Chapter 185 Gore's End
Central Dome
A wide, trapezoidal building supports a huge hemispherical dome with a diameter of 100 meters. The overall structure is like a giant egg embedded in the earth. This is the center of the entire city.
It serves multiple functions, including a royal palace, a parliament hall, a national library, and an ancient technology laboratory, holding a position similar to Windmill Castle in the Valley of the Valley of the Wind.
But now, the magnificent dome is shattered, and the "eggshell" has collapsed and scattered.
Looking down from above, you can see the exposed multi-story structure, broken staircases and corridors hanging in mid-air, and the vast space at the bottom, piled with concrete fragments, was once the State Great Hall.
In the center of the ruins, on a wide open space, Gore and his "allies" of merchants were gathered, their faces covered in dust.
Large numbers of private soldiers dressed in white uniforms, belonging to various chambers of commerce, were hurriedly building defensive lines, setting up machine guns, and using the broken walls and rubble as cover on the edge of the ruins.
Several "flying tanks" were parked on the open ground. The Dorok technicians were busy around one of the flying tanks, carefully securing a cylindrical glass container filled with a light green nutrient solution to the belly of the flying tank with cables.
Inside the jar, the larvae of the Ohmu remained in a drowsy state, evidenced by their still-unlit gray compound eyes.
"Why did you suddenly leave the warship? My banquet was only halfway through!"
"Yes, it's just an alarm. A thousand soldiers on the ship can't stop a few intruders?"
"Our men are still waiting for fire support!"
The merchants kept complaining and questioning, saying they wouldn't have come to the battlefield if Gore hadn't insisted.
"Shut up! You have no idea how terrifying those monster soldiers from the Valley of the Wind are!" Gore turned around abruptly, his eyes bloodshot, his previous composure gone.
"Didn't you notice that the warship hasn't fired a single shot since just now?"
He pointed to the Endure Battleship hovering above the city, unusually quiet.
Even if the ancient gunboats that had been harassing them had withdrawn, the warships should still maintain fire support or fire cannons as a deterrent.
Seeing his "allies" finally realize something was wrong and quiet down, Gore inwardly scorned these dim-witted fools.
Master Kabo had easily subdued him and his guards during their first meeting, as easily as crushing an insect.
Nausicaä, however, managed to force this terrifying old man with psychic powers to flee in disarray, even bringing him to the brink of death.
As a strategist, he naturally wouldn't overlook the power displayed by Elphias Doge and Trudeau at the Mining Town meeting; the people of the Valley of the Wind might very well possess an extraordinary army.
So when the intrusion alarm sounded from the upper deck, he knew the ship was no longer safe.
He led the merchants out in a flying flask, and instead of thanking him, they dared to question him!
He coldly swept his gaze over the merchants' terrified or resentful faces, thinking maliciously, "Once I take all your mines, factories, and trade routes—you'll all be dead!"
He ignored the panicked merchants and turned to the flying vessel where the culture tanks were being installed.
"With this—it should increase our negotiating leverage, or at least guarantee my escape from here—"
Gore struggled up from the very bottom of society. Although he believed in "honor" and "decency," these things were more like means to an end for him, not worth sacrificing his life for.
He preferred to call his actions "retreat" rather than "run away."
He has connections elsewhere, a huge amount of gold and silver treasures that he has moved in advance, and secret hideouts with multiple escape routes. As long as he can leave this place, he believes he can make a comeback.
But this time, Gore's plans are likely to be shattered.
"Look! In the sky!" a merchant guild soldier suddenly shouted in terror, pointing to the night sky.
Everyone looked up and saw dozens of pale golden lights suddenly appear on the deck of the silent warship.
Immediately afterwards, one of the most dazzling and fastest golden beams crashed straight down onto the open space in the center of the ruins!
boom!!!
A cloud of smoke and dust billowed up, and the few flying containers closest to the impact point were overturned by the shockwave.
The golden light flowing around him subsided, and the figure kneeling on one knee slowly straightened up.
Nausicaä descended from the sky.
The color drained from Gore's face instantly, and he screamed in terror, "Fire! Fire! Enemy attack!"
Just as the soldiers were about to raise their guns to fire, they were blasted off their feet by several golden shockwaves. The parachuted Blessed Warrior were like tigers among sheep, and the screams of the Chamber of Commerce soldiers rose and fell.
Almost simultaneously, deafening shouts of battle, the sounds of gunfire, and the turning of armored tracks erupted from the perimeter of the ruins!
The main force of the coalition has surrounded the area and is engaged in fierce fighting with the rebel defenses guarding the outer perimeter.
Around Gore, in the blink of an eye, only the few terrified Dorok technicians and the group of ashen-faced merchant allies remained.
The tide has turned.
As Nausicaä walked towards him step by step, Gore's last psychological defenses finally crumbled.
Why—why you of all people!
"I clearly have a chance! I can unite the nations of the Sea of Corruption, I can make all the border towns as prosperous as Mining Town! I can create a new order for the borderlands!"
His voice was filled with venomous resentment, and he seemed to be insane.
"But then you showed up! You ruined my plans in the Mining Town, you destroyed my cooperation with the Dorok, and now you're even trying to block my last escape route! Why! What gives you the right to possess this power to destroy my dreams?!"
Nausicaä stopped a few steps away from him. The girl's face looked beautiful in the firelight of the ruins, but the anger in her eyes could almost hurt a person.
"Your dream?"
"Have you asked those slave laborers deep in the mines if they wanted this kind of wealth?"
"Have you asked the families of those killed by the weapons you smuggled out if they are willing to accept your order?"
"Have you asked the people of those small border countries who are starving because your chamber of commerce monopolizes food and drives up prices, whether they yearn for your rule?"
Each question was like a slap across Gore's contorted face.
"Your so-called dream," Nausicaä stepped forward again, a golden blade slowly materializing in her hand, "Is nothing but wishful thinking."
Gore's lips trembled as he backed away step by step, his eyes darting around in a panic, looking as if he had been completely overwhelmed and terrified by the girl's aura and words.
"I—some sacrifices are necessary—without power, where does order come from—" he rambled incoherently, his back quietly pressing against the enormous culture vessel.
The next moment, Gore suddenly burst into laughter.
"Consider them? Hahahaha! You call yourself a greenhorn, why don't you say that no one has ever considered me?!"
"Now it's your turn to think about it! Let me leave, or I'll press this emergency destruction button!"
"The explosives inside will instantly blast this little Ohmu half to death. Its dying screams will act like a beacon, attracting the swarm and devouring Pejite, devouring you all clean!"
Gore grinned maliciously, his finger hovering above the control panel on the side of the tank.
Nausicaä looked at him quietly, her face showing none of the panic or compromise that Gore had expected, and she took another step forward.
Gore's fingers trembled, but he dared not actually press down; he had no idea that the other party was not threatened by him at all.
"Why—why are you all rebelling against me?! Can't you just do as I say?!"
This time, Gore truly broke down, his voice even trembling with a sob.
Under the girl's relentless pressure, the string representing reason snapped.
"Good! Good! Good!" He said "good" three times in a row, gathered all his strength, and slammed down on the red button!
"Then let's die together."
The next moment, the blue figure appeared beside him as if teleporting, and Gore's left arm was severed at the root!
"Ah!!!"
A piercing scream erupted from Gore's throat. He clutched his shoulder and collapsed to his knees, writhing in pain, tears and snot streaming down his face, looking both comical and pathetic.
I told you, you have no chance.
puff!
His head hit the ground, and blood splattered everywhere.
An ambitious warlord who had prepared for twenty years before launching his rebellion met his end.
He never even knew until his death that he was merely a clown pushed to the forefront, used by Master Kabo to conceal his true purpose.