Chapter 134 Raja Santanu <TOC> Chapter 136 Scapegoat
Translator: SumTLMan
Under the night sky, Avonigarda resembled a giant beast lying on the plain. A few scattered lights were the sparks remaining in the ashes after the fire of human civilization had been extinguished.
Suddenly, a dazzling flash of light burst forth, the atmosphere trembled, and nearly half of the city of Avonigarda was awakened by the muffled sound of an explosion.
The orphanage, designed like a fortress, was torn open by a hideous gap. The thick reinforced concrete walls were blasted from the inside.
The farthest fragment even flew more than two hundred meters away.
Thick smoke, like a black serpent, slithered out from the inside, rushing straight into the sky.
The orphanage was in chaos. Gulbask fell out of bed, his limbs weak, and he collapsed onto the floor like a pile of mud.
His heart trembled violently, frightened by the power of the explosion, even though he had caused it himself.
Starting a week ago, Naro Kuja arranged for his men to bury high-energy explosives in the sand outside the orphanage every night. Gulbask and his friends dug them up secretly during their free time and brought them into the orphanage.
In a week’s time, they had brought in a total of more than thirty kilograms of high-energy explosives.
Li Mu had long used the shockwaves of the earthquake to figure out the structure of the entire orphanage. These high-energy explosives were installed at the support points, and the effect of the explosion was surprisingly good.
The entire orphanage housed more than three hundred orphans, who were distributed among the three floors. In the chaos, they experienced severe trampling, and cries, screams, and shrieks filled the air.
Gulbask remembered Naro Kuja’s command and sprang up from the ground with a shudder.
“Everyone, don’t panic! Everyone, don’t panic! Stand still, there are people coming to save us!”
His voice was like the first crowing of a rooster at dawn. In the darkness, other young voices echoed.
Gunshots like popping beans came from outside, occasionally mixed with the sound of exploding grenades and rockets.
Invaders and the orphanage’s guards engaged in intense gunfire.
The violent flames of psychic energy suddenly released a dazzling light, like a fire dragon sweeping across the wilderness, burning everything in its path to ashes. Even the dormitory on the other side of the orphanage was illuminated.
Not long after the light of the flames went out, a dazzling light appeared, and the matron came in with a flashlight. Her wrinkled face looked hideous under the shadows, like a demon.
“It was those people who just said someone was coming to save you!”
She asked menacingly.
After confirming that the explosion had been detonated from the inside, she rushed to the dormitory immediately.
Among the orphans, there were young ones who had secretly communicated with Naro Kuja!
The matron sneered coldly a few times:
“Naro Kuja is already unable to protect himself, he must have been burned to death by the psychic flame just now!”
She glanced at the crowd, her robust body charged into the orphans like a shark, and grabbed Gulbask’s arm, lifting him up.
Her sharp nails scratched through the skin, deeply digging into his flesh, causing blood to flow.
“You little brat, you’ve never been honest. You must be with Naro Kuja!”
The matron’s shrill voice sounded like it was going to tear through eardrums.
“Speak up! Who else is there? Who else among you!”
She violently shook Gulbask, making him scream in agony.
The orphans looked on in horror at the once stern yet kind matron. She now seemed like a demon, finally shedding her human skin and revealing her true form.
“Boom!”
A figure crashed through the thick wall.
The sturdy steel-reinforced concrete shattered like powder, turning into dust filling the confined space.
Amidst coughing, a metallic arm emerged from the dust, gripping the matron’s head in its palm.
The matron screamed like a wild boar, her ugly and ferocious face contorted into a knot as she struggled intensely.
The next moment, her head was directly crushed, and her headless body slid to the ground.
A tall exoskeleton armor appeared in everyone’s sight, brushing away the dust. Its never-before-seen shape, blue-gray urban combat camouflage, and smooth exterior armor were striking.
The exoskeleton armor shook off the blood and hair that had stuck to it.
“Stay here, don’t move. The fight will be over soon.”
He turned around and disappeared into the dust, and if it weren’t for the matron’s corpse still lying on the ground, everything that had just happened would seem like a dream.
The Governor’s forces were dispatched to the orphanage almost immediately.
Before meeting Rajaral Santanu, Li Mu deliberately exposed his whereabouts to the Soul Cult’s vision.
The murderer of Hicks was protected by the Governor, causing the Soul Cult’s nerves to be stretched to the limit and losing mutual trust with the Governor. The Soul Cult’s Bishop of the Avonigarda Diocese, Galurisa, learned through an inside source that the Governor had set his sights on a treasure belonging to the Soul Cult and was about to take some action.
Upon detecting the mobilization of armed forces within the city, the Soul Cult almost immediately determined that this was the Governor’s action against them.
Half of Avonigarda fell into chaos, with the Soul Cult’s scattered armed forces and the security forces, and the affiliated armies engaged in fierce street battles.
Tracer bullets flew like fireflies, and the explosion of shells sounded like thunderbolts, instantly illuminating the night sky.
The dazzling lights of psychic energy were varied, even more splendid in the darkness.
Li Mei, wearing a black hooded cloak and carrying a railgun, ran silently across the rooftops of the city, like a ghost.
She was the insurance set by Li Mu. If the Soul Cult did not go to war with the Governor, she would try to give a push from behind. However, Li Mu’s preparations were so effective beforehand that there was no need for her to do anything else.
The battle lasted until dawn, with many broken corpses lying on the streets. Some areas were still engulfed in flames, which had not been extinguished.
Rajaral Santanu’s face was so gloomy that it seemed as if water was about to drip from it. He stood in front of the devastated orphanage.
Last night, the security team, which had already suffered losses due to the activity of the infiltrators, was almost disbanded. It would take a lot of manpower to recuperate and barely resume work.
What angered him even more was the scene before him.
All the staff members of the orphanage were killed. Their corpses were nailed to the exterior wall of the orphanage with iron wires and nails, forming a line of text:
“This is the gift we offer to the Santanu family!”
None of the orphans who had been kept inside were left; they were all taken away.
Rajaral Santanu felt his blood vessels throbbing, as if they were about to burst at any moment, but his heart was cold. This orphanage was one of the several ranches owned by the Santanu family, constantly providing food for the Santanu family.
He didn’t want to see what his father would look like when he was hungry.