Arknights' Lock of Heaven

That was the hard work of several generations, all gone overnight... Honestly, he's lucky to still be alive.

It's just that he squandered hundreds of years of tradition.

Thankfully, I didn't go to my unit back then, otherwise I would be the one who was so angry that I almost died.

This is the most genuine thought in everyone's heart.

“Ahem, gentlemen, now is not the time for infighting,” he asked softly. “Also, Grand Duke Vanya, may I take your words to mean that one has no right to sit at the table without military power?”

At this point, he naturally had to stand up for Duke Belgaard, whose Third Army had been unfortunately wiped out by natural disasters during the Chernobog Incident.

Meanwhile, half of the main force of his Sixth Army Group had perished in the snowfield along with the two warships. But that wasn't the worst part, since half of the remaining forces were still on the snowfield defense line.

The worst part was that Boris, that idiot, and his bunch of stupid officers thought it was a mission to gain merit, so the vast majority of officers participated in the operation.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Grand Prince of the Urals will not care about these things, and it's no big deal for his officers to want to show off in front of him.

But the worst thing was that they ran into trouble and were completely wiped out, with only one colonel returning...

Yes, the Sixth Army still has tens of thousands of soldiers, but 70% of its middle-ranking officers are gone, and almost all of its high-ranking officers have been wiped out... Those tens of thousands of soldiers are just decorations after they leave them.

Who can command them?

At this point, what difference is there between myself and the Duke of Belgaard, who has no troops at his disposal?

Even though he had previously been one of those who secretly ostracized the other party, now that he was down on his luck, he could only try his best to win them over.

Moreover, although the Duke of Belgaard did not have any troops, he still had many high-ranking commanders. After all, the Chernobog incident was not very honorable, and some people did not want to get involved in this mess, so they inadvertently preserved some of his power.

However, it would take a long time to rebuild an army using these sparks, just like how it took me many years to accumulate this wealth.

If the two sides get closer, they might be able to combine their cards. Forget about the general not knowing the soldiers and the soldiers not knowing the general. Let's set up the framework first, otherwise we'll really be squeezed out.

When faced with his questioning, Grand Duke Vanya simply hummed a few times and let it go.

Upon hearing this, the Grand Duke of Belgrade and the Grand Duke of Ural on the projection exchanged a glance.

Vanya is still too young. His father chose the wrong side in the political struggle and was forced to retire before being assassinated. The current Grand Duke Vanya has always held a grudge about this.

The reason why he is the only one speaking out and mocking others while the other dukes remain silent is because of this.

But even he knew what was important.

Faced with such an unknown enemy, the more power the better; they weren't so foolish as to exclude themselves and Belga.

This also gave both sides time to struggle.

"Let's get back to the main topic," the person who had been silent until now began to speak, "Is the unknown entity on that ship the Lich King's Court?"

"My conclusion is, most likely, that's the case," the Grand Prince of the Ural told the others, recounting his findings over the past few days.

"First of all, it was definitely not a natural disaster, but its power is no less than that of a natural disaster. The Ural, as you know, is the Empire's newest and most advanced warship. It has now been completely destroyed because of the severe cold that lasted for more than ten minutes."

"The cost of repairing it is more than building a new ship."

"That spell has very obvious technical traces, completely different from the miracles created by personal power. Even the former Witch King of Letania, who could destroy my troops and warships, could never have been so secretive before activating it."

"Therefore, my advisors judged that this was a pre-set trap, and we could not observe any related signs before it was activated."

At this point, the Grand Prince of Ural felt a pang of pain in his heart.

That's all the hard work I've accumulated over the years.

"The only ones who could possess such technology are the legendary liches who consider themselves gatekeepers of knowledge. Otherwise, we would know that any country on the continent possessed such technology."

"Aside from those liches, who could resist the urge to use it for so many years?"

"It couldn't have been developed recently either; the academic community simply doesn't have the environment for a technological breakthrough of this level."

“Based on this information alone… we can’t be certain it’s a lich,” Grand Duke Vanya shook his head. “Isn’t there any evidence? Just speculation?”

“I do have some news,” Duke Belga suddenly said. “It all started many years ago. Back then, the Electors of Letania plotted to overthrow the Witch King. Some of them came to me, wanting to trade some secret knowledge from Gaul with me.”

"I was terrified of the Witch King's power, so I agreed, and the item I traded was the reason why the Witch King was so powerful."

"They only told me that the Witch King and the Lord of the Sarkaz Lich Court were teacher and student, and that the spell that once engulfed the entire Gallic vanguard fleet, comparable to a natural disaster, came from the knowledge of the liches."

“I asked them for more, but they said the technology I gave them was only worth this much information.”

“So, the lich has the power and the technology,” Duke Belgaard paused before continuing, “Secondly, there’s something fishy about Chernobog.”

“That natural disaster that fell from the sky was too strange. All the scholars I found told me that it should not exist at all, so I paid special attention to all the forces involved in it.”

"Guess what I found?"

"A pharmaceutical company called Rhodes Island was involved in the whole thing and played a key role. They even took Koschei's daughter from him, oh right, and Patriot's daughter too."

"Then, something even more coincidental happened: the ship that caused the Grand Duke of the Urals's defeat, guess what the parent company behind it is called?"

"Ha, it's Rhodes Island again!"

"A pharmaceutical company, how could it stir up such a storm!"

"Then I investigated further and finally found out their background."

"You may be unfamiliar with the name Rhodes Island, but you must all know the name Babel Tower."

"The organization that once shone brightly in Kazdel helped Princess Theresa fight back against her brother's overwhelming advantage, and even gained the upper hand at one point. How many excellent battle examples did that war contribute? It even changed some of our military manuals to a certain extent."

"Even if that company changes its name, it cannot hide its relationship with the Sarkaz."

"And when I was confused about this and went to seek help from a... respectable person, 'he' told me that it all had to do with one person."

“A woman named Kal'tsit, who was born and inseparable from the Sarkaz, was once the most capable advisor to the princess in the Tower of Babel, and is now the ruler of Rhodes Island.”

"In the more distant past, she was even more entangled with the Sarkaz, so I have every reason to believe that it was this person who used her connections to link the Lich King's Court and Kazimierz."

“In Letania, my friends told me that the Letanians have had enough of the evil liches. The liches need to find a new home, but they can’t possibly go back to the wasteland of Kazdel.”

"Thus, with Kal'tsit's coordination, the Lich naturally set his sights on Ursus, after all, Patriot is a Wendigo, the purest Sarkaz."

“Our emperor is probably part of it all. To him, liches are no different from us, and the former might even be more law-abiding.”

"So, there's still no concrete evidence?" Upon hearing this, Grand Duke Vanya was still fixated on this point.

"And what brilliant idea do you have?" Duke of Urar said with a frown, "Empirical evidence? Are the testimonies of soldiers who survived the battlefield enough? They said that there were at least several thousand Sarkaz veterans on that ship. Apart from the royal court, who could organize so many people in Ursus?"

"Or do you have information that could refute our conclusions?"

"..." Upon hearing this, Grand Duke Vanya remained silent.

“Alright, based on the information we have, there’s no problem with temporarily identifying the Lich King’s Court as the enemy,” someone said, trying to smooth things over. “From any perspective, they are the only ones who fit the criteria.”

"I've also seen Letania's reply. Their lack of a direct response is a form of answer. If this is false, Letania has no reason to risk angering Ursus by giving such a strong reply."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

But in reality, the Twin Queens simply wanted to cause trouble for Ursus. They overestimated Ursus's power and their past glory had blinded them.

What else? Even if they know that Letania is playing them, what can they do? Withdraw their troops from the snowfield defense line to fight Letania?

"Now that the enemy has been identified, let's discuss the next item."

"Should we send the troops on the defensive line out to wipe out Patriot and his infected subordinates first?"

Upon hearing this, the dukes remained silent.

No one spoke, and the secret meeting ended in this stalemate, with the outcome as everyone had expected.

After all, who would dare to take the plunge?

The lesson of the past is right before our eyes. The Duke of Ural was in high spirits just a few days ago, but now he looks like he's barely hanging on by a thread and is about to pass away.

Who would dare send their troops? How do you know there might be traps ahead?

Who would dare gamble their entire fortune to pave the way for others?

Meeting on April 417

Prostov, a mobile city in northern Ursus

As the Orville gradually entered the port and docked, the surrounding staff continued to register passengers as usual.

However, today is a bit strange, because there is usually a random check on the procedures. After all, Prostov is already close to the easternmost edge of the snowfield, and further east is the infected rebels who have been making a big fuss recently.

The spot checks are to cut off any possible channels through which supplies could fall into the hands of infected guerrillas.

But today's cargo ship... a rare super-large cargo ship, and it came from the place in the west where a natural disaster had just occurred. They actually specifically instructed that it only needs to be registered and there is no need to conduct random checks.

Do not be curious about anything related to this ship.

"Team leader, this is strange," the lively Liberi girl whispered to her team leader. "This ship doesn't look like it was made in Ursus. Judging from the itinerary... wow, it's from Kazimierz! Uncle, didn't you participate in the U-Kazan War? Are all the cargo ships from Kazimierz this big?"

Before her team leader could reply, she started chattering in a low voice, "And another thing, they just came from the west! There was a cold wave disaster there, they're so lucky to be alive! And why weren't there any inspection procedures? Aren't they required to inspect every ship recently? Why did we just register them and then..."

Upon hearing this, the team leader gave her a hard slap on the head in an annoyed manner.

"Hey, team leader, what are you doing?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts!"

"That's good, it hurts!" The team leader slapped her on the head again. "This will teach you a lesson. Don't ask about things you shouldn't know, and don't gossip, understand?"

"If it weren't for the fact that your dad carried me out of a pile of corpses back then, I would sew your mouth shut right now!"