Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Eyjafjalla stared silently at the ripples before her, but no matter what she did, she couldn't detect a trace of any spell.

Then he started to hold his head and stay in place, becoming withdrawn.

He was muttering something about how unscientific it was.

With red eyes, Anto opened several medical kits bearing the Rhodes Island logo, containing all the medications he had requested.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Anto said, getting up from the pile of medicine and thanking Xia Yu repeatedly. "These medicines came just in time..."

“Don’t worry, I haven’t finished yet,” Xia Yu waved her hand. “There’s a reason why we left the medicine and food outside the Great Rift Valley.”

"The balance in Wolumonde is very fragile right now. Even if most people don't know about the food shortage, there are still some people who can see it. After all, I've noticed that your rations have all been reduced recently, haven't they?"

Anto nodded quickly upon hearing this.

"If the public knows that there is a food shortage but that relief is nowhere in sight, unrest will break out."

“In this situation, infected individuals are very likely to become targets of public criticism, which is something Rhodes Island does not want to see.”

"No matter how hard the Wolumonde authorities try, if they don't solve the main problems, they're just delaying the arrival of that time."

"So we have to get all the Wolumonds moving!" Xia Yu slammed her hand on the table. "If we want to survive, if we want to get through this winter, we have to go more than ten kilometers away and bring back the survival supplies!"

Anto stood there, stunned.

"We carried it on shoulder poles and shoulder poles! I tampered with the routes, so in most areas, we could only transport it by manpower!"

"I just don't believe that someone who works themselves to exhaustion every day can't go home and collapse into bed without having the mind and energy to cause any unrest?"

"Moreover, this is entirely for their own survival, not exploitation or oppression. As long as the officials of Wolumonde have even a little ability, they won't cause too much trouble!"

"Moreover, the cave where the supplies were placed is close to the Great Rift Valley, which I chose on purpose. The concentration of Originium dust there is slightly above the standard for ordinary people, but not enough to worsen the condition of infected individuals."

"Therefore, only infected people can carry out the transportation work. As long as the publicity work is done well, even if ordinary people are very resistant to infected people, they must suppress their emotions now. In the face of survival, everything else is trivial."

“A small number of people who are extremely hostile to those infected will also become outcasts in this situation and be alienated by the public. This is also an opportunity to ease the conflict among local infected people.”

"The medicine left in the cave is also a guarantee for the infected to work. Although the inhibitors cannot cure Oripathy, they can at least prevent the infected from deteriorating rapidly."

After this explanation, Anto and Eyjafjalla's eyes were filled with admiration.

This is too awesome!

Xia Yu waved her hand modestly, "Don't praise me, I have to save face. This is nothing at all."

It's just a whimsical idea. Back when I was busy farming, I used to go home and fall asleep like a dead dog after finishing my farm work.

This is simply the wisdom of life; it's not particularly profound, just a flash of inspiration. In practice, however, all sorts of problems will inevitably arise.

But what does that have to do with me, the Rhodes Island Special Advisor? Shouldn't it be the Wolumonde City Hall's problem?

99 原因

This is really not a remarkable measure; if it were an official, calling it lazy governance wouldn't be an exaggeration.

As an official in charge of a region, it is a failure to stabilize the people's hearts and rely solely on a large amount of physical labor, leaving the people under his jurisdiction unable to attend to other matters.

Moreover, this method is full of loopholes.

Even though people know they will starve if they don't carry the food, the hard work from morning till night will eventually cause resentment.

As an important commercial town in Letania, Wolumonde's residents are not as hardworking and down-to-earth as farmers; rather, taking shortcuts is what they are used to.

Even knowing that they would starve if they didn't bring back the grain, Xia Yu believed that a large number of people would try every means to cheat and shirk their responsibilities.

This is the inherent nature of businessmen; no business is without its cunning.

But what does this have to do with me, a special advisor to Rhodes Island?

It's a kindness to give you food to get through the winter. If you don't even want to walk these ten kilometers, well...

Do you expect me to personally bring it to you and feed it to you by hand?

At worst, I'll just pack up and leave. Do you still want food?

Dream on!

In short, these matters are handled by the government of Wolumonde, and none of these people are nobles; they are all representatives elected by the locals.

Those who are nominated may not have great talent, but they at least have the most basic abilities, so they should be able to handle this matter.

Moreover, these grains were not all provided free of charge.

Xia Yu will not charge a fee, but some basic terms and conditions should be mentioned.

For example, positive publicity for those infected, and improving the treatment of those infected in the local area.

These are all things that Rhodes Island is striving to do on a grand scale.

Wolumonde, as an important commercial town in Letania, still wields considerable influence.

Wolumond, meaning the eighth moon, together with seven surrounding towns, formed a vibrant commercial community in northern Letania.

Even if it falls apart due to a natural disaster, it will return to its former prosperity as long as it survives this winter.

It's always easier to start making improvements from places like this than from those outdated noble territories.

In order to survive this harsh winter, Wolumonde will certainly not refuse these terms.

Or rather, there's no harm in agreeing, since policies are just policies.

Letania is known for its mild treatment of the infected, but the townspeople have never been seen to show them any kindness.

But at least these terms represent a change. The terms recorded in the agreement may not be able to completely restrain people's usual discriminatory behavior, but at least when infected people come to the city hall for help after being treated unfairly, at least these terms serve as a guarantee.

Of course, those government officials aren't necessarily infected with the virus; the rules are rules, but people are flexible.

Businessmen and officials typically have a relatively flexible moral bottom line.

Not to mention the Warrenmund government office, which has both.

Fortunately, Rhode Island is not just a pharmaceutical company.

We have sufficient 'capability' to ensure that the terms are enforced.

I believe Kal'tsit will appreciate everything she has done for the Infected.

After all, he was planning to do some things in Letania that weren't entirely in accordance with local laws.

Hmm, probably, so I shouldn't have to endure her resentful gaze when I go back this time...?

Probably not?

Xia Yu shook her head at this thought, banishing the chilling, eerie look in Kal'tsit's eyes from her mind the last time she looked at her.

He said to Anto with great confidence, "Don't worry, I have made all the preparations!"

"That's great!" Anto paced excitedly around the house, then suddenly his tail stood on end, as if he had just remembered something. "I'm going to tell..."

Snapped!

Xia Yu quickly grabbed Anto's tail.

"Eek~~~" Anto shuddered instantly, smoothly turning around and immediately reclaiming his tail.

"The advisor has this hobby?" She glanced at Xia Yu furtively, wondering to herself, "I heard he fought alongside Huang in Lungmen, but Little Swallow never mentioned it..."

“Ahem,” Xia Yu coughed casually, then shook her head at Anto, “We can’t tell the Wolumonds about the food problem now.”

"not the right time yet."

"Um, why?" The first to ask wasn't Anto, but Eyjafjalla, who stared with her big, round eyes and asked seriously, "According to Dr. Anto, Wolumond's condition is very serious now..."

“Yes,” Anto said, forgetting about his tail, “We just experienced such a severe natural disaster. Now Wolumonde is off course. Not to mention food, we don’t even have much winter supplies.”

"Perhaps the latter can be overcome, but food is absolutely impossible to overcome."

"The people at the government office have been so anxious these past few days they're practically ready to hang themselves. They've tried every possible channel to buy food, but either the other side is also short of supplies, or they've lost contact after hearing that the supplies have to pass through the still-unresolved Great Rift Valley..."

Both girls looked at Xia Yu eagerly.

They all felt that Xia Yu wasn't the type to hoard goods and speculate on prices.

It's important to understand that at this time, Wolumonde was facing both internal and external troubles, but it was not yet in dire straits.

If you want to maximize your profits, you should wait until Wolumonde runs out of food before making a grand entrance as the savior.

At that point, Wolumond will naturally agree to some terms that he would never normally agree to.

“I have my reasons for doing this,” Xia Yu said, shaking her head as she looked at the two eager girls.

"Anto, do you remember those two guys Kevin scolded at the camp just now?"

“Of course,” Anto nodded. “Thor-Wald is the son of Serflin, the sheriff of Wolumond, and Biedman is a messenger of the Scourge hired by Wolumond.”

What is your impression of them?

“As for my impression,” Anto frowned, “Although Biederman is gloomy, at least he doesn’t have any bad intentions. We can’t blame him entirely this time. It’s just that I feel like he has something on his mind lately. I guess he’s been ostracized by the townspeople again.”

“As for Thor-Wald…” Anto sighed, “Although it’s not very polite to talk about others behind their backs…”

"But I always felt that guy wasn't a good person."

"Hmm?" Xia Yu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "What evidence do you have?"

“Evidence and all that…” Anto sighed in frustration, “It’s just a doctor’s intuition.”