Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Very good," Yan Ke finally felt relieved upon seeing this.

"Now line up in two rows and follow us. Don't try any tricks."

"You two officers, go first!"

Hearing this, Jonathan and Franz exchanged a glance, then walked out together.

The remaining soldiers lined up behind them very conscientiously.

Haha, if only they could be this self-disciplined during training!

These hundred or so unarmed and defeated soldiers, sandwiched between eight hundred menacing mercenaries, walked dejectedly into the Orville.

"Why are you so slow? It took you this long to deal with a hundred or so ragtag soldiers?" On deck, W turned around, not hiding his dissatisfaction. "This makes me very disappointed in you..."

"Wait a minute," she blinked, asking in confusion, "So many people escaped? I only saw about a dozen cars. How come so many are still left after you've been fighting for so long?"

"Fight? We didn't fight?" Fariad was also confused. "Didn't you say you were going to capture them alive?"

What? It was my fault?

W thought about it carefully and realized, "Oh, that seems to be the case. I did say I wanted to capture them alive... but that was just an excuse I gave them when I was about to give up the act."

“What I meant was just to arrest two people,” W said, feigning a blank expression as he looked at the hundred-plus people in front of him. “How could you all interpret it that way?”

She lies without batting an eye, immediately shifting the blame.

Hearing this, the mercenaries exchanged bewildered glances. "Then explain yourself clearly! The tone you used back then, coupled with how we pressured you before... we all thought this was punishment..."

Besides, such a powerful spell can't be without a price. The Sarkaz are knowledgeable and know all too well that some spells require human sacrifice. You specifically instructed us to capture them alive, so we dare not gamble.

If the survivors are intended for sacrifice, and we've gone too far in killing them, will we have to make up for the lost offerings ourselves?

The two sides just stared at each other, not knowing what to do.

"Well, it's not a bad thing, actually," Mud Rock said as she walked over and adjusted the helmet, which was a little crooked from the moment she put it on.

"Our initial plan was to leave some survivors, since our purpose was to deter others. In order to get the supplies to the Patriots as quickly as possible, the news had to spread so that the cities along the way would know how powerful we were and see who would dare to block us."

"However, as everyone has seen, it is really difficult to keep people alive under these circumstances, so we gave up. Unexpectedly, some people came to us on their own. It is actually a good thing to have more prisoners."

“Oh, right, that’s how it is,” W nodded upon hearing this, then subtly tilted his head, intending to ask Mudrock when he would have this plan again.

But before she could even finish her sentence, she realized that it was probably decided that very night.

Ugh, what the hell was I being so dramatic about back then?

"Wait, prisoners?" Just then, Franz, who was sandwiched between the Sarkaz, became indignant. What happened to the humanitarian aid they had just agreed on? How did they become prisoners?

"Didn't we agree... Waaaaah."

Before he could finish speaking, Jonathan covered his mouth tightly.

That's enough, bro. Didn't you hear they weren't planning to kill us? Being prisoners is fine, as long as we survive.

"Huh? What did you agree on?" W looked at the Sarkaz mercenaries. "What kind of magic potion did you give them to make them surrender so obediently?"

"No, it's all thanks to the higher-ups... what's that saying again? Oh, their magical power is immense!" Fariad quickly explained, "They scared these people out of their wits. We didn't really do anything, just cleaned up the battlefield at most."

393

"So, what should we do with them now?"

Looking at the more than one hundred prisoners, W's head started to ache again.

Are you kidding me? Does she even have time to deal with these people?

Mudrock had just promised her that it could help her obtain that power (that's how W understood it), so she didn't want to care about these prisoners or even her mercenaries anymore.

Why did she return to Rhodes Island?

In the beginning, she just wanted to see what was wrong with that old woman Kal'tsit, who was suddenly gathering people everywhere. Then she saw the inhibitor, suddenly remembered His Highness's vision, and was coaxed to come to the snowfield by a few words. Of course, there was also the reason that she was truly willing.

But now, having finally found something to avenge His Highness, the tender journey through the snowy plains is over. She, W, will spare no effort to obtain that thing or spell, and then smash it hard on Theresis's skull!

From that day on, her life revolved solely around this one thing.

As for why she was so stubborn in believing it was an object... well, it was because of what she overheard outside the meeting room.

Eyjafjalla's long speech was of some content that she couldn't quite recall, since she was just a mercenary, not a scholar, but it was roughly about the consequences of the misuse of some technology.

Therefore, W believes it is probably some new technology, or some super weapon dug out of the ruins, rather than a person.

This was a good thing for her. A weapon made from a technological achievement was much easier to control than one person, so she couldn't wait to get her hands on these things. The opportunity to realize her long-cherished wish was right in front of her, and she really had no interest in these trivial matters.

However, she couldn't just quit. After all, she hadn't received the goods yet. What if she just stopped doing her job and they wouldn't give them to her?

So I had to suppress my excitement and deal with these trivial matters first.

“Let’s lock them up for now,” Mudrock said, also with a headache. “Although this was indeed part of our plan, it was abandoned because the risks were too great, and we didn’t prepare any related plans.”

Who could have imagined that the ambush, which seemed a sure thing, would turn out to be so unpredictable... No, it shouldn't be called unpredictable, it was just a few minor incidents.

The hundred-odd people are just a tiny fraction of the fifteen thousand who died here when the sun rose today.

"I'll leave it to your mercenaries."

Seeing Mudrock say that, W could only shrug and then said to Flamebringer, "Take them away and keep them under strict guard. Fariad stays behind."

Upon hearing this, the mercenaries obediently led the prisoners into the Orville.

“When you get back, tell them not to let these people die,” W said with his back to Fariad. “I roughly know what you’re worried about, but not everyone is a Blood Demon.”

“We don’t need blood sacrifices, but you can go back and tell others that yes, just as they think, these people are the sacrifices we’ve prepared. We absolutely have to make sure everything goes perfectly, understand?”

“If anything goes wrong, they can make up for it with the heads of the sacrificed people,” Fariad nodded upon hearing this. “Don’t worry, I’m quite familiar with this, and I guarantee nothing will go wrong.”

He dared to make such a guarantee because these Ursus prisoners of war had basically lost all will to resist; they were terrified.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have surrendered so easily with just a few words from Yan Ke.

“Okay, you can go after them now,” W nodded after hearing his assurance.

“Yes,” Fariad instinctively bowed to W, then strode towards the Orville.

“Tsk tsk tsk, before this they always called me by my first name, let alone bowed,” W clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked at him like this. “Looks like that bastard was right about one thing: Sarkaz are all a bunch of scoundrels.”

“W, have you ever considered that we’re both Sarkaz?” Mudrock retorted weakly upon hearing this, “Can’t you think before you speak?”

“I’m not wrong, the Sarkaz are all scoundrels,” W replied with a flippant expression, “including me.”

Yes, I'm a shameless person too.

They had clearly parted ways with Babel, no, Rhodes Island, long ago; they should have fought to the death when they met.

Now, not only have they been lured to the snowy plains like a lapdog, but they also have to start enduring humility and subservience until the day they get what they want.

Although I know that Rhodes Island won't humiliate me, well, at least the people around me won't. Ah, that consultant is an exception, but he probably won't go too far.

However, she just felt like she was a worthless wretch.

“Of course, that doesn’t include you,” W said to Mudrock with a grin. “You’re different from us.”

There was no other way; we still needed her to get close to that thing, so we couldn't afford to offend her.

"..." Mudrock looked at W, who was grinning, and sighed helplessly, saying, "I think you should see a psychologist after we get back to the main ship."

“Doctor, forget it,” W said, turning his head. “I’m naturally at odds with Rhodes Island doctors, and I know my situation better than anyone. There’s only one way to cure my illness.”

That's to give that damn Theresis a good beating!

"By the way, why isn't the consultant back yet?" she asked, looking around on the deck. "Do you think it would be too obvious if I went up to her directly and tried to curry favor with her? Maybe I should be more subtle?"

"Let me ask you first, what do you mean by 'tactfully'?" Mud Rock was already used to her thought process.

“Like going to his bed tonight or something,” W replied, stroking his chin.

Hearing this, Niyan rolled her eyes. "Then you should try to curry favor with them."

Is this what you call being tactful?

W didn't take Mudrock's disdain to heart; she was just joking.

To relieve your tense and restless mood.

"So why aren't you back yet?"

-

"So, this is what they mean by 'what you keep in mind will eventually come to pass'?"

At the foot of the Orville, Xia Yu raised an eyebrow as she looked at the dozens of intact Ursus military vehicles scattered around her.

“The car you’ve been longing for has been delivered to your door,” he said, turning to Anton. “It looks pretty new, but there aren’t many of them.”

“It’s better than nothing, right?” Anton rubbed his hands together and then went over to examine the vehicles. “Eight troop transport trucks, good stuff. Their carrying capacity can be used for a lot of things. Four armored vehicles, better than nothing. One command vehicle, hmm, not very useful. Let’s see if anyone can modify it when we get back.”

"Uncle Anton," Frostnova said helplessly as she dragged him out, "These things aren't important. Let's go to the Orville and check on the situation first."

“Ah, the Orville, yes, yes, that’s the most important thing,” Anton said awkwardly, jumping out of the vehicle and touching his thinning hair. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, it was just the camp…”

“We’re so short of these machines, aren’t we? You’ve said it so many times,” Frostnova sighed. “We’ll get them eventually, so don’t worry.”

Why was Frostnova so calm? Because Kal'tsit had already had a long talk with her before she returned.

Rhode Island is now eager to expand its business empire around the world, but the world is never peaceful.