Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"That ship, whose charter you personally signed, carried a Sarkaz king who, not long ago, annihilated the Sixth Army that went to intercept the ship."

"My lord, don't tell me you were unaware of this."

"But...I..." Upon hearing this, the emperor was truly speechless.

Wasn't he supposed to be from Yan? How did he suddenly become a member of the Sarkaz royal court?

The difference between the two is huge. To be honest, if he hadn't specifically sent a spy, he would have been just as unaware of the changes in the neighboring country as the other Ursus people.

The intelligence report says he's from Yan, and according to the spies, he's a rather chivalrous person. After causing such a huge incident in Kazimierz, he only acted because he couldn't stand how Kazimierz treated the infected...

He really didn't ask for anything extra; he simply killed someone because he couldn't stand it... To be honest, he didn't believe it at first.

It wasn't until he learned that the man was preparing to leave Kazimierz that he realized he wasn't actually coveting the land.

That's why I had this thought, and why I accepted the request that Rhodes Island sent through secret channels.

In Ursus, everyone knows that from the late emperor to himself, they have all been sympathizers of the Infected, and have tried countless times to change their situation. Based on that alone, that person will not find him.

As it turned out, the Business Federation, which introduced the Infected Knight system in Kazimierz, was purged by him, while the Supervisory Council, which had always opposed the Business Federation, remained unscathed.

That's why the emperor was at ease. He had also secretly learned about the Yan Kingdom and knew some things.

Year phases...

Perhaps that person is one of the twelve fragments?

But now, Witt says that wasn't a Yan citizen, but the ruler of a Sarkaz royal court...

This is completely different. A chivalrous Yan citizen believes in leaving without a trace after accomplishing something, keeping his merits and fame hidden. But the Sarkaz royal court... is definitely here to cause trouble! They might end up getting implicated themselves.

“Virt, I admit that I did it, but believe me, I didn’t know that he was the ruler of the Sarkaz court,” the emperor said with a solemn expression. “From the spies to that person, everyone said that he was a Yan person.”

"Do you have any evidence?"

“Evidence? Well,” Speaker Witt rubbed his temples, looking exasperated.

"Based on the intelligence we have, we initially suspect that it is the Lich King's court within the Sarkaz royal court. The Blood Lord, Shapeshifters, and Carrion Eaters are currently all in Londinium, and the Lich..."

"Legend has it that they are the guardians of knowledge and never participate in disputes. Ha, just listen to these words. From the scene, we can preliminarily infer that what defeated the Sixth Army was not pure force like the Blood Demon Lord, but a spell that incorporated many unknown technologies. From this description, it is very similar to the Lich."

"The ship also carried at least a thousand Sarkaz veterans, the exact number is unknown."

"Your Majesty, were you aware of these things before?"

"The Lich King's Court? Rumor has it they didn't settle in Letania..." The emperor hesitated upon hearing this.

“Your Majesty, the Witch King is dead. The Twin Queens may not be able to tolerate the liches. You should know that the Witch King had a close relationship with the liches. His Originium Arts were more or less influenced by the Sarkaz.”

"So, it's possible for the liches to leave Letania, Your Majesty. Please tell me, what exactly did you promise the liches?"

“No, I know nothing about it,” the emperor said, taking a deep breath. “Come to the palace, Speaker, we need to go and question that person together.”

So, half an hour later, Kal'tsit, who had been working on her desk all day, finally fell asleep, but was woken up by a secret communication shortly after closing her eyes.

"We need an explanation!"

The two people at the pinnacle of power in the Ursus Empire spoke aggressively on the other end of the communication line.

"You clearly said it would be someone from the Yan Kingdom, so why is it a Sarkaz royal court that came? Did you and those liches deceive me together?"

"Lord Kal'tsit, I know your identity is shrouded in mystery, and I am willing to respect your path. Please cherish this friendship."

Upon hearing this, Kal'tsit fully understood what was going on.

However, she did not intend to elaborate further.

What's there to explain? They'll understand naturally in time.

"Gentlemen, I don't have much contact with the Lich King's court, and I can assure you that there isn't a single Lich on the Orville."

“But that’s not what my men said. There are several thousand Sarkaz veterans on that ship alone…”

“First of all, there are only eight hundred,” Kal'tsit corrected, “They are all mercenaries hired by the royal court, not a single member. If you don’t believe me, you can contact them to send someone to board the ship and check.”

"We also don't want such a small misunderstanding to affect our relationship with Ursus."

"Also, could you two tell me what happened?"

“Just yesterday morning, your transport ship annihilated the Sixth Army,” Speaker Witt said upon hearing this. “Didn’t you know?”

Actually, the Sixth Army Group was not completely annihilated. Not only were there survivors, but there were also quite a few troops left to guard the snowfield defense line.

However, half of the main force, including the supreme commander and two of Mitsuo's senior officers, were all gone.

"A transport ship achieving such an amazing feat, should I say it truly lives up to its name, the Tower of Babel?"

“First of all, we are now called Rhodes Island,” Kal'tsit replied calmly. “Secondly, I really don’t know what’s happening on the front lines.”

"He will take care of everything."

"Is that so-called 'him' really not Sarkaz?" Speaker Witt pressed.

“Of course not, I can vouch for it with my reputation,” Kal'tsit replied. “Your Excellency, you can even send someone with a doctor and equipment to board the ship and draw blood for testing to see if he is a Sarkaz.”

Upon hearing this, Witte and the Emperor exchanged speechless glances.

Look at what you're saying, that kind of person... who would dare to draw his blood for testing to verify his identity?

Seeing that Kal'tsit insisted that it wasn't the so-called Sarkaz Royal Court, the two realized they wouldn't get any more information from her.

"Alright, we will verify these later, Ms. Kal'tsit. I hope you will not betray Ursus's friendship."

"Thank you for your understanding. I also hope that Your Majesty and the Speaker will not contact me late at night next time, as it is not very polite at that time."

“There will have to be a next time,” Speaker Witt said in a cold voice.

“I think it will happen, and it will happen soon,” Kal'tsit said, a slight smile playing on her lips, before hanging up the phone.

At Saint Jun Castle, the emperor and his minister looked at each other in bewilderment as the communication line was disconnected.

The emperor had little experience with being hung up on on the phone, so his expression was quite unpleasant.

“Something’s not right, something really isn’t right,” but Speaker Witt didn’t have time to pay attention to these things.

"What's wrong?" the emperor asked, frowning.

“Kal’tsit, her attitude is very strange,” Speaker Witt recalled, head down. “In my memory, she was always very composed and polite, never so forceful.”

Yes, she even dared to hang up on me. Even the most illustrious duke in Ursus would wait for me to hang up first in a situation like this. How could she dare...?

The emperor wanted to say that, but after thinking about what he had done and looking at Speaker Witte's expression, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"I need the information, the original kind, information about the person you know."

Upon hearing this, the emperor pulled out a stack of documents from a hidden spot in the room and handed them to him.

Speaker Witt stood there and began to read the reports, which were all from secret agents.

After a while, he glanced through the information and then sighed.

“Your Majesty, you are too reckless,” Speaker Witt criticized the emperor so sharply for the first time. “How could you let such a person in so easily?”

"..."

“How much longer must I endure this, Lord Witte?” The Emperor paused for a moment, then looked into the latter’s eyes. “Look at what they are doing. And what can we do?”

"Tell me? If I don't do something, how can our ideals be realized? What will become of those who are waiting for me to speak out, those who are looking forward to me?"

"We've already disappointed them too many times, are we going to continue like this?"

"Should we just wait? Can waiting bring about a powerful empire? Can waiting bring about an empire with only one voice?"

“…That’s not what I meant, but…” Speaker Witt paused for two seconds, then sighed, “You shouldn’t have signed the order yourself.”

“I don’t object to you wanting to bring in external forces, but…”

"Then who will sign? You?" the emperor said irritably.

“Yes, I can!” Speaker Witt said without hesitation. “Even if I sign the order, it’s better than you signing it yourself.”

"And then I'll watch you be ruined?" The emperor shouted, "Only I, the emperor, can bear the consequences. It can't get any worse!"

"Besides, it's not like there's no precedent. Patriots joined Ursus this way. My predecessors did it, so there's nothing wrong with me doing it again."

"But you can't. Once you do it, you know what you'll face: endless slander, countless conspiracy theories. They'll do everything they can to destroy you!"

"You know I can't lose you, my friend, for our friendship and for Ursus."

Speaker Witte looked at the Emperor, hesitated, and finally sighed.

“We need to send someone aboard that ship to take a look,” Speaker Witt finally relented.

"Let's see who that person is."

“Let’s see what gives Lord Kal’tsit such confidence that she thinks we’ll go back to her for cooperation.”

410 Overtime work is bad civility!

“We’ve conducted physical examinations for all the villagers and developed an inhibitor distribution plan based on their conditions. And the researchers—they can’t keep working overtime like this without any restraint! Advisor, you need to keep a close eye on them! Our medical department is already busy enough!”

"My God, they even came to ask us for hair growth products, you know that?"

With an ethereal aura, Ya Ye sat down in front of Xia Yu with unsteady steps and a look of utter despair, reporting, "Back to those villagers, there's something else we need to be aware of. Before they received our treatment, their Oripathy underwent a strange change."

"It's as if something has recently stabilized it."