Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Hearing this, Mudrock hesitated for two seconds, then said, "Just like you said, I used to be a mercenary myself, and I know their nature, so... perhaps you should come up with a plan to quickly subdue them."

“There’s no way,” W said, spreading her hands. “Unless you give me ten of that special medicine and let them see the effect with their own eyes, it’s basically impossible.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Mudrock shook his head. “The Sarkaz are born to admire strength, and tomorrow, the scene will be quite spectacular.”

372 Heart-to-heart talk

“We all know the Patriots won’t come,” W said calmly, glancing at Mudrock. “Including that guy just now… his name was Flamebringer, right? We’ve all been in the Reunion Movement.”

"Those mercenaries thought that Patriot was just like the legend, the eternally unyielding warrior."

"But those of us who were part of the Reunion Movement know very well that he is no longer the pure warrior he once was. He has compromised and hesitated. If it weren't for his indulgence and soft heart, the Reunion Movement wouldn't have ended up like that."

“We all know this, but those Sarkaz mercenaries don’t, just like they don’t know the inside story of this war of the infected and still think that the Patriots can really lead the infected to overwhelm the Ursus regular army.”

"They were simply misled by the ancient legends circulating among the Patriots in Sarkaz and the recent propaganda from the Ursus government about the infected in the snowfields. But you can't blame them. Who would have thought that Ursus, which has always been perceived as domineering and ruthless, would do something like this?"

W sighed, "I really don't know what you're doing. If you don't trust me, then why did you tell me such secrets? Including almost all your plans and the inside story of the snowfield, you didn't hide anything from me."

"If you believe me, then why do you all know how the Orville should escape its current predicament? You know, Skadi knows, and those scientists, that dangerous red woman, you all know, and you are all convinced that the Orville will successfully escape."

"But I alone don't know!"

She frowned. "You saw it just now, didn't you? Those mercenaries don't believe me at all. They think I'm on your side, which isn't wrong, but you can't make me feel that way!"

“I don’t think you should ask me this,” Niyan replied calmly upon hearing this.

"Then who should I ask?" W retorted sharply.

“Ask yourself, Ms. W,” Mudrock sighed, reminding her, “Do you remember the night four days ago when the consultant asked us all to go to the conference room?”

“The two research operators, Eyjafjalla and Earthspirit, Skadi and Surtr who are in charge of special security, Manticore from the special operations team, Frostnova from the medical department, and myself, we all went.”

"Ms. W, can you guess which members of the Orville's management are absent?"

Upon hearing this, W's expression immediately stiffened.

Although he couldn't see Mudrock's eyes, W could definitely feel her staring at him.

“I…I was dealing with two troublemakers that day,” she said guiltily, lowering her head. “When I got there…”

“According to the security officer, you were late, but you still came,” Mudrock sighed and said slowly, “but you listened at the door for a minute before turning around and leaving.”

"W, can I know why?"

W fell silent upon hearing this.

But Mudstone pressed on, "What did you hear? Is it really necessary to not even go into the meeting room?"

"Is this an interrogation?" W asked, looking down.

“No, this is just concern between colleagues,” Niyan shook his head and said gently, “Your dereliction of duty will be punished after the task is completed. I’m not pursuing this now.”

As she said this, she took off her helmet, took W's hand, and leaned him against the bridge railing. "I was just worried about you, W."

"Ha, actually someone is worried about me?" Hearing this, W gave an exaggerated smile. "I'm really touched."

“You don’t have to do this,” Mud Rock said, his eyes touched by her appearance. “We’ve known each other since the Reunion Movement and have been colleagues ever since. I thought we had at least some friendship.”

"You know W, for us Sarkaz mercenaries, it's such a lucky thing to be able to part ways with and reunite with people we know several times."

"But I remember that during the Reunion Movement, I somehow became the leader of us mercenaries, and I don't think I took much care of you, did I?"

W paused for a moment and then said, "Do we really have such a deep friendship?"

“Even your appearance,” she said, glancing at Mudrock’s face, “I only found out after we boarded this ship that you were such a beautiful girl under that heavy armor.”

"Speaking of that time, do you know how you became the leader in such a muddled way?" Hearing this, Ni Yan's lips curled into a smile.

"I remember it was one of Talulah's warlocks?" W pursed his lips, recalling. "What did he say again? And then he... uh, what was his name again? Never mind, he's a dead man, so I'm too lazy to remember. In short, that crazy warlock inexplicably killed the leader at the time, and I was inexplicably appointed as the next leader just because I was watching..."

“Actually, do you know what?” Mudstone’s eyes crinkled into a smile as he said this, “that so-called mad sorcerer you’re talking about is your current boss.”

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, W was so shocked he almost jumped up. "He... how is this possible... I..."

“Because you didn’t come that day, and the consultant told us about it himself when he was talking to us about you,” Mudrock said, shrugging as he saw her speechless expression. “He said he was in a hurry to do something, and he saw your mercenaries killing people everywhere and couldn’t just ignore it, so he just put on a Reunion uniform and killed the leader in front of everyone.”

"Then they used Talulah's name to scare you, and finally, they randomly saw you in the crowd and thought you looked alright, so they killed civilians and appointed you as their leader."

"They even threw that leader's head at you, telling you to manage the mercenaries properly, or this is what you'd end up with, right?"

W was stunned when he heard this.

No, was this the time when I first met him?

I thought it was because I failed to seduce him later... No, wait!

W suddenly grabbed Niyan's shoulder and asked urgently, "Besides this, what else did he say about me?!"

“No,” Mudrock looked at her blankly, “It’s just that when I wanted to go find you because you hadn’t come, he said it wasn’t necessary, and that you would stick to it yourself after the Orville was freed…”

"That's good," W breathed a sigh of relief. The scene where he pretended to seduce her but ended up making himself "fragrant" was still so embarrassing that he could dig three bedrooms and a living room out of his toes on the bridge.

It's good that this dark history hasn't been leaked.

Wait, that’s not right!

"What do you mean I should retaliate?" W said, dissatisfied. "Who does he think he is? He's just a little good-looking, do you think I'd throw myself at him?"

"Well, let's not talk about what you mean by saying the consultant is somewhat attractive," Mudrock said with a smile. "I think since the consultant said that, she must have a way to control you, which should be in the content of the meeting that day."

Hearing this, W was really itching to try it.

What was I afraid of that day...? Sigh.

"Want to know?" Mud Rock pressed on, seeing her conflicted expression. "Tell me why you listened at the door for a minute and then left, and I'll tell you what kind of meeting we had that day."

"Are we that close?" Seeing her like this, W awkwardly turned her head away. "Why are you asking this?"

“In any case, we are colleagues on the same ship,” Mudrock said slowly. “And the mercenaries you manage are a significant force on this ship. I know the advisor’s character all too well.”

At this point, Mudrock sighed, "Although each time it was a close call, the process really tested our nerves. I was still his second-in-command, and since he wasn't on the Orville, I had to shoulder the responsibility."

“As a matter of duty, I have to comfort you and unite you, and there are other reasons as well,” Mudrock hesitated for a moment, “Well, this is also a little selfish of mine. You know the effect of those inhibitors. It’s no exaggeration to say that they are the salvation of us Sarkaz.”

“W, your influence among mercenaries far surpasses mine. I need you, and I need the mercenaries under your command.”

"I need you to join Rhodes Island, I need you to establish yourselves, and I need your performance to make Rhodes Island value us and Kazdel more."

At this point, Mudrock looked at the gloomy sky and said, "I am selfish, very selfish. The potion is good, but Rhodes Island's production capacity has its limits. The amount of inhibitors that each place can get is fixed."

"But the distribution of inhibitors is not equal. For example, the infected people in the snowfields that we are going to help will receive a very large share, while the sales share in Yan Country is average. They do not know the true effects of the drug, so their desire to buy it is not great."

“Countries like Colombia are very rare, where their own pharmaceutical companies have completely monopolized and dominated the market.”

"And our homeland, Kazdel, before we left, the exact share was still undecided."

At this point, Mudrock looked at W seriously, "You know, Oripathy is always with the Sarkaz, and our people desperately need these inhibitors."

"Even one more tube could save one more life, but we don't have the money."

"Kazdel's economic system has long since collapsed! You should know how many tribesmen are now choosing to barter. I know the company sets the price so low so that more people can afford it, but even at such a low price, too many people in our suffering homeland still can't afford it."

“I don’t blame the company. Rhodes Island has done everything it can. Everyone here is a really good person. I don’t even want to think about what price these inhibitors would have sold for if they were from other companies.”

“We Sarkaz have no money, only claws honed through hardship,” Mudrock said, turning to W. “So, I need you, W.”

“You know how short-staffed Rhodes Island is right now. Look at this Orville. I used to be just an ordinary person leading a pair of mercenaries to struggle for survival. If it weren’t for the consultant, I probably wouldn’t be surprised if I died in Letania at any time.”

“And now I’m the second-in-command of this ship. After the consultant left, I became the de facto person in charge.” She gave a bitter smile as she said this. “Going from a lowly mercenary to this position is like a meteoric rise. But what have I done to deserve this? Although I know it’s because Rhodes Island trusts the consultant to handle all the troubles, sometimes I really feel the pressure of having such a big ship on my shoulders, and I can hardly breathe.”

"Look at the others, Skadi and Surtr are outstanding in combat but have no management skills, Eyjafjalla and Earth Spirit are researchers, and Manticore is the most useful among us. At least we don't have to worry about intelligence. She also discovered the secret conflict between the Sixth Army and the local government."

"Of course, I'm not telling you this to complain about anything, I'm just to show you how short-staffed Rhodes Island is. We were all forced into this situation and ended up here."

"Even if the consultant is very capable, he should be provided with enough assistants, but now there are only us."

Mudrock looked into W's eyes and said, "Rhodes Island is short of people, desperately short of people, while we Sarkaz have plenty of manpower, even if we don't have money!"

"So I need you, W, whether it's to help me manage those mercenaries and keep the Orville afloat, or to bring these mercenaries into Rhodes Island in the future and let everyone see our capabilities."

"Even if the higher-ups recruit one more Sarkaz because of this, it will be a good thing for our people!"

W was stunned for two seconds as he looked at the mudstone.

Then he took a deep breath and sorted out the logic of the mudstone.

"This is the first time you've said these things to anyone," W asked Mudrock with a complicated expression. "And this idea... ha, I didn't know you were so noble."

"It's not that it's noble, but I just felt that some things had to be done."

"Do you know what Rhodes Island used to be called?" W asked with a subtle expression.

"Uh, I don't know," Mudrock replied honestly.

If you know this, you don't need to worry about it.

W sighed.

What was Rhodes Island before?

It's the Tower of Babel!

The organization that follows His Highness, though it may not be obvious on the surface, did you know that even now, almost half of Rhodes Island's core members come from the Sarkaz?