Chapter 285
They entered the room where Plu-El was imprisoned . She had been idly staring at the ceiling, and her eyes moved to the door to see the three men .
“You're back . ”
Sungyoon, the Mayor, and the Deputy mayor had rushed out of the room before as if they had found a solution to their problem, yet they had returned with darkened expressions . So Plu-El asked .
“I’m guessing it didn’t go well?”
“Unfortunately, it didn’t . ”
Sungyoon answered her .
“When trying to create a perfect plan, small and large problems arise more often than not . What brings you back this time? Since you came to see me, you must want my help . ”
Sungyoon looked toward the Mayor, and the Mayor took a couple of deep breaths .
‘It seems he's making a very important decision . ’
Plu-El had also been in a leading position amongst the Moon people . So she could tell what the Mayor was thinking .
“Ms . Plu-El . ”
“Yes . ”
Plu-El replied in a serious manner .
“We've decided to fully trust you . ”
Plu-El became surprised .
She was in truce with these people, and the sentiment between both sides had significantly improved . However, there hadn't been enough information and time for the two sides to develop trust .
Moreover, Plu-El had determined that the Mayor was a conservative person . She could discern this even though she had limited conversation with him, and she knew that there was only one reason the Mayor would make such a shocking decision .
‘Are they backed up against the wall?’
Plu-El's head spun . The Mayor's statement basically revealed his side's weakness, and Plu-El had to make a choice now . She could use this weakness to her advantage or keep her distance and monitor how the other side would react .
If she chose neither . . .
‘Should I put all my trust in them?’
Plu-El exchanged gazes with the Mayor .
“First… . ”
Plu-El opened her mouth .
“Give me an update on the current situation”
***
“I see . ”
Plu-El brushed her hair to the side after she had heard a summary of the situation . The movement caused the steel chains to clank against each other .
“You're stuck between a rock and a hard place . ”
“It's as you say . ”
The Mayor agreed with her . The situation was so bad that he decided to trust her; he didn't have the luxury to lie to her right now .
“You only had to retrieve my Device and Gems, yet you failed . Monsters are guarding every building, including the one containing my Device and Gems . ”
Plu-El tilted her head in puzzlement .
“However, I don’t think that it's enough to make you put all the cards on the table . It shouldn’t have made you seek out my help . I’m sorry for saying this, but a degree of sacrifice would be enough to retrieve the Device and Gems . ”
The monsters had been inside the city hall, and there was a chance that monsters were all over the city . Neverthless, it was less likely that all the monsters were concentrated near the city hall .
Basically, the Mayor could send in all the Connectors they could spare using the portal . While one group would've held off the monsters, another group could've retrieved Plu-El’s Device and Gems . Then, they could all retreat through the portal .
There would be casualties . It might be more than expected . Still, it was an option, so there was no reason for the Mayor to act as if he was at the end of the road .
Of course, the three men had also thought about executing such a plan .
“They plan on destroying whatever we are aiming for . Whenever we open a portal, the monsters thoroughly destroy all the nearby buildings . ”
One of the Connectors had been sent through a portal near the city hall . When he had looked out through the window, he had seen monsters thoroughly destroy the city hall . After the Connectors repeated this process, they became sure that the monsters destroyed everything near a location where a portal was opened .
“… The safe is in the basement?”
“Correct . ”
“If you want to access the basement, you have to clear the debris of the fallen building . ”
“That’s right . Since all the debris from the nearby buildings are mixed together, it's hard for us to determine the exact location of the basement . Also, we're assuming the monsters have only destroyed the buildings on the surface level . If so, our work will be easier . But if it isn't, it will be very tough for us . Basically, we’ll have to dig a hole . ”
“You might not be able to do that with the number of troops you have . ”
“Correct . ”
They had no idea how long they would need to extract the safe . Only one thing was certain: it would be very hard to find it, and it might take a couple dozen minutes .
“What will you do if I can’t give you a proper solution?”
“It can’t be helped . ”
The Mayor shrugged .
“We’ll attempt to find the safe with the men we possess . ”
He said this, but his face looked like it had aged several dozen years . It was clear that this plan didn’t have a high chance of success .
‘What should I do?’
If she were being honset, Plu-El couldn’t come up with a better plan . However, she had some idea on how to improve it .
‘The problem remains that they are completely undermanned . If they can increase their fighting power, it’ll immensely help their odds . ’
Moreover, Plu-El had a way of supplementing their fighting power . She just had to gather her comrades .
‘Should I let them participate in this plan?’
S had been separated from her people, but it wouldn’t be an obstacle to her plan .
Her people had made contingency plans .
If she was freed, it wouldn’t take too long for her to locate her people .
However, there remained a problem .
‘There will be casualties if I let my comrades participate in this plan . Am I doing the right thing?’
The people, who were stranded on the moon, had come up from earth . They were completely unrelated to the descendants of Planote .
Plu-El was silent, but her eyes became focused .
‘Yes . In any case, we need their help . ’
The descendants of Planote lived on the moon, yet they yearned to return to earth .
Everything was lacking on the moon . Unlike the moon, everything was abundant on earth . It was a place of their dreams .
Moreover, she had experienced living on earth even if it had been brief . Earth had been beyond her imagination .
Above all else, Grenoid was showing signs of awakening from its seal . Her people must gain the cooperation of the earthlings if they wanted a chance against the Grenoid .
‘Even if I’m able to dispel the misunderstanding, there is a high chance that there will be residual bad feelings . ’
This would be true for the descendants of Planote and the people of earth .
Both sides needed each other, but Fabion had played both sides against each other as the middleman . This was why they had fought each other, and both sides had taken significant damage . .
This was a thorny relationship, and it might not be a bad idea for her to heal the divide .
‘Moreover, I can get the earthlings to be in my debt . ’
Even if the earthlings and the descendants of Planote could form an alliance, there was a low chance that her people would be on equal footing with the earthlings . The size disparity between the two was too large .
Her people had lived in the Great Labyrinth with great difficulty . Of course, the population of her people was small . Moreover, they had been ambushed twiced by Fabion, so their numbers were drastically low now .
On the other hand, there were over seven billion humans populating earth . Moreover, they possessed all the resources provided by earth, which was the cradle of life . Her people couldn’t compare to them .
‘Even if we return to earth, they won’t give us land for our people to live . ’
Her people will probably be absorbed into the societies of earth .
Plu-El didn’t mind that option .
Of course, there were those amongst her people that considered themselves above the earthlings, but it would be like going against a flood of humans . In the end, they’ll be swept away and buried by this flood .
‘That means we have to somehow increase our value . ’
In order to do so, her people needed something that they could stand on . They needed to improve their situation .
The information that they possessed about the labyrinths and their enemies were attractive pieces that they could use in the negotiation . However, the worth of her people would increase further if her people could fight for the earthlings, who were in danger .
“Alright . ”
After thinking things through, Plu-El opened her mouth .
“I’ve decided to completely trust you too . I’ll fully cooperate with you in this mission . ”
Everyone’s face brightened .
“However, I cannot be much help to you . I do not have some revolutionary idea that would turn the situation to your favor . There is only one thing I am able to offer you . ”
She met eyes with the three men in front of her .
“I can offer you the full might of our people . ”
***
‘They let me go without making much of a fuss . ’
Plu-El had that thought as she avoided a long piece of rock, which was protruding from the wall .
The mayor hadn’t put up much of a fight when she suggested that they should form an alliance .
Moreover, he took her words at face value . He also backed up his words with action .
The mayor released her from her bonds . Then she was sent off to find her comrades with several Connectors of Armstrong city as an escort . They weren’t sent along to monitor her . They were guards . She needed protection since she had lost most of her fighting power when her Device and Gems were taken away .
‘Moreover, they even equipped me with spare Device and Gems . ’
Since these were spare Device and Gems, the equipment wasn’t that high in rank .
However, the mere fact that the mayor decided to provide her with Device and Gems was a shocking development .
‘That’s a lot on my shoulders . ’
As the other side showed more goodwill towards her, she felt an obligation to convince her comrades to their side .
The mayor was probably aiming for this . It proved that the mayor was a very shrewd man .
“The ledge is high . Please be careful . ”
The Connector, who had been walking in the front, gave a warning .
As expected of Connectors personally chosen by the mayor, they silently did their work . It didn’t matter what their personal feelings were .
‘These people aren’t bad, but I wanted to come here with Mr . Sungyoon . ’
Sungyoon was Jungbum’s son-in-law . She wanted to converse with him about Jungbum’s other family on earth .
‘I should have known it wasn’t possible . ’
The portal was the only way in and out of the ancient city, and Sungyoon was the only one that possessed a key to the ancient city . The risk was too high to send Sungyoon out on a mission . If she was in the mayor’s shoes, she would have vehemently pushed back on the idea of Sungyoon being sent on a mission .
After walking for a while in the labyrinth, she saw her destination .
“It is here . ”
She stopped a large empty clearing . Plu-El started to search for something on the floor .
“That’s a relief . I found the right place . ”
If she wasn’t paying close attention to it, she would have probably missed the faint mark placed on the floor .
The sunken terrain made it harder to see the sign .
“Please wait here for a bit . ”
Plu-El sunk to the ground .
The Connectors set up a watch schedule . Some rested while others guarded the group .
They weren't deep within the labyrinth, but this was the Great Labyrinth .
If several monsters attacked the party all at once, the party could be wiped .
Time continued to pass .
Woo-oong!
A blue portal formed in the middle of the clearing . Everyone’s gaze locked in on the portal .
Tuhk!
Someone exited the portal . The man was cold as he looked at his surroundings, and he became surprised when he saw the other people nearby .
He quickly raised his spear to attack the nearest Connector from Armstrong city .
“Wait a moment!”
Plu-El yelled out loud . One of the moon people had exited the portal, and he had moved into his fighting stance . He was about to move in a violent manner, but he came to a stop when he heard the voice .
“…Plu-El?”
The man was in disbelief . He sounded a bit daft as he spoke her name .