Man in the Ark: Revitalizing Kazdel

By the time the spell used to deliver the message reached the skies above Saint-Jun Castle, the horizon was already beginning to lighten. This was not because the distance between the two locations was too great and time was too long, but because the far north was experiencing polar night, and the sun had just risen over Saint-Jun Castle.

The city was slowly awakening from the cold of the night, with white mist rising from all parts of the city, like the hot breath exhaled by a giant beast lying on the earth.

At all the outposts near St. Martin's Castle on Lake Neva, the soldiers on duty in the latter half of the night huddled around small stoves, rubbing their hands to warm themselves and melt the milk from the pack animals, while waiting for the change of guard.

The morning mist condensed into frost on the brims of their hats, but it couldn't obscure the metallic gleam reflected from the eagle insignia. They were among the most elite soldiers in the Central Guard, shouldering the heavy responsibility of protecting the capital of Ursus.

This special post requires them to be constantly vigilant for any unusual activity on the opposite bank of the lake, even during the brief period of waiting for their shift to change. A rapidly expanding black dot on the snow-white horizon caught the attention of a soldier who remained at his post.

After carefully observing the situation through his military binoculars, the middle-aged soldier didn't hesitate to ring the sentry alarm, its piercing sound breaking the silence of the lake. The soldiers sitting around the fire didn't even have time to put on their drying socks and gloves; they quickly grabbed their weapons, ready for battle.

As the black dot drew closer, everyone could see what it was. It was a tangled ball of black thread, a full five meters in diameter.

The unknown always brings fear and threat. The soldiers quickly organized a probing attack, with crossbow bolts and cannonballs landing around the ball of thread. However, the thread was completely unaffected and continued to cross the ice of Lake Neva, gradually slowing down.

Faced with such a bizarre and strange scene, the soldiers on the outpost were on high alert, gripping their weapons tightly, for only weapons and protective gear could give them a sense of security.

The ball of thread, moving at zero speed, floated lightly onto the ice and scattered, its dark lines piecing together a sentence on the pristine white surface, standing out starkly: "A rebellion has broken out in the far north."

The soldiers had never encountered anything like this before, and a brief silence fell over the communication channel. Until someone broke the silence, "Sir, what should we do?"

"Send a few people to approach and investigate by boat, the rest of you continue to keep watch. I will personally report the situation to my superiors." After assigning the tasks, the middle-aged officer sent someone to take some photos of the scene and report them along with a statement of the situation.

Half an hour later, an urgent military order was issued from Saint-Germain Fortress. The Emperor ordered the Second and Seventh Armies to each send their two nearest divisions, a total of four divisions, into the far north to assist in suppressing the rebellion.

The Central Army Group has entered a state of emergency combat readiness, the number of soldiers on duty at the Neva Lake outpost has doubled, a curfew has been imposed at St. Martin-in-the-Sea, and checks have been intensified for people entering and leaving the city.

Many people did not understand the emperor's order to strengthen the defenses of Saint-Germain Fortress, and they subconsciously believed that the main force behind the rebellion was the infected miners in the mine.

The powerful Ursus army could easily suppress it and posed no threat to Saint-Germain. Was such seriousness an overreaction? However, a few in the know understood that this was a crisis no less than a "Great Rebellion," and therefore, no amount of attention was excessive.

......

Deep in the mining region of the far north, Roy and his group swiftly traversed the scorched earth, scarred by artillery fire and the crushing force of warships. Black Serpent, sensing the electromagnetic waves and heat emanating from the human bodies, discovered numerous survivors hiding deep within the mine shafts.

After Talulah blasted open the collapsed mine entrance with her sword, the rush of fresh air saved the poor souls who were nearly suffocating. The Reunion team, who carried food, drinking water, and medicine, immediately began providing aid.

From these people, Talulah learned that the intricate underground mine tunnels led to the mines surrounding Saint-Germain Castle. A group of people had already gone to scout ahead, but for various reasons, they chose not to follow.

After leaving some survival supplies for the survivors, the group followed the footprints left by their predecessors to an underground building resembling a research institute. Here, Roy encountered Originium artifacts—Oka—that had lost all their energy.