Arknights' Lock of Heaven

I teamed up with you, but in the end, Maria defeated me, and I watched helplessly as my score dropped to zero...

Who would want to?

The knights around him not only didn't respond, but instead retreated even further.

The gray-haired knight sighed and resignedly looked at Maria, who was slowly walking towards him.

Alright, let's run.

Maintaining your score is a victory; don't think about anything else.

Thus began the real melee, with the knights attacking each other.

Sona also began happily racking up points, her fiery red figure dashing east and west across the arena, using her speed to rake in points from everyone.

Only Maria and the gray-haired girl seemed to be outsiders, chasing and fleeing, and wherever they went, everyone avoided them.

Meanwhile, in his own mansion, Pavel, the president of the Howling Guard, had smashed his wine glass to pieces while watching the television broadcast.

The precious wine, originally from Gaul and now part of Victoria, was spilled on the floor, its flamboyant scarlet color foreshadowing his less-than-pleasant mood.

Changing the competition format is no small matter.

He devised the plan together with some of his former adversaries and allies on this matter.

The plan was almost perfect. Maria, who was good at defense but not offense, would definitely lose all her points in this competition, and the qualifiers were almost over.

She simply couldn't accumulate enough points in such a short time.

But who would have thought she had this trick up her sleeve?

Moreover, he did not panic when he heard about the temporary changes to the competition rules. Instead, he calmly abandoned his shield and did not retaliate against the first gray-haired opponent. Instead, he waited until there were enough people before making his move to intimidate the others.

And now he's chasing the gray-haired guy, but he always stays far behind, showing that he has no intention of joining the competition...

This looks like it was premeditated.

Therefore, someone must have leaked the plan.

Pavel took a deep breath and turned to walk onto the balcony of the mansion.

“Bird, oh bird,” he said to his beloved pet, “who do you think leaked the plan?”

"Is it the Shield of Glory? Or Leicester? Or perhaps..."

The beautiful bird he had bought from a foreign merchant two months ago tilted its head and looked at him.

"Ugh……"

He didn't expect the bird to actually answer him; in fact, it would be quite alarming if it did.

He was just making up his mind.

After thinking for a long time, Pavel took out his phone and dialed a mysterious number that did not exist in his contacts.

"Verify identity, Howling Guard, Pavel, password 1821."

"Dear Director, what are your instructions?"

"Starting today, launch an assassination attempt on target number 13!"

"Is this a solo project or a collaborative project...?"

“A joint statement!” Pavel’s eyes narrowed as he said this. “Notify Brilliant Shield, Leicester, Meshko…”

He rattled off a long list of company names.

"Dear Director Pavel, this is not in accordance with regulations... You must first obtain the consent of the aforementioned director..."

“Do as I say,” Pavel said expressionlessly. “You just need to inform them.”

"They will naturally decide whether or not they should join."

After saying that, Pavel hung up the phone.

He was convinced that someone had reached an agreement with the Rinko family behind their backs.

Otherwise, the news wouldn't have leaked.

If that person named Xia Yu were to side with one of them...

We must not let this opportunity slip by.

As long as it's not on his side, no matter which company he invests in, the traffic he accumulates will follow him to that company.

The consequence would be a reduction in their own market share, given the large number of people in the Grand Knights Territory watching them, and the effectiveness of Maria Nearl's armor being undeniable.

Therefore, this person absolutely cannot live!

A fake business war: Both sides scheme against each other, sending corporate spies to play a real-life werewolf game, stealing secrets, strategizing, and planning far ahead.

Real business warfare; directly poisoning opponents, ordering assassinations, hiring people to run over cars—no means are too extreme.

Instead of slowly probing to find out who offered him the olive branch, it's better to just solve the problem directly and get it over with.

As the Wuzhou Alliance confirmed the information, the companies he mentioned also responded one after another.

Because they also wanted to know who had recruited Xia Yu.

And in response to Pavel's proposal, it was approved immediately.

In any case, this person has become a potential threat in their eyes.

Although the benefits of recruiting him would be enormous, however…

With so many people, there's no guarantee that I can recruit him, nor can I guarantee that I can keep him after recruiting him.

So it would be better to just kill the one who caused the problem and get rid of him once and for all.

While they enjoyed themselves, some people were unhappy.

Business Federation Building.

Platinum looked at the mission briefing in front of him, then at the two Blue Golds.

"Are you sure... you want me to kill him?"

Platinum took a deep breath and tried hard to control his temper.

"really?"

"What, you've been watching him for a while and then you've become mesmerized by his face?"

Roy raised an eyebrow and said with interest, "Hmm, if that's the case... we can give you time to escape!"

Monique, who was standing next to him, also looked over coldly.

"Why don't you go yourself?" Upon hearing this, Platinum really wanted to jump up and smash those two's heads.

But then I thought, I really can't beat them...

So they could only continue to swallow their anger.

Wait!

She looked at the lapis lazuli in front of her.

One day, I will make you...

"Hey, I'm asking you a question!" Roy glanced at the sulking Platinum and said, "Are you really smitten with him?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, have you forgotten what happened to your master?"

"Why don't you do it yourselves?"

Calm down, calm down, I can't beat them...

Bai Jin took a deep breath and said calmly, "Why should I be the one to assassinate him?"

“Look at what you’re saying,” Roy raised an eyebrow. “It’s all because you’ve been monitoring him for so long and you know him well.”

"..."

"Have you ever considered... that I might actually be no match for them?"

"Are you sure?" Roy looked Platinum up and down. "Hmm, a support-type Originium Arts user... You can't beat him?"

"Feelings are just simple feelings!"

Platinum delivered the lines she had already prepared.

“I always felt that he had discovered my surveillance long ago.”

“Every time he looked in my direction, it really made me…”

At this point, Bai Jin recalled the night they first met, when he turned around and saw more than twenty of his men dying silently.

"It makes my heart race..."

The emotions expressed in these words are genuine and without the slightest hint of pretense.

Seeing her face turn pale instantly, Roy and Monique exchanged a glance.

It really doesn't look like an act...

“I’ve already mentioned these things in my daily reports, haven’t you seen them?”

Well, they did see it, but having already begun to suspect Platinum, they used it as an excuse for the other party to slack off.