Svarog looked deeply at Bronya.
He said solemnly:
"Visitors... it would be best to reach a conclusion only after fully reviewing all the materials."
"Material number 13175 playback complete. Next, playing: Material number 24830."
Immediately afterward, another set of images appeared.
…
A young female voice sounded:
"...I don't understand, Doctor. Why hide those precious research results? That's the work of your entire life..."
The elderly man leaned on his cane and said earnestly:
"Cough, cough... You're still young, child. One day, you'll understand."
"The Great Guardian... her vision is far deeper than you or I imagine. All her decisions are for the peace of Belobog..."
The young female researcher sighed:
"I just feel... it's a pity. Our research has hit a bottleneck, and your achievements can only be shelved..."
The elderly researcher's gaze was cloudy:
"Cough... No need for regret, child. You still have plenty of time. Once you find a way to destroy... cough, destroy the Stellaron... our efforts won't have been in vain."
Another set of images finished playing.
March 7th raised her hand and said:
"I get it! This means that back then, all the researchers in Belobog chose to keep it secret, right? Until they found a way to destroy the Stellaron, they wouldn't reveal the truth. Hahahaha, praise me, praise me quick!"
"Material number 24830 playback complete. Next, playing: Material number 57614."
March 7th: "..."
…
This time was different from before.
The moment the images began playing, a large face was pressed right up against the lens. In the background, a Silvermane Guard was holding a weapon pointed at the camera, as if ready to attack at any second.
The young man pressing against the lens examined it and said:
"Huh... why is there a robot here?"
The Silvermane Guard beside him answered:
"This was Dr. Millsheimer's personal robotic guardian from before his death. It's said to be a prototype that has survived since the time of the great war."
"Ever since the Doctor and his assistant passed away, it has remained here without moving a single step."
The man suddenly understood:
"Oh, I see... Then let's start the search. We must find all of the Doctor's research results."
Not long after, a guard reported:
"We found it, Guardian! All the documents are here."
The young Guardian nodded:
"Mm... very good. That's it."
The guard stared at the lens, uncertain:
"Then, Guardian, this big guy... what should we do with it?"
The young Guardian paused for a moment, then said casually:
"Hiss... Destroying it would be too wasteful. Have someone reset its system, then place it in the Underworld. I heard they're short on robots with self-defense functions down there..."
"Yes, my lady."
The young Guardian looked at the lens and murmured: "Sorry, Doctor... but these results must be managed personally by the Builders."
"One day, someone will surely fulfill your last wish..."
At this point, the images disappeared.
Svarog said: "Material number 57614 playback complete. Data display ended."
…
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
They had roughly sorted out their thoughts.
Long ago, the upper echelons of Belobog already knew that the root cause of the snow disaster was the Stellaron, but they had always been unable to do anything about it.
Because the Stellaron was connected to the first-generation Guardian, they kept it secret from the people of Belobog.
And surprisingly, Svarog was actually a prototype from Belobog's earliest era!
March 7th remembered that Belobog's technological level seemed to be more advanced the further back in time you went.
She couldn't help but exclaim:
"No wonder you, Svarog, can connect to Heavenly Father. So you're a product from such an early time?!"
Dan Heng crossed his arms and summarized:
"Combining all the materials, what is shown is that the high-level personnel of this world, including the Guardians themselves, actually knew long ago that the Stellaron was the root of the disaster."
"But for the peace of Belobog and to prevent panic among the people, they buried the truth."
Dan Heng seemed slightly lost in thought:
"So, up to now, Belobog's upper echelons have still been unable to research a method to destroy the Stellaron."
March 7th interrupted:
"Wait wait wait... Then why is Cocolia messing with us? We already said we can seal the Stellaron. For the sake of all the people of Belobog, shouldn't she be assisting us even more?!"
Bronya's expression was extremely grim; she remained silent the entire time.
"Bronya, are you okay?" Seele asked worriedly.
"...I'm fine. I just... feel a bit dizzy." Bronya said weakly.
"Mother... why would she... No, maybe she doesn't know. Maybe she..."
Seele was silent for a moment, then spoke frankly:
"...Stop deceiving yourself. She definitely has a problem... Face reality, Bronya."
Bronya: "..."
Seeing the atmosphere grow tense, Natasha walked over to Zeig and Sampo's side and said softly:
"Zeig, can I talk to you? Everyone needs time to accept this information, but we still have to think about countermeasures for future actions."
"Huh? Oh, oh."
Zeig was squatting on the ground, agreeing enthusiastically while fiddling with his cards.
Sampo, squatting opposite him, was utterly speechless:
"Big bro, give it up... There are already seven jokers in one deck. Let's stop cheating each other, okay?"
"How dare you slander me, despicable! Am I that kind of lowly person?"
"No, whether you cheated or not—me, a cheater, should know, right?"
Natasha: "..."
"Big bro! Only two jokers were from my cheating, and even if two more came with the deck, where did the extra three come from? Did they fall from the sky?"
Seeing his cheating exposed, Zeig simply stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table:
"Tch! It's just one deck total. We each have half. If we don't cheat, wouldn't we know exactly what cards the other has? The cards I don't have are the ones you do—that takes all the fun out of it!"
"But you can't just play four kings as a bomb, right? That's way too fake! Even if I have three kings in my hand, I play them one by one!"
"What's there to hide? Since we both already know what's going on, why care about keeping up appearances? Hypocrisy!"
Natasha forced a smile that looked like she wanted to stab someone.
Zeig: "..."
After a while.
Zeig and Natasha moved to a corner. The latter began:
"Now, the path to the Overworld is right before us. Thank you very much for giving the Underworld hope... What comes next is the most crucial part."
Zeig nodded politely:
"No problem, no problem... This is our mission for coming here! Now that the Underworld's matters are stabilized, what's left is the relationship between the Upper and Lower districts, right."
Natasha couldn't help but feel puzzled:
"Hm? The matter with the Great Guardian isn't resolved yet. Your companions' wanted posters should still be up in the Overworld, right."
…
At this moment.
Overworld frontline.
Heavy snow was falling.
A massive number of Fragmentum creatures crowded together, continuously assaulting the defensive line established by the Silvermane Guards.
Cocolia held her ice spear, standing on high ground, gazing at the entire battlefield from afar, her brows tightly furrowed.
She silently watched the frenzied monsters.
Ever since she ignored the voice of the Stellaron, the Fragmentum corruption across all of Belobog had intensified dramatically.
The number and strength of the monsters had increased several times over.
She listened to the monsters' roars.
Quietly waiting...
…