Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

Only those who actually carry out firefighting work can receive more compensation.

Whether they could afford it, or whether they would be left penniless after giving the money, or even be driven out of the forest by the local nobles and lords because they couldn't pay the residents' taxes—these were not things they cared about.

So, in order to carry out a well-founded "firefighting operation," a firefighter smoking a cigarette took out an Originium lighter from his pocket and, under the cover of his companion, found a relatively dry corner.

The flames crackled and popped.

"Shh-"

The arm holding the lighter, which was close to the bushes, suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.

He froze, staring blankly as his forearm fell to the ground from the middle, its smooth surface still visible, the upper part of it still in the position of holding a lighter.

The remaining arm, still attached to his body, spurted blood like water from the severed point, extinguishing the flames on the ground with a hiss.

"...what?"

The Kazimierz man uttered a confused sound, before the pain even reached his brain.

The others were also stunned for about half a second by this strange scene.

"Aaaaaaaaahh ...

"My hand!!!"

Only when he clutched his severed arm and rolled on the ground, his face contorted in agony, did the screams of the others begin to rise.

However, the other firefighters who followed did not scream at the sight of the man's sudden horrific condition—they had a more pressing danger in their field of vision.

A gigantic object, resembling a metallic spider, silently approached their gathering place. The part in the center of the sphere, which appeared to be a camera, was constantly extending and retracting to observe the people around it, and a gun muzzle-like hole appeared directly above it.

At that moment, a plume of white smoke was still rising from there.

"Shh-"

A beam of light shot out from the hole and swept over all the firefighters present.

The people who were fleeing and screaming stopped what they were doing.

They all fell to the ground in a comical manner, with their upper bodies falling down first, or their lower bodies kneeling down alone.

Everyone was cut in half by the beam of light.

This is deadly, yet not enough to kill them immediately.

Even more horrific screams rang out as one after another, bodies struggling on the ground smeared their entrails on the ground as they crawled, the stench of blood quickly spreading in their despair.

Immediately afterwards, his head was pierced by those sharp limbs as they trampled on it.

“Every inch of this land and every tree here should be nourishment for the spiritual tree. How can we allow you inferior creatures to waste it?”

The machine made a sound at the mutilated corpse, and the surroundings finally quieted down, but the sound of orderly footsteps approached.

The machine turned around and continued to use its camera to observe the armored figure that appeared from the forest path.

"Local soldiers... let me see how capable the natives are in combat."

"5...7...6...8...Tch, is this all the soldiers are capable of? We don't even need to land ourselves; just send a few more reconnaissance planes and we can wipe out the natives!"

The machine captured the images of the conquering knights who had arrived not far away.

Those who operate it speak disdainfully of the power of these knights before them.

The knights themselves were thrown into a state of panic—there were so many corpses, there were no survivors.

The Kuranta people, who pride themselves on their speed, arrived here in just half a minute after hearing the screams. Yet, this machine, the culprit, had wiped out all the firefighters in such a short time.

The wound had a smooth cut, and the machine showed what appeared to be a firing port.

This is a weapon capable of ranged attacks!

"Raise your shields! Prepare to attack!"

Even young knights who have never participated in war possess the most basic military skills for teamwork.

The knights, who were initially there for retrieval and exploration, were not equipped with many weapons, especially ranged attack equipment, but they did carry some basic armament.

At the captain's command, the knights at the front formed a shield wall, creating an unbreakable defensive formation.

Without knowing the enemy's actual military strength, one should not approach rashly. Instead, unite and maintain defense, and take appropriate measures after probing the enemy's strength. This is the most common tactic of the knights who conquer Kazimierz.

There is no such thing as heroism where one man can hold off an enemy, nor is there any all-out attack without recognizing the disparity between ourselves and the enemy. Real combat is always a cautious team effort.

Even the Silver Spear Pegasus, hailed as the strongest, does not rely on individual strength. One person is not strong, two people are barely strong, but three, four, five, or ten people will undergo a qualitative change and become the strongest battle group that even Ursus fears.

Although the other side's origins are unknown, they have the advantage in numbers.

Although it seems dangerous, the conquering knights are equipped with top-of-the-line weapons and equipment.

Once you've confirmed the actual threat from the other party, maintain your advantage and crush them!

Whether it's a new weapon from Ursus or Columbia, it's no match for a small squad of knights!

Even in the Ursus ballads, five groups of shield guards are said to be comparable to a squad of knights, which shows that the Kazimierz people have a greater advantage in team battles!

A warrior knight will never easily perish in a group battle!

—That's how it should be.

September of Terra 1097.

With the main tournament about to begin, the Conqueror's Command Center, located on the border of the Great Knight Territory, received a distress signal from a reconnaissance squad.

When a group of fully armed knights from the Knights of the Vanguard arrived at the location of the signal, they witnessed an unbelievable and horrific scene.

Those were the knights who had been crushed as if thrown into a meat grinder; these were the ones who sent the distress signal.

They were killed in a group.

However, no trace of the perpetrator was found at this location.

*Some might question why the average level of Terrans is higher than that of Earthlings, and the Conquerors should be even stronger, yet their power level doesn't reach 10. To put it another way, Yamcha, with his Wolf Fang Fist that sent Goku flying and broke three pillars, still had a power level of less than 10. So, between an ordinary Conqueror and Yamcha when he first appeared, who is stronger?

*After reviewing the plot details, I realized that the wars in Arknights might be much smaller in scale than we imagined, including the cities. The Long Night Nearly storyline mentioned that a standard city consists of six or seven city blocks. Kroos mentioned in a short animation that Rhodes Island is about the same size as a typical city block, and Rhodes Island is only about 600-800 meters in size. In other words, a standard-sized mobile city in the Arknights world might not even be as large as a village or town in our reality... and the scale of the wars might be incomparable.

[Main Text] Terra Battle for Supremacy: Chapter Seven - I Don't Want to Be Too Polite

More than ten knights have been murdered in Qazimir – a serious situation that warrants a level-one alert at the border.

They weren't assassinated in the city, because they knew perfectly well that such a death was caused by Kazimierz's "internal conflict." Who knows how many knights might have become victims of the Unarmored Alliance because of their differing stances with the Commercial Alliance?

However, this time was different. Upon learning of the incident, the business alliance did not act as if they knew nothing and had an attitude of "what can you do to me?" as they usually did when the Knights of Conquest died. Instead, they took the initiative to inform the Supervisory Council that the matter was unrelated to them.

—The knightly tournament that I organized has been completely messed up. Now, who has the time to deliberately slaughter knights in the forest?

In a sense, this explanation is far more convincing than other actual evidence, because the members of the oversight committee also understand that the Special Championship can no longer be described as chaotic.

For these merchants who are willing to drown in gold coins, dealing with various public relations crises is the top priority. Where would they find the spare capacity to spare a fighting force capable of slaughtering the knights of war?

Are they Ursusians?

Are they forest spirits?

Or perhaps... something that was never anticipated?

Rhodes Island - Main Ship -

“I know you mean no harm, but I assure you that this matter has nothing to do with Rhodes Island—even if we do have the capability.”

Ioleta went to Rhodes Island again and tried to get information from the Doctor with what sounded unfriendly questioning.

The inhabitants of the forest would never do such a thing; even if they had the motive, they wouldn't have the power to do it.

Therefore, whether she considered Rhodes Island a suspect or wanted to find out some information, Ioleta had a need to make a trip to Rhodes Island.

But all she received was a very direct and straightforward denial from the doctor.

This kind of thing couldn't possibly have been done by Rhodes Island.

They do not ally with any party, but they also do not arbitrarily oppose them.

"May I interject?"

Gravel spoke up from her office. She had gotten used to the codename given to her by Rhodes Island. In response to Ioleta's kindness, the Doctor had been having Gravel assist him with various matters.

However, just like when you work as an assistant to the Doctor, the assistant doesn't actually have much to do. Most of the time, they just watch from the sidelines—the Doctor can now take care of both his work and personal safety on his own.

To put it bluntly, the so-called doctor's assistant is just a job to accompany the doctor to chat or wander around. Since it allows them to slack off openly, many operators are happy to apply for this job, taking a break from their busy schedules to "connect".

Of course, the "exchanging feelings" mentioned here mostly refers to sparring requests from some warlike operators.

During this period, Li did not try the latter. The only reason she could give was that she had some concerns about her personal safety.

If you are acting as a protector and are killed by the person you are protecting, what does that mean?

However, simply observing from the sidelines was enough for Gravel to gain a relatively intuitive understanding of the Doctor's character and the various events on Rhodes Island.

"Your Excellency, while I cannot directly prove the innocence of the Rhodes Island operators who appeared in that forest along with the Knights of Conquest that day, I also believe that Rhodes Island would not commit such a horrific act."

Without evidence, yet willing to believe the other party, not just an individual, but the entire group—this doctor, or rather Rhodes Island, actually managed to gain such trust from Gravel, who appears cheerful on the surface but is actually not very willing to open up to others.

Gravel's origins as an infected slave give her a keen understanding of the darkness and wickedness of human nature. She is always given a new life because of the Maytree family's chief knight's shelter, but she always harbors resentment towards others.

Even though we all wear the same skin, the evil people and malice in the world are still beyond imagination.

But Li's tone and the act of interrupting the conversation seemed to reveal a high degree of trust.

"...It seems that Gravel has clearly witnessed your company's noble principles and your outstanding personal charm here."

Since Gravel had said so, Ioleta apologized for her abruptly coming to ask such a sensitive question, but before she could speak, Gravel continued:

"If they really want to fight Kazimierz, it doesn't seem necessary to confine the struggle to a small forest."

This caused the air in the office to subtly freeze for a moment.

It's not because of their "outstanding charm" that they are trustworthy.

Rather, it's because they're "strong enough" that they don't need to resort to such underhanded tactics.

"That's...that's really fortunate."

Seeing Gravel's serious expression, Ioleta broke the silence with some polite words.

What impressed and earned Gravel's respect and trust was not merely abstract concepts of personality, but rather tangible and pure strength.

The doctor said with a smile: