Chapter 47 - 44 - The Landau Siblings

"So, has the security in the Overworld really gotten this lax? We can just walk around on the streets like this?" Seele asked in disbelief. She couldn't spot a single patrolling guard on the massive street. "I don't know. It feels like there are a lot fewer people," March 7th said, shaking her head. The streets were much more crowded the last time they were here. "I have a bad feeling about this. Let's find that Miss Serval first," Dan Heng stated bluntly. Wende agreed. It was best to find Serval and get a grasp of the situation first. It was strange. Although wanted posters of the Express crew were plastered on the streets, none of the pedestrians who saw them could recognize them. Perhaps it was the fault of the different art styles? Looking at the "beautified wanted posters" hanging on the walls, Wende couldn't make heads or tails of it either. Maybe the artistic talents of Belobog's people leaned more toward Gepard's brand of abstract art. "Ugh... the trash can smells awful," Stelle said woodenly, looking at a trash can by the side of the road. But even as she said it, her body very honestly began to lean toward it. "This is bad! Have you developed some kind of muscle memory for this?!" March 7th grabbed Stelle's arm and pulled her back into the group, complaining at the dazed girl. "Ah, a miscalculation on my part," Wende said with a helpless shrug. Faced with such a powerful will, his acupuncture seemed to have little effect on Stelle. Was this to be expected from the embodiment of tens of thousands of Fourth Calamity players...? The group stopped and started along the way, finally finding Serval's mechanics workshop with the help of a passerby. It was located on the street just in front of Qlipoth Fort. At the workshop door. March stepped forward and knocked. Knock, knock, knock... "Excuse me, is Serval in?" "I'm here. Come in..." Serval's slightly weary voice came from inside the workshop. Pushing the door open, the group walked in. Behind the counter, Serval was still fiddling with mechanical parts, but her eyes were empty, and she had large, dark circles under them, as if she hadn't rested properly for days. "Sorry, the workshop is closed today. If you're here for repairs, you can leave," Serval said in a low tone. "Err... she doesn't look like she's in a good state..." March whispered to Stelle. "Yeah..." Stelle nodded. "I can hear you, you know..." Serval glanced weakly at March 7th and Stelle. "Miss Serval, this is a handwritten letter from Miss Bronya." Wende got straight to the point, handing Bronya's letter to Serval. "Bronya?" Serval's weary expression instantly sharpened. She snatched the envelope from Wende, opened it, and read it carefully. "This..." Placing the letter on the table, Serval's expression turned grave. "Bronya said we could trust you," Dan Heng stated. "......" "Yes... You can certainly try to trust me, can't you?" Serval smiled at Dan Heng. "Bronya... where is she now?" "We don't know..." "Is that so..." Lowering her head, Serval muttered to herself. "We came here this time because..." Wende told Serval about the Stellaron and their experiences in the Underworld. "So that's how it is... The Stellaron... I never thought I'd hear that name again," Serval said with a sigh. "I know why Bronya sent you to find me... I was once a member of the Architects. When I worked in the research department, I studied the [Stellaron]." "To think I'd hear that word again after being expelled from the Architects... Come, I'll tell you everything I know." According to Serval, the Stellaron's exact location should be to the north of Belobog, in the middle of the endless snow plains. But to get to those plains, they would have to pass through the Silvermane Guards' defensive lines and the dangerous Fragmentum. In the end, the group decided to head to the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone under Serval's guidance. Inside the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone, Gepard stared at the group of new recruits before him, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. "Commander... what do we do?" The adjutant was also hesitant. Sending these new recruits to reinforce the defensive line... was that really a good idea? "It has come to this. This is the only way." Gepard couldn't think of any other solution at the moment. He had previously sent a request to the Great Guardian for reinforcements, but he never expected... That these "reinforcements" would mostly be children who had just come of age... "Huuu..." He took a deep breath of the cold air and exhaled a murky cloud. Gepard forced himself to calm down. He couldn't afford to lose his composure now. If he panicked, the entire front line would be at great risk. "Go find some veterans to give these young guards a lesson. I don't want them to step onto the battlefield without knowing what they're getting into," Gepard ordered his adjutant. "Yes, sir." The adjutant nodded and left the tent. "Sister... Her Excellency, the Great Guardian... is she really wrong?" Even someone as resilient as Gepard felt a flicker of doubt in his heart. The Fragmentum monster attacks seemed to have slowed recently, easing the pressure on their front line. But this was no time to relax. The Silvermane Guards had to seize this precious window of opportunity to train the newcomers. The battles to come would likely be even more perilous. "Wow... so many guards. Have all the guards from the Administrative District been moved here?" March asked, looking at the dense crowd of guards in the Restricted Zone in the distance. "No... these aren't the guards from the Administrative District." Serval shook her head, her eyes darkening. "Their discipline is lax. They're probably not regular guards," Dan Heng analyzed, observing the disorganized formations in the distance. "That's right... These are all reserve guards that crazy woman Cocolia hastily drafted... Most of them are reserves who haven't undergone any systematic training," Serval revealed the truth. "As for the guards from the Administrative District... aside from the squad stationed at the Outlying Snow Plains and the few teams in front of Qlipoth Fort, all the others were transferred to the front lines a long time ago." Looking at the Restricted Zone ahead, Serval's eyes were filled with worry. "Gepard... what will you do?" In his tent, Gepard was looking toward the main city of Belobog, his eyes full of confusion. "Sister... what should I do?" At this moment, the Commander of the Silvermane Guards, a man who could be a one-man army, was lost in uncertainty. The Landau siblings looked toward each other across the distance, their eyes filled with shared bewilderment.