Listening to Nero and the others' explanation, Gepard frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes.
His gaze kept roaming, sweeping over the annoyed March, Stelle who was trying to explain, and Dan Heng, who hadn't said a word, before finally stopping on the fearless Nero and the mysterious-looking Sampo, whose thoughts he couldn't guess.
Gepard still kept his upright, unyielding posture and said, "What kind of trick is it this time? Sacrificing one person to protect the whole group?"
Seeing Gepard's reaction, Nero asked, "So why can't we be good, upstanding citizens who stepped in to help someone in need?"
March also nodded beside him, "Exactly, exactly! Just look at how quick he was when he tried to ditch us and run! If you didn't see it, you can ask the people next to you. There's no way they all missed it!"
Gepard looked at Nero. He couldn't find even the slightest sign of the boy lying on his face, he was so calm, as if he were simply telling the truth.
Then he saw March 7's indignation, so he turned to the soldiers beside him to ask what happened.
Several soldiers nodded as well, not denying that Sampo had indeed tried to run away without hesitation, leaving everyone else behind.
Teacher Dan Heng watched the scene with the intent of "training the kids," while Sampo, standing by Nero, felt his teeth ache a little.
He was starting to wonder whether Nero had planned all along to hand him over for a reward.
March obviously noticed Gepard and the soldiers' reactions, so she became even more upset, "I really thought he wanted to talk business with us, but who knew he'd run with zero guilt! You've got to be able to see through things clearly!"
At this point, Gepard had already turned back to look at Trailblazer Squad.
After confirming March's words with his soldiers, everyone thought he would soften up. But to their surprise, Gepard still said sternly, "As citizens of Belobog, you have the right to defend yourselves, but that should be done under the gaze of the Builders, not now."
Then Gepard ordered the soldiers beside him, "Take them back."
"But we're not citizens of Belobog!" March shouted.
"Hm?" Gepard looked at them with confusion.
Stelle thought for a moment, patted March's shoulder, and said, "March! Show him the photo!"
"Photo?" The confusion in Gepard's eyes deepened.
Hearing Stelle's words, March also brightened up.
"Ah, you're so smart, that's a great idea!"
Then March walked toward Gepard, talking as she moved, "You guys haven't seen what your own planet looks like, right? I'll show you the picture I took of Jarilo-VI."
After reaching Gepard, March pulled out the photo she took from the observation car of the train, beneath the dark, deep universe, the ice-covered planet floated quietly, as if the cold had frozen every bit of information it could send outward.
Gepard and the Silvermane soldiers looked at the photo on March's phone. As they gazed at the icy planet, threads of shock and disbelief began to spread inside them.
For them, this might be the first time they'd ever come into contact with, or understood more deeply, the concept of the universe and planets, and also the first time they'd seen their own home in such a direct way.
A soldier exclaimed in disbelief as he looked at the photo, utterly stunned.
"You're saying this white ball is… here? Where we live? That's just too…"
He couldn't believe that the solid ground beneath his feet, the vast snowfield that birthed countless snowy peaks, was actually… a sphere?
Gepard stayed silent, deep in thought.
The Landau family was a family of nobles in Belobog, a military lineage that had guarded it for generations.
Naturally, he had been exposed to knowledge passed among the upper class or only known to those in power.
This included some fragmented stories from countless years ago, from before the long wars, most of those stories had fallen into oblivion because of the destruction of civilization, but a small number of fragments had been gathered and passed down to the present.
Those fragments were the basis for Belobog's modern speculations and understanding of the land beneath their feet.
And now, those memories were gradually becoming clearer in Gepard's mind.
"It's said that long ago, visitors from beyond the sky often came here… but after the Eternal Freeze began, no one ever crossed the snow curtain to reach Belobog again…"
"But these people..."
The soldier glanced at Trailblazer Squad, then at Sampo, as if he wanted to say more.
After all, even though they'd seen Sampo ruthlessly try to sell them out and run, they had also seen him interacting harmoniously with these strangers earlier…
But Gepard remained calm.
If the people before him really were visitors from beyond the sky, then they couldn't be treated the same as ordinary citizens of Belobog.
If a misunderstanding occurred, and was allowed to spread, it could lead to something harmful to Belobog.
He told the soldiers beside him, "This is no longer something we can judge. If what they say is true, only the Supreme Guardian can decide what to do."
"What we must do is bring them before the Supreme Guardian."
Then Gepard lifted his head and spoke to Trailblazer Squad, "Outsiders, follow me. Belobog is just behind this snow curtain."
After some thought, Gepard decided to take Nero and the others to meet the Supreme Guardian.
Naturally, Trailblazer Squad didn't refuse, after all, their first goal upon arriving on this planet was to find where humans lived.
Sampo definitely wanted to refuse, but Nero didn't give him the chance.
Under Gepard's lead, they crossed the snow curtain and arrived at a cliffside. A snow-covered path extended along the side, and from here, they could see the entirety of Belobog.
Gepard looked at the massive, dark steel city below and said softly, "Welcome to the City of Preservation, Belobog."
The group also looked down, seeing the snowy mountains and the steel city protected by them.
Black walls surrounded the entire city, isolating it from the outside world of ice and wind. Countless walkways and pipes stretched above the city, the walkways extended outward, while the pipes covered the sky, crisscrossing like spiderwebs, linking every household in Belobog.
The whole city looked like a massive, black gear. In the center of that gear stood a towering structure, it was the heart of the city, and its most magnificent building. It was the most splendid, just like the city's beating heart.
Seeing this scene, Nero felt a wave of magical + medieval + industrial-revolution fantasy wash over him.
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