"It really breaks my heart. You all even thought of such a small child, but none of you thought of me." Sampo said with a tearful voice, as if he had suffered a great grievance.
Seele interrupted:
"Alright, alright, what's the point of nitpicking this? I'd rather ask you—everyone in Wildfire knows where Svarog's lair is, so what exactly is the use of a contact like you?"
"Hey, everyone has their own expertise!" Sampo laughed. "Although Wildfire knows where Svarog's lair is, they've never been inside, right?"
Hook, standing off to the side, looked up and listened to their conversation with great curiosity.
Hearing Sampo's statement, Seele's eyes immediately widened:
"What? You've been inside?"
"No."
"…"
For a moment, Seele grabbed March 7th, turned the wheelchair along with the others, and started walking away.
Sampo quickly stepped forward to stop them:
"Hey, hey, hey, don't be so impatient!"
He rubbed his hands together and smiled awkwardly:
"Although I haven't been inside, I've thoroughly scouted the entire mechanical settlement up and down and collected a lot of intelligence. I guarantee it'll be useful to you!"
At this point, a certain someone in the wheelchair excitedly said:
"Really? Then where does Clara usually stay? Let's go tie her up! Hahahahaha!!"
March 7th looked at the person in the wheelchair in front of her: "So you're finally awake!"
"Uh…" Sampo's expression became slightly awkward. "Big bro, why did you suddenly think of kidnapping Clara? That little girl is so kind-hearted—how could you bring yourself to do that!"
"Kind-hearted? So what!" The certain someone immediately puffed out his chest, causing the wheelchair to creak loudly, and said maniacally:
"Since she's so kind-hearted, we'll just tie her up as a hostage! She wouldn't mind, right! Hahahahaha! Since Svarog treats her like family, wouldn't it be much more convenient to directly kidnap her and use her to threaten Svarog?!"
Cold sweat poured down Sampo's face:
"Big bro, don't underestimate Clara just because she usually speaks softly and gently. She has a lot of protectors! All the vagrants who've received her help, plus every robot under Svarog's control—they'll all protect her."
The certain someone's suggestion immediately caused everyone to fall into deep thought.
If they really kidnapped Clara, given her relationship with Svarog, was there a chance the latter would just let her die without saving her?
Most likely, he would save her.
Then they could directly coerce Svarog into lifting the lockdown on the furnace core—it really did seem much simpler.
It's just that this tactic… was too dirty.
March 7th said in shock:
"Holy crap, Zeig, have you no shame at all! You'd even have the heart to kidnap such a good little girl—where's your morality? Where's your bottom line?!"
The certain someone sneered:
"What the heck is that?"
"We're not actually going to kill her. If what Wildfire says is true—that Svarog is a guy who won't listen to reason—then why bother reasoning with him? Just kidnap Clara, and see if he can still sit still?"
At this moment, Dan Heng also nodded:
"What Zeig said actually makes sense."
March 7th said in shock:
"But that's way too dirty!"
The certain someone smiled calmly:
"Tch, as long as the goal is achieved, isn't that enough? Always hesitating, wanting both the result and a good reputation, and even wanting to be praised by the world—don't you think that's too greedy? Hahahaha! In my humble opinion, directly capturing Clara to coerce Svarog is the simplest method!"
Bronya hurriedly tried to dissuade him:
"Executor, that won't do. If we do that, we'll definitely face heavy criticism."
Seele remained silent off to the side, lost in her own thoughts.
"Heh, criticism?" The certain someone raised an eyebrow, fully displaying the demeanor of a scheming advisor:
"What do insults matter to me? So what if people despise me? I…"
Rip—
March 7th used tape to seal the certain someone's mouth.
"…"
"?"
"This idea is way too rotten—we can't be that shameless! Don't bully a defenseless little girl!" March 7th said through gritted teeth in anger.
"And you, Dan Heng!"
"Huh?"
"You actually agreed with him. Everyone on the Astral Express is an upright person—don't you know how to reflect on yourself!"
"Mhm, mhm, yes…"
Bronya nodded repeatedly:
"That's right. Unless it's absolutely the last resort, we shouldn't do something like this."
Seele spoke up at this moment:
"Sigh, I hope everything really can go more ideally."
Bronya patted Seele's shoulder and comforted her:
"Why have you become as pessimistic as the Executor? It's better for us to stay cautious."
Seele nodded.
Sampo, who had been listening to these dangerous remarks the whole time, also let out a sigh of relief.
Damn, it really has to be big bro! He can even come up with a rotten idea like kidnapping Clara—truly shameless.
March 7th yelled at Sampo:
"Alright, alright, hurry up and lead the way. We'll go check out the situation over there first."
Sampo quickly smiled obsequiously:
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll lead the way right now. Everyone follow closely!"
The group followed Sampo and left Belobog's Rivet Town.
Along the way, they began to see some snowflakes.
Gradually, the ground was covered in snow, and everyone left deep footprints as they stepped on it.
Meanwhile, a certain someone had entered standby mode, lying in the wheelchair and sleeping like the dead.
("zzzZZZ…")
"Sampo, are we there yet?"
"Little sister, you don't have to ask once every minute. We'll be there after walking a bit further."
The group turned out from a small path, and suddenly many vagrants came into view.
The vagrants were gathered in groups of two or three, men and women chatting happily.
March 7th said in surprise:
"This is Svarog's lair? I thought it would be some cold, lifeless place—didn't expect it to be so lively?"
Seele looked ahead and explained:
"Many vagrants temporarily live here. Their original homes were occupied by Fragmentum monsters."
March 7th followed Seele's line of sight and kept observing the vagrants, feeling like they didn't seem to be living all that miserably:
"Camping right under Svarog's nose—don't they feel it's dangerous?"
Seele shook her head and explained:
"No. Although Svarog is domineering, he never attacks humans without reason. For homeless people, this place is actually safer instead."
She couldn't help but mock herself:
"Heh, if I hadn't moved away early back then, maybe I'd be one of them here now."
The group passed through the vagrants and arrived in front of a large iron gate.
"Svarog is still inside. To get in, we first have to deal with this gate!" Sampo introduced.
"Heh heh." A voice came from the wheelchair.
"Looks like it'll still have to rely on me!"
"?"
"…Ah!" March 7th exclaimed in surprise.
They saw the certain someone suddenly leap up, landing steadily in front of the iron gate. He reached into his coat and slowly pulled out a chainsaw.
With a sinister smile:
"A mere iron gate—everyone, no need to panic. Just watch me…"
Sampo hurriedly stepped forward, pushed Zeig's chainsaw back into his arms, then nervously looked left and right and said in alarm:
"B-b-b-big bro! With so many vagrants and robots watching, I wouldn't even dare pick the lock—pulling out a chainsaw like this is way too much!!"
Sure enough, seeing the actions of Zeig and the others,
many vagrants turned their gazes over, and the automatons were also watching this spot.
It seemed like in the next moment, they would swarm over.
"Then how do we do it? Do you guys have the key to this iron gate?" The certain someone sat back down in the wheelchair and asked.
Sampo smiled fawningly:
"Big bro, of course I've looked into this kind of thing, haha. To enter this gate, you have to obtain a certain authentication!"
Bronya asked curiously:
"What authentication? Do we have to fight them?"
Sampo shook his head and smiled:
"No, you have to answer questions, hehe."
"…"
…