Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Lieutenant Colonel Franz, you are truly a role model for us all," an officer said to Franz in a flattering manner. "That fellow Nikolai, well, if it weren't for General Boris protecting him, he would have been dismissed and sent home long ago."

"We dare not say much, only you dare to speak out for justice."

“Nikolai,” Franz’s expression darkened upon hearing this, “that piece of trash dares to compare himself to me…”

He got angry when he talked about this. Originally, based on his qualifications and background, there was no way he could have become a lieutenant colonel at this age, but his family had worked hard to get him into the newly rebuilt Sixth Army Group.

Among the many misfits and oddballs who came to support him from other units, he stood out from the crowd and became a lieutenant colonel.

He was originally quite proud, after all, comparisons are inevitable, right?

And what happened? Nikolai was promoted to colonel... a rank higher than himself!

If he really had the ability or a powerful background, then Franz would accept it, but he had neither of those qualities!

Let's not even talk about his abilities. I heard that he was almost a laughing stock in the Third Army. When the Grand Duke of Belgaard was reluctant to let go of General Boris, he approved it without hesitation when he heard that Boris wanted to take Nikolai with him.

As for his background, he has a very influential father-in-law, but the latter also knows what kind of person he is, and his only requirement for him is that he doesn't die.

This person was a level above him, which made the proud and arrogant Franz extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, there are readily available ways to vent.

Once we catch up with that ship, I'll lead my troops and be the first to board...

"What's going on? Why does it look like that ship is slowing down?"

Franz, who was still enjoying the idea of ​​how to vent his anger, soon noticed the change in the speed of the ship ahead.

“I don’t know,” the officer next to him said, equally bewildered.

Then suddenly the Ural ship shuddered.

"What's going on? Why are we slowing down too?"

Franz was bewildered by this series of events.

"Lieutenant Colonel Franz, the general orders," just then, the communications officer shouted to him, "all units are to be on high alert and guard against possible attacks!"

"Attack? What attack?" Franz was bewildered by the order. "Does that ship think it can attack us?"

No, a cargo ship with just over two thousand crew members attacked a warship carrying tens of thousands of troops?

Are you crazy or am I crazy?

"How could this be the general's order? Connect me to the command center! I need to question the general..."

“No need,” Boris said as he appeared on the deck. “It was indeed my order.”

"But why?" Franz asked, utterly puzzled. "The target was only five kilometers away!"

“Because none of this is right!” Boris said seriously.

"Something's not right? Are you referring to the situation with Nikolai's troops? I remember I already analyzed the reasons with you!"

Franz argued, "Is the ship stopped now? I can guess roughly that; it's just infighting, and someone wants to seize the ship."

"Don't forget, according to intelligence, there are quite a few Sarkaz! They are absolutely capable of doing something like this!"

"An ambush? How could there be an ambush here? General! This is the very heart of Ursus! Who would dare send an army here?"

"Or are you referring to those infected individuals? Don't you know their situation?"

No, none of these are it.

Boris gave him a deep look. "You ask me what's wrong? I can only tell you, my gut feeling is that something's not right here, something's wrong there!"

"Intuition? Such an absurd reason?" Franz laughed in exasperation.

"You think it's absurd?" Boris retorted. "During the Ukrainian War, my intuition allowed me to survive the rout of hundreds of thousands of men. During the Eastern Ukrainian War, my intuition allowed me to survive from a lieutenant colonel like you until the end of the war, and eventually become a general."

Upon hearing this, Franz opened his mouth, but then remained silent.

After all, he's a general, and he's already revealed his identity, so how can he question it?

“If you really feel something is wrong, then send my troops to land,” he finally said. “I stand by my opinion that you are being too cautious, General.”

"However, you are a general, so I will obey your orders."

"But the mission must be completed. Whether it's infighting among them or an ambush, we'll find out once I lead my troops onto that ship."

“That’s what I meant too,” Boris nodded upon hearing this. “I’m now appointing you as the vanguard, to lead your troops, along with Hales and Jonathan, to see what they’re up to.”

"Yes, sir," Franz saluted, then turned and led his troops to change vehicles and prepare to leave the Ural.

385 You really think you're something special?

"Alas, General Boris is truly..."

In the command vehicle, Hals, who had accepted the mission with Franz to go to the Orville for the landing operation, shook his head, hesitating to speak.

But he has already fully expressed what he wanted to say.

boom!

Franz, standing to the side, clenched his right fist and slammed it directly against the car window.

"Intuition? Ha, I think it's just fear of death," he said bitterly. "Trying to intimidate me with your experience in the Ukrainian War and the Eastern Ukrainian War?"

"They were routed in the battle of Kazimir, and failed to achieve anything in the tiny Eastern Kingdom! To put it nicely, they were cautious; to put it bluntly, they were afraid of death!"

"If it weren't for the political turmoil caused by the late emperor's death after the war, and the suppression of a large number of capable generals, when would he have been able to command an entire army group?"

"I originally thought that most of the rumors outside were exaggerated, and that people were just jealous that he was willing to accept the reconstruction of the Sixth Army, but I never expected that he was really like that... so afraid of death!"

Franz said in disbelief, "The target's military force is practically nonexistent to us! What can those two thousand-odd men do against our two warships and tens of thousands of troops?"

"He's even afraid of this?"

"Uh," Franz's indignant words embarrassed Hals, who was standing next to him.

His family was just a minor noble family with little power, and they certainly didn't have the confidence of Franz to slander a general.

Originally, he just wanted to take this opportunity to improve his relationship with Franz. After all, he was the rising star of the Sixth Army, and it would never hurt to build a good relationship with him.

But to everyone's surprise, Franz exploded at the slightest provocation, it seems he really had been putting up with Boris for a long time.

But if Franz could hurl such insults, could he? Hals had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

All they could do was offer a few vague and perfunctory words of agreement.

“Actually, everyone thinks… well, you know, it’s not just you,” he said vaguely. “Jonathan, who’s leading the way, also told me this before.”

"You agree, don't you!" Franz became even more enthusiastic after getting his agreement, ignoring his ambiguous tone, and said indignantly, "Tell me, in what way am I inferior to that idiot Nikolai?"

"In terms of family background, he's just a viscount. He only managed to snag Earl Ryan's daughter with his good looks."

"In terms of ability, I'm far superior to him! At least I wouldn't cause this kind of trouble."

"In terms of individual skill, I could easily beat him to a pulp!"

"And what was the result? Just because General Boris and Earl Ryan had a past relationship, they protected him in every way!"

"This is how the Imperial Army's discipline has been corrupted bit by bit! People rise to positions not through ability but through connections, and Boris is still trying to reform the Sixth Army's discipline all the time... Hah, with all the well-known scandals between him and Nikolai, as long as they're still in the Sixth Army, the discipline will never be any better!"

At this point, he turned to look at Hales.

What could Hales do? He could only awkwardly smile, nod, and say, "You're right."

But in my heart... hehe.

Do you want to see what you are talking about?

Nikolai got his position through connections, but Franz didn't?

I am 46 years old this year. I joined the army at the age of 17 and have been fighting in the Ursus army for almost 30 years. I have experienced both victory and defeat, and my current rank is major.

And you, Franz? You joined the army at twenty-three, and you're thirty-two this year. You haven't fought a single hard battle until now. You've only ever done bandit suppression and odd jobs. Everything has gone smoothly for you. You're currently a lieutenant colonel.

He's a level above me.

Yes, Nikolai is looked down upon by everyone, but if you're talking about rising to power through connections... aren't you the same?

The difference between you and him is that you have some skills, while he's a complete idiot.

And then? That's it.

To be honest, Hales has become indifferent to these things over the years. After all, the Ursus army has always been like this; background is always more important than ability.

But you, someone who climbed above me because of your connections, are still indignantly complaining that others have bigger backgrounds than you... It's really laughable.

Of course, he wouldn't say these things out loud. He wasn't stubborn; no matter how much he despised someone in his heart, he would still keep flattering them outwardly.

After all, their background is truly impressive; Ursus is a prime example.

As for Franz, people praise you because of your background, but do you really think they respect you?

To be honest, Hales regretted bringing up the topic.

He wanted some peace and quiet, but Franz, like a resentful woman in her boudoir, kept criticizing Nikolai and Boris.

This left him in a dilemma: he couldn't agree, and he couldn't disagree either.

We can't afford to offend either side.

He finally saw clearly that Franz had become arrogant.