Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“Escape? No, we didn’t escape,” Jonathan said helplessly. “They let us go.”

"After that unknown spell was cast, the only survivors of the entire Sixth Army were myself, Lieutenant Colonel Franz, and a little over a hundred soldiers in the advance team."

"Then, we were surrounded by nearly a thousand Sarkaz mercenaries. Outnumbered, we were eventually captured."

"The reason I can tell you all this now is because they released us voluntarily, but detained Lieutenant Colonel Franz and half of the soldiers."

"Release you? Why?" Ms. Kaine pressed.

"They want us to spread those messages throughout Ursus, or Lieutenant Colonel Franz's life will be in danger."

"Oh," the people around him said, showing little interest.

Indeed, although Lieutenant Colonel Franz was a hot commodity in the Sixth Army, these people had no reason to curry favor with his family.

"Sarkaz..." Lord Edmund looked puzzled. "What is His Majesty trying to do? How could he allow a Lord of the Royal Court to enter Ursus?"

“It’s too early to draw conclusions,” Lermontov said gravely. “We have no evidence…”

"Evidence? How many people in this world can do something like that?" Lord Edmund said impatiently. "Everyone knows the answer. Why should anyone else risk angering Ursus for the sake of the infected?"

"Only Sarkaz, only Sarkaz. Don't forget, Patriot is also a Sarkaz, and the last pure-blooded Wendigo in the world! It makes perfect sense for Kazdel to send an entire royal court for him!"

He said irritably, "What is our Emperor thinking? Doesn't he know what those Sarkaz are doing in Victoria right now?"

"Aren't you afraid they'll do it again in Ursus?"

"Major, is there any more information?" Ms. Kayle asked Jonathan, suppressing her unease. "If not, I'll take my leave."

Upon hearing this, Jonathan shook his head.

Then Kaine nodded to Lermontov and left the manor.

Today's information is too explosive; she needs to go back and check it out with someone first.

“Then I’ll be going now. As for the Grand Duke…” Lord Edmund looked at Lermontov, “You’d better take care of yourself.”

Although it has been determined that Lermontov was not involved in setting the trap with the Emperor, and that he was innocent.

But how to put it? After all, it was the Grand Duke's hard work. If the Grand Duke were to take his anger out on Lermontov because of it... no one would say much.

Duke, who was standing nearby, also snorted and left.

“Now that the intelligence has been delivered, I should take my men and leave,” Jonathan said, getting up to take his leave.

Soon, the once bustling banquet hall was left with only two people.

“…” Alexei lost all life and collapsed onto the sofa without a word.

"..."

"Why...why didn't you tell me?" His heart was churning with emotion. "You clearly had such a powerful trump card, so why..."

"Why am I completely ignorant? If I had known, I wouldn't have..."

"How did things come to this!"

All in all, I regret it very much.

Lermontov, standing to the side, beamed with delight upon seeing this.

He was happy that Alexei had suffered a setback; tonight's dramatic ups and downs had only taken a toll on his health, and at least he could see something to cheer him up.

Compared to his own experience, Alexei's situation was clearly worse.

They had powerful connections to rely on, but they betrayed them and then worked like slaves for them.

Thinking about this, Lermontov's gaze towards him gradually began to find him more agreeable.

-

Tonight is destined to be an eventful night.

The news from Cheprini quickly reached the hands of various important figures in Ursus through various channels.

The estate of the Grand Prince of the Urals.

"Your Excellency, I think you should take a look at this."

The aide knocked urgently on the Grand Duke's door, and the Grand Duke, who had been woken up in the middle of the night, dragged his elderly body into the living room with a cold face and took the intelligence in his hand.

When he saw the Sixth Army Group annihilated, he rolled his eyes, lay back, and fainted.

The surrounding family sorcerers and doctors rushed over and, after a lot of effort, finally brought the Duke back to his senses.

The Grand Duke of Ural lay paralyzed on his bed, pointing with a trembling finger in the direction of St. John's Castle. "What exactly does he want? The Sarkaz royal court... I f*** you, f*** you."

A barrage of Ursus curses burst from the mouth of the Ural Grand Duke, who always emphasized etiquette. He spouted a series of witty remarks, then rolled his eyes again as he caught his breath. The surrounding medical team rushed over to begin resuscitation efforts.

The situation of the Grand Prince of the Urals is not an isolated case. For example, Ms. Kaine waited for more than half an hour in front of the dedicated line before the person on the other end finally arrived.

"Oh, ma'am, is there something important that you're contacting me so late at night...?"

"I'm asking you! What exactly are you planning to do?" Before he could finish speaking, Lady Kaine angrily questioned, "Letting the Sarkaz royal court into Ursus... You actually dare to do this?"

"Does Your Majesty still remember the glory of the late Emperor? Are you planning to drag Ursus into the flames of war completely?"

“This is not what we agreed on, Witt! You have always claimed to us that you are maintaining the stability of Ursus and do not want to see our country fall into civil war, which is why we are helping you.”

"But what are you doing now?"

Vitt, the Speaker of the Ursus Empire Council, was stunned when he heard this.

"What Sarkaz Royal Court? What dragging us into war?" He was completely bewildered. "What did we do? Has something happened that I don't know about?"

Hearing this, Kaine frowned, then continued to question in an angry tone: "Are you still hiding it? I saw the remnants of the Sixth Army with my own eyes. You've kept it from us for so long. If the Sixth Army hadn't been almost completely wiped out, would you have waited until the front line of the snowfield to have the Lord of the Royal Court take action?"

"The entire Sixth Army has been wiped out?!" Upon hearing this, Vittoria across from her was even more surprised and asked loudly, "What exactly happened... Wait? The Sixth Army? The one led by the Grand Duke of the Urals? The one that went to intercept that transport ship in Ceprini?"

"Hmm, what, you remembered? You're not going to hide it anymore?" Kaine asked in return.

“No, I…” Speaker Witt on the other side didn’t know what to say for a moment.

In the end, all we could manage to say was, "We really had no idea."

"The ship's entry application was approved by Parliament, and the permit was personally signed by His Majesty. You're telling me you were unaware of it?"

“I assure you, Kayne, I really didn’t know,” Witt said, taking a deep breath.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Upon hearing this, Katie didn't waste any time and told Victor everything that had happened that night.

The latter did not refute Katie's words.

Because he had already pieced together the general facts in his mind.

Your Majesty, you are so foolish!

First of all, Kayne would never joke about something like this.

Secondly, he knew the origin of that ship; Rhodes Island, or rather the Tower of Babel, was connected to that mysterious woman.

Originally, I just thought it was another of their unrealistic fantasies, but who knew they would actually do something so big for Ursus?

The Sarkaz royal court... Vitt didn't doubt that the woman had such power. She had always had an ambiguous relationship with the Sarkaz, so it wasn't incomprehensible that she could persuade a royal court.

But Your Majesty... Your Majesty... You are so foolish!

The lesson of Victoria is right before our eyes. Now even the capital has been taken over by the Sarkaz. Don't you know what kind of people the Sarkaz are?

Witt remembered that this was something His Majesty had been trying to bring about from the beginning. Witt originally thought that His Majesty just wanted to cause trouble for the dukes and try to drag Kazimierz into the mess.

After all, what can a single ship do? Can it change the situation in Ursus?

Impossible, everyone thinks so. What ripples could a small pebble possibly make in the vast ocean of Ursus?

But now, the unknown Sarkaz royal court is hidden on that ship...

That wouldn't be a small pebble, but a meteorite capable of triggering a tsunami.

“Katy, I really didn’t know anything about it, but please believe me, I will give everyone an explanation.”

"You'd better keep your word."

After they finished speaking, the two hung up the phone.

Actually, Katie did trust Victor to some extent; after all these years of getting to know him, she realized he wasn't that kind of person.

If he were, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to maintain the balance within Ursus for so many years.

But this matter... is really too big.

After hanging up the phone, Witte immediately made a call to the Emperor.

"Oh, my Speaker, what is it that makes you call me so late..."

"Your Majesty, I need an explanation."

409 Lich! It must be the Lich!

"What Sarkaz Royal Court?"

The emperor initially didn't think much of it, but upon hearing the words "Royal Court," he was so startled that he sat up abruptly, exclaiming, "Where did this Sarkaz Royal Court come from?"

Upon hearing this, Speaker Witt on the other end of the communication channel raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know?"