Arknights' Lock of Heaven

After all, you've offended people badly before, so it won't be easy to mend the relationship.

Their current behavior, which is practically throwing their face on the ground for others to trample on, is a way of showing their attitude.

Look around. The emperor's faction members of parliament are pointing and whispering gleefully, while the aristocracy are watching from afar as if their parents have died. These people are really going all out.

But what can they do? How can they not make money when there's money to be made? Not to mention, they can't accept seeing others making a fortune while they can only eat coarse food.

In fact, when the noble allied fleet decided to send troops to the snowfield, everyone was puzzled.

Those in the know understand that although the Patriots are always reporting great victories in the newspapers, as long as the fleet is deployed, the tiny infected can be wiped out in an instant.

When news of the entire fleet's deployment arrived, most people's attitude was, "Is it really that serious?"

Is it really necessary to launch a full-scale attack to eliminate just 200,000 unarmed infected?

However, despite their doubts, it didn't stop them from using this person who had a rude attitude towards the speaker.

Then came the bolt from the blue.

Oh dear, the noble alliance fleet was completely wiped out. Most of the men managed to escape, but the fleet was gone, including the two powerful dukes who died on the snowy plains.

Instantly, all the councilors were shocked. What on earth was going on?

Before they could even figure out what was going on, another message arrived: the latest news was that the Grand Duke of the Urals, who was bedridden, died of anger upon hearing that the entire fleet had been wiped out.

Well, in the blink of an eye, three powerful dukes have disappeared.

Of course, there's no time to mourn them. The most pressing question now is: what exactly destroyed a fleet capable of wiping out a small country?

And... where is the Speaker?

Yes, when Parliament finally gathered in a flurry to discuss state affairs, they discovered that their Speaker was nowhere to be found.

This is truly a catastrophe. Speaker Witte's prestige in Parliament is unmatched. If the Emperor hadn't announced his whereabouts, Parliament would have collapsed on the spot.

Oh, so you went to the snowfield.

Oh? So you went to the snowfield!

When the Speaker returned and the intelligence from the front lines was consolidated, the Ursus Empire gradually pieced together what had happened.

The fleet was indeed invincible, but the enemy was simply too outrageous.

The two gods fought fiercely in the skies above the snowfield. The fleet was simply an innocent victim, purely unlucky, and was defeated by the aftershocks of the battle.

As for where the so-called two deities came from, the speaker said you'd better not ask.

But with such a huge incident, it's impossible to completely ignore it. Anyone with eyes can see that the so-called two gods are definitely related to the infected.

What if they covet the empire...

Even the emperor himself was very uneasy.

But Speaker Witt quickly resolved these anxieties, persuading everyone with his excellent oratory skills.

They're so powerful, if they really wanted worldly power, the Ursus Empire wouldn't have been established.

This reason is too strong and logically sound, and there's something even more important.

Evil demon.

This was not suitable for large-scale discussion, so Witte and the Emperor pulled aside a few people for a small meeting, and then everyone was dumbfounded.

A major disaster is imminent.

Now, those beings who transcend the mundane need Ursus to establish a defensive line.

Very well, all the logic makes sense, and since the simulated Gaia does exist, they didn't have too many doubts.

There's no need for excessive doubt, because the facts speak for themselves: if they were truly interested in worldly power, they could have easily taken down Saint Jun's Castle.

It's already quite generous of them to symbolically defeat a fleet.

After a short meeting, the most powerful people in Ursus formulated the next steps.

Then, the creation of Gaia became known to everyone within just a few weeks.

Even a three-year-old knows this; it is the future of Ursus, the hope of Ursus.

With the confirmation from scientists at the National Academy of Sciences, the entire Ursus region was in an uproar.

If the snowfields could truly become fertile land, who would be willing to risk their lives to seize territory elsewhere?

Ursus's warlike nature was entirely driven by the harsh environment of the snowfields.

Of course, that wasn't all. The emperor and the council also issued a decree prohibiting any Ursus from entering Sami.

The reason wasn't explicitly stated, but everyone knew that Sami must have some serious problem.

However, almost no one paid attention to the ban; everyone was focused on the proposed Gaia, the technology that was touted as the solution to Ursus's demise.

Today's meeting is to allocate the first batch of slots.

Therefore, even the most at odds-with aristocratic faction had no choice but to attend in full.

They knew that even as a gesture of appeasement, the emperor and the speaker would symbolically grant them a few seats.

In contrast to the nobility, the major business groups and merchants went mad.

What does developing the snowfields mean?

This means massive infrastructure projects, countless orders, numerous engineering projects, livable land, new factories, new mineral deposits, and new industries—all of which generate money!

It's all money! Countless amounts of money!

This wealth will be generated from production and then flow into every link, and the stagnant economy of Ursus will take off!

Countless people are watching this parliamentary meeting closely.

Speaker Witte straightened his tie and walked confidently into the conference hall amidst the attention of the crowd.

-

The meeting has ended.

Some people were able to leave satisfied, but many more were starving.

Unfortunately, Rhodes Island only allocated a very small number of slots in the first batch—only fifteen!

It also comes with many conditions, such as the need to employ a large number of skilled workers due to the complexity of the technology, and the infected people in the base are very suitable.

Speaker Witt sighed in response, "That's good enough, at least they're willing to come up with a technical reason to put on a show."

As for whether the technology is really complicated... hehe.

He knew it all too well.

Furthermore, they require that at least half of the workers on all projects be infected, and that they be paid the same as other workers, and that they not be discriminated against, and that nothing that anyone wants to see happen.

If this happens, the contractor, regardless of which noble family or business group it is, will be permanently blacklisted by Rhodes Island and the Infected Base.

Speaker Witte readily agreed to this in its entirety.

He knew perfectly well what Rhodes Island wanted to achieve by making these demands, and he was happy to cooperate.

Anyway, he doesn't discriminate against people who are infected.

If there are really people who are so ungrateful, taking a precious spot but not appreciating it, then let them die.

But he felt there shouldn't be any major problems. You can despise the outdated so-called glory of the nobility, and you can despise the profit-seeking of merchants, but you should believe in their desire for money.

If these conditions are linked to benefits, they will care more about their implementation than those who are infected.

So the fifteen spots were quickly allocated.

Without a doubt, the Emperor's faction was the biggest winner, securing all nine spots.

The neutral faction was overjoyed to receive the four slots offered to them, after all, there were others in even worse situations than them.

The aristocratic faction... one spot was given to the count who was the first to side with the emperor, and the other to Miss Elena of the Ural family.

Yes, unlike the other two families who quickly reinstated new dukes, the Ural family is still in a state of chaos.

As for why... one reason is that the children of the Grand Duke of Ural are incompetent, and none of them can command respect. Another reason is this unexpected rise of Lady Elena.

When the fleet suffered a crushing defeat, she returned home with a wrecked warship to attend her father's funeral.

The people who sailed the ship were from the royal family.

And that wrecked warship... needless to say.

No one in the Ural family dared to offend this previously unknown duke's daughter. A damaged warship was nothing, but the significance of bringing it back was enough to make them hesitate to act rashly.

But I don't want to just hand over the dukedom to her like that.

It just keeps dragging on like this.

Now, it seems they can't delay any longer.

Today, Elena is accompanied by a count, whom she should call her uncle according to blood relations.

Without a doubt, if she cannot inherit the title of Duke, then the question of who will get the position is self-evident.

After all, this spot was meant for Miss Elena of the Ural family, not for the Ural family.

This is a blatant, overt scheme by the emperor.

If you want to eat meat, then behave yourself, otherwise just watch others eat!