People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

In this situation, let alone the finals of the World Games, if the reaction were any slower, the people in the city would probably have to be sent to the repechage!

But those infected don't care.

They don't belong to this city; they are its outcasts, garbage living in the dark, damp sewers. Now, they are plunging the entire city into darkness, and they have no psychological burden whatsoever.

After all, the current environment in the Great Knight Territory of Kavaleria is a scene they are used to seeing at night on Plot Zero.

It's just to let these "city people" experience it a little.

They had completed their mission and were only hoping to receive the agreed-upon reward before leaving. The high concentration of Originium in the environment was extremely uncomfortable, and staying here for an extended period without protective suits would undoubtedly worsen Oripathy.

A muffled voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie:

"The items have been placed at the messenger station five kilometers outside the city."

The infected leader was expressionless. Not bad, at least this businessman still keeps his word.

However, this is probably because they are also afraid that they and the remaining infected will "explode" directly in this control room.

In that case, the switch would undoubtedly suffer irreversible damage, and if we're unlucky, it could trigger a chain explosion of the power plant. Well, tomorrow's Terra headlines would probably be about the "biggest fireworks" that Kazimierz set off to celebrate the closing of the World Games.

He put away the walkie-talkie and called to the other infected people who had also heard the conversation to prepare to evacuate, but there was already a commotion at the door.

It came much faster than he expected, and much faster than the "reporter" promised!

Entering the building through the chilling darkness, Charné felt a sense of panic for the first time.

Upon returning to the Business Federation, he immediately submitted an application to its higher authorities, attempting to have the Federation conduct an internal investigation into the "journalist." However, after submitting the application, he realized that it was unlikely to be approved.

Because the rotating chairman of this week's board meeting is a "journalist".

He then tried to contact other factions of directors to try to stop the "reporter," but the directors were skeptical. The so-called meeting was a place to shirk responsibility, and arresting a director was an extremely sensitive decision for them. Every second they thought about it was a waste of precious and crucial time.

It wasn't until Charné threatened to inform the Supervisory Council that the board reluctantly relented and rejected Charné's proposal to control the "journalists," merely dispatching the Unarmed Union to accompany Charné to guard the control room.

But he was ultimately too late.

Charné was annoyed. If the board members hadn't been so slow and hesitant, if one of them had stepped forward, made a decision, and taken responsibility, and if one of them had made the right decision, they would have had plenty of time.

But now...

The infected who had committed heinous crimes were trapped in the control room by the reinforcements he brought, and had no choice but to surrender.

But what's the point of catching them now?

In the dead silence, Charné seemed to hear the deafening roar of the four-city alliance breaking down, the puzzled discussions in the Pegasus Arena, and the announcement that the Universal Games had been forced to a halt.

All gone!

Game over!

Chapter 448 Chaos Across the Land? The Situation is Excellent!

In Kazimierz, at the Pegasus Arena, the Great Knights' Domain of the Quarter Division is being divided.

One minute after the circuit breaker event in four cities.

it's dark.

At first, people didn't realize what had happened. Manna's Originium Arts still emitted a dazzling but not blinding pale golden light on the arena, and the turning off of the lights in the entire arena was more of a grand special effects show arranged by the World Games Executive Committee.

After all, Marner's brilliance wasn't actually that dazzling under the spotlights in the arena, but when all the lights went out, his light became the only beacon in the darkness, and the surrounding environment centered on Marner, which it illuminated, naturally became the focus of the entire arena.

Many professional esports connoisseurs, upon witnessing this scene, couldn't help but pull out their terminals and furiously type out their praise for this "ingenious idea."

Sometimes, the illumination of countless lights with ulterior motives is not as striking as a single, unadulterated beam of light in the darkness.

Following them, many other Kasimirians who had also come to watch the game pulled out their devices.

Such a rare scene, such a grand spectacle, such an unexpected yet delightful lights-out arrangement—to witness such a sight, even death would be worth the price of admission!

How can you not take a picture, record a video, check in, and send it to your friends and family to show off?

People generally did not realize the seriousness of the problem until they suddenly discovered that when they finished taking photos and recording videos and were about to click send, the signal in the upper right corner of the terminal had all turned into a big "x".

No signal.

Thus, someone raised that belated question:

"How is this going?"

"How is this going?"

This is also the question Russell really wants to ask right now.

She could swear on her conscience that she had never arranged such a scene. Could this be a last-minute move by the Business Federation?

Russell knew that this idea was most likely just wishful thinking. Given the various successes the Overwatch Council had achieved using the World Games, the Business Federation certainly had an incentive to make this unconventional, all-or-nothing move.

But what's the point?

What's the point of cutting off the power to the arena?

Although the arena was pitch black, Manna's Originium Arts could still provide some light. They couldn't very well send someone up on stage to give Manna a performance-enhancing drug, could they?

Besides, even if he was doped, so what? Russell had confidence in the strength that Jeston had shown. First he defeated Chongyue, then he defeated Fremont. Such a strongman might be a match for Cyril Nearl if he were to recover, but now it was Marner on the field. Jeston, how could Marner possibly withstand him?

She comforted herself in this way, but little Maria, who was also watching the game behind her, noticed that since the beginning of the game, her grandfather's comrade-in-arms, now the Grand Knight Commander of the Supervisory Council, had never turned around or raised his head.

She didn't want to think about it, nor dared to think about the worst possible outcome.

But the fact is that it cannot tolerate the slightest provocation.

Three minutes after the circuit breaker was triggered in four cities.

The guard pushed open the door and entered, his anxious tone revealing the knight's panicked state of mind:

"Your Excellency, Grand Knight Commander! Something terrible has happened!"

"The core power reactor has been attacked by an unknown force and has now been forced to shut down! The entire Great Knight Territory is currently without power, and we..."

"Ho-"

Russell raised his head, his face ashen, took a deep breath, and let out a pitiful sound as if he were about to suffocate.

"We're in big trouble."

"Big trouble! We're in big trouble!"

The headquarters of the Business Federation was extremely noisy.

It is now five minutes after the circuit breaker event in four cities.

The directors had never felt they had such abundant energy and stamina.

The headquarters of the Kazimierz Business Federation, a 64-story landmark building in Kazimierz, is known as the heart of the entire Great Knight Territory and even the entire Kazimierz economic activity. Its board meeting room is located on the 36th floor, which is a floor that is neither too high nor too low.

But that's based on the premise that there's an elevator and that it's operating normally.

Now, the entire building is also without power.

The board members had never hated having the meeting room on the 36th floor so much; for those who weren't on the board but rushed over after receiving the news, it was a nightmare.

What's even more nightmarish is that the directors already present in the meeting room simply won't wait for them.

"We're in big trouble."

The chairman of Wine News repeatedly emphasized their current predicament.

The Grand Knight's citywide blackout will cause the Business Federation economic losses in the hundreds of millions. Under normal circumstances, this amount would be enough to cripple any director. Although directors are wealthy, not every director is a tycoon, and not every tycoon can readily produce hundreds of millions of dollars in liquid funds.

But nowadays, money has become the issue that people care about the least.

"The underground control center hasn't been liberated yet?"

"A group of infected people are trapped inside! They refuse to come out!"

"Infected? How did those bastards get in there? How did they even get in?!"

"Why worry about all that? Charge! Charge now! Power must be restored immediately, otherwise..."

"Are you out of your mind? If we really launch a full-scale assault, what kind of reaction would it cause if a bunch of infected died in the reactor control room?!"

"What...what do we do now?!"

"If we had known this would happen, we should have listened to Charnet. That damned 'journalist,' he's really ruined our lives!"

The world is a giant makeshift stage, and every actor brought onto the stage hasn't figured out their role or lines. The board members chattered noisily, yet at this moment, still desperately, not one of them could step forward and offer a single idea.

Until the chairman of the wine newspaper spoke again:

"Now that things have come to this, let's clarify our objective."

"First, restore power to the Great Knight Territory as quickly as possible to prevent problems with city connectivity. If the landmasses of the mobile cities are torn apart uncontrollably, it means that at best, the other cities will be left in the wilderness, and at worst... they will run into us!"

The collision of mobile cities was an unprecedented event, existing only in theory, in the era when Originium Energy was discovered, applied, and gradually matured.

No one knows what kind of disaster it would be, nor does anyone know what would happen to the colliding moving cities if such a disaster were to actually occur.

The directors of the Business Federation are adventurous and willing to take risks that could threaten their lives for profit. But that doesn't mean they want to be the first guinea pigs of this era, trying out "unthinkable paths," much less that they want to have their names and the Business Federation's names written into every child's popular science textbook in Terra in this way!

"So, let those infected people out."

"Tell them to get out of here, then we'll restore the power. We'll deal with the rest later."

"I hope we still have a future."

"I hope Kazimir will have a future."

The private boxes at the Tianma Arena were completely dark.

Viviana, the Candle Knight, lit a candle. In the pitch-black environment, this tool, which had been almost obsolete in Casimir and was only used to decorate and show off retro elegance, became the most valuable treasure after the collapse of this modern society.

The flickering candlelight reflected the different expressions of the three people inside the private room.

Viviana finally realized that people recognized her not by her face, but by her pair of conspicuous antlers in the Great Knight's territory, so she took off the unattractive mask.

Her face showed a mixture of faded surprise and slowly emerging worry, much like the reaction of the vast majority of the audience members at that moment.

It is now the eighth minute since the circuit breaker event in the four cities.

Darkness lengthens one's perception of time, and the anxiety caused by a terminal losing signal amplifies this agonizing feeling of time dragging on endlessly. At this moment, someone finally realizes that even the longest special effects shouldn't last for nearly eight minutes without stopping.

"Has...something happened?"

She murmured softly, and Hinterlea immediately turned her gaze to Ernst.

She heard Ernst's whisper earlier.

That was clearly not a genuine blessing; rather, it carried a hint of irony.

"An accident, without a doubt, was an accident."

Hinterlaya Road,

"The terminal has no signal, the lights are off, and I just saw the staff running around inside the arena. They obviously don't know what's going on either."

Even if her political acumen wasn't as sharp as Vina's or Horhaya's, at this moment, Hinterlea was still able to make an accurate judgment:

"This is probably not what the Supervisory Council and the Business Federation expected. Kazimierz is in big trouble."

Ernst nodded seriously, acknowledging her judgment.

He didn't know exactly what had happened in the Grand Knights' territory, but he was certain that there had been an unexpected incident in the final match.

Having been in Terra for so long, Ernst has almost gotten used to all sorts of unexpected events, some good and some bad, some unexpected and hilarious, and some that suddenly turn on you and almost make your heart stop.

However, some things cannot be left to chance.

For example, the final of the first World Games.

This is no small matter. The World Games borrows the name of the World Summit and represents its reputation. For the World Summit, which is committed to building Terra's "new order," any unexpected events during the World Games will affect its future influence and appeal.

Not to mention, even disregarding the future World Games, how many countries sent representatives to this World Games alone?

Indeed, compared to the World's Fair, which received a great deal of respect from everyone, the World Games, strictly speaking, only had the Duke of Käst and Ernst as the main guests, but there were still many representatives from various countries.

To host such a high-profile charlatan event and then make a fool of oneself in front of so many people from different countries requires a certain amount of courage!

Besides, making a fool of oneself is a minor matter; what if this accident involves personal safety issues...

As Ernst said, "I hope Casimir has a tomorrow."

"Boss, things are starting to get chaotic downstairs!"

Hinterlea stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the audience seats that were beginning to stir. Security personnel moved back and forth among them, but compared to the tens of thousands of audience members whose anxiety had been ignited, even if their numbers were doubled, it would still seem insufficient.