Even Taina Moen had been stunned. Yu Lian himself had been left dumbfounded for several seconds.
Of course, he had already slipped away from the scene without a sound when the Alliance's various official agencies came pouring in. By now, he had left the lower district of the orbital city and returned to the upper district, beneath the starlit dome.
As a very mature and important person, he knew that staying at the scene would make things awkward for everyone. But as an ordinary citizen, he couldn't exactly give up the time-honored pastime of watching the show, either. So he had left Gold Whistle behind to keep observing in secret.
The first to arrive were members of the military police special operations unit. They were all well-trained Alliance elites. Technically, they were armed police, but when it came to riot control and counterterrorism in cities, they were even more professional than the most renowned and decorated elite marine divisions.
The next group to arrive caused a small stir in Yu Lian. At a glance, he could tell these men weren't government hounds living off public funds. They looked more like fierce dogs carefully raised by the wealthy—in other words, private security forces employed by large corporations or tycoons.
...Oh, right. The Alliance, a beacon of civilization, wasn't that wicked feudal empire on the other side. Even the richest man was still an ordinary citizen with no special privileges, so naturally, he couldn't keep a private army.
But this was a dangerous universe. It was perfectly reasonable for major interstellar corporations and financial conglomerates to establish security divisions. And wasn't it even more reasonable for them to maintain close, long-term ties with various security firms?
Mercury Security, Yu Lian guessed. Those exceptionally capable security officers were all equipped with LS-45 Descender