After a round of exploration, the members of the Trailblaze squad finally saw the exit of the Rift.
The group immediately rushed toward the Rift exit.
However, the very next moment, Dan Heng's expression changed slightly.
"Careful!"
The moment Dan Heng's voice fell, the rest of the Trailblaze squad reacted instantly and slammed to a stop.
Several bullets struck the ground right in front of their toes, kicking up sparks.
Looking up, they saw Silvermane shooters emerge from atop the high walls on both sides, who knew how long they had been lying in ambush. Holding their guns with both hands, the dark muzzles were aimed straight at the members of the Trailblaze squad.
"So they really… chased us all the way here… and even set up an ambush…" March bent over where she stood, panting slightly as she adjusted her breathing.
Stelle pulled out her bat immediately.
"They came faster than expected."
Large numbers of Silvermane Guards surged out from the front, blocking the three members of the Trailblaze squad inside the narrow passage.
Dan Heng, Stelle, and March stood back to back in a triangular formation, perfectly protecting Nero in the very center.
Taking advantage of this brief gap, Nero sent a message to Sampo (a friend he'd added last night).
[Are you in position?]
Sampo replied with an "OK" emoji.
The two of them had actually talked quite a lot last night, not just about Nero's startup plans.
Exchanging a bit about stages, scripts, and things like that was perfectly normal.
After all, one of them was a fake Fool who called Aha his bro, and the other was a genuine Fool who was also a "rare species" even among the Fool faction, there was nothing strange about the two of them doing things together.
"Hmph, looks like I was underestimated."
Bronya's slightly cold voice came along with the crisp sound of military boots striking the ground. This commander, along with the Silvermane Guard she led, also sealed off the Trailblaze squad's final route of retreat.
"Even though this place has been eroded by the Rift, it is still part of Belobog, our former home. The Silvermane Guard knows this area like the back of their hand."
Bronya looked at the three people in front of her as she spoke, then suddenly froze.
She narrowed her eyes. "Why are there only three of you? Where's that white-haired short kid?"
"Who are you calling short?"
Nero's voice came from the middle. A gust of wind lifted him up, and the boy looked down at Bronya from above.
His tone was clearly irritated, after all, he'd just been provoked by Tingyun last night.
Besides, he had grown taller today. After getting up and heading out in the morning, he had deliberately compared heights with March.
Even though he'd only grown a little.
But at this rate, maybe the next time he returned to the space station, Arlan would be shorter than him!
The Silvermane shooters on top of the high walls reacted quickly and immediately aimed at Nero.
Bronya swept a glance over Nero, then said to everyone,
"The escape game is over. Put down your weapons and come back with us."
At this point, even someone as lively and cheerful as March felt a bit speechless.
The pretty girl half-lidded her eyes and spread her hands.
"You're really relentless… I honestly don't get what crime we committed that makes you chase us all the way here without letting up!"
However, in response to March's complaint, Bronya replied with a serious expression and an air of righteousness,
"The order I received was to arrest you. As for the specific charges and punishment, the tribunal will explain them to you."
Nero rolled his eyes, then dropped back down beside March and Stelle. The three of them started whispering openly without any attempt at discretion.
"Looks like she can't even say what crime we actually committed," Stelle narrowed her eyes. This was the first time in her life she'd run into something like this.
"Then isn't she just arresting people without any basis?" March said angrily.
"Brother Jie is also full of righteousness, but he feels way more reasonable," Nero said.
Stelle pondered slightly, as if an imaginary lightbulb lit up above her head.
"So that means Brother Jie is good, and Bronya is bad?"
Their blatant on-the-spot scheming was heard clearly by Bronya.
The Silvermane Guard commander gritted her teeth, anger showing on her face.
The three of them paid it no mind at all, as if, to them, nothing was more important than enjoying life.
Dan Heng, on the other hand, tried to reason with Bronya, "You met us yesterday, remember? At that time, we were received as honored guests of Lady Cocolia. After such earth-shaking changes overnight, it's hard for us to accept this too."
Bronya's response was, "…The Guardian conducted an investigation into your backgrounds."
"She summoned me last night and said that you deceived her; that your identities and purposes were fabricated, and that you intended to undermine the Architects' control over Belobog."
Hearing this, March's eyes widened as she let out an incredulous cry, "Huh? That old witch is really two-faced, acting one way in public and another behind the scenes!"
Stelle smacked her lips and said, "She really is dumping all the blame on us…"
Dan Heng, however, showed an expression like it was all within expectations.
"So it really is like that…"
Hearing March and Stelle's words, the anger on Bronya's face grew even stronger.
"Publicly insulting the Supreme Guardian will only add to your crimes. Put down your weapons and surrender!"
"Haha!" Nero let out a disdainful laugh. "Why does it have to be that we're the ones with the problem? Why can't it be the Supreme Guardian who has a problem?"
"I know you won't like hearing this, so let me ask you…"
Bronya watched as the boy raised his index finger and pointed at her, looking at her with a gaze that seemed to come from above.
"You said she investigated our backgrounds and identities… so then, can you tell me what our real background and identity actually are?"
"Or is it that… you don't know anything at all and just came out to arrest people? She tells you to do something and you just do it, without even checking the most basic information that's directly related to the mission?"
"Could it be that there are things only she can check and you can't? Even if that's the case, population registration shouldn't be outside your scope, right?"
"If you personally went to check, you'd find that Belobog can't find any records or background information related to us at all."
"And besides, your planet has been cut off from the outside world for so many years. Just because we have no background, does that automatically mean we must be here to do bad things?"
"Or is it that… our sudden appearance disrupted the Supreme Guardian's plans and became an obstacle to some unspeakable secret of hers, so she wants to get rid of us?"
Nero was very unhappy.
Being misunderstood like this when playing a game was already unpleasant enough, experiencing it firsthand was even worse.
When he was unhappy, he said it straight out.
Faced with Nero's questioning, Bronya opened her mouth, but couldn't come up with anything to say.
At this stage, she was not yet the Supreme Guardian Bronya of the future. She still needed to grow, still needed a catalyst for transformation.
"Hmph."
Nero let out a cold laugh.
"I see there's no point in talking anymore. Cocolia is clearly determined to arrest us. I'll say it right here, today, we absolutely will not be caught by you! Bleh!"
Nero made a face at Bronya.
With things having reached this point, there was nothing more for either side to say.
One side was determined to catch the other, the other side was determined not to be caught, the battle was on the brink of breaking out.