Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"Ah," Mashu was completely bewildered upon hearing this, wondering if she had said something wrong.

497 Christensen will go crazy!

The two girls stood there, staring at each other in disbelief.

"Ah, this..." Mashu hesitated for a moment, "Well, we're acquainted, I guess..."

"But you call him 'senior'!" Aya's eyes were full of confusion. "There's no one named you on Rhodes Island!"

"He's the one who told me to call him senpai..." Mashu said, feeling a little guilty.

However, she wasn't lying; it was indeed Xia Yu who told her to call her "senpai," which was also strong evidence in Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes that he coveted his cute junior.

But honestly, who wouldn't like a cute junior who is usually understanding and gentle but will protect you when you're fighting?

No one can refuse Mashu! No one!

"Are you old acquaintances?" Ya Ye suddenly asked.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Mashu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and nodded repeatedly, “We’ve known each other for a long time.”

"..." Aya's expression became even stranger.

As Kal'tsit's prized student, she knew some secrets.

"Do you know where the consultant is right now?" Aya smiled slightly at her, tossing her hair. "I need his approval for some supplies."

Even if Mashu was slow to realize, she eventually understood that she was being suspected.

Well, to be honest, someone from another world like myself is indeed quite suspicious...

"Ah, do I know... or do I not know..." Her face flushed, she lowered her head, unsure of what to say...

I was just helping out casually, but who would have thought that the doctor in front of me had such a good relationship with the consultant?

"...Sigh, never mind, you don't seem like a bad person," Aya said, her heart softening instantly at Mashu's bewildered expression.

He's clearly still a child!

Let's wait until the consultant comes back and ask him what happened.

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 that the legendary Gaia?"

The second ship, sponsored by the Kazimierz military, has arrived at the snowfield base.

The reason they were able to arrive so quickly was that no one dared to stop Rhodes Island's ships along the way, making it much easier than the Orville's initial journey. They also didn't carry as many supplies, mostly various medicines and support personnel. Being lightly equipped, they naturally couldn't compare to the Orville's hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo back then.

The snowfield no longer needs so many supplies. Thanks to the selfless donation from the Ursus noble army, not only can they get through this winter, but the stockpiled supplies are enough to last two hundred thousand people until next winter.

"You've finally arrived!" Froststar looked at the support personnel with eager eyes.

Before her stood a group of powerful members of Rhodes Island's medical department!

Doctors ranging from Gavial Warfarin to Sussolokhmer gathered together.

Behind them were operators like Saria, Ursus like Hrag, and a whole bunch of scientists from Colombia.

Rhodes Island didn't intend to get too involved in the management of the snowfield's development, so most of the support came from doctors. But Frostnova just couldn't handle such a large operation. Her guerrilla forces... were already doing a miracle managing 200,000 infected people.

So, even a general as renowned as Herag chose to return to Ursus to become Frostnova's second-in-command.

At least some of the pressure needs to be shared with her. Once the company's framework is established and various talent selection mechanisms are in place, she can take a break.

"Where is the consultant?" Warfarin looked left and right but couldn't see Xia Yuren anywhere.

“Speaking of this…” Frostnova hesitated for two seconds, “He went to… well, to visit a friend.”

Hmm, I guess it counts as visiting friends...

"Huh? He has friends in the snowfield?" Warfarin felt a little strange.

"We'll know when the consultant gets back," Frostnova said helplessly. "I'm not really sure myself."

It's more than just unclear; when the report mentioned that invited visitors came looking for a consultant, both he and I agreed that there was definitely something wrong. He even excitedly abandoned all sorts of advanced teaching materials and told me to bring my people along to see what was going on.

That attitude was definitely not friendly; they kicked the door open as soon as they entered!

But he fell silent after meeting the person... What a true friend...

Now, all he's left is a message saying he has something to do and that he should watch the base, and then he disappears without a trace. To be honest, Frostnova is also very confused!

"Never mind then," Warfarin shook her head upon hearing this. Who knows what he's planning? So let's not think about it.

She turned to look at the base in front of her.

To be honest, those poorly constructed houses are piled up haphazardly on such a small piece of land, crammed with 200,000 people... The architectural style is simply unbearable to look at.

But now, as the armed fortresses on the front lines are being brought back one by one, many infected people have moved inside, and the large cluster of fortresses linked together has formed a rather spectacular area.

It's much better than those shabby wooden houses.

“What a huge profit,” she exclaimed in amazement. “An entire fleet has fallen into the hands of the infected. To be honest, if I were one of those Ursus ‘slave owners,’ I wouldn’t be able to sleep right now.”

“But His Majesty and the Speaker must have been sleeping very soundly,” Herag said with a sigh. “To be honest, I really regret that I didn’t get to witness the grand occasion that day.”

Old Master Helag hated these nobles to death.

He had dedicated his life to the war effort in Ursus, only to be constantly held back by these insignificant nobles.

During the Tenth Uka War, he and Patriot surrounded the main force of Kazimir, waiting to kick them while they were down. However, those damned nobles, not wanting to see the emperor's army achieve a glorious victory, withdrew the two army groups they controlled on the outer perimeter of the encirclement, allowing Kazimir's Silver Spears and Pegasus to find an opportunity to march a thousand miles and penetrate directly into the encirclement.

The encirclement eventually collapsed, and the army suffered heavy losses.

As a result, those insignificant nobles, because they commanded well-organized armies, meant that the late emperor could only punish a few scapegoats who were pushed forward... They were the ones who caused the war to be completely lost...

Later, Patriot defected from Ursus, leaving him all alone.

Then the war in eastern Ukraine started again.

He suffered immensely in this war, not only because of the death of his friend, but also because the nobles became even more unscrupulous in betraying their allies.

Because of the late emperor's concessions in the last Uka war, they fought without any pretense, and Ursus lost the war once again, which also led to a major rebellion.

The late emperor also passed away not long after.

The life of Horag, the legendary Ursus general, was also fraught with twists and turns because of those insects, and in the end he could only hide in Chernobog and run a small clinic.

If no one had interfered, he was once a general who, along with the Patriots, nearly destroyed Kazimierz!

He's having such a tough time. He lost his honor in the Ukrainian War, and in the Eastern Ukrainian War, he not only lost his friendships but also failed to win. It's all the fault of those bastards!

Now that all the warships and fortresses belonging to the noble forces have fallen into the hands of the infected, Hrag is very happy!

He was even planning to go straight to Patriots for a drink... no, at least three!

Otherwise, his joy would be incomprehensible.

“Yelena,” he looked kindly at Frostnova, “Ms. Kal'tsit has told me about your difficulties. It’s alright, I’ll help you!”

He and Patriot are old friends, so it's not unreasonable for him to help his old friend's daughter now, right?

"Thank you, Uncle Helag," Frostnova said sweetly, finally someone could help her share the burden.

Who is Helag? He's someone who can command armies and wage wars of annihilation!

It's a waste of my talents to do these things for myself. Although it may not be my major, it doesn't matter!

It's not a legitimate company she's trying to build!

Froststar has not forgotten the advisor's ambitions.

Perhaps a company built by a general like this would better suit the needs of a consultant.

"Two hundred thousand infected people!" exclaimed a few people at the back of the line. "I've never seen so many infected people in my life."

“In comparison, I’m more concerned about those fortresses and warships,” a man said with a frown. “It seems the rumors were true; Ursus really did suffer a major defeat.”

"Why are you so concerned about politics?" The girl in front of him pouted, then looked at the sky rising from the ground in the distance. "We are scientists, isn't that our goal?"

“Müllerse,” Serea said helplessly, “because we arrived earlier than expected, the proposed Gaia II campus is not yet completed, so your research cannot begin immediately.”

“It’s alright,” Muirsey said with a smile without turning her head. “Didn’t the information say that the first ecological park was full of crops?”

"It's a plant too, so it can be studied!"

At this point, she turned to look at Seria, her eyes shining, "I can't wait!"

“Even if you say that, it’s impossible to get into the eco-park right away. Let’s settle down first. There’ll be plenty of time to do research later,” Seria sighed. She knew her old friend’s personality well. Simulating Gaia… nothing could interest her more than that.

Muirsay's botanical garden at Rhine Life can attest to this.

That's why Seria lured her over.

Upon hearing Seria's words, Muirsay chuckled but did not reply, instead gazing at the vast, boundless sky in the distance.

“…What is that?” Then, she noticed a black dot rapidly approaching from the distant sky.

"What?" Saria turned her head when she heard this, and then she was instantly flustered.

"Froststar? Froststar!" she called out immediately. "Do you recognize that thing?"

Following her gaze, everyone saw a beautiful white ship approaching the base at an extremely fast speed.

Most importantly, it flies in the air!