Chapter 541.3: It's Too Late...

So she gave up, closed her eyes, and just hoped the ordeal wouldn’t last too long...

Some stood silently, watching. Most remained quiet. Conscience still lingered in many, but they hesitated.

Why should they hold back?

Why was it always them who had to endure?

The nobles never showed mercy when stepping on them. Now they had finally found the courage to strike back, and they were supposed to worry about going too far?

Why should they?

The vulgarity escalated.

"Ha, I heard noble clothes are made of silk enchanted by magic!"

"Let’s find out. Maybe she’s hiding a black card somewhere!"

As faces twisted with cruelty, the bearded man frowned. Something felt wrong. He spoke up. "Hey, guys, I think this is too much... Maybe we really got the wrong person. Nobles don’t work at banks. Maybe she really is just..."

"Shut up, you coward!" the scar-faced man sneered, narrowing his eyes. "If you don’t want in, get lost."

His lackeys shouted in support.

"Yeah!"

"We don’t need spineless worms in our crew!"

"Scram, you softie!"

The bearded man tried to argue, but couldn’t find the words. All he could manage was to eke out, "But Bore would never hurt innocent people! You’ve gone too far!"

The scar-faced man snapped impatiently, "Bore? What the hell is that?"

"Stop!"

A piercing scream rang out, silencing the entire alley like a bucket of cold water thrown onto a raging fire.

Everyone turned toward the voice.

There stood a little girl at the alley entrance.

So many eyes on her made Elisa’s knees go weak, but she still summoned her courage and clutched her rag doll tight.

That tall, important-looking administrator had told her she had smart eyes, that she would become someone remarkable.

She understood their rage.

But they were going too far. The chaos was spinning out of control. Innocent people were getting hurt. If this continued, they would become real villains.

And all their ideals, their demands, everything they stood for, would become a disgrace to the settlement.

She had to step up.

She had to stop them before it was too late.

"You all..." Elisa took a deep breath, ready to speak while people could still hear her.

But she got only one word out before someone screamed, "That’s Elisa!"

The kneeling woman’s face lit up with joy as she looked at Elisa’s young face.

Gone was all despair, she was alive again. Staggering to her feet, she pointed a finger and shouted fiercely, "This is Elisa, the youngest of the Malvern family! I’d recognize her anywhere, I do work at the bank! She’s inner city nobility! She has a black card!"

Her hysterical scream echoed through the narrow alley, chilling it to silence again.

Dozens of eyes stared at Elisa.

Her limbs went cold and her rag doll fell to the ground.

Her face turned pale, and she stopped trembling, like a corpse that had forgotten how to move.

······

Back at the Militia base, the atmosphere was tense.

Since earlier, the 1st Battalion had gone silent. Captain Welon was reportedly missing.

Rumors swirled. Some said they had been routed because some soft-hearted idiot had aimed too high and let them go. Others said soldiers had surrendered and joined the survivors, because their families were among them.

Some claimed the New Alliance had distributed weapons, those LD-47s and RPGs were proof enough.

But it didn’t fully add up. LD-47s were already common across the Wasteland, every mercenary wanted the New Alliance’s cheap, reliable gear.

The real concern was how had those weapons gotten inside. Boulder Town strictly banned explosives in the settlement.

Some soldiers whispered that new scumbags in their ranks would do anything for silver coins, even sell people.

Still, it was hard to believe they would relax inspection at the gates.

Were the gatekeepers that desperate?

Was the entry tax not enough?

Were they really risking their lives for some money...?

A few soldiers in exoframes gathered and muttered, "Damn... I’ll rather face those disgusting Slime Mold than turn on guys I eat lunch with every day."

"They want Spielberg."

"Then just give him up! He’s just a dirt-poor nobody!"

"But the inner city won’t hand him over. Word is, they don’t even know where he is. If they did, they would’ve already sent him out."

"That can’t be! There are only a few exits in this place. What, did he vanish into thin air?"

"Well, I guess he’s dead. But... It’s probably not that simple. You know how those nobles are. They are all sneaky bastards. They can make someone disappear without a sound."

"Bullshit. Remember that big fire five years ago? Those idiots weren’t exactly subtle."

"I almost forgot... And didn’t that Kishur guy come back? Saw him loitering at the gate recently."

As the young soldier got worked up, someone tugged on his sleeve and pointed toward the entrance of the base.

Seeing their centurion walking over, they immediately shut up.

Even from afar, Joey heard their chatter, but he didn’t care to deal with gossipy mouths.

He had just received an order from command. They were to gear up and head to the rally point immediately. Realizing it was a serious mission, he wasted no time.

His superior, Commander Russell, was already waiting.

As Joey approached, Russell, clad in exoframe, spoke with no pleasantries and a grave tone. "The youngest girl of the Malvern Family is missing. Take your unit out now. Bring her back alive, no matter the cost."

Joey snapped to attention. "What if someone tries to stop us?"

Russell stared into his eyes and repeated firmly, "I said, no matter the cost!"

"Yes, sir." Joey disliked the arrogant tone of the nobleman, but obedience was a soldier’s duty.

Besides, his family had already been moved into the inner city. They were waiting in warm apartments for everything to end.

He had sworn to them, and to his children, that he would not let them down. That he would return with victory and honor.

No matter what, he wouldn’t let rioters, or the criminals among them, destroy two centuries of Boulder Town’s legacy.

The troops assembled quickly.

Stepping before his men, Joey took a deep breath, swept his gaze across them, and shouted, "We’ve lost a resident, a little girl, not very tall, about the same age as your daughters. We’re going to bring her back and reunite her with her parents."

"Her photo has already been sent to your terminals. Recon drones are en route to the target area."

"Authorization granted to use all light and heavy firepower."

"Bring her back safely, at all costs!"

Upon hearing the order, the soldiers collectively exhaled in relief, their morale reignited.

At least this time, they were doing something that was unquestionably right.

They were going on a mission that was just, not like the 1st Battalion, dragged into a standoff with unarmed survivors, caught in a senseless standoff.

With fighting spirit in their eyes, they responded in unison.

"Yes, sir!"

...

Wind and snow swirled through the streets of the outer city.

Meanwhile, the inner city’s conference hall was in chaos.

Survivors holding black cards had begun arguing.

"There are too many chips circulating in the market! We must find a way to reclaim a portion of them! Push that excess liquidity where it needs to go!"

"Ha! Reclaim from who, exactly?"

"Everyone knows those peasants are fucking useless! We can’t exactly put their accounts into the negative."

"Forget it. It’s a mess. We would be better off dealing with our neighbors while we still can. One good strike and all our problems are solved!"

"Gentlemen! Look at the situation out there, people are shouting that they want us dead. Can we at least deal with that first?"

"Those are small issues. What worries me is the New Alliance taking advantage of the chaos. That ambitious bastard has been eyeing the airspace over Clearspring City for a long time..."

Suddenly, a scruffy-bearded man banged on the table and stood up to yell, "Factories! The factories! As long as the machines that make things still run, any currency is just smoke! Worst case, we print a new one! We’ll scrap the old chips!"

The man must’ve been a new noble. A leather shoe hit his face almost immediately, and when he stumbled back to his seat, the noble beside him kicked him again.

Scrap the chips?

Was he insane?

The people with the most chips were all sitting in front of him!