And so, twenty minutes passed.
On an open stretch of land some distance away from the concert venue, quite a few people had gathered.
This open land was provided as a dedicated testing site for research facilities, primarily for trialing military weapons such as ammunition and explosives.
As such, the place contained nothing but rock strata and soil exposed beneath the sunlight, making it look exceptionally empty and desolate.
Yet this was the meeting place chosen by Block.
In other words, everyone gathered here belonged to Block.
Fully armed soldiers stood in orderly lines around the open ground, faintly forming a perimeter that placed the entire area within their firing range.
Block's four official members stood at the very front, equally heavily armed and carrying machine guns as they waited solemnly for someone's arrival.
Only after the twenty minutes had passed did Yamate glance at his watch.
"The agreed time has passed."
That statement made the air at the scene smell of gunpowder.
Teishio Emi looked around. Seeing no sign of anyone, she let out a sigh that could have been either relief or disappointment.
"They don't intend to cooperate?"
In other words, Block's demands had not been met.
"What do we do?" Yamate asked with a sinister expression. "Should we give the order to detonate them?"
Those words filled the air with the scent of smoke and gunpowder once more.
"Are we really going to do this?" Tetsuami frowned deeply and spoke in a low voice. "Isn't that different from our ultimate goal?"
It was not only Tetsuami. Even Teishio Emi wore a resistant expression.
Clearly, the two women opposed detonating the Liquid Filled Bombs at the venue.
Because that truly ran counter to their objective.
But...
"We had already prepared ourselves for this." Sakumi Hiko spoke expressionlessly. "Since