Arknights' Lock of Heaven

If you lose the bet, you lose your life; if you win, what good will it do you?

The dukes' favor? Just because you captured over a thousand infected people? So you want the dukes to look at you differently?

Ha, you're overthinking it. Who cares about a few infected people?

"Mayor, what should we do? Should we 'arrest' these infected people?"

The director's question came from the other end of the communication line, and the mayor took a deep breath.

"Let them go."

"Um, let those infected people leave?" The director asked again, confirming, "Are we really going to do that?"

"You don't have to listen, but for the sake of our many years of friendship, if you're going to take action, please give me half an hour so I can pack my things and escape Prostov with my family."

"...Is it that serious?" The director was stunned. "Of course I'll follow your orders. I'll have my men turn a blind eye to those infected people."

"Then go quickly!"

“Well, I must remind you of something,” the commissioner said tactfully, “the infected patrol team was also present with my officers. I don’t have the authority to order them to move aside. Perhaps you should speak with Chief Brad?”

“I will,” the mayor sighed upon hearing this. “Chris, I don’t want any violence to break out in Prostov tonight.”

"If even a tiny spark were to ignite, we and this city would burn, you know that?"

"Yes, Mr. Mayor, I will have my men keep an eye on it."

Upon hearing this, the director realized how serious the situation was and quickly hung up the phone, then called his subordinates on the front lines.

As the mayor looked at the communicator in his hand, sighed, and prepared to call the director of the infected patrol team, the other party called first.

"Oh, thank goodness, I finally got through to you," the director said hurriedly. "Mayor, the infected have rioted. I'm short-handed, and the Prostov police are no good. Please mobilize the city's defense forces as soon as possible; we need a crackdown..."

“No, we’re not doing anything,” the mayor interrupted him. “Brad, get your men out of the way. It’s snowing outside, isn’t it? As public servants, they don’t need to risk getting infected and fighting infected people in this weather.”

"Obviously, a warm bed is more suitable for them, isn't it?"

"Mayor, do you know what you're saying?" Director Brad across from him roared, "The hunt for the infected is the Dukes' will..."

"I just finished speaking with the dukes. Right now, the big shots don't want to cause any trouble! Nobody wants to provoke that... Never mind, someone as insignificant as you doesn't deserve to know these things. Just obediently do as they say."

The mayor said firmly, "If you don't believe me, you can pick up the phone and call the Duke to see what kind of answer you get."

“Mr. Mayor, I need an explanation,” Brad said, his previous confidence clearly waning.

"You don't need any explanation. Your rank isn't high enough to know these secrets. You just need to give the order and tell your men to pretend they never saw those infected and go home to sleep."

"Believe me, if my city starts to burn, the first people tied to the stake will be you pickets."

“…Yes, Your Excellency Mayor,” Brad conceded after a two-second silence, “but I reserve the right to report to higher authorities.”

“That’s your right, you don’t need to tell me,” the mayor said expressionlessly. “That’s all, I have other things to do.”

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Looking at the communicator in his hand, he took out a cigarette and was about to light it when the communicator rang again.

"This is the city defense headquarters, Mayor. We've discovered something seems to be happening in the city. Should we deploy the city defense forces?"

“No need, nothing has happened in the city,” the mayor replied wearily. “I order you all to stay in the camp and no one is allowed to leave the barracks, understand?”

"Yes..." After the reflexive reply, the other person hesitated and asked, "Are you sure you don't need it..."

"No need! Nothing will happen in Prostov tonight!"

Just as the mayor was shouting angrily, a dim purple light outside his window suddenly disappeared.

-

"Oh? There was an unexpected bonus?"

Inside the research lab on the Orville, Xia Yu, who was actually in charge of supervising the researchers leaving get off work, raised an eyebrow, then handed the teapot in her hand to Di Ling, instructing the latter to supervise the others drinking tea, before walking towards the lab door.

Upon opening the door, Skadi and W were seen looking at each other in the doorway.

“You can come in anytime if you want to learn,” he said to W with a smile. “We welcome everyone who aspires to knowledge.”

“No, you just want to see me scratching my head over a math problem,” W bluntly exposed his sinister intentions.

"Oh, my W, so that's how you see me? That really hurts me," Xia Yu teased with a laugh. "Do you think I lied to you, since you've been loitering around the lab all the time?"

“…Of course not,” W turned his head slightly upon hearing this, “I just came to check on the progress.”

“That might disappoint you,” Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this, “It’s a long way off…”

"Haha, enough chit-chat. With you here, I don't have to look for you."

"Hmm? My Captain," W's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he leaned forward slightly, putting his hands behind his back as he looked at Xia Yu's face and said, "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"Be normal," Xia Yu said, touching her forehead with his hand, somewhat speechless. "There really is something I need to do. I need all your mercenaries to get moving. We have guests."

"Guests?" Upon hearing this, W stuck out his tongue and licked his scarlet lips. "There really are some who aren't afraid of death..."

“No, they are real guests, Lionscorpion reports. Some local infected have received our information and are heading towards the port,” Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this. “I need your mercenaries to pick them up, and at the same time keep an eye on the Ursus people to prevent them from accidentally starting a fight.”

"Hmm?" W tilted his head upon hearing this. "I see. So, if they make a move..."

"Kill all those who lay a hand on you," Xia Yu said calmly. "Alright, go and gather your mercenaries."

"I still need to find Froststar and the others. I need to use the guerrilla name to keep the infected at bay. And there's Aya and the medical department. Sigh, I hope she hasn't drunk the tea I gave her yet. The medical department will probably have to work overtime again tonight."

"By the way, Skadi, why don't you go with her? And Surtr, who's already with the mercenaries, will be safer that way too."

-

“Let’s get acquainted. You can call me Bud,” the fierce-looking bald man said, extending his hand to Priestley.

“I am Priestley,” the latter said, taking a deep breath and shaking his hand.

“You’re pretty good. You’ve led us through two streets,” Bard said, brushing the snowflakes from his head. “You’re very capable, but you’re too soft-hearted. We should kill this kind of black sheep immediately. We can’t let him lead us all to our deaths.”

"..." Upon hearing this, Priestley remained silent for two seconds. In truth, he felt that the young man did not deserve to die, but as Bard said, if he had not acted decisively, the conflict would have already occurred.

“You’re right,” he finally agreed with Bud.

"Yes, that's how it should be on the battlefield. Kill anyone who wants us dead, whether they're enemies, beasts, or that pig-like teammate behind you."

He looked around and said, "Only by sticking together can we scare those lackeys and survive. If it were just me and my few old brothers, those lackeys would have pounced on us long ago. But now, facing these thousand or so people and the Originium Crystals in our hands, they will retreat again and again."

"However, fear is just fear. If we can delay the conflict, the better. You are very clear-headed, and you brought the news. Many people are willing to listen to you, so we all listen to you."

"You served in the military?" Priestley asked curiously upon hearing this.

“From Kazimierz to the Eastern Kingdom, we’ve all crawled out of piles of corpses,” Bard said calmly. “But now is not the time to talk about that.”

"We need to move forward; we can't give them a chance to react."

Upon hearing this, Priestley realized what was happening and began urging the people around him to continue forward.

Meanwhile, the patrol officers and vigilantes on the opposite side, who had initially been peering out after seeing what appeared to be infighting among the infected, began to retreat once they saw the infected continue to advance.

And so, the two sides took turns advancing and retreating, creating a very strange atmosphere in the streets and alleys.

Until the patrol officers and police on the other side seemed to receive some orders, and then they turned around and ran away without caring about anything else. In just a few minutes, they were all gone, leaving only a large group of infected people standing there looking at each other.

"What...what's going on with them?" one of the infected asked anxiously.

"They ran away? Does that mean we can go full speed ahead now?"

“No way!” Priestley and Budd both retorted at the same time.

The latter glanced at Priestley, then gestured for him to speak.

"We don't know what happened. What if it's a trap?"

Priestley took a deep breath and his mind raced. "What if they did this on purpose because they saw that we outnumbered them, and then started to run away when we relaxed? The strong people would definitely run in front, and the weak people would definitely fall behind. Once we split up on our own, they would catch us all."

"It's already dark now. I had the strong men surround the outside so that the other side couldn't tell our strength from ours. With so many shadowy figures, they wouldn't be able to be sure that the people inside are all old, weak, sick, or disabled."

“But once we separate, we give them the opportunity to figure out our secrets and then they will defeat us one by one.”

"Therefore, we absolutely cannot panic, and we must not lose our formation. Only by sticking together can we scare them!"

427 Nothing happened in Prostov tonight.

At Priestley's urging, the infected subconsciously did as he said, continuing to advance at a steady pace while maintaining their formation.

Bard, who was standing nearby, frowned when he saw this.

He glanced at his old comrades, then at the group of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled infected people behind him, his eyes flickered a few times, and then he sighed and did nothing.

His idea was that if the able-bodied men were gathered together, armed and charging forward, their chances of survival would be greater, but it was clear that Priestley would not abandon the elderly and infirm behind him.

If I were to step forward now, I could certainly take a group of people who, like me, have no ties, but this would inevitably cause a split within the group. Moreover, many locals have families with them, and a considerable number of young adults, like Priestley, would be unwilling to abandon their loved ones and friends.

Bard always believed that the reason those lackeys didn't make a move was because there were thousands of infected people gathered here, and they were afraid. If it were just him with a few people, they would probably swarm in.

Therefore, taking away some of the able-bodied men is meaningless; a small number of them won't scare away those police officers and scouts.

He regretted not stepping forward earlier to compete with Priestley for the right to speak.

The reason they didn't rob them before was because those patrol officers and riot police were still watching them intently. Although they didn't dare to take action, they were still keeping an eye on the infected people, clearly waiting for reinforcements.

That's why he doesn't want to show his face much, because he's afraid that if a real fight breaks out, the other side will target him first.

He had no choice but to confront and kill the mindless infected person; he and Priestley thought the same thing—to delay the conflict as long as possible.