Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"...Are there really several thousand people? Tell me the truth!"

"There are definitely at least a thousand people!"

His subordinate's voice was firm and resolute; it was the only thing he could vouch for during the entire phone call.

But the director of the Human Resources Department remained silent.

A thousand infected people... how did they come up with that number? Especially on this incredibly sensitive night...

Why do you think they are rebels?

"This... Chief, the brothers down here have been spreading the word that the curfew tonight is very unusual, and with these suddenly appearing infected people... the people down here are saying that the infected rebels have even reached outside the city, and that the curfew was imposed to rescue these people."

Upon hearing this, the director fell silent.

To be honest, he also found it very unusual. Although the order was conveyed by the mayor, several factions in the city all chose to cooperate instead of going against it.

He was one of the mayor's men, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten this position, but the mayor only instructed that nothing should happen tonight, without telling him the specific reasons.

Judging from the situation, it seems... the order came from a higher level.

Then we can't afford to offend them even more.

Rebels...really?

After a few seconds of thought, the director asked into the communicator, "What's the situation now?"

"They didn't say a word, they just kept moving forward..." the subordinate said meekly.

"What about you?"

“We…we dare not approach them either. As they advance, we retreat…”

"A bunch of useless trash!" the director cursed instinctively upon hearing this.

“But Chief, the brothers really don’t dare to go up there. Those infected are covered in Originium crystals, just exposed like that,” the subordinate complained. “There are some people in the front row carrying sharp-edged Originium crystals. Everyone’s afraid of getting hit by them and turning into an infected… After all, we’re just police officers, we don’t have that kind of equipment…”

The director was speechless. Prostov was practically the heartland of Ursus. If Ursus were to fall into war and the enemy were to capture St. John's Fortress, Prostov would probably still be the heartland... The treatment of the military and police in this city was incomparable to that of other places.

Here, they don't need to face any powerful opponents, so their equipment budgets have been cut again and again over the years, and the quality has been reduced again and again. As for the equipment of the police officers under their command... to put it bluntly, the equipment of the bandits in the wilderness is probably better than theirs.

The city defense forces will be in a better position; at least they should have no shortage of standard equipment.

"Go and notify those guys in the infected patrol team," the chief decided to shift the blame. "Aren't they in charge of all the infected people? Let them go!"

"Chief... those gangsters... those police officers are right next to us, but they don't dare to go up."

"What..." The director was furious upon hearing this. "Dereliction of duty! This is blatant dereliction of duty! Tomorrow I will definitely ask Kress what exactly he did!"

"But Chief, what should we do now? Are we just going to leave it like this..."

"Don't act rashly. I'll go ask the mayor." Hearing this, the director was at a loss. This was clearly not something he could handle, and with all the uncertainties involved, he didn't want to get dragged into some political struggle for no reason.

So it's better to give your boss a headache.

-

"Priestley, your method really worked!"

On the streets of Prostov, among a group of infected people gathered together, a man shouted at Prostov, "Look, they're scared!"

As he spoke, he vigorously waved the Originium Crystal in his hand at the patrolman and the black-skinned dog of the disciplinary team in front of him, causing the latter to retreat.

"Phineas! Don't run around!" Priestley shouted as soon as he saw this. "Keep the formation in place, surround the women and children in the middle, and don't leave any gaps."

Despite it being a snowy day, he was covered in sweat and kept encouraging those around him, "But you're right, they're scared, scared of this Originium."

"Look at those black dogs. So many people have lost their families because of them, but they are also afraid. They are afraid of becoming infected like us. The black dogs know how their own people treat infected people. If they become infected, they will be even worse off than us!"

Upon hearing this, the patrol team in front of them stirred and retreated even further away in unison.

"So why don't we just charge up and fight them?" Just then, a young man with a scar on his face shouted at him, "Look, they're so afraid of us!"

"Don't be impulsive, don't go out!" Priestley shouted at him immediately upon hearing this. "We have to protect our family and friends. Listen to me, hold formation!"

"Family? My whole family is dead!" Hearing this, the young man became even more agitated, pointing the Originium crystal at the Infected disciplinary team opposite him and saying, "It was these black-skinned dogs who did it! Priestley, are you scared?"

“I’m not afraid. Don’t forget we have so many women and children behind us. You can’t put them in danger for your own selfish reasons!”

"I don't care! Who cares about all that? I'm going to avenge my family!"

At this point, he was about to rush forward alone, and those around him were also ignited with hatred by him.

“No! Stop!” Priestley shouted urgently, but those people blinded by hatred wouldn’t listen to him.

These people had already been ruined by the disciplinary team, their families destroyed, and they were forced to hide in the sewers in humiliation. Now that they saw how afraid the disciplinary team was of them, they got carried away and became hot-blooded.

But Priestley knew this wouldn't work. Although he didn't know why the patrolmen and riot squads were hesitant to launch an attack, they weren't entirely afraid of the infected; they were just wary of something.

Everyone is maintaining this delicate balance. Those lackeys are afraid of something, so they don't dare to make a move for the time being, but Priestley is even less willing to do so.

Although he didn't know what they were afraid of, every step he took towards the dock area was a gain for the infected people behind him, and if he could, he would rather continue like this forever.

But if the infected people make the first move and break the balance, and the military and police really start fighting, there will definitely be few of them who can escape.

These young people were blinded by illusions and hatred, thinking that the disciplinary team on the other side was really afraid of them, the old, weak, sick and disabled. But what if they were really allowed to charge forward...? It would endanger the women and children behind them.

The news came too suddenly. Everyone was organized on short notice. It was already beyond his expectations that such a large number of infected people could be gathered. There was no time to think of any plans. Everyone was loosely united and they didn't even know each other.

He could only watch helplessly as the young man, holding the Originium crystal in his hand, charged towards the military and police officers opposite him.

Pong!

Suddenly, a dark shadow flew out from behind and hit the man on the back of the head.

The splattered blood instantly calmed down the frenzy that had been ignited around him.

“You want to die, but we want to live,” a burly man with scars all over his face said coldly as he stepped forward, pulled an axe from the corpse, and pointed it at Priestley.

"If you're so brave, why didn't you go and avenge your family before? You were just hiding in the sewers, barely clinging to life. Now you're yelling about revenge, dragging us all down with you?"

At this point, he looked around, "Are there any others as courageous as him?"

No one dared to speak.

“Then you all have to listen to him,” the burly man pointed at Priestley. “I think this guy has the ability to lead us to survival, you hear me?”

A group of men who looked menacing also stepped forward.

“Go on,” the burly man smiled at Priestley when no one spoke. “We’ll all listen to you.”

427 Do you want this city to burn?

"Mayor, Master, something terrible has happened!"

The mayor of Prostov had just lost face in front of the princes and was sighing and wondering how to keep his position when the phone rang.

And he brought out such explosive news right away.

"What terrible thing has happened? Could it be that something happened at the docks?"

He asked nervously.

"No... well, to be specific, it's also somewhat related to the docks..." The director on the other end of the communication line stammered.

"What exactly is going on?" the mayor asked, taking a deep breath.

"The infected... there are several thousand infected people whose origins are unknown. They've flooded the streets," the director said cautiously, after all, he hadn't said anything yet, and the mayor had already asked if there had been an incident at the docks...

There must be some inside story that I couldn't know. Luckily, I reported it immediately.

"Several thousand?!" The mayor could hardly believe his ears. His heart skipped a beat, and his voice cracked as he shouted, "Where did so many infected people come from? Did the guerrillas attack? Why didn't I receive any reports from the city defense forces? Can't those useless cowards even buy some time?"

The mayor's heart was ice-cold. Thousands of infected people... So many infected people can only mean that the guerrillas have attacked... As for why they attacked... the ship is right here, isn't it?

It's not impossible that infected people, starving and freezing on the snowy plains, would bring their families and rush to Prostov for these supplies.

Damn it, how am I supposed to escape...?

“This… I’m afraid not,” the chief quickly explained. “These infected people all came from within the city, and their equipment… is not very good. According to the officers who confronted them on the front lines, most of them don’t have any good equipment, they don’t have armor, and most of them don’t even have a knife.”

“Some infected people could only stand at the front with Originium Crystals, so my patrol officers didn’t dare to go up and could only stand in a standoff with them.”

"Oh, at least they're not guerrillas," the mayor breathed a sigh of relief.

But where did all these infected people come from?

"Are there really thousands of infected people?" The mayor knew his subordinates well; they were just stunned by the news, and only realized it wasn't as bad as it seemed after they came to their senses.

After this period of searching, there shouldn't be so many infected people in the city.

“There are at least a thousand, and there are still a steady stream of infected people joining them,” the director said with an embarrassed smile. “It’s not just here; there are sporadic infected people appearing in other places as well. The exact number is unknown, but it’s definitely not small.”

"...Then what about what you said before that they had connections with the docks?" The mayor paused for two seconds after hearing this, and then asked.

"Whether it's the large force confronting my officers or the scattered infected individuals, they are all moving towards the docks," the commissioner kept mentioning his officers, while ignoring the infected patrol team that was also confronting them on the front lines.

Upon hearing this, the mayor's feelings were quite complicated.

He's someone no one can afford to offend.

The ship is right in port. How could he possibly order his men to attack those infected? They claim there's no royal court on board, and that the 'natural disaster' that befell the Sixth Army was caused by technology. Can you believe that?

Are you risking your own life to gamble on whether their words are true?

Which politician would gamble on that possibility?