Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Huh? What? The agent he's going to support is me. Oh, never mind then.

Keep thinking about the survival of civilization.

Well, it's understandable that Speaker Witt was led astray.

After all, who could have imagined that Xia Yu was a complete outsider? His existence is justified, and if we think according to the information he provides, we will definitely fall into the trap he has prepared.

Since such people exist in the world, and there are quite a few of them, it must be because they dislike worldly power. Otherwise, why haven't they reached out to rule over various ethnic groups over the years?

And if they truly craved power, wouldn't it have been easy for them to crush Ursus with their military might? It didn't even take a day; an army of over 100,000 collapsed. Ursus only had a few army groups in total. That's equivalent to a quarter of their standing army being wiped out…

Fortunately, he was from the noble family, so he could still smile.

If someone with such power is still sitting down to talk to me, it means that they probably genuinely look down on worldly power.

If that's the case, then the so-called disaster that could make such a being restless and take action must be far more than just one or two natural calamities; it must also involve evil spirits...

Ursus knew just how sinister these demons were.

If this technology can truly ward off evil spirits... setting aside its own value in developing the snowfields, Ursus will do everything in its power to build the wall.

“But… if it’s just us building the wall…” Speaker Witt suddenly thought of something, “…and Sami and Yan Kingdom…”

“There’s no need to worry about Yan Kingdom,” Xia Yu said slowly. “As long as we agree to help them resolve the threat from Sui, it will be easy to negotiate. It’s just that Sami… sigh, what a headache.”

"Um, is there a problem with Sami?" Speaker Witt asked, puzzled.

“Oh, it’s just that the demons’ lair is over there,” Xia Yu replied casually.

“What…” Speaker Witt was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

The lair of evil... Wait, is this news really that explosive? How could a small country like Sami hold out for so long?

Suddenly, he felt a sense of relief; Ursus had actually considered invading Sami...

Right after the late emperor's death, the new ruler always needs to do something to prove himself. Ursus, having suffered two consecutive defeats, also needs to establish its authority. Kazimir is not an easy place to fight, and the twin queens of Letania are young and impetuous, having even killed the Witch King, so they are also difficult to deal with. Yan Kingdom remains shrouded in mystery...

After all the considerations, neighboring Sami is a good option. It's a small country with a small population, so at least it won't suffer a major defeat like the one in Kazimierz. Although the land is not very valuable, it's still a piece of meat, isn't it?

But in the end, he rejected the idea of ​​sending troops, and also silenced the nobles who had been clamoring for action.

Because the losses outweighed the gains, the nobles, not the emperor, benefited the most.

Now it seems he did stop Ursus from jumping into the fire! Thinking back to the unpleasantness he had with the emperor, a rebellious thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

The emperor should really kowtow to himself!

Cough cough, why would I have such thoughts? It must be because too many things happened today, and I'm just overthinking.

After gathering his thoughts, he looked at Xia Yu and asked, "Does Sami need Ursus's help?"

Although he said that, he had already made up his mind to never get involved in the Sami quagmire.

“If you really want to do something, then just invest some money, consider it international aid,” Xia Yu said with a headache. “These demons, sigh, it doesn’t seem like sending people to help them is very effective, so we can only invest money.”

"The Sami people are so poor that they probably can't afford to build a simulated Gaia. Just consider it helping your poor neighbors. After all, you won't be in a good place if their side is breached."

“Very well, I will persuade His Majesty to establish a foundation and personally oversee this matter,” Speaker Witt said solemnly.

They also made preparations to build an eco-park along the border between Ursus and Sami.

As for investing money, consider it a way to avoid disaster.

“I’m relieved to see you being so decisive. Ursus is a responsible major power after all, unlike those bastards Agor,” Xia Yu said with a sigh. “Sigh, it’s a real headache. After I finish dealing with the defenses here, I have to go to Iberia. They were half-dead from the Great Tranquility and haven’t recovered yet.”

"I need to go and keep an eye on them so they don't starve to death. Iberia without industry is really... and I also need to clean out those madmen from the Deep Sea Church..."

"The most infuriating thing is Agor. Can't you just stop messing with those sea creatures? They haven't come ashore to destroy the world. They're just staying on the seabed and having fun by themselves. Why do you have to provoke them? Don't you see the big problem?"

Xia Yu said with a sigh, "If you really piss off the big group, they can destroy the world in a year after they go ashore! They really don't know their own limitations."

"I'm just waiting for things to settle down here so that my old friends and I can get together and confront them to get an explanation, to see what they really want!"

Speaker Witte was utterly dumbfounded upon hearing this.

No, he'd heard about the Great Tranquility of Iberia before. Was it really that serious? It could destroy the world in a year... That sounds more terrifying than any demon!

Suddenly I realized that ignorance can be a kind of happiness.

Putting everything else aside, knowing all this will definitely keep me awake tonight.

"Oh right, there's a sinkhole in Letania," Xia Yu suddenly said. "That damn Witch King is incompetent; he just punched a hole in the void right above his own capital. Someone has to fill it in, otherwise, once he's finished conquering his palace, the demons will just cause a massive explosion on Terran civilization..."

“So, these things in Ursus are nothing,” he said, looking at Speaker Witt. “Look, it’s just a noble disturbance. Compared to the sinkholes in other places, your inner guards have been holding the line, which is really reassuring.”

Upon hearing this, Speaker Witt managed a weak smile. He didn't know that the Ministry of Internal Affairs was causing him trouble; all he knew was that he would be completely unable to sleep tonight.

479 Escape

"Major, shall we go further in?"

As darkness fell, a group of people were still trekking north across the snow-covered plains.

The commotion from afar could not be kept secret from the rear defenses, even though the instigator had no intention of hiding it.

The dukes waved their hands and transferred all of the hundreds of thousands of troops from the defensive line to the snowfields, but some remained on the line.

After all, it's impossible to actually transfer them all out, right? So they symbolically kept a few thousand people, mostly ragtag individuals, the kind who aren't cared for or loved by anyone in the army.

This wouldn't have been a big deal, and it wouldn't have mattered at all to Major Edmund, since he was just there to coast along in the army, and even his rank of major was inherited from his father.

Yes, the nobility is so corrupt. While titles are still normal, military ranks can still be passed down from father to son in this era.

But his dad can fight, and he can't!

So, lacking both ability and connections, he gradually became a marginal figure in the military.

However, he was happy with it. There are many people in this world who are unwilling to climb up, but there are many more ordinary people who are content with their lot. Major Edmund was undoubtedly one of those people.

For him, the army was just a place to coast along; whether he was ambitious or not didn't matter.

Anyway, if I were to try to improve myself, my family line would probably die out, so I might as well just live a quiet life.

His superiors knew what kind of person he was, so they casually dumped the task of holding the rear—a task that was completely unnecessary but still needed to be done—onto him.

Generally speaking, such a mission would never be assigned to a mediocre unit like his, but what could they do when their opponent was so weak? Facing over fifty warships and an equal number of armed fortresses, they didn't even have a single warship...

In a game of overwhelming dominance, it doesn't matter who stays in the rear.

Major Edmund was living a very comfortable life, staying in the rear was good. As the saying goes, the more you do, the more mistakes you make, and the less you do, the better. Going to the front lines and competing with those people for military merits was too dangerous. You could easily offend someone if you weren't careful.

There is peace and comfort in the rear there.

Now that they've all left, I'm the top dog on the entire defense line. As long as nothing goes wrong, I can do whatever I want. How carefree! Besides, what problems could possibly arise?

With this in mind, he had just enjoyed half a day of carefree living when a thunderclap from the north completely shattered his plans.

Even from dozens of kilometers away, the roaring sound ahead could still be faintly heard.

Now Edmund is a Muggle, and he can't not report it.

After the report was submitted, he sadly summoned his subordinates and set off north.

We must find out exactly what happened, no matter what; this is the Duke's absolute order.

"When will this ever end?" Edmund thought, sitting in the command vehicle, feeling hopeless about the future.

The troops at the front must have encountered some trouble, and it must be something serious, otherwise how could they not even be able to send back a single message?

Can something as trivial as losing contact with hundreds of thousands of troops without a word be considered insignificant?

How could we possibly fill in our own 8,000-plus people?

Edmund had already decided to take a quick look at the edge of the battlefield and then retreat.

In short, I can't risk my life here.

"Major! Major! It's a communication from the front!"

Just then, the communications soldier standing nearby excitedly stood up and shouted, "It's General Charles!"

"What? General?" Edmund was stunned. His old superior was still alive.

Then he immediately took over the communication.

"General, this is Edmund."

"Edmund! Why are you only responding now after sending so many communications!"

General Charles was furious. When the fleet encountered the enemy at the front, he sensed that the situation was not good and ordered the three armed fortresses under his command to retreat, while also issuing orders to Edmund in the rear to provide support.

As a result, the armed fortress moved too slowly and was unable to be withdrawn at all, and the expected response from the rear never materialized.

At first, he thought the communicator was broken, but he soon discovered that it wasn't just them; the surrounding troops were also unable to contact their rear, and they had even lost contact with the entire Ursus.

The only sounds coming from the communications channel were the various noisy cries for help from the Combined Fleet.

For a moment, these armies almost collapsed on the spot. Their faces showed the kind of war that only exists in myths and legends. Their fleet, which could destroy small countries, couldn't even withstand the aftershocks in front of them.

This is even without them pointing their weapons at the fleet.

Behind them... the entire Ursus was silent. This situation undoubtedly dealt another heavy blow to the already fragile nerves of these commanders, which had been weakened by the battle on their faces.

Some people are speculating whether Ursus in the rear has also suffered a devastating blow, otherwise why would there be no communication at all?

Although reason told them it was impossible, the calls that seemed to disappear into thin air on the communication channel filled them with fear and anxiety, ultimately accelerating the entire fleet's rout.