surface, it’s just a few of us guarding the entrance, but there are more than twenty Sarkaz mercenaries guarding the path behind us.”

"I originally planned to wait until the safety supervisor arrived before looking into it, but since it's news of a natural disaster, you should be able to tell if it's true or false."

Upon hearing this, the Earth Spirit nodded, indicating that the operator had done a good job.

Everyone knows the mission of this mission; there are basically no friendly forces in this city.

Logically speaking, they shouldn't go too far and should be mindful of their image. They wouldn't take action in the city, especially since the Orville has the Emperor's approval. But who would dare to place their hopes on the enemy?

It was the right thing to not let any strangers onto the ship, especially since more and more members of the Sixth Army had been loitering in the vicinity these past two days.

The spirit glanced at the two. The young man looked anxious, while the old woman behind him was wrapped in only a thin blanket in the early winter night wind, her body trembling involuntarily.

It looks pitiful, but who knows if there's an Originium bomb under that blanket?

Or is it in the baggage beneath their feet?

With the advisor absent, everyone should have been extremely vigilant.

The Earth Spirit gestured for Eyjafjalla to board the ship first, and then brought Skadi to the young man.

“My codename is Earth Spirit. I’m employed by Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals. My identity is a messenger of natural disasters and a geographer. What news do you have for me?”

“My knowledge is sufficient to discern the truth of what you say. Furthermore, if you truly understood our situation, you would know that we would never allow anyone of unknown origin to board the ship.”

"Alright, now try to convince me."

"I'm sorry, I was rash," the young man breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the earth spirit's words. "My name is Igor, and I am..."

"Wait, what did you say your name was?"

-

“Big sister…” Outside Victor’s village, a crossbowman from the guerrillas glanced at Xia Yu, who was setting something up, and then whispered to Frostnova, “Are we really going to fight a battle here? And against Ursus’ Sixth Army?”

"What? Are you scared?" Froststar chuckled upon hearing this, then deliberately put on a stern face and joked, "I don't remember you being such a coward."

“This has nothing to do with being a coward!” Thomas exclaimed in alarm upon hearing this, drawing the attention of several of his comrades.

Seeing this, he quickly lowered his voice, "Although the Sixth Army isn't very good at fighting, they sent a full 20,000 men! And we only have a dozen or so of us..."

He looked back and thought, "And there's a village here, full of ordinary infected people. Before, if we couldn't beat them, we could run away. But now we can't just abandon these old, weak, women, and children, can we?"

He couldn't understand where Froststar and Xia Yu got the confidence to do this.

Unless the captain is here, leading the Shield Guards to fight their way through the entire army group, just like when he led the remaining Infected from the Reunion Movement to face the siege of those Ursus nobles more than half a year ago.

That battle truly crushed the regular army that came to encircle and suppress them. The captain led his shield guards and charged through the enemy lines, beheading the commander directly. It was as if he had returned to his peak. His old and poorly maintained armor and his severe Oripathy were no longer obstacles for him.

It was because of that battle that the Ursus nobles truly began to value the guerrillas, which is why they are now in such dire straits.

But that was also because the nobles underestimated their enemy, thinking that the once glorious Patriots had been ravaged by Oripathy and that their army lacked truly high-end combat power, which led to tens of thousands of people being directly scattered by the Patriots and their shield guards.

And now, let alone a captain, there are hardly any shield guards left, and they have to face so many enemies, plus two high-speed warships...

How are you supposed to fight this? Fight with your head?

"Just watch," Frostnova said, noticing the uneasy expressions on the soldiers' faces. "I can't possibly harm you, can I?"

“No, big sister, that’s not what I meant,” Thomas shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this. “I meant…”

“I know what you mean,” Frostnova said, rising to her feet. “I also know what you’re worried about.”

“But none of this is a problem. I… I don’t know how to describe it to you,” she said with a wry smile. “Some things you have to witness with your own eyes to understand.”

How so? She was well aware of Xia Yu's combat prowess. That night in Kazimierz, she was right next to Kal'tsit, looking out over the entire Grand Knight Territory from the bridge of Rhodes Island.

When dawn breaks, the wealthy and powerful people lining the streets are not fake.

When Xia Yu returned, he still remembered what he said to Kal'tsit.

"The streets are littered with the bones of nobles and officials, and the treasuries are burned to ashes."

Xia Yu's calm yet slightly crazed gaze was deeply etched into her mind.

During that time, every night she would wake up in the middle of the night, her eyes wide open, looking out the porthole at the Grand Knights of Kazimir, but her imagination would wander to the Sacred Castle of Ursus.

How wonderful it would be if this scene happened in my hometown...

Those nobles, those merchants, those oppressors...

Despite Dr. Kal'tsit's strong opposition, Frostnova still held onto this hope.

However, Xia Yu also said that this was the last time he would unleash his madness, and that was what he promised Dr. Kal'tsit.

But everyone knows about his promise.

Before leaving, Dr. Kal'tsit talked to him a lot, and he admitted that what she said made sense.

Frostnova could only say that she wouldn't actively push for it, but if someone really provoked the advisor to their death, she would only say one thing: "Good riddance!"

However, those things cannot be said openly. Even if the matter of Kazimir were revealed, it would be questionable whether the people in front of him would believe it.

So all she could say was that she just had to wait.

“Look at this snowfield,” Xia Yu said as he returned from arranging something. His smile was radiant under the twin moons.

“It’s nestled against the mountains and beside the water,” he pointed to the deep mountains behind the village and a small river in front of it that had been frozen solid on the snowfield. “In Yan language, this feng shui is absolutely perfect. It’s really a bargain for them to use it as a burial site.”

Hearing this, Frostnova rolled her eyes. Although she didn't know anything about feng shui, according to Dr. Kal'tsit, the consultant was definitely talking nonsense again.

“I’m afraid we’ll be the ones buried in the end,” Thomas sighed. “I know my sister trusts Mr. Consultant so much, so you must be very capable, but we’re not at ease.”

"More than 20,000 men in the Sixth Army Group..."

“It’s five thousand three hundred and forty-six,” Xia Yu corrected. “Only these came out; the others are still keeping an eye on the Orville.”

“Well, a little over five thousand,” Thomas sighed, wondering how such a precise number was calculated. “What exactly are your plans that you can tell us about?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but as you can see, there’s a village behind us. Those infected people who are caught won’t have a good ending.”

“I’m afraid you won’t believe me if I tell you,” Xia Yu sighed upon hearing this. “Seeing is believing, and I understand everyone’s concerns.”

"My plan is very simple."

"Didn't they say there was a natural disaster here? Regardless of whether it was true or not before."

"Now, it's real."