Selya was a tall woman, her face very much in line with the aesthetic preferences of the people of the Outer World, slightly flushed, with rounded contours, as pleasing as an apple—people from the Outer World favored slightly dark and rosy cheeks, as it indicated one wasn’t lacking in sunlight or nutrition, a sign of good health.
Ludvigia and the Anaerobes, these were two pioneers who had made significant contributions to the Scavengers’ cause, Li Aozi thought to himself, that’s right, this was it.
The affinity of the tro Brotherhood largely stemd from their respect for others’ identities and beliefs—except for the officials of the Four Nations.
Li Aozi nodded and responded:
"Long live the Alliance, comrades of the underground. This is Qiu Ran and the Rose Army’s warrior, Jian Neriya."
"Pleased to et you."
mbers of the tro Brotherhood held a favorable view of the Rose Army, or rather, all those who opposed the Four Nations. Selya imdiately stepped forward, wrapped both hands around Jian’s palm, and shook it genuinely, her face beaming with a heartfelt smile.
After so pleasantries, the two mbers of the tro Brotherhood grew more familiar with each other, inevitably asking:
"That recent battle, did you manage to eliminate all those Third Rule agents?" Zhou Liefeng couldn’t help asking.
"That was my doing," Li Aozi nodded: "Those scum of the Third Rule, they’ve long deserved to die."
"Well done, the Scavengers sure are decisive. If not for the pact from above, we wouldn’t want to haul these bad guys in."
Selya laughed:
"They still have a lot of supplies that haven’t been moved, just piled up in the vehicle—co on, Scavenger, take your pick, take as much as you can, if not enough, we also have a small cart here. And the Rose Army’s warrior, you guys must be lacking dical supplies, take more, the brothers and sisters fighting on the frontline really need them."
Jian nodded slightly in thanks.
Seizing the mont, Li Aozi spoke up:
"I am not in need of goods or supplies, as I’ve cleared out Mingji Humanity. However, I would like to ask the comrades of the Brotherhood for a favor."
Zhou Liefeng was surprised:
"You actually took down Mingji Humanity? That’s great—just say it, as long as it’s reasonable, we are more than happy to help you."
Limited by the collectivism of the tro Brotherhood, they had to be responsible for the collective and couldn’t just do as they pleased, Li Aozi’s actions had indeed given them a voice for their grievances.
"It’s like this."
Li Aozi pushed Qiu Ran to the front:
"As you can see, this young lady is a victim of Mingji Humanity—actually, we haven’t completely taken down Mingji Humanity, and there will definitely be many more victims and test subjects waiting to be liberated, many of whom are children."
"I understand what you an, you want to send them back ho?"
Zhou Liefeng realized, looking at Qiu Ran with sympathy, and said with concern:
"You’ve suffered, comrade. Where is your ho? If it’s close, we will take you there, or... would you be willing to first rest at our central station city, and then organize a group return when there are more people?"
"I... I live in the countryside of a fringe numbered city at the edge of a border town of Frost Plated, called Ligou Village."
The warmth of the tro Brotherhood mbers, and the indifferent apathy of the Mingji Physician presented a stark contrast, leaving Qiu Ran slightly overwheld; she squird and stuttered.
"Hmm, I’m sorry, this place is too small, I can’t find it right away," Zhou Liefeng said regretfully.
Numbered cities are those that have not been officially nad, generally located on the path advancing towards the Outer World.
"In that case, we’ll first send you back to Frost Plated, and we’ll give you so travel expenses. Unfortunately, we can’t enter the Four Nations due to our status, so we can’t escort you onto the vehicle, please understand," Selya suggested, saying affectionately:
"Don’t worry, you will be ho soon."
Ho.
Wasn’t that word a bit too heavy?
No, perhaps it was all just a dream?
"Ho?"
"Yes, we’ll wait here for the other victims, those test subjects, to be rescued," Zhou Liefeng nodded:
"So may have no hos to return to—no matter, we’ll just take them back to the central station. The tro Brotherhood might beco their new ho."
"Ho..."
Her eyes beca blurry with emotion, and suddenly she realized sothing, turned to look at Li Aozi, made up her mind, and stepped forward, extending her hand:
"Mr. Leoz, as we agreed before, I’ll use the Arcane Energy—"
"You keep it for yourself," Li Aozi cut her off without letting her finish, pocketed the Long Sword, and turned to leave.
Qiu Ran was taken aback, quickly calling out:
"But wasn’t it agreed upon, that you would help get away, and I would give this ability to you—"
"I’m not just sending you away, don’t get the wrong idea."
Li Aozi waved his hand without looking back, saying impatiently,
"It was the tro Brotherhood that sent you off, thank them."
"But—"
"No buts, you still have a long way to go before you get ho."
The response from Li Aozi left Qiu Ran montarily speechless. She looked down, watching his swaggering figure walking away, and said with gratitude,
"Li Aozi, you’re the one who truly deserves to be rembered."
"He can’t hear you anymore."
Jian said indifferently, turning to Zhou Liefeng and Selya, she said,
"Comrades from the tro Brotherhood, I wonder if you would be willing to take on a commission later? I don’t want those supplies, let them serve as paynt."
"Of course, we are very happy to help the warriors of the Rose Army," Zhou Liefeng nodded. "Besides, these supplies are precious, it’s a worthwhile trade. Please speak."
"The Rose Army has forces stationed in Alglat and West Watch Fortress Station, that should be the closest—about 600 kiloters away. I hope you could make that trip. The Rose Army is willing to take in these liberated subjects. Their powers, their own hatred for Mingji, they need to be released."
What Jian was implying was this:
These people had already left Frost Plated, and most of them were from the Outer World. After being deprived of their freedom for so many years and having their lives severed from their pasts—it would be better to join the Rose Army, where they could put their awakened Arcane Energy to use in battle.
Zhou Liefeng didn’t care, the treatnt in the Rose Army was definitely better than that of wandering Wanderers, and they would surely be reassigned.
"No problem," Selya also agreed, "But the distance is a bit far, we’ll have to inform the committee."
"I will discuss it with my colleagues in the army later on."
Jian said,
"This round trip could take a long ti, you can use the Rose Army’s communications equipnt to report back to headquarters."
"What else can I say, with your guarantee, I believe the Supre Committee will agree to such a beneficial deal."
"Thank you for understanding."
Jian nodded her head.
Qiu Ran glanced at her, then suddenly said, "You... aren’t you going to help Li Aozi?"
"I have no obligation to help him, and besides, I’ve already spoken to the leadership of the Rose Army—next, I’ll follow orders."
Jian stated flatly.
"What a joke—you owe Li Aozi your life! Is this how you treat him?"
Qiu Ran asked angrily and resentfully.
"What we agreed on was this: I give up the Arcane Energy, in exchange for my departure, and provide the Mingji Humanity location intel."
Jian’s deep purple eyes were filled with a detached rationality as she calmly stated,
"This was only a transaction, ma’am."
"But we saved you!" Qiu Ran’s face turned pale, and she spoke resentfully, "If it weren’t for you, Li Aozi would have left long ago!"
"One should not act with expectations of gratitude—besides, the person you wanted to save was Nomi."
Jian pointed this out indifferently,
"I have fulfilled the transaction, Mr. Leoz has already considered us even."
"But it’s too cold of you to speak like that..."
"Not at all, to , you are just strangers. Moreover, if anyone should be considering gratitude, it would be you, right?"
"I..." Qiu Ran was taken aback.
"What exactly is your relationship with Mr. Leoz?"
Jian interrogated,
"Friends? Lovers? Intimate partners? Relatives? Colleagues?"
"...None of those," Qiu Ran admitted after pursing her lips, "We were just fellow travelers."
"If that’s the case, then what right do you have to question why I don’t lend a hand?" Jian said sharply.
"I—" Qiu Ran felt shaken.
"You don’t think that the tro Brotherhood is in the charity business, do you? They did it because Li Aozi gave up the supplies and attacked the na of the Mingji Humanity—that’s why. Otherwise—to put it bluntly and harshly—for what reason does your identity as a common country repair girl warrant a free ride ho?"
Jian tilted her head slightly, adding,
"I’ve been wondering if there was sothing extraordinary between Li Aozi and you, like exchanging sothing for Arcane Energy—now it seems, he has indeed done a charity."
"And charity does not exist in the Outer World."
"Do you understand, Miss Qiu Ran?"
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