Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"I also have things I want. Let's set clear prices and have a fair trade."

"Hey, really not?" Nian's dramatic face was full of regret. "Let me tell you, my sister is super pretty..."

Xia Yu tapped the table with her index finger, signaling her to be serious.

Are you kidding me? Who am I, Xia Yu? Do I need you to introduce me to a wife?

Besides, you've revealed Xi's weaknesses to me. If you really wanted to pursue her, wouldn't I be able to catch up?

Besides, where do you rank among your many brothers and sisters? You think you can just give it away for free like that? Why should they listen to you?

In the end, won't I be the one to do it myself, and you'll just get all my fighting power for free, right?

"Alright, alright, I gave you a chance but you didn't cherish it," Nian shook his head with a regretful look, "but we need to make a deal..."

"Aren't we trading right now?"

“Things are different now,” Xia Yu shook her head. “When you told me before, you didn’t say it was such a big order, a real god! So, we have to pay more!”

After all, when the two of them talked before, Nian only mentioned that it was related to Xi, and Xia Yu thought that she was going to Yan Kingdom to bring Xi out of her autistic state.

Now we know it's related to Xi, and not only to Xi, but also to a real god.

Going to find Xi was just the beginning.

So, if you calculate it that way, you've really lost out. You went head-to-head with a god just for a few replicas of Noble Phantasms.

“Look at me,” Nian straightened up and shook his clothes upon hearing this, “I’m penniless, and I’m still shamelessly coming to Rhodes Island to seek refuge with Kal’tsit and freeload off her. Where am I supposed to get the money?”

"Don't you still have this skill?" Xia Yu raised her chin. "You don't need to add anything else, just add a few things to the previous orders."

"So I'm destined to work overtime, right?" Nian sighed. "Tell me, what do you want?"

"Actually, I'm quite interested in siege artillery from Yan Kingdom and all countries in the world."

-

"So, you two came to find me together like this?" Kroos looked at Nian and Xia Yu in front of her with suspicion.

She knew these two were no ordinary people; they were probably like Kal'tsit, well, the same kind of beings.

Therefore, they were extremely vigilant about their arrival.

Who knows whether doing business with such a mysterious person, especially in a business you don't understand, will result in a profit or a loss?

“I just wanted to find out,” Xia Yu nodded, “what level of defense cannons does Terra have.”

"Understand?" Kroos frowned. "Just understand?"

"If possible, I'd like to purchase another batch from you. How about it? This is a big deal."

"Hiss," Kroos gasped upon hearing this, "My god, friend, this thing can't be sold."

"Look where this is! Rhodes Island! What does Rhodes Island do? It's a pharmaceutical company!"

"You're going to buy cannons from a pharmaceutical company?"

Despite Kroos's attempts to make exaggerated expressions, the two guys opposite her clearly showed disbelief.

"A pharmaceutical company?" Nian rolled her eyes at her. "Come on, it's okay to say that in front of outsiders, but we all know what's really hidden under the guise of a pharmaceutical company."

“Even so, your idea of ​​buying siege cannons is too outrageous,” Kroos said, her eyes wide. “Look how small Rhodes Island is, where am I supposed to conjure up a siege cannon for you?”

"Otherwise what? You want me to buy from outside? From whom? Or since you're going to buy anyway, why don't you just go and buy directly from someone else? Why make things difficult for me?"

"We don't need to conjure them up, nor do we need to buy them from outside," Xia Yu waved her hand with a smile, "We can make them slowly."

"Build?" Upon hearing this, Kroos chuckled. "Do you know how many technical hurdles need to be overcome to build a proper siege cannon? A cannon capable of destroying a moving city isn't something you can just build casually."

"Where in our engineering department do we have that much time to study these things?"

“What a coincidence!” Upon hearing this, Xia Yu waved her hand and pushed Nian, who had a humble but actually extremely proud face, in front of Kroos. “I happen to have a master craftsman here!”

"Whether it's cold weapons or firearms, from close combat to long-range combat, there's nothing she can't do!"

Nian was very cooperative, pulling out several blueprints from behind him.

"These are the blueprints for the siege cannons I made for the Great Yan Dynasty a few hundred years ago."

"Everyone who uses it says it's good, and they're still using it now."

Upon hearing this, Kroos's eyes widened, and she quickly snatched the blueprints to examine them carefully.

The blueprints weren't large, and the technology wasn't complex, but Kroos was a connoisseur; this thing seemed to be genuine...

The layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

She thought about it again. Her reason for going to Rhodes Island was to visit a friend, and this friend could only be Kal'tsit. The latter had indeed received her, so she was already 80% convinced.

She took out her terminal and sent a message, receiving a reply a few seconds later.

"Hey, Master, Master, please have a seat," Kroos immediately performed a Sichuan opera face-changing act in front of the two, warmly welcoming them. "Oh dear, please forgive my previous offense. Kal'tsit, really, you have such skills but didn't even tell me."

"We almost neglected our distinguished guest. It's just a siege cannon. Although our engineers have never worked with this before, as long as you give the order, our engineering department will work tirelessly to make it for you under your leadership."

Xia Yu laughed when she saw this.

Don't be fooled by her initial arrogance followed by obsequiousness; after all, what kind of person was she back then?

Even in her previous life, with her skills, which country wouldn't treat her like a national treasure?

Don't be fooled by Kroos's current humble demeanor; pay attention to her words. What does she mean by 'under your leadership'?

One sentence was enough to put the year on hold; simply providing the blueprints wasn't enough, since we had no experience with this before.

But wouldn't it be great if you personally guided us step by step?

Don't think it's shameful for her to be so humble. When learning a skill, it's not shameful to be a little low-key.

Others who want to learn this don't even have the opportunity.

That's the chief designer of the siege cannons that Yan Kingdom has been using for hundreds of years and are still in service today. His qualifications are incredibly high.

In Terra, although development is progressing rapidly, some areas have remained stagnant for a long time.

The reason is that these things... weren't invented by the Terrans themselves.

It was dug out of the ground!

Technological development relies entirely on archaeology.

Terra's tech tree is truly absurd. Look at the skyscrapers of Lungmen, so modern, and then look at the weapons they're using—crossbows...

Even the so-called "guns" are more like staffs than guns; they're not something everyone can use like guns.

Ultimately, this is the drawback of relying on archaeology to develop science and technology.

The strength of a region is unreasonable, just like the technology of mobile cities, and the powerful materials science and energy technologies.

The weaknesses are, as mentioned above, the crossbows and guns.

They're not even in the same league.

The technology of that year was among the strongest.

If it were just a regular siege cannon, Kroos wouldn't have been so subservient; Rhodes Island isn't entirely without technical expertise in this area.

After all, they were one of the two kings in the past, and even though they lost, they still managed to retain some assets.

But if it's an ancient technology that can remain relevant for hundreds of years, that's a different story.

Despite her current humble demeanor, Kroos is probably already plotting how to squeeze every last drop out of Nian.

"Master, please have some water," Kroos said solicitously, handing Nian a glass of water.

Nian glanced smugly at Xia Yu, who didn't even have a seat.

Look, this is the treatment a technical talent like me deserves.

"Master, please try these pastries purchased from Yan Kingdom."

She picked up a pastry with her delicate hands and gently put it into her mouth. It had been so long since she had tasted the flavor of her hometown.

I miss it a little.

“Master, please take a look at this,” Kroos handed over a blueprint. “Is there a problem with the casting process here? It always fails to meet the expected standards in experiments.”

“Oh, this,” Nian glanced at the blueprints and then casually said, “You guys should adjust the temperature up a bit more…”

wrong!

Nian suddenly stopped halfway through his speech.

What am I here for again?

Oh, you're asking about siege cannons.

How did you end up solving problems for the engineering department?

“Ahem,” Nian cleared his throat, then slowly put down the documents in his hand. “Let’s not rush that. Let’s talk about the siege cannons.”

"I see," Kroos said, her face full of regret. "Alright then."

“You’re the client,” Nian said to Xia Yu. “Tell me, what kind of client do you want?”

Within minutes, Nian had joined forces with Kroos.

But it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with it.