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Asuna was able to get the opportunity to go out for reconnaissance because of her skin color and hair color that blended perfectly with the people of Bay City. She did not continue to be in that mood of finding everything interesting, but immediately reported to Eula - the people outside were discussing the notice posted in Castle K... about how the fleet attracted the creatures of the Rift Valley, staged a show on its own and tried to overthrow the Bay City regime and so on.
It's all bullshit.
Anyone with self-judgment would not come to the same conclusion as the Kburg government after seeing the slowly disintegrating corpses of the creatures from the Rift Valley and the signs that Befa deliberately controlled the killing range to avoid residential areas.
But quite a few people actually believed this nonsense, and the number of people who cursed those "Red Meteors" and those who remained skeptical was almost equal.
"It seems that we won't be able to parade around in tactical uniforms anytime soon."
"I think Eula-senpai looks very handsome in knight armor, right?"
"The point is not about whether he's handsome or not, ha, Asuna... I asked you to change into your regular clothes and go out for reconnaissance, but you ran out in a maid outfit, and I didn't even have time to call you back... Did you attract any tail?"
Even though she was complaining, Eula was very sure that she had the ability to deal with the pursuers.
"This is my regular uniform, senpai - no? It seems that no one has any special reaction to Asuna's outfit. There are some more ordinary looks."
In response to Eula's complaint, she nodded her cherry lips.
"Ordinary gaze?"
"It's that kind of 'that girl is so pretty' look... hehe."
Asuna's smile made Eula's veins pop up for a moment, but she immediately relaxed and turned into helplessness:
"I admire your confidence. I will write down your internship evaluation in great detail when I return. Just wait."
"Really? Thank you, senior~"
The golden retriever's joy once again brought a sigh from Hua Lin behind the closet.
"Asuna is back? Good, we can close the store now. I guess no one will come to visit at night... Oh, my brother is out in the suburbs. If he joins Bronya's army like you said, I'm afraid I won't see him for several days."
After packing up her equipment, Shiluwa muttered to herself while preparing to lock the shop door.
"Are you taking a break now?"
"This fight will affect business, and it's already seven o'clock in the evening?"
"...Seven o'clock..."
Euladin, who had never seen the polar day phenomenon, squatted and looked at the clear sky outside. The confusion in her expression made Shiluva think that she had said something wrong.
191.Horkhaiya is a cold-blooded animal
Jeppard's troops had a fierce battle.
It can be seen that on the buffer zone of the ancient riverbed, the iron guards, who were almost exhausted, were laying the wounded down in piles for rescue.
Far away from the city, heaters alone are not enough to provide the soldiers with the heat they need to survive. They have to temporarily set up tents above the people who cannot move to prevent the wind and snow from blowing directly at them, but the situation is still getting worse.
"As you can see, Deputy Grand Guardian, this place is a mess."
Jeppard had lost contact with Fort K and could only hold on to this direction. In front of the landing site selected by Kong, the remains of the creatures from the Rift Valley had not even had time to decompose completely and had piled up into a small hill. The garrison officer himself also had new scratches on his face, which made his face, which looked like a star, also look stained with the hideousness of war.
It should be said that this is the normal state of a garrison officer, and he does not have many opportunities to clean himself up.
"The earth core fuel is running out. If Fort K really doesn't care about the life and death of the garrison, it is true that they use the lives of the soldiers as bargaining chips in exchange for the gift of the star core... If we want to obtain heat sources, we can't count on Fort K to distribute it. We must reach an agreement with the outer city storage, or take the fuel by force."
Jeppard quickly accepted Bronya's "slander" against Cocolia.
This is not because he has a deceptive face and believes whatever others say, but simply because Cocolia's long-term "self-harm" behavior needs an explanation, and Bronya fills in the last piece of the puzzle, making all the previous unreasonable things have sufficient reasons.
In this city, Bronya is definitely the first person who knows Cocolia well enough. Even Cocolia's daughter no longer trusts her... The guard's promise is to be loyal to Beloberg, not the Great Guardian, so there is no need to continue to be blindly loyal.
Jeppard still remembers the cold-blooded look on Cocolia's face when she reported the losses of the counterattack on the Rift Realm, and she didn't care about the loss of forty Iron Guards who had been in service for more than ten years.
That cold conversation had prompted some doubts in Jeppard's mind, but now, there was only regret.
If I could see through her disguise at that time, delay a little and take my time, perhaps those soldiers would not have died because of malicious orders.
While sighing in his heart, he looked towards the train set.
These outsiders were helping the wounded secure their windbreak tents and providing some chemical heat agents.
Just now Kong straightened the bone of a dislocated guard. After the opponent wailed, the arm could move normally again. His movements were rough but precise. It seemed that he had dealt with similar minor injuries many times.
"Or we could open a fuel pipeline directly from the lower city, Guard Officer Jeppard."
Seeing Jeppard's serious expression, Kong tried to ease the atmosphere: "After all, the help that the Nameless Guest can provide is limited. The cost of transporting supplies from outer space is too high - but I have an informant in the lower city who can deliver some goods for us from the underground passage near the abandoned city."
I just contacted Sambo through the air terminal. The other party first praised the chaos caused by the "fleet" and slapped the woman in the face, creating tons of joy, and then took the initiative to propose to share his channel with the train crew.
But he underestimated Kong and Jeppard's expectations and intended uses for this "smuggling channel"...
"…Your Excellency has already developed informants in the lower city right after arriving at Belloburg?"
After experiencing a series of misfortunes, Jeppard now has to remain somewhat skeptical.
"The informant is stranded in Beloberg... He has been waiting for an opportunity to reestablish contact with the outside world. He took the initiative to provide us with information as soon as we landed. Ah, come to think of it, you know that guy..."
Empty dead fish eyes:
"Sambo, you have an impression of the smuggler that Jeppard was chasing."
"...So it was him. Although I had thought he was not a simple person before, an alien... This makes sense."
To judge whether a person's behavior is motivated by noble ideals, long-term observation is required.
He didn't know the train crew very well, and wasn't sure how much truth was in what they said, but it was enough to know that Cocolia's past words must have been full of lies and malice.
If both of their goals were pointing to a future that would see Beloberg sink, he now had no choice but to follow Bronya, who trusted the train crew.
"If he can provide some supplies, I can temporarily...revoke his wanted warrant, although it's only for our unit."
Temporarily? You are too principled.
Kong could already imagine the frustrated look on Zanbo's face. Although he was very happy, he still had to say something unpleasant:
"The earth's marrow is not a problem. But the food reserves in the lower areas are not sufficient. We have to provide some food as a trading item and bypass Castle Ke to trade with the lower people alone. Sambo is not doing charity. Does Beloberg have any large granaries or controllable planting sheds?"
"The growing shed is in the warmest area of the city. There are some automatic breeding farms on the edge that can be requisitioned."
Belloberg's supply of meat exceeds that of vegetables, a matter of climate - people can survive for a while on fat alone, but not on fiber alone.
However, the lower districts were cut off from normal communication with the upper city and could not even eat industrially farmed meat.
"We will send a team to the farm to collect the 'payment'... We need at least 600 cans of refined earth marrow and 30 tons of crude ore to keep the camp running. How much does he want?"
When Bronya thought about how she had fallen to the point of colluding with the guy she once pursued, her mood became visibly worse.
"According to him, many underground workers are almost starving to death... You only need to exchange the daily food consumption of the labor force required to mine these fuels for them."
Honestly speaking, when he first arrived, Sora didn't feel much of what he heard from Sambo's complaints. But when he heard that the lower class people were almost starving to death, he immediately took the deal seriously and wholeheartedly helped Sambo lobby Bronya and Jeppard.
If this is true, even if they don't come, Beloberg is already on the precipice of civil war and could fall at any time.
"Mother... has blocked the underground for too long and strictly restricted the distribution of materials. I guess only a few residents in the lower districts can enjoy normal supplies. If I objected more firmly..."
Although Bronya's frustration seemed a bit weak in Jeppard's eyes, he didn't know how to comfort this "chief" for a moment.
"I will accompany you for the first exchange of goods so that we can establish basic trust first."
Sora patted Bronya's shoulder very skillfully - the tactical suit made him taller, making some of his movements less abrupt.
"Don't dwell on the past while you're still working on the job. Once you get Beloberg on the right track, there will be plenty of time to review past mistakes."
"You're right."
Bronya nodded and stopped complaining: "Unconsciously, everyone has become very dependent on Mr. Lei... Although we have only known each other for a day, I feel like we have known each other for a long time."
"Maybe it's not an illusion, haha...but you are completely different from the impression I had of someone."
"Eh?"
After saying something that confused Bronya, Kong turned around and shouted to Sanyue and Danheng who were bandaging the wound, "We are ready to call it a day! I will take you back to the car first, and I will discuss the delivery with Sangbo later."
"We can stay and help!"
"Your task now is to have a good rest, Xiao Sanyue. Neither you nor Danheng can be like me and completely do not need to sleep."
Then Kong's expression became more subtle: "...and...the Black Tower said that it wants to send the puppets to the surface for exploration and research...seeing how unhappy she is, I'm afraid I can't guide you and hold her at the same time. My students have been left out for a long time, and I have to take them on a mission...their schedule is also quite explosive."
Is this the trouble with being too popular?
March didn't know, but her cheeks had already puffed up involuntarily:
"Hey, but... our evening game has been canceled... and you're not going back."
"Xiao Sanyue, you can go play with Yinlang and Xiaoxin, but don't play too late. Combine work and rest."
"...Sora, this is the first time I've been able to rest on the train during my escape... And you're allowing Sanyue to play games? Doesn't that lower the intensity of the exercise?"
Dan Heng was a little uncomfortable with it.
After all, Ji Zi said that she hoped young people could gain more experience - he was not sure whether this could be considered as taking shortcuts.
"How can this be called fleeing? We are making a strategic shift. Kokolia must be worried that we will strike back. From what you said, you want to take Xiao Sanyue out to sleep in the wild?"
Kong said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if we can't stay in the hotel, but at least we can't let you risk catching a cold... You are an important fighting force, and ensuring a stable and healthy rest environment is more important than anything else. When fighting, just put in as much effort as you did today."
"...You can get back to the ship?"
Jeppard, who was also pulled into the public channel, was shocked when he heard Kong's arrangement: "Can we use your troops to quickly transfer troops?"
"The number of people that can be transferred is limited - the candidates are also fixed, and the landing location is also restricted. I can't transfer so many people in the camp."
Sora shook his head. "Among the locals of Beloberg, only you, Bronya, and Zombo can join the teleportation queue..."
"Pity."
Jeppard didn't really feel sorry, but was marveling at the ability of the stranger.
"Okay, that's the division of labor for now. Bronya, you can stabilize the morale of the troops in the camp tonight and walk around to comfort them. I don't need to teach you. Let's go and recruit the lower-class residents tomorrow and confirm their situation before we act together."
"Well, don't worry. I know that we must take up the banner now... I will arrange some people to go to the lower levels tonight and bring some iron guards so that the lower-level residents can trust us..."
That’s not necessarily true.
Sora raised his gaze subtly.
"Mr. Lei, if you need to conduct secret activities in the city, I recommend a candidate. When the battle broke out, she was in Castle K waiting for your summons, but it seems that you didn't use her."
Before leaving, Bronya introduced another talented person to Sora.
"Oh? Who is it?"