Even the prosperous People of the Earth had suffered a decrease in population as the surface developed. Their current population was less than half of their prime. As a result the southern district of the city had been abandoned. Thanks to the excellent construction however, the district remained the same despite no one living there. It was an afterimage of their prime, the old district was proof of the People of the Earth's decline. To Kiriha who was a born and raised People of the Earth, looking at this uninhabited district made her sad. When she looked at the empty district she felt like their unity and pride had been lost.
“So where do we go now?”
”We'll group up with our allies at an old guard room. This way”
Kiriha led the troops and walked down a road in the old district. Their destination was what had been a staff room for guards in the past. On the surface, it was something similar to a police station. There they would join up with the conservative faction forces underground, and prepare for the battle with the radical faction.
“Clan, Clan”
As Koutarou followed Kiriha, he opened up a channel to Clan through his bracelet.
“What is it?”
A hologram of Clan soon appeared. Since she was on standby as everyone's backup, her response was quick.
“We've reached the People of the Earth's city. Can you pick up the signal from that transmitter?”
The transmitters that Koutarou was referring to were something he had attached to five trailers in the radical faction's factory. One of the trailers had been confirmed going underground, and Koutarou wanted to know where it had gone as there was a high chance that it led to the radical faction's base.
“Please wait a moment”
Clan remotely controlled Koutarou's bracelet in an attempt to pick up the signal.
“It seems like there's still some distance left, as all I can give you is that it's somewhere to your north. If you give me some more time, I can analyze it fully though”
But sadly, she couldn't clearly calculate its position. Either Koutarou would have to get closer to the source, or more time needed to be spent analyzing the signal.
“Keep taking data and analyze it please”
“I'll contact you once I've got something”
”Please do”
Just as Koutarou and Clan had finished the call, an explosion happened to the north, on the still populated side of the city.
It wasn't that large of an explosion, but it wasn't a single one. Like a roar of thunder, the explosions happened one after another. Surprised by this, Koutarou and the others stopped and looked towards the northern district. There they saw a furiously burning fire had replaced some of the night view. It was fire that had occurred from the explosions.
“A fire... was it an accident?”
”You're wrong Harumi-chan Ho-! There's nothing over there that could explode Ho-!”
“Ane-san, based on the distance and sound it's very likely that it was an explosion from portable firearms Ho-”
”Not good... the radical faction made the first move!”
Kiriha's expression turned severe. It was hard to believe that this was an attack by the conservative faction at this timing. Based on their policies, the conservative faction wouldn't attack until they rejected the radical faction's demands of surrender. It was more natural to assume that the radical faction had launched an attack as the conservative faction was taking such a long time to respond.
“Kiriha-san, let's hurry and meet up with our allies! We'll start from there!”
“You're right. Thank you, Koutarou.... Everyone, follow me!”
The situation was growing tense and Koutarou and the others had no time to hesitate.