Chapter 980: Chapter 980

North City Command Center

"General, is that the Mayor calling?"

A lean-looking officer pushed open the metal side door, entered the room, and looked up at the tall figure of Scott.

Scott put down his wristlet and nodded gently.

"Is he calling at this time because he wants us to support South City?"

The lean officer hesitated.

"I’m afraid it’s more than that,"

Scott shook his head and took a deep breath, "I have a feeling that the Old Geezer must have sensed something."

He turned back to the lean officer, "Are you ready?"

"Reporting to the General, all preparations are complete."

The lean officer’s expression stiffened, he immediately moved aside, revealing the small door behind him glowing with light, and stood at attention.

Scott walked past the lean officer toward the brilliance beyond the small door.

A long, temporary steel staircase appeared in his field of view, and he watched the steps as he lifted his foot.

The solemn and silent wind brushed his face, and the leather military boots made a thudding sound on the steel steps, like the mournful beating of war drums echoing in the endless night.

Soon, he crossed the last step and stood on the steel platform, raising his head to look forward.

The densely packed soldiers wearing neat Exoskeleton Armor, standing in formation, and the neatly arranged Seraphim Mechas hovering on either side of the soldiers, slowly emerged in the night.

The distant night’s end twinkled with faint light, carrying incredibly subtle booming sounds that shook the space.

The massive Mechas, spewing flames like bright beacons, almost lit up the entire Firmament, and Scott stood in front of this orderly array of Mechas and soldiers, on the temporary platform, watching everything below.

"You stand here because you are North City’s most elite soldiers,"

he watched the soldiers below him, lifted his finger towards the glittering light in the Depths of Darkness, opened his mouth, and the amplifiers scattered throughout the area carried his voice to every corner,

"Now, South City’s gates are being attacked by a ferocious army, and this city will soon be looted by those savage mercenaries, your parents, your wives, your children, will all die in this catastrophe,

"And who caused all this? It’s that Old Geezer playing damn political games in the White Jasmine Palace; he offended the Consortium but expects us to take responsibility!

"Not only that, he wants to cut our military budget, strip our honor, just to keep playing his pathetic political games that not even kids peeing by the roadside would bother with!

"This man has destroyed Yilan City’s eight hundred years of tradition and is the worst Mayor in the city’s history!

"But he is so incompetent and malevolent! Even with such disastrous consequences, he still refuses to resign!"

He watched the soldiers, scanning every face, "Now tell me, what should we do?"

"Storm the White Jasmine Palace! Overthrow the Mayor!"

Someone in the crowd roared.

"Storm the White Jasmine Palace! Overthrow the Mayor!"

Immediately, countless uproarious voices rose at once.

Scott waited quietly while the noisy commotion subsided, then he raised his hand to signal everyone to calm down.

The crowd quickly became quiet.

"Storm the White Jasmine Palace! Overthrow the Mayor!"

However, some still seemed to be caught up in the intense atmosphere, continuing to raise their hands and shouting loudly, followed by cold gun barrels pressed against their temples, silencing everyone.

"Good, I can feel everyone’s courage and passion,"

Scott stood on the platform, looking at the neatly arranged soldiers below, raising both hands,

"But please remember, we have no quarrel with the Parliament or the Yilan City constitution, we are merely fighting for our honor and salaries, to remove the cancer that infests this city,

"We’re just saving this city that’s about to be engulfed in war, saving our wives and children!"

Then he lifted his hand, and a huge Mecha holding a cargo container about ten meters long and three meters high emerged behind him, immediately opening the lid to reveal a mountain of hundred-dollar bills inside.

Everyone’s gaze was almost exclusively attracted at that moment.

A subtle but overlapping rush of sharp intakes filled the air.

Scott smiled, watching all this, standing before this mountain of money, raising his hands high,

"Kill Lin En, quell this war, everyone standing here, not only can you become heroes, but you’ll also get your hands on plenty of federal coins to live comfortably for the rest of your lives! Make your mark, the time is today!"

The crowd below roared back to life, shouting loudly.

"Mount up, let’s go!"

Scott swung his hand sharply.

A series of troop transporters and off-road vehicles swiftly drove out of the darkness.

The crowd below instantly clamored towards the vehicles nearby.

Scott turned his head back, stepped by step he descended from the temporary platform.

Standing below, the gaunt military officer immediately greeted him.

"The rest is up to you."

Scott glanced at the gaunt officer, quickly saying, "Stay vigilant, be careful outside."

The gaunt officer promptly responded.

The street lamps had gone out completely, and the shops along the street had their doors ajar, with faint glimmers of light spilling out, casting their glow onto the silent and pitch-black streets.

A slight tremor vibrated through the air, seeming to originate far from the south, yet also feeling as though it were right at arm’s length.

A little girl with two ponytails leaned against the glass door of a shop, gazing at the flickering lights in the sky, "What is that? Is it thundering?"

The woman inside, busy arranging clothes, dropped what she was doing and hurried to the door to embrace her daughter, "It’s bombs. Don’t look over there!"

The little girl looked at her mother with some confusion, "Like the ones on TV?"

The woman nodded gently, carrying the little girl back inside the store, "Just don’t look, be a good girl."

The child nodded, still not quite understanding, and stood a meter away from the store’s entrance, tilting her head up towards the fiery glow in the night sky.

Meanwhile, the woman turned back, tidied up the clothes on the table, and then went to the cash register to stock the clothing.

But the moment she opened the register, a notice flashing with a red light regarding overdue payment, popped out almost simultaneously.

"Mommy, there’s a visitor."

It was then that the girl standing by the door abruptly turned and shouted loudly.

Flustered, the woman asked, "A visitor at this hour? A neighbor? Which one?"

"It’s an old man in black clothes."

And at this moment, the little girl had already walked to the door.

The woman quickly stepped out from behind the cash register and looked forward.

A silver-blue, old-fashioned luxury car was parked outside the store, and an elderly man, wearing what seemed to be a ragged suit and holding a golden cane, was stepping out of the car.

For some reason, she felt the old man’s steps were very slow; she could even make out each step he took, but in the blink of an eye, the gentleman was already at the shop’s entrance.

"Are you still open?"

He Ao stood at the entrance, glanced at the ’Fine Clothing’ sign overhead, and slowly spoke, "Do you have suits here?"

Before the woman could react, the little girl had already opened the door, "We sell suits here, all kinds of suits."

The woman behind her finally came to her senses, rushed to pull back the little girl, and her gaze fell upon the man standing before her.

By the light of the shop, she could barely make out that the man’s suit was not black but gray, and the dark stains on the tattered suit were, in fact, dried blood scabs.

She then looked at the man’s cheeks. There were no bloodstains there, just some redness in his hair, which hung down and covered his forehead. She also felt that the man seemed familiar.

Moreover, from her professional perspective, the damaged gray suit made of pure silk and seemed custom-made, was so costly that even the cheapest one was beyond her current reach.

A luxury car, custom-made suits, covered in blood, appearing at this time.

Reason told her this elderly man must be very dangerous, but seeing his gentle face and his wounds, she hesitated and then asked softly, "We do have suits here, but sir, you might need to go to the hospital."

"My injuries are minor,"

He Ao shook his head and smiled, "May I take a look at your suits?"

"Please wait a moment,"

After a moment’s hesitation, the woman spoke, "I’ll go find one for you."

Then she turned and went into an adjacent room.

"Grandpa, did you come from the south?"

The little girl beside him looked up at He Ao with wide eyes and asked, "There’s been a lot of booming from the south, just like thunder. Mom said there are bombs there, is it very dangerous?"

He Ao smiled, crouched down, and looked at the little girl before him, "The bombs are beyond the high walls."

The girl blinked her eyes, "Do you mean that very tall one behind us?"

He Ao nodded, speaking softly, "That’s the wall that protects our city."

The girl said excitedly, "My daddy works outside that high wall."

"When she mentioned this, there was an imperceptible pause, but she quickly adjusted her emotions, leaned forward, and asked softly, "Grandpa, did you see the giant robots when you just came over? The ones that flew over from behind that high wall. So many giant robots,"

She waved her hand, "They swooshed right past in a flash, and they were gone before I could even call mom to see."

He Ao shook his head and said with a smile, "I came from the west."

The little girl scratched her head and looked at the luxury car parked outside. She pointed in the direction from which the car had come, "Is it from over there?"

He Ao nodded slightly.

"Then Grandpa, you definitely couldn’t have seen them,"

The little girl tilted her head and stood on tiptoe to look at the night sky outside, pointing in the direction of the car’s front, "The giant robots flew by over there."

He Ao looked back in the direction the little girl was pointing to, which was to the east.

"Elderly sir, take a look at these clothes. These should fit you,"

At that moment, a woman came out from the inner room holding an open cardboard box, neatly packed with a silver-grey suit.

Then the woman seemed to remember something and added immediately after, "We don’t have many nice clothes here, only things ."

"This suit is pretty nice."

He Ao smiled, took the box, and glanced at the dried blood on the sleeve, "Is there any water nearby? For cleaning."

The little girl standing next to him immediately raised her hand, "I’ll go fetch some water!"

With that, she darted into the inner room.

"Kids at this age can be a bit boisterous."

The woman hurriedly said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"A very smart little one,"

He Ao smiled, opened the suit’s packaging, quickly compared the size, and then casually inquired, "Is the child’s father in the mines up north?"

The woman hesitated, then nodded slightly, "People from the north of the Wick District mostly work in the mines, but this child’s father..."

"Was it a mining accident?"

He Ao asked in a low voice.

The woman nodded and let out a slight sigh, "That’s the way things are in the Wick District."

"Let’s go with this one,"

After roughly comparing his size and being sure it fitted, He Ao softly asked, "How much?"

At that moment, Eve had already found the same suit on the network, and through the earpiece, gave He Ao a reasonable price range: between 300 and 320 federal coins.

"This might be a bit pricey, but it’s been sitting here for quite a while. The people nearby don’t really buy such expensive suits. I can sell it to you for a bit less, just at cost,"

The woman’s voice paused, nervous, "But it would still cost... 270 federal coins."

He Ao chuckled and nodded, "I’ll take it, let’s settle the bill."

"Alright, just a moment please."

The woman exhaled in relief and quickly walked over to the cash register.

He Ao also walked over and saw the overdue rent on the cash register’s display, as well as the Kopace Mining emblem on the bill.

The bill indicated that the shop’s rent for the month was three days overdue and interest had begun to accrue, proposing a payment plan below.

It was even marked with a ’ninety-thousandth’ ’ultra-low interest rate’ tag.

Looking at the bill, He Ao casually inquired, "Is this a Kopace Mining shop?"

The woman nodded lightly, closed the billing prompt, and sighed, "The house, lights, shelves, everything belongs to Kopace Mining. There’s a separate rent for each item, with a package deal available, and damages must be compensated at full price. We must also buy supplies from their designated vendors; we’re essentially working for the consortium, and we have to advance the money for the inventory,"

As she spoke, she put a few cufflinks into the suit box that He Ao held, "In case you find any issues with the suit’s size when you try it on, you can use these cufflinks to adjust it."

He Ao nodded with a smile.

"That’s it, hold your wristband over this card reader,"

At that moment, the woman looked up at He Ao’s cheek, and suddenly, she realized where the feeling of familiarity came from, she lowered her head and asked softly, "Are you Mr. Lin En?"

He Ao lifted his head and looked at the woman before him.

The woman was slightly startled, then she covered the card reader with her hand, "I can’t take your money."

Now, it was He Ao’s turn to be taken aback. He racked his brain but could not recall any memory of treating the woman before him during any free clinic.

"Do you still remember the child healthcare legislation you used to promote?"

The woman paused and spoke quietly, "I had a serious illness as a child. If not for your legislation covering most of the expense, I probably would have died long ago, and now my child also benefits from your policy."

Child healthcare legislation, that was what Lin En managed to pass during his time as the Minister of Women’s, Children’s, and Health Affairs. It had been nearly thirty years ago.

"The child healthcare legislation couldn’t cover many people or illnesses; it was a very compromised piece of legislation. You were just fortunate enough to be within the coverage."

He Ao gently shook his head, withdrew her hand, and swiped his bracelet over the card reader, "Besides, this is for the clothes. You have to take it."

At this time, a little girl had already lugged a small bucket of water, pushing open the door unsteadily.

Accompanied by the sound of the payment being received, He Ao didn’t wait for the woman to react to what he’d said, and quickly walked over to take the bucket of water from the little girl’s hands, smiling, "Thank you, wait a minute, I’ll go find a bucket to collect your water."

The woman behind the counter immediately ran over and pressed her hand against the bucket, looking up at He Ao, "Mr. Lin En, just take this bucket with you. It’s not worth anything; you must accept it."

He Ao looked into her eyes, pausing briefly, then smiled, "Alright, I really might not have another bucket handy."

Hearing He Ao’s words, the woman heaved a sigh of relief and then walked to the counter, "I’ll wrap the clothes up for you."

He Ao shook his head, holding the clothes and water as he headed for the glass door, waving his hands with a smile, "I’m going to use them right away. Thank you for the trouble, and if you don’t have anything else tonight, you can close up early."

The woman stood behind the counter, stopping her packing halfway, and before she could say anything else, the elderly man had already settled into the old luxury sedan.

Then the vehicle started and vanished into the night.

In reality, the time the old man spent purchasing items was not long; it seemed to be just a few minutes back and forth.

It wasn’t until this moment, as everything concluded, that the woman felt a bit foggy in her mind.

The little girl stood by her side, looking at her with curiosity.

"That was Mr. Lin En."

The woman rubbed her daughter’s head.

The little girl nodded her head, "The grandpa from the TV who gives speeches."

Hearing her daughter’s words, the woman was taken aback, "You recognized him from the beginning?"

The little girl put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, "Otherwise, why would I let that grandpa in so late at night? I definitely knew he was a good person, and only after he came to buy something did I let him in."

"I didn’t recognize him."

The woman laughed ruefully.

"Isn’t that easy to recognize?"

The little girl pouted, "I recognized him right away."

The woman rubbed her daughter’s head again, "Mr. Lin En even complimented you on your intelligence."

She looked up in the direction where the luxury car had disappeared.

Had she no inkling at all at the beginning?

Actually, that wasn’t quite it either.

She had just dared not believe that the Mayor would appear on such a night in her ordinary little shop.

Before, she used to see the man on the screen as very distant, but now, it seemed as though, in a night both ordinary and extraordinary, he was not so far away, right beside her.

The little girl, standing to the side with hands on her hips, then reached out to stop her mother from petting her head, "Mom, stop petting me. It’ll make me not grow taller."

The woman lowered her head to look at the transaction records in front of her.

With the sale of this clothing, she could at least gather the rent.

She then withdrew the hand her daughter had pushed away and pressed the button to close the shop, smiling at her daughter, "Did you know, Mr. Lin En saved your mother once?"

The little girl’s attention was immediately captured, and she leaned in closer.

The voices of the adult and child speaking were drowned out in the flickering night as the rolling shutter door slowly closed.

Meanwhile, inside the old sedan, He Ao placed the suit box he was holding and the styling wax he had purchased earlier together, glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror, and began to peel off piece by piece the grey suit that was already sticking to his body.

Before, he only had to show his face over the phone, just cleaning up a bit of the blood on his face, but now it would be good to tidy up a bit.

North City Command Center

The slender officer stood in the operations room, watching the holographic projection showing masses of mechanized troops appearing on the wilderness, rapidly approaching the high walls, and he took a deep breath.

"Should we open the gate?"

Another officer beside him asked softly in a low voice.