Fire-Bearer

Actually, up to this point, Gu Hang could not be certain whether Yan Fangxu being trapped was truly part of the warning Lambert Hodgson had given.

If it was, then the Primal Angry Owl Sect possessed significant power. Not only did they command the storm sorcery bestowed upon them by the evil god they worshipped, but did they also, to some extent, possess the means to control those mutant monsters?

But if it wasn't, then it was all just too coincidental.

He had also considered whether this could be a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Besiege Yan Fangxu, lure the main force out of the camp to rescue him, and then attack the camp?

But Gu Hang quickly dismissed this thought.

It was unlikely.

If his enemies were merely those mutant monsters, then those creatures likely lacked the intelligence for such a scheme.

If his enemies were the cult, or worse, certain individuals within The Alliance government, then destroying Gu Hang's camp held little value for them. After all, whether Gu Hang was causing trouble for the cultists or the government, his primary reliance remained his authority as Governor.

As long as he was still alive, what did it matter if his camp was destroyed? Those people would still face plenty of trouble.

Of course, it wasn't entirely impossible. If the rescue force Gu Hang dispatched was not led by him personally, the enemy might still attack the camp to seize the opportunity to kill him.

And if he were to lead the rescue team himself, he would have to be prepared for an ambush.

Regardless, this situation was difficult to handle.

But Gu Hang was not the type to dwell on things.

Since the challenge had arrived, he would face it head-on.

Inside Revival City, Hodgson sat in his wheelchair, gazing out at the entire city through the massive glass windows of his office.

In truth, Revival City was not particularly large, nor did it have many skyscrapers. The layout of the buildings and roads within the city was orderly, a solid foundation laid by the first Governor when building The Alliance.

However, after so many years, although the inner city looked fine, the much larger outer city clinging to the perimeter of the walls was a scene of chaos. Hundreds of thousands, nearly a million people, lived attached to the city but were denied entry to the inner city, forming vast slums outside the walls.

There was no planning there, a lack of order, and everything was a mess. Sewage flowed freely, supplies were scarce, and life was miserable—these problems plagued that area, which was not how a planetary capital city should look.

Many Alliance councilors and inner-city residents disliked those displaced people. They believed these people brought chaos, and that the slum area was a den of filth.

But the smarter ones clearly understood that Revival City could not function without them.

The displaced people living in the outer city ate the worst and least amount of food, wore rags, and lived in shoddily built shelters. The inner-city residents provided them with no public services or welfare, yet made them do the hardest labor for only a pittance, barely enough to keep them alive.

Without them, how could the inner-city residents live such good lives? And how could those councilors earn wealth far exceeding their contributions?

Therefore, these clever people would occasionally show their mercy without hesitation. They would provide more work, bestowing it upon the displaced as if they were truly saving them.

But they had absolutely no intention of seeking well-being for those who didn't count as residents.

Let those nearly one million displaced people live good lives? That was simply unimaginable. The inner-city residents were already dissatisfied that their own lives weren't good enough; how could they have the energy to care about the displaced outside? Fewer deaths was the only mercy they could offer.

The even smarter ones might be able to see the crisis lurking in those low, dilapidated houses outside the walls.

Beneath those submissive, numb, and silent expressions, how could there not be rage?

In fact, the fire had burned countless times. It was just that the sparks were still too weak. The slight resistance was either extinguished under the massive inertia of this deformed system or scattered when facing armed-to-the-teeth military police while unarmed.

In short, these sparks had never become a fire that consumed everything.

But that day would come sooner or later. What was missing was a fuse, and what was missing was a Fire-Bearer.

Hodgson clearly realized that he belonged to the "smarter people." He could see all of this, but his wisdom was limited to this. He could not find a solution, he lacked the ability to integrate and unite everyone, and he couldn't even control The Alliance council.

He didn't know that some in the council were secretly supporting the cult;

He was powerless to stop those who dared to attack the supplies destined for the Governor;

The layers of resistance when mobilizing military police to investigate the cult, along with the endless arguments and questioning in the council, left him exhausted.

More than once, he felt that he was truly old.

But he dared not retreat.

Investigating the cult was originally an order issued by the Governor, which was meant to stir up the political situation in Revival City. However, as he truly dug deeper, he vaguely felt that something was wrong: the fuse he had feared in the past, that Fire-Bearer, seemed to have already appeared.

"Grandfather."

Lambert Hodgson pushed open the office door.

Old Hodgson did not turn around, only asking, "Are there results?"

"We still haven't tracked the whereabouts of that batch of supplies. Councilor Marion denies that the supplies passed through her hands, and two agents responsible for that line have gone missing. In the outer city, we found many Owl statues; according to testimony, they originated from a relief station. A squad of officers tried to search it but triggered a small-scale riot among the displaced, and they returned empty-handed. After more personnel were dispatched, the place had already been burned..."

Old Hodgson sighed heavily: "This time, we are in big trouble."

Lambert agreed with his grandfather's assessment, and it was precisely because of this that he felt somewhat at a loss.

He asked: "I originally thought the Governor was just causing trouble for us, but I didn't expect that as we investigated, it would truly make one break out in a cold sweat. Those cultists are planning to pull off something big in Revival City, but we still don't have any clear intelligence... What do we do next? The Governor is very likely to be attacked; do we really not need to go and support him?"

"Send whom? I'm not even sure if the people we send might be the very ones who will attack the Governor. The Governor might think the same; he won't easily trust us."

"Then we must show our stance." Lambert was insistent this time. "I will go, taking a squad that is absolutely trustworthy."

"Do you know what this means?"

"I know. It means we will have to endure the Governor's suspicion while also being seen by those councilors as having completely defected to the Governor, becoming trapped in the middle."

Even though he was describing a truly tragic outcome, Lambert's tone grew increasingly firm as he continued:

"However, I have finally understood what you said last time about 'only the Governor can save this world.' We cannot be certain if it is this Governor, but at the very least, he seems a bit different from the previous ones. He has chosen a path that no previous Governor dared to take, and he possesses a starship support that past Governors never had. I want to try; if he is not the Governor we are waiting for, then I will do everything in my power to help him become that kind of Governor."

"We no longer have the time to wait for more Governors. The entire planet is longing for a revival, and the sooner, the better. I am willing to make a contribution to this now, rather than continuing to wait in silence. Being a driver of the era is far more meaningful than sitting around waiting for the times to change and then scrambling to get on board."

The young man spoke of his grand ideals in front of his elder, while his elder watched him quietly.

After a long while, Hodgson let out a long sigh: "I am already very old. Reaching my age in this wasteland, I have lived long enough, and I am no longer capable of making bold decisions. You have always been more outstanding than your father. If this is what you want to do, then go and do it."