Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“And in Chepulini, there is an army of 20,000 men. Although they are stationed here under the pretext of suppressing bandits, we all know their real purpose.” Xia Yu smiled as she said this, “There are not many local cities that can muster an army of this size.”

"As long as we keep this army pinned down here, all sorts of local governments will have to think twice before making us demand passage."

"Are all the mobile cities in Ursus really that loyal to the great nobles? Probably not. After the persistent efforts of several emperors, the proportion of government officials in the mobile cities is not low at all, and there are also all sorts of new nobles and merchants. Can they really abandon everything to obey the orders of a few great nobles?"

"Just like with Cheprini, is the Sixth Army really on the same side as the local government? Probably not, otherwise the army would have swarmed in when the Orville was docked. As for the charges, they could say whatever they wanted on their own turf."

“Mr. Advisor, I am also familiar with the people you have listed,” Anton nodded upon hearing this. “What’s that analogy from Yan Kingdom again? Oh, ‘fence-sitters,’ they’re the most loyal lackeys when the emperor is powerful, but when the emperor is weak, they start flirting with the great nobles…”

“The mayor of Ciprini is the best example. I learned about it before I came. His family wasn’t a great noble family before. They didn’t have their own mobile castle or an army. They made their fortune by riding on the coattails of the late emperor. To be precise, they should be classified as a new noble family. But as you can see now, his family is very close to those great noble families.”

"Why did they side with the great nobles?" Xia Yu nodded and said with amusement, "Ultimately, it's because the current Emperor of Ursus isn't tough enough!"

"And after I wiped out this army, when the Orville arrived in front of them, these people would have to think twice before taking a punch from me, seeing the corpses of these 20,000 men!"

"Is it worth it for those nobles to give up all their wealth and glory, and risk their lives to block this punch from me?!"

"Even the dogs kept by those noble families would be terrified at the sight of me wielding a stick, let alone these opportunists who waver between the emperor and the nobles?"

“Most of the rulers of the mobile cities in the North are not direct descendants of those great nobles,” Anton said excitedly upon hearing this. “If they really had that power and background, they would have gone to the South to enjoy their lives long ago. Who would come to the North to eat snow? Most of the powerful people here were appointed by the previous emperors and then settled down generation after generation.”

“There’s a saying that goes, ‘If you throw one punch, you won’t get a hundred,’” Xia Yu laughed. “I had prepared some more exciting things for the Sixth Army, but after learning about the situation with Patriots, I had to leave them there.”

"That's perfect, there are more people over there, so attacking them will weaken them to the greatest extent possible."

Upon hearing this, Anton broke out in a cold sweat, followed by excitement. This catastrophic spell had already claimed the lives of five thousand people, and it was about to take away the remaining fifteen thousand.

But judging from what the consultant said... there's something even more powerful?

Anton couldn't even imagine what it would look like.

But I was still very excited.

If it's true... then is the camp really safe?

After all, even if the food crisis is resolved, there are still more than 100,000 troops surrounding the area.

It's like having a fishbone stuck in my throat!

"Are you excited?" Xia Yu suddenly asked, seeing his happy expression.

“No, ah, I just,” Anton smiled awkwardly, “Yes, I’m excited, after all, if what you’re saying is true, then we really have hope.”

After saying that, he realized that his words were inappropriate and quickly tried to make amends: "Ah, I didn't mean to disbelieve you, I was just too happy and said something without thinking."

“I understand,” Xia Yu nodded, then continued, “It’s just that I feel that your thoughts, well, how should I put it, aren’t you worried?”

He looked into Anton's eyes and said, "This thing is so powerful that it killed five thousand people as soon as it appeared, and it will continue to kill the remaining fifteen thousand, or even more."

Don't you have any worries at all?

“Worried,” Anton paused for a moment, then said seriously, “You probably want to ask about the guerrillas and the captain’s attitude, right?”

"While I can't guarantee that everyone will be like this, let me be frank: at least I, and the captain, are not worried about this issue."

He looked calmly into Xia Yu's eyes, "Even most people in the camp aren't worried."

“I can tell that you are a true person from the civilized world, but we are not, or perhaps some people in the camp were, but now we all have only one identity.”

"Those are infected people who were abandoned, driven away, and strangled by their own country, and finally huddled together for warmth when they were starving."

"We are not philosophers or thinkers, and we don't have time to think about those things."

"The first thing we do every morning is anxiously calculate how much food each person will get today, how many days the remaining food will last, whether the Ursus front moved forward last night, whether they are preparing some military deployment, and when they will bring their warships over our heads and send everyone to their deaths with artillery fire."

"We live in constant fear and uncertainty, this is our current situation."

“If you can really solve these problems, then you have nothing to worry about,” Anton said frankly. “The only thing you need to worry about is being worshipped by the infected after you’ve solved them, treated like a god. Oh, maybe you’d like that…”

“No, I don’t like it,” Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this. “I know what you’re saying, but almost everyone who knows my plan has expressed concern.”

"But that's normal. They're all scholars and professors, so it's normal for them to have concerns about some overly advanced technologies. I know their thoughts are definitely different from yours, but I still have to ask you."

Xia Yu smiled at this point, "After all, there are quite a few philosophers in this world who like to think."

“I assure you, we certainly don’t have that many philosophers where we are,” Anton laughed when he heard this, “at least not until everyone has enough to eat.”

"However, I still don't quite understand. Even the overthrown Lycanthus wasn't overthrown because he was too powerful, but because he was too tyrannical. A powerful sorcerer like you is so gentle. How could so many people be trying to curry favor with you? Philosophers need to eat too!"

“Perhaps it’s a difference in perspective,” Xia Yu thought for a moment and then said, “In your eyes, I may have used a spell with astonishing power comparable to a natural disaster, but for those scholars who are familiar with me, I did not hide anything from them.”

"Actually, this is not some mysterious spell, but a set of techniques that can be analyzed and replicated."

"The Simulated Gaia - Spiritual Particle Environment Modification System, that's its name. Perhaps you can't understand its meaning from the literal meaning of the title, so let me explain it in terms you can understand."

"This is a technology used to modify the environment. Last night, I used it to lower the temperature of the entire valley and overload the entire system to create a small natural disaster in just over ten seconds."

"Its effects are not so explosive in normal environments; it would take months or even decades or hundreds of years to modify the environment."

Looking into Anton's eyes, Xia Yu said, "Yes, given enough time, it can even turn the snowfield into a place where it's spring all year round."

370 The Incited Mercenaries

When Anton left the village, he still seemed dazed.

"I can make the snowfields like spring all year round."

Faced with Xia Yu's declaration, he instinctively felt... not that he doubted it, but that it was impossible and beyond his comprehension.

Yeah, how could that be?

For thousands of years, the people living on this land have changed generation after generation, but the snowfield remains the same: bitter cold, barren, and the only valuable source stone mine requires infected people to risk their lives to fill it.

Not much food can be grown here; this place has devoured generations of people; the average lifespan of its inhabitants is only two-thirds that of those south of Ursus; and the sun is not visible in the sky for nearly half the year…

On this land, whether they are born and raised on the snowfield or are outsiders, there is a consensus about this boundless white land.

Seriously, this place is awful.

No matter how many Ursus scholars tout in their books that such harsh snowfield training gave birth to powerful Ursus, if you asked them to actually experience this so-called 'training' and 'birth', they would most likely be unwilling.

Anyone can say nice things; it's a matter of words and doesn't require much effort. But the burdens of life here are very real.

Now, someone tells him that he can make the snowfields spring-like all year round.

For Anton, it wasn't a matter of belief or disbelief, but rather... he simply didn't have that concept at all.

What is spring like?

Anton had seen it before, and the guerrillas didn't spend all their time operating on the northern snowfields.

Because he knew that, he couldn't imagine what it would be like if the snowfield turned out that way...

is it possible?

Is it credible?

Logically speaking, he shouldn't have doubted it; everyone has seen how others treat infected people.

But this is just too unbelievable.

In a daze, Anton walked past group after group of smiling villagers returning with their grain and arrived at the hill in front of the village.

What came into view were those horrifying corpses.

Five thousand people perished in a small valley.

He watched silently.

Then, in a moment, he understood.

Regardless, the corpses below couldn't be faked; I walked back step by step past them, and their expressions and movements before they died...

It doesn't look like someone who froze to death at all!

Living on this snowy plain, Anton has seen countless people freeze to death.

Some looked frantic, some had happy expressions, some were practically freezing to death but still took off all their clothes... there were all sorts of bizarre people.

There is none like that.

It was as if the freezing temperature had descended in an instant, so fast that these people didn't even have time to react.

"If it can freeze people to death, then it can certainly kill people with heat," he murmured to himself, gazing at the snow-covered valley. "Perhaps, there really is hope?"

He sat on the hill for a while, still feeling extremely unsettled, after all, the news was too big for him to handle.

So, Anton decided to find someone to have a serious talk with.

Of course, ordinary people won't do; this is confidential. So let's go find Yelena.

She definitely knows about this.

Go ask her opinion.

With that thought in mind, Anton got up from the hill and walked against the flow of villagers carrying supplies towards the outside of the valley.

-

Orville.

"W, say something, W!" On the bridge, Fariad, known as the evergreen of the Sarkaz mercenary world, wailed at W, who was filing his nails, "What are we supposed to do?"

"Didn't I say," W said casually while filing her nails, "it's up to you!"

"We're just mercenaries, Fariad. Just listen to your employer, right? The employer isn't even worried, so why are you?"