Upon hearing the final request of the man Talulah had previously mistaken for an aspiring youth dedicated to Ursus, her mind felt as if it had been kicked by a Tumorbeast. Her head was spinning. Although her face remained relatively calm, the raging fire burning at the tip of her tail could no longer hide the fury in her heart.
The surrounding Shieldguards witnessed this scene, and despite the gravity of the situation, a surge of amusement rose in their chests. Fortunately, they suppressed it; otherwise, Talulah might have had to ask the all-powerful "Magic Jeanne" to find a time machine.
"My daughter, you are still far too naive. This man's acting was superb. With your life experience, you would have been tricked into handing over every bit of intelligence long ago."
The voice of the Black Snake (Kashchey) suddenly echoed in her mind. Talulah could already imagine the mocking expression on his face as he felt her unstable emotions from within. Hearing his ridicule, Talulah blamed herself for being insufficiently cautious—allowing an actor to sweep her away with his emotions. She looked at Patriot and the Shieldguards; they had remained perfectly composed the entire time.
"Are you not even curious about what I've done? Or did you see through my disguise from the very beginning?"
Amidst the silence on the bridge, the man on the other end of the radio seemed to grow restless. Please, give me some kind of reaction! You're making me look like an awkward clown!
"I never... believed you. Even though your performance was... perfect, to the point I couldn't find a... suspicious flaw... anywhere. But... my intuition told me... something was wrong!"
Patriot spoke unhurriedly. At the same time, he increased his vigilance over the surroundings, signaling the Shieldguards to begin searching and interrogating the captives. What exactly was the tool this man intended to use to "resolve" them?
Bang!!!
A gunshot rang out from the other side of the comms, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Immediately after, another voice came through the microphone:
"It has been many years, Bulrozkashtee. Our last meeting was long ago, yet it feels as though it happened yesterday."
The owner of this voice didn't sound aggressive; on the contrary, he chatted with Patriot about the past in a very peaceful manner.
"Is it... you?"
Patriot recognized the voice. He could tell it belonged to the Supreme Commander of the Ursus Third Army! What could possibly drive a man of his stature to use an actor to deceive him?
"Are you the one... behind all of this?"
"It is not just me, Buldrokkas'tee. You are currently making an enemy of the entire military might of Ursus! Hand the item over! We can promise that the Third Army will never set foot on the tundra again. That land is yours. How does that sound?"
The man on the other end took a rare step back. This was truly exceptional for a noble in such a high position. It seemed that even the faction he belonged to was unwilling to face Patriot in a direct confrontation. It wasn't just because of Patriot's reputation, but because of his sheer combat prowess—the cost of truly annihilating them was far too high and would lead to severe internal repercussions.
"I have no idea... what this 'item' you speak of is! I would not... lie about such a thing! If you still... do not believe me... then send your troops! The Infected Guerrillas... will never... compromise with you!"
Patriot answered in his usual tone. He wasn't afraid of the Ursus army; he was worried about the innocent people living on the tundra. If the army truly arrived for this purpose, it would be an absolute catastrophe for them.
"Then there is nothing to talk about, Patriot. I actually believe your words are true, but those above me are still uneasy; they wish to secure peace of mind. Farewell, Patriot."
The voice grew cold, like a blizzard blowing through the command center. It was a clear hint that he still held a means to kill them—one he simply hadn't revealed yet.
"What did you do? This place doesn't seem to... have anything capable of eliminating us."
The Shieldguards had already reported the status: there were almost no soldiers left inside the landship. The last squad they could command had lost contact while pursuing Jeanne, who had broken into the ship earlier, and Jeanne herself was nowhere to be found. As for everyone else, they had used the chaos of the assault to flee the landship. Aside from that, there was nothing on this vessel that could threaten them.
"It's Originium bombs, Patriot. This landship is hidden with a massive quantity of Originium explosives, enough to make you all vanish."
"Impossible! We've held this ship for three years! We've checked every corner; there are no hazardous materials!" Seeing the Shieldguards around him grow stern, the captured Captain of the Varyag scrambled to explain, fearing he would be strung up and beaten if he was too slow.
"It seems you're still alive, Second Lieutenant. That is good news." Hearing that the officer was still alive, the man on the radio adopted a mocking tone, saying ruthlessly: "Do you still look like a high-quality Ursus officer? Listen to yourself; you sound like a rat by a gutter. If I were you, seeing how I'd fallen, I'd rather be dead."
Hearing this, the Second Lieutenant fell into a stunned silence. He hadn't expected the person he was loyal to would discard him so easily at his most dangerous moment.
"However, you probably didn't realize that this landship had a self-destruct function built into its very design! Those are Originium bombs embedded deep within the hull since the beginning of its construction. Unless you dismantle the entire ship, you could never find them."
The Second Lieutenant's face turned ashen. They had inspected every part of the landship, but they never dreamed the device was hidden within the structural core! Those dead zones, which are only checked during complete teardowns or major repairs, had been subconsciously ignored. In other words, this ship was nothing more than a mobile steel coffin. He slumped to the floor, eyes vacant, unable to believe he was merely expendable fodder... that wasn't what the man on the other end had told him. He had said he was his most trusted man...
Talulah watched him with a look of pity. Though she loathed the bastard, his predicament was truly tragic.
"So, goodbye, Patriot. You and this ship shall—"
"—Turn into fireworks together, right? Breaking all these things really wasn't easy!"
At that moment, Jeanne's voice drifted in from outside the door. She appeared carrying a pile of Originium bombs and strange electronic equipment in one hand, tossing them casually onto the floor.
"I had to run all over this landship to get these all dismantled. Don't mention it!"
"Ah, right. Your next line is: 'How did you know the specific location of the receivers?' right?"
"How did you know the specific location of the receivers!" the man on the radio blurted out.