Chapter 552.2: It Will Be Better If You're All Dead Anyway

A squad of soldiers in exoskeletons entered through the main door. Spotting Light Wind, they approached.

The squad leader opened his visor, raised a right fist to his chest, and gave a crisp salute. "21st Company, First Corps. We’re taking over this sector. You can leave the rest to us."

At that moment, a line of pale blue text appeared on her VM.

[Quest:

Investigate the orphanage basement and await New Alliance forces (Complete)

]

Mimicking the NPC gesture, Light Wind placed her right fist to her chest and smiled politely. "

Mm

! It’s all yours."

The squad leader signaled his men. One team headed to the basement, two others went upstairs to search. The rest remained on standby in the lobby.

Seeing the heavily armed soldiers, Horaka slumped in despair. She had no doubt about it, the once-feared Dagger Gang was finished...

The children in the dungeon were quickly brought out.

To Light Wind’s surprise, that cramped basement had held 97 kids.

Since the surface was colder than the basement and they lacked proper clothes, New Alliance soldiers had the children wrap themselves in cotton blankets scavenged from the building. Once they reached the refugee shelter, professionals would take over.

The rescued children clung tightly to their blankets, staring at the soldiers in exoskeletons with wide, frightened eyes, but none dared speak.

Some of the older girls seemed to understand what was happening, though their faces were equally full of confusion about the future.

As she passed Light Wind at the door, Citrus paused and asked softly, "Big sister... Are you with the New Alliance?"

Even if she wasn’t very smart, seeing Big Sister Horaka’s face, she had a good guess.

The soldier escorting her didn’t rush her. He simply waited quietly nearby.

Light Wind crouched and gently patted her head. "Don’t worry. We’re not going to eat you."

Citrus asked quietly, "Then... Where are we going?"

Light Wind thought for a moment and tried to describe it. "

Hmm

... It’s a place warmer than here. The people there will teach you to read, write, and do math."

Citrus looked a little downcast. "Won’t anyone adopt us?"

Light Wind didn’t know how to answer. But seeing the girl’s lonely expression, she suddenly smiled and said, "Well, I can come visit you!"

Citrus’s eyes lit up instantly. "Really?!"

"

Mm

!" Light Wind nodded earnestly, looked into her eyes, and held out her pinky. "Pinky promise."

Though she didn’t understand the meaning, their hooked fingers swayed together, and it filled Citrus with warmth.

Suddenly, the New Alliance didn’t seem so scary after all.

Maybe Big Sister Horaka had just been wrong?

Beaming, Citrus said thank you, waved goodbye with all her strength, and followed the soldier up into the armored vehicle outside the courtyard.

As she watched the vehicle drive away, Light Wind waved softly with a smile that could only described as a motherly expression...

So cute...

Could I keep one of them?

Suddenly realizing her goofy smile, Light Wind blushed, shook her head, and chased away the strange thought. "Right... The spices. I still have to buy the spices..." She muttered to herself and hurried out of the yard, heading back toward the main gate and its marketplace.

She had almost forgotten the whole reason she came!

The sky was already turning dark and she wasn’t sure there was still time...

...

As it turned out, there wasn’t.

A guard post had been set up at the slum’s main gate, complete with barbed wire and roadblocks. Troops poured in through the checkpoint.

No documents? They could enter, but not leave.

Loudspeakers on wooden poles blared warnings into the slum, instructing unrelated individuals to stay indoors and avoid stray bullets.

The sudden storm had arrived without warning, as if it had been planned all along.

Not only was the slum sealed off, the marketplace outside the great wall was surrounded by the First Corps and fully locked down.

A group of merchants and mercenaries gathered at the gate, shouting angrily at the soldiers.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"We’re here to trade! We’re not your residents!"

"Are you bandits or what?!"

"Enough! If I can’t sell my goods, fine, just let me leave!"

In a certain sense, the New Alliance’s operation had broken a century-old precedent in Boulder Town. It had finally reached its hand beyond the walls.

Most of the people in the slums were armed, and the atmosphere at the scene turned tense in an instant.

As the crowd argued and cursed, a loud voice suddenly cut through the noise at the market gate.

"Quiet!" Wrench swept his gaze across the agitated crowd and raised his voice as he continued:

"We received intelligence that a group of violent criminal gangs is operating outside the walls. These near-marauder thugs have grown far too bold, not only committing crimes right under our noses, but even daring to kidnap our citizens on our own turf. The administrator has ordered a full and thorough investigation!"

"Rest assured, we will not let a single villain slip through, nor will we wrongly accuse an innocent."

Before he even finished speaking, the crowd had erupted again. Clearly, some individuals were deliberately stirring things up, riling up the wastelanders.

"What’s this got to do with us?! We’re not the ones who kidnapped your people!"

"This is outside your settlement, we didn’t even set foot in your homes! You’re overreaching!"

"Where exactly is the New Alliance’s border, huh? Seems like everywhere is your turf..."

Bang!

A sharp gunshot silenced everyone.

Wrench stood with his gun pointed at the sky, his expression ice-cold as he stared down the noisy wastelanders. "I wasn’t finished."

The heavy machine gun mounted on the armored vehicle swung toward the crowd. Its ominous black barrel sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

Faced with those killing-intent-filled gazes, even the most hardened wastelanders couldn’t help but recall the saying. "A wise man doesn’t fight when odds are against him."

It wasn’t just soldiers surrounding them, there were also shelter residents present.

Among the odd-looking androids, some of whom didn’t seem very bright, several clearly emitted the aura of awakeners.

The gang members hidden in the crowd broke out in cold sweat. Faced with such a serious show of force, a deep sense of dread began to take root in their hearts.

As silence fell over the square, Wrench calmly holstered his pistol and stated with brutal clarity, "Where the bullet can reach, our jurisdiction extends."

"Everything within range is New Alliance territory."

More armored vehicles rolled in from the north, including the Tank 1s from the frontlines. Each rumbling machine radiated a deadly presence that froze onlookers in place.

At that moment, a Centurion clad in heavy exoskeleton armor stepped in front of Wrench and saluted. "The slum is fully sealed off!"

Wrench nodded. "Begin phase two of the operation."

"Yes, sir!"

The Centurion saluted again and jogged to the roadside, signaling the armored vehicles to start their engines and lead the troops toward the checkpoint.

A militia commander coordinating the action looked toward the checkpoint, then at Wrench. "Wasn’t this supposed to happen after the New Year?"

"There was an attempted kidnapping of a shelter resident," Wrench said flatly. "So the administrator advanced the operation."

Truthfully, preparations were nearly complete anyway. A few days early or late didn’t make much difference. To stop those people from escaping into the wasteland, Chu Guang had simply ordered the operation to begin.

The commander looked visibly shocked.

"Kidnapping a shelter resident? Are they out of their minds?"