Arknights' Lock of Heaven

For example, right now, he's portraying himself as someone who's solely after money and would abandon all sense of shame for it.

This kind of persona will help with future interactions.

"he—tu!"

Bald Martin simply expressed his disdain with a single gesture.

"What, are you shocked?" Xia Yu looked at the dumbfounded Maria. "Did you just realize that there are people in this world who can talk about shamelessness so confidently?"

"I...I've never seen it before..."

Maria murmured to herself.

"As expected, I was still too young..."

"On a side note, if Miss Maria accepts any of the knightly requests I've made to you, then even if Miss Maria misses out on the Major..."

Charne looked at Maria, "I can still guarantee that the Lightbringer family's status as a legitimate knightly noble family is absolutely secure."

“Miss Maria, you should know that going against the Business Federation will not end well.”

"Your sister, the former Radiant Knight, is a cautionary tale."

"I appreciate your kindness."

Maria turned her head away, no longer looking at him.

"I will make Kazimierz acknowledge the Nearl family. I will not let the efforts of our ancestors be in vain. I will prove the Nearl family's worth as a knightly family!"

Upon hearing this, Charné showed an expression of great interest.

Xia Yu's face fell.

"Heh heh, to prove... to prove... what in the knightly arena?"

Charne asked Maria sarcastically, "Isn't accepting commercial cooperation the best proof of being a knight? What exactly are you going to do with our most ardent fans, tourists from all over the land, and loyal customers of Kazimierz..."

"What does it prove?"

“Proof…” Maria was speechless for a moment upon hearing this.

She was also somewhat bewildered, or rather, she simply didn't know what she was supposed to prove.

It was just a moment of impulse that made me say it.

"What is it?" Charne asked, continuing Maria's question.

"I……"

Maria was silent.

"Sigh, you didn't listen to a word I said..."

Xia Yu sighed and tapped Maria's head. "I'm asking you, why did you participate in the Knights' Tournament?"

"To preserve the family's knighthood!" Maria answered instinctively.

"So why are you still bothered with proving anything?"

"That was Margaret's dream, not yours!"

“You admire Margaret so much that you subconsciously try to follow in her footsteps, but this admiration is blind. You don’t even know why she chose this path.”

"You don't understand any of the steps, from the goal to the means; you only know the outcome."

"I told you to stay true to your original aspirations, and you've already forgotten them..."

“Ah, this… I…” Maria lowered her head in shame upon hearing this.

"It's precisely because you admire her so much that you've been led astray by their words!"

"Oh, that's a really sharp statement..."

Just then, Charnet interjected with great interest, saying, "Your insight is truly remarkable... May I ask..."

“Don’t try to hide it from me,” Xia Yu said, turning her head and giving him a disdainful look. “Heh, from the moment you walked in until you used your words to corner Maria, you looked at me seven times in total.”

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Huh?" Maria looked up, confused. "Weren't you here to see me?"

“Mr. Xia Yu has a good eye,” Charné said with a smile, clapping his hands together. “Indeed, I came here to see you.”

"As for Miss Maria, she's just a side effect."

"The purpose of my visit is to inform you of something."

Charne calmly sat down halfway through his sentence, waiting for Xia Yu to ask a question.

Then Xia Yu just stared straight at him, without saying a word or turning around, just staring straight at him.

Maria shrank back when she saw this.

Bald Martin felt a surge of satisfaction upon seeing this.

Indeed, it seems that only other evil people can truly teach evil a lesson...

After staring at each other for a few minutes, Charné was the first to give in.

Aren't you curious about what I'm going to say?

“I’m not curious,” Xia Yu glanced at him and pointed to the door, saying, “Say what you want to say, or leave if you don’t. The door is over there.”

hiss……

Upon hearing this, Charné took a deep breath.

This is... so uncooperative...

but it does not matter!

Once he finishes speaking, the other party will definitely cooperate obediently.

“Alright, alright, I’ll say it,” Charn’s eye twitched as he said, “As a spokesperson for the Business Federation, I have my own sources of information.”

"Through these channels, I learned that the large corporations led by Howling Guards jointly launched an assassination order against you through the Unarmored Alliance."

"Now, the Platinum position of the Unarmored Alliance is probably on its way."

After saying that, he stopped slowly and deliberately, waiting for Xia Yu to speak.

Even in cooperation, one cannot always be the one to humble oneself.

Charne knew it all too well.

Therefore, in the face of the assassination attempt on the Platinum Throne, he has to rely on himself to overcome this difficulty if he wants to survive.

Therefore, I can also take this opportunity to get involved in this matter.

Not only will they be able to keep their positions, but they might even be able to advance further.

The business association's move was a godsend for him.

Just like Titus Poplar, Charnet also had the heart of a capitalist, but their circumstances were also very similar, both lacking sufficient capital.

That's why they wanted to resort to crooked and unorthodox methods.

Upon hearing this news, bald Martin's hand, which was wiping a wine glass, trembled.

The words "Unarmored Alliance" still held considerable intimidation for him.

But then he immediately recalled the conversation between Bai Jin and Xia Yu in his tavern.

Ok……

This matter... is probably still open to discussion.

He started wiping the wine glasses, which had already been polished to a gleaming shine, once again.

Let's watch the play.

Maria's eyes widened.

Even she had heard of the legends of the Unarmored Alliance.

She looked at Xia Yu with teary eyes, wondering if she had dragged him down with her.

The girl was about to say something when Xia Yu glanced at her and stopped her.

And Xia Yu's reply?

"Oh."

A single, simple word was enough to make Charnard lose his composure.

"Mr. Xia Yu is from Yan, isn't he?" After being repeatedly rebuffed, he forced a smile and said, "Perhaps he doesn't know how terrifying the Unarmored Alliance is..."

“No, I know,” Xia Yu said slowly. “The Wuzhou Alliance is an assassin organization kept by the Business Federation. It consists of three Xuan Tie, two Qing Jin, one Bai Jin, and an organization whose exact number of ordinary assassins is unknown.”

"When I first heard about the Unarmored Alliance, I thought Platinum was the biggest."

"But after learning more, I found out that this platinum is actually quite basic. I don't know who made this inverted triangle structure. It's not scientific at all."

But that makes sense, since this is an organization supported by three Xuan Tie (a type of metal). As for why there are fewer people as you go down the hierarchy, it's because the Business Federation doesn't want the Wuzhou Alliance to become too powerful, so they specifically restrict it.

Of course, Charne wouldn't discuss these things with Xia Yu.

"Since you know these things, Mr. Xia Yu, you should also know that the strength of the Wuzhou Alliance should not be underestimated."