After Sampo said he would introduce the Trailblazer squad to Wildfire, the group immediately set out.
Just like back on the snowfields when they had Sampo lead the way to the town, Sampo walked in front, with the squad following behind.
Hopefully this time there wouldn't be any enforcers suddenly popping out, or anyone grabbing Sampo and squeezing gold coins out of him.
As they walked, March asked, "So, what does this Wildfire usually do?"
Sampo replied, "They do everything. Maintain order, uphold justice, fight for resources, distribute supplies...
"Speaking of supplies, the tiny bit of clout I have comes from here..."
Sampo led everyone past buildings, out of an alley, down a flight of stairs to a lower area, then turned into another side path, finally stopping at an open space where multiple alleys intersected.
Then Sampo raised his head, scanned the surroundings, and said with some confusion, "Huh, Joshua isn't here..."
The members of the Trailblazer squad also looked around, observing the environment.
March's gaze was drawn to a mining cart lying by the roadside. Inside it were large quantities of glowing orange-yellow minerals whose names she couldn't call out.
March asked curiously, "What kind of glowing ore is this?"
Hearing March's voice, everyone turned their heads. Sampo glanced at it and said, "Oh, that's Geomarrow, a kind of ore used for heating. The surface and underground are completely sealed off, right? Now the only thing still operating is the Geomarrow transport line, ore goes up from underground, supplies come down from above."
Seeing the true appearance of this strange ore called Geomarrow, Nero once again took out his phone to take photos, and sent them to the group chat along with Sampo's explanation.
At the same time, Sampo continued explaining the situation in the Underworld to the Trailblazer squad.
"More than half the people down here are miners. They survive day to day by digging this stuff. If there were no Geomarrow to burn, the people of this world would've frozen to death long ago."
Sampo then let out a sigh, seemingly lamenting the harsh living conditions of the people on this planet. "Let's keep going. The person we're looking for isn't here..."
After that, everyone followed Sampo onward and arrived at another street.
At this moment, on their left were layers upon layers of piled-up stone walls, stacked like cakes, rising upward. Hidden within them were roads, and at the top were supply buildings. On the right was an ordinary residential area.
Looking ahead, they could see an empty narrow road stretching into the distance. Its already cramped interior space was more than half occupied by trash, ore, and houses. At the far end of the road, even farther away, stood a massive machine jutting upward.
It was absolutely a colossal structure. It rose from an even lower level of ground and extended upward, possibly already bracing against the "ceiling" of this underground space, or perhaps piercing straight through it and shooting up above.
At first glance, it looked like a bizarre flying saucer, or perhaps a gigantic furnace. Complex mechanical structures were arranged on it, and beneath the dark sheen of steel, lights like furnace flames shone in the Underworld like an artificial sun.
Sampo looked around left and right on this street, then finally knitted his brows, a hint of awkwardness appearing on his face.
"Mm... Oleg isn't here either. Where did everyone go?"
March narrowed her eyes and looked at Sampo suspiciously. "You're not just leading us around in circles, are you?"
Sampo shook his head. "Absolutely not, how could I! Don't worry at all, we'll find them soon!"
Nero then spoke up, "Speaking of which, Bronya was also brought down to the Underworld by Sampo while he was at it... Judging from the attitude Natasha occasionally shows, Wildfire and the Silvermane Guards probably don't get along very well... Haha, maybe Wildfire is fighting with Bronya right now."
"Why do you sound like you're afraid the world won't be chaotic enough...?" March complained to Nero.
At this moment, a little figure had already popped up in her mind, Nero waving his hands there, cheering and shouting nonstop, "Fight! Fight!"
Stelle suddenly remembered something and asked Nero with some confusion, "When I had just woken up and was still a bit groggy, I heard Doctor Natasha talking with Sampo. Sampo said Bronya was someone you deliberately brought down. So how come now...?"
It seemed that before Stelle even finished speaking, Nero already knew what she was going to say. He waved his hand and said, "Then Sampo must've been lying to you. How could it be me! Who knows what he was plotting?"
As he spoke, Nero shot Sampo a sideways glance.
Sampo blinked at Nero and thought to himself, 'No, bro... didn't we agree you'd take the blame for me back then? Why now... this little colleague, besides liking to torment Fragmentum creatures, could tormenting colleagues also be one of his hobbies?'
Thinking carefully, Sampo realized that although he got along quite well with Nero, ever since meeting this little colleague, he seemed to always be on the road to getting screwed over.
'Ah-trash-ha, Mr. Cold Feet feels like he's already touched the truth!'
Seeing that the little colleague showed no intention of responding to him or offering any explanation on his behalf, Sampo opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.
'Sigh...'
'Small matters, small matters.'
Anyway, it didn't affect his overall plans. Whatever, he'd forgive him.
Mr. Cold Feet was about to turn into Mr. Mud feet now. He seemed to be sinking deeper and deeper into some unseen, unknown, treacherous mire.
Sampo started thinking about how to give Stelle and Dan Heng an explanation. Fortunately, Miss March, in whom he had placed great hopes, handed him a way out.
March pointed at the mechanical structure in the distance that seemed to run through the entire Underworld and asked, "What's that big building over there?"
The experienced Sampo immediately took the hint and went with the flow, rolling right down the slope.
"That's the Furnace Core. It's also the support pillar connecting the upper and lower levels. In the past, people used that pillar to travel up and down, but later on..."
"Later what?" March grew even more curious.
Sampo spread his hands. "It's a long story. Anyway, the connection between the upper and lower levels is basically cut off now."
Dan Heng immediately added, "Except for you."
Sampo instantly turned around and made a pleading gesture toward Dan Heng. "Oh come on, my good brother, don't bring that up. Sampo still has to make a living off that route. Please don't dig into it."
Dan Heng didn't respond to Sampo, only looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze, neither confirming nor denying anything.
After staring at Sampo for a few seconds, he lifted his head to look at Nero, who had theoretically come down from the upper level to the lower level together with Sampo while still conscious.
The boy noticed his gaze and showed a very bright smile.
Dan Heng gently closed his eyes, turned his head away, and seemed to have no intention of continuing this topic.
After checking two locations in a row with no one there, Sampo once again led everyone toward a third destination.
Under Sampo's guidance, the group turned into another path, then found a staircase folding upward within the narrow gap between high stone walls. They climbed those stone walls stacked like cakes, one layer higher than the next.
After walking for a while without seeing anyone, Sampo couldn't help but feel puzzled. "At this time of day, Seele is usually patrolling this area... What is Wildfire doing?"
After walking a bit more, the group finally crossed over the stone walls again and arrived at a platform.
Just as they stepped onto the stairs, they spotted a familiar figure within the crowd.
A Silvermane Guard uniform, a triple-spiral hairstyle, and a semi-automatic rifle... without a doubt, the girl in the middle of the crowd was Bronya.
The people surrounding Bronya were dressed differently, but most of them seemed to be workers. They held tools that were half shovel, half weapon.
A few of them were propping themselves up with their weapons, standing in front of Bronya, panting heavily.
It looked like a fight had just taken place here.