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The first thing they saw was Lingke and Sylva, who were already wearing the Earth Fire Ribbon, hugging each other, followed by Bronya and Seele, whose eyes softened, and finally the train crew and the Iron Guard team, which diluted a lot of the tense atmosphere.
But there were still some pedestrians on the street corners whose eyes and eyebrows twitched wildly after seeing the Iron Guards, and they quickly disappeared into the depths of the streets, as if they did not want to be hurt by the reflection of the bronze medals and sophisticated equipment.
"As everyone has judged, there are quite a few people in the lower class who have opinions about the Iron Guards..."
Bronya glanced at those people with complicated and disgusted eyes, feeling a little guilty...but she was here to resolve this kind of grudge, and she absolutely could not show her weakness.
She subconsciously wanted to turn around and ask Sora's opinion, but she remembered Sora's warning to her, so she looked straight past Shiluva and the others and fell on Oleg who came out to greet them after hearing the news.
"Hello, Mr. Oleg."
"Hello, little girl from the Iron Guard."
Compared with the obvious hostility of civil contacts, "official" contacts are much less emotional.
"Varyag, let's set up camp here temporarily and have dinner for everyone first." After nodding to each other with Oleg, Bronya immediately arranged for the guards to rest on the spot.
The Iron Guards had just emerged from the garbage dump and had no appetite for food, but when Bronya's adjutant took the lead and sat down on the stone road, they followed suit, crossed their legs, and opened the cans they carried with them to recharge their batteries.
Even though they felt a little uncomfortable being treated like monkeys, the Iron Guards still did not take the initiative to communicate with anyone in the lower district, so as not to interfere with the normal lives of the residents - this was a principle suggestion made by Sora to Bronya when she was commanding the Iron Guards.
Otherwise, given the importance many guards place on honor and their hot tempers, conflicts are likely to break out.
"...Why don't you come in and sit down? There's room for so few people."
"No need for that. Even if we can't come to an agreement, I still want to let my fellow countrymen know that the Iron Guards have been here. This is just a little selfish of mine."
"…The little girl has ideas."
Oleg was stunned when he heard this, but he quickly accepted her somewhat cunning request.
"It seems that you are very clear about the main source of resistance. Mr. Kong, would you like to join us?" He invited Kong to attend the meeting again.
"That's not necessary this time. You guys can discuss the specific cooperation matters first. If you need my assistance and advice, it won't be too late to call me in."
This time, Sora was not as enthusiastic and overbearing as before. He believed that Bronya could handle it:
"After all, we are just unknown guests, and matchmaking is enough - if we get involved too much, people with ulterior motives will think that we are interfering in your internal affairs."
This is just an excuse.
In fact, he noticed that there were several more groups of people watching on the street. They were not only spies from the Earth and Fire, but also some more malicious ones. Kong even saw several "general pass" autonomous robots recording the number of Iron Guards and their equipment.
Unlike the monopoly of Cocolia on the ground, the situation underground is more complicated. There are also areas that the underground fire cannot control, such as the "mechanical settlement" that Xiluwa just mentioned -
I heard that it is managed by an intelligent robot... It really has all the necessary elements. How many monsters and demons are there in this doomsday fortress?
"You are so kind?"
During the gap of observation, Xier did not go in to join the discussion, but found a small stool on the Xiluwa stall nearby and sat there, crossing her legs. Both sides made it clear that the cadres were excluded and the leaders would exchange views first.
“Sometimes it’s the attitude that matters, not what you do.”
Sora looked speechlessly at the little bit of sweat sheen leaking out from Seele's squeezed and deformed hot pants, and her tights and cute belly button that were getting more and more see-through - he thought, you're so concerned about whether Bronya is exposed, why don't you pay attention to your own situation?
"In fact, we already intervened once when we took Bronya out of the city... That time can be explained as force majeure, but then there was the confrontation between the Great Guardian and the agent, and the confrontation between the residents of the upper and lower districts and the city builders."
"…That's her mother. Can she point a gun at her own mother?"
Confused by Kong's explanation, Xier had to change the subject.
"If she is aware enough. It depends on whether the people of Beloberg are more important to her or the honor of the city builders is more important."
Kong seemed to realize that Xi'er's education level was limited and she couldn't listen to such details, so he gave a direct conclusion: "Her appearance here shows that she still cares about the lower class people. You don't have to test her attitude so often, be careful not to annoy her. Also, your aggressive attitude towards everyone can easily push your allies to the opposite side, so be careful next time."
"……I know."
Xier turned her head away: "But I can't help it. When I think about the situation in the past ten years, I always feel unhappy."
"...Why do I feel like Seele is not happy that Bronya is coming down to help?"
When Paimon saw her behavior, he pursed his lips and whispered in the air.
“Hehehe… maybe they are very happy but don’t want to express it – I’ll make a bold prediction. They might become good friends.”
"Ah? No matter how you look at it, we'll become enemies, right?"
"That's because you don't know Bronya and Seele yet."
"You've only known them for a short time!"
Paimon jumped up and down in dissatisfaction.
"It's hard to say... Ah, it's here as expected."
Just when Kong was about to tease Paimon, he glanced sideways at the thugs who had returned and were sneaking towards the Iron Guards.
"What's coming?"
"Teacher, there are armed people wandering around."
Hua Lin directly locked onto two suspicious gatherings of people.
"Do you want to drive them away?"
"No, let them in and see what the other gangs are up to."
208. Xier, you are so gentle!
"A bunch of idiots... they only come to harass us when we have trouble."
After noticing the crowd of heads, Xier's face darkened. Although she always looked in a bad mood, this time her expression was particularly gloomy.
"Why, do you know those gathered?"
"Just a bunch of bums. There are a few lazy guys in there that I've seen many times."
She stood up slightly and placed her hand on the sickle that made Kong feel strangely familiar. "Although they are a bunch of scum, they should not have the courage to attack the people of Dihuo - what happened that made them gather here?"
"…Is it possible that some bad guys are sending them to cause trouble?"
After going through so much with Sora, Paimon was able to draw some conclusions from abnormal things.
"But Panyan Town is the headquarters of the Earth Fire. Even if other small gangs want to target us, they can't possibly come here..."
Xi'er knocked her sickle to the ground in displeasure, causing Ling Ke, who was still sticking close to her sister, to shudder:
"Damn it. Uncle is still discussing with that young lady, how should I deal with these thugs? They are just staring at the iron guards here, and there is nothing we can do about them..."
"...Uncle?"
Sora glanced sideways.
"…You heard it wrong."
Just as Xier was about to explain something, the gathered armed group suddenly threw the large stones they had been holding in their hands for a long time at the resting guards.
"The upper class people get out!!"
"Go back to your upper level, you bastard Iron Guards! You are not welcome here!"
The shouting thugs stunned the Iron Guards - the stones thrown by the malnourished tramps did not have much power, and could not leave dents on the armor, but they were not mentally prepared to be treated like this, and the psychological damage they suffered was far more serious than the physical damage.
In Bronya's imagination, the Iron Guards would at most be treated coldly - the Guardian agent told these Iron Guards that they were going to the lower district to seek cooperation and help the lower-class people. Who knew that they would be beaten and insulted by the very people they were supposed to protect and help before they had taken a few steps.
"teacher--"
Hua Lin's hand was already on the trigger. All she needed from Sora was a command, and the guy who was shouting the loudest and rushing towards Adjutant Bronya with the steel pipe raised high would be pierced immediately.
Sora watched all this with a bit of indifference, and raised his hand to stop Asuna and Karin from preparing to shoot.
He certainly hoped to bring justice to the warriors who protected Beloberg, but on Earth's territory, the person who brought justice should not be the train crew.
"This is too much! They are here to help the lower classes return to normal! How could you do this!"
However, Paimon did not consider that much. When she saw the Iron Guard's helmet being hit by a stone and sparks flew out, she rushed out from beside Sora and pointed at the thugs.
"Do we need the Iron Guards to help us return to normal? Isn't it these damned Iron Guards that caused my family to be destroyed? And you, the outsiders! It's you who are colluding with the upper class to oppress the underground!"
The thug holding the steel pipe took out a stone and threw it at Paimon without caring that she did not look like a "normal human" at all.
"Whoa!"
The stone had no chance of hitting Paimon in the first place, and instead flew towards the head of a soldier next to her.
But just as Sora was touched by Paimon's sudden sense of justice and was about to teach the fool who was used as a gun a lesson invisibly -
A purple afterimage stood between Paimon and the thugs, using its body to block his stones.
"...You actually dared to attack the cadres of the Earth Fire."
Xier, who had transformed from quantization into a physical entity, patted the non-existent dust on her clothes. Before the stone landed on her dress, it was isolated by the power of destiny.
Her blue-purple eyes turned scarlet as anger brewed, and the powerful sense of oppression even gave the thugs the illusion that she was very tall.
"Hey, it's not - you, it was obviously you who blocked it yourself -?" The guy who led the trouble was scared by Xier and became incoherent.
“The officials who attacked the ground fire and innocent residents have refused to plead guilty, which is an even greater crime.”
Xier clenched her knuckles on the handle of the sickle so hard that it made a crackling sound:
"Even if I beat you to death on the spot, I am still right."
...The Iron Guards are innocent residents?
The homeless man and the angry guard were both stunned when they heard this.
"Damn it! You are taking sides! We are just taking revenge on those rubbish at the top. Tell them to get out of here and stop sucking our blood—"
"What's so good about your blood? There's only mud in your veins, right? I remember you - I was one of the people who escaped with you. We've already been working in the mines - never mind the Iron Guards. There are hundreds of eyes that can testify to your attack on the underground fire officials!"
Xier took a step forward, and the dozens of homeless people were frightened and retreated one after another.
"So you're afraid of me? Didn't you think that these people were guests of Dihuo before you took action?"
She dropped the sickle with a clang, creating a crack in the rocky ground.
"Who instructed you to make trouble? Huh? If you don't tell me clearly, I'll break your arms and throw you into the mine—"
"But, damn it, the Earth Fire wasn't supposed to protect these Iron Guards?"
The moment Kong heard the complaint, his originally serious face suddenly couldn't hold back - even if the Earth Fire didn't protect the Iron Guards, is there any difference between you getting beaten up by the angry Iron Guards and being beaten up by the Earth Fire?
The crowd was mixed and had many mouths. Before Xier could threaten further, the guy who backed down had already revealed his intention:
"Even if we take over the mine, we won't be able to enjoy it if we're caught! Don't waste time here, let's run!"