There were only three people left in the previously crowded meeting room. They were Cloudy Sword Celestial Liu Lei, White Colt Sword Celestial Ju Wudao, and the Pleated Sword Spirit.
Communication with the Freemen was a confidential matter. The rest of the people were excluded, leaving only the three sword-bearers with sufficient status and strength.
"Connect them!"
Ju Wudao said to his personal terminal. Immediately, a projector was lowered from the ceiling of the meeting room, projecting a figure in front of the three people.
"Updraft!" Seeing the figure that was projected, Ju Wudao's eyes flashed with a bright light.
Just now, he had specially looked through the information of the free people and immediately linked this figure with a famous name.
It was a petite figure, only about 1.6 meters tall, with a small flower on her head. Her long, straight, black hair made her look like a naive and romantic girl. It was hard to imagine that this girl was actually related to the powerful Esper among the Free Ones, Updraft.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen sword-bearers. I'm Lei Zi. Nice to meet you!"
This Freemen, nicknamed Updraft, spoke with a warm tone and attitude. It was hard to associate her with a powerful Freemen.
"Hmph!
Hypocrite! "
When the Pleated Sword Spirit saw the rising stream of tears, she was instantly enraged. She wanted nothing more than to peel off her skin, break her bones, and devour her flesh one mouthful at a time.
If it were not for Liu Lei and Ju Wudao's repeated warnings, the Pleated Sword Spirit would have cursed her on the spot.
"I'm sorry. We deeply regret the deaths in your city. This is not what we wanted to happen!"
Updraft actually apologized. Looking at her standard 90-degree bow, it seemed that her apology was sincere.
"Updraft, what do you mean by this?
Are you playing us like monkeys?
You killed my people, and now you're apologizing to me. Do you think that your apology can save the lives of more than a hundred human sword-bearers?
Your hands are stained with the blood of humans. This vengeance, we humans will sooner or later … "
"Enough!
Shut up!
Baifold, if you dare to say another word without my permission, you'll be sent to the hospital immediately. You're not allowed to come out for three days! "
Ju Wudao directly let out an angry rebuke. His words made his wrinkled face turn blue and red. Finally, Wei Ran heaved a long sigh, and sat back powerlessly.
The Pleated Sword Spirit's heart was filled with hatred, but he also knew that Wudao couldn't do anything about it. Humanity was about to enter the Difficult Sword Era. In this era, they really couldn't afford to become enemies with the Freedom Metropolis. Otherwise, humanity's losses would be far greater than the lives of over a hundred sword-bearers.
"It's fine. We can understand the feelings of this Mister Sword Wielder. If we were in his shoes, if more than a hundred of our companions died in the Freedom City, we would feel the same way as this Mister. We would unleash an unbearable rage!" Tears said as he turned around and bowed toward the Pleated Sword Spirit.
The Pleated Sword Spirit was expressionless. He did not move at all as he accepted the rising current's bow.
"Your Excellency Tears, it sounds like you don't want to be enemies with Yuzhang City and the human race, right?" Liu Lei asked the most important question.
The answer to this question might decide the fate of the entire human race.
"Of course!
The Freedom Metropolis will always remain neutral. This has always been the principle of the Freedom Metropolis. It will never change! "Tears replied solemnly. This answer made the three people in the room heave a sigh of relief.
If the answer was true, then that was great. Humans wouldn't have to worry about the Freedom Metropolis joining Yuan Kou's side.
If the answer was false, then it was fine. At least the Freedom Metropolis wouldn't be ready to fall out with the humans in a short period of time. This would give the humans time to make various preparations.
"Then, Your Excellency Tears, can you explain to us why you're here today?
You've killed more than a hundred human sword-bearers. How do you explain that?
According to the agreement signed by us humans, Yuan Kou, and the Freedom Metropolis, a battle with more than a hundred casualties can be defined as a war! "
Liu Lei unceremoniously threw these things in front of Tears, as if the humans didn't care about declaring war on the Freedom Metropolis.
"No, no, no, Mr. Sword-Bearer. According to the agreement, it's only a declaration of war if we kill the other party with our own hands. The one who really killed those humans was Yuan Kou of the Western Demonic Beasts. It has nothing to do with us Freedom Metropolis. At most, we helped them teleport once. This hasn't reached the level of a declaration of war," Tears replied.
"Is that so?" Ju Wudao looked at the Pleated Sword Spirit. The other party snorted but didn't say anything.
"Now I'll let you speak!"
Ju Wudao said angrily. Of course, he knew the Pleated Sword Spirit was bickering with him. It was a silent confrontation.
"I don't know …" The Pleated Sword Spirit finally spoke. "I can only say that no Freedom Metropolis participated in the battle within my sight. As for the battle outside my sight, I don't know."
"This Sword-Bearer is too humble. Your Sword Lady is the Thousand-Eyed Sword. We don't think we can hide anything under the Thousand-Eyed Sword's gaze."
Tears smiled. The Pleated Sword Spirit felt a little awkward. Indeed, the Thousand-Eyed Sword was famous for its vision that covered the entire situation. Very few things could escape the Thousand-Eyed Sword's eyes.
Under the Thousand-Eyed Sword's gaze, it seemed like the Freedom Metropolis really hadn't made a move.
"Sir Tears, even if what you said is true and you Freedom Metropolis didn't make a move, you still helped the Western Demonic Beasts' Yuan Kou teleport to the vicinity of Fort Yue Yang and launch a surprise attack on the fortress. Isn't this your doing?!" Liu Lei questioned.
"That's right. We are very sorry about this. It was indeed our doing."
Tears bowed slightly. "The agreement didn't stipulate that we couldn't help Yuan Kou teleport. Moreover, we were forced to do so. We Freedom Metropolis had no intention of breaking the agreement."
"Forced to do so?
You were forced to do so? "
Ju Wudao keenly grasped the main point of Tears' words. If the Freedom Metropolis had been forced to do so by Yuan Kou?
"It's a long story. We have a very important friend who is currently under the control of the Western Demonic Beasts. They asked us to help them move the Demonic Beasts away before they would release our friend. Therefore, we had no other choice," Tears said calmly.
"That's great!
That's great! "Liu Lei and Ju Wudao looked at each other. There was actually joy in their eyes.
They didn't expect the situation to be completely reversed from the meeting just now.
The Freedom Metropolis, who originally thought they were going to start a war with the humans, was actually forced to do so by Yuan Kou's hostage.
In this way, not only would the Freedom Metropolis not become enemies with the humans, but they would also be enraged by Yuan Kou's actions. In a fit of anger, it was not impossible for them to completely join the human camp. This way, the humans would have an easier time during the Difficult Sword Era, and they would be able to pass through the entire Difficult Sword Era in a more stable manner.
As for the more than a hundred Sword Bearers and three thousand civilians who had been ambushed, Liu Lei and Ju Wudao could directly ignore them.
Compared to the survival of the humans, even if the death toll was ten times higher, the humans would still have to grit their teeth and endure it.
"Everyone, I'm actually not contacting you to explain these things. We don't care what you think of our Freedom Metropolis.
Forgive me for being blunt, but even if our Freedom Metropolis really made a move, you won't dare to do anything to us before we clearly express our intention to join the Yuan Kou camp. "
Teardrop's words sounded harsh and annoying, but it was the truth. Humans would never push a potential friend to their enemy.
"Then why did you contact us, Sir Tears?
Are you purposely mocking us? "Liu Lei's expression stiffened.
"No, I just hope that you will send someone to Fort Yue Yang," Tears said and vanished.
As Lei Zi spoke, his figure disappeared, and the scene abruptly turned into a dark and gloomy scene. Only a bonfire could barely light up the entire space.
"It's them!"
Seeing this scene, the Pleated Blade Spirit immediately jumped up from his chair. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. In this dark space, he actually saw dozens of medical pods. There were also a few humans looking at the Pleated Blade Spirit with a mixture of joy and sorrow.
"Gui Yi, Lin Lei … Are you guys alright?"
The Pleated Blade Spirit's eyes welled up with tears. These people were the warriors of the Sword Bearers under his command.
They were members of the missing list. He thought they were all dead. He didn't expect to see them alive.
"Sir Pleated Blade!
We're fine, we're all fine. We still have more than 30 brothers. They survived too!
As long as they come out of the medical pods, they'll be fine again! "one of the Sword Bearers said with tears in his eyes.
"It's a pity that most of our Sword Ladies are either broken or unable to fight anymore. Otherwise, we could've fought our way out!" another Sword Bearer said unwillingly.
"What nonsense are you guys spouting? The outside world is full of Yuan Kou demonic beasts, and their numbers are still increasing. How can you guys escape?!"
Tears mercilessly interrupted these people's fantasies. He then said to Liu Lei and the others, "These 30 plus people were saved by us freemen. This is all we can do to make up for our mistakes.
We'll do our best to protect them, but the western demonic beasts have something on us. No one knows when the western demonic beasts will discover them.
Whether we send someone to save them or not, it's up to you. "
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you guys. The western demonic beasts are still recruiting. I even saw Loki. You guys should know better than us what this means."
"That's it. The demonic beasts are stupid, but Loki is very smart. It'll be too dangerous if we continue contacting him. If you want to send someone to save them, you can come to these coordinates. We'll send someone to meet you."