Arknights' Lock of Heaven

“Leave it to me,” he said, gazing at Anton. “Don’t worry about the hundreds of thousands of troops at the front; Heaven will take care of them.”

“That’s over 100,000 people. Setting up those bases inside and outside their lines is no easy task. Besides, they’re not stupid. If one area is attacked, the other troops won’t just stay put and wait to die.”

"If they choose to attack the camp, then everything will be over," Anton said worriedly.

“Who said I defeated them using the same methods as here?” Xia Yu said to him. “I remember telling you that the [Simulated Gaia - Spiritual Particle Environment Modification System] is a technology used to modify the world, not specifically for killing.”

"Its flaws are obvious, and using it in war would be a huge waste."

"But without this, how are we supposed to defeat an army of hundreds of thousands?"

“Me,” Xia Yu said to him.

"What?" Anton didn't react.

“I mean, me,” Xia Yu repeated, pointing to herself, “what we call an army is, in the end, just a group of people coming together, united under a certain person or a certain flag, to defeat their opponents with numbers or quality.”

"For the same country, the Ursus army is terrifying; they are everywhere, and their morale is high."

"But to me, the military is fragile; no matter how powerful the military is, it is still made up of individual people."

"Just kill their generals in full view of everyone, destroy their warships, plow through their so-called defenses from beginning to end, and crush their spirits, ha!"

"Tens of thousands of troops are much easier for me to capture than tens of thousands of pigs."

"This...this..." Anton's mind went completely blank when he heard this.

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Froststar,” Xia Yu grinned. “She knows.”

"Once I'm here, I won't have to worry about these things anymore."

396 W: I'm willing to do anything.

"Let me ask you again, the Patriots' camp has been able to hold out until now, so it must be quite cohesive. What is the attitude of the infected in the camp towards your army?"

“Of course, we have the utmost respect for them,” Anton replied. “Most of them were driven from their homes by those armies to this barren land, so they naturally have great respect for the guerrillas who stand up to protect them.”

"Alright, I already have a plan."

Xia Yu looked at everyone and explained in detail: "First of all, although there aren't many seriously ill patients in the camp, we can still gather more than a hundred."

"Let's take it one step at a time."

"We need to prioritize them. Let the guerrillas accept our drugs first. Froststar, I'll leave these to you. They all know you; they've seen you back in Chernobog. With you as their witness, they should accept it quickly. Let them take the drugs first."

"Then they will spread the word to the 5,000 people who enlist later. They are all comrades who fought side by side, so we expect them to accept it quickly. We will also provide them with medicine."

"Once we get these people out there and establish a truly effective management team for the camps, we believe that their confidence in our drugs will also grow as they spread the word."

"But I won't provide medicine to everyone in the camp immediately."

Upon hearing this, Frostnova abruptly raised her head.

"As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable. After providing drugs to maintain the combat effectiveness of the troops, ordinary infected people will crave these drugs because they cannot get them."

"If you give it out for free, people will think there's a problem. But if you raise the barrier to entry, everyone will think that it might actually be useful."

“Anton, I understand your reasons for rejecting those cheap, poorly made drugs,” Xia Yu said, looking at Anton again. “Then let me ask you, if there were a drug that cost more than gold, do you think it would be effective or ineffective?”

“Of course there is,” Anton said without hesitation. “There must be a reason why it can be sold for such a high price. Those rich people who buy it aren’t stupid, right?”

Hearing his simple answer, Xia Yu smiled. "By the same token, what do you think ordinary infected people would think if a drug was only provided to combat personnel and treated like a treasure by them?"

"They have a great deal of trust in the soldiers, so this trust naturally extends to our inhibitors."

Upon hearing this, Anton suddenly realized what was going on.

"I admit that our previous plan was too crude and did not conform to the actual situation in Ursus, but we just need to change our approach."

"First, the core guerrilla members, then the backbone combat personnel, and finally the ordinary infected, gradually building everyone's trust."

“From beginning to end, our most important task is to help the Snowfield Infected establish themselves as quickly as possible without causing any major chaos,” Xia Yu nodded. “Let’s keep this plan for now. Once we get to your camp, I will discuss it with Patriot and see if there are any areas that need improvement.”

“Now, Anton, take your men and bring those villagers over. I will keep my promise.”

"Froststar, you stay with him."

"Mudrock, arrange the handover with Froststar and the others. Have the medical team ready to give the villagers medical check-ups first, and then arrange for them to stay on the Orville."

“W,” Xia Yu said, glancing at W who had been suppressing his emotions, “Well, you should go back and take your mercenaries to keep an eye on those prisoners. I’ll need them later.”

“That’s enough for now. I need to go check on the two scholars on the ship. Although we’ve collected enough data, I’m still worried they might be under some psychological burden,” he sighed. “We can’t let them get stuck on this.”

It's mainly Eyjafjalla; the Earth Spirits seem to take it all in stride.

Upon hearing this, Anton and Shuangxing nodded to Xia Yu and then left the conference room.

Mudrock was about to turn and leave when W grabbed his sleeve.

She looked at W's big, blinking eyes, nodded in sudden realization, and then whispered something in Xia Yu's ear.

No, you're tattling on me like this? W was a little confused when she saw this.

After he finished speaking, he saw Xia Yu staring at him with a strange expression.

W immediately straightened his back, looking straight ahead and sitting there seriously.

She had imagined countless scenarios, but when she actually faced them, her mind went completely blank.

What would mudstone say?

Should I truthfully report my thoughts, or fight for my own opportunities as she promised?

W has no way of knowing.

It was from the increasingly amused expression on the consultant's face that I sensed something was wrong.

It seems I've been tricked.

"Go ahead and get busy," Xia Yu waved to Ni Yan, who walked out of the conference room while trying not to laugh.

Seeing her like this, W felt a pang of anxiety.

You wouldn't sell your mother out, would you?

"Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't know W had this ambition," he said, looking at W with a mocking expression.

"Uh, look at what Ning is saying, can't I have ambitions or something?" W replied with an unconscious, embarrassed laugh. "What's that saying again? People strive to rise higher, water flows downhill, so naturally I aspire to make progress..."

As soon as he finished speaking, W felt like slapping himself across the face.

Ambition? What ambition?

Did Mudstone really tell him all those things?

In that case… recalling Rhodes Island’s style of doing things, W’s hand under the table gradually clenched.

I'm afraid... the hope is slim.

So, what other channels are there to obtain it? Otherwise, this ship...

"Then come with me," Xia Yu said, standing up as she was still lost in thought, beckoning her to leave the meeting room.

She followed behind Xia Yu, her mind a complete mess.

"Have you been to school? What's your educational background?" Xia Yu asked as they walked.

“I can read, but that’s all,” W took a deep breath and replied, “I didn’t even learn to read at school.”

"Or rather, does Kazdel have a school? Maybe it does, but it's destined to be out of my reach."

Calm down. Even if Mudrock sold him out, he still had a chance. They still needed him to control those Sarkaz mercenaries. As long as he waited patiently, the opportunity would come back.

"Oh, that's a bit difficult. And your demolition skills..." Xia Yu asked casually.

"We are all born with Originium Arts skills, and we have been tempered by life-and-death experiences time and time again. We have almost all studied on our own or exchanged ideas with other mercenaries. That's basically how we are."

"Well, he's self-taught, but he's severely unbalanced in his studies, so I guess that's a plus," Xia Yu nodded seriously.

"No, why are you asking these questions?" W belatedly realized what was happening and asked suspiciously, "Don't tell me you're planning to open a school in Kazdel?"

“That’s not the reason. The plan you mentioned does exist; she wants to build enough schools in Kazdel for all school-age children,” Xia Yu nodded upon hearing this, “but it’s not my plan.”

"Ha, what did I just hear? Someone actually has such an unrealistic dream?" W chuckled upon hearing this. "A school in Kazdel? Hahaha."

"This is the funniest joke I've heard all year."

Could this be that old woman's or that bastard's plan?

"Is it funny?" Xia Yu turned to look at her. "I think Amiya's idea is very good."

W's laughter stopped abruptly.

"Amiya?"

"Yes, Amiya."

"Tch," W turned his head awkwardly upon hearing this, muttering under his breath, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

“You didn’t ask either,” Xia Yu said innocently, shrugging her shoulders.

Um, okay, I guess I didn't actually ask...

"Hey, were you serious about what you just said?" The two walked in silence for a while before W spoke again, "Tens of thousands of troops, you said you'd hand them over... You're not just kidding them, are you?"

“To be precise, I have one, no, two friends,” Xia Yu said with a smile as she turned around, “the two brothers have some grudges to settle.”