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She made the request again. At such a critical moment, she only had outsiders to rely on. This made her sad and more certain... that she was right to oppose her mother's decision.
"…Yes, but not in the way you would like, I'm afraid."
Sora asked Himeko before nodding.
Although he intends to shelter Bronya, he must first obtain the consent of the navigator.
"I feel relieved with your words..."
It can't be said that she no longer has any worries, but knowing that she has been marginalized, Bronya stepped on the accelerator and drove the five people on the road near the square.
Her driving skills can't be said to be bad, but they are as wild as her alien counterpart.
A ground-marrow powered car that was going less than 60 miles per hour actually gave her a motorcycle effect, making Xiao Sanyue's face turn green:
"I, I still don't understand why the situation has suddenly become so tense! Why do we have to go back to Castle K to confront the Great Guardian?"
During the bumpy ride, the pink-haired girl asked questions intermittently. This time she did not use psychic communication, and Kong was too lazy to avoid Bronya.
"It's not as simple as a standoff. Sanyue, the force they used to blow open the barrier just now was very huge... If they could continue to use such a huge amount of energy... they could definitely get in touch with the outside world earlier, but they kept doing that."
Dan Heng explained on behalf of Kong: "In addition to the power of the Amber King, there are other things that are deliberately keeping this planet in a blockade state... You know, the blockade usually comes from the star core. After all, it is the source of all signal interference, and there are very few means to overcome the interference of the star core."
"……No way?"
March 7th's little face turned from green to purple.
If her skin wasn't so fair, you wouldn't be able to see so many changes in her emotions.
"You mean to say that Mother has always had a way to contact the outside world, but she has never taken the initiative to do so?"
Bronya, who was driving, immediately lost her mind and almost steered the wheel crookedly, causing March Seven to scream. If Haiya hadn't used her tail as a seat belt to straighten her waist, she would have fallen directly into Sora's arms.
"If you still attribute this to a means of ruling, Bronya, then I can only say that you are not even qualified for the position of leader."
Kong said calmly: "Just trust your own rational judgment now. As for whether you trust us or not, that doesn't matter."
"…I just…arrived."
Emotionally, she wanted to continue to obey her mother. After all, no matter how much Kong and the others analyzed, it was just one-sided opinions of outsiders. But rationally, some of Cocolia's completely illogical and even brutal decisions had already allowed the seeds of doubt to take root.
The cable car passage of Castle K was heavily guarded, without any omissions, not to mention the main gate. Bronya suspected that all the guards who were transferred were subordinates of the garrison officers who opposed the counterattack. As for their superiors? There were many possible places, but without exception, none of them could affect Cocolia's layout.
After getting off the car, Bronya carried the chess piece on her shoulder and walked towards the guards with a rifle in one hand, hoping that they would shout as soon as they saw the flag.
But no one even saluted. Behind the masks of the Iron Guards there was not only indifference but also a bit of helplessness.
They watched Bronya lead the outsiders to the front quickly and never gave way, just like the iron wall of Beloberg, which withstood the wind and snow but could not stop the erosion of the rift.
"Commander Bronya, the Great Guardian has ordered that Castle K be under full martial law. No one is allowed to enter or leave."
"You still know that I'm the commander - there are heavy casualties on the front line and I need to report it in person! Guards, clear the way!"
I have to say that Bronya is still very powerful when she gets angry, but this comes from the power she has always been exposed to, not because she wants it to be this way.
"I'm sorry, even the acting Grand Guardian cannot enter Castle Ke. This is an order from the Grand Guardian himself—"
The guard's voice was still loud, and he turned to the train group behind Bronya: "After investigation, it was confirmed that the unrest on the front line was caused by outsiders, who intended to overthrow Beloberg. Now the outsiders of the 'fleet' are exiled and executed immediately! Commander Bronya agrees with the outsiders, and they will be removed from the team and reassigned!"
"! How could it be? They are the only outsiders that Beloberg has waited for in the past 700 years...!"
Has mom been blinded by hatred?
Bronya's body began to shake.
"Ah? What the hell? We were fine before, why are you saying one thing in public and another behind your back?!" March was furious at Cocolia's change of attitude.
But in the public channel, she anxiously asked Kong: "Could it be that we were found out because of our use of the fleet's cover--"
"You've forgotten about the star core so quickly? And her daughter has been dragged down by her in disguise - don't you understand?"
Sora sighed repeatedly, and all he needed to do was to pinch Mitsuki's juice-filled head with one hand and shake it to even it out:
"Whether Bronya knows the truth or not, Cocolia plans to treat her as if she knows it."
"Oh, it seems so."
After letting Sanyue regain consciousness, Kong didn't care about the guards' fearful looks. He stepped forward and bared his teeth:
"...How come it's just exile? I thought she had the guts to arrest and execute us."
At this point, Kong, who had thought a lot through, decided to take Cocolia's punch head-on.
"How dare you question the Great Guardian's kindness?" The guard's threats seemed to be a little out of strength, because he saw Haiya's green Originium energy curtain behind Kong, which almost soaked the entire street.
"Mercy? Isn't she afraid that I'll tear her head off if I get angry? Guards, you haven't seen the firepower of a fleet, so you can certainly say a few more words for your master. But I'm more curious, she wants us to retreat in the face of difficulties. What reason will she use to appease those purged troops?"
"Om-"
As soon as Kong finished speaking, a huge explosion occurred in the alley in the direction they came from in the city.
The train crew turned around immediately - the blue-green light was almost blinding.
"Oh, I think I know what excuse she has prepared."
After the fire, there was an explosion.
188. The fleet has arrived!
"Isn't that the direction of the Goethe Hotel? What happened?" Little Sanyue was so shocked by the spectacular blue light that her mouth opened into an O shape.
"The city's Iron Guards are fighting the Rift Creatures. What else can we do?"
Kong narrowed his eyes and teased the livid guards, "It seems that you Great Guardians have the ability to hope that monsters will appear wherever they appear."
"Ignorant person!"
However, no matter how Kong tried to provoke these guards, they never had the "courage" to take action.
To be precise, the Silver Mane Iron Guards in front of them wanted to tear Kong to pieces right away. The people in this place were quite tough - but it might be because Cocolia had ordered them not to use force... The so-called "punishment" for the train crew was nothing more than exile and expulsion. Even if the Iron Guards' eyes were almost popped out, they could not take the initiative to attack.
Cocolia knew very well that these guards could not defeat the train crew, so she needed to find some "reasonable explanations" to make the people stand with her, to exclude the war-fearing factions and those who tried to support the "fleet", and to drive the "fleet" away.
She was afraid that the train crew would stop her from using the Rift and the sacrifices of the locals to do something, and she was also afraid that she would completely anger the train crew, causing them to choose to be inhuman and burn Beloberg and her into glass - after all, even if she didn't see the shadow of the fleet, there was always a dark cloud hovering over Cocolia and her collaborators... the railgun.
The deterrent power of the railgun might be a joke to some well-defended fortress planets, but for Beloberg, which has almost zero anti-aircraft defense... this gun really can't be underestimated.
It seemed that the transaction she was conducting could not trigger such a large-scale retaliation, otherwise she would find a reason to officially declare war on the aliens.
"That old witch is obviously scared to death of us, yet she still uses such shady tricks. We are here to help, but how come she is accused of attracting monsters?"
Hearing March's complaint, Bronya's already frustrated mood was stimulated again. She looked at her with a twitching brow, but was unable to utter any rebuttal.
"Okay, March. Once we catch her, we can figure out how to deal with the local unrest. Bronya, I don't ask you to do anything to Cocolia. You just need to protect yourself. March, Danheng, get ready to charge in... Let's capture that woman who didn't keep her promise."
"...What? Do you want to break in?"
Sanyue, who was drawing the bow, was stunned. She thought Kong would choose to run away first and then look for another opportunity. Why did he want to attack all of a sudden?
She glanced at Bronya, who then slumped back down, looking distraught and as if she still couldn't accept that her mother had expelled her, and swallowed her saliva.
"Wait, that explosion just now seemed to have blown out something, Kong."
While Kong was busy confronting the guards, Dan Heng's attention shifted to the Rift Realm battlefield in the rear.
The blue explosion just now was not caused by the Iron Guard’s weapon, but a large-scale world-ripping reaction caused by something coming out.
"Hmm? Could she possibly release some ancient beast? Damn it!!"
After being warned by Dan Heng, Kong turned around and captured a human figure through his psychic power, rising from the scattered ice fragments. The power was much stronger than that of the Doomsday Beast. At the same time, his mind was tingling as if it was electrified, and he shouted to everyone including the Iron Guards: "Take cover!!"
As he was shouting, he kicked Bronya's butt with the instep, who was still shocked by his decision to attack, and kicked her and Mitsuki to the bottom of the cable car stairs without any mercy. At the same time, he quickly grabbed a guard who was alert to him and threw the two guys who were slow to realize it into the cable car pit.
After he completed this series of incredible rescue operations, Danheng followed his example and rolled into the lower part of the cable car station in a very ungraceful manner. Only Haiya was grabbed by Befa next to her and jumped into the pit, which was relatively decent.
"Bah!!"
An ice spear carrying a freezing aura and as long as three stories smashed near the entrance to the station stairs. Thanks to the recessed area where the entrance was slightly lower than the ground, no one in the train crew was injured, including the two outermost guards who were rescued by Kong.
It was hard to imagine that he had just intended to knock out these unlucky people who had entered Castle K - at the moment when the creatures from the Rift Realm attacked them almost beyond visual range, Kong did not hesitate to put them, who had just been on the verge of a war with him, into the list of candidate allies.
"Outsider, how dare you—ah?"
The strong wind blew his hat off, revealing curly hair that was obviously curled by a hairdresser. The officer could clearly see through the smoke and dust the ice spear that pierced through the prism, penetrated from the ground, passed through two layers of stone and even sank into the stairs. He immediately realized the problem.
"W-What happened? What just launched the attack?"
"Idiots! The world-splitting creatures are coming! They won't tell you whether you are a local or a foreigner, they will kill you all the same. Put up your weapons now!"
Kong released the arms that were holding the two guards under him, pulled out his rifle, and shouted orders.
"How could this happen? Aren't the guards in the outer city already resisting? Did their defense line fail?"
This officer looked like a straight-A player, but unexpectedly, what he said in a hurry was also very straight-A player, and I almost laughed to death.
That's right, the senior officers who can stay in Fort K are probably not guys with their own opinions, and it is even possible that they were promoted temporarily to fill the positions -
"Obviously not—that thing is coming for Kburg!"
"What the hell is this! It must be you outsiders who brought it here!"
The empty blame behavior did not pass the "Persuasion" check, but it did not prevent him from continuing to explain the benefits:
"You think we led it here? Okay! Then let's see if it will bypass you guys in its next attack and just chase us to kill us?"
"boom!"
As if to support Sora's words, another ice spear pierced the ground high above and came out from the underground wall. This time it was thrown closer to the guards on the track below. The strong wind almost straightened the officer's curly hair on the spot.
"Listen to him, Silvermane Guard!"
Bronya was saved by Sora's ungentlemanly kick and woke up. She just climbed out of the pit and yelled at the officer who just tried to remove her command:
"The creatures of the Rift only crave blood. They have no concept of friend or foe to the living. In the name of Bronya Rand, I order you to prepare for battle!! No matter what the outsiders have done, they are at least human!"
"... Prepare to fight... Prepare to fight!!"
No matter how much he valued Cocolia's instructions, considering that Kong had just rescued two soldiers and the Rift Creature's long-range attack, which was extremely accurate and destructive, the officer still had to figure out the priorities.
"They agreed to cooperate so quickly?"
The situation took a series of sudden turns for the worse and then an equally unreasonable turn for the better, leaving March, whose shoulder was stepped on by Bronya, confused.
Bronya climbed out of the pit and shouted at the soldiers for a long time before she remembered that she was carried up by someone. She bent down, handed her hand to Xiao Sanyue in the pit, and pulled her up as well.
——It was dramatic to say that this was the first time that the train crew had a friendly handshake with the locals of Beloberg.