Arknights' Lock of Heaven

How can one resist such a god among men?

And now, that man, the man they feared so much that they dared not even utter his name, for fear of accidentally offending him, was going to Ursus!

Carrying countless coveted supplies, they went to aid the infected, the once-renowned Shield of Ursus, now the Patriot Shield of the Infected.

The latter, now Ursus's number one traitor, has rallied hundreds of thousands of infected under his command, sharpening his knives as he sets his sights on Ursus's vast territory.

The reactions from various countries to this were...

Fight! Fight! Fight!

In these times when everyone is struggling, having a menacing and ruthless neighbor is definitely not a good thing.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if his own family caused trouble before he even started making his own plans?

If the Ursus snowfields weren't so remote, not bordering most countries in the world, and if those countries that wanted to incite conflict weren't powerless to do so, Ursus would have been engulfed in war long ago.

And Yan, the only country bordering that area... is too damn laid-back. Why don't you stand up for yourself? The Chernobog incident in Ursus was clearly aimed at you. Don't you want to get back at them?

Just incomprehensible.

But Yan Guo just has that laid-back attitude, what can they do?

And now, that man is going, to the snowfield, to the center of the vortex... to face the most aggressive nation on the continent of Terra.

When they heard the news, the Kasimir leadership practically gave them a celebratory send-off with drums and gongs!

Ursus is great! It's a vast and resource-rich country. The infected people you care about most are treated worse than pigs and dogs there. We're just waiting for you to go and create a better world for them!

what?

Shortage of supplies?

What do you need? Weapons and equipment?

We have it here at a rock-bottom price, enough to arm those infected people!

Food supplies?

I, Kazimir, occupy this vast and fertile plain. These things are nothing to me. Just tell me how much you want, and I'll send them to you right now!

We've also included a small transport platform for you, since getting so much stuff to the snowfield isn't easy.

What, you're asking me why I'm so kind?

Isn't this contributing to the Terran human rights movement? I'm furious! Infected people are human too! They're just sick! Ursus's actions are utterly unacceptable!

That expression made it seem like he was about to transform into a Terran human rights fighter, fighting for the liberation of humanity. It would be a waste not to give him an Oscar.

See? As long as you have a big enough fist, these people will talk very nicely, right?

The obvious reasons have been found; as for the truth, let's just leave it at that.

It's nothing more than bad luck on my part, and it's visibly going to continue being bad luck, since others have already established themselves in Kazimierz...

But to my utter surprise, he actually decided to go to Ursus, his sworn enemy... and to cause trouble!

After learning about this, they celebrated their escape with firecrackers while frantically preparing supplies, the more luxurious the better.

Who knows if he might attack with a knife because I wasn't prepared properly?

This kind of vulnerability cannot be allowed to exist!

Just when everyone else was about to leave and his good days were about to begin, he died before dawn...

What a huge loss!

Therefore, the town in front of us, which is being built at an astonishing pace, can be said to have gathered the full strength of the entire nation of Kazimierz, without the slightest bit of negligence.

Every day, you can see new changes in the valley.

Believe it or not, those people are even more anxious about the construction of this town than Xia Yu himself!

There's no way to not be anxious! Who wants to have the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head all day, not knowing when it will fall?

Please, please go and save the infected in Ursus who are suffering terribly! They need you!

Xia Yu was once again amazed by the engineering technology.

After all, even in my past life, I couldn't have achieved such speed.

It seems Terra has a lot of advanced technology. Sure enough, a civilization capable of building such a colossal spectacle as a mobile city is definitely not lacking in engineering technology.

Terra's humanities and social sciences are lacking; despite possessing such technology, it remains in a feudal dynasty.

The productivity brought about by science and technology has been firmly imprisoned under this mismatched political system.

Take Ursus for example; ordinary people basically cannot enjoy the innovations and conveniences brought about by science and technology.

In Kazimir, however, it was the other extreme: the capitalist class had not yet seized all power, and the feudal aristocracy was still resisting. Under this peculiar political system, the two sides gradually became indistinguishable...

And the struggles surrounding them have made this distorted country increasingly skewed in its narrative.

No one pays attention to the bandit-ridden countryside and the suffering villages, while in the mobile city, there is singing and dancing, a scene of prosperity.

The towering skyscrapers, the neon lights that transform the entire city into a city that never sleeps, even seem more advanced than in my previous life.

This is the utterly absurd yet utterly real situation in Kazimir today.

“This is Kazimir,” he exclaimed, as a white figure appeared beside him. “Such a rapid pace of construction…”

“I have never seen it in Ursus.”

“But honestly, don’t take this for granted, Froststar,” Xia Yu shrugged. “They’re the kind of people who fear power but don’t appreciate kindness.”

He has always had a clear understanding of those people.

At this point, he clenched his fist, "If it weren't for this, this valley wouldn't even have a name, and would have been abandoned over time."

"How could it have achieved its current grandeur?"

"Moreover, if Ursus were to mobilize the entire nation's resources, it's hard to say who would do a better job."

"It's just a matter of whether you know how to do it or not."

Hearing this, Froststar took a deep breath and looked at the man in front of her.

She knew that Rhodes Island hadn't kept her in the dark about what this person had done in Kazimierz, so she knew everything.

After all, if she didn't know these things, even she wouldn't have agreed to such an absurd caravan.

Isn't that just throwing good money after bad to the Ursus warlords and nobles?

But if he exists... whether it's like throwing good money after bad or using bait to catch fish remains to be seen.

After all, even though she hated Ursus to the extreme, she never dared to plan to hang all the Ursus nobles; at most, she only dreamed about it.

There's no other reason than that I lack that power.

"So, will you do the same in Ursus?"

She looked at Xia Yu's profile. She had seen this mysterious man before and even fought with him. Although she felt he was very dangerous back then, she realized she had underestimated him.

“I won’t,” Xia Yu said with a mysterious smile. “This kind of proactive and unrestrained killing will only happen once.”

“I will not repeat what happened in Qazimir in Ursus…” He drew out his words, deliberately creating suspense.

But Froststar just looked at him indifferently.

Not a word.

Yes, you won't, I believe you.

Ah.

Ghost letter!

Who will believe?

After seeing what happened in Kazimir, who would believe it?

“Okay,” Xia Yu shrugged, seeing that she wasn’t fooled. “I really didn’t lie to you. I really wouldn’t do that.”

"But if someone like me, who doesn't know any better, were to run into me, that would be a different story, right?" Frostnova said with a smile.

"And you must have something or a reason that forces them to stand up."

Hearing this, Xia Yu paused for a moment, then her lips twitched. "Kal'tsit said that?"

"Professor Kal'tsit analyzed a lot for me and taught me a lot."

"For example, what does it mean to occupy the moral high ground, what does 'reason' mean, what does it mean to be a righteous army, what does it mean to be legitimate, and what are the benefits of doing so."

"The teacher said that this is what you Yan people like the most. Although many countries have this habit, it is mostly a recent development, while you Yan people have been like this since ancient times..."

"It seems she's been teaching you seriously," Xia Yu laughed. "Learn from her well; you'll find these things useful in the future."

"What I'm most curious about now is, what are you going to use to attract them?"

Froststar took a deep breath. "So that they'll have no choice but to jump out, tear off all the veneer of civilization, and reveal their beastly nature?"

342

"Yelena, do you envy Kazimierz?"

Facing her curious gaze, Xia Yu smiled slightly, "You followed Rhodes Island across this country, those fertile plains, the wheat fields rolling in the wind, the verdant green fields... have you ever envied them?"