Chapter 327
After returning to Cavaleria, she heard about the bizarre competitions Maria had encountered.
Margaret and her sister share the same view, both believing that the Commercial Union is artificially promoting her in pursuit of traffic.
This is not a bad thing for the Nearl Family.
If the two sisters were to meet on the final stage of this year's Knight Competition, it would definitely be more beneficial than harmful.
"Come on, little sister, come with me to the training ground. Let's practice one more time to prepare for the competition the day after tomorrow."
July 8th, 0:10 pm
Roy, one of only two Azure Gold Rank Armored Unarmored Alliance, sat cross-legged on the main seat in the reception room. Platinum sat diagonally opposite him, his head bowed in apprehension.
"Don't look like you're crying, it makes you seem so wronged. Besides, I didn't intend to do anything."
"It was my dereliction of duty."
"Little Platinum, we're assassins, not ordinary office workers. Neglecting our duties is a serious matter."
Monique was originally planning to hunt down Farfang Knight in the infected area, but this was forced to stop due to the return of the Bright Knight. "Where are your men?"
Platinum kept her head down and didn't look up.
"They've gone to monitor the Lucky Knight."
"Alright, it's that guy after all. I've heard about him. But, Little Platinum, you need to prioritize. Since there's no order from above to eliminate him, don't assign so many people to monitor him."
"Okay, I understand."
Roy licked his lips and continued to press:
"And how's the situation with Charne?"
"I took him to a small town outside of Cavaleria, and the rest is not my concern."
"Although Charne is a pitiful man, that's not the real problem. Simply put, the Plastic Knight has gone missing. He knows some things that can't be dug up by others. If negative news gets out, we'll be complained about by the Commercial Union."
"Yes, Lord Roy. I will withdraw the people monitoring the Lucky Knight shortly and go find the Plastic Knight."
"Don't let your guard down these days. The value of 'Plot Zero' will soon become apparent, you know what I mean?"
Upon hearing the words "Plot Zero," Platinum's eyelids twitched violently, but he maintained his head-down posture.
"I understand, Roy."
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396 Fuse 4K
July 8th, 3:40 pm
Cavaleria, Old Martin Bar.
Although there are no special tournaments today, there are quite a few other competitions.
For example, there are city championship tournaments where the Grand Knight Territory four Mobile Cities. There are also smaller-scale tournaments organized by companies.
For example, the Rose Cup from Rose Newspaper Agency, the Howling Cup from Howling Guard, and the Aircraft Cup from White Aircraft, etc.
Koval sat on a bar stool yawning, not participating in the Saria sisters' sparring session with Old Fu.
He didn't hold back, teaching Maria all the combat techniques he knew. Now there was nothing more to teach her; she would have to figure it out herself.
On the wall-mounted television, a female presenter dressed in a revealing V-neck top picked up a news script and read it aloud with a serious expression:
"We have an emergency news briefing. An accident occurred during the Ward Competition this afternoon. One of the participating Infected Knight deliberately concealed his physical condition before the competition and insisted on using Originium Arts after being injured. This ultimately led to his self-destruction during the competition, and he was pronounced dead after attempts to resuscitate him failed."
Old Fu was startled by this, looked up at the pixelated screen of the television, and offered his opinion:
"What are these small-scale esports teams doing? How can someone with such severe Originium-related illness even compete?"
"It is understood that the Medical Department has thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the arena in the ward, and it is expected to be fully operational tomorrow. Within three hours of the incident, the National Assembly has received multiple complaints, hoping to repeal the Infected Knight Act to prevent dangerous Infected Knight from participating in major competitions..."
"Didn't the National Assembly only pass the Infected Persons Act after Blood Knight won the championship? It's only been three years and they're already preparing to overturn the law. They have no shame at all."
Koval neither confirmed nor denied this, and simply shrugged.
"The issue of infected individuals is not a trivial matter. We can't simply repeal a law because of a few isolated cases, can we? In any country, the law is a crucial element. If it can be trampled on at will, who will abide by the law in the future?"
"The Knight Association has stated that it will continue to monitor this incident. Several Knight orders have jointly submitted a recommendation to the Knight Association, requesting that infected individuals be banned from participating in the competition to prevent a large-scale outbreak."
Upon hearing this, Koval frowned:
"Hmm, something feels off. Why did they have to wait until the return of the Bright Knight to broadcast this? The timing feels a bit off."
"Yes, there are signs of deliberate interference. If this situation is allowed to escalate, it may affect Margaret's upcoming matches."
Old Fu shook his head and sighed softly:
"Sigh, if the bill is really amended, then Blood Knight's efforts over the past few years will have been in vain..."
Maria and her sister arrived at the bar, and as soon as they entered, they heard the Blood Knight mentioned. She couldn't help but ask, puzzled:
"Blood Knight, what happened to him?"
The latter pointed to the television and explained:
"An Infected Knight died by self-destruction during a corporate-sponsored competition. Those hypocritical Knight orders jumped out and formed a boycott. They also hoped to use this as an opportunity to cancel the infected law that had been in effect for three years."
Upon hearing this, Margaret Saria stared at the screen on the television with a rather complicated expression.
The plight of the infected on this land has never improved. Although they are called Infected Knight, they are merely playthings for the amusement of the audience.
That's too humiliating; infected people shouldn't be treated like this.
Why should we be discriminated against for getting sick?
If, like other countries she had seen, Kazimierz deliberately instigated conflict between the infected and the uninfected in order to divert attention from class contradictions.
Therefore, those infected in Kazimierz will only find it increasingly difficult to pursue freedom and equality.
Margaret participated in the competition because the Supervision Committee promised to add legislation to protect the legal rights of those infected.
The exact number of additional rules will depend entirely on how well the Bright Knight achieve in the special tournament.
Therefore, she had every reason to win the championship.
On the television screen, the female anchor received another news report. After glancing at it, she looked surprised.
"We have an urgent news briefing. Blood Knight Dikaiopolis, the champion of the 23rd Knight Competition and a top 16 finalist in the 24th tournament, just announced his withdrawal from this special tournament at a press conference. A reporter asked whether his withdrawal was related to the self-destruction incident of the Infected Knight that occurred today. Blood Knight did not give a direct answer and left the press conference after announcing his withdrawal."
"Withdraw from the competition?"
Margaret found it hard to believe.
She had only recently returned to Kazimierz and wasn't very familiar with many of the players. From the beginning, she considered Blood Knight to be the strongest opponent in the upper half of the Special Tournament.
But why did he withdraw from the competition? Was it because of the boycott by many Knight orders that he felt disheartened?
"Due to Blood Knight's withdrawal, the match originally scheduled for the morning of July 9th has been cancelled. Lucky Knight, who will face Blood Knight, will advance directly to the quarterfinals. The Commercial Union will open a refund channel later, and the bet amount will be returned to the original payment method."
July 8th, 4:20 pm
After seeing the news of the Infected Knight's self-disclosure, Maena, who had been working at the institution for a long time, sensed that something was wrong.
Even if the impact of this matter is significant enough, it shouldn't warrant such an immediate response from so many Knight orders.
In order to obtain concrete evidence, he called the bounty hunter Toland, hoping that the other party would come to discuss the matter.
When Maena competed against Margaret, she only used 30% of her strength, but still unfortunately lost. Therefore, they could only acquiesce to the sisters continuing to participate in the special tournament.
The Bright Knight is no longer the little girl she once was.
"Knock knock".
Before he could say "please come in," the visitor pushed the door open.
"Hey, don't always look so gloomy. People might think your hat got stained."
Maena raised an eyebrow, her expression growing increasingly cold:
"Stop making sarcastic remarks, Toland. A lot has happened lately, and it's all related to the Infected Act. I need you to find out the truth behind this and see if it involves the Nearl Family sisters. If it does, do your best to protect them."
"No problem, but what about the payment?"
Maena found it baffling and asked in return:
"Didn't I already give it to you?"
"That little bit of money is just a deposit. Bounty hunters' rewards are very high, Master Maena. This is a job that could cost you your life. A slight mistake could cost you your life."
At this point, Toland rubbed his fingers together:
"Unless you add some money."
Seeing Maena remain silent with a straight face, he chuckled and teased, his expression utterly irritating:
"Lord Maena, don't make that face. I'm risking my life, so it's reasonable for me to charge a little more money. To the Grand Knight Territory, I'm just an unknown bounty hunter, and to you, sorry, you seem to be just a corporate employee. Hahaha. Well, we're really in the same boat now."
July 9th, 3:00 PM
Today is the day of the Special Tournament's Round of 16.
Due to the elimination of a large number of players, the arena was unable to support four to five matches a day. As arranged by the Commercial Union, only two matches were held each day.
In the morning, the Candle Knight faced off against the Grey Fur Knight, with the Candle Knight Drost ultimately emerging victorious.
At 3 PM, the Bright Knight will face off against the Hammer Knight. The winner will secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
Although the Hammer Knight are strong, they still lack the experience of the champions from two previous years.
The audience generally believed that Bright Knight the Margaret Knight would emerge victorious. The closer one gets to the finals of the Special Tournament, the fewer upsets occur.
Because those who lack skill will be eliminated sooner or later, leaving only equally matched competitors.
The afternoon matches attracted a large audience.
As Bright Knight's first battle after her comeback, many people paid high prices for tickets just to catch a glimpse of her Margaret figure.
However, on the streets of the downtown area, there were still many people holding banners demanding the repeal of the Infected Persons Act.
Some of them were paid shills, while others were ordinary people who had been incited; the composition of the group was quite complex.
Sona, accompanied by the Grey Fur Knight Grenati and the Plastic Knight Sergiac, arrived at the headquarters of the Commercial Union for a final reconnaissance before the plan was finalized.
The Lucky Knight stayed behind to guard the rear, remaining in the infected area to prevent the Armored Unarmored Alliance from launching a surprise attack.
Sona's upcoming plan is to orchestrate a massive power outage targeting the four mobile City-State.
The specific plan is for tomorrow night, July 10th, at 8 PM. The Grey Fur Knight Grenati will lead a raid on the Grand Knight Territory's power center.
If successful, it will create a major divide between four mobile City-State. Then, things will be much easier to do in the dark.
For example, they could sneak into the headquarters of Commercial Union from below and find top-secret incriminating material in the archives.
Afterwards, everyone evacuated and regrouped at the United Building, three kilometers away. Some of the information was handed over to the liaison of the Supervision Committee, while the rest was kept secret. It could be made public if necessary, causing a huge impact.
"Have you finished watching? If you have, it's time to go."
The Plastic Knight knew certain secrets, which led to him being hunted by the Armored Unarmored Alliance. He chose to cooperate with the Pinecone Knights for his own safety and that of his family.
"The Armored Unarmored Alliance will not let me off easily, nor will they let my family go. I am willing to stand here only for my wife and children. But you took so long to scout this place, are you afraid the Armored Unarmored Alliance won't know?"
The Grey Fur Knight understood his anxiety, but confirming each step before taking action was crucial to avoid any mishaps.
"Sorry, we didn't mean that. It's just that we all have reasons why we can't afford to fail regarding tomorrow's plans, so it's better to be cautious."
"Shh, don't you guys think..."
Sona made a shushing gesture and whispered:
"Is it a bit too quiet here?"
The Plastic Knight was very impatient and explained:
"This is the bottom level of the Commercial Union. Further down is the Construction Zone. It's usually quiet because not many people come here. Only engineers and maintenance personnel from the Mobile Cities have the authority to go deeper into the area."
Also, regarding tomorrow's operation: If you are accidentally discovered by the Armored Unarmored Alliance, run into the crowd. Don't be overconfident and think you can hold them off on your own.