Chapter 88: Armorless Union Dissolution Progress (3/3)

Nearl raised her spear high into the air, and the sprawling crowd outside the arena finally erupted into unmatched, deafening cheers. Whether by grand design or sheer coincidence, the entire skyline of Kazimierz lit up with a brilliant array of colorful fireworks at that exact moment.

This triumphant scene, broadcast live across every television network, quickly spread throughout the entirety of the Great Knight Territory. Everyone watching knew full well that although they were still far from the grand finals, there was no longer any suspense as to who would take home this year’s championship crown.

Big-Mouth Mob was as intensely enthusiastic as ever in his broadcast commentary. “A spectacular duel! The Radiant Knight has once again defended the absolute glory of the Nearl name! The tournament may technically be continuing, but I think I can already see who our champion will be—keep cheering, Kazimierz!”

Just as the entire stadium was swept up in the intoxicating excitement, an inconspicuous white shadow crept toward the center of the arena. The figure drew a sleek bow, nocked a specialized arrow, and slowly, silently, released the bowstring.

The arrow from the Armorless Union struck from the shadows of the audience at the absolute peak of the atmosphere. In full view of millions, it was aimed directly at the Radiant Knight’s heart!

Seeing that Nearl had lowered her weapon to acknowledge the crowd and could not possibly react in time, Patriot moved. Having anticipated this exact scenario, the towering Wendigo was still casually holding the unconscious Blood Knight by both legs with one hand. His other hand reached for the massive halberd hanging at his waist, lifting his heavily armored arm and bracing his broad shoulder.

Incoming.

Regarding the ‘back-stabbing Armorless Union assassin’ that the Doctor had repeatedly warned him about, Patriot held absolutely nothing back. For the first time in this arena, he went all out, channeling the exact same terrifying intensity he once used against the Ursus Imperial Guard. He swore to intercept the opponent in mid-air with a single, devastating strike of his halberd—cleaving both the arrow and the archer in two!

At this moment, only one distinct thought remained in the old Wendigo’s mind.

‘Not a banner operator. I don’t want this one!’

His own silly child finally knew better than to pick up subordinates from the absolute scum of the earth. Heaven knows how relieved Patriot was when he heard the Doctor’s disdain for the assassins!

He only had to think about the kind of people the Doctor usually liked to employ at Rhodes Island to feel a headache coming on: a war criminal boy, a psychopathic Blood Demon, Kal’tsit—who had literally led the Terra coalition to attack Kazdel—the notoriously unstable Sarkaz mercenaries, and that bizarre Royal Court Lord who loved cross-dressing and, for reasons Patriot could only attribute to repressed urges, gave himself massive breasts!

After learning more about the inner workings of the landship, Patriot seriously began to suspect that perhaps they were the ones who had corrupted the Doctor during the Babel era.

Now that the child was acting silly and suffering from amnesia, he simply had to be raised all over again. His entire set of values needed to be molded from scratch. Patriot had even pre-spent his Rhodes Island salary to buy Terra parenting picture books. He had carefully picked out titles like Psychology for Gifted Children, How to Raise a Cautus with a Dual Personality and a Depressed Cucumber, and How to Comfort a Kitten Accepting that their Fairy Brother Turned into a Park.

He didn’t entirely understand the meaning behind the latter two titles, but upon seeing the back-cover tags—The Growth Path of a Gifted Girl, How to Reconcile with Another Self, and How to Correctly Face Death—he had bought them immediately.

Weren’t these exactly the kind of educational materials the Doctor needed?!

With a sharp clang, the lethal arrow from the Armorless Union was snapped cleanly in two by the sheer air pressure of the halberd’s swing.

Returning his focus to the present, the only reason Patriot could so calmly reflect on his long-term educational strategies mid-combat was that this Armorless Union assassin was significantly weaker compared to the Ursus Imperial Guard.

He was holding the Blood Knight in one hand like a ragdoll and single-handedly shielding everyone behind him with his massive frame. It wasn’t that this nameless assassin lacked strength; they had simply chosen the worst possible opponent on the continent.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

The Armorless Union assassin drew a short blade and repeatedly slashed at the exact same spot on Patriot’s heavy shield, but the towering Defender remained completely unmoved.

The assassin was little more than a fast-redeploy operator, landing with flashy visual effects and scratching wildly at the heavy armor. When the assassin finally looked up, they realized they hadn’t even chipped Patriot’s health bar. Instead, they took a blunt halberd strike to the chest, nearly dying on the spot from the kinetic impact alone.

When the assassin realized the situation was completely botched and tried to retreat, the Radiant Knight had already raised her spear.

“Radiant Starfall!!!”

The arena was once again engulfed in a blinding, dazzling golden light. The unlucky assassin never expected that the opposing Doctor would actually arrange such an absurdly overpowered combat unit right next to the Radiant Knight. With their final breath, their lips moved in a silent curse before they lost consciousness.

The audience below hadn’t expected to see an unscripted bonus show. They watched the dazzling exchange of blows above the arena floor in stunned silence. Now there was simply one more broken body lying at the Radiant Knight’s feet, and a wave of confused chaos rippled through the stands.

Even with Big-Mouth Mob’s extensive professional experience, he didn’t know how to smooth things over for a moment. The microphone picked up his heavy breathing.

What could he possibly say? Tell everyone not to be afraid because the assassin wouldn’t target the VIP seats? Or reassure them that, logically speaking, a second wave of assassins wouldn’t be deployed because of the budget?

Just as he was struggling to find his voice, a somewhat nervous middle-aged man stepped into the announcer’s booth. “Give me the microphone. We’re still broadcasting live, right?”

Big-Mouth Mob turned his head in surprise. “Mr. Markowitz from the Supervisor Council?”

The middle-aged man sighed heavily, helplessly covering his forehead with a trembling hand. “I still am… but I won’t be for much longer.”

Down below the stage, Gravel and Platinum, who had been waiting in the shadows for a long time, rushed forward. They quickly rummaged through the unconscious assassin’s tactical gear to find the special arrow that symbolized his rank. Platinum stared down at the black arrow—an item of authority that had been completely unreachable for her just a few days ago—and was filled with a complicated mix of emotions. “That’s… that’s an arrow from the Armorless Union…”

Gravel smiled gently, her eyes narrowing as she casually dug a verbal trap. “What’s wrong? Feeling sorry for your former colleague?”

Platinum rolled her eyes, her expression flattening into deadpan annoyance. “Have you ever seen an employee feel sorry for their boss?”

Gravel sighed with a touch of genuine regret. “Why not? I’ve always felt sorry for the Doctor.”

It was a pity that she couldn’t eliminate a romantic competitor early.

Up on the announcer’s stage, Markowitz had already taken out his prepared speech. Fighting back a crushing sense of professional shame, he announced the hasty, rogue agreement to the entire nation in clear, articulate terms.

“Hello everyone. I am Markowitz, spokesperson for the Supervisor Council. I am interrupting this broadcast with a piece of breaking news. I am very sorry to inform you all that on such a beautiful day, when the whole city is bathed in joy, the Commerce Union has officially gone bankrupt!”

Wait, who went bankrupt?

For a long moment, the entire stadium was dead silent. It wasn’t because the citizens had no objections to the news, but because their collective brains had briefly short-circuited trying to process the sheer absurdity of the statement.

Fighting back his shame, Markowitz pressed a switch on the console. A massive electronic broadcast screen flared to life in the air at the center of the arena. Scrolling news tickers framed a live helicopter feed, ensuring that all millions of spectators could clearly see the towering Kazimierz Commerce Union headquarters engulfed in roaring flames.

“We are very sorry, but just moments ago, the Kazimierz Commerce Union headquarters accidentally caught fire due to a sudden leak of refined Originium oil. Most of the board shareholders failed to escape in time during this tragic accident… uh, rescue personnel tried their absolute best, but unfortunately could not save the victims in the fire. They only managed to salvage some account books and contract files.”

Markowitz swallowed hard, his throat dry, and continued reading the script forced into his hands. “It is estimated that the Commerce Union has no ability to repay its debts in the short term and will undergo immediate bankruptcy restructuring. Rhodes Island, acting as the largest creditor and damaged partner, will temporarily replace the Commerce Union to exercise all management rights within Kazimierz.”

“This agency action is strictly supervised by Karlan Trade, notarized by Rhine Lab, and is currently being coordinated with small and medium-sized local shops.”

“Finally, a brief public service reminder to everyone: the weather is dry, so please beware of fires. The match continues.”

The audience below looked at each other, staring blankly at the giant screens and then back at the arena.

At this exact moment, the fundamental flaw with Kazimierz only providing “bread and circuses” to its populace became glaringly apparent. Among the hundreds of thousands of spectators present, almost none of them understood the economic implications of what had just been said. Most of them only registered the very last sentence: The match continues.

“Great!!!”

The audience began to applaud and scream enthusiastically once again.

What the hell was asset restructuring? What did corporate debt have to do with them? The Radiant Knight’s performance was much more exciting, and the golden explosions were so pretty!

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent! 🙇‍♂️):

Massive thanks for reading and supporting the operation!]