al_squad
patreon
Bermuda Chapter 126
🕑 Added 2024-05-30 08:16:00 +0000 UTCChapter 126
"When you go outside, there will be a liaison officer from the border zone stationed within a 3-mile radius. Quickly meet with him, report the current situation, and receive a response regarding the estimated arrival time of the reinforcements, then return here."
"Understood."
"And."
The member, who was about to move right away, stopped walking at Hugo's voice that seemed to have something left to say. Seeing his appearance, Hugo lowered his voice and said,
"Don't tell them about the traces of the two people being discovered yet. For now, let's keep it just between us."
"Ah... yes."
The member who received the order seemed curious as to why he added such words, but there was no response other than the answer. Afterwards, the member bowed his head to Hugo and immediately headed towards the passage leading outside.
Hugo, who had been watching his back, turned his head to another member standing by and asked,
"Is the cleanup almost done?"
"Not yet... sir. Since some were caught while attempting to escape, we estimate that there are a few more who have already slipped away."
The miners of the mining team, handcuffed, were dragged out one by one by the 1st Battalion members and gradually filled the natural cave prison with ice bars embedded.
Most of them walked on their own obediently, but a few were dragged unconscious, perhaps having fainted during the process of being forcibly suppressed, and occasionally one or two were brought in half-naked, claiming their clothes had disappeared.
Even at a glance, it was a large number, and at the member's words that there would be more who had escaped, Hugo glared at those imprisoned, revealing a hint of fatigue.
As the cold gaze touched them, the workers who had been gathered and murmuring instantly quieted down and huddled together in the corner.
Next to Hugo's leg, the captured outsider was quietly kneeling with his hands cuffed and tied with ropes, looking at the workers with a face like a beaten corpse. He was excellently performing the role of a good example to make them obedient.
Seeing the endless stream of humans being caught, Hugo pressed his temple firmly. Even focusing solely on finding the two missing people was already stretching him thin, but as the work kept piling up with the arrest of an organized illegal mining team, his head throbbed.
When the Central Branch subjugation force had just entered the peninsula, he had received a report from Delua, who was leading the rear line, that unidentified personnel seemed to be following the procession.
Even before that, he had occasionally heard news from the Southern Branch's liaison officers that illegal intruders were being arrested.
However, at that time, Hugo had to be mindful of Leonardo, who he thought might act unpredictably as it was the beginning of the subjugation, and he had to keep an eye on Meterion, who kept tripping him up and trying to fall back to the rear, and in the midst of fighting monsters, he also had to lead the procession safely, so he had no time to deeply consider Delua's unconfirmed speculative report.
But now, he somewhat regretted having brushed off that report.
"I should have cut off all the sprouts back then."
The workers trembled as they heard his voice quietly muttering while looking at them from beyond the bars.
As the space inside the prison became densely packed with humans, Hugo once again pulled out ice pillars and completely sealed the gap where the workers had been entering in a line.
Soon after, new pillars shot up next to it, creating another prison to accommodate the personnel who kept being caught.
This was already the fifth prison he had created like this, so the 1st Battalion alone lacked the time and manpower to arrest all of them. Hugo, who had been brushing back the hair tickling his forehead with a frustrated heart, suddenly checked the watch on his wrist.
It was around midnight when they discovered the footprints of the two people near the swamp. After searching the vicinity all night, they arrived at the cave and found a huge structure, and although they could find traces that seemed like the two had stayed there, the individuals themselves could not be found.
In the end, after daybreak, they changed the search route to apprehend the outsider, and interrogated him on the premise that he might know about the movements of those two, but the outsider revealed that he had no contact with them after the collapse and subsequently disclosed the base of this huge and organized illegal group.
The cleanup of this place, which he thought would end quickly, had already been going on for over two hours. He had called for reinforcements, but he didn't know how long it would take for them to arrive here.
Moreover, even while his feet were tied like this, he couldn't know what judgment the two people he was looking for would make and how they would move, or what would happen to them, so he was extremely anxious.
"Commander."
Hugo, who had been lost in thought while looking at his watch, suddenly raised his head at the voice calling him. Then, he saw that the 8th Platoon Leader had approached him at some point.
The 8th Platoon Leader glanced at the outsider kneeling next to him, then met Hugo's eyes again and said,
"I'm referring to the explosive mineral the culprit mentioned. There were quite a few that were similar in appearance and size, so it took some time to examine them one by one. However, it was difficult to see any of them as having the function of exploding."
Upon hearing that, Hugo also glanced down at the outsider.
"Then, in the end, the explosion that occurred in the ravine was this guy's solo attack unrelated to the minerals?"
The outsider, who had been listening to their conversation, flinched and stammered as if trying to say something.
"Th-that's n-not..."
However, as Hugo and the 8th Platoon Leader's cold gazes pierced him, the outsider quickly shut his mouth again. The 8th Platoon Leader took her eyes off the outsider and looked up at Hugo, answering,
"It's true that the mineral the culprit threw at that time caused the explosion. As a result of interrogating other workers at the managerial level, it was revealed that this mining team had been handling a mineral called 'etaide' that acts as a catalyst for explosions, and some time ago, there were a few who ran away with a small amount of the mineral due to internal strife."
"Etaide?"
"Ah, yes. Since it's a mineral that has only recently become known even among dealers, they say it's unofficially called that. The original owner of the mineral the culprit had was also a worker who had escaped from here together, so it's certain that the mineral was somewhere in this hideout."
"But it wasn't among the minerals examined so far."
"That's right."
Hugo's brow furrowed slightly. If only Flynn had brought someone who knew about minerals well, but he was currently away for a moment to carry out the orders Hugo had given.
"In my opinion, either the members haven't found it yet because the geography around here is complex, or judging from the traces left on the dirt floor that look like something was moved, some of the minerals, including etaide, have already been taken by the managers who have disappeared and escaped."
"..."
"I had the other managers write down the items they handled and compared them with the remaining minerals, and the valuable ones were mainly missing."
"...The estimated time of escape for those missing managers?"
"Since they said everyone was present until the personnel check last night, it's presumed to be at dawn before you and we arrived, Commander."
"At dawn..."
Hugo muttered the words quietly and slowly rubbed his chin and lips. It was suspiciously close.
This mining team seemed to have existed for quite a long time. Judging from the internal structure with a hierarchy and the hideout that was not easily found, it was a group that had been formed over at least several months. Moreover, the number of workers belonging to it was far beyond imagination, and the amount of minerals they had mined was also enormous.
Logically, for illegal intruders of this scale to live in here, they would need to go in and out of the peninsula periodically to procure food, replenish manpower, and export the minerals.
But was it possible that they had never been caught by the Council even once in that process?
Hugo's cold eyes slowly scanned the imprisoned individuals one by one. The workers who made eye contact with him hurriedly turned their eyes away.
His gaze meticulously scrutinized the faces of the humans, then suddenly stopped at a meaningless point.
'Is there a mole?'
Comments
Katsura Kureha
I love how nobody questions the clothes that mysteriously disappeared π
Jesse Gibson
Yassssssss there issssss..letβs catch that trash guy!
