"In the name of the Great Code, I order you, all Silvermane Guards in the Underworld, lay down your weapons and do not harm our people! Now, return to your garrison immediately!"
As the Chief Stoker's voice faded, the crowd erupted into cheers.
Those Silvermane Guards looked at each other in dismay, but upon receiving the order from their commanding officer, they still lowered their heads, silently put away their weapons, retreated back to the Core Furnace Hub, and walked up the stairs back to the Upper District.
Seeing this scene, the onlookers below felt immensely gratified and shouted praises for the Chief Stoker's wisdom.
The crowd clamored for a long time, and during this period no one charged the passageway.
The Chief Stoker's voice rang out once again:
"In the name of the Great Code, I order you, all residents of the Underworld, disperse your gathering here and leave this place!"
"Sir, if we leave, what if they blockade this place again?" some citizens shouted loudly. "There's no definite word right now whether there will be a blockade or not."
"Yeah, the cable car over there is closed too, and we don't know when it'll open."
"I'm the one who runs the cable car, and I haven't even received a notice to resume work."
"Did the Supreme Guardian actually issue a blockade order or not? That's what we want to know today!"
People murmured and discussed amongst themselves.
Seeing this, the Chief Stoker raised the Great Code:
"In the name of the Great Code, they will not come down again!"
"You mean there's no blockade?" citizens asked.
"How can they blockade if they don't come down? At least someone has to keep watch down here."
"That's right, it's not like they're going to blow up the stairs."
People spoke one after another, and their moods relaxed a lot.
Seeing this scene, tears welled up in the Chief Stoker's cloudy eyes.
The gathered crowd gradually dispersed, moving further and further away from this place.
Suddenly, a violent explosion sounded, and the flames illuminated the entire Underworld!
People looked back and saw that the towering stairs had already been shattered.
The explosives triggered the furnaces where geomarrow was being smelted, and boiling lava transformed into streams of fireballs, tearing through the darkness.
Shocked gazes turned toward the Chief Stoker high upon the platform.
At this moment, that lean old man, holding the Code in one hand and a notebook in the other, walked with unsteady steps toward the blazing fire.
The Code was the will of the Architects, representing their conviction to preserve civilization.
The notebook recorded his thoughts on the Underworld over the years, as well as the ideas generated from those thoughts on how to make the Underworld better-this represented hope.
And now, the Supreme Guardian had abandoned the Underworld.
An Underworld left to fend for itself would have no conviction, let alone hope.
At this moment, the Chief Stoker thought of that boy once again.
In the end, he who adjudicated everything, he who considered himself fair, had personally buried everyone's hope.
I'm sorry, child, to let you live in a world like this.
The old man walked into the furnace, and the flames swallowed him whole.
At this moment, the people of the Underworld lost their adjudicator, but invisibly, something even more precious was also lost.
In the Upper District, inside the bright and luxurious palace, Xiao Bu had the covering removed from her head.
Standing before her was a woman with blonde hair and purple eyes.
The blonde woman looked at Xiao Bu and inquired:
"What is your name?"
"Bu Bu," Xiao Bu said softly. "My brother calls me Xiao Bu."
"Hah, a vulgar name," the woman scoffed.
She looked at Xiao Bu, her tone filled with undeniable majesty:
"From now on, your name is Bronya. Bronya Landau, you will be Cocolia Landau's daughter, the legitimate heir to the Supreme Guardian of Belobog."
"Supreme Guardian?" Xiao Bu looked around fearfully. "Can my brother, can my brother come up here? I want to stay with him..."
"That's enough, Bronya!" Cocolia reprimanded. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are? The people in the Underworld are all going to die, only you can survive! You should be grateful, grateful that I am bestowing a new life upon you!"
Cocolia's tone carried anger, and she did not understand why she was so furious with a little girl. Perhaps it was because she had just lost a very beloved uncle.
This made her heart feel somewhat unbalanced; why was it that even though she had lost her closest kin, the girl still clung to memories of a brother with no blood relation?
She reached out to cup Xiao Bu's face and said:
"Remember, you have no brother. Your name is Bronya, you are my daughter, you respect me above all else, and you only listen to me! Forget everything about the Underworld!"
With that, she called out in her heart to that eerie voice.
The voice seemed to have been waiting all along, ringing out at the opportune moment:
"Cocolia, I can wipe her memory."
"Wipe it!" Cocolia commanded. "She can only remember one thing-her name is Bronya, and she is my, Cocolia's, daughter!"
"As you wish." The eerie voice carried a strange chuckle as it burrowed into the girl's head.
The girl fainted.
When she woke up once again, she looked at everything around her and asked:
"Where is this, Mother?"
"No need to rush," the blonde-haired, purple-eyed woman smiled gently. "Do you still remember your own name?"
"I..." A trace of confusion, a trace of pain, and a trace of struggle flashed through the girl's eyes.
Finally, they grew peaceful:
"My name is Bronya..."
Crystal-clear tears slid down her cheeks, though she knew not why she wept.
In the Underworld, inside the orphanage.
Natasha looked out the window in a daze.
The orphanage was situated at a high vantage point, offering a clear view of the distant scenery.
At this moment, there were burning houses and weeping people everywhere.
Just then, Oleg walked in and sighed:
"Seele and I searched another round, but we still couldn't find Chu Mu. Things outside are already in complete chaos."
He looked at Natasha and asked:
"Do we still need to look for him?"
"No need," Natasha shook her head. "There are many disaster victims in the Underworld right now who need us to treat them. We cannot waste our strength purely on searching for people. Chu Mu wouldn't want us to abandon others in need of help just to look for him."
"Yeah, that's just the kind of person Chu Mu is," Oleg sighed.
He recalled when they were back at the Fight Club, and Chu Mu told him not to worry about himself, but to save the other children first.
Back then, Oleg had been deeply shaken by this child.
At this moment, Natasha continued:
"Oleg, the strength of the two of us is limited. We must unite more people. Now that the Underworld is blockaded and there are no Silvermane Guards in charge of security, this place will fall into utter chaos in an instant."
Pausing for a moment, she went on:
"The Upper District still needs our geomarrow ore, so they will definitely trade with us again, but supplies will surely be more expensive and scarcer than before. After all, we cannot go without eating, while their ore reserves are abundant and they can afford to wait us out.
"Therefore, we must establish an organization as soon as possible, restore security in certain areas, and then secure bargaining power for material trade."
Hearing this, Oleg nodded repeatedly, then brought up a crucial question:
"I agree with everything you've said, but organizing manpower costs money, not ideals. In the Underworld, money touches people's hearts far more than ideals. Although we have ideals and a guiding plan, where are we going to get the money to recruit manpower?"
"Oleg, is this enough?" Natasha pulled open a drawer, revealing cards glowing with a blue-purple light, along with thousands of Winter City Shields.
"This is!" Oleg couldn't help but widen his eyes. "How are there so many Credits?"
"I cannot say." A ripple crossed Natasha's eyes.
Oleg understood in an instant, and once again thought of the blind boy.
Those Winter City Shields must have been saved up by that child bit by bit in the mines.
As for the Credits, a homicide had occurred at the Fight Club, and the safe had been emptied out.
With the withdrawal of the Silvermane Guards, no one would investigate this case any further.
Even if a civilian faction investigated, no one would ever suspect that this was the work of a young child.
"What should the organization be called?" Oleg asked softly.
Natasha looked out the window, the firelight reflected in her eyes:
"Let's call it Wildfire."
Ashes filled the sky, drifting down slowly as a purple-haired beauty held a black umbrella and stood beneath the steps at the entrance of the orphanage.
"Since your wishes here have been fulfilled, come with me then."
"I want to confirm with you once more-are you certain that at home there is a taciturn older brother, and a younger sister addicted to internet gaming? That you are divorced and widowed, with your ex-husband already buried?"
"Of course!"
"You guarantee this is a normal, warm family, and not some notorious interstellar criminal organization?"
"What else could it be?" The woman's expression didn't change.
"Then let's go." The boy nodded.
The woman pulled the boy under the umbrella, then tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and chuckled softly:
"Silver Wolf, teleport."
Before you continue