Arknights' Lock of Heaven

The two retired military officers were open to almost anyone who came; the more people, the better.

“There are police officers shouting downstairs,” a young man who had just arrived said. “They’re saying it’s all fake news, and that we shouldn’t believe the rumors and should all stay home and not go out…”

“Fake? How could that be!” Emma’s father scoffed. “My comrades saw with their own eyes those infected advancing, and the patrolmen you’re talking about fled in disarray in front of them.”

"But it's right not to go out. It's dark and snowing, winter has already come outside the city... Sigh, what should we do if something really happens?"

Emma's mother said with concern.

“We’ll stay home!” Her uncle was very clear-headed. “Going out of town in this weather without any supplies would be suicide. Let’s wait until dawn and see.”

"If the infected really get into the city, let's see what they do. To be honest, I still can't believe that the captain would do something like that in Chernobog... Sigh."

"If the news is true, then we must prepare for the worst."

While the older generation was discussing things in the living room, Emma was asking the young people around her about the details.

"Have you seen any infected people?" she asked the boy who claimed to have seen infected people on the street before he came over.

“How could I lie at a time like this?” a boy shouted. “Of course, I only saw four or five people. They didn’t hide the Originium on their bodies at all. They were just not like those vicious infected rebels in the newspapers.”

"How is it different?" Emma asked, perking up.

“They look… pathetic, not fierce at all,” the boy said hesitantly. “To be honest, I have some doubts. Can these infected really repel an army of hundreds of thousands? Some of them even need to be supported to move, and they are all emaciated.”

“They looked more like refugees than infected people, and they didn’t seem to want to attack me. They rushed into the alley after seeing me.”

"The rebels can't possibly be afraid of the broom I'm holding, can they?"

Hearing this, and combining it with all the previous information, Emma had a guess in her mind.

There is most likely no infected guerrilla force at all; the so-called infected rebels are all local infected people hiding in the city.

After learning of their situation, they all took action in order to survive.

Uncle Priestley, and Lina's family... how are they now...?

Although Emma was pretty close to the truth, she didn't dare tell anyone the news, keeping Uncle Priestley's advice in mind.

Think more about your family.

If I tell them, what if someone leaks the information and the government finds out that I was the one who leaked the news of the infected riots...?

Emma shuddered at the thought and decided to keep quiet.

As for the worried older generation, we can only ask them to make do.

Thinking of this, Emma walked to the window and looked outside.

Lina... we promised we'd meet again, so please, nothing can happen to you...

At that moment, Lina was nervously holding her little nephew's hand, following behind her uncle, looking around at the darkness with fear.

The patrol officers and militia had been gone for a long time. They had been marching in formation for over forty minutes and were almost out of the central district, but the expected attack had not yet arrived.

Along the way, they encountered many sporadic infected individuals. According to them, they were initially questioned and arrested, but later those people seemed to have received some orders to ignore them even if they saw them.

Even the infected people who had already been captured were released!

The patrol officers and militias they encountered along the way avoided them like the plague, not even glancing at them.

All these signs left everyone baffled.

what is going on?

Anxiety gradually spread through the group. Everything was too abnormal and too strange. Everyone felt empty and unreal.

When they set off, everyone was prepared to die, but in the end they had to face such a bizarre scene.

The eerie silence sent chills down many people's spines.

Even the battle-hardened Bard was extremely uneasy, unable to understand what had happened.

Even the phalanx advanced faster, its formation began to crumble, and everyone around was panting heavily. Priestley could no longer maintain his composure.

Finally, after passing an intersection, they heard some movement ahead.

While Priestley was still in a daze, Bud realized what was happening.

"Enemy attack!" he shouted to warn the infected people around him.

That was the kind of almost perfectly synchronized marching that only an army would have. Priestley, after all, had never experienced war, so his reaction in that regard was naturally not as good as his.

Seeing the dark figures constantly appearing across the street, the infected, including Bud, breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good to have a clear enemy; the previous situation was too bizarre.

"Quickly, quickly, line up! Those with weapons, move to the front!" Priestley tried to reorganize the ranks.

But the other side wouldn't give him that time; shadowy figures kept approaching from across the street.

When Bard saw this, he looked around at his surroundings and saw a secluded alleyway to his right.

He winked at his old buddies, signaling that if things went wrong, they should make a run for it.

By the time they finally managed to get into position, the enemy in the distance was gradually revealed under the streetlights.

"That's... a Sarkaz?"

A young man in the front row said incredulously that he had prepared to fight to the death because his only brother was behind him, but what appeared from the darkness was not the Ursus army.

It is the Sarkaz.

One by one, fully armed Sarkaz emerged from both sides of the street, their expressions unchanged as they faced the formation of infected individuals.

"Who...who are you?"

Priestley had an answer in his mind: the Ursus Empire did not have any organized Sarkaz troops... If organized Sarkaz soldiers appeared on this land, there was only one possibility.

But... how could the guerrillas...?

As he loudly questioned them, a white figure stepped out from among the Sarkaz and announced to all the infected.

"I am Frostnova, the princess of the Yetis, the daughter of the Patriots. My fellow countrymen, we have arrived, you are safe!"

-

"Medical team, where are the medical team members?"

Frostnova, who just made a high-profile entrance, is now extremely busy.

“Using Originium directly as a weapon, you’re being too reckless,” she said, pulling at a group of infected people standing at the front. “Do you know this will worsen your condition?”

“But we have no other choice,” one of the infected said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Frostnova remained silent for two seconds.

"Don't worry, this won't happen again," she said, turning her head to the side. "You need to get treatment quickly; our medical team is right behind you."

"Uncle Anton, you take these people with you. Their condition cannot be delayed. I'll go check on the infected people in the back."

After quickly explaining the task, she turned to find the leader of the team.

"Who is your leader?" Frostnova asked, casually pulling over a girl who was holding a child.

Lina, who was being held back, said in awe, "It's Uncle Priestley, he's here... Ah, Uncle Priestley!"

Lina waved vigorously at Priestley, who awkwardly approached Frostnova.

"Thank you," Frostnova smiled slightly at Lina, then told her to hurry to the back of the group and return to the Orville with the other operators.

He then turned to look at Priestley.

"Sir, are you their leader?"

"I can't accept that, I can't accept it. Just call me Priestley," Priestley said cautiously. "Miss Frostnova, your arrival has truly made us..."

“No need for formalities,” Frostnova shook her head. “I need to know exactly how many infected people there are in Prostov.”

Since he was able to gather so many infected people, he must have a great reputation among the local infected people.

“Well…” Priestley gave a wry smile, “I don’t know either.”

"Um, how many men do you have under your command? I mean, the ones who were with you tonight, these are the ones here?"

“This… I don’t know either,” Priestley said awkwardly. “Miss Frostnova, you must have misunderstood something. I’m not the organizer. I just happened to pass on the news about that ship, and as a result, more and more people gathered around me…”

"To this day, I still don't know exactly how many people there are."

"Well, okay," Frostnova sighed upon hearing this. This was troublesome. Besides the main force, the crew and mercenaries of the Orville had also received quite a few scattered infected individuals. If they were all in such a loosely organized group, it would take a lot of effort to take them all away.

Meanwhile, Bard, standing to the side, was incredibly envious as he watched Frostnova keep asking Priestley questions.

He hadn't shown himself before because he didn't want to draw attention to Ursus. He believed that if he were in charge of the organization, he would do a better job than the soft-hearted Priestley.

But who could have known that the guerrillas would actually come to this city... No wonder the patrolmen and militia didn't dare to show their faces after receiving the news.

429 The people of Ursus have the blood of struggle flowing in their veins.

"Stretcher! Stretcher! There's a critically ill patient here!"

The port of Prostov was brightly lit, and infected people from the city lined up in front of the Orville.

The entire ship sprang into action because of these infected individuals.

The logistics department is taking action. These infected people lack food and clothing. When they mustered up their courage and came with the belief that they would fight to the death, they were almost all hungry.