About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"..."

Orson put his fingers on his chin and thought quietly after listening to what Mainna said.

The mission objective that Bai Jin told himself at the time was "commercial espionage."

There was no need for her to deceive herself in this regard, so the greater possibility was that Bai Jin was deceived by the person who gave her the task.

In other words, Platinum's "loyalty" was questioned by the organization.

"Wait a moment, Uncle Mauna."

Considering that Platinum has not been following or exploiting him recently, a bad thought emerged in Orson's mind.

[The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable]

"..."

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Orson felt that his bad premonition was slowly becoming a reality.

------

------

77. War is imminent

Although the conversation with Mainna made Orson understand that this middle-aged office worker was not just living a life of idleness and waiting for death as he appeared to be, and that he was secretly gathering the power to change Casimir's current situation, this conversation did not make Orson feel particularly happy.

The reason is that from Mainna's conversation, Orson vaguely realized that Platinum's situation might be very dangerous.

After that, although Orson kept trying to call her, it was still just the same busy tone, as if the number itself was "blocked".

"Orson...are you listening, Orson?"

"Hmm? I'm listening—today is Maria's doubles match, right? The opponents are a combination of individual competitive knights and the Knights of the Jungle."

In the Linguang Mansion, Maria pouted and asked Orson if he was listening to her, to which Orson responded with a distracted look.

"Although you're right—I still feel like there's something strange about you, Orson. Did something happen to you again?"

Maria walked over to Orson, leaned forward and asked in a low voice.

"No... No, it would be a lie to say I didn't. Actually, I haven't been able to contact one of my friends for a few days. She might be in some danger. And most importantly, her current danger may be caused by me."

"Then go and help, Orson!"

"Eh? But isn't it your doubles match today, Maria? The points impact of this match is very important, right?"

"Points and such, uh, points are indeed important... But please trust me, Orson! I'm an experienced competitive knight now, after all. There's no need for me to be protected by Orson like before!"

After hearing Orson's worries, Maria immediately persuaded Orson not to worry about himself and just help his friend.

"Isn't the safety of your friends more important? By the way...is that friend of yours also a girl?"

Maria thought of something and asked Orson in a low voice with caution.

"Yes, also a Kuranta."

"H-ha, never mind. He's Orson after all. Anyway, I'm fine here, so go ahead and help Miss Kuranta."

Maria first stared at Orson, then sighed helplessly, signaling Orson not to worry about her.

Although Maria was prepared to "fight" Tallulah, she soon realized that because of Orson's slightly dull view of love and overflowing femininity (?), her competitors might be more than she imagined, and their quality was also terrifying, ranging from wealthy women to aristocrats, from Drake to Kuranta with all kinds of hair.

Even if I run into a mythical beast in the future, I probably won't be surprised...

"She's smart, she should be fine—Uh, Ma, Maria?"

Orson was halfway through his words when Maria suddenly held up his cheeks with her hands. The young Pegasus forced Orson to look at her slightly flushed cheeks and her shining golden eyes.

"Listen carefully, Orson! Regardless of whether she can handle it or not, isn't she your friend? If so, she'll definitely be happy when you show up in front of her, right?"

"Well……"

"Just like you appeared beside me back then... ahem, anyway, please don't underestimate me. I'm now a competitive knight capable of standing on my own!"

Maria released her hands, then patted her chest and said confidently.

"...Yes, you are right, Maria."

After hesitating for a moment, Orson nodded to Maria.

Even if I believe that Bai Jin can handle the situation she may encounter at this time, this is not an excuse for me to ignore Bai Jin's situation.

What's more, Orson didn't think that Platinum could easily escape from an organization like the No Helmet Alliance, and he was very worried about Platinum's situation.

"That's it, Orson, just go and help me. I will bring you victory!"

Perhaps to prevent Orson from changing his mind, Maria didn't even finish her breakfast after she finished speaking. She grabbed her armor and weapons box and ran out of the house with a piece of toast in her mouth. She didn't know if she would run into a truck of bread men at the intersection on the way.

"Haha, in the end, Maria taught me a lesson."

Orson watched Maria leave, and sighed in his heart that his "master" was truly a qualified and likable knight lady.

"Then I must not disappoint the Lord Knight. Where can I get information about the Helmetless Alliance?"

Although he had no clues about Platinum, if he conducted reverse investigation through the Wuzhou Alliance, he might be able to find out Platinum's situation and location.

When Orson was thinking about what to do next, his cell phone suddenly rang. It was a number he had never seen before.

"Hello--"

"Orson, you've been targeted. Leave Casimir immediately and take what I left behind—CRACK!!"

"Shirogane? What happened over there!?"

The voice he was looking for came from the other end of the phone, but Bai Jin didn't even finish his sentence before he was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass on the other side of the receiver.

"Where are you now? Can you hear me... Damn it."

It seemed that Platinum was forcibly pulled away from the phone by some kind of attack. Although the conversation itself was not hung up, the two could no longer communicate normally.

"Your actions disappoint us, Platinum Lord."

A vague voice came from the receiver, and it sounded like a male voice that Orson had never heard of.

"Really? I thought my work attitude had disappointed you guys a long time ago."

“Where is the data?”

"Of course it's hidden somewhere that has been very meaningful to me lately. Don't try to find it. Would I let you know where I'm slacking off? And he won't give it to you either. You'd better—woo!"

A short wail of grief came from the other end of the phone, followed by many hurried footsteps, as if many people were chasing Platinum on the other side.

"So you are Orson, right?"

The receiver, which had originally only been able to pick up vague sounds, now received a clearer voice. It was the man who had just confronted Platinum.

"Touch her if you dare."

"There's no need for meaningless threats. Both you and she will die, but she'll die before you. Perhaps her death will be more painful than yours. The Helmetless Alliance will not be too merciful to traitors, so rest assured."

The male voice on the other end of the phone was flat and unwavering, a bit like the way he sounded when he first met Platinum.

The call was hung up decisively, and Orson stared at the unknown number on the phone with a serious expression.

——Perhaps Platinum has been under surveillance before. Did she specifically inform me today that the No-Horned Alliance has regarded her and me as enemies and started to eliminate us?

——If I'm being targeted...Maria might not be safe either.

Orson frowned. What should he do now? I'm the only one who has the chance to help Platinum now, and it must be because of me that Platinum was deemed a traitor, but...

"Now is not the time to hesitate and regret."

Orson took out his cell phone and quickly called Kal'tsit, hoping that she could send some people to help Maria to prevent her from getting into any accidents.

After getting Kal'tsit's promise, Orson immediately closed his phone and left the Linguang Mansion.

Although Platinum's situation was extremely dire, and although he had been regarded as a thorn in the eyes of the Chamber of Commerce and the Helmetless Alliance that must be eliminated - but the phone call just now was not in vain.

If Shirogane's conversation with that man at that time wasn't all 'sarcasm'... if she was talking to herself... maybe it wouldn't be too late.

After confirming that it might not be the correct 'destination', Orson summoned the pause symbol and, like a spider, clung to the floors at an uncanny speed, continuing to move forward.

------

On the other side, inside the Knight Arena.

"Although things have been a bit turbulent lately, our knightly tournaments are still as scheduled! Today's match is between Maria Linguang, the currently vigorous and foolishly pursuing the essence of the ancient chivalry, and the Knights of the Forest... Wait, what? Corruption...!? This... I, I get it."

The host was suddenly stopped in the middle of his opening remarks. After a moment of hesitation, he chatted with the spokesperson Charne, who had arrived at the next location at some point, looking flustered.

After a while, the host picked up the microphone again.

"Uh, everyone! Due to several contestants suddenly contracting Ore Disease, Maria's opponent will be temporarily replaced. The new challenger is the Knight of Corruption and Blight!!"

When these two names came out of the host's mouth, the whole arena was filled with uproar and noise.

"Kill..."

The Withered Knight held a warhammer in his hand and repeated creepy words, while the Corrupted Knight in front of him clenched the greatsword in his hand without saying a word.

"By the way, the knight who was originally scheduled to be Maria's teammate is unable to participate in this match due to physical reasons, but the match cannot be paused - let's start now!!"

“Start now…?”

The host abruptly announced the start of the event, and Maria frowned. She gripped her shield tightly, staring intently at the mercenary brother who was walking towards her, his body radiating the aura of death.

I always feel like...something is not right.

Maria shook her head, trying not to think about anything else. Now there was only one thing to do, to survive on the battlefield.

------

Meanwhile, on Knight Casimir Street.

Bai Jin placed the arrow on the bowstring, aimed, pulled, and released.

“Woo-hoo!?”

In the distance, an assassin from the No Helmet Alliance who was chasing him fell down, but it was visible to the naked eye that there were at least five assassins chasing him.

Bai Jin breathed heavily and reached behind his back to try to take out a new arrow from the quiver.

"..."

After his arm didn't feel anything, Bai Jin sighed, untied the quiver and threw it aside, turned around and hid in the corner of the alley again to try to avoid being chased.

Platinum was targeted by the No Helmet Alliance. In fact, there were already some clues in the report after the investigation of Rhodes Island.

The 'Sapphire Throne' of the No-Head Alliance noticed that Platinum's attitude when reporting about Rhodes Island and the infected person Orson was somewhat different from every previous work report.

After Platinum obtained the USB flash drive containing the entire underground infected arena in Casimir from the "corporate spy", she realized that she was completely isolated by the No Helmet Alliance.

All of his communication equipment was blocked, and his original residence had been monitored. This was the terrifying thing about the Wuzhou Alliance: it was like an invisible net, slowly closing in before most people could even detect it.

If it was the Platinum in the past, she would have handed this data directly to her employer without even looking at it.

But even she herself might not have expected that after reading those files, Platinum chose to save the data.

Because of this, she lost her last chance to return to the Wuzhou Alliance.

Countless crossbow arrows pierced through the room from outside the window. Before Bai Jin could contact Orson, his hiding place was completely exposed. More than a dozen assassins from the No Helmet Alliance and the "Blue Gold Throne" joined the siege on him.

——We can’t just be caught like this, we have to do something.

When facing the sharp bows and arrows in the hands of the killers who were originally from the same organization, Bai Jin thought of the young man.

This information should be handed over to him. Only he will not destroy this data, and only he can rescue those infected people whom he has been "ignoring" from the cage.

With this thought in mind, Platinum gave up her all-out escape and reached a roadside phone booth, where she called Orson. However, this action immediately caught up with the "Blue Gold Great One." Before she could even "reveal" where she had hidden the information, her arm, along with the phone booth, was struck by an arrow.

——What should I do next? I’ve run out of arrows. Should I try to hide in a crowded area nearby, or... go look for Orson?

In the alley, Bai Jin leaned against the edge of the wall, thinking about his next move while stopping the bleeding on his left arm.

Bai Jin had seen the battle between Orson and the "Deer-Headed Death God", and he knew very well that the young man had the ability to compete with the "Sapphire" level Knight Killer.

But even so, Bai Jin still didn't want to drag him into the desperate situation he was in.

However, in reality, Platinum has no choice at all:

"Do you think Platinum can escape Green Gold's pursuit?"