Chlorine Sodium's Arknights

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Indeed, as Ursus natives, it's difficult to encounter Eastern techniques, let alone those of the Infected. Unlike the Sambō techniques of Ursus, which focus on kicking, striking, and grappling for self-defense, the close-range inch-punch attacks are actually more suited for Easterners. However, Yelena's frame is quite slender, unlike the robust, burly Ursus men. She is clearly more suited for short-range punches and strikes.

"But there's no rush, we need to take it slow. Learn my movements first."

Yelena also struck a defensive stance.

Although short-range combat doesn't emphasize stances and instead focuses on finding openings, exploiting gaps, and reacting to whatever comes, since she's learning from scratch, there aren't that many strict rules.

Late at night, after a day of training, Yelena had already fallen asleep early.

Of course, this was also intentionally orchestrated by Chlorine Sodium, the villain. If that girl didn't fall asleep quickly, how could she set the stage for future events?

With Chlorine Sodium in her true Herrscher form, rapid movement was effortless.

And now, she had arrived at another location, on the other end of the north.

Another mine.

However, this one seemed to have been newly built not long ago, and its scale was much larger than the ones seen before. Compared to the Empire's junkyard.

It was more fitting to call this place a concentration camp.

Many Ursus military police, armed with shields and batons, were blocking the entrance, while numerous Infected were penned up inside.

An uprising in the concentration camp?

This was the prearranged location.

The deal between Black Snake and Chlorine Sodium, and the subject of the deal was the Infected.

Black Snake believed that the Infected's resistance was a matter of time, bound to happen sooner or later.

But what Black Snake needed was to accelerate this process. Creating a signal of resistance would be enough.

It didn't matter if it was real or fake; the mere occurrence of the event would suffice.

To stage a deliberate rebellion.

Now, the target had been found. The silver-haired girl landed in the snow far from the concentration camp.

Bright floodlights illuminated the concentration camp, but they also created a "darkness under the lamp" effect in the surrounding area.

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

She stood firm, the timing was perfect, and all the necessary actors were in place.

The weaklings shouting and screaming, the military police wielding batons and striking the unarmed Infected, the secret police arriving to maintain order, and the person in charge on-site directing them.

The chroniclers of the Ursus rulers, those sycophantic mouthpieces, were all equipped with cameras.

Everyone was present, waiting to clear out these troublemaking Infected, purify the Empire's air and environment, and a new political news story was brewing.

Only no one knew that on the snowy plains far away, the silver-haired girl slightly parted her lips, and an ancient ballad, accompanied by ominous energy, was gradually enveloping the area.

A struggle heading towards the abyss was slowly beginning.

A new era was about to dawn.

ps: Ah, Chlorine Sodium is so amazing, I really want to tie the Queen up in the basement, hehehe [pervert face]

Damn Mihoyo, give me back Chlorine Sodium! Aaaah! Watching the recent Honkai Impact 3rd short films, with everyone turning into Herrschers, I feel like the Queen won't have any more appearances. Plus, the current Spring Bug has heterochromia. I remember a few years ago, in the short film "Reburn," Spring Bug's eyes were completely golden with Herrscher-like starry pupils when she transformed. Is this internal retconning?

And I haven't played Honkai Impact 3rd in ages. Didn't I see a preview of Fu Hua turning into a Herrscher on the official Bilibili account before? After so long, is the film still in production hell?

Section 18, Chapter Eighteen [Artificial Prophecy]

"Rear Admiral Koschei, I have great faith in you. These rioters have caused me quite a bit of trouble."

At night, inside a military tent, Koschei, still dressed in white, received a bottle of aged red wine from a servant and poured a little into the Rear Admiral's cup.

The advanced military heating system isolated the tent from the freezing snow, providing a rather luxurious environment.

This was the Garrison Legion under the Far East Army Group. Since there was no military pressure in the Far East, the Garrison Legion was brought here to maintain public order in remote areas.

"Don't worry, Duke. The Infected are just a bunch of paper tigers. They can be suppressed anytime."

The Rear Admiral, dressed in an Ursus military uniform, took a sip of wine and said confidently.

"Is that so? That's wonderful. I've been worried sick day and night about my life and property. After all, thanks to the late Emperor's benevolence, I was granted this territory. If anything were to happen, it would be difficult to explain."

With a fake, elegant smile, the Rear Admiral saw that the time was ripe and threw out a new proposition to the dangerous Duke: mutual benefit and weaknesses.

"However, Duke, although this matter is easy to handle, ... some things are inherently reasonable, but if they were to be disclosed, they might be misunderstood by some people."

"Oh? What is it?"

The cunning Koschei naturally understood what the Rear Admiral meant, but the art of human relations was the art of seeing without saying.

Or rather, the art of finding good questions.

"Something very reasonable, something that even you, Duke, would find perfectly reasonable..."

He placed his wine glass on the table, and the cold light shone on their brows, casting shadows over their eyes, symbolizing the evil hidden in the darkness.

"That's about mobilizing the army for the suppression, and for safety, of course, we need to be properly armed..."

Throwing out the necessary pain points, this would be the tacit premise between the two, the prerequisite for mutual exploitation, which is to hold each other's leverage.

Even if what the two threw out and held were merely fictional reins, it wouldn't matter.

"Of course, we need to be armed. These rioters are terrifying."

Koschei chimed in.

"It's truly wonderful that you understand. It's just that some people have suggested using firearms and lethal Originium Arts during the suppression..."

"Such a request is entirely reasonable and requires no disclosure whatsoever. I believe anyone handling such matters would agree with my assessment, Major General Kochi."

The transaction between the two old foxes was complete, and the Rear Admiral got what he wanted.

The Rear Admiral gave a military salute and prepared to head to the temporary command post to oversee the suppression.

However, in a corner behind him, Koschei's smile grew even more sinister.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. While they thought they had reached an agreement, Koschei actually had other plans.

But no one knew any of this.

Meanwhile, inside the concentration camp.

Within the cage constructed of barbed wire and high walls, what was once a mine, or rather, the Empire's garbage dump. A group of Infected, who were once loathed by the entire world, had somehow received aid!

It hadn't yet been determined which organization or individual was secretly funding these Infected, or even sending weapons!

This was practically a mockery of Ursus's Infected policy.

It was as ridiculous as prisoners in a jail buying a bunch of guns from outside and preparing to break out.

It made one wonder if the guards were all incompetent!

A confused crowd was packed at the entrance of the concentration camp, while a shield wall of military police stood on the open ground outside the gate.

There were no imagined roars or hatred. The military police were more than capable of controlling the situation, especially since they were facing mostly "rioters" with bewildered expressions.

A few fanatics and many confused followers stood at the gate, not shouting protests, nor even attempting to storm the mine's entrance. They simply stood there, as if waiting for something.

However, the mine's administrators seemed to think their leverage wasn't enough. With the military police suffering no losses and fully capable of controlling the situation at any moment, they called in the Garrison Legion.

Even the commander of the military police was somewhat unsure of what was happening.

Why call in the military?

Due to poor communication, thousands of military and police personnel were arrayed across from the mine occupied by the Infected, separated by a single gate. They looked at each other, and the originally grim atmosphere was gone, replaced by an eerie silence pervading the air.

As the military personnel continued to arrive, the scene became quite crowded.

The reason the Infected were huddled together blocking the entrance was not due to resistance, but rather the instigation of a group of charlatans and the verification of various prophecies.

Originally, the Infected had no rights.

But recently, things seemed different. A noble had arrived at the mine. Although they had become Infected, their family seemed unwilling to abandon such a distinguished member and had arranged some special treatment.

For example, church personnel visited weekly. Most nobles were followers of the Imperial Church. Allowing this devout noble member a chance to pray to their God each week didn't seem like too much to ask.

After all, they were nobles. Even if this noble's existence was in the form of rumors, no one knew who this noble was, nor whom these charlatans were meeting with for prayer.

However, this was convenient for the surrounding Infected believers. The gods of Ursus treated everyone equally, so the priests of the Church naturally treated all believers, Infected or not, equally during prayer.

For some reason, there was no suppression from above, and such actions were allowed to continue.

Until one day, a message among the church members spread through the mine.

"The gods will eventually punish unjust bullying."

Although not many believed such charlatan-like pronouncements at first.

Until one day, all the messages began to come true, one by one.

First, the guards became lax, and someone was actually able to establish contact with the outside world.

This had been absolutely, absolutely impossible before.

After that, who knows how they obtained food from outside.

Yet, the guards seemed to let everything happen.

Later, more and more things were exchanged, both in and out, and their boldness grew.

All of this made people more willing to believe the charlatans' words.

Because this had been the content of the prophecy long before.

And today, the charlatans' prophecy of "The gods will eventually punish unjust bullying" was to be fulfilled.

The guards' negligence and the prestige the Church had established here caused all the Infected to cease their mining activities. Instead, they crowded, bewildered and expectant, at the gate.

And then, the current scene unfolded.

Absurd and preposterous.

Such a scene would be absolutely impossible outside, but it happened here. The military police formation guarded the mine entrance but did not advance to suppress. The Infected, seemingly on the verge of rebellion, were all crowded at the gate, as if waiting for something. The military was entering, crowding with the military police. For a moment, all three sides were silent, with only the crunch of boots on snow and the howl of the cold wind.

There were no shouts, no curses. Many people were even holding their breath, waiting for something, waiting for something to appear.

However, at the origin of the mine, upon the dark snowfield unlit by the giant spotlights.

Chlorine Sodium's golden boots lightly touched the accumulated snow as she arrived.

The actors were in position, and the stage was filled with spotlights.

Now, it was time for the prelude to begin.

ps: I'm curious, what are the four elements of a bank card??? Why does it say my phone verification doesn't match my bank card??? What the heck is this?

Section 19: Chapter Nineteen [The Script of the Despicable]

So, what is the current order?

The guards, acting quickly on orders, formed a shield wall with their shields, but the next command was to hold their positions?

Without suppressing the Infected right in front of them, and these Infected not throwing things here like in past historical riots, the guards were also confused.

The military's heavy assault vehicles were gradually arriving, their mounted spotlights sweeping across the formation, illuminating the guards' helmets. The military's order was to reach this location as quickly as possible and stop the riot.

However, the intensity of the situation was inconsistent with the emergency.

This kind of situation would be completely sufficient for the military police to handle, so what was the point of the army being here?

But soldiers consider obedience their duty, so naturally, once the order was given, the Garrison Legion immediately set out and arrived here.

The only ones in the crowd showing excited expressions were a few of the charlatans among the Infected.

The original priests had already left, leaving only these accompanying staff members.

However, since they were from the Church, the work teams were naturally composed of believers, and this time was no different.