Arknights' Lock of Heaven

However, based on various signs, this conjecture seems to be incorrect.

“…” Upon hearing this, Saria remained silent for two seconds.

Sigh, my friend is great in every way, except for her personality...

But he had to keep her here.

As the director of the Ecology Department of Rhine Life Sciences, Muirsay is definitely one of the most needed talents in the snowfield.

Seria still vividly remembers her botanical garden; if she had gone to the snowfield, she could have accomplished even more.

Instead of following Christine...

Sigh, speaking of Christensen, I understand this friend of mine less and less.

“I can give you a heads-up,” Saria pondered for two seconds, then said, “The technology of creating Gaia… is indeed unrelated to Rhodes Island.”

"It comes from a person's gift to this land."

"A gift, or a person?" Muirsays seemed to ponder this. "History?"

“Perhaps,” Saria said, unwilling to elaborate further.

“Oh, your attitude, hmph,” Muirsay seemed to have discovered something amusing, “it seems the truth is indeed beyond imagination.”

“However, I understand your concealment, just as Christen doesn’t want you to know her plans right now,” Muirsey said, her bright eyes dimming slightly before she added, “Then I’ll find the answers myself.”

The northern snowfields.

“Mash, you’d better not touch that,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said, looking at the black crystal in front of her. “This thing… gives me a bad feeling.”

“I agree,” Holmes nodded.

“Hmm, this thing…” Suddenly, the communication from Storm Border was connected, and Sion frowned as he examined the black crystal in front of them.

"I'm sorry, it seems your exploration will have to be paused for a while. Could you bring it back to me first?"

486 My ambitions are great

"This thing is dangerous."

Da Vinci looked at the barrier before him and said with a solemn expression.

“It’s also very charming,” Sion said, his eyes filled with black crystals, as if he wanted to stick them on.

"Don't interrupt!" Little Da Vinci said sullenly, "Luckily Mashu didn't touch it directly, otherwise..."

"What will happen?" Upon hearing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka nervously grabbed Mash's hand.

“That’s it,” the new director said, pulling up a photo from Storm Borde’s database. Fujimaru Ritsuka gasped after seeing it.

Above is a dead wild deer, its outer half covered with dense black crystals.

"I found this deer after you left," the new director said dejectedly. "I was hoping to improve everyone's meals, but it turned out to be..."

"This crystal can assimilate biological cells, turning them into the same crystal... This is simply... simply..."

"It's absolutely perfect!" Sion exclaimed, looking at the black crystal. "Such a miracle is highly unlikely to occur in nature; it must be man-made!"

“Don’t interrupt,” Da Vinci glared at her again. Ever since discovering the existence of these crystals, Sion had gone into a frenzy. How to put it, he was indeed an alchemist.

"Ritsuka, this thing is far too dangerous! You all have to be careful!"

"If you encounter any local civilizations, remember to tell me immediately!" Sion shouted. "The crystals contain a vast amount of energy that can be used without much processing. It's a godsend for industry, far superior to oil, and it can even replenish its reserves on its own. It's practically the perfect energy source!"

"Then the energy problem of Storm Borde will be solved, right?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked, looking at Leonardo da Vinci.

“It’s not that simple,” Leonardo da Vinci said with concern. “Not only is Storm Borde’s design unable to directly utilize these crystals, but the amount we have now is far from enough.”

"In any case, let's find out about the local civilization first. I have a hypothesis that needs to be proven."

"Judging from your expression, you seem to be thinking about something similar to me," Holmes said thoughtfully. "It seems there's really a big problem."

Fujimaru Ritsuka silently watched these two geniuses who admired each other.

She knew they wouldn't tell her until her conjecture was proven or disproven.

Sigh, another day of being kept in the dark. This is what you call a riddle person, right? Ritsuka remembers a friend complaining about this behavior to her before.

Speaking of which, I really miss those Babylonian times. Now that I think about it, those singularities were a million times better than Lostbelts.

However, she also knew that it wasn't that they were treating her badly, but rather that the matter was too big and they were worried that she would feel pressured.

After all, in their eyes, she was still a teenage girl.

"Just take it as an old person's concern for the younger generation," she said helplessly, trying to console herself.

She'd find out eventually anyway, so a little more time wouldn't make a difference; she was already used to it.

"Phew, let's continue on our way then," Fujimaru Ritsuka said energetically, waving to the others while pulling Mash along. "Just avoid those black crystals, right?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Is the second phase of the project being planned in such a rush?

Froststar stood beside Xia Yu like a secretary. After persistent bargaining, she finally let the consultant take over the reins of Snowfield Industries, while she herself stayed by his side as a secretary under the pretext of needing to learn.

There's nothing she can do; there are some things she just can't handle.

By the way, the so-called Snowfield Industry is the company that the infected are going to establish. Yesterday it was called Snowfield Mining, but this name was opposed by many veteran infected. It's not a big deal, they just find the name annoying.

So Xia Yu readily agreed and changed it to "Industry," since it was just a name anyway, and the company hadn't even been officially registered in Ursus yet.

“There was no need to rush the second phase of the project at the beginning, but our friends in Kazimierz are so enthusiastic,” Xia Yu shrugged. “I heard that Rhodes Island’s next wave of support won’t arrive until after the Orville returns, so they directly sponsored a second transport ship.”

"Tsk tsk tsk, they really have a lot of money. Thanks to these supportive friends, we can start construction now, and the second phase of the project will be put to use when the second wave of support arrives."

"Saria has found me a very suitable talent. It would be a waste not to make use of her. It's perfect that our plan can be brought forward."

"Let the people of Ursus eat super sugary tropical fruits in the winter," Frostnova repeated the name of the plan, in a very advisory style.

“There’s an old saying that goes, ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,’” Xia Yu said while reviewing documents. “Although this saying is usually used to describe lovers, it’s just as applicable to matters of national importance.”

"After all, food is the most important thing for people. The first phase of planting grain is to ensure the most basic food and clothing needs, and the second phase is to plant fruit trees from Sargon to ensure people's happiness. For the infected, how to integrate into this world is the most important thing."

“Everyone is just a patient, not some new race. Even in Ursus, where the treatment of the infected is so harsh, there are plenty of people who sympathize with them. You should be able to feel that deeply. We can’t push them all to the other side.”

Hearing this, Froststar recalled the guerrilla era, when even with the doors and windows tightly closed, a bowl of hot soup would still be left by the window, and she nodded involuntarily.

"These are the bargaining chips we use to win them over. In this world, all talk of truth, goodness, and beauty is fake. For the general public, only self-interest is real."

“Inhibitors can solve the fundamental problem, while mimicking Gaia’s creation of granaries, industrial facilities and settlements on the snowfield is our means of bridging the gap between infected people and ordinary people.”

"Once the Ursus people realize this, they will find that they are completely dependent on the ecological parks on the snowfield and on the various resources they produce. At that time, hmph hmph hmph."

“Speaker Witt still naively thought you weren’t interested in worldly power, unaware that you planned to sweep them all into the dustbin of history once the so-called disaster was over,” Frostnova sighed upon hearing this. “By the time they realize it, they’ll probably be kicking themselves.”

“He’s not naive, but his perspective is limited by his preconceived notions,” Xia Yu said calmly. “How could someone who has been able to maintain Ursus for so many years be naive?”

"He only logically denied the possibility that I wanted to usurp Ursus. After all, for him, it would be too easy for me to obtain Ursus with such combat power."

"By using this super power that they cannot resist to destroy the army, and by using technology like the Gaia simulation, which is enough to change the entire Ursus, taking over Ursus will not be a problem."

“Those nobles and bureaucrats will flock to me after seeing these two things.”

“But I didn’t do that, and he couldn’t think of any other reason other than that I wasn’t interested in power.”

“But you didn’t do that simply because you didn’t want to create another Ursus exactly like it,” Frostnova recalled those plans, “and it wasn’t just about having one Ursus.”

"Start with Ursus, spread doomsday theories, unite the majority of people on this continent, and then use this irresistible technology to extend your reach to the entire continent, select talents, wait for the right opportunity, and once civilization has survived the calamity with your strength and technology, who will be able to refuse the changes you have brought about?"

Frostnova sighed, "Teacher Kal'tsit's plan is truly terrifying."

“She’s right. If I want to make this imperfect world the way I want it to be, I can’t do everything myself. I don’t have that ability.”

Xia Yu said calmly, "If I only wanted to be a tyrannical emperor, my current martial prowess would be more than enough. But unfortunately, my ambition is too great, and I can't do it with just martial prowess."

“Yes, yes, so from now on I’ll be a pawn under your control,” Froststar rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll be moved wherever I’m needed. Since I’m not quite ready yet, could you please process these documents first?”

"Teach me what to do when this piece encounters this situation."

“Take this one for example, my goodness,” Frostnova said helplessly, covering her forehead, “Sargon is sending someone to pay his respects… wait, what does this have to do with Sargon?”

"Tsk, don't be so rude. What chess piece? He's clearly my future right-hand man," Xia Yu said with a chuckle. "Hmm, Sargon, I think I know what's going on."

"See those fruit trees that are about to be planted in the second phase of the ecological park? There was a little trouble when I went to 'buy' them back, I guess that's why."

"What twists and turns?" Froststar asked, looking quite interested.

"It's nothing. I just couldn't stand seeing the local Pasha colluding with the Colombians to oppress the people, so I killed him on a whim," Xia Yu said calmly. "It's not a big deal. Sargon is so big, one more Pasha won't make a difference."

"As for an audience... let's just refuse. If you're so capable, send some researchers to help out. What would I need a bunch of priests for?"

At this point, Xia Yu frowned, got up and went to the window to look north.

"What's wrong?" Froststar asked, puzzled.

"I don't know either," Xia Yu said with a strange expression. "It seems like... my package has arrived?"

"Advisor, are you conscious?" Froststar asked speechlessly, "Where would a package come from in this freezing weather? And it's in the north? Who sent it to you, a demon?"

"I know you hate dealing with work, but there's no need to lie to me like this. Are you underestimating my intelligence?"

"No, there really is a package," Xia Yu stroked her chin. "Hmm, we don't need to pick it up ourselves? They'll deliver it to our door?"

Is that so thoughtful?