Linnaeus: He Really-I'm in Tears.

Wanting to learn about Belobog's history was actually the easiest thing, wasn't it?

They just had to find a library or somewhere that sold books.

There had to be records.

They simply hadn't thought of it right away.

This book happened to be a history book documenting events from Belobog's founding onward.

There would definitely be plenty of omissions, such as certain Guardians' scandals, but the basics were still there.

Chapter 46: Lin Nai: He Really Made Me Cry.

Lin Nai flipped to a page, pointed at the words, and said:

"Look here."

"Geomarrow grows beneath this planet's surface. It is mined by professional mining teams in the Underworld, then transported to the surface through pipelines."

"In return, the Overworld uses those same pipelines to send surface-only supplies underground."

"Overworld? Underworld?"

Stelle tilted her head, utterly confused.

Seeing the three of them looking puzzled, Lin Nai flipped back to the first page, where there was a rough illustration of Belobog's upper and lower districts.

Things might have changed over the past seven hundred years, but the overall layout should have remained the same.

Belobog's structure was like two large connected discs.

The Overworld handled administration and trade, while the Underworld handled energy supplies and resource extraction.

"...But why is the heater outside?"

March Seven still did not quite understand.

"Who knows? But there's no denying that it works."

Whether it was Geomarrow at work or the power of The Preservation protecting the city, he did not know.

Then Lin Nai turned the book to the third page.

"And I found a list of the successive Supreme Guardians here. The current Supreme Guardian... the so-called leader, is named Cocolia Rand."

"Cocolia Rand?"

"Mm." Lin Nai nodded and began reading the text. "The eighteenth Supreme Guardian, Cocolia, was born in Belobog's Underworld. After being chosen as the next Supreme Guardian, she came to live in the Overworld's administrative district."

"She attended Belobog Military Academy. During that time, Cocolia formed a rock band with Serval Landau and several others."

"Afterward, she graduated from the academy at the top of her class."

"Wow! She sounds like an amazing person!"

March Seven said in surprise.

Dan Heng, however, noticed something crucial. "This Serval Landau, could she be..."

"Yeah, she's the owner of the workshop I met last night."

"Is that so..." Dan Heng frowned slightly. "Is there a risk of exposure?"

The moment Lin Nai went out, he had run into two very significant people.

Lin Nai shook his head and said with certainty, "No."

Serval was different from Pela.

Pela had an official position, after all. She was the intelligence officer of the Silvermane Guard.

But Serval was different. Though she had once been a researcher in the Architects' technical department, she later fell out with Cocolia.

If they explained things properly, it probably would not be a problem.

As long as they did not endanger Belobog, it should be fine.

"We've gone off topic. Let's get back to Cocolia."

Lin Nai put on gloves, took a bag from the System Space, then pulled out a newspaper.

The newspaper was almost entirely yellowed, covered in grease stains and various other marks.

"Eugh!!"

March Seven covered her nose and immediately retreated onto Lin Nai's bed.

Stelle blinked. It had a familiar smell.

Dan Heng's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. "Where did you get that newspaper?"

"The second trash can in front of the Goethe Hotel."

Lin Nai looked helpless. After buying the book, he had spotted a familiar blue-haired man crouching beside a trash can.

Out of curiosity, Lin Nai had gone over.

But the moment Sampo realized it was Lin Nai, he decisively ran away.

Lin Nai had then looked curiously into the trash can and happened to spot this newspaper mentioning Cocolia.

Wait...

Oh no.

Stelle had not rummaged through the trash can. He had.

"Wow..." March Seven wore an indescribable expression.

Lin Nai was dirty now...

Lin Nai: What are you saying?! I was wearing gloves, okay?!

"Ahem. Let's not talk about that for now. This is also an old newspaper."

Lin Nai placed the newspaper on the table.

This table could not be kept afterward, either.

"Judging by the date, it's from several years ago. Someone probably only threw it away today."

"I can tell."

Dan Heng unconsciously shifted two steps farther away.

Lin Nai looked over helplessly. Were those two steps really necessary?

I'm being completely serious here!

"Anyway, this newspaper says..."

"Cocolia withdrew the Silvermane Guard from the Underworld to gather her forces for a full-scale assault on the Fragmentum. But she sent them to their deaths, and they most likely got wiped out."

"And when facing the Underworld, Cocolia simply issued a lockdown order, prohibiting travel between the upper and lower districts."

Lin Nai summarized the newspaper's contents in a few sentences before tossing both the newspaper and the gloves into the trash can.

No.

It was just too disgusting.

He really did not understand why Stelle liked digging through trash cans so much.

They did not smell good, either.

"But what does that prove?"

"Of course it proves that there's something wrong with Cocolia."

Lin Nai lightly tapped the table. "Why did she withdraw the Silvermane Guard? And why did she issue the ban?"

"And it wasn't just the movement of people between the districts. Even discussing matters related to the Underworld was forbidden."

"What exactly happened in the Underworld? Cocolia herself came from the Underworld, you know. What was her purpose in doing this?"

"Now that you put it that way, it really is suspicious."

March Seven tapped her chin with her index finger and said thoughtfully:

"Wouldn't that affect her reputation?"

Leaders and the like usually cared about that, unless they were tyrants or demon kings, right?

"Clearly, she doesn't care."

More precisely, the Stellaron did not care.

And it had been constantly whispering in Cocolia's ear all day long.

Lin Nai sat down in a chair. "So next, I think we need to investigate Cocolia."

"But... how are we supposed to do that?"

March Seven asked. They had no way of getting close to the Supreme Guardian, did they?

But after March Seven said that,

she, Stelle, and Dan Heng all turned to look at Lin Nai, who was drinking tea.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Lin Nai looked baffled.

March Seven, Stelle, and Dan Heng exchanged glances.

"Lin Nai!" March Seven bounced over to him and patted his shoulder. "The organization has decided to send you to make contact with Serval!"

"Huh?"

No, wait.

How had he suddenly ended up with another mission?

"Look, Cocolia and Serval were in the same band. Serval must know Cocolia really well, right?"

March Seven wore an expression that said, You're the one I choose.

What, you wanted to battle Pokémon too?

"You're the only one among us who has already met Serval, so you're the most suitable person to go."

Dan Heng said this with his arms folded across his chest.

Stelle put her hands on her hips and suggested, "Or, Lin Nai, you could be even bolder! Just add Serval to your harem!"

Stelle: Take Serval for yourself!

"Where am I supposed to get a harem?!"

When all was said and done,

he had not even kissed anyone yet...

No, that was not right. Topaz had kissed him in that dream.

It had nearly made him scrub his mouth with cement.

"Anyway, we're leaving it to you, Lin Nai! The mission codename will be... Pangolin!"

Stelle and March Seven cheerfully assigned Lin Nai his mission.

Lin Nai sighed. "Fine, I'll go make contact with Serval. What are you guys going to do?"

"Of course, we'll wait for your good news, Lin Nai~" March Seven stretched lazily. "Ah, but it looks like we'll have to stay on this planet a little longer."

That was normal enough.

When had the Trailblazing journey ever been easy?

Sometimes, staying on a planet for ten days or half a month was perfectly normal.