Chapter 49 - 46 - How Magnificent!

"Has the Reserve Third Battalion been assigned?" At the main gate of the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone, Gepard took the registration report from the officer and began to look it over. "Yes, Commander. The men of the Reserve Third Battalion have been taken to the city wall by the instructor. If all goes well, they will complete their training within two days and then begin their routine sentry duties." The registration officer explained the situation to Gepard, which was based on a plan he and the adjutant had formulated together. "Mhm, thank you for your hard work. I'll leave the rest of the reservists to you," Gepard said with a nod. As he continued to scan the report, a line of elegant handwriting suddenly caught his eye. "Hmm... this is..." Looking at the name "Valuxi" on the report, Gepard's expression grew serious. "Officer, what's the deal with these few people?" Gepard pointed to the column of names written in the same handwriting and questioned the officer. "Lord Gepard, they seem to be a family of brothers and sisters, but only their eldest brother can read, so he signed for them." "..." Gepard looked utterly helpless. Such a low-effort lie... If it weren't for the special circumstances, this registration officer would have been replaced long ago! "Report! The patrol team found several people in a snowdrift in front of the restricted zone's main gate." A patrolling guard walked up to Gepard, gave him a military salute, and reported. "I understand. Take them down and let them rest well," Gepard said with a flat expression, handing the registration report back to the officer. "Yes, Commander." The patrolling guard nodded and turned to leave. "Notify the Third Battalion, tell them to..." Gepard's words suddenly trailed off. His eyes dimmed, and he finally lowered his hand, defeated. "Sigh... forget it. I'll go there myself." Turning to leave, Gepard's figure gradually disappeared into the icy fortress. "Sister... did you find something?" Gepard thought silently, letting the ice and snow whip against his face. "By my calculations, Gepard should know we've snuck in by now, right?" Serval, who was mixed in with the Reserve Third Battalion, suddenly said to Wende. Perhaps it was a bloodline sense unique to the Landau family, but Serval already had a gut feeling about something. "How far are we from the gate?" Dan Heng asked her. "I've never been here either... Let's just follow the group for now. Since they're stationed near the city wall, the gate can't be far." Serval shrugged helplessly. The paths within the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone were extremely complex and littered with mechanisms. If they didn't follow the "instructor" ahead, they probably had no other way through. "Serval... your brother, he..." March 7th looked worried. Could what they were doing destroy the relationship between the siblings? "Hey, don't worry, my little brother, he..." "He should be able to understand us, right?" Even Serval wasn't sure. In the eyes of an ordinary Belobog citizen, what they were doing was a serious crime. Trespassing in the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone was a major offense. If they were discovered, would Gepard be deeply disappointed in her? "Look, the instructor has stopped," Stelle called out, halting her steps and alerting the others. The wobbly "instructor" at the front of the line had suddenly stopped. Before it was a cross-shaped broken bridge, with an endless abyss stretching out below. Through the wind and snow, they could vaguely make out massive mechanical components beneath the bridge. "Beep-beep-beep..." The instructor walked up to a mechanism. Its four short legs lifted with great effort as it input a key code. "Ka-ka..." With a tremendous rumble, the cross-shaped bridge began to slowly rotate. The intact section of the bridge turned toward them. "Is this a miracle of the Architects... How magnificent!" March exclaimed in awe. "How magnificent!" Stelle repeated, hands on her hips. "How magnificent..." Wende shook his head and sighed. This sight was far more breathtaking than seeing it on a game screen! "Err... have they been infected with something?" Seele looked at the three repeaters and began to suspect she'd boarded a pirate ship. "It's fine... this is normal," Dan Heng said with a shrug. "Err... is it really normal?" Serval's mouth twitched. "Hey! It's one thing for Stelle to repeat things, but why are you repeating it too!" March looked at Wende with wide, surprised eyes, then reached out with her small, cold hand to feel his forehead. "He doesn't have a fever. Could it be that Stelle's 'big illness' is actually contagious?" Dan Heng shook his head helplessly. Luckily, this was a reserve unit, and the other reservists were also marveling at the miracle created by the Architects. If they were anywhere else, this group of conspicuous weirdos would have been arrested long ago. [How magnificent] [How magnificent] [Wende's pecs are so magnificent! prprprpr!] [No way, dude! You can take a wrong turn even on a simple repeater meme?!] [Let me have a turn! (<3)] [Here they come, the 'on another level' squad, assemble!] [Oh no, they really can take a wrong turn at any given moment!] [How magnificent] [The latency monster appears!] [The 'appears' monster appears!] Fanyin stared speechlessly at her bullet comments, which had gradually turned into a repeater chain. Can you really make a meme out of this?! Should she consider transitioning from a story-focused streamer to a sand-sculpting meme video creator? Looking at the frenzied bullet comments, Fanyin fell into deep thought. [Huh? Why did Fanyin stop moving?] [Move it, Fanyin! Move it!] [Is this 'move it' of yours a proper 'move it'?] [Slaanesh!] "Mods, a little help here, please and thank you." After having the few comments that crossed the line banned, Fanyin felt a wave of exhaustion. Controlling her character across the bridge, Fanyin was suddenly struck by an idea. She wanted to explore this mysterious "Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone." So, instead of continuing to follow the "instructor," she returned to the previous area and started wandering around. What's this? A chest? Let's open it! What's this? A mechanism? Let's touch it! What's this? A flowerpot? Let's smash it... "Ahhh! What are you doing! You've alerted the guards!" March 7th's angry voice rang out, and the screen instantly shattered like a mirror. Fanyin was pulled into battle. "Err..." Fanyin was dumbfounded as she stared at the large group of guards that had burst out of the flowerpot. [I'm going to give you a nasty nickname. From now on, you're 'Fidgety Hands'!] [For real, there's an easter egg here too! I'm quitting the main quest and restarting right now!] [Bros, you can interact with the posters here too!] [Wait? Am I the only one who's just seriously watching the stream and not playing the game?] [Yep] [Why are you guys playing the story while also watching Fanyin play the story?!] [Hehehe, Fanyin! My Fanyin! My super awesome gal!] [Yo? Mods? Same place as last time.]