Chapter 334
Upon learning that Maria had just been attacked by the Armored Unarmored Alliance, Sophia approached her with concern:
"Let me see, are you injured?"
"Aunt, I'm alright. A man claiming to be Azure Gold Rank came and blocked the road. He told me to call my sister and persuade her to surrender. Luckily, the people from Rhodes Island helped us get out of trouble."
Shining did not reveal her identity; Maria only noticed the Rhodes Island logo on Nightingale's employee ID.
She had seen similar chess symbols a few days ago when she was repairing her sister's equipment.
Seeing Maria return safely, Sophia opened her arms and gave her a big hug, tears welling in her eyes:
"It's alright, it's alright."
Seeing her aunt so agitated, Maria was somewhat at a loss and whispered words of comfort:
"Hey, Aunt, don't cry..."
Old Fu and Koval stood by, explaining why she was so emotional:
"She was afraid that if you encountered danger, you would be too ashamed to worship Lord Saria."
Maria was finding it hard to breathe, and seeing a strange man approaching, she urged:
"Aunt, isn't it time to let go?"
The stranger stopped in front of them, stared at the two Kuranta embracing, and teased:
"What a deep sisterly bond! I hope I haven't spoiled your fun."
Maria Saria broke free from the embrace, shielding Sophia behind her, and asked warily:
"Who are you?"
"I am Toland Cash, an ordinary bounty hunter. Lord Maena entrusted me with the protection of the Nearl Family sisters a few days ago. It seems I am a bit late, I am truly sorry."
Maria grinned at the thought of her uncle, who verbally opposed their participation but whose actions betrayed him:
"It's alright, Mr. Toland. We are safe now, and we don't need you to provide protection."
Toland glanced at the time on his phone, estimating that the Pinecone Knights were about to succeed, and then looked away, saying:
"Miss Maria, that's not necessarily true."
July 13, 10:00 AM
The arena, inside the arena.
"La Signora and gentlemen, welcome to the Bika Arena, sponsored by Bika Comics!"
I know you are all excited, because I am just as excited. Six years ago, this legend of the Nearl Family left Kazimierz for some reason. But today, she stands once again in the center of the arena!
Regardless of the final outcome, this is a comeback battle worth watching repeatedly. Let's give a warm round of applause to Candle Knight Vivianna Drost and Bright Knight Margaret Saria! Without further ado, I hereby officially announce: The 24th Knight Competition's quarterfinals are now beginning!
Amidst the deafening cheers of the audience, the two Knights in the center of the arena made their move.
One person is like a candle, emitting light that illuminates all directions!
One person shines brightly, his dazzling brilliance illuminating the entire venue!
The two unleashed Originium Arts right from the start, their lights shining like two high-wattage orbs of light. The audience erupted in cheers, but dared not look directly at them for long.
"Oh, my eyes!"
"Damn it, huh? Good thing I brought sunglasses."
July 13, 10:10 am
Roy escaped to safety, but still felt lingering fear.
He knew Monique's skill level. Both were Azure Gold Rank, and their shooting skills were roughly equal.
But after encountering the enemy, she lost contact without even having time to reply.
This clearly demonstrates just how terrifying the strength of the person who stepped in to protect Maria truly is.
Roy knew the white-horned Sarkaz; she used to be a member of the Confessors and currently works at Rhodes Island.
The people who captured Monique two kilometers away are probably in cahoots with the White Horn Sarkaz.
Tsk, this is really difficult.
Suddenly, Roy's phone rang.
It turned out that the Iron Great Position had discovered that the Bright Knight's competition had officially begun and called to demand an explanation:
"* Kazimierz profanity*, what are you guys doing? You can't even handle something as simple as kidnapping Maria to force the Bright Knight to withdraw from the competition. What use are you?"
Roy desperately wanted to leave the Armored Unarmored Alliance, but now was not the time, so he could only swallow his anger and say:
"Boss, Maria had originally agreed to call the Bright Knight and have her withdraw from the competition. But then Rhodes Island suddenly appeared and rescued her. Monique was also captured by them, and I really had no choice."
Iron Great Position wanted to continue cursing, but considering that Platinum and Monique had been captured one after another, he had to stop.
If the scolding is too harsh and causes Roy to develop a rebellious attitude, then no subordinates will be willing to work.
"You don't need to follow up on Maria's situation anymore. I'll handle things later when there's time. Now, I'm giving you a new task. Don't mess it up again, you..."
Before Xuan Tie could finish speaking, the communication was suddenly cut off.
Roy assumed the other party had hung up first and thought to himself how awful that attitude was.
But the next second, all the light boxes, billboards and traffic lights around him went out of order.
This massive power outage occurred without any prior notice or maintenance. Cavaleria, this perpetually bright mobile City-State, was instantly stripped of its lights.
Thankfully it's daytime, otherwise the whole city would be plunged into darkness.
Roy's eyes darted around, recalling the various clues from recent days, and a sense of unease welled up in his heart.
"Hey, can you hear me?"
The sound coming from his headphones startled him.
Xuan Tie somehow managed to access the encrypted wireless channel between him and Monique.
This means that what the two had said through earpieces may have been leaked.
"Able."
"Someone has sabotaged the power supply equipment, which will cause a major power outage in the four mobile City-State. I and two other Iron Great Position Masters have discussed this opportunity to assassinate those who know our true identities."
"Roy, I have a task for you. Go to the database on the top floor of the Commercial Union building and destroy the backup of the Armored Unarmored Alliance member list. That way, no one will be able to find out our true identities later."
This task was exactly what Roy wanted.
Based on Xuan Tie's current attitude, he should be unaware that the two Lazurite are planning to defect from the Armored Unarmored Alliance. Although Platinum and Monique have been captured, he will still carry out the original plan.
"Okay, I'll get right on it!"
Roy quickly gathered his men and rushed back to the Commercial Union building.
July 13, 10:11 am
"We've succeeded! Cover me!"
After confirming the power outage at Cavaleria, Sona arrived at the designated location.
The cameras in the corner of the ceiling and the freight elevators that transport goods were not functioning properly.
She used a weapon to pry open the elevator door. After entering the elevator, she lifted the panel on the top floor.
He then climbed out of the elevator shaft and pried open the elevator door on the second floor. This allowed him to bypass the numerous security personnel in the lobby and secretly infiltrate the Commercial Union building.
Taking advantage of the fact that the alarm couldn't be activated inside the building, Sona quickly went to the server room on the top floor. She found the server's storage port and inserted a specially made large-capacity data disk.
Once the data copying is complete, destroy all the servers. Then evacuate to a safe location, and the mission will be successfully completed.
The Pinecone Knights, who participated in this operation, communicated via Walkie-Talkie channels.
"Commander, the Armored Unarmored Alliance guys are coming up!"
The data is still being copied; Sona cannot leave yet.
"Got it, give me a few more minutes. The elevator is out of service, so it won't be quick for them to climb the stairs."
"Hurry, Commander! We're too late!"
"Wait a little longer, there's still some left to copy. You guys go first, we'll meet up at a safe spot later."
"Commander, they've arrived in large numbers. They've surrounded the entire building. How are you going to get out?"
More than ten minutes later, Roy arrived at the top floor.
Climbing over thirty floors in one go had exhausted him. The ordinary assassins from the Armored Unarmored Alliance were still on the tenth or twentieth floor and hadn't even made it up yet.
He discovered the guard in the server room collapsed on the floor, immediately realizing someone had gotten there first, and shouted into the room:
"Listen up, you inside! You can't escape now! Surrender immediately, and we might spare your life! If you insist on resisting, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Sona had already copied the data she needed and even smashed the server beyond repair. Hearing the shouts outside the server room, she didn't respond. She tried to calm her tense emotions by taking deep breaths.
"I know you're inside, come out now!"
Roy drew his bow and shot an arrow that pierced through the door lock.
Sona knew time was running out, her chest heaving with each deep breath. She put the data disk in her handbag and held it tightly to her chest to prevent damage.
The glass had been smashed by a weapon and would break upon impact.
Lucky Knight, protect me!
Roy nocked a second arrow and cautiously entered the server room, only to witness an astonishing scene!
A figure crashed through the glass and plunged out of the building, falling rapidly from a height of over thirty stories!
Holy crap, is this guy out of his mind?
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When Roy saw the intruder jump from a height of over thirty stories, he was completely dumbfounded.
What's going on? Are they crazy?
If you jump from that height, you'll probably smash to pieces like a watermelon, right?
Roy came to the Commercial Union building this time to destroy the list of the Armored Unarmored Alliance members.
As a result, the intruder smashed the server to pieces, which indirectly helped them complete their mission.
He peered out of the shattered window, letting the cold wind from above lash his face, and felt a deep sense of gratitude.
Although he didn't know who the intruder was, they had indeed helped Roy a great deal. If he could piece together a complete corpse later, he'd buy the intruder a good burial plot.
Shortly afterward, security personnel from the Commercial Union and assassins from the Armored Unarmored Alliance arrived at the top floor.
Seeing the chaotic state of the server room, the security captain was on the verge of tears, unsure how to explain it to the boss.
Roy patted the man on the shoulder, said a few words of comfort, and then left with his men. These men all knew they were assassins and dared not shift the blame carelessly.
Since the power hadn't been restored, everyone had to walk downstairs. When they reached the tenth or so stories, Iron Great Position's voice came through Roy's earpiece again:
"I just heard that someone broke into the Commercial Union building. How's that going?"
Roy told the assassins to go downstairs first, while he stayed alone in the stairwell, replying:
"It's done. The destruction was thorough. Thanks to the intruder, the server was dismantled beyond repair."
"What about the intruder? Have they been caught? You know how to make this person disappear, right?"
"No need. The intruder broke through the window and jumped from the thirtieth floor. I'm going downstairs to look for the intruder's body and see if I've missed anything."
Iron Great Position was very satisfied with this outcome; only death was the safest outcome.
"Recently, the Pinecone Knights have been opposing our Armored Unarmored Alliance at every turn. Once you've dealt with this matter, take advantage of the power outage to go to their stronghold and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
Roy knew this was a dangerous task, and the kind that was thankless and arduous. He fully utilized his slacker's wisdom in avoiding work, and said with difficulty: