Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and soon composed himself; otherwise, the residents of the Great Knight Territory might have had to flee with their families this morning.

"Uh, this..." Zofia was speechless upon hearing this.

She originally thought it was just a problem in her own family, but it turned out to be this serious.

It affected the whole city...

"What did the messengers of the Cataclysm say?" Maria asked, stepping out from behind Zofia. "Will there really be a natural disaster?"

The little girl was still very nervous, after all, she couldn't compare to her older sister who had experienced a real natural disaster.

“No, no,” Markowitz wiped his sweat again and quickly explained, “Even Mr. Victor, who successfully predicted eight natural disasters for the Great Knights, has come out to refute the rumors.”

"He's staked his entire life's honor on this; there will absolutely be no natural disasters occurring nearby during the Knights Tournament."

"I see," Maria and Zofia both breathed a sigh of relief.

Victor, the messenger of natural disasters who has worked for the Great Knights for his entire life, still has a very prestigious reputation. The old man had a good relationship with my grandfather back then, so if he were to vouch for me, I could certainly trust him.

“What does that have to do with us?” Zofia looked at the documents in his hand.

They came to their door with documents, clearly not specifically to tell them this news.

Actually, it's just that they're so engrossed in training that Zofia's old butler would naturally tell her about the important events in the city around lunchtime.

“Um, it’s like this,” Markowitz said somewhat awkwardly, “In order to stabilize public opinion in the city, we need all the famous knights to go out into the streets to appease the people, so…”

"Oh, I see," Zofia said casually as she took the documents from his hand. "So, someone still remembers an old man like me who retired nine years ago?"

“How can you say that?” Markowitz said somewhat awkwardly. “You are a player who has reached the round of 16 before, and you are quite popular.”

But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw a strange look on Zofia's face.

He immediately became even more embarrassed.

The main purpose of this trip is to meet Maria Nearl...

It was only after several unsuccessful visits to the Nearl mansion, and after making inquiries from various sources, that I learned that she was in the former mansion of the Whipblade Knight.

Unfortunately, Whipblade, who retired nine years ago, was not on the invitation list...

Just as she said, as a competitive knight, she was already past her prime.

How could she possibly have such a great opportunity to increase her popularity?

Of course, this is not a big deal. After all, it was Maria Nearl who was personally selected by the Grand Knight Commander. If there is a need, it is not a big deal to send out an extra invitation.

However, because the requirements from above were very strict, all personnel on the list had to be notified before the afternoon.

So Markowitz, who had spent most of the day at the Linguang Mansion, didn't even have time to apply for another invitation letter for Zofia.

A typical example of someone who talks the talk but whose followers are constantly running around doing all the work.

This is very embarrassing.

Markowitz's expression grew increasingly humble, and his back gradually bent lower.

He was prepared to face the enraged Whipblade Knight.

Unexpectedly, after reading the invitation, Zofia didn't get angry at him, the errand boy, but instead turned to look at her niece.

“Oh, Maria, Maria,” she sighed, patting the documents in her hand. “Look at you, you’ve only just signed up for the competition and you’ve already amassed such a great reputation.”

“I didn’t even qualify for an invitation when I was in the top 16, and you got one before you even played a single match,” Zofia said, placing the document in her hand on her chest. “It’s true what they say, new talents are replacing the old.”

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Maria glanced at the invitation in front of her, but without looking at it, she looked directly at the person in front of her.

"Zofia, are you... alright?"

Snapped!

Upon hearing this, Zofia delivered a karate chop to Maria's head.

"Huh?" She raised her eyebrows. "What? You think I'm jealous of a little girl like you?"

"It's just an invitation letter, isn't it? I've been retired for a long time and I don't need that thing. After all, I'm not planning to make easy money."

"Oh, I see," Maria said with a grin, "Then I'm relieved."

After saying that, he took out the invitation and began to read it.

Actually, the purpose of going out on the streets to appease the public and dispel rumors was to take the opportunity to go out, but the business association quickly discovered the business opportunity in it.

This is a great way to boost the popularity of competitive knights...

You should know that in a game, a player's popularity can really influence the outcome!

Popular competitive knights may even have enthusiastic fans gifting them items that can directly send them into the arena to help them in certain matches.

This is undoubtedly quite unfair, but it's enough to stir people's hearts!

And you can make money, a lot of money!

In Xia Yu's view, this was just like the ranking battles between streamers in her previous life.

In the frenzy of the crowd, individuals, faced with the excitement of the entire arena, often choose to blindly follow the crowd.

This shows just how important popularity is for a competitive rider.

Of course, how could capitalists, who never leave empty-handed, pass up such a good opportunity to make money?

Very quickly, really quickly, the entire Great Knight Territory, along with the three merged cities, was divided into countless regions.

Those knights with huge followings, such as the previous champion Blood Knight and star knights like Candle Knight, have acquired many seemingly good plots of land.

For example, National Assembly Street, and the aristocratic residential area.

It looks very prestigious, right? After all, it's the National Assembly.

But in reality, it's only by talking about it that you feel proud.

After all, in a place like that, the potential for increased popularity is quite limited.

After all, Blood Knight is the champion, and he already has top-tier traffic. Even if he can grow, it will be very limited. So they gave him a very prestigious but limited plot of land.

The same applies to other top knights, including the Candle Knights; how many people are there in the noble quarter? And the nobles of Kazimierz…

Either they are still persisting on the path of knights in battle, and these people are impossible to win over; both sides dislike each other.

They either switched to competitive knights, since they're all in the same industry, so of course they'd support their own.

So it just sounds nice.

The places that truly attract crowds, such as middle-class residential areas or hotels where foreign tourists stay, are all given to middle-class knights.

Of course, you have to pay!

If you want a good spot, you have to pay for it!

What? You want a good location without spending money?

Okay, if you work hard this year and win the championship, you'll be playing on National University Street in the next competition three years from now.

After all, these mid-level knights were quite wealthy. Although they weren't exactly high-ranking or low-ranking, they could still make a decent living.

Don't assume that just because you've created so much profit for those capitalists, they'll consider you one of their own.

When it comes to exploiting them, capitalists will not hesitate to do so.

You're just an employee. Do you really think you're one of them just because your boss is polite to you?

Unless you become a top-tier figure in the company like Blood Knight, no one will give you a second glance.

very realistic.

Maria, on the other hand, didn't spend any money, didn't have many die-hard fans, and was only given a spot by the Securities and Futures Commission.

So they turned around and arranged for her to live in the upscale neighborhood.

It's still the same street where the Rinko family mansion is located...

As everyone knows, that street is inhabited by die-hard warriors.

Maria going there... she'll probably be drowned in spittle.

Clearly, Maria immediately realized this after reading the invitation, and her face turned very ugly.

Seeing this, Zofia raised her eyebrows and said, "See? You still think fame is a good thing?"

"Look, this is what happens to the knights of the Nearl family when they participate in the arena!"

"The competition hasn't even started yet, and we're already being targeted!"

Do you want to continue?

“I won’t give up,” Maria said firmly after a moment of silence.

“Sigh, I knew it,” Zofia sighed. “You and your sister are both blockheads.”

“Um, actually…” Just then, Markowitz stammered, “If… you’re really not satisfied, you don’t have to go…”

176 That chilly early spring night

"Uh," Maria and Zofia turned to look at him at the same time upon hearing this.

"Can I not go?"