About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"This city is not weak enough to require your judgment, old man."

Orson forcibly interrupted the man.

"Hehe... So what are you going to do, young man? You're the reason for my failure, yet you remain so naive. When fighting against a god, sacrifices are inevitable. All you can decide is the number, nothing more."

"..."

The man's question made Orson hesitate for a moment, but his hesitation didn't last long.

Lappland and Texas held Orson's arms respectively. The heat from their bodies made Orson determined the path he should take next.

"No one will sacrifice. What has not been done in the past, I will accomplish and show you. This is the path I have chosen."

Initially it was to prevent Tallulah's 'collapse', but then it became to inherit the 'Doctor's will'.

Today, I have unknowingly gathered so many partners who trust me around me, and I can no longer use other people as imported dreams.

[I] want to protect them. If the threat is the 'internal guards', then defeat the internal guards. If the threat is the 'trade union', then destroy the union.

If the threat is 'God', then go kill the God.

"I have people I need to protect, and I will never follow the same path as you."

"Really? Then let's treat this natural disaster as practice. Let me see if you can really—"

The man didn't finish his words, but the muscles attached to his vocal cords had already fallen off.

This man, who had forced himself to live for a hundred more years in order to avenge his family's past, eventually turned into a pool of unrecognizable flesh and blood.

"This guy... if I had known I would have hit him again. It's really unpleasant now."

Lappland looked at the scene before him and complained with a click of his tongue.

"What do we do next, Orson?"

Texas has turned its attention away. The curse of the past has disappeared. What needs to be done now is to fight for the future of this city.

"Keep going. We must contact Officer Chen. Most importantly, we must confirm Commander Wei Yanwu's location. Follow me—Huh?"

Boom! !

Orson was about to lead the two wolves out of the underground passage, but as he took a step forward, the floor suddenly stood up.

No...it wasn't the floor that stood up, but I suddenly fell down?

"Orson!?"

"I'm fine... I just slipped. Let's go. You can't use your phone here."

Orson quickly stood up before Texas Lapland could suspect him and continued walking in the hidden passage.

"Orson, you..."

"Believe me, the Originium dust in this area won't dissipate because of the explosion just now. Leave quickly before the filter cotton in the gas mask loses its effect."

Orson said with confidence that everything was fine, and the two wolves could only not investigate further.

——Is it because they were exposed to this environment for too long, or was it because they overused the wide-area detection system in order to eliminate the Sicilian Gang?

—No matter what… our operations haven't been affected yet. Even if I need to rest, now's the wrong time. I want to prove to that guy that not every struggle requires sacrifice…!

Orsen thought silently in his heart, and then the three of them finally arrived at Longmen City No. 16, which is connected to the heavy chemical industry.

"Ahem! This thing is really suffocating!"

After leaving the exit, Lappland took off the gas mask on his head and threw it aside.

On the other side, Orson took out his cell phone without any hesitation.

"We are out, please contact——"

Beep, beep! Beep, beep! Beep, beep! Beep, beep!

Before Orsen could unlock the screen to contact Chen Huijie, his phone seemed to be full of calls and text messages.

——This is not a good sign...

Orson vaguely sensed something in his heart. He turned on his cell phone, which clearly showed the most recent missed call, which was from Chen Huijie.

Orson hurriedly called back while observing his surroundings to see if there was anything unusual.

"Officer Chen, were you looking for me just now?"

"Where have you been, Orson? Let's put that aside for now. When you lost contact, we received a natural disaster warning from an unknown source!"

"...Do you already know?! At any rate, do not allow Commander Wei to activate Longmen's city-state engine!"

"Don't start the engine? Why?"

"The hinge connecting the gantry to the slums is broken! If we start the engines now, the slums will be torn from the gantry and abandoned entirely!"

Orson expressed the seriousness of the matter in the most concise way, however——

"But... 15 minutes ago, Wei Yanwu had already started the engine operation system."

"!?"

Orson couldn't believe what he heard, but just as the three of them arrived at the underground passage in Longmen City, they could indeed hear a sound that became increasingly obvious and violent.

Obviously, that was the sound of the engine warming up.

104. Simple tasks

"What's going on, Wei Yanwu!"

At the Longmen Guard Bureau, Orson suddenly pushed open Chen Huijie's office without even asking in advance.

Chen Huijie's office is not small, but because so many people gathered there, it seems more crowded than usual.

"Orson..."

Chen Huijie, who was standing in the middle of the office, noticed Orson's arrival. She turned around and looked at the young man with a gloomy expression on her face.

"You're here, Orson.

Longmen's supreme ruler, Wei Yanwu, was also in the office at this time. He noticed Orson's intrusion, but only greeted the "designated son-in-law" indifferently.

"Why are you refusing to revoke the order? I've already told you the current situation in the slums and Longmen!"

Orson questioned Wei Yanwu loudly.

In fact, before he arrived at the Guard Bureau, when he just learned from Chen Huijie that Wei Yanwu had started the city-state propulsion engine, Orson had already contacted Wei Yanwu once through his mobile phone and asked Wei Yanwu to quickly shut down the engine.

Orson knew very well that Wei Yanwu would make such a decision, but even so, he could not tolerate the fact that this chess player could so calmly sentence so many infected people in the slums to death.

"Orson, calm down! The situation right now is not what you think...!

Lin Yuxia's voice was heard. The Rat King was not in this room. It seemed that the little mouse Lin Yuxia had already become the "new manager of the slums" by default.

At this time, not only Wei Yanwu and Chen Huijie were in the room, but Xing Xiong and Lin Yuxia were also present.

"The city-state engine has already started, and there is absolutely no sign of stopping. What else could the situation be now?"

Orson questioned Wei Yanwu loudly, his tone showing no sign of concealing his anger.

For the people present, being able to see Orson in an "angry state" is actually something with a probability similar to winning the lottery. After all, this young man always looks like a victim mascot. Even if he is unhappy, he will only express it in a more tactful way.

But from another perspective, when Orson is angry, the situation must be quite serious.

"Being able to protect the people of Longmen City while also clearing out the slums for legitimate reasons—activating the mobile city-state engine—is a truly wonderful gift from God to me."

Wei Yanwu did not retreat or admit his mistake in the face of the angry Orson. He still had a calm expression, fiddling with his pipe with one hand while speaking slowly.

"Human life is not that cheap...!!"

Orson placed one hand on the hilt of the knight sword at his waist, ready to fight.

"Orson, calm down!"

Xingxiong, who was standing by, noticed the boy's anger, and she also put her arms in a position where she could quickly draw out Prajna, while trying to calm Orson down.

"I'm calm, Ghost Sister. It's because I'm calm that I'm so angry."

Orson spoke in a calm tone, but everyone in the room knew very well that the aura emanating from this young man could definitely not be described as 'calm'.

The worst-case scenario would be to kidnap Wei Yanwu and force him to shut down the mobile city's engine. But I wouldn't necessarily be able to defeat him, at least not in a pure swordfight. Besides, Ghost Sister wouldn't necessarily just sit back and watch.

——And, was forcing the gantry to stop really the right thing to do? If we were to calculate purely based on probability…forcing the gantry to stop would most likely only result in irreparable casualties.

Although Orson was in a fighting stance, he had no intention of swinging his sword.

"Starting the mobile city-state engine was not Wei Yanwu's intention, Orson!"

Chen came up to Orson and stretched out his hands to hold Orson's shoulders, staring at Orson with his red eyes, trying to calm the boy down in this way.

"It's not Commander Wei Yanwu's wish...? Then it would be——"

"I'm sorry, Orson... This is an order from the Yan Kingdom. Although I have raised objections, neither the Dali Temple nor the House of Peoples has any room for rebuttal."

"Sister Jingzhe?"

Jingzhe, who was the Supervisory Department of the Dali Temple, pushed open the door and walked into the office. Judging from her slightly tired expression, she must have just experienced a failed debate.

"That's right, Orson. I know you won't believe me. After all, I've always treated the slums as obstacles to be discarded. But do you know what's more important than power and status? The answer is [reputation]. Only with reputation can you have the opportunity to gain higher power and status."

Wei Yanwu took a slow puff of his pipe, then put it on the table beside him and sighed.

"I promised you, and even Black Snake, that I would see if you and your companions could perform a miracle. So, I won't break my promise. But Miss Inspector General has already said that the Yan Nation, which has been monitoring Longmen, has grasped the current situation. I've tried to seek help from them both as the 'leader of Longmen' and as the 'brother of the Yan Nation monarch,' but the result has not changed. If I don't activate Longmen to avoid the impending natural disaster, the Yan Nation will directly enforce its highest law and forcibly strip me of all my political status."

"……Feel sorry"

After hearing the whole story from Jingzhe and Wei Yanwu, Orson apologized for his reckless and impulsive behavior, and also put away his fighting posture that was about to break out.

"I'm the one who should apologize. As the leader of a city-state, I can't even fulfill my own promises. This is truly ironic."

Wei Yanwu shook his head. Both Orsen and Chen Huijie noticed that although Wei Yanwu still looked calm and relaxed on the outside, his hands hidden in his sleeves seemed to be tense, trying to vent his dissatisfaction in this subtle way.

As an 'old antique', he caught a glimpse of the "possibilities" brought by the younger generation. The outline of the "other path" that he and his companions failed to take has almost appeared before his eyes, but because of a natural disaster and the order of Yan Country, it will be completely reduced to dust.

He was angrier than anyone else, but he was less able to express his anger than anyone else.

"I'm sorry I'm late—I was just exchanging information with the people from Rhodes Island."

While they were talking, Tallulah/Black Snake also came into the slightly crowded office.

"Well done, Wei Yanwu. It's one thing you can't control the media, but you didn't expect Yan Nation to even control the reporting methods. As the Lord of Longmen, you're probably no better than a washboard, aren't you? Now that the entire Longmen knows the natural disaster is coming, before you flee, you should have thought about how to suppress the riots in the city."

As soon as Tallulah entered the office, her whole personality seemed to have changed, and she mocked Wei Yanwu in a mocking tone.

Of course, it was obvious that this was because "Miss Black Snake" appeared through Tallulah's body.

"I told you a long time ago that a guy like you is more suitable to be a hostess in a nightclub than a ruler... It hurts!!"

Miss Black Snake's sarcasm was knocked back by Tallulah before she could finish her words. Tallulah, the supreme commander of the Reunion Movement, re-abolished the sovereignty of the body.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what this guy wanted to say to you was so meaningless, Uncle Wei Yanwu."

Tallulah nodded and apologized, then glanced at Chen Huijie, and finally set her sights on Orson.

"It will take Rhodes Island's ships at least 12 hours to reach Longmen, but they can use two transport planes to force a few helpers to continue their journey."

"I understand... How long will it take for the natural disaster to reach Longmen, Sister Jingzhe? Yan Country should have more detailed information by now."

Orson nodded to indicate that he had received the information provided by Tallulah, and then asked Qilin beside him.

"...The Scourge will arrive at Lungmen in approximately six hours, and the Infected Invasion will arrive approximately two hours earlier."

"So, we can't expect Rhodes Island to temporarily accept those refugees..."

The natural disaster was coming sooner than he had expected. Orson frowned when he heard this number.

The Originium infection wave will arrive in 4 hours. In other words, if the standard disaster avoidance process is followed, Longmen must leave on time at the latest in 2 hours, so as to completely avoid the impact of natural disasters and the riots of infected organisms.

"How about letting those refugees seek refuge in Longmen City-State?"

Jingzhe, who felt that this matter was also related to him, expressed his opinion, but everyone shook their heads and refused without thinking.

"Impossible. We don't have enough time to relocate all the infected people in the slums to the urban areas. Besides... the people in the urban areas will definitely not agree."

Chen frowned and explained the reason. Although the slums had slightly improved their views on the Guards during this period, and the Sicilian Gang that had been obstructing them had also been eliminated, the estrangement was definitely not that easy to dissipate.

"So what should we do? The people in the slums don't know about the connector yet, but they'll definitely notice it when it's almost activated—"

Lin Yuxia asked somewhat helplessly. She thought she had grown up a little, but facing this situation she was still completely helpless.