Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Of course not, that's an opponent!

Although the advance teams were well paid, none of them could compare to the reward the Mainz family gave to the first team to arrive in Wolumonde.

Upon seeing this, most of the team members immediately turned and prepared to run towards Wolumonde.

However, he was stopped by the furious North Mainz.

"Stop running! All of you, move towards the fourth squad!"

"But Captain..." The team members hesitated, clearly unwilling to give up the top spot so easily.

"I am a member of the Mainz family. If you don't obey my orders, believe me, I'll make sure you don't get a single penny!"

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so team members were speechless.

Fine, you're the boss, okay?

Then, reluctantly, they approached the fourth squad.

Including three of his close confidants.

North Mainz could tell they weren't too willing, after all, the Mainz family's asking price was simply too high.

A property in downtown Dresden is the minimum requirement, while the chance to own a spot in the tower is even more coveted, not to mention the substantial monetary reward.

The family has really gone all out this time.

Moreover, he knew the captain of the fourth squad opposite him. Although they were not in the same department in the family, there was not much competition between them, and they usually got along quite well.

Furthermore, the interests of these Mainz natives and the advance team were not entirely aligned.

The family is facing a life-or-death crisis, so they must be extremely cautious. Now that they have an extra small team, they should naturally join forces.

Just as they approached, the fourth squad also moved closer to them.

"Koss, you got here so quickly, you're lucky," North Mainz patted Koss Mainz on the shoulder. "How about we go in together?"

"Of course, cousin. Your men are quite good too. Even though they took a much longer route than us, they still managed to arrive with us."

“Luckily, lucky, we found a small road,” North Mainz smiled modestly. “Although the road conditions may not be very good, it can be repaired in an emergency and some light vehicles can pass.”

"Hiss," upon hearing this, Kos Mainz gasped, his tone full of envy, "Cousin, your luck is just too good! You even found a passable path?"

"The road I came from is only wide enough for livestock to carry, and it's difficult for people to walk on it."

"When you go back this time, cousin, your position will probably be promoted."

“It’s all for the family,” North Mainz waved his hand. “Right now, it’s more important to investigate the situation at Wolumonde.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Kos nodded quickly upon hearing this. “The situation is special now. Cousin, you are in charge of the family’s trade routes. I heard that you used to travel with caravans. It would be better if you took charge at this time.”

Koss was quite self-aware. He usually handled management work in the family, and if he were to enter Wolumonde to restore order, he would definitely be the one in charge. But for now, he would leave it to his more experienced cousin.

Those who are sent out by the family at this time are at least not some brainless fools.

Seeing that Koss was so sensible, North Mainz nodded in satisfaction.

“Alright, then I won’t stand on ceremony,” North Mainz nodded, and after a brief handover of command, he led about thirty men slowly toward Wolumonde.

But it stopped after traveling just over a kilometer.

They encountered what appeared to be a patrol team.

Meanwhile, the other party also spotted them and hesitated in place.

While surveying the patrol squad opposite him, North Mainz gestured for his men to prepare for battle.

"Is there a problem, cousin?" Koss didn't quite understand his choice, since seeing the patrol team meant that Wolumonde was still maintaining basic order.

Although he also felt that the patrol team was a bit strange.

Why be so wary? Wouldn't it be better to just openly acknowledge the Mainz family name?

However, he was quite self-aware, knowing that his experience abroad was not as good as North Mainz's, so he shouldn't question other people's actions too much.

He spoke with mere curiosity, but his hands were far from idle; he had already begun preparing a spell with his staff, which he had used for many years.

"What's the problem?" North Mainz asked through gritted teeth, facing his question. "It's a huge problem!"

Not only him, but also his trusted men who had traveled all over the country were very nervous, as were the bounty hunters in the team.

"Have you seen those people's clothes in Letania?"

Upon hearing this, Koss suddenly realized why he felt something was off. The patrol's attire had no trace of Letanian style; it looked more like Ursus or Kazdel.

The earthy yellow clothing, typically worn in desert and sandy environments, looks so out of place in the vibrant landscape of the Winterling Mountains.

Not to mention they were wearing headscarves to protect themselves from the wind and sand. This is a forest, after all; where would they get the wind and sand to protect themselves from?

"The bandits of Ursus, the mercenaries of Kazdel who operate near the flight path... only they would dress like that."

With them so prepared and ready, the patrol team opposite them also became somewhat uneasy.

They seemed to have originally intended to send someone over to negotiate, but upon seeing our side's ready stance, they immediately withdrew.

The two sides then began a standoff.

"The bandits from Ursus and Kazdel..." Koss asked in confusion, "How exactly did they cross the border and get to the Winterling Mountains?"

Yes, how did they get here?

You should know that the Dongling Mountains are a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the shipping routes they usually use to beg for food. Why would they be so foolish as to venture into such deep mountains and forests?

“Captain, I feel something is wrong,” one of North Mainz’s trusted men said quietly as he approached him. “As you know, I’ve been running the trade route from Letania to Yan Kingdom, which takes me through the Ursus border.”

"Having dealt with those bandits so many times, I was also startled just now. No one expected to run into these old enemies here."

"But something's not right when you look closely. Although these people are dressed as bandits, they don't smell like bandits. How could they be ruthless bandits who kill without hesitation, given how nervous they look?"

"At most, just a group of militia!"

"Are you sure?" North Mainz frowned. He trusted his confidant, but he still wanted to ask a few more questions.

"Of course, if they were really ruthless bandits, they would have scattered and fled to warn others the moment they saw us. After all, they are just a patrol team and they are outnumbered."

“But they only just remembered to send someone back to tell them,” the confidant said, pointing to the figures rushing away towards Wolumond. “Even the new recruits aren’t this naive.”

"Moreover, although they were dressed like bandits, upon closer inspection there were too many flaws. Just take that headscarf for example; it was wrapped haphazardly at the corner, and it didn't look like something they wore regularly."

"Could they be new members recruited by the bandits in Wolumond?" Upon hearing this, Koss raised his own question.

“Impossible,” North Mainz shook his head before his confidant could answer. “Even if we recruit new members, we can’t send them all out on patrol. We need at least a few veteran bandits to lead them, right?”

“Andrew!” He beckoned to the Wolumonde military police in the ranks. “Go and see who those people are.”

Although they were speaking softly, Andrei still managed to catch a few words from their conversation.

Bandits...trade routes...ruthless killers...

Good heavens, what on earth happened in Wolumonde?

But now, faced with North Mainz's assignment, he dared not disobey and could only slowly walk toward the patrol.

With each step he took, his calves would tremble.

The weapon in his hand did not give him much of a sense of security.

Just as he was slowing down, unexpectedly, before the nobleman behind him could urge him on, a gasp came from the opposite side.

"My God, Andrei? Is that you?"

A man leading the group asked loudly in fluent Letanian, "Weren't you detained by the nobles? Why are you back alone? Where are the others?"

Hearing this, Andrei was dumbfounded.

He paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, based on the voice, "Is that you, Kevin?"

"It's me, it's me!" Kevin said, taking off his hood as he walked towards him. "You still haven't answered me. Where are the others? Why are you the only one who came back? Who are the people behind you?"

"It really is you!" After seeing the face under the mask, Andrei burst into tears and gave her a bear hug. "We're all back. It's just that Hughman and I arrived first. They're all on their way."

"These are the advance teams sent by the noble lords to aid us. There are also hundreds of carts of food and supplies outside the Great Rift Valley, which will be transported in soon."

"us……"

"Are you citizens of Wolumond?" North Mainz knew there was probably no danger when he saw this, so he strode forward and stared intently at Kevin. "I am North Mainz, a member of the Mainz family, and I need all the information about Wolumond."

“M-Sir,” Kevin tensed up immediately upon hearing this, his voice trembling slightly, after all, he was just the son of a small merchant.

"Can Wolumond still maintain order? How many more days will your food supplies last? Has anything... gone wrong?"

“Reporting, sir,” Kevin bowed his head, “the situation in Wolumond is stable, and our food reserves can last for another two months. As for the bad news…”

"Wait, you're saying your food reserves can last for two more months?"

North Mainz was taken aback. This was different from what the intelligence report said.

128 Appeared out of thin air?

"Rhode Island..."

North Mainz frowned, pondering the information about the company.

But I hardly remember much of it.

He had not heard of this company in Letania.