Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Long Night Illuminates

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The game is over tonight, and Marner is now completely sober. He sobered up the moment the Red Pine team attacked the Knights and Nobles. With his experience, he realized almost immediately what the infected were up to.

The bloody rules of the arena have never changed. Why? Because here, nobles will not kill the teams of the guild, and merchants will not do such a thing in order to make money.

Even when blood is occasionally needed to stir up the audience's emotions, it is always the infected or civilian knights in the team who are targeted.

This is a business. For the noble children participating in the competition, it is dangerous but exciting, yet they will not lose their lives. The businessmen and the foreign teams participating are somewhat wary, fearing retaliation and attacks from the association afterward, so they will hold back and try not to kill anyone.

Those commoner knights from the lower classes, due to their training, equipment, and other factors, could not possibly cause any harm to the noble lords. It would be good enough if they could win, but it would be extremely difficult to make the lords not even pause the game and kill them directly.

However, the Red Pine team did it, and they did it. No matter how furious the men were or what they did next, the first thing they would do was change the rules, and that was probably the purpose of those infected.

The rules weren't changed in the past because the nobles wouldn't die on the field. But now it's proven that even in this unfair battle, noble knights can still be killed by infected. So naturally, they need to prioritize protecting the lives of the nobles, adjust the rules, prohibit unlimited killing, or increase penalties for accidental killings, etc.

Next, he thought about why these infected people didn't strike tomorrow, but instead attacked this noble team that was just there to gain prestige, instead of tomorrow.

From his perspective and understanding, it was clearly best to target Nearl, as it would eliminate the biggest representative of the knight class.

Secondly, if the Nearl family retaliates, it will destroy the entire spirit of chivalry; if they do not retaliate, the Nearl family, having lost its heir, will inevitably decline.

In fact, in order to uphold the spirit of chivalry, the Nearl family would certainly prevent the Knights Guild from retaliating. And how could the lords of the Knights Guild tolerate the infected commoners who killed nobles going free?

This would also trigger a complete split between the Nearl family and the Knights Association. From any perspective, killing the pony on the field would be the greatest benefit for these infected individuals, the Federation, and the bosses behind them.

That's why Marna sobered up instantly. They didn't do that. It was a kind of kindness, an unprovoked kindness, and this kind of unprovoked kindness is more chilling than malice, because malice is ultimately aimed at you, while no one knows what kindness is plotting.

“My niece will be competing against your people tomorrow. Could you please go easy on her?” Marna asked tentatively. This level of pleading, or rather, groveling, was no problem for the ranger. He had long since abandoned the so-called aristocratic vanity. All he wanted now was to save his niece’s life.

"It's not about surrendering the victory, it's about not killing her..."

“It’s no use telling me this; you have to talk to Sister Talulah!” Kobel shrugged. “But you’re right, we’re not the executioners of the Unarmored Alliance. We’re not interested in killing, and we’ll avoid killing if we can avoid it.”

"Hey, I don't want to kill anyone either, it's too much trouble!" The Platinum-ranked member of the Unarmored Alliance immediately retorted. "Besides, trouble is coming. I've discovered quite a few knight thugs lying in ambush nearby. By the way, if I remember correctly, your team's bus will pass through the area ahead, right?"

"Knight thugs?" Marna was taken aback. Wasn't that the power of the Federation? But why would the Unarmored Alliance notify them of something like this?

"By the way, I've never seen those knight thugs before, and what do they look like..." Platinum handed over a secretly taken photo, "Take a look?"

“They’re not thugs!” Marna could tell at a glance that although they were dressed as knight thugs, they weren’t actually thugs at all.

Knight hooligans fall into two categories: one is those who call themselves knights in underground competitions without even the identity of a competitive knight, and the other is the violent fans of the knight teams, much like football hooligans in England.

Regardless of the type, they lack training; their sabotage tactics are those of thugs. To achieve this level of disciplined ambush, one must follow orders precisely.

Moreover, judging from their equipment and the way they wield weapons, these are all regular knights or knight squires, and they are regular soldiers!

The Knights Rogues have always considered the commercialization of the Arena by the Commercial Union to be the biggest drawback. The resulting chaos and destruction are also the main reasons why the Knights Association attacks commercialization and why the Nearl family opposes it.

However, now that it has been discovered that the Knights Guild is harboring knight hooligans, and even some regular soldiers are posing as knight hooligans, it is hard not to wonder whether the previous incidents were caused by commercialization or were done by the Knights Guild to oppose commercialization.

You see, when a certain aspect of something takes a turn, many people stop thinking about the relationship between the whole thing and start to believe that the whole event has been reversed. Even Marner was no exception and began to have doubts.

"Who are they after? The Red Pine Team, or us?!"

“It can’t be us. The power plant is a matter of great importance. Knight… damn it! Platinum Lord, notify the Unarmored Alliance to stop them from getting closer!” Marna figured it out almost instantly.

If we simply kill the Red Pine team, the Federation will definitely make a fuss, especially since they have no obligation or need to take the blame for the Association. So how can we get people to stop worrying about the Red Pine team's life or death and shift their focus to the infected?

It's like trying to divert people's attention from a big fire by setting up an even bigger one next to it!

To vent their anger over their favorite team's defeat, the rogue knights attacked the base and burned down the power station, causing numerous infected casualties. This not only undermined the commercialization of the arena but also the Commercial Federation and eliminated the Red Pine team, who had broken the rules.

Finally, a large number of outcasts were also eliminated—such a perfect plan, Marna couldn't think of any reason why the Knights Guild wouldn't do it.

In fact, that's exactly what they thought; Talulah had been too optimistic about these nobles.

Although the bombing of the power plant was a setup by the federation to frame someone, if that was truly their intention, then it's hard to call it a setup.

"Click!" The lights went out, the roar of the power plant gradually subsided, followed by an explosion. "Damn it! The power plant!"

The entire lower district was plunged into darkness. An explosion signaled the arrival of hordes of knight thugs who charged from the streets toward the power plant, sweeping through shops and hacking down passersby who couldn't get out of the way.

Margaret, who arrived with eight silver-lanced pegasus riders and the Lightbringer family's retinue, witnessed all of this. "Knights, form ranks and stop them!"

Seeing the regular army disguised as thugs rushing down the street, carrying bombs and Molotov cocktails, Marna's scalp began to tingle. When he saw the knight insignia of the Nearl family shining behind them, his whole body shattered.

At this critical juncture, the Knights Guild itself is not able to clear its name. What do you mean by rushing up from behind, Nearl?

He knew, of course, that his niece wouldn't be involved in such a conspiracy; she must have received some information, perhaps even information deliberately leaked by the Federation, but given the current situation…

Power Plant - Defense Line - Rogues - Nearl - Pegasus - This can be interpreted as her arriving late to stop everything from happening, or it can be interpreted as her providing support to these rogues.

If they are unable to break through the defenses, they will lead the Silver Spear Pegasus to force their way through the enemy lines—the power to interpret this lies with the Federation!

If they want to raise their banner high, the Lightbringer family will be expelled from the roster in one fell swoop. Even if they are not expelled, it will be difficult for the Knights Association to retain their noble status.

If they want to let it go easily, then the Lin Guang family must compromise. And based on his understanding of his stubborn niece, she would absolutely not compromise. This is a dead end for her!

The only chance of survival lies in what happens next and the testimony of Platoon Leader Kobel beside him. But which side will he take?

Half an hour ago, Talulah checked into her hotel. "Everything's settled. The Red Pine team has gone to rest. I bet the people who intercepted them will be pleasantly surprised."

Ivan entered the room, and the Red Pine team took off their helmets midway through the match to take photos and sign autographs with fans; they are already quite famous.

On one hand, they had outstanding achievements, and on the other hand, Talulah had spent a lot of money promoting them.

In the midst of this chaos, the Knights Guild, lacking assassins like the Unarmored Alliance, found it inconvenient to make a move. Instead of the five young men and women from the Red Pine Squad boarding the vehicle amidst the confusion, it was five elite veteran shield guards.

They were also wearing Centurion power armor and carrying Red Pine Corps weapons, but the carriage contained five charged battle halberds, which would surely allow the attackers sent by the Knights Guild to experience the same scenes their fathers had gone through.

When they got on the train, there were five still very inexperienced racing knights; when they got off, there were five simplified versions of the old man. The level of surprise was so great that it should be included in the Kazimierz annual joke list.

"But, Miss, I don't understand. Why don't you want us to make our move during tomorrow's match? Killing the Lin Guang family's pony is more provocative to them than killing a noble young master?"

"Firstly, simply defeating the noble team might not be enough to convince the association to go all out, and today's plan would be wasted. Secondly, if we are framed by the Federation, then Nearl will become a martyr, which is not what we expected. And there is another, most important reason."

Talulah looked out at the city lights and said, "Nearlight is a banner, and I want to make that banner ours. She is also an idealist, and I don't want her to die in this conspiracy. If possible, we need this person."

"But she is, after all, a knight, and there's her family..."

"She is not only a knight, but also a qualified instructor or guide. Our troops cannot be completely without a professional military instructor."

Moreover, the title of knight isn't that important when applied to an individual. After all, aren't I also the Duke's adopted daughter? Isn't my father a member of the Victorian royal family?

"This……"

"Ivan, actually, before coming to the snowfield, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was just doing these things out of enthusiasm and momentary emotion."

Actually, before coming to the farm, I didn't even know what trouble growing wheat was. In my memory, wheat seemed to grow in stores. "Talulah laughed.

During that period, they messed up a lot of farm work. Ivan and his men were just inexperienced and didn't know how hard farming was, but they did. Talulah, on the other hand, had no idea.

"Plowing through frost and snow in early spring, busy sowing in summer, sweating profusely and covered in dust, barely making ends meet all year round—this is the life of rural Ursus stripped of all romance, incapable of supporting any ideals."

So, the first time I sowed a seed, the first time I turned the soil, the first time I realized how much I had to do, and how much hardship I would have to endure to make what I wanted to do a reality.

Even if Lao Xia's skills smooth out more than 99% of the obstacles and thorns along the way, it is still a difficult and slow long road.

“You see, even as a duke’s daughter, I have ideals but know nothing about reality. So, the little pony’s naivety is understandable. What we need to do is not to extinguish her light, but to throw her into the wilderness, into the real long night.”

“If she truly wants to become the light that illuminates the long night, then I will give her that chance…”

"What if she isn't? Or is she just someone with a hollow reputation?"

"Then kill her, eliminate the root of the problem, leave no one alive!" Talulah's tone instantly turned cold. "Old Xia said that we need to win over all the friends we can, but for enemies we can't win over, we must ruthlessly annihilate them without any mercy. Any sympathy or weakness is a crime..."

“And I have another reason…” Talu stretched out her hand and pressed it against the window, letting the cold glass sting her palm.

“I am a duke’s daughter, I am the leader of the Reunion Movement, I am to the Infected what Nearl is to the Knight, she is like another version of myself, a version that is not yet mature enough.”

"Now, Lin Guang is blinded by the vanity of the nobility and deafened by the praise of the corrupt knightly class. She cannot see the struggles of the infected in the lower districts to change their fate by becoming gladiator knights, she cannot see the tenant farmers crawling on the ground in the countryside outside the city, she cannot see the rapidly developing era, nor can she see the suffering in the factories. All she sees is this false neon light and brilliance—she has never seen darkness, how can she become light?"

Talulah's feelings toward Nearl are very complicated because the two are too similar. They both have beautiful ideals, but they do things that have nothing to do with their ideals. They also have no understanding or awareness of the suffering of ordinary people, and their understanding of darkness is naive and innocent.

“And what about me?” Talulah suddenly asked softly. “She is not only my past self, but also my future self. During my time in Kazimierz, I have felt increasingly terrified every day…”

"If one day, all I see is the city's splendor and my own hatred or desires, I will no longer remember how farmers crawled on the ground begging for food, I will no longer hear the cries of the injured and suffering, I will no longer see the figures of my comrades who fought alongside me, and I may not even listen to a word of your advice..."

Talulah clenched her fist. "By then, even if I still hold onto my past ideals and beliefs, my actions will not be any better than Margaret's now, and may even be worse, because she only has righteousness, while I still have power!"

"And when that time comes, I will need someone to continue to carry this banner. Today's Nearl may be my future self. Similarly, I now may be Nearl in the future."

"She won't thank you..."

“I know, this is what I need. Old Xia, you, Bozokasti, Froststar Yelena, we are all friends, they will advise me first.”

Even if one day we turn against each other, by then the disaster will have already occurred, and countless innocent people will have died directly or indirectly at my hands. It will be too late then…

"But Lin Guang won't. I orchestrated her scheme. We are both idealists. So, she won't be my friend, but she will be my ally. She will always be watching me, seeing if I make the same mistakes, and when that time comes, she won't hesitate!"

“Hey, Ivan…” Talulah turned to look at the guard behind her. He was a veteran who had followed her father in battle. Time had left almost no trace on his body. He was still as burly, strong and silent as he had been at the beginning.

"If one day I become like what I just described, don't hesitate!" Talulah revealed a holy smile. At this moment, even the brilliant city lights seemed to dim.

In an instant, the city lights went out one by one, with only the explosions and flames in the lower city reflecting on the windows. Then, intense light rose from the lower city, illuminating almost the entire city. The sounds of intense gunfire and fighting drowned out the evacuation broadcasts. It was almost visible to the naked eye that the entire street of the lower city was ablaze with flames.

For legitimate knights disguised as rogue knights, the moment a searchlight illuminates the street corner in front of them, they realize they've been tricked.

Especially when the two Titans emerged from the hidden crates, the knights could only let out a desperate battle cry and charge toward the impenetrable armor at top speed.

Their Originium Arts had reached their limit; the various Originium spells and combat techniques based on Originium Arts were meaningless in the face of a monster weighing 122 tons.

"Volcano cannon ready!" The loader jammed a heavy, barrel-shaped ammunition canister onto the feeder. This was anti-armor infantry ammunition made from the wet parts of a sheep, producing 200 volcano fireballs per second, enough to instantly destroy any heavy infantry formation. The only problem was that it was very expensive.

Moreover, the gun barrel generates an astonishing amount of heat, and even with a blade cooling system, it can only maintain a firing time of less than 1.5 seconds.

"Depression 2.9 degrees, prepare to fire!" The two gunners had already gripped the controllers tightly, one responsible for adjusting the turret's rotation and elevation, and the other for firing. "Depression?" Marna glanced at Kobel, who was standing beside the Titan's turret, gripping the handrail tightly.

"Well, we're not executioners, I've already said..." This downward angle wouldn't penetrate the knights' charge and sweep across the street, although Kobel's reason was that it wouldn't kill civilian buildings and the innocent civilians hiding inside.

However, Marna knew that it wouldn't harm the Silver Spear Pegasus and Nearl behind them, provided that Margaret's mind could still function normally at this crucial moment and she wouldn't actually be fooled by the association into charging into battle!

At the same time, Marna understood why she had been placed here. The Federation and the mastermind behind it had given Nearl three chances to live, and she didn't want to miss out on even one of them!

"Fire!" A torrential downpour of flames swept across the street, the flames weaving into waves, and ominous crimson light bounced on the ground like a physical object. All that could be heard was a shrill cry like the chirping of millions of birds. Disposable leaf coolers poured into the recycling bins on both sides like waterfalls.

Scorching steam billowed from the rear of the vehicle, while the hot melt cannons on both sides targeted and eliminated the powerful individual knights who had not been killed. Even the Great Father had to dodge the hot melt cannon sniping, and these conquering knights had to avoid the attacks as well.

At this distance, the difficulty of dodging the penetrating heat rounds from the two vehicles, eight thermobaric cannons, and the Snow Rabbit rifles firing from various firing ports is extremely high.

In less than half a minute, these disguised knights were completely defeated or annihilated. Their final desperate attack left only a tiny scratch on their armor, while the Nearl and Pegasus, who had just picked up their charging speed, were forced to stop in front of the corpses and flames.

Marna knew that now was not the time for him to watch the show. The knight's emblem of the Nearl family exploded with a bright light, and he once again unleashed his Originium Arts with all his might. It was also the first time since the Ranger's return that he had fully revealed his strength.

After a brief silence, the same light burst forth from the other side of the firewall, illuminating the dark city until the backup power was fully restored and the city lights came back on.