Chapter 133 : Reunion
Chapter 133: Reunion
The gigantic steel warship emerged from the clouds, its immense shadow completely enveloping the City Hall before them.
The appearance of this colossal behemoth shocked everyone.
As for Adams and Hancock...
Their faces turned ashen.
“H-How...? Why...?”
Staring at the warship in the sky, Hancock couldn't even manage to speak a complete sentence.
The reason the Continental Congress had chosen to convene in Fehart City, far away from the harbor, was precisely to prevent the Imperial Army from launching a surprise attack and wiping them all out in one fell swoop.
What they had never expected...
Was that the Empire would actually deploy an aerial warship!?
Hancock knew of the existence of aerial warships.
However, the Melisia Region had always been relatively remote, so to people like them, aerial warships were like the aerospace forces of the modern world—something that sounded incredibly advanced, but felt completely unrelated to their own lives.
But now...
They realized they had been mistaken from the very beginning.
“Whoosh—————!”
Immediately afterward, several steel cables shot down from the airship, slamming heavily into the square in front of City Hall.
The frightened militiamen hurriedly turned around, gripping their rifles as they stood there in utter confusion, completely at a loss for what they should do.
It was practically like humans in a science fiction film confronting aliens.
Then again...
For the people of the Melisia Region, there probably wasn't much difference between the two.
Immediately afterward, diamond-shaped objects resembling drop pods rapidly slid down the cables before crashing heavily onto the ground.
The thick hatch doors slammed open.
Then, one after another, burly metal warriors emerged from within.
That's right.
Metal warriors.
They wore full suits of armor resembling those worn by medieval knights.
In their hands were launchers that looked much like heavy machine guns.
Mounted on their backs were compact steam-powered propulsion units.
Engraved upon their breastplates was the emblem of two crossed swords beneath a soaring eagle.
“Waaah!”
The moment they saw these suddenly appearing metal warriors, the militiamen screamed in terror and stumbled backward repeatedly.
It was hardly surprising.
Although there weren't many of these metal warriors, every one of them was tall and overwhelmingly imposing.
Combined with their bizarre, terrifying helmets and the obviously dangerous weapons they carried, they looked as though demons themselves had descended upon the battlefield.
If soldiers like these appeared in an actual war, they alone would be enough to terrify the enemy into paralysis.
Not to mention these militiamen, who weren't even as capable as regular soldiers.
“Seal off the surrounding area! No one is allowed to enter or leave!”
The leading warrior loudly issued his orders before turning and walking toward Levi.
Looking at the terrifying armored warrior, Adams and Hancock instinctively took several steps backward.
Compared to these seemingly fleshless metal monsters...
Levi suddenly appeared much friendlier.
However, the armored warrior didn't even spare them a glance.
He walked straight up to Levi, lifted his visor, and revealed—
A very familiar face.
“Yo, Levi. Long time no see.”
“You too, Mr. Henry. I didn't expect to run into you here.”
Looking at the burly man before him, Levi smiled faintly.
The last time he had worked alongside Henry had been during the Imperial Bridge case.
This was the first time he'd actually seen Henry carrying out his regular duties.
He certainly looked every bit the Imperial soldier.
“You've already been briefed on the details?”
“That's right.”
Henry nodded before contemptuously glancing at Adams and Hancock.
“So these are the two traitors?”
“That's right.”
“Take them away!”
Without another word, Henry waved his hand.
Two metal warriors immediately stepped forward and escorted away the despairing pair.
They probably would never return.
“The others are all inside?”
“I believe so, but you'd be better off asking someone else.”
“Oh, come on, Boss.”
At that moment, the doors of City Hall opened once more.
A young man dressed like an insignificant errand runner walked over with a mischievous grin.
“You made such an impressive entrance and finished everything that needed doing. What's left for me to do?”
Anthony grinned at Levi and gestured dramatically.
“Boss, you're amazing. I spent all that time finally finding a chance to infiltrate the Continental Congress, and then you just barged in and wrecked the whole meeting right in front of everyone. As expected of the Boss. I surrender.”
As he spoke, Anthony gave Levi a thumbs-up.
“It was just an accident. I didn't know you were here either.”
Levi shrugged.
Just as he had said, it truly was an accident.
It wasn't until he entered the conference hall that he realized the insignificant-looking errand runner was actually Anthony.
“Well, I was on a mission too. That's what happens when different departments don't coordinate with each other. Weird misunderstandings and unexpected problems always pop up.”
Anthony spread his hands helplessly.
Just as he said, Levi had come under MI7's orders.
Henry was clearly here on assignment from the Imperial Marines.
Anthony had most likely been sent by another department to infiltrate and investigate the Continental Congress.
None of the three had informed one another beforehand.
As a result, they unexpectedly ended up meeting on-site.
“But I got results too!”
Anthony immediately puffed out his chest proudly.
“Listen carefully. According to my investigation, the reason the Continental Congress chose to oppose the Empire is actually connected to the Francis Republic...”
“I know.”
“Huh?”
“While I was taking the train here, I ran into a Francis intelligence agent. I found a letter on him—a loan agreement from the Francis Foreign Minister to the Continental Congress concerning the purchase of weapons.”
“...What happened to that intelligence agent?”
“I killed him in a duel.”
“Boss, you're a detective! Why were you dueling an intelligence agent? No... never mind, that's not important. Can I take a look at that letter? Just one look! Just one!”
Levi didn't mind.
He took the letter from his pocket and handed it to Anthony.
Anthony immediately produced a notebook from inside his coat, compared the contents with his notes, made several markings, then nodded vigorously.
“That's right! Now we've finally caught those traitors red-handed! By the way, Boss... what exactly happened?”
“Oh, it wasn't anything special...”
Levi briefly explained how he had encountered the intelligence agent aboard the train, how the man had challenged him to a duel, and how he'd killed him.
After hearing the story...
Anthony wore a look of utter despair.
“I spent half a month in this godforsaken place for this mission. I even changed my Imperial accent just to blend in and finally managed to infiltrate the Congress as an errand runner. Meanwhile, Boss, you got more results from one train ride than I did after half a month...”
“I was simply lucky.”
“If possible, I'd like that kind of luck too. Eating, drinking, sleeping, and somehow completing the mission... Where am I supposed to find a deal like that...?”
“Hmm... That's true.”
Strictly speaking, Levi really had spent this mission eating, drinking, sleeping, and then casually eliminating the Phantom Killer.
Thinking about it carefully...
It really had been unbelievably easy.
“Can I take this letter with me?”
“I plan to bring it back to MI7.”
“Uh... All right.”
Although reluctant, Anthony still returned the confidential letter.
Henry had already grown impatient.
He walked over and slapped Anthony firmly on the shoulder.
“All right, we'll talk about the rest later. Take us to arrest the others!”
“Easy! You're wearing that armor—you could kill me with one punch!”
“Captain, are you coming with us?”
“I still have a few loose ends to investigate. We'll talk later.”
Levi waved his hand.
Earlier, while escorting Adams and Hancock out, he had already questioned them about the Phantom Killer and learned where the killer had been staying.
Originally, Levi had intended to investigate it afterward.
But now that the Imperial Army had already intervened...
He would simply go handle what he was supposed to do.
“Very well. Please be careful. Our current orders are to seal off the entire city. Ah, but don't worry. If you need to leave, just tell the guards. I'll inform them beforehand.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to be so polite... All right, let's go, Anthony. I'm still waiting for you to point out who needs arresting!”
“Quit shoving me so hard! What's the rush, you big brute? They're not going anywhere...”
Watching the two enter City Hall together, Levi shook his head before turning and walking toward the opposite side of the street.
By now, the streets had already fallen into complete chaos.
Only a short while earlier, pedestrians had crowded the roads.
Children had been shouting as they sold newspapers.
Street vendors had been hawking food.
Now...
The entire street lay eerily silent.
Only abandoned stalls and newspapers drifting across the ground in the wind remained.
The bustling atmosphere from before had completely disappeared.
Clearly, the Imperial Army's sudden arrival in Fehart City and the complete lockdown of the city had come as devastating news to the local residents.
But in Levi's opinion...
The Continental Congress had only themselves to blame.
This was the consequence of lacking political awareness.
Frankly speaking, if the Continental Congress had truly been intelligent, they should have obediently lowered their heads, cried poverty before the Queen, acted pitiful, and requested financial assistance.
As long as they didn't hand the Queen any leverage against them, there wasn't much she could actually do to the Melisia Region.
After all...
It wasn't as though she could simply slaughter every Melisian.
By doing so, although the Melisia Region would lose its political independence...
It could instead live off the Empire.
Instead...
The Melisia Region saw only that the Empire was recovering, believing that if they didn't seize independence now, they would never have another opportunity.
What they failed to realize was...
Now that the Empire had recovered...
Why would it ever allow them to become independent?
Back when the Empire had been hanging on by a thread, it still hadn't allowed them to break away.
Now that it had recovered and returned stronger than ever...
Why would it tolerate the Melisia Region dancing on its bottom line?
This wasn't the decaying Empire from a century ago that couldn't even control its own doorstep.
This was an Empire reborn through the Steam Revolution.
The Empire now was like the protagonist of a web novel who had just acquired an overpowered cheat system and was rapidly leveling up.
Instead of kneeling down and clinging to the protagonist...
They insisted on delivering themselves to be humiliated.
Well...
Now they'd all been swept away in one stroke.
Whether the Queen intended to braise or steam this chicken next...
That was her concern.
Levi had no interest in it.
The priority now...
Was to visit that little cabin outside Fehart City.
(End of Chapter)