You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

The skies over the land of freedom were unusually clear.

The image of the Holy Word Master Elland breaking his holy staff and kneeling before Sherlock has spread like wildfire outside the capital.

The collapse of faith does not require truth, but only a defeat.

This battle marked the first time the temple had publicly lost to "humanity" itself.

Royal Capital - Noble Council Hall

"The temple suffered a complete and utter defeat?!"

"Sherlock... he can actually arbitrate the Holy Word?"

"You saw that, right? The Arbitrator System really exists! And it has already awakened its master control!"

The nobles were arguing incessantly.

Some were terrified, some were angry, and some were eager to try.

Seated at the head of the table was Karus von Hermann, the newly appointed leader of the Royal Council, a three-generation nobleman and a powerful figure involved in both military and political affairs.

He tapped his scepter lightly, his voice cold:

"The temple's defeat does not mean we must follow suit."

“I propose that the crackdown on the Free Lands be immediately suspended.”

"Instead of driving the arbitrators to the brink, it's better to win them over."

The parliament was in an uproar.

"Your Excellency Hermann, are you insane? Those are rebels!"

"He possesses the arbitration system, and if he gains power, it will threaten the very foundation of the monarchy!"

Carlos narrowed his eyes and sneered:

"The foundation of royal power has long been rotten."

"The question now is not whether he will threaten us, but whether we can still control him."

He slowly stood up and surveyed the entire room:

"Gentlemen, the temple's failure has already proven everything."

"The true future is not in the hands of the gods."

"But in the hands of the arbitrator."

Meanwhile, in the land of freedom.

In the square outside the treatment center, Erland sat quietly at the foot of the stone steps, his eyes closed, as if deep in thought.

He was no longer the holy messenger of the temple, nor the experimental subject of the system.

He was simply someone who had strayed from the right path and returned home.

"What do you plan to do?" Annabelle stood beside Sherlock, looking at Elland.

“I will let him choose.”

"What if he chooses to leave?"

"Then I'll see him off."

"What if he chooses to stay?"

Sherlock gazed into the distance, a profound meaning surfacing in his eyes:
“Then I will tell him—the land of freedom does not need believers, it only needs people.”

That afternoon, Free Land welcomed its first external visitor since the founding of the nation.

She wore a long red and black robe, a magnificent metal mask on her face, and three badges from different countries hanging from her waist.

She is—Melvis Nolan, a seventh-level envoy of the Mercenary Alliance, and also the secret contact person in the capital for the intelligence organization "Flame Feather".

As soon as she stepped into the treatment center, she performed a standard "covenant salute" for Sherlock.

“Your Excellency Arbitrator, we are willing to form an alliance with you.”

"Conditions?" Sherlock asked bluntly.

“We provide supplies, training, intelligence, and even mercenaries.”

"What do you want?"

"A promise."

"explain."

"Once you win, abolish the aristocracy and establish a multi-party co-governance parliament."

Sherlock paused for a moment, then nodded.

"make a deal."

Melvis removed his mask, revealing half of his burned face.

"I fought for the capital."

"He was also betrayed by the capital."

“I believe you, not because you are the arbitrator.”

"It's because you—are still speaking like a human being."

That night, Leon found Erland in the backyard of the treatment center.

Are you really going to stay?

Erland opened his eyes, his expression calm.

"I don't know who I am, but I want to know what else I can become."

“You were once the Word.”

"I was also a test subject."

"Now, I want to be a person."

Leon didn't say anything more, but simply patted him on the shoulder gently.

"Welcome back."

Sherlock stood on the rooftop of the treatment center, gazing at the distant capital.

In his hand was a secret letter.

The letter was signed by Karus von Hermann.

The letter read:

"Your Excellency, please allow me to extend my greetings as a politician."

"I believe that we do not need war to solve all our problems."

“If you wish, we can hold a closed-door meeting at the ‘Ruins of the Old Council’ on the border of the capital.”

"At that time, I will bring you the draft of the division agreement of the Royal Capital Noble Council."

“If you can support us in overthrowing the temple, I will support you—to become one of the future co-rulers of the capital.”

"May we use reality as our blade to break down the old world together."

—Carus von Hermann
Sherlock stared at the letter, speechless for a long time.

Annabelle walked up to him: "Will you go?"

"of course."

"Do you believe him?"

“I don’t trust anyone.” Sherlock burned the letter, and the ashes drifted away in the wind.

"But I know that to change the world—"

"You must first enter the chessboard."

Under the starry sky of the Land of Freedom, everything seemed peaceful.

But in the darkness, a shadowy figure stealthily crept in.

His figure was like mist, his footsteps were silent, and he held a short blade inlaid with red stone in his hand.

He is—the “ruthless” experimental subject, Z-04, White Raven.

He didn't come to negotiate.

He came to eliminate the arbitrators.

Sherlock, however, had already begun to dream.

In his dream, he stood in a void, surrounded by five beams of light.

Z-02, Z-03, Z-04, Z-05, and... himself.

The system whispered in his ear:

System synchronization rate: 96%

The next phase is about to begin.

[Entering the Core Authority Trial - Countdown to Start: 72 hours]

And after that voice, a whisper could be faintly heard.

So light it seemed to come from another world:
"You think you're arbitrating this world..."

"But what you don't know is that the world is also judging you."

At midnight, the lights in the treatment center were still on.

Sherlock sat alone in the operating room, debugging the arbitration system's permission module. A halo rotated slightly in his palm, casting a layer of pale golden tranquility.

System synchronization rate: 96.8%

[Permission Status: Stable]

[Core Trial Countdown: 68 hours 17 minutes]

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress the restless mental fluctuations that had been raging since he awakened.

But the next second, something strange happened.

A cold wind suddenly rushed into the sealed room, and all the lights went out instantly.

The air freezes.

"coming."

Sherlock suddenly stood up, his gaze sharp as a blade.

—He's here.

The Land of Freedom, the blacksmith's workshop on the north side.

As Leia was repairing a batch of newly made metal shields, a sudden chill swept over her, and the flames in the furnace went out instantly.

"what happened?"

She frowned, turned around to check, and then heard a "click"—

The door to the blacksmith's workshop was locked from the outside.

boom--!
A blurry figure flashed in, followed by a deep male voice:

"Those who are irrelevant are excluded."

The next second, Leia was sent flying backward, crashing into the wall and falling unconscious.

She didn't even see who it was.

"Enemy attack!"

Leon was the first to react.

He instantly activated his mental detection field, scanning the entire city, and sure enough, he detected an extremely suppressed energy fluctuation outside the treatment center.

"Assassin, target—Sherlock!" As he rushed into the infirmary, he saw a gray shadow flash across the corridor like a ghost.

"Stop him!"

Ophelia rose from the ground, summoning undead chains to block her path.

But with just a flick of the wrist, the chains shattered like paper.

"My barrier... was actually destroyed in an instant?" Her eyes widened, revealing shock for the first time.

“This is no ordinary enemy.” Leon gritted his teeth. “He is Z-04, the White Raven.”

Inside the treatment room, Sherlock stood in the center of the circle of light, watching the man slowly step in.

He was dressed in a black combat suit, expressionless, with empty eyes, and a metal implanted organ under his neck that shimmered with a pale blue light.

“You are me.” He said, his tone as cold as a machine.

“Z-04,” Sherlock replied calmly. “Do you remember your name?”

"Names are an inefficient way to identify people. Numbers are clearer."

"You are not a machine."

"I am a 'ruthless' experimental subject with an emotion rejection rate of 98.71%. The arbitration system failed to adapt, and I have been transferred to the military combat system."

"By joint command from the military and the temple—eliminate the core variables."

"Target—Sherlock Irwin."

Having said that, Bai Ya suddenly made his move!
He used no weapons, only his bare hands, yet he was incredibly fast!
boom!
Sherlock was sent flying by a punch, crashing through the back wall of the treatment room!

“System…local damage.”

He climbed out of the rubble, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes grew even calmer.

"You abandoned your own self and chose to execute."

"You are not without emotions."

"You've simply been paralyzed by orders."

The white crow remained unmoved, and with a single step, the floor cracked!

A gray program matrix appeared behind him, resembling a combat module constructed from data streams.

[Battle Mode: Battlefield Cleanup]

[Objective: Termination]

"Then let me arbitrate against you."

Sherlock raised his right hand, and the golden ring behind him spun violently!

[Arbitrator System - Word of Power - Domination Activated]

"Stop—!"

But the white crow did not react at all.

"Your Word Power System failed to synchronize with my logical structure."

“I am an ‘eliminator’, not a perceptive.”

"Immune to you."

Sherlock's pupils contracted.

"Then we'll have to terminate it by force."

He suddenly raised his hand and activated system privileges!
[Domain of Adjudication – Enforcement]

boom! !

The entire treatment center was instantly enveloped by a golden cube!
[Rule Setting: Target No. Z-04 · White Raven]

[Combat Authority Locked - Forced Judgment Mode Activated]

[Executor: Sherlock, the holder of master control]

The white crow paused for half a second for the first time.

"You... have imposed restrictions on me?"

"Your system still retains the arbitrator submodule."

“I am the controller.” Sherlock approached step by step. “I can strip you of your last command.”

"Unless you choose to refuse."

Bai Ya's eyes flickered slightly.

"Refuse...the command?"

At that moment, countless images flashed through his mind:

He was forced to inject a removal drug, his parents were given a notice of "national martyrdom," and his only wooden toy from his childhood was destroyed as a "source of emotional pollution."

He considered running away.

But each time he tries to escape, the "loyalty chip" forcibly activates his killing mode.

"I... still have a choice?" he murmured.

Sherlock slowly reached out his hand:
"You're not the system's dog."

"you are human."

"Your name is Seris Bain."

Bai Ya shuddered!
The system is fluctuating violently, and the implanted modules are starting to malfunction!
[Loyalty Pact Collapses]

[Execution Logic - Interruption]

[Core Data: Returning to Human Consciousness]

“I…” Seris covered his head and knelt down.

"I'm alive?"

Sherlock nodded slightly.

"Welcome back."

The domain dissipated, and the sky began to lighten.

Outside the treatment center, everyone gathered around.

They were all shocked when they saw the man, who had been known as the "Death Executioner" in the temple and military intelligence, kneeling before Sherlock.

"He...surrendered too?"

"No, they were redeemed."

"Sherlock, you really can arbitrate these 'monsters'..."

Leon fell into deep thought.

But Annabelle gently reminded her:

Do you know what doing this means?

"You are no longer just a target."

“You are the core of change—a threat at its maximum level.”

Sherlock gazed at the direction of the capital on the horizon, his eyes burning with fury.

"I will arbitrate for every single one of them who comes."

"But one day, I will enter their temple."

"Tear down the temple of that false god."

System synchronization rate: 98.1%

[Core Trial Countdown: 65 hours]

In a distant space, a dark system interface slowly unfolds.

A man wearing a half-silver mask, with his back to the light screen, muttered to himself:
"You're almost there."

"The arbitrator's control over authority... has finally awakened to this stage."

"But do you think you have control of the system?"

"Ah."

"You are just another variable."

The night breeze in the land of freedom is still chilly.

But after tonight, even the sharpest blades began to hesitate about whether to strike this newly born city.

Because they know:

That's not a small town.

That was a place where fate could be arbitrated.

The Land of Freedom, the Seventh Night.

The day after the White Crow surrendered, the entire Ruins Street fell into a brief silence.

But this is not peaceful.

This is the low-pressure layer before the storm.

Sherlock sat in his study on the top floor of the treatment center, the system interface floating in front of him, the golden halo more intense than ever before, even beginning to intrude into the real world.

He could clearly perceive:

System synchronization rate: 99.1%

[Core Trial Countdown: 17 hours 32 minutes]

[Note: During the trial, you will enter the mental realm, where time outside will stop and your body will enter a state of suspended animation.]

He pondered for a moment, then finally typed the preprocessing command "Confirm Entry".

"If I hadn't woken up—"

He turned to Annabelle, Leon, and White Raven and said:
"The position of arbitrator in the Land of Freedom shall be decided by the three of you."

“I will wake up.” He paused, then smiled. “It was just a dream.”

[System Core Trial - Phase One - Activation]

[Loading Space: Arbitrator Prototype Consciousness Field]

[Access Control Level]

[Setting Goals: Reconstructing Self-Awareness]

In an instant, Sherlock's consciousness was pulled into a strange world.

There was no sky, no earth, only endless gray mist. He seemed to be standing in an eternally rotating center of logic, surrounded by countless shimmering fragments of consciousness.

"This is...my spirit?"

Just as he was about to take a step, five familiar yet unfamiliar lights and shadows suddenly appeared in front of him.

Z-02 Leon, Z-03 ? ? ? , Z-04 White Raven, Z-05 Elland, and — Z-01 Sherlock himself.

But this is not the person he is now.

That was him in the early stages of the experiment, his eyes were numb, his expression was blank, and he was burdened with the suppressed system core.

"You've come," the "old self" spoke, its voice icy. "You've finally reached this stage."

"Who are you?" Sherlock frowned.

"I am you—the 'system template personality' created in the laboratory." (End of Chapter)