Now That It Had Come to This, Better Sleep First

"Victory! The victor— the Black Iron Knight!!!"

Big Mouth Mob frozen on the stage. Rust Copper lost?

How could he lose? How dare he lose!?

The deed is done, Big Mouth Mob cheers through gritted teeth.

"A huge upset!!! The rookie knight crushed the Rusty Knight with a single, devastating blow!"

Let's cheer for this new legend!!!

Like a punctured balloon, after a brief silence, a deafening roar erupted.

"No--! My money! I've bet it all on Rust Copper!!!"

"Hahaha! We won! It was an upset! A huge upset!"

"Cheating! This is absolutely cheating! I demand a rematch! I demand to verify their identity!"

Curses, wails, incredulous screams... countless sounds nearly lifted the dome of the arena.

The noise from the audience had nothing to do with Gregor. He was in a bad mood and silently walked past the ecstatic businessman into the elevator.

The elevator doors closed, shutting out all the madness.

The VIP section of the stands presents a completely different scene.

"Quickly! Send someone to rescue that idiot Ormer! If he's crippled, my entire investment is ruined!"

The sponsor, sweating profusely, roared into the communicator.

"Wait! Send a team to intercept that Sarkaz who's leaving! Sign him at all costs! Now! Immediately!"

"Yes!"

When the medical team rushed to the location of the Rusty Knight, they found a Vouivre woman already standing there.

"Who are you? What did you do to the injured person?!"

Saria didn't turn around, and said calmly.

He is dead.

Her voice was calm and even, stating the cold, hard truth:

"His entire body above the chest was shattered, and his head was vaporized... Notify his family."

A medical worker instinctively tried to grab her arm:

"You can't leave! You've made contact with the Rusty Knight; you must cooperate..."

Before she could finish speaking, the thick concrete wall beside Saria suddenly thudded and collapsed instantly at the spot where she had lightly pressed her palm.

The medical staff's words came to an abrupt halt; cold sweat instantly soaked their backs, and their outstretched hands froze in mid-air.

Saria then slightly turned her head, her eyes as cold as ice:

"Tell your superiors that the death of the Rusty Knight must not be publicized."

"His life was bought by Rhine Lab, and the person who handled this matter was Saria, the head of Rhine Lab Defense Division."

Inside the Business Federation office building, SilverAsh and the man in front of him Feline, were having a pleasant conversation.

"Mr. Justin truly lives up to his title as the head of the business department at Rhine Lab; I have benefited greatly from our conversation."

"I feel the same way. Mr. SilverAsh doesn't seem like a businessman at all; he's more like..."

"Politician?"

Seeing that SilverAsh made no attempt to hide his self-assessment, Justin nodded in agreement.

"Yes, could it be that Mr. SilverAsh is some important figure in his hometown?"

"No, it's nothing compared to you."

"... If it were before, I would have accepted this compliment."

Justin sighed, making no attempt to hide the predicament of his company.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, Rhine Lab is currently facing a severe shortage of funds. If someone could seize this opportunity to invest, they would surely gain the friendship of Rhine Lab..."

SilverAsh silently moved a little further away from Justin. Just as he was hesitating about what excuse to use to run away, Justin's terminal rang.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back."

"Please go ahead."

SilverAsh breathed a sigh of relief as Justin left.

Although what the other party said was very tempting, it was a hole that could cripple even the wealthy and powerful Rhine Lab.

He admitted that he didn't have that ability.

Shaking his head, SilverAsh prepared to leave first, just then he heard Justin's scream.

"What do you mean? When did we incur another large expense?!"

The elevator doors opened, and as Gregor stepped out of the passageway, a tidal wave of blinding flashes and deafening noise assaulted him.

"Black Iron Knight! Look here! May I ask your true identity? Are you really Infected?"

"Is the Rusty Knight really dead? Was that attack a deliberate act of murder or an accident?!"

"What is your relationship with the Black Knight who appeared earlier? Are you a couple!?"

"Please take off your helmet! Let us see what you really look like!"

The questions were increasingly sharp and piercing, the microphone practically poking Gregor in the face.

[...]

A jumble of sounds flooded his mind, and Gregor clenched his fists.

Boom--!

The scorching flames exploded, and the people in the front row retreated one after another.

A petite figure rushed against the flow of people to Gregor, spreading her arms to shield him from view.

"Get away from the boss, you bunch of nasty bastards!"

Ifrit's face was filled with rage, and orange flames rose from her body, though far smaller than Gregor's, they were intensely unapproachable.

After a brief silence, a barrage of camera flashes erupted.

"Oh my god! Quick, take a picture! Who is this girl?!"

"The same Flame Originium Arts! Could he be the Black Iron Knight's child?!"

"No, no, no! This must be the illegitimate daughter of the Black Iron Knight and the Black Knight?!"

"The age doesn't match, does it? And her race..."

"What do you know! Big news! Exclusive! Multiple angles! The headline is: <Black Iron Knight Slays Enemy on the Field, Suspected of Having an Illegitimate Daughter with the Three-Time Champion>"

"Breaking news! We've got today's headline!"

The reporters were flushed with excitement, and instead of calming down, the scene became even more chaotic.

Looking at the small figure trying to protect him, Gregor's violent anger gradually subsided.

Gregor gently patted Ifrit's head, drawing a puzzled look from her, which calmed the agitation in his heart considerably.

Gregor picked up the girl, and flames cleared a path for them.

[Go home...]

In the dimly lit room, the flickering light from the television screen illuminated a delicate face with no expression.

The current Platinum- ranked player is repeatedly playing the scene of the Black Iron Knight blasting away the Rusty Rust Copper with a single blow.

I picked up my personal terminal and pulled up a few slightly blurry screenshots from street surveillance cameras.

After carefully comparing the figure on the TV with the strange TV-headed man in the screenshot:

Current Platinum: "..."

After a long silence, the current Platinum picked up his terminal and dialed a number.

[Hello? Today is my day off. I hope there's no more urgent cleaning work?]

A woman's voice, tinged with weariness and resignation, came through; the current Platinum's voice was calm and even.

"No, I have good news to tell you."

[... Thank goodness! You're not going to tell me I got a promotion and a raise, are you?]

"That's right." The current Platinum member affirmed without changing his expression, "From today onwards, you are 'Platinum'."

[...]

There was a five-second silence on the other end of the communication line, with only a faint electrical noise.

"By the way, as part of your first mission to celebrate your promotion to 'Platinum,' the relevant materials and information on the temporary location of your objective have been sent to your terminal."

[Wait! What's going on?! Why so suddenly?! You're not going to dump some terrible mess on me...]

"Snap."

On the other side, in a rather simple rented room.

Centaurea suddenly jumped out of bed, staring intently at the terminal screen.

"Investigate the 'strange man with a TV on his head'... Location: Hotel in XX block... Physical characteristics..." She quickly scanned the information, her brows furrowing deeper with each page.

"Does this even need an investigation? We should just go and handle it on-site... Is this really an assassination mission?"

Clinging to a last sliver of hope that "what if it isn't," the Kuranta girl, who hadn't even warmed up to the "Platinum" title, tried searching for the "Black Iron Knight" mentioned there.

Shocking! Nameless Sarkaz instantly kills Rusty Knight! Was it skill or a conspiracy?

<The untold story of the Triple Crown King and the Black Iron Knight: Suspected illegitimate daughter identifies herself at the scene!>

<Business Federation at risk of backlash? The power struggle behind the death of the Rusty Knight!>

Centaurea rubbed her eyes, remained silent for a long time, and then pulled the covers over her head.

"Since things have come to this, let's go to sleep..."

"Boss, are we just going to come back like this?"

In the Vitality Hall, Ifrit lay on top of Gregor, craning her neck downwards.

Holding the other person's waist to prevent them from falling, Gregor spat out a ball of sparks.

[An unidentified roar of Flame Demon]

(I can't speak right now; I have to wait for the third brother to return the Ten Percent Off.)

Seeing that Ifrit still looked puzzled, Gregor sighed and asked in the group chat.

[Gregor: Gorth, third brother, have you finished using it?]

[Gorth: It's been used, but there probably isn't time to return it now.]

[Vera: Third brother, what happened to you?]

[Gorth: It's nothing... there are just a lot of refugees.]

[Vane: Be more specific.]

[Gorth: Estimated at over 500.]

[Vera: How much!?]

[Vane: Third brother, did you rob the mine?]

[Gorth: No... They said they came following my directions, but I don't know any of them.]

[Gregor: What are you planning to do with them?]

[Gorth: About this... I plan to have them help plant trees.]

Ursus, outside the Black Forest.

The Infected looked tremblingly at the tall figure before them; after the figure appeared, even the wind seemed to quiet down considerably.

Shadows rippled beneath Gorth's feet, revealing several bags of fertilizer and a large quantity of meat.

Under everyone's gaze, Gorth spoke haltingly in his newly learned Ursus language.

"You are fertilizing the forest."

"I'm giving you a chance to live."

To the astonishment of the crowd, the forest unfolded, with giant vines tumbling and intertwining in the shadows.

Finally, the neat rows of treehouses stood tall on the snowfield.

After a brief silence, the first person knelt down, and one Infected after another knelt on the ground.

"Thank you... Black Forest Lord."

Ignoring the others, Gorth turned and walked towards the forest.

He roughly knew who had brought this group...