Upper District, Underground Station.
Supreme Guardian Cocolia and her entourage stepped off the platform. The Cable Car behind them would remain here forever.
It would never again carry the hopes of the Underworld, for the Supreme Guardian had already planned a better future for everyone.
A future she alone believed was better!
Beside her, the elderly Chief Stoker had already heard her plan aboard the Cable Car-the plan to seal off the Underworld.
Cocolia's explanation was that they needed to shorten their defensive lines and mobilize more Silvermane Guards to fight the Fragmentum's encroachment in the Upper District. Thus, she had decided to abandon the Underworld.
To leave its people to fend for themselves!
The Chief Stoker had still been imagining a bright future for the Underworld, only to hear this decision instead.
He almost thought he was hearing things.
Didn't you adopt an orphan from the Underworld to set an example? Or had you decided to let everyone else die?
At that moment, he could not help shouting:
"Cocolia, you're dragging everyone into hell!"
At his words, Cocolia turned to her uncle and said flatly:
"We're already in hell."
The Chief Stoker fell silent.
The Underworld's geomarrow deposits would last only ten more years.
This was a secret known only to the Supreme Guardian, yet Cocolia had told him-the uncle she had once loved and respected most.
The Chief Stoker understood that this was by no means his niece being honest with him.
His once innocent, sweet niece had become a thoroughly political creature, viewing everything solely through the lens of politics!
So why had he been told a secret he should not know?
"What do you need me to do for you?" the Chief Stoker asked Cocolia, his eyes filled with anguish.
He could loudly oppose Cocolia and rebuke his niece.
But he had no way to change a Supreme Guardian's mind, much less any right to interfere with her policies!
Family ties were worthless in the face of power.
"I need to seal off the Underworld," Cocolia said flatly. "You command the greatest respect down there. Go and appease the people for me."
"Appease them? Heh." The Chief Stoker gave a self-mocking scoff. "How could I possibly appease them? What could I say to make them calmly accept their deaths?"
Just then, a secretary ran over and reported:
"Madam Guardian, three minutes ago, Kliperburg was attacked with explosives. Explosives from the Underworld's mines were found at the scene, and several suspects were arrested. According to their statements, they were acting on the orders of an elderly man from the Underworld named Bosang."
After a pause, she continued:
"Additionally, we received an emergency call from the Underworld. A noble was found dead at the Fight Club, his throat slashed. The killer cut him more than once, suggesting an intent to humiliate him and vent their anger. We suspect he was deliberately tortured and killed. Without question, this is indiscriminate retaliation against residents of the Upper District!
"Large numbers of Underworld thugs have now gathered at the Core Furnace Hub and are assaulting the Silvermane Guards' defensive line. If they succeed, they will undoubtedly cause tremendous destruction in the Upper District. The Council has already passed an emergency decree authorizing you to use force to suppress the Underworld's uprising!"
That report instantly brought Belobog to the brink of civil war!
In truth, it was merely a series of chance events sparked by a slippery merchant, a blind child, and some frightened Underworld residents.
Yet the conclusion they reached could hardly have been further from the truth!
Cocolia looked at the Chief Stoker and said:
"I'll arrange for someone to take you down through the Core Furnace. You'll be in charge for the next half hour."
The implication was clear: if the Chief Stoker could not settle the conflict within half an hour, she would intervene with force!
When that happened, there was no telling how many people in the Underworld would lose their homes and families.
The Chief Stoker glanced at Cocolia. At that moment, his niece seemed like a stranger to him-an utter stranger.
"Two children from our Orphanage are missing! Has anyone seen them? A boy and a girl, both around six years old. The boy has black hair and a strip of cloth over his eyes. The girl has silver hair..."
In front of the Core Furnace Hub, Natasha called out to the crowd.
But no one paid her any attention. Her voice was swallowed by the louder clamor in an instant.
Natasha was pushed right up against the massive shields.
Suddenly, a gap opened between them, and an arm pulled Natasha inside.
Oleg asked:
"Natasha, what are you doing here?"
"Chu Mu and Xiao Bu-they're both missing!" Seeing a familiar face, Natasha hurriedly appealed for help.
"What?" Oleg exclaimed.
Just then, Gepard's voice rang out:
"Don't worry about the girl. She's all right."
Gepard was holding up a massive shield, his face strained.
He had seen the girl being taken away with his own eyes. By now, she should already be in the Upper District.
"What about Chu Mu? I mean the boy?" Oleg asked urgently.
"Sorry, I haven't seen him," Gepard said, lowering his head.
He said nothing more, putting all his strength into holding up the massive shield.
"Chu Mu's eyesight is poor right now. Where could he go on his own? Surely he wouldn't wander off?" Oleg's expression darkened. "With the Underworld in this much chaos, how are we supposed to find him?"
"Chu Mu has already gone blind!" Natasha said in anguish.
"He's already blind?" Oleg's eyes widened in shock.
Being able to see even a little and being unable to see at all were two entirely different things.
For a blind child out on the streets during such turmoil, wandering around was out of the question-even surviving would be a problem!
"I have to find him!" Oleg began stripping off his conspicuous armor, revealing the civilian clothes underneath.
He said to Gepard:
"Sorry, I have to leave now."
"If you leave now, you won't be able to come back." Gepard glanced at Oleg. "The passage is about to be sealed. You'll be stuck down here."
"At my age, I'm nearly due to retire anyway," Oleg said, shaking his head. "Rather than stay up there plagued by regret, I'd rather remain down here. At least I won't have any regrets."
"Oleg, I've known you for less than a day, but I'll always remember you." Gepard looked at Oleg, moved his massive shield aside, and roared, "Now! Hurry!"
Oleg slipped through the opening.
Unexpectedly, Natasha followed him out as well.
This seemingly gentle, frail woman displayed extraordinary courage at that moment!
She could clearly have stayed and evacuated to the Upper District with the others.
Like Oleg, Natasha was a resident of the Upper District.
But now, both of them had chosen to remain in the Underworld.
Gepard was deeply moved.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out overhead.
It came from a ring of loudspeakers high above the Core Furnace Hub, capable of reaching the entire Underworld.
"Children, stop."
It was the Chief Stoker's voice!
The people of the Underworld also caught sight of the Adjudicator. He stood on the raised platform behind the Silvermane Guards, facing a microphone.
He held the Great Code aloft.
One by one, everyone fell silent.
The Chief Stoker would adjudicate every dispute!
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