Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

For example, taking banned drugs, undergoing cruel modifications and surgeries, and squeezing out the greatest value in the shortest amount of time are all unwritten rules of the arena.

Conversely, this rarely happens in lower-level qualifiers, since these drugs and equipment are quite expensive, and naturally, valuable assets should be used instead; no one would give these to rookie gladiators.

"Ahem, I'm here to give you instructions for the next match. Play nicely, but don't aim for a win. A draw is fine. Our points will be enough to get us into the semi-finals and secure a ticket to the Grand Championship." Ivan knocked on the door and came in.

"As for the reason, Miss Talulah and we were warned by the Federation and the Arena not to break their rules. Simply put, they demanded that we fix the matches."

However, what's interesting is that our semi-final opponents will be real knights, not those from the arena, but retired veterans and some current knights who have fought alongside the Cavaliers.

"And we must lose to them because it is the requirement of the Knights' Council. They must ensure that the status and honor of knights are not compromised, and they must also require that we not desecrate the knights of war."

“Fine, we’ll lose…” Granati gripped her shield tightly, her veins bulging. Born into a family of lowly knights and then exiled, she had witnessed much helplessness. This was a compromise with reality, wasn’t it?

"Did I say I'd make you lose?" Ivan frowned.

"But the Supervisory Council has already said so, and the Business Federation..."

"How many divisions do they have?" Ivan retorted. "Their true knights are on the frontier, in the wasteland, in the fortresses. How many of their true knights have broken their legs in front of us? I'm letting you draw in the next match just to ensure you can advance to the semifinals on points..."

To ensure both entertainment value and betting potential, Team 1 will compete against Team 4, and Team 2 against Team 3. Teams 2 and 3 will be evenly matched, creating suspense and making it easier for bettors to place bets. Teams 1 and 4 will be significantly stronger, but not to the point of a one-sided victory, allowing for more exciting matches.

Team number 4, which enters by winning points, usually has a lot of hype, such as being a "winning streak king," which creates suspense. Which team wins depends on the clash between the organizers and the various interest groups behind the scenes.

Clearly, the Merchants' Guild was prepared to compromise, or rather, appease, the knights, who seemed content with this appeasement, or at least with temporary satisfaction. But what good did it do? These two forces remained fundamentally opposed.

"Whether it's the Federation or the Knights, in our eyes it's like a pack of foreign dogs and local dogs tearing each other apart, there's no difference."

The knights shaped themselves with past glory and virtue, seemingly leading the people and becoming their only hope and banner under the cruel oppression and exploitation of Kazimierz.

However, Talulah's assessment of this was, "Who do you think was the one who hid behind the high walls, scraped away the last grain of wheat in the village, hanged the rebels from the trees, and killed the infected like pigs and dogs to claim military merit?" The answer was, "The knight." Or, "The nobleman."

And what is the Commercial Union, now portrayed by the knights as a symbol of corruption and evil? It is a squire.

To put it more bluntly, they were artisans and small merchants who were slightly more advanced than the commoners. They managed the land and industries for the knights, while the lords could live a life of debauchery in the castle. At that time, they were also the oppressed.

The oppressed naturally chose to resist, only to be hanged. In despair, they began to hire assassins to carry out their killings. They honed their blades, and if they couldn't kill someone on the battlefield, they would kill them with poison in the palace.

"You see, they've clearly succeeded. The knights have been driven from the center of power, and they've gotten what they verbally asked for. Look, Ivan, this is glory."

"In the lower districts, there is the knights' mercy; in their castles, they can show kindness to serfs and servants, and on the battlefield, they can defend the country and demonstrate heroism. Isn't this exactly what they say they want?" Talulah pointed mockingly at the city streets and the manors of the knights and nobles in the distance.

"So, what are they really after with their slogans? Is it virtue? No, what they want is to continue hanging people from trees, to find an excuse to wipe out caravans, and to claim the goods on the ground as their private property. To do this, they need to hold onto force tightly and portray themselves as saviors who speak for the oppressors..."

"If they weren't for these bustling cities and factories, but for the vast grasslands and farms, and the castles surrounded by high walls, oh, and of course, the idle lords inside those castles—let me be frank, Ivan—what they want is to destroy these civilizations and return this land to savagery."

Because in this barbaric land, only knights who possessed personal martial prowess could return to the position of oppressor or ruler…

"And now, the infected and the poor at the bottom of society, led by the knights, are rebelling against the Commercial Federation. You see, this moment is just like that moment, except they have chosen the wrong target to follow."

"So, miss, if you had to choose one of the two options, which would you choose?"

“I choose to let myself, let us be the flag, or let everyone become the flag, without blindly following past glories or obeying present authority.”

Talulah clenched her fists. "So, Ivan, my request is..."

"My requirement is that you eliminate every single one of them in the semi-finals!" Ivan scanned the crowd in the lounge.

"Use your skills to the fullest, exhaust your wisdom, and from this day forward, you yourselves will be the banner of the infected. There is no need to follow any decadent chivalrous virtues, nor to obey those despicable merchants. Let them understand."

Whether it's courage, honor, or the force to defend them, it was present in us from the very beginning, or rather, in every infected person… no, in every single one of them.

"We rebel in pursuit of freedom and dignity, not in pursuit of past power and wealth. Those who are dead should stay obediently in their graves!"

"Roar!" An exhilarating voice rang out in the lounge, like a battle cry. Granati clenched his fists tightly; this was the true glory worth fighting for!

"The skills you learn come from the lessons honed in the blood of the Ursus rebels; every inch of your armor and weapons comes from the efforts and sacrifices of the oppressed in the past. None of them come from the pity or reward of any nobleman, nor from the exploitation of the weak."

"Therefore, from this day forward, you should be the winds of change and the banners of freedom!"

“But our supplies don’t come from Lady Talulah or…” Granati said softly.

"Lady Talulah? She herself goes to the fields to plant rice. We follow her because of her ideals and pursuits, and everything she has sacrificed for them, not because of her noble status. In fact, she herself doesn't care about her bloodline or status..."

Ivan from the Xia Group rolled his eyes. "Boss Xia is currently eating sand in the wasteland, inspecting and conditioning the land. To put it bluntly, the infected people on the snowfield don't really understand whether we support him or he supports us."

Because the Infected Commune does exist, but after thinking about it, it doesn't seem like they're supporting Lao Xia and the group themselves. If we're talking about the Workshop Street, they're probably self-sufficient, but the Farm...

Thinking about it carefully, none of the means of production were created by their own hands, and the high-yield crops all came from Lao Xia's contributions. Everyone was puzzled as to whether their labor was really worth the price.

The answer is: Yes, it's enough.

However, there is an extra component here: the resources that Lao Xia carries come from the output of Star Alliance workers.

Therefore, they developed the illusion that they were exploiting Lao Xia in return—in reality, strictly speaking, their labor was basically commensurate with their income, and the excess value came from their or Lao Xia's exploitation of Star Alliance workers.

Therefore, the things we enjoy now will have to be repaid if the Beacon Project is implemented in the future. According to the principle of emergency avoidance, it is reasonable for Lao Xia to use these Covenant equipment and agricultural resources that do not belong to him.

But once you're safe, the depreciation of scrapped equipment, consumed non-renewable seeds, and machine hours will have to be applied.

The knights exchanged bewildered glances; the fact that Miss Talulah could plant rice seedlings by herself was already enough to shatter their worldview.

Although Talulah wasn't actually doing the work of a farmer—that would have been a waste of her labor—she was planting rice to demonstrate and experience the labor for others, so that she could determine a reasonable reward after the tokens were issued.

Then the owner of the Xia Group, an agricultural, mining, and military industrial conglomerate that has become increasingly renowned in recent days, spends all his time on the production line. Most of the machinery and production materials used to improve productivity now come from his personal wisdom rather than the collective wisdom of the group.

So, not only Ivan couldn't understand it, but Granati also couldn't understand who was really the boss being supported. From this perspective, it seemed like Boss Xia was the one supporting everyone...

Actually, no. As productivity increases, the value of an individual's labor also rises, and they should naturally receive higher compensation. Of course, the requirements for workers' skills will also increase, and it is wrong to link the value of labor with how hard it is to work.

Otherwise, if any ancient farmer worked harder than a modern farmer, should they be paid more? Not necessarily… but sophisticated capitalists and certain other capitalists like to link the value of labor with the effort put in.

Seeing that the Red Pine team's competitive knights were all looking ready to go all out, Ivan knocked on the cabinet, making a loud banging sound, "Don't get too excited. The next match is going to be a draw. Don't go up there and crush the opponent. That would be terrible."

The opposing team is a weak team. If we draw, we can get the winning points and avoid being kicked out of the top ten. This way, they can have a better life, even though the opponent is still essentially trying to take advantage of them.

"What about the poor who bet on our victory?" They pinned all their hopes on the Red Pine team. Although the odds kept falling, it was still money.

Moreover, this team truly represents the hope for advancement for infected individuals or those from the lower classes, letting them know that as long as they have the ability, they can also create their own future.

This is also the reason for another conversation between Talulah and Ivan: "Miss, what if we have to choose only one?"

“I choose the Federation…” Talulah said calmly. “Although they are corrupt, tyrannical, use the arena to win people’s hearts and cultivate military power, and alienate social relations into purely monetary relations, I don’t like them, but I have no choice but to choose them.”

"Compared to the stone wall formed by blood ties, the glass made of money is easier to break. And objectively, they have indeed created jobs and given the underprivileged a glimmer of hope, although at the cost of creating more underprivileged people than in the past. But Ivan, you also need to see one thing in turn."

Talulah pointed to the city below, "The population has increased."

"Ok?"

"What does the increase in population mean? It means that the Commercial Federation has indeed supported more people. The old knight system couldn't support so many people, nor could it have built such a large city with so few deaths."

“You’re right, but…” Ivan was still a little uncomfortable.

"This shows that the Business Federation is indeed more economically advanced than the Knight Manor, even if it's just a little bit. Even if out of ten thousand poor people and infected people, not one will become a competitive knight and enter the next class, there will still be one."

"To paraphrase the doctor from Rhodes Island, even if it's only a little bit better than before, it's still a better world, isn't it?"

It's much better than going back to that darkness and oppression. Having someone like this is better than being utterly suppressed by knights, nobles, and bloodlines, destined to be slaves for generations to come, isn't it?

“Uh…” Ivan nodded silently. Indeed, even if only one person can be reborn through this method, it is still better than absolute darkness with no hope at all.

"Being a slave for a lifetime is better than being a slave for generations... and being a slave for a while is better than being a slave for a lifetime. Although none of them are as good as not having slaves at all, but..." The grand arena outside the window is the place where the infected can be slaves for only a short time.

“So, if I had to choose between the two, I would choose the Federation. I would choose to let those knights, no matter how noble their status, how glorious their past, or how many merits they have, rest in their graves instead of jumping up and dragging everyone back to their coffins.” Talulah clenched her hands.

"Therefore, the concept of the War Knights must be reorganized or even eliminated from history. Either the Business Federation will do it, or I will do it, or I will force them to do it. They and I must choose one."

"I think it's time for us to force them to do it." It's too early to do it directly if they're not from Kazimierz, so we can only force the Federation and the Knights to choose one of them.

The most direct approach would be the competition itself. A draw would show that they were abiding by the rules of the Commercial Federation, while the next step would be to slaughter all the participating knights and show them no respect. In that case, the Federation would only have three options.

1. Unite the knights to suppress Talulah. However, the knights who have the power will inevitably gain the right to speak here. The alliance is not a stable government. They are just a group of merchants fighting against the knights and nobles to protect their property. Talulah can retreat, but what will they do after they win?

2. Unite with Talulah to suppress the knights and completely liberate Kazimierz from feudal rule. At least for now, Talulah and they seem to be on the same side, both profiting from the arena, or at least that's how they see it.

3. Turning against Talulah, yet refusing to submit to the knights, taking on two at once—ah, that's true bravery, super bravery!

The advantage is that when Xia and Talulah liberate Kazimierz later, they won't have to hang these merchants. And given Talulah's understanding of the knights and nobles from Black Serpent...

Yes, they will force all these merchants and everyone else, except for slave owners and compradors like brokers, to come here.

As for individual knights, there are certainly some who are kind, virtuous, compassionate, and righteous.

For example, some members of the Lin Guang family fulfilled the noble spirit of the Golden Spirit by sacrificing their lives on the battlefield and elsewhere.

However, the nobility of an individual cannot represent the nobility of the entire class, nor can it demonstrate the class's progressiveness. A knight-errant, as an individual, may possess very noble virtues, and may even be extremely beloved—

However, as a class, knights, or rather, knightly nobles, had to be buried in the ground—it's that simple logic.

"Those poor people who put in money? We can only try to tell them not to bet on this round. And then again, are people who are used to getting something for nothing through gambling... worth saving?"

"This……"

"Alright, our people will inform them. If they really can't suppress their greed, then they have only themselves to blame."

After all, not all people from the lower classes are kind, just as not all nobles and knights are evil. There will always be lumpenproletariat and the like.

[PS]

Has Hypergryph changed its copywriter? He doesn't seem to be on the same level as the previous copywriter, "Riddler." It seems that after Hypergryph started paying for copywriters, their skills have definitely improved. This also proves that all your previous criticism was meaningless—because they didn't have any copywriters at all; you were just criticizing thin air.

Chapter Nineteen: The Sunset That Refuses to Set

Chapter 19

The conflict between the Business Federation and the Supervisory Council continues to escalate, but for the time being, they are maintaining a relatively peaceful attitude. After all, things are not like they will be a decade or two later, and the conflict over the new land parcels and the power shifts within the Unarmored Alliance have not yet completely intensified.

However, some undercurrents have already begun to stir within the organization. Some members of the Federation have started to consider clearing out infected individuals who are illegally residing in the city, which will inevitably cause the appeasement effect brought about by the Infected Knight Act to be completely lost.

The so-called Infected Knight Act states that if an Infected person makes a name for themselves in the Triennial Major at the Grand Arena, they can obtain the title of Knight.

"Although it's a bit difficult to say, Miss Talulah, could you...?" The high knight hesitated for a moment, then continued, "...not interfere in this competition?"

There is only one titled knight left in Kazimierz this year, and the Knights' Council will definitely want to get it. As the traditional lord of Kazimierz, it would be too ridiculous if someone from Talulah got a titled knight.

“No, I’ve already placed a huge bet, I can’t back out. I absolutely need to make it to the semifinals.” Talulah shook her head. “Ivan, see the guest out.”

"I hope you won't regret it..."

“Whether I’m the daughter of the Red Dragon, the adopted daughter of Kosichä, or the Silver Dragon of the Snowfield, I have never regretted it,” Talulah said calmly, looking at the Grand Knight Commander before her.

The other party's intention was simple: to stop her team from advancing beyond the semifinals, and to prevent the Infected Knights team from appearing in the semifinals. It was that simple. The Infected Knight Act was introduced by the Business Federation, and its essence was to dilute and desanctify the power and noble bloodline of knights.

If a bunch of filthy trash from the underground can brazenly enter the semi-finals and obtain the title of knight, then what is the point of the noble title of knight?

When a large number of infected individuals and even commoner knights enter the Supervisory Council, these knights, who are not part of the same interest group as noble knights and war knights, will gradually gain a voice.