Chapter 45 - Infiltrating the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone

Watching the undisciplined group of Silvermane Guard reservists slowly enter the Restricted Zone, a bold idea suddenly popped into Wende's mind.

"Serval, could we disguise ourselves as these reservists and blend in?" Wende turned and proposed his idea to Serval.

"Mhm, I was thinking the same thing. The Restricted Zone is a chaotic mix of people right now, it's the perfect opportunity to slip in!" Serval nodded, strongly agreeing with Wende's idea.

"The Great Guardian hastily drafted so many new soldiers; she must have been negligent when it comes to identity verification. It shouldn't be hard for us to get in," Dan Heng analyzed carefully.

"Then I'll leave it to you!" March 7th said with a grin, patting Stelle on the back.

"Me?" Stelle pointed to herself, tilting her head in confusion, her golden eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Because your weapon is the most suitable for knocking people out cold!" March said, hands on her hips, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah, this…"

Thinking of her baseball bat… it really was perfect for a literal bonking.

Listening to their conversation, Wende silently put away the lightning needles in his hand. Looked like someone else was doing the dirty work for him.

"Let's be quick about it. It's best to pick off the guards who are separated from the others."

Seele was the first to conceal her figure, sneaking up on the nearest lone guard.

"Err… I actually feel like someone else is more suited for this than me."

Seeing the "invisible" Seele, a flash of envy unconsciously crossed Stelle's eyes.

How nice. If I could turn invisible, then wouldn't that mean…

At that thought, Stelle glanced at Wende, her cheeks turning slightly red.

Wouldn't that mean… I wouldn't get caught by Wende when I go rummaging through trash cans in the future!

"Don't just stand there dazed. It's our turn," Wende said, gently tapping the daydreaming Stelle to remind her.

"Ah… oh!"

Stelle nodded as if waking from a dream, then grabbed her baseball bat and tiptoed forward.

"BONK!"

After gently knocking a poor guard unconscious, Stelle whispered an apology in his ear. Then, without waiting to see if he heard, she stripped off his armor and put it on herself.

"Eww~ It stinks so bad…"

March pinched her nose in disgust, but she had no choice but to force herself to put on the armor.

[Damn, this might be the strongest Silvermane Guard squad in history, right?]

[A team that integrates Preservation, Abundance, The Hunt, Destruction, and Erudition. With a lineup like this, they could probably annihilate the entire Fragmentum.]

[That's a bit of a stretch, but wiping out Belobog probably wouldn't be a problem…]

In Fanyin's stream, the viewers roasted the main characters, who had now transformed into a "Guard Squad."

"Routine registration. Line up over here."

Just as they reached the Restricted Zone, the group was stopped at the entrance.

"What do we do… Why do we have to register?" March whispered from the back of the line.

"Just make something up… They won't be able to recognize us anyway," Wende replied softly.

"Don't worry. They don't have time to check identity information right now. We just need to act natural," Serval said, looking at the guards still lining up to register ahead of them.

"Is it really that sloppy?" Seele couldn't quite believe it. The esteemed Silvermane Guards didn't even have a proper procedure?

"This only goes to show that the situation in Belobog is getting worse and worse," Dan Heng analyzed carefully. "If it weren't an emergency, the Commander would not have resorted to such measures."

"Gepard…" Serval murmured, looking toward the Restricted Zone ahead.

"Fill out the registration form."

The registration officer placed a form and a pen in front of Seele.

"Err…"

Staring at the form, Seele hesitated.

"What are you dawdling for? Fill out the form," the officer said, growing impatient with Seele's hesitation.

At this point, Serval noticed Seele's predicament. She stepped forward, took the pen, and, putting on a standard boyish tone, said to the officer:

"Brother, these few brothers of mine can't really read. How about this, we're all one family, and I, the eldest, have had a bit of schooling. How about I fill in their names for them?"

Seeing Serval's sincere attitude, the officer waved his hand, gesturing for her to hurry up.

"You got it! Thank you, brother!"

Serval filled out the roster with fake names for everyone and wrote down a single shared address.

"Valuxi, is it? You and your brothers are in the Third Battalion. Follow the instructor in a bit. Next!"

The officer pointed behind him, then waved Serval away before she could even thank him, calling for the next recruit.

Having blended into the Restricted Zone so smoothly, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew… Thank goodness you were here. Otherwise, we would have been done for," Seele said with a look of relief. She didn't know how to write anything besides her own name, and being unfamiliar with the Overworld, she couldn't exactly put "Rivet Town" in the address field, could she?

"Haha, it was nothing," Serval said with a wave of her hand. She then followed the directions to where the officer had said the "instructor" would be.

"This is… the instructor?"

March 7th looked at the automaton in front of them, which looked just like a traffic light, her face a big question mark.

[Damn, it's the "Preservation" Aeon!]

[Do you understand the prestige of having an "Aeon" personally act as your instructor?!]

[Are the Guards really that short-staffed? They're even drafting traffic lights?]

[Looks like it. They're not even checking identities anymore. They just take a name and address and assign you to a unit.]

[I'm telling you, Belobog is doomed.]

[Shut it, you jinx!]

[Famous last words. Confirmed: dead.]

[Lol]

Walking up to the automaton known as the "instructor," the group obediently formed a line and waited for it to speak.

After an unknown amount of time, once their line was full, the "instructor" at the front of the queue spoke as if it had just been activated.

"Silvermane Guards of the Reserve Third Battalion, please proceed to the area below the city wall. Your mission is to engage in exchange and learning with the guards of the Third Battalion, after which you will be integrated into their unit."

With that, the "instructor" began to move on its short legs, leading the group deeper into the Restricted Zone.

"Are you serious? We just got here and we already get to go defend the wall?"

Seele thought she must be hallucinating. Could it really be this easy?

"Maybe we're just lucky," March concluded.

"Have we ever really been lucky…?" Dan Heng muttered, recalling their unpleasant past experiences.

"Shh… Don't make me think about all that! What bad luck!"

March quickly poked Dan Heng in the side, stopping his dangerous line of thought!