"Where are they?"
Seele looked around left and right.
Within a hundred meters, it was all Silvermane Guards—especially around Sampo's side, where they had crammed into a ball.
Only then did Seele notice Gepard squatting on the ground nearby, scrolling on his phone.
She slowly walked over, patted Gepard on the shoulder, and asked:
"Hey, weren't you just watching those three? Where'd they go?"
"Hey, hey hey?"
Seeing Gepard remain silent, still squatting and staring intently at his phone, Seele also looked at his screen.
On the screen.
Raging flames danced wildly like tongues of fire, the rising black smoke breaking through the clouds and shooting straight into the sky.
It looked like a video of some building on fire.
"Yo, you guys even do fire drills now?" Seele found it amusing and let out a laugh.
But Gepard still stayed silent, staring fixedly at his phone.
Amid the overwhelming blaze, a large group of people had soot-blackened faces but were still desperately searching for water sources, trying to extinguish the massive fire.
A bespectacled girl ran out of the fire scene in a sorry state, her face full of disbelief, chest heaving as she gasped for breath.
"Huh, this person looks really familiar."
Seele scratched her head, feeling like she'd seen her somewhere before.
Right after, another girl ran out of the fire scene—silver hair in three loose curls draped down her back, her cheeks also blackened with soot.
She clutched an oil painting tightly to her chest.
"This woman also… wait, Bronya???"
Seele immediately sucked in a sharp breath and said in panic:
"What the hell are you watching? Where is this?!"
Gepard still didn't speak. His expression was very ugly, as if he were suppressing the anger in his chest.
…
"Chase them! cough cough cough… They ran that way!"
"Damn it, they actually disguised themselves as Silvermane Guards!!"
From the screen came the panting voices of some Silvermane Guards.
Their silver-white helmets had all been blackened by smoke, and their uniforms had varying degrees of damage.
The artisans in Belobog who made Silvermane Guard uniforms put most of their effort into cold resistance—as for fire resistance…
It was honestly pretty lacking.
Many Silvermane Guards shuttled through the fire scene—some carrying out cultural relics, others chasing people. The scene was utter chaos.
Far more chaotic than the situation here right now.
"What the hell… happened? Why did it turn out like this!"
Gepard took a deep breath, his voice pressed very low:
"Someone set fire to the museum and even disguised themselves as Silvermane Guards."
He silently stood up, staring at the chaos on his phone screen, his tone extremely heavy:
"The Executive Officer and the others have already gone back to provide reinforcements. I believe the fire can be brought under control."
…
Belobog, near the museum.
Flames lit up the sky.
A massive black-purple mecha came roaring in from the horizon. Its giant hand opened, and a white light curtain appeared. Massive amounts of accumulated snow poured toward the raging inferno.
Under the scorching heat of the flames, the snow melted into scattered torrents of water, drenching the fire.
Immediately after, countless ice arrows rained down like a storm, enveloping the entire burning museum.
Over time.
The massive fire finally gradually subsided.
Everyone stood outside the museum, gazing at the desolate scene, all speechless.
Cocolia Rand stood at the very front, her gaze ice-cold, fixed on the wisps of black smoke.
From her thin lips came just two words, spoken softly yet resounding with force.
"Investigate it."
"Yes!!"
The group of Silvermane Guards received the order and quickly dispersed to thoroughly investigate the matter.
High in the sky, Heavenly Father hovered silently.
Inside the cockpit.
A certain someone stared at the wisps of black smoke on the screen, eyes wide:
"Holy shit, this is straight-up rebellion! They even dared to attack the museum that symbolizes Belobog's history and culture—this isn't just shitting on the heads of those two Guardian mother and daughter?!"
Dan Heng sat to the left of Zeig, his expression grave:
"The other side specifically chose a time when large numbers of Silvermane Guards were away. This was clearly premeditated."
March 7th sat to Zeig's right and yanked the control lever:
"I'm so pissed! Now the museum's shut down, right? What was the point of the three of us PKing for so long?!!"
Under March 7th's control, Heavenly Father drew a firearm and fired nonstop into the sky!
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!" Countless energy bullets poured out, shooting toward the sky.
As if venting the rage in their heart.
In the cockpit, a certain someone hurriedly pressed down March 7th's hand:
"Holy crap, what are you doing! You were the one who said energy is expensive before—now you're just wasting it?"
"What's the big deal? Worst case, I'll pay off the loan with you later! Now shut the hell up!!"
"…"
Aside from the gigantic behemoth in the sky going berserk, everyone below felt extremely uneasy.
Holy crap, the museum got burned.
Just who was so arrogant? This was straight-up provocation against the Architects.
Both the Supreme Guardian and the prospective Supreme Guardian had treated this museum as a gift, handing over its management rights to the heroes who saved the planet so they could earn money while lying down.
Now it was great—the museum probably couldn't open for business anytime soon, and even repairing it would be a massive project.
They didn't even know how many of the surviving cultural relics remained.
"Too damn infuriating…!"
Pela squatted on the ground, dipped a towel in a basin of water, took off her glasses, and placed the wet towel on her face, wiping while cursing:
"Stealing artifacts is one thing, but burning down the museum too! Absolutely brazen."
Bronya beside her also wrung out her towel. Strands of hair on her forehead still clung with water droplets—she had already washed her face:
"Pela, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's just these artifacts… huh, what's that layer of light film on their surfaces?"
"?"
Bronya froze for a moment upon hearing that and also looked at the oil painting on the ground.
It was completely intact. Besides Bronya rescuing it in time, it seemed this surface light film had played a part.
"Huh, there's writing on it too."
After putting her glasses back on, Pela silently read the text:
"Zeig's private property. Thieves, your mom's dead."
"…"
At that moment, Pela and Bronya looked at the other rescued artifacts—they all seemed perfectly preserved as well.
After reporting this discovery to Cocolia Rand, the Silvermane Guards once again entered the charred museum ruins.
The artifacts inside that hadn't been taken out in time were almost all perfectly preserved there.
The most miraculous was an oil painting—everything around it had burned and collapsed, yet the painting itself still hovered in midair, tightly protected by a light curtain.
…
Inside Qlipoth Fort.
Cocolia Rand sat there. Upon hearing that the artifacts were intact, her furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
"Is that so? The Executive Officer handles things quite reliably."
March 7th below shouted at Zeig:
"Holy crap, have you gotten this cautious already? You really treated the museum like your private property, huh!"
A certain someone stood with hands behind their back, proudly saying:
"How's that? Pretty badass, right? These light films are something I ordered online. It's a device from a certain planet specially made to protect valuable items. I can even check their locations at any time."
Pela, standing nearby, immediately shouted:
"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and find where the missing artifacts are—that way we can track down the arsonist!"
"No can do."
"Why not?"
"Because."
…