Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Faced with Maria's charge, he decisively requested a pause.

182 I'm not taking the blame for this!

"This can be paused?"

Maria looked at the referee who had signaled her to stop, her face full of confusion.

She stood helplessly in the center of the ring, looking at the equally bewildered plastic knight.

However, their confusion was different.

Maria did so because she had never heard of a match being paused right at the start.

The Plastic Knight, on the other hand... thought there was something wrong with his weapon, but after looking at the crossbow in his hand from left to right... it didn't seem to be the problem.

Then why did that crossbow bolt...?

He couldn't figure it out.

The audience members were equally puzzled.

"What are you doing?"

"The plastic knight...is he scared?"

"Or is he going to surrender next? This is just the beginning, isn't it?"

Even for Kazimir, requesting a timeout during a match is a rare occurrence.

"Uh, we can see that the Plastic Knight has requested a pause."

Seeing this, Mob could only grit his teeth and desperately try to cover it up, "The reason seems to be... a problem with the weapon?"

"We can also see that his crossbow bolt hit Maria Knight's breastplate directly, but it couldn't stop her for even a second."

"It's obvious that there's something wrong with the weapon. According to the report submitted by Maria Nearl before the match, the armor she was wearing was only light armor, which couldn't possibly stop the Plastic Knight's heavy crossbow so effectively."

"Therefore, according to the principle of fair play, requesting a timeout is appropriate."

He's racked his brains trying to cover it up.

Moreover, he used to insert advertisements into every sentence, but now he doesn't mention advertisements at all.

Because, Plastic Knight is a contracted knight of the Howling Knights, and the Howling Knights are a knightly order under the Howling Guard Company.

He himself is also a contracted commentator for Howling Guard Company, and the maintenance of Plastic Knight's weapons and equipment is all carried out by Howling Guard.

So at times like this, to keep your job, it's best not to mention the company...

"Shameless!"

Zofia was so angry when she saw this that she started cursing.

"They even have the nerve to say it's a problem with their weapons?"

"obviously it is……"

He gritted his teeth and stopped halfway through his sentence.

It's best not to reveal certain things casually.

"Ha, there's something wrong with the weapon?" Koval slammed his hand on the table. "Do you really think we're blind? From its structure to its performance when firing, to the speed of the arrow, where does it look like there's a problem?"

"Is this some kind of attempt to renege on the deal?"

"Don't those big companies do this kind of thing all the time?" Old Fu scoffed. "Hmph, those businessmen..."

"..."

After being inspected by a professional equipment maintenance technician from Howling Guard Company, the face under the plastic knight's visor looked quite unsightly.

There's nothing wrong with this crossbow.

The maintenance and repairmen next to him also looked at him with great dissatisfaction.

It's important to understand that if the Plastic Knight's weapons and equipment malfunction, the primary responsibility lies with him/her.

But after checking everything, no problems were found...

However, as a member of the Howling Knights, if a player requests a pause on the field due to a weapon issue, even if the weapon itself is perfectly fine, the system must still investigate and find something wrong with it.

The reputation of the knights that the company spent a lot of money to develop cannot be ruined like this.

So it's pretty clear who will ultimately take the blame.

The plastic rider knew this too, but he had no intention of comforting his colleague who had worked with him for a long time.

Because he discovered something truly terrifying.

Since there's nothing wrong with my equipment, the problem must lie with the opponent.

Perhaps there was something wrong with the armor that looked like light armor, or perhaps the youngest daughter of the Lin Guang family had been hiding her true strength all along, and what she had shown before was never her real power.

But regardless of the situation, it was a match I originally thought was a sure thing...

As a knight famous for his crossbows, if his crossbow bolts are less effective than a tickle to the enemy... he's simply out of the game!

He regretted it.

He regretted accepting the task of promoting the new armor so easily.

If it's just a normal competition, even if you lose, you'll only get criticized temporarily.

If Maria continues to compete like this, everyone will soon discover her true strength, so no one will feel ashamed of losing to her.

But the most fatal flaw was the contract to promote the new armor.

If I lose to her while wearing the new armor, I'll face more than just the dissatisfaction of the fans...

They also face immense pressure from the company.

He was well aware that compared to the new armor the company had spent a lot of money developing, his contracted knight was worthless.

If I really lose...

Thinking about this, the plastic rider shuddered.

No, we absolutely cannot go into battle wearing the new armor!

He immediately forgot about the equipment maintenance engineer and went looking for the employee he had signed a contract with.

The person he was looking for, after learning that there was nothing wrong with his equipment, realized the seriousness of the real problem.

He knew that the company made this arrangement because, based on previous assessments, the Plastic Knight was absolutely certain to defeat Maria Nearl.

That's why they arranged this publicity campaign for the new armor at the last minute, hoping to use the reputation of the Shining family to rise to power.

But now, it seems that this is not the case.

He watched as the plastic riders frantically searched for him backstage like headless flies, and took a deep breath.

I can't take the blame for this!

He knew he couldn't carry it all on his back.

Fortunately, I had made two preparations beforehand.

He reached under his suit jacket and pulled out a voice recorder.

"I watched her debut performance. It wasn't too bad, but compared to Radiant Knight, it was very disappointing."

"...Are you worried that I'll lose?"

Press the switch, and the voice of the plastic knight will come out.

If they really lose, with this recording, they can spend a lot of money to "pull some strings" and maybe shift all the blame onto the plastic rider.

Even if I, as the person in charge, am punished, at least I won't be completely dismissed.

Now, the only thing to do is to absolutely prevent the plastic rider from finding him.

If he finds himself and asks to remove his armor, then he will face a dilemma.

If they agree, then their role as the person in charge is basically over, and all the responsibility will fall on them. They've just taken over a project and already made such a fool of themselves, and they'll have to face the board's accountability afterwards.

If they disagree, and the plastic rider loses, they will also be criticized and will inevitably bear the responsibility.

Therefore, whenever he can't find himself, he can later deflect blame by saying that he was so confident that there was no problem, and shift all the responsibility onto him.

So……

Looking at the anxious plastic riders backstage, he sighed.

If you don't want to be abandoned, then fight with all your might to win.

……

At this moment, the anxious plastic rider searched everywhere but could not find the figure in the suit and tie.

The audience in the stadium was already hurling insults.

He has wasted too much time.

“You must start the match,” the arena manager told him. “We can’t delay any longer!”

“Mr. Elvis,” the plastic knight pleaded, “Give me a little more time, I’m almost there…”