Herrscher of Reason's Arknights

Only at extremely close range can one clearly see the inhumanly stitched texture on the skin of the other person's arm.

This guy... he's not even human!

"Oh my, what a brave gentleman! I don't dislike brave men..."

A beautiful and elegant smile, but in the eyes of men, it was no different from the smile of a devil.

"...But it's a real pity, since you had the courage to wield the sword..."

—You should be prepared to be killed, right?

The warm smile instantly turned eerie and filled with a despairing malice.

The girl laughed and abruptly retracted the mantis knife from her right arm. The blade, retracting downwards like a guillotine, instantly severed the vice-captain's neck. With her other hand, she threw away the military knife she had crumbled into scrap metal and then grabbed the guard who had swung the knife.

Piana's arm strength is beyond what can be measured by the concept of a normal "biological being." This war machine, forged from pure military superalloy metal and technology beyond this era, can lift his opponent with just a little effort.

The girl saw the person in her hand as nothing more than a fun toy and threw it violently toward the ceiling.

The man screamed as he crashed into the ceiling, then began to plummet rapidly under the pull of gravity.

With a loud "bang," dust billowed up, accompanied by the sound of bones and internal organs being crushed and shattered.

The man wasn't dead yet, but he was basically unable to stand up, which was enough for her; she wasn't responsible for finishing him off.

Just as the Sarkaz mercenary was about to finish him off with his knife, he was stopped by Pianna.

"?"

His subordinates looked at him in bewilderment, thinking that Pianna might be too soft-hearted.

Are you kidding me? Womanly compassion? What is that?

"Don't kill him yet. Don't forget why we're here. We're here to make a big splash!"

The girl laughed maniacally as she spoke.

"What do you mean?"

The mercenary didn't quite understand what Pianna meant.

"It's a very simple principle. I once saw a movie where the villain's way of completely defeating a member of the Royal Guard was to hang all his team members in mid-air and then cut the ropes at the same time."

The feeling of helplessness—having teammates right in front of you but being unable to save them no matter what—is the most terrible poison!

"Now, we need to figure out how to provoke the Guard Bureau outside. The simplest way... do I really need to teach you?"

"·····I see."

After a moment of silence, the man nodded, sheathed his knife, turned around and called over a few mercenaries to help the half-dead assault team member up and head towards the second floor.

"Great, I hate idiots. This group is really easy to deal with."

················

"Who's in charge on site?! What's going on?!"

When Jiu questioned the head of the Special Handling Section about how the problem was being handled, several tens of minutes had already passed. The assault team had completely lost contact and a firefight had broken out before the Tenth Company.

Everything was normal before the firefight began, until about ten seconds after the firefight started, when the communication was lost.

This shouldn't be the case; even if some members are lost, they shouldn't lose contact.

However, this time seems completely different from before.

The other party was clearly prepared.

"This is a trap."

A trap to lure the Royal Guard!

The section chief was completely stunned, and was being dragged along by Jiu, looking somewhat weak and listless.

A single sentence led to the loss of more than a dozen lives. Even the section chief cannot escape blame, but more importantly, there was the psychological pressure.

When you're out running, you're bound to get injured, but when a dozen or so people suddenly go missing, it's a situation that even the best of people might not be able to handle.

"I'll handle the rest."

The handover of command revealed that the person in front of him was no longer capable of directing the operation.

Leaving the men behind, Jiu planned to go to the scene alone with his own people.

However, at that moment, the television that was hanging on the wall in the Guard Bureau office suddenly lost signal.

Meanwhile, the phone rang from Jiu's waist.

?

Few people know her phone number, and those who do are all acquaintances of the Imperial Guard. They can usually talk to each other in person during working hours and don't choose to use a cell phone.

Moreover... the caller ID is blank.

who is it?

Feeling something was wrong, Jiu put her finger to her lips to signal everyone to be quiet, and then pressed the speakerphone button.

"Which one?"

The voice coming through the receiver was that of an unfamiliar woman.

"Good afternoon, Miss Jiu, and everyone in the Royal Guard."

"Who are you?!"

"Don't be so fierce. I'm just bringing you greetings from a certain schemer."

The girl's voice was clear and melodious, but to Jiu, it sounded like the whisper of a demon.

"What do you mean!"

"What I mean is... remember to watch TV!"

With that, the other end of the phone hung up, giving Jiu's subordinates no time to pinpoint the call location.

It seems the other party is an expert as well.

television?

Following the woman's earlier suggestion, everyone looked at the television hanging in the office.

The screen, displaying static, drew everyone's attention.

You should know that this is the Royal Guard Bureau, and they only show footage from the news channel.

However, this kind of problem does not normally occur on news channels.

But soon, the answer to this question was found.

The screen, which had lost signal, gradually regained communication.

Good afternoon, everyone from Lungmen.

She was a slender blonde woman, and she looked...

Is he a Sarkaz?

And beside her, a commando was kneeling down!

The woman then flashed an extremely morbid smile and snapped her fingers.

Behind the assault team, Sarkaz mercenaries also raised their crossbows...

ps: Third update!

Section 93, Chapter 90: [The Prelude to the Intrigue]

Silence. The footage of blood splattering has lost signal.

Clearly, this was a premeditated provocation.

No, not the Konoebu (National Guard Bureau).

It was a provocation directed at Lungmen.

The blood spurting from the back of his head, pierced by a crossbow bolt, silenced everyone present.

However, silence is indeed the prelude to a storm.

Many people noticed Jiu's silence. Unlike the surprise or anger of others, she simply watched everything expressionlessly, just like her kind of naturally cold-blooded animals.

But what they really noticed were Jiu's hands.

Her joints, white from exertion, were clenched so tightly her fists were digging into her flesh, and blood was slowly dripping onto the ground, but she showed no change whatsoever.

Angry.

Those who had worked with Jiu Gong for a long time knew this woman's temper very well. If her anger was outwardly expressed, it simply meant that she was throwing a tantrum.

However, if someone appears very silent, it means they are genuinely angry.

Anger devoid of warmth.

Like a flame burning at a low temperature, it burns slowly but persistently.

"I'm leaving; I still have a lot to do."

Ignoring the guards around her, Nine walked through the crowd that automatically parted to both sides and headed downstairs.

No one dared to provoke Jiu at this time.

···············

Meanwhile, in another corner of the city.

"It must have been really hard for you to find such a well-fitting uniform."

Somewhat reluctantly, Hoshiguma put on the uniform that felt both familiar and unfamiliar, and stood in front of the mirror looking at herself.

"No, it's not troublesome, it's just..."

Ken stood to the side, looking at Hoshiguma's uniform, which wasn't quite a good fit but at least looked acceptable, with a worried expression.

"Just say what you want to say. We're not that strangers, are we?"

Hoshiguma could see the worry in the other person's eyes, and she responded with a confident smile. Although Hoshiguma was a demon, her calmness and boldness were infectious to those around her.

Her personal charisma is what enabled her to stand out in the group and maintain her prestige.

"I just feel...why does it have to be like this..."

What Ken was worried about was not anything else, but the uniform that Hoshiguma was wearing.

Because the Guard Bureau's insignia is flashing on Hoshiguma's shoulder!

That's the standard uniform of the Royal Guard.

On the table, there were also many similar Guard Bureau uniforms piled up.

It's obvious that Ken knows Hoshiguma's thoughts and plans, even though they are theoretically feasible...

However, this is only in theory.

Too much imagination and no practical execution.

This outfit and the things on the table were prepared for Hoshiguma's men. They planned to take advantage of the chaos and find a way to get into the scene of the incident.

That is... what was just shown on TV.

The commercial building in Taikoo Place, the largest commercial street in Lungmen, was hijacked by unidentified criminals. A commando team entered the building to conduct search and rescue and suppress the attack.

This would normally be normal, but given the unusual hijacking signal incident just now, this matter has become extraordinary.

That group of people were not ordinary thugs at all, but a group of armed thugs who came prepared!

After hijacking the television signal, the group broadcast the entire process of torturing and killing the commando members live to the entire Lungmen.

This is an open provocation against Lungmen... or rather...

This is an open provocation against Wei Yanwu.

However, what the Imperial Guard was unaware of was that the so-called "radical faction" within the gang was actually involved in the entire operation. Otherwise, that group wouldn't have had the power to acquire these weapons, let alone the ability to hijack the television station's signal.