Chapter 108
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Chapter 108: The Brotherhood
“Hello, I’m Lovisia—a member of the Miners’ Brotherhood,” the woman said. “You must be the leader of the Righteous outlaw band, Mr. Chao, right?”
“Miners’ Brotherhood?” Chaoyang blinked in surprise. These people really aren’t afraid to die. They were only just rounded up by the City Guard and High Heaven Mining’s joint forces, and yet here they are, daring to show up at Glorious Fortress!
“That’s right. Outsiders call us rebels, but the truth is, we simply refuse to be herded and slaughtered like slaves for High Heaven Mining. We had no choice but to band together and fight back.”
“So… those people who were publicly executed and then hung on the gallows for all to see… were they your own?” Luo Di couldn’t help but interject.
“Yes.” A trace of sorrow flickered in Lovisia’s eyes—a momentary sadness that quickly transformed into steely determination. “We’d long suspected that High Heaven Mining planned to crush us, but we never expected the City Guard to join the assault. Even though we took precautions, our losses far exceeded our expectations.”
Luo Di drew a deep breath. “So it was because High Heaven Mining’s train was hijacked that… this happened?”
“This incident truly wasn’t part of our plan—we intended to move the train into the mining zone before taking action.”
“Huh?” The angel was taken aback.
“Honestly, when we heard that someone had beaten us to it, we were even more shocked than you are now,” the woman said, shaking her head. “We never imagined that in this New Continent city, besides us, there would be others daring enough to bare their fangs at the mining company. It’s not something that mere courage alone can achieve.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Chaoyang quickly interrupted, eager to cut the conversation short. “How did you even find out about the Yeni Cathedral? Just because you call us thieves doesn’t mean we are one! I don’t know any thieves—are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else?”
He suspected that if they continued talking, Luo Di would soon spill everything about what Paradise had done.
“Your two questions are really one and the same,” Lovisia replied without missing a beat, unperturbed by his denial. “If your people hadn’t attacked the train, then why is Mr. Jin Kefu now receiving treatment at Yeni Cathedral? We managed to find you simply because our informants are scattered all over this city—and we happened to catch sight of Mr. Jin Kefu.”
Chaoyang suddenly understood.
So that’s it—they had noticed the presence of the players in the Foggy Region; perhaps they even had their insiders hidden aboard the train. But since Zhang Zhiyuan and the others had stayed behind to fight the enemy to the death, and because the Angel sped away with him in a car, their pursuers couldn’t immediately track them down.
In a city as vast as Glorious Fortress, pinpointing one person’s whereabouts without special abilities was a matter of pure luck.
And these people were remarkably fortunate—after all, Yeni Cathedral’s patients already included miners discarded by the company. Chaoyang doubted that the Brotherhood had eyes in every corner of the city, but having informants inside the cathedral made perfect sense.
At that moment, he realized another issue. “So you want to target the armored train because of Jin Kefu?”
Lovisia nodded affirmatively.
“Isn’t he with High Heaven Mining?” Chaoyang asked as he moved to sit on the bed—wanting to adopt the local customs, though he couldn’t stand the filth of the floor. “You call yourselves the resistance, yet you’re trying to rescue a manager from High Heaven? That’s rather ironic!”
“You…” Lovisia trailed off, momentarily at a loss for words.
Perhaps she hadn’t expected Chaoyang to so quickly discern Jin Kefu’s true background so accurately.
“How did you come by Mr. Jin Kefu’s real background?!” A member of the Nepheid guard behind her couldn’t help but stand up and demand, “Did you have him tortured into confessing?”
“Could it not be that he told me voluntarily?” Chaoyang replied.
“Impossible! He would never betray the Brotherhood!” the guard insisted.
“You do have informants, don’t you…? You must know all too well what happened to him at Yeni,” Chaoyang pressed.
“Haiki, sit down!” Lovisia snapped, then turned to Chaoyang with a tone laced with regret. “Please forgive the rudeness of my subordinate. I understand that Yeni Cathedral not only treats injured miners but also goes to great lengths to rescue Mr. Kefu from the brink of death. It is precisely for this reason that we dared to approach you. However, Jin Kefu is exceedingly important to the Brotherhood—and the corporation is actively searching for him. Leaving him at the Cathedral now might endanger him further. That is why we have come: to take him away.”
As Chaoyang suspected, this was their true objective.
The problem was that Chaoyang wasn’t about to let them go easily.
He was determined to know what High Heaven Company was really mining underground—and why an escaped company manager could still command such trust from the group of resistance people.
“Ahem… well…” Chaoyang hesitated before saying “The medical bill hasn’t been settled yet. Considering how long he had been lying there for so long—unconscious and burning with fever… the cost of medicine, care, bed charges, meals… altogether, it’s probably…”
“How can you do this?” the man behind him shouted again. “No other miner has ever been charged like this!”
“But as you mentioned, his status is special, the nuns here have devoted extraordinary effort to his care,” Chaoyang replied.
“Mr. Chao, rest assured, we’ve made our own arrangements too. We have no intention of shortchanging you.” Lovisia bent down and opened a wooden box at her feet before pushing it toward Chaoyang.
Inside the box lay several stones emitting a faint glow.
“Those things… they don’t emit radiation, do they?” Luo Di instinctively stepped back.
“Are these also ores?” Chaoyang asked.
“Exactly. And these aren’t just any ores—they’re the highest quality of Hui Kuang Stone, which the company calls ‘Pale Tears.’ They can serve as the core for wondrous constructs or be used to repair mystical artifacts. By weight, they’re just as valuable as gold. I believe… they’ll more than cover his medical expenses.”
Chaoyang didn’t know the true value of Pale Tears, but he certainly understood the worth of gold.
A few gold bars were equivalent to thousands of seryl.
Just as he was hesitating, searching for another excuse, the masked man rose to his feet once more. “I always thought we were warriors rising up against the company together—yet here you are, behaving like a shrewd merchant, keeping secrets from us. I truly misjudged you! And to think, I even went behind the scenes, passing along tips to your people and helping you intercept those tailing you. Did I ever expect any reward for that?”
“You were the one who delivered the note that day?” Chaoyang asked in surprise.
“Exactly. And mark my words—the ones following you were City Guard! I don’t know what you did to catch their eye, but Shandela Allen is not someone you’d want to cross!”
“I see… In that case, I suppose I owe you one.”
Lovisia gestured for the masked man to sit again and spoke in a gentle tone, “You attacked High Heaven Mining Corporation’s train, freed the slave workers aboard, and even brought a severely injured stranger to the Cathedral for treatment. Haven’t you already done us several favors? Glorious Fortress has long been divided among the major companies; its people have grown so accustomed to their presence that even in peril, they scarcely take notice. It’s rare to encounter someone of your caliber and your team’s resolve—we merely did what we felt was right.”
Chaoyang was taken aback—who would have thought that among the miners of the Nepheid Guard, there could be someone so adept at diplomacy?
Perhaps the Brotherhood held more potential than he had imagined.
But alas… Chaoyang silently lamented. Under the scrutiny of the Spiritual sight, only a faint, narrow strand of white light glimmered above Lovisia’s head, while the two guards showed no trace of any glow at all. This revealed that none of the three were worthy of forming a binding contract—and that any collaboration with them would yield little in the way of tangible returns.
