With Eous's help, Number 11 and Anby finally managed to escape the rebel base without any real mishap.
Compared to them, however, the Mole wasn't nearly so lucky.
"What rotten luck! How come every single time I run into that Bangboo, nothing good ever happens?!"
The Mole hid inside his own tent, rummaging through every box and chest in search of clothes.
Back during the earlier fight with Geno, he'd already wet one pair of pants, and now this made the second.
Twice in a single day—if he were even a little older, he'd have started wondering whether his sphincter had gone slack.
And just after he'd finally gotten his pants on, the rebel leader of the camp came knocking at his door.
"Mole! I've got a mission for you!"
"Huh? Sir, but I only just got back." "This is an order!" "Y-yes…"
The Mole's mood right now was exactly like that of an electrical engineer who'd just come back from an outsourced business trip, only to be sent right back out on another the moment he returned to the company, before his backside had even touched the chair.
"This camp's coordinates are no longer secure. The whole force is to be broken up and scattered. Take the automated machine soldiers we've acquired and head to one of the other camps."
The leader spoke of this camp's fate with an expressionless face. In truth, it was only a matter of time—after all, the equipment wasn't going to sprout legs and walk over to the other camps on its own.
"But this matter can't just be left at that. I want you to take a squad and investigate those bastards who've been causing trouble for us."
Only when he brought up the intrusion by Anby and the others did the slightest ripple finally appear on the rebel leader's face.
It seemed the disturbance caused by Twiggy and her group had truly made him lose a great deal of face.
"Uh… Sir, how exactly am I supposed to go and find them?"
The Mole's face scrunched up like a bitter gourd. With nothing whatsoever to go on, just what was he supposed to use to track people down?
"That's not for me to worry about. All I need is your results. And if you can't manage it, then you needn't bother coming back."
"What?! But, sir!"
"That's all. I still have matters to attend to."
The rebel leader gave the Mole no chance whatsoever to beg off; he said but a couple of sentences and then left the tent.
The stench inside this place really was overpowering—he could hardly stand it.
And once the rebel leader had gone, the Mole dropped his earlier bitter-gourd look and indignantly stamped his feet.
"Damn it! What's with all that arrogance?! So you've got a bit more seniority than me—who do you think you are, putting on such big-shot airs?!"
The Mole was utterly contemptuous of the rebel leader's mission. That was someone ruthless enough to slip past patrols of several hundred and infiltrate the camp—what the hell could he possibly dig up on his own?!
Fortunately, the rebel leader hadn't left him with absolutely nothing.
A fifty-man squad and ten of the latest-model machine soldiers were placed entirely under the Mole's command, which at least let him play the part of a leader with real authority for once.
"Listen up, lads! The higher-ups have handed down a do-or-die order to go investigate the whereabouts of those few intruders."
The Mole worked at building up the squad members' morale. Since he'd taken on the mission, he had to get it done.
"Of course, I know this is difficult, but even so, we have to give it our absolute best and strive to return to the ranks as soon as we can!"
"I promise you all this: come the day we finish this mission, I, the Mole, will absolutely never shortchange my brothers. Whoever charges the hardest and contributes the most gets a reward! A hundred thousand Dennies! When the time comes, I'll dig into my own pockets and throw a victory banquet for you boys!" Anyone can spout that PUA nonsense; anyone can paint pretty pies in the sky. The real worry is the kind who won't even bother painting the pie—who, like they've got some serious sickness, just demand you devote yourself for nothing.
Now that's a true dumbass!
Sure enough, the moment the Mole finished speaking, the whole crowd of rebels erupted at once. "Boss Mole, mighty!"
"Boss Mole, what a badass!"
Basking in the praise and cheers of his subordinates, the Mole greedily savored the taste of power, and at the same time a bold notion sprouted up in his heart. 'Or maybe… I should just strike out on my own.'
Either way, there was no going back to the Defense Force, and he'd never climb the ranks on the rebel side, so since he happened to have this batch of men under him, plus a dozen-odd machine soldiers, striking out on his own to become a local warlord wouldn't be a problem at all.
As for the rebel leader's side—who cared? He hadn't even set a deadline for the mission.
And along the way, he could even shake that side down for a batch of supplies, to use as operating funds.
The Mole broke into a sleazy grin.
Moving grain out of one storehouse, patching one hole with what he'd pried off another—now that was his specialty.
Looks like it's not all bad news after all. The good days that belong to me, the great Lord Mole, will be here before long! Hahahaha!
As the Mole daydreamed about the days ahead when he'd lord it over everyone, over on the New Eridu side, Anby and Number 11 and the others, having already escaped the Hollow, had also successfully returned to Sixth Street and rendezvoused with Geno and the rest.
"That's how it is. We've pretty much scouted out all the intel on the entire camp, but from what we got out of those rebels, it seems camps like that one aren't the only one."
Anby sat on the sofa, briefly laying out the intelligence from the whole operation for everyone to hear.
"So many automated machine soldiers? That's not a quantity some lowly little Mole could possibly get his hands on."
Yanagi Tsukishiro adjusted her glasses. As a former professional soldier, she held grave doubts about the figures behind this batch of materiel.
Rather than embezzlement, corruption, or simple theft, it looked more like someone was secretly backing the rebels' operations.
"It seems the moles within New Eridu don't all come from the outside after all."
Twiggy narrowed her eyes. Just those undercover agents alone couldn't have stirred up a commotion on this scale.
"It seems there are some folks up top who aren't quite content to stay put."
The moment these words were out, everyone present sank into deep thought as well.
Twiggy was right; the other party's every action pointed to one thing—that they had internal support within New Eridu.
And yet that support was no small sum. In the entire new capital, there were only a handful capable of pulling it off.
And of those who could, merely speaking their names aloud would be enough to whip up an enormous uproar.
"As expected, the odds still point most likely to someone from TOPS, don't they."
Geno's guess couldn't be called bold; if anything, it was eight parts out of ten perfectly reasonable.
After all, TOPS's reputation had never leaned to the positive side, and many people held the view that "behind every major historical event in New Eridu, TOPS is secretly pulling the strings."
"Although I think the possibility isn't small either, facts still demand evidence. Mere conjecture alone can't solve this case."
The more rational Trigger took a conservative stance on this. Making a hasty judgment based on guesswork alone wasn't conducive to advancing the investigation.
In the time that followed, everyone put forward their own conjectures one after another, yet they never managed to arrive at any useful clue.
"I think I have the evidence you're all looking for."
Jane, who had said nothing all this while, suddenly spoke up, drawing the attention of everyone present.
"Jane? You're saying you have evidence? What is it?"
Geno was a little surprised. Hadn't Jane been with him the whole time? When had she found any evidence? Could it have been earlier, when they'd split up?
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Naruto: Is it reasonable to beat up an Otsutsuki with Hamon, right?
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!