Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"So even if we bring them enough food and supplies to survive, most people will be very friendly towards us. But inhibitors are different. The infected in Ursus are naturally wary of them."

"According to my conversation with Anton, the infected in the camp are not very well-behaved. Only the Patriots can keep them in check with their prestige, and there are also various forces with spies mixed in."

Xia Yu shook her head as she said this, "The guerrillas are too busy to deal with themselves right now, they don't have the energy or time to clean them up. Those people will definitely make a big fuss when we arrive. I can think of at least ten rumors in a minute."

“I will take charge of this,” Frostnova volunteered. “Arrest those who should be arrested, kill those who should be killed, and I will definitely not make things difficult for Rhodes Island.”

“Just arresting and killing people won’t work. After all, you know our plan,” the group discussed as they walked. “The first step in building that trade route is to get the infected to mine.”

"But according to Anton, the core members of your guerrilla force are basically those who were rescued from the mines by the guerrillas, right?"

“That’s true,” Anton nodded, a hint of worry in his eyes. “No one understands the darkness of the Ursus mines better than them. That’s why we chose people from there. They are the most steadfast warriors against Ursus.”

“But the problem you mentioned does exist. If we are to open a mine... the attitude of these people will be the biggest problem. Their experiences in the mines in the past have made them... well, very resistant to mines.”

Anton's statement was rather subtle; his true feelings went far beyond mere rejection—he practically wanted to destroy the entire Ursus mine in an instant.

These people were also among the most fanatical of the guerrillas.

Convincing them won't be easy, after all, their tragic experiences in their early years are real. "Don't advise others to be kind if you haven't experienced their suffering," and Xia Yu doesn't think she has the right to comment on their right or wrong.

Because if he had experienced those hellish things himself, he would surely be even more extreme than those people.

He is self-aware of this.

However, this point cannot be avoided in order to ensure the survival of the infected in the snowfield.

“See, that’s where the problem arises, isn’t it? Those professional spies won’t let this opportunity pass them by,” Xia Yu sighed and said, “So we have to be prepared.”

Let's avoid bloodshed if possible, since this is an internal dispute and hasn't reached the point of disagreement on policy.

“But haven’t we already made a plan?” Mudrock tilted his head. “We won’t implement this plan from the beginning. Our strategy for the snowfield is to start by helping them, and then implement it after they have enough trust in our inhibitors.”

“But you can never have too many good cards,” Xia Yu shrugged when she heard this. “You always have to plan ahead before things happen, and these infected people who are about to board the ship are a good example.”

“We must build their confidence in our inhibitors during this period. They are also infected in Ursus, and are naturally aligned with the infected under Patriots’ command. Their propaganda and our own propaganda have different effects.”

"Is this really such a big problem?" W asked, puzzled. "Our inhibitors are genuine, and with the hope of survival we bring to those infected, surely they won't still distrust us?"

"Indeed, all of this will be resolved given enough time, but the problem is that what we need most is time. Rhodes Island can't keep supplying the Snowfield with resources indefinitely; our resources aren't that strong yet."

Upon hearing this, Frostnova explained, "Therefore, we must resolve these matters as quickly as possible."

"Moreover, the infected in Ursus have seen this kind of thing many times," she said with a wry smile. "We've seen olive branches extended by outsiders before. When the late emperor was still alive, he promised to improve the living conditions of the infected in exchange for their support for the Uka war and their enthusiasm for joining the army. However, he had to break his promise because of the defeat in the war."

"The old stubborn man, it was during that turmoil that he chose to leave Ursus and come to the snowfield to establish a guerrilla force."

“I was one of those who joined the army after believing the emperor’s lies,” Anton said in a low voice. “But the war failed because of the power struggles among the nobles in the country, and all the promises became worthless.”

"My brothers who joined the army with me all died in Kazimierz; very few survived."

"Finally, when the captain found me, I picked up a knife and went with him, and I've been with him ever since."

"There are many more such deceptions. The current emperor keeps proclaiming that he will improve the situation of those infected, but in reality, our living environment is getting worse and worse."

"In the end, all the sympathy is fake. He only values ​​the fighting power of the infected after they are infected, and he thinks that we will cause some trouble for the nobles who oppress us."

"We've become numb to this repeated deception. We're truly grateful that Rhodes Island is helping us out of our time of need, but when it comes to restarting the mines, all the Infected will be wary."

"This is the most painful memory for all those infected in Ursus."

At this point, he gave a self-deprecating laugh, "To be honest, I was one of them. If I hadn't seen how healthy Yelena is now, and if your company's drugs hadn't actually worked, I would have stood with them and opposed restarting those mines."

Frostnova's Oripathy was actually mostly cured back in Chernobog. Patriot didn't tell anyone this, only that she couldn't hold on any longer, so he asked his old acquaintances from Rhodes Island to take her away and help her get proper treatment.

Anton and the others had witnessed firsthand how severe her Oripathy was, so they weren't surprised by it.

Seeing Froststar so healthy in comparison, Anton finally believed in the efficacy of Rhodes Island's medicine and broke free from the Ursus infected's natural aversion to the mine, starting to think about how to continue the infected's lives in the future.

After all, before this, the infected had no future, and most people in the camp were indifferent to the possibility of Ursus exploding, since everyone was just living for the moment.

There's nothing we can do about what everyone's worries are. We can't say that the infected in the snowfield are ungrateful. The mine is indeed a painful experience for the vast majority of infected people. They have also witnessed the repeated betrayals of the infected by others, so it's perfectly normal for them to be wary.

So far, these desperate infected people haven't brought their families with them, and the explosion of Ursus is only being maintained by the Patriots' prestige.

395 As long as I come

“So we have to win over these infected people,” Xia Yu said softly. “We can’t wait until we get there to start working; we have to plan ahead.”

He addressed the crowd in his office.

"With their support, the infected people on the Patriots' side will be less resistant to our drugs, and their faster acceptance of our inhibitors means that our plan can be implemented more quickly."

“Actually, I have an idea too,” Anton suddenly said upon hearing this. “Let me ask you first, you plan to give the medicine to all the infected people after you arrive at the camp, right?”

“That’s right. Only by spreading it as widely as possible can more people discover the benefits of these drugs and get them to cooperate with us,” Niyan nodded upon hearing this. “Of course, this also depends on the cooperation of the guerrillas so that we can achieve this.”

“Wait, let me hear my thoughts first. They say things are valued for their rarity,” Anton shook his head and said, “People are just like that. If you rush to give it to everyone, most people won’t cherish it.”

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. What you're doing will only make people wary."

“But this is an inhibitor, the drug they need most,” Mudrock said, somewhat bewildered. “Why would they care about these things when they’re about to die?”

Xia Yu stood to the side, seemingly lost in thought.

"Perhaps that's true for you Sarkaz. In Kazdel, would anyone use drugs that are completely useless or even have side effects to deceive infected people?"

“Uh, I’ve never heard of that,” Mud Rock paused for a moment, then recalled, “Although those drugs are expensive, they are still somewhat effective, though only for a few days, to prolong life.”

“I think so too,” Anton smiled bitterly. “Those merchants don’t seem to dare to swindle people in Kazdel, after all…”

“After all, if anything really happens to them from taking the medicine, the tribe will kill them all,” W said with a smirk. “You haven’t encountered them, but I know there are such people.”

"Well, before he died, he didn't forget to show me his Colombian identity card and tell me that he was a protected Colombian citizen and that killing him would make him wanted by Colombia. As it turns out, I still haven't seen that arrest warrant."

"Anyone who dares to do this in Kazdel is basically dead."

“Indeed, Sarkaz, well, I’ve heard about their tough folk customs,” Anton said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “No one would dare do that in your territory, firstly because of their tough folk customs, and secondly because you Sarkaz don’t really discriminate against the infected, and there are actually people who will stand up for the infected.”

"Secondly, the forces behind those people are far away and the emperor has no control over them."

"But in Ursus, no one will speak up for the infected, and the people behind those people are in Ursus."

"We really suffered a lot."

“So we won’t trust any drugs of unknown origin unless absolutely necessary,” Anton said, his lips twitching.

Actually, people weren't that wary at first. It was mainly because the guerrillas popularized this knowledge among all the infected people... and even brought up various cases to teach them by example.

The main purpose was to prevent spies from using this opportunity to cause trouble. The guerrillas had indeed caught such a case. One spy used drugs for treating Oripathy as bait to trick several illiterate infected people and almost burned down the guerrillas' hospital. Since then, they have been strictly investigating and guarding against such matters.

Regarding the mines, most of the newly arrived infected had not experienced the harsh conditions of the mines. In order to strengthen their fighting spirit, the guerrillas also sent many survivors they had rescued to tell everyone about the hardships of the mines.

Well, now they've shot themselves in the foot... and Anton himself was the one in charge of this back then.

Therefore, you can imagine how complicated his feelings were.

"Then can we let the critically ill patients receive treatment first?" Xia Yu pondered. "After all, their lives can't be sustained for more than a few days anyway. If we can help them live, I believe most people will support us."

“Your idea makes a lot of sense, but,” Anton said, looking down, “we don’t have many critically ill patients left.”

"Those who were truly severely affected by Oripathy had already died on their way to the snowfield. Those who didn't make it here, and whose symptoms worsened after arriving... were not many either. Due to our lack of medical resources, alas, not many survived."

"And I won't lie to you, the camp's organizational capacity is practically non-existent right now," he said with a bitter expression. "There are far too few guerrillas, and most of them are just pure fighters. At first, it was alright, since we were just a guerrilla force and didn't need so many managers."

"But suddenly more than 100,000 men flooded into our ranks... and most of our soldiers were fighting on the front lines with the captain. To be honest, we were short-handed in managing the camp. We were already doing our best to keep everyone alive."

"And you should also understand that a truly capable person would not be exiled to the snowfields, even if he is an infected person."

“We can find people from all walks of life in the camp, including factory workers, miners, farmers, all sorts of people, but very few have management experience.”

"Even if there is such a person, we wouldn't dare let him manage anything without fully understanding him. What if he's a spy?"

"Less than a thousand people are managing a camp of over a hundred thousand, most of whom are only half-baked... If it weren't for the heavy pressure from the Ursus army, and the fact that everyone had to stick together for warmth, I suspect this camp would have fallen apart in just a few days."

Upon hearing this, the people in the conference room exchanged bewildered glances.

"The situation... is it really this serious?" Frostnova's voice trembled as she spoke. "That old stubborn man... he never mentioned any of this in his letters. I originally thought that even if it was serious, it wouldn't be this bad..."

“To put it bluntly, we’re just a bunch of rabble,” Anton said with a wry smile. “Yelena, the captain probably just doesn’t want you to worry while you’re recovering. He’s your father.”

“I know, but…” Frostnova opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she could only mutter “old stubborn” and then fell silent.

"Our situation is really terrible."

“These things can all be resolved with time. As long as there is a rescue, no matter how resistant people are to these kinds of things, they won’t completely reject Rhodes Island’s drugs. As long as we wait and see, everyone will realize the benefits of these drugs and then agree to restart the mine. But as you said, what we lack most is time.”

"Rhodes Island can't keep selling blood to support us indefinitely, that's a fact."

"But I can't convince everyone as quickly as possible, I really can't."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room fell silent.

“Actually, it’s not that bad,” Xia Yu said, breaking the silence in the conference room.

"The manpower shortage is just because most of the army is at the front line confronting the Ursus army, right?" He stood up, put his hands on the table, and asked Anton.

"Yes, most of our guerrillas, plus a rough selection of those infected, totaling more than 8,000, have been roaming the front lines attacking the Ursus army."

"How are they performing? I mean, those selected—are they obedient to orders? Can they become qualified soldiers? How many of them are there?"

“Of course, these people have performed very well. Among the 8,000 people on the front line, nearly 1,000 are guerrilla veterans, and nearly 2,000 are soldiers from the Reunion Movement. They are all selected to stand on our side. The remaining 5,000 are people who joined during this period, but they were selected from more than 100,000 people,” Anton said without hesitation. “Their fighting spirit is in no way inferior to that of the Ursus army.”

“That works then. We now have a thousand officers, two thousand junior officers, and five thousand rank-and-file soldiers. Oh, and that also includes the available personnel on the Orville and your base’s original managers,” Xia Yu said to them. “That’s a total of ten thousand, right? Using these people to implement military control over the camp, ten thousand people managing over a hundred thousand people is more than enough.”

“But…” Hearing this, Anton looked up in surprise, about to say something, but was interrupted by Xia Yu’s wave of her hand.