Arknights' Lock of Heaven

When these people encounter difficulties, the first solution they think of is to find infected people.

A natural disaster is about to strike?

It's okay, we can direct the blame at the infected people.

Is the factory facing a labor shortage?

It's fine. Infected workers are cheap anyway. No one else will hire them except these sweatshops.

What? You need to stir up chaos to advance your career?

Go find the infected! Anyway, nobody cares whether they live or die, nothing will happen to them.

Are the believers not devout enough?

Drag a few infected people out of the mine and tell the ordinary people what happens when they turn their backs on God.

Is a certain nobleman becoming too powerful? His allies need to be clipped to maintain the rule of the imperial court.

Go and incite the infected. After all, all the vested interests are living off them, and no one wants to see them stand up. As long as a rebellion in the name of the infected occurs, believe me, far too many people will rise up against your enemies.

Infected people are the world's dumping ground; they can dump all sorts of garbage into them.

Just like in Wolumond now, because the nobles have failed in their duties, a riot launched in the name of the infected is needed to attract their attention.

Will Wolumonde be saved?

Of course.

Stepping on the corpses of the infected.

"What do you need me to do?"

Mud Rock now knew why Xia Yu had come to find him.

She knew she had to cooperate with the person in front of her, or the entire Mudrock Squad would die.

It wasn't because of Xia Yu, but because Letania wouldn't allow a group of infected people who had stirred up a riot to live.

What's more, they are the infamous Sarkaz.

No one will stand up for them.

Even a careful investigation would reveal that they are all innocent.

In politics, whether you are innocent or not is never important; what matters is whether others think you should be 'innocent'.

Mud Rock knew that even if he led everyone away now, it would be of no use.

The so-called rebellion doesn't even require their participation; all that's needed is for an infected person to raise the banner of the Reunion Movement.

“I need a batch of patients,” Xia Yu nodded in satisfaction as she saw that Ni Yan had quickly grasped the situation. “Genuine patients, appearing at the camp established by Anto before noon tomorrow.”

"I assure you, they will not be harmed in the attack and will receive treatment from Rhodes Island afterward."

"What are you planning to do...?"

“I’ll play along. I have some evidence, but simply recording it won’t make them pay enough.”

"That spell unit must be detonated by them!"

“Their crime must be ‘successful’ and cannot be considered an attempt; only then will they be sentenced to a serious crime.”

"I want to let some people know that Rhodes Island doctors cannot be pawns in someone else's game."

"Those infected should not become sacrifices for others to survive."

"..."

"Do we only need a few patients?"

Mudstone was not moved by Xia Yu's slogans. Although she was young, she had seen too many people who just shouted slogans but did nothing.

Especially after leaving the Reunion Movement, she became even less trusting of those who spout grand theories.

The blood in the Sarkaz’s heart cannot be boiled by a few slogans.

Unless they are their 'hero'.

For others, seeing is believing.

"Are ten enough? They're all veteran Sarkaz soldiers who've seen it all."

“That’s enough,” Xia Yu nodded, then stood up. “Alright, now that the goal has been achieved, I won’t bother you any longer.”

"By the way, these things are between you and me, so it's best not to tell anyone else."

"After all, you can't see into someone's heart."

After saying that, he opened the door, waved to Niyan, and then disappeared into the moonlight in a few flashes.

Inside the room, only Niyan remained, holding a warhammer, his brow furrowed, lost in thought.

The return journey was actually faster than the journey there.

Xia Yu continued leaping among the treetops, recalling her meeting with Ni Yan just now.

Since it was the first time the two had met, they didn't have much to say besides business.

Moreover, because his timing wasn't ideal, it was difficult to find topics to discuss.

But if he's not mistaken, there should be an opportunity tomorrow.

Because he wanted several patients, while Mudstone answered with ten veterans.

She doesn't trust herself.

If Xia Yu is not mistaken, Ni Yan herself should be among the ten veterans.

That's to be expected, since it's normal for people to be cautious when you show up without any prior knowledge.

Besides, the two sides were enemies not long ago.

The reason they agreed so readily is probably because they couldn't bear the loss of doubt.

If this is a trap set for Mudrock and his men, then they will only lose ten veterans.

Even Mudstone herself is the same; she is someone who would willingly sacrifice herself.

Xia Yu believed that right after she left, the abandoned village was now brightly lit.

If I go back tomorrow, I definitely won't see a single person.

These are lessons learned from being scammed.

Xia Yu is becoming more and more satisfied with the mudstone.

I want to take her back to Rhodes Island.

Okay, I'll be my own vice-captain.

Before Kal'tsit came, she had mentioned to herself that every elite operator has their own squad.

After returning from this mission, he will be asked to select some people from the reserve members to form a small team.

Xia Yu initially refused.

In the game, he's the type of person who habitually uses his elite squad to wipe out entire enemy units, rather than training regular operators...

Unless you really like it.

But upon closer reflection, it seems that someone like Mudrock, who is quite strong but unlikely to be trusted by Rhodes Island, could also be recruited into one's own team.

Putting everything else aside, his skill in summoning stone golems alone is enough to handle most situations.

Not to mention she's very experienced. She's managed to survive in this desolate wilderness with so many people. She's got skills in both military and domestic affairs.

It's more than enough for at least a small team.

But these things can't be rushed; they need to be done slowly.

Let's establish basic trust first.

After all, this isn't a game where you can just recruit people with a 10-pull and they'll come to your command.

Well, although people can survive in the wilderness and mudflats, the quality of life is not nonexistent, but rather appalling.

Even the mudstone house, the largest house in the village, was filled with supplies.

Calling it a house is an understatement; it's more like a warehouse.

Even so, Xia Yu could tell that their supplies were very tight.

Mudrock was not only accompanied by her squad, but also by many infected locals from Letania.

Okay, let's allocate a portion of our stuff to them.

Anyway, it's free.

Which of the 107 team members should we choose?

Hmm, now that we have Mudrock, how should we choose the other team members?

Xia Yu sat on the edge of a cliff, looking at the tranquil Winter Spirit Mountains under the moonlight. She took out a cup of hot tea from the King's Treasury and fell into deep thought.

Thinking about forming a team, I impulsively found a place with a nice view and stopped to carefully consider the candidates.