Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

Accepting the price offered by the Business Federation is one thing, but fixing the match is another. Roy isn't like those knights who joined the Knights and were supported by large corporations; he's not a hound kept by the Business Federation. There's no need for him to do something against his conscience and lower his status. Besides, do you think he can't see through the Business Federation's little schemes? Fixing a match, once done, leaves evidence against him, and Roy doesn't want to be restricted by them in this kind of place.

Moreover, Marna isn't so easily fooled. Although surrendering on the spot is unlikely to be noticed in theory, it's always better to be absolutely certain.

Roy looked at the two Sarkaz with broken horns sitting there blankly. They remained silent about their repeatedly arranged fates, as if they were not two people sitting there, but just two empty suits of armor.

Speaking of which, Marna seems to have a Sarkaz brother who's a bounty hunter, isn't his name Toran?

In the original storyline, after Corruption and Wither were defeated, they seemed to be rescued and healed by Toran. Toran also had connections with two other bounty hunters.

With a thought, Roy said:

"These two knights are Sarkaz, right? And they seem to be Infected as well?"

Charlene and McKee exchanged a glance. Although they didn't know how Roy had figured out they were infected, they nodded nonetheless.

"Yes, they are quite strong. If they weren't infected, we wouldn't have specially crafted full-body armor for two Sarkaz."

After all, if they weren't concealed from their Oripathy crystals and were allowed to appear on the field, it could potentially cause panic. Blood Knights, for example, were already exceptional cases.

“Perfect.” Roy nodded. “Could I borrow them for a while?”

"Borrow? What do you need them for?"

“Find someone,” Roy said. “A bounty hunter.”

............

As Roy stepped out of the Knights Guild building, he whistled a cheerful tune.

The issue of corruption and decline was temporarily put on hold. The Business Federation was unlikely to easily agree to lend two Sarkaz infected individuals, who could easily spiral out of control and cause large-scale riots, to Roy, a "new friend" with whom they had just formed an agreement and who wasn't even considered a full-fledged recruit. But Roy wasn't in a hurry. The Major had only just entered the playoffs, and he and Toran hadn't had much interaction yet, so there was no need to rush to build goodwill. Besides, they would have to agree eventually, whether they wanted to or not.

In response, a cat meowed, and Roy greeted Monique, who was still hidden in the shadows. Then, as if he were suddenly thirsty, he walked toward an ice cream truck by the roadside.

"Little girl, selling ice cream in the dead of winter?"

Looking at the white-haired Kuranta girl wearing a baseball cap and with a cute pink heart sticker on her face, Roy chuckled and teased.

The disguised Hinterlea rolled her eyes at him, her expression completely natural, without a trace of pretense, just like a real ice cream stand hostess.

She reached into the box, took out an ice cream cone, and said indifferently:

What flavor would you like?

“Let me think, half matcha and half strawberry,” Roy said. After the limited edition ice cream truck from the Hinterlander handed him the ice cream, he pushed it back to Platinum, winked at him, and said, “This is for you, beautiful lady... consider it a mission bonus (lowering his voice).” Then he added, “I want chocolate flavor.”

Hinterlea's face flushed slightly, then she glared at him with a mixture of embarrassment and anger, before giving him a new chocolate ice cream.

Roy, caught off guard, took the ice cream, paid, and turned to leave when he bumped into Ms. Felin, a blue-haired woman who had somehow ended up in line behind him. The ice cream slipped from his hand, but was miraculously caught by Ms. Felin in the next instant.

"I'm sorry." Monique, with an innocent expression, handed the ice cream back to Roy apologetically, asking, "Are you alright?"

Roy shook his head and reminded him, "It's okay, thank you."

With that, she took the ice cream from Monique and walked towards the street.

A dozen minutes later, a commotion arose from not far down the street. A group of people dressed as police officers quickly weaved through the crowd and surrounded the ice cream truck.

"Meteor Knight poisoned in the street and hospitalized! Accident or murder? Wine News reporter Apophis brings you live coverage!" Holding a microphone, reporter Li Boli, who arrived at the scene immediately, said excitedly to the camera.

P.S.: I'm doing a gacha pull tomorrow!

Volume 1: Chapter 64 Self-Directed and Self-Acted

Kasimir, Central Hospital.

A series of hurried footsteps echoed through the quiet hospital corridor, finally stopping at the door of room number 301. The person, covered in sweat, glanced up at the room to make sure they hadn't gone to the wrong place, then loosened their tie, wiped away their sweat, swallowed hard, and walked into the room with a heavy heart.

The visitor was none other than Charne, and the person currently residing in the room, needless to say, was none other than Roy, the Meteor Knight who had been "poisoned and assassinated" in the street.

As Charne stepped through the door, he was incredibly nervous. He'd really screwed over with the Hound Pro; who knew what was going on? Roy had been having a good talk with them, had just left the Knights' Guild, and then suddenly he was poisoned and assassinated. If you said this had nothing to do with the Business Federation, no one would believe you.

Moreover, the poisoner's methods were so skillful that almost no one noticed and there were no positive eyewitness reports. It was clearly the work of a professional. But where did the only professional killer in Kazimierz come from?

No clan alliance.

Who then commands the Unarmored Alliance?

Chamber of Commerce.

After the Business Federation realized what was happening, they immediately summoned the intermediary of the Unarmored Alliance. Upon inquiring, they discovered that the Unarmored Alliance indeed had such an urgent task on their list. This meant that, without the board's approval to use the Unarmored Alliance on Roy, one or more directors had acted on their own initiative, activating the Unarmored Alliance without the board's knowledge, leading to the current predicament.

Therefore, even if Charné truly knew nothing about this incident, the Business Federation had no choice but to take the blame. They couldn't shift the blame onto someone else, even if they wanted to. Roy and the others wouldn't believe it.

The Business Federation is currently holding an emergency internal meeting to investigate the matter. He has been chosen as their representative to discuss with Roy how to resolve it.

Thinking of this, Char felt even more speechless. Although he didn't know who this director of the Unarmored Alliance was who acted without authorization, why did he have to make his move now, right when he had finally negotiated the terms? Was he deliberately targeting him? He sent the person away, and then the person was poisoned. What about his reputation? How could he continue to work in the underworld? Not to mention, he was clumsy in his actions. He poisoned the person, but he didn't even send him away. Now he's in this awkward situation. This person is not someone to be trifled with.

Suppressing the throbbing pain in his chest, Charné forced a smile. Just as he was about to greet Roy, who was lying on the hospital bed, he noticed Roy's bizarre appearance.

At this moment, Roy lay peacefully on the hospital bed, his hands folded over his abdomen. Around him, baskets of flowers from visitors surrounded him, while various fruit baskets were placed on the bedside table. At first glance, he appeared to have passed away peacefully, which startled Charné. It took him a while to recover and he cautiously asked:

"Mr. Roy, are you alright?"

Roy didn't even open his eyes, and immediately launched into a sarcastic remark: "Something's happened, something serious. Why didn't Mr. Charnet bring some incense? Or at least some offerings. Weren't you just hoping to see me lying like this in the funeral home?"

Charne's eyelids twitched, and he quickly denied it, saying, "Mr. Roy, what are you saying? You are the most popular Grand Knight in Kazimierz. If you fall, it will be a huge loss for the entire knightly arena."

Roy didn't mince words, sitting up with a chuckle and asking in return, "Why didn't you think of this when you arranged for someone to poison me?"

Charn could only reply with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, I really didn't know about this."

"Unaware?" Roy curled his lip in disdain. "Does anyone believe you? Who else but the Unarmored Alliance would dare to carry out such an open assassination in the Great Knight Territory?"

Roy knew about the Unarmored Alliance. Charne immediately picked up on this information, but quickly shook his head.

So what if they know? There's nothing surprising about it. To the general public in Kazimierz, the Unarmored Alliance might just be a vague urban legend, but higher up, high knights like the Blood Knights and Candle Knights already know the truth: the Unarmored Alliance is indeed real. This is also a tactic the knightly orders use to control their knights.

The fact that Roy knew this only meant that his background was not simple. But did Charlene need to discover this now? The Business Federation had already reached this conclusion long before Roy began to make his mark.

Seeing Roy directly mention the Unarmored Alliance, Charnet could only sigh and shake his head helplessly:

“What Mr. Roy said is indeed true. The only ones capable of carrying out assassinations in the Great Knight Territory are the Unarmored Alliance. But I can also tell you with certainty that if the assassination attempt against you was indeed carried out by the Unarmored Alliance, you would not have the opportunity to speak with me like this now.”

That's what Charne was trying to bluff. The Unarmored Alliance is indeed powerful, but they're not capable of succeeding in every assassination. They also need planning and repeated attempts to find the best opportunity to kill their target. Assassinations that can kill with a single blow generally require at least a Platinum-rank or higher Unarmored Alliance leader to carry out.

The person who attempted to assassinate Roy was probably just an ordinary member of the Unarmored Alliance, which is why Roy survived.

But Charne didn't believe that Roy, a knight, would know these secrets of the Unarmored Alliance, which is why he openly used them as a bargaining chip.

And Roy? Roy subtly shifted his gaze. Charlene interpreted this small gesture as guilt.

In reality, how could Roy not know? He knew, and that was it!

Not only did he know, but he was also involved in the planning of this assassination. His partners were another Azure Gold expert and the newly appointed Platinum Gold expert. It was arguably the strongest assassination lineup below the Black Iron level.

To ensure the assassination's authenticity, Roy even had Monique use a potent poison, and instead of taking the antidote beforehand as planned, he forcibly withstood the poison thanks to the Sea Child physique granted by the [Last Knight] module. This is why the Business Federation couldn't detect any flaws in their plan.

The purpose of undertaking such a large project is naturally nothing other than to demand exorbitant prices!

"Hmph, whatever you say, I'll take it as true!" Roy said stubbornly, feigning reluctance, "But I still need an explanation for this."

"Regarding the instigator, the Federation will give you a satisfactory answer after an internal investigation," Charne said, making no mention of compensation, seemingly intending to continue playing dumb.

But Roy had no intention of giving him that chance. Before he could finish, Roy said righteously, "Charne, you know, my explanation goes beyond this."

"Agree to three conditions, or our agreement is null and void. Even if it means being assassinated by the Unarmored Alliance again, I will expose everything that happened today and on the field!"

Volume 1: Chapter 65 It doesn't matter, I'll open the market.

Kasimir Business Federation, Federation Building.

The KGCC fluorescent sign was a bit dim today.

While Charlene was being tormented and blackmailed by Roy in the hospital, the Business Federation wasn't idle either. The board of directors was summoned for the third time in a week, all because of the same person—an unprecedented event. Yet, no one dared to object. Because, at this point, anyone who dared to say no was hindering their profits. Cutting off someone's livelihood was, for these capitalists, far more cruel than murdering their parents! Therefore, they wouldn't hesitate to use even more ruthless methods against anyone who dared to do so!

A fist slammed heavily on the round table, silencing the board of directors. Only Kane, the reporter who had convened the meeting, was left raging!

"Smash it! Smash it, you hear me!"

His gaze swept over everyone present, and he spat without any mercy.

"Do you know you've smashed things? One minute you're negotiating, the next you're trying to assassinate someone, and you even did it behind the board's back. Who gave you the guts to break the rules like this?"

"Gentlemen, if the Unarmored Alliance can be mobilized by private individuals at will, then let alone using the Unarmored Alliance to restrain the knights and fight against the Supervisory Council, the lives and property of all of us will be threatened! This is no small matter! I have always believed that none of you would do something so thoughtless, but now, I have to say that there is a traitor among us!"

Kane's tone was agitated, as if he were genuinely indignant. He reached out and took the transparent sealed bag from McGee beside him, which contained an official seal bearing the KGCC mark. Without any embellishment or giving anyone room for explanation or negotiation, Kane didn't hesitate for a moment. He held up the sealed bag, showing it to everyone, and before anyone could react, he declared directly:

"This is what I found in the home of Regenerative Pharmaceuticals' chairman, Amar; it's the forged official seal of the Business Federation's board of directors. Clearly, one of our traitors was foolish enough to think he could forge an official seal without being caught!"

The meeting room erupted in uproar. Compared to the quiet when they were just condemned for arbitrarily mobilizing the Unarmored Alliance, the clamor now nearly shook the roof off.

It's just a private mobilization of the Undead Alliance. Everyone has done it before, it's just something we all tacitly agree on. It's really not a big deal, far less serious than what reporter Kane made it out to be. You can mobilize them, and I can mobilize them too. In short, nobody can mobilize them, right?

But forging official seals is a different story. The business association represents the interests of everyone. If one person forges an official seal and acts alone, they could very well do something that benefits only themselves and goes against the interests of the group. For these people, if they can't make money together, then it's best if no one makes money at all. Otherwise, watching others make money while they can't is even more painful than losing money themselves.

Besides, if it weren't for forming an organization to fight against the Supervisory Council and the old knights and nobles, and to overthrow the feudal lords who used to ride roughshod over them, the Merchants' Association wouldn't have been established. Now that they've become successful and aren't afraid of the Supervisory Council anymore, a traitor has emerged from within who wants to be superior to us. What's going on? On what grounds?

Soon, the noisy crowd united, and the highly respected chairman of the Kavaleriaki General Electric Company was chosen. He grabbed his beard and demanded, "Emar, you have to give us an explanation!"

Aymar had nothing to say.

He knew Kane was seeking revenge, and that he was deceiving and inciting others in order to do so. But he couldn't refute it.

Even if he were incredibly stupid, he wouldn't stoop to something as foolish as forging an official seal. The seal he used to command the Unarmored Alliance was undoubtedly the genuine seal of the Kazimierz Commercial Federation. He could tell others about it, but he knew it wouldn't change anything.

Forging official seals is never a big deal. A seal enthusiast might collect a series of counterfeit seals, from Victorian royal seals to the jade seal of the Great Yan Emperor, but he wouldn't be punished for his collection. He knew very well that the real reason his colleagues were angry was because he had abused his power.

They don't like being represented.