Arknights' Lock of Heaven

It wasn't the infected, but those nobles!

Lower-ranking officers cared about military merit, which was a ladder for advancement, while the lower-ranking officers cared about undermining the emperor's authority so that they could seize more power.

The former emperor of Ursus was so powerful that he became an inescapable shadow over all the old nobles, and they never wanted such a shadow to loom over them again.

When the late emperor was alive, he used various means to reclaim a great deal of power from the nobles. Now, what they need to do is to take back that power little by little.

Some of the so-called new aristocracy, having tasted the sweetness of power, naturally have an instinct to want more.

All of these factors combined have created the surreal reality of Ursus today.

The Ursus people believed their propaganda about the threat of infected, and most of the operators on the Orville also believed it.

After all, in many people's eyes, who would be so bored as to instigate a rebellion in their own country?

But for some, chaos is a stepping stone to progress.

Thanks to their extensive propaganda, the people on the Orville basically believed it.

After all, based on the Patriot and his army's reported combat capabilities, they were more than capable of defeating the regular army behind them.

But faith aside, anyone with two fully armed, ill-intentioned warships following them would feel apprehensive.

The Earth Spirit looked around and noticed that most of the operators were very nervous.

After all, the so-called Patriots' army was eighty miles away. If those two warships were to start a fight...

After W's seemingly nonsensical actions, everyone's emotions calmed down somewhat.

At least everyone is not as tense as before.

What did W do?

She seemed to be joking around, but unintentionally, her relaxed expressions and actions revealed that these managers actually had some tricks up their sleeves.

A trump card powerful enough that they wouldn't even flinch at facing two warships.

Although it didn't say exactly what it was, it's like a riddle, so the effect is probably limited... No, that's not right!

The spirit shuddered at this thought; this was exactly the kind of hazy, dreamlike feeling it wanted!

After all, that trump card... if you don't really know the inside story, you'd think it's a bit far-fetched. If you actually revealed it, probably no one would believe you.

Therefore, it can only be kept vague like this, and the effect is not bad. It is perfectly normal to keep such a powerful trump card a secret. No one would think there is anything wrong with revealing it at the last moment.

Telling the truth directly will only make others think you're guilty and that you're making up such a big lie to deceive them.

So that's how it is. This mercenary lady is truly... incredibly meticulous.

It must be said that the Orville was a completely cobbled-together structure. Every single person standing in the command room had virtually no experience, while the operators below had more experience than the few managers.

The fact that the ship was able to set sail was entirely due to the captain's ability. The higher-ups at Rhodes Island believed that even if it were a makeshift crew, the advisor, as the temporary captain, could have taken it to the snowfield and brought it back.

Earth Spirit did not question this point.

But problems still exist. Nobody has experience, so even if someone is there to back you up, you still have to be very careful.

However, in this situation, the lower-level officers and crew members are unaware of the specific circumstances, and their confidence can only come from their own makeshift team.

Therefore, those of us standing in the captain's cabin must not panic under any circumstances.

W did this very well; no wonder the consultant told everyone to listen to her before she left.

In fact, Xia Yu didn't know that W had this ability. It was just what Kal'tsit said. There was nothing Xia Yu could do. At that time, when she found out that there were basically no reliable managers on the Orville that she was going to take away, her head was about to explode.

Rhodes Island is also short of people, they're short of people everywhere, otherwise Kal'tsit would have just used her emotions and reason to persuade the uninvited W to send him over.

Originally, she hadn't even planned for those eight hundred Sarkaz mercenaries; this was an unexpected bonus that W sent later.

This ship is only kept from falling apart by Xia Yu alone.

And this is considered relatively good treatment. Many veteran Rhodes Island operators, upon being given money and medicine, were completely bewildered when assigned to establish a Rhodes Island office in a city and recruit staff...

It's not easy for the Earth Spirit to think of these things. She's a few years older than Eyjafjalla and has seen more people and things. Although Eyjafjalla is a bit stronger than her in scientific research, she is more insightful in dealing with people and situations.

"Well, I can't tell Miss W either," she smiled politely. "After all, it was you who didn't come to the meeting, Miss W. The advisor, oh no, I should call you the captain, told us not to tell you since you hadn't come, so you would be curious until he returned."

"No, is he just a kid?" W asked incredulously. "Didn't I not come? Wasn't something going on with the mercenaries? Is that why you didn't tell me? What time is it now? Tens of thousands of people are chasing us!"

She spread her arms dramatically, as if about to give a speech, "Besides, don't you all understand that he's throwing a childish tantrum? I'm the head of the security department, and you even kept this from me at this critical moment of life and death?"

Well, what was supposed to be a very serious topic turned into something like a performance by Ms. W through exaggerated body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.

She noticed that the operators around her had all pricked up their ears.

Thinking of this, Di Ling smiled slightly, "First of all, there are 15,000 people behind us instead of 50,000. Secondly, the combat effectiveness of this army is not high. The former Sixth Army was annihilated due to a rebellion. The army behind us is a newly reorganized force that has never fought in actual combat, and its combat effectiveness is questionable."

"Moreover, they are only part of the Sixth Army. The other truly capable soldiers are on the front lines defending against the Patriots' attacks. If these people were even remotely useful, they wouldn't be sent out to do such menial tasks."

The Earth Spirit confidently analyzed, "Secondly, we don't think that army behind us can pose any threat to us, after all, there's 'that' there."

"Furthermore, do you know why we were so sure that army would attack us from a hundred kilometers away from Cheprini?"

"Because our people were listening in on their conversation between General Boris and Mayor Chiplini!"

She raised her head herself and said, "If we wanted to, that general would have his head rolled right now. How much of a threat would a leaderless army pose then?"

"So, Miss W, no matter how much you exaggerate their danger, we will not tell you what 'that' actually is before the battle begins."

"The captain said this is a small punishment for your tardiness. There's no life-or-death crisis involved."

After she finished speaking, she made a point of looking at the reactions of the other operators.

Sure enough, seeing that these people were still in the mood to joke and didn't panic at all, the people below felt much more at ease.

"Tsk, fine," W said with a sigh, putting his hand down in boredom.

That bastard's scheme back then was actually quite effective. At the time, I thought it was offensive for her to joke around with Princess Theresa like that, but it wasn't until later, when the princess privately analyzed the pros and cons for me, that I realized she was trying to stabilize morale.

Tsk, how did someone who could joke around and be funny back then end up becoming such a heartless war machine, even...

Ugh, why did I have to think of her! And I even felt... tsk, he tu!

Sigh, I shouldn't have backed down that night. What exactly was 'that'?

Just as her mind was wandering freely, indulging in some scornful thoughts about the doctor, a message reached the captain's command platform.

"Attention all units!" Mud Rock jumped to his feet and announced, "The Sixth Army Group has departed!"

380 People at the Top of the World

"This... they really have been trailing behind all along," Mudrock said, frowning as he looked at the scene on the screen. "Although we are still far from the designated location, we still need to be prepared for a surprise attack."

"Seven kilometers, tsk tsk tsk," W chuckled, looking at the distance between the Sixth Army and the Orville in the intelligence report. "They're really confident, aren't they afraid we'll actually run away?"

“It’s normal for them to be a little confident,” Diling shook his head. “First of all, the Orville is a cargo ship, and it’s fully loaded. Even if the ship’s predecessor was a military supply ship in Kazimierz, it wasn’t known for its speed.”

"The two Ursus warships seven kilometers away, the Rice, according to intelligence, have been in service for more than 32 years. Their design concepts, structure and power are outdated now, but it will only take a few hours to catch up with a cargo ship."

"The other ship, the Ural, is one of the newest warships launched by Ursus. This series of warships is among the best on the entire continent. If it goes at full speed, it can catch up with us in an hour."

"That's why they were so confident that the seven-kilometer distance would not let us escape, and from their perspective, it would give us a glimmer of hope so that we would do everything we could to run away."

“After all, they made an agreement with the mayor of Chepulini to prevent our troubles from erupting near the city,” Mudrock continued. “They even received 30 million from them, so they definitely don’t want us to be too close to the city.”

“I’m not worried about those things. What I’m most worried about is that this Ursus army is of mixed quality and might not be as punctual as promised, and might attack us before reaching a hundred miles east of Cheprini.”

W frowned. "Advisor, isn't that guy lying in ambush eighty kilometers away with so-called 'Patriot' reinforcements?"

"If it were an Ursus army, I might not be so worried, but the Sixth Army is really no good."

"You've all seen what's been happening in the city these past few days, haven't you? Bullying, extortion, and blackmail—the whole place reeks of a trash army."

"Can such an army really keep its promises? The intelligence clearly states what the Sixth Army was like before and what it is like now."

W spoke with great conviction.

Indeed, the intelligence report thoroughly investigated this army.

The decline of the Sixth Army of Ursus can be traced back to the Tenth Ukrainian-Kazakh War.

During the Tenth Uka War in Ursus, in an effort to ease tensions, the late emperor approved the new nobles' bill. However, this provoked discontent among the old nobles, who attempted to force the new nobles into submission through force.

This so-called proposal is about improving the situation of those infected.

Previously, Ursus had seized a large amount of war reparations and political privileges. However, in the process, the domestic economy of Ursus developed, and some nobles realized that if they invested their assets in the military, they would have to wait weeks or even months to see any returns.

In order to shorten the capital turnover cycle, these nobles invested their assets in the production and reproduction process, which was the beginning of capitalism in Ursus.

From then on, the nobility was divided into two major factions: the new nobility and the old nobility. The new nobility were those who made money through capital production and reproduction, while the old nobility were those who still invested capital in the military and made money through war.

The new aristocracy wanted the state to invest in production and construction, while the old aristocracy wanted the state to invest in military expansion; the two sides were irreconcilable.

Later, the new aristocracy realized that to make more money, they needed more consumers. Meanwhile, the infected were discriminated against and oppressed, and had absolutely no purchasing power.

In order to create a new market, the power of the old aristocracy was suppressed at the same time, because most of the infected were in the old aristocracy's mines, where they could hardly be guaranteed to live, let alone receive wages. They were completely slaves of the old aristocracy.

That's why this proposal came about, not to mention it can also give oneself a cloak of justice.

How glorious and righteous they are!

During the Tenth Uka War, the Ursus Empire had a total of five army groups on the front lines: the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth.

The Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Army Groups belonged to the old aristocracy, while only the Fifth Army Group belonged to the new aristocracy.

The old nobles secretly recalled their troops, forcing the late emperor to withdraw the bill, which he reluctantly agreed to. This action left the Helag and Patriots at the front lines short of manpower, and they were ultimately defeated by Cyril Nearl of Kazimierz.