The more Fu Zhu and Gepard looked at the wanted posters pasted on the wall, the more something felt wrong. No matter how they looked at them, they resembled Xing and the other two.
Gepard frowned deeply, grabbed the arm of the Silvermane Guard responsible for pasting the posters, and asked urgently, "Why are these three wanted?"
The Silvermane Guard, though somewhat puzzled, assumed Gepard was simply out of the loop due to being stationed at the front line and explained.
"According to the Great Guardian's statement, these three off-worlders intended to subvert Belobog. As for the specific reasons, likely only Her Excellency the Great Guardian and Lady Bronya know the details."
Gepard's eyebrows knitted tightly together. He couldn't fathom how, after Fu Zhu had helped them so much on the front line, his companions, Dan Heng and the others, could possibly do something like attempting to subvert Belobog.
There must be some misunderstanding!
"I understand. Thank you."
Gepard released the Silvermane Guard's arm, letting him continue his work, then turned to Fu Zhu, "Mr. Fu Zhu, let's go first."
Fu Zhu nodded. He was also curious about what exactly had happened.
Gepard didn't immediately lead Fu Zhu to find the Great Guardian but first returned to his older sister's shop.
Inside a mechanical workshop, Serval was organizing some merchandise when the shop door was pushed open. She looked up, saw it was her younger brother, and raised her hand in greeting with a smile.
"Yo, little bro, what brings you here? And who's this beside you..."
Gepard stepped aside and introduced Fu Zhu to Serval: "This is Fu Zhu. He helped me and the Silvermane Guards quite a bit on the front line. This time, I wanted to ask you, sis, for some diamonds as a thank-you gift for Mr. Fu Zhu."
"I see. Nice to meet you, Fu Zhu."
Hearing that Fu Zhu had helped Gepard significantly, the enthusiastic Serval took the initiative to extend her hand. Fu Zhu smiled and shook it.
"Well, you two wait here for a moment, okay? I'll go check the warehouse to see if there are any diamonds left in stock."
Serval informed the two and turned, ducking into the storeroom behind the counter. Fu Zhu and Gepard sat down at the counter.
As soon as they sat down, Gepard frowned, asking with some incomprehension.
"Mr. Fu Zhu, why would your companions be wanted?"
He trusted Fu Zhu's character, but Dan Heng and the others... honestly, he hadn't interacted with them for long and couldn't be certain. However, since those three were companions acknowledged by Mr. Fu Zhu, they surely couldn't be bad people. So why were they branded with the crime of intending to subvert Belobog?
Fu Zhu was also puzzled. While March 7th and Xing could be a bit impulsive, Dan Heng was definitely not a reckless person.
"Intending to subvert Belobog... that's no simple accusation. Gepard, you should know how long we've just arrived here. Let's assume we had such intentions, but how did Her Excellency the Great Guardian verify it? Even if she has eyes and ears everywhere and is well-informed, only one night has passed. The very next day, the wanted posters are already printed. No matter how you think about it, the speed is a bit too fast."
Gepard nodded in agreement. Now that Fu Zhu put it that way, he also felt it was excessively fast. According to the timeline, Dan Heng and the others should have met the Great Guardian yesterday, and today they were wanted, their whereabouts unknown.
Gepard immediately slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "There must be a treacherous minister in this, speaking nonsense, causing Her Excellency the Great Guardian to misunderstand Mr. Fu Zhu's companions! I'll go explain things clearly to Her Excellency right now!"
Fu Zhu was about to stop Gepard, who was preparing to leave, but Serval, having just emerged from the storeroom, called out to Gepard before he could.
"Little bro, I'm afraid you're thinking too much."
Serval placed a small box she was holding in front of Fu Zhu while sitting down behind the counter.
Gepard, realizing Serval seemed to have overheard his conversation with Fu Zhu, panicked slightly.
"Sis, you heard everything? Let me explain first, Mr. Fu Zhu isn't that kind of person! Please don't tell the Silvermane Guards!"
"What kind of person do you take your sister for?" Serval rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Seeing Serval apparently had no intention of reporting Fu Zhu, Gepard sighed in relief and sat back down.
"Then sis, what did you mean by that just now?"
Serval let out a scornful laugh: "What treacherous minister? I think wanting those three is probably Cocolia's own idea. As for the reason... maybe they touched upon something she didn't want anyone touching, just like me back then."
Like me back then?
Fu Zhu immediately caught the key point in Serval's words and quickly pressed further, "Ms. Serval, I wonder if you could elaborate on that?"
Serval looked at Fu Zhu, then turned her head to glance at Gepard, finally nodding. She retrieved some documents from a hidden compartment beneath the counter and placed them on the table.
Gepard merely glanced at them before his expression changed drastically.
"These are... classified documents from the research institute ten years ago? Sis, it's illegal for you to keep these classified documents after being dismissed!"
"Don't talk to me about illegal! This is the culmination of my years of hard work!"
Serval reacted as if Gepard had stepped on her tail, her voice rising considerably.
Fu Zhu didn't feel it was appropriate to intervene in the sibling argument and could only focus his gaze on the classified documents. After flipping through some pages, he saw a black and white picture of a sphere of light. Combined with the accompanying text description, it looked remarkably similar to their current target – the Stellaron!
"Is this the Stellaron? Belobog discovered the Stellaron years ago?"
Serval couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "Although I don't know what a 'Stellaron' is, seeing your reaction, you clearly know what this thing is... Indeed. Your companions were likely wanted because they mentioned this thing in front of Cocolia.
Back then, it was precisely because I delved deeply into researching this thing called the Stellaron that Cocolia casually found an excuse to expel me from the research institute. Heh, how ridiculous. I never thought that years later, Cocolia would use the same tactic to issue wanted posters for others."
Serval's words were filled with resentment towards the Great Guardian named Cocolia.
Gepard sighed helplessly beside them, then looked at Fu Zhu and asked.
"Mr. Fu Zhu, since you know about this thing, does that mean you and your companions came here specifically for it?"
Although he respected Fu Zhu, as a soldier, his most important duty was to protect Belobog. He needed to confirm Fu Zhu's true objective.
"That's correct. I apologize for concealing this from you. Our Astral Express did indeed come for the Stellaron. I believe my companions also told the truth when they met the Great Guardian. The Eternal Freeze that has plagued Jarilo-VI for hundreds of years is actually a disaster caused by the Stellaron. Our purpose is to seal the Stellaron and resolve the Eternal Freeze."