Facing Seele's stunned question, the four members of the Express Crew didn't answer directly. They only turned their heads to look off to the side.
Even the serious and steady Teacher Dan Heng replied like this, "Well… hard to say. Really hard to say…"
This matter wasn't something that absolutely couldn't be talked about, but saying it out loud in front of so many people would probably make Seele, with her straightforward temper, lose her cool, especially since it was also related to Nero.
The Express Crew firmly protects the youngest.
Standing to the side, Sampo thought that this line sounded strangely familiar.
Then he realized, this was a perfect chance to mess with Nero.
But thinking about it more carefully, it actually wasn't a good opportunity for revenge. After all, he himself had been there that night, and Nero was the one who had called him out.
If it really got said out loud, considering how everyone else felt about him, Seele would definitely be the first to hit him…
'Damn it, what's going on?'
'Why does it feel like I'm constantly being schemed against by a junior colleague?'
'Every rare good opportunity turns out to be a trap!'
'Creepy!'
'Way too creepy!'
Seeing the four from the Express brushing things off, Seele felt a little confused, but she didn't think too deeply about it. Instead, she took out the letter Bronya had written the night before and handed it to them.
"Oh right, Bronya asked me to give this to you."
"She left us a letter?" March blinked as she took it, looking puzzled.
"Uh… could this be one of those legendary secret plans in a letter? I don't have any experience with this. Aren't you supposed to only open it when you're in danger?"
"Stop imagining things and open it already," Dan Heng said.
It was a farewell letter. In it, Bronya expressed her strong determination to go and confront Cocolia face to face and get a clear answer.
At the same time, the future Guardian stated that if she failed, then the Express Crew should go find the Landau siblings.
Serval and Gepard were upright people, and after reading this letter and understanding what had happened, they would definitely do their utmost to help the Express Crew search for the Stellaron.
"The Landau siblings… Serval… Oh, so she's Gepard's sister!" March said.
"Maybe 'sister' means Gepard?" Stelle couldn't help herself and continued marching deeper into the abyss of being a "regretful beauty."
"Your focus is so weird!" March complained.
"You two are about the same," Nero said.
After thinking for a moment, Dan Heng asked Sampo, "Sampo, do you know the Landau siblings?"
"The Landaus? Old friends. I mostly deal with the younger brother. As for the sister… she's even scarier than him."
Sampo shrugged and said it very seriously, his expression making it seem like he had remembered something terrifying.
"Today's supposed to be a happy day, so let's not talk about that," he added.
Everyone shrugged. They didn't make things difficult for Sampo.
"So… friends, shall we get going?" Sampo asked tentatively.
The members of the Express nodded. "Let's go."
"Alright! Make sure you bring enough food and drinks!" Sampo said with a grin.
After getting everything ready, everyone set off together with Sampo.
Nero had a small bag slung on his left side. What was inside, everyone already knew, it was the leftover mines that hadn't been used before. In his right arm, he was holding Flamey.
Yes, Flamey was now the name of this fragmentum creature.
———
[In the Upper City, Inside Qlipoth Fort]
Cocolia, her face full of worry, suddenly raised her brow. She sensed familiar footsteps and immediately turned her head to look.
"Mother, I'm back."
It was a familiar voice too, but it sounded much more mature now. No one knew what this child had been through.
But this was good news.
Joy surged in Cocolia's heart, her missing daughter, her precious daughter, had returned.
"Bronya! I thought… I thought I was going to lose you."
At this moment, Cocolia's voice was trembling.
The Great Guardian's brows were filled with sorrow and concern, mixed with a trace of relief. There was even a glimmer of tears shining in her eyes.
"Where did you run off to? Were you hurt? I'll call the steward right away..."
"No, no need!" Bronya shook her head. Seeing her mother like this moved her deeply. At the very least, she could be sure that when facing her, her mother was still the same mother as before, unchanged.
"I don't really want to see Sebas right now. I'm sorry, Mother…
"I'm fine, really fine. I ran all over the Underworld and went through several battles, but overall, I managed."
As Bronya said this, she felt even more grateful for the kindness of the Express Crew.
Looking back now, the most dangerous battle she had experienced during this time wasn't against Svarog or the Wanderers, nor against Fragmentum creatures, but when facing those outsiders…
After hearing Bronya's words, Cocolia indeed frowned slightly. "The Underworld? Ah… I see."
Immediately afterward, Cocolia's tone turned low and cold. She looked at Bronya with a stern expression.
"Then report your experiences to me, Commander Bronya."
Bronya narrowed her eyes slightly, a complicated look flashing past.
Then she said, "After the pursuit at the Border Pass failed, the wanted outsiders and I were brought to the Underworld by certain means."
"Under pressure from our environment, we formed a temporary alliance and helped the residents of the Underworld solve some… survival problems."
"We also defeated an ancient machine called Svarog and learned some truths… the truth about the Stellaron."
"..." Cocolia remained silent. "I'm listening. Go on."
"Lady Cocolia, I swear on my character that those visitors from beyond the sky are absolutely not the villains we once imagined them to be."
"I saw them draw their weapons for justice and risk their lives for the ideals of others. I can confirm that they truly came for the Stellaron, to remove the disaster it has brought to Belobog."
"Mother… you've always known the truth about the Stellaron, haven't you? One day, I would have come into contact with that knowledge as well. One of the prices of becoming a Guardian is bearing these secrets forever."
"So… forgive my disrespect, but I believe that ordering the purge of the outsiders was the wrong choice. The Architects have waited hundreds of years to resolve the Stellaron's problem, and those few might be..."
"Enough!" Cocolia roared, cutting Bronya off.
"...!" Bronya froze and shrank back slightly. Cocolia's sudden fury startled her.
"Arrogant. Ignorant. You disappoint me, Bronya."
"You've only glimpsed one corner of the snow mountain and think you've seen the truth. You got splashed with a bit of mud in the Underworld, and you dare question my orders?"
"Silvermane Guards, take Bronya..."
At the moment Cocolia erupted in rage, Bronya instinctively wanted to retreat.
But she thought of Seele, thought of the straightforward people of the Underworld, thought of the resentment festering there. She also thought of what Nero had said, and everything she herself had experienced in the Underworld…
At that moment, she was firmer than ever. She spoke seriously and resolutely, "...They are not mud!"
"Without the geomarrow supplied by the Underworld, how could the Upper City have lasted until today? What right do you have to insult them as mud?"
"The people of the Underworld are people too! Whether Upper or Lower City, everyone is working for the survival of Belobog!"
"Perhaps I really have only seen the tip of the iceberg, but I know that what I saw was hope… Arrogant? Ignorant? If you judge everything solely by your own standards and completely ignore the views of others, aren't you arrogant too?"
"How many of the reports Pella submitted have you actually read? Do you know how many Silvermane Guards have died for nothing because of your orders?!"
"My origins, those things you never told me… I remember them all now. I won't run away anymore, Guardian! Please stop brushing me off with vague excuses!"
"Tell me what you see. What exactly are you hiding… why send the Silvermane Guards into the Fragmentum to die, why abandon the residents of the Underworld, why did you change your mind at that critical moment?"
"…I see," Cocolia said. She didn't seem to be reflecting on anything, only feeling regret. "This moment was bound to come sooner or later… I just didn't expect it to come so soon."
"You want to know what drove me to issue those orders… don't you? You think you're ready to touch the truth now?"
Cocolia's tone softened, or rather, became calm. She slowly walked up to Bronya.
Bronya blinked as she looked at Cocolia in front of her, her tone no longer as forceful as before. "Yes. I'm ready… Mother."
"Then come with me, Bronya," Cocolia said. "This dying world, it's time you heard her voice."
As Cocolia's words fell, Bronya suddenly felt a tearing, splitting pain inside her head, followed by a wave of dizziness.
A certain voice rang directly within her consciousness, "Come… come..."