Chapter 367 The Veil of Truth
If they could directly wipe out the Snowfall Cult, of course, they wouldn't waste words and would just attack.
But the risks were too high, so turning to negotiations to gain more benefits was the best approach.
After all, the two bases were still in a dominant position right now.
Leonard had no objections to Megan's approach; he didn't want to continue fighting either.
"My trusted lieutenant Austin also died on the territory of West Mountain Base. Now, throughout Starlight City, the only ones with such power and the primary suspects are you, Snowfall Cult! Neil, today you must give us an explanation. Otherwise, our two factions will definitely annihilate all of you!" said Leonard.
As the leaders of both sides negotiated, the fighting temporarily stopped, and both sides called back their men.
When the Snowfall Cult followers retreated, it was quite a spectacle.
The sheer number of them, at a glance, seemed to be in the thousands, and no one knew how many more there might be in the shadows.
Even though they knew most of them were ordinary people, not as elite as their own soldiers, Megan and Leonard couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive.
Their hatred for the Snowfall Cult was not without reason.
If such an organization were allowed to continue developing, no one knew whether they might surpass their own forces in the future.
The priests of the Snowfall Cult glared angrily at Megan and Leonard.
They weren't stupid; they knew these two factions initially intended to fight to the end, but now chose to negotiate seeing the situation wasn't in their favor.
Dean was so angry he could almost grind his teeth to dust. He threw the head of a Silverlake Base soldier to the ground, his right hand transforming into a sharp, clawed beast form.
He demanded, "What does it matter to us if people from your two factions died? What evidence do you have to prove we killed them?"
Evidence? Megan and Leonard couldn't help but sneer at these words.
Megan mocked, "Oh? Then why don't you call the police?"
"You..." Dean's face turned red with anger at this remark.
Indeed, nowadays, killing could be done at will. What mattered was strength, not evidence. Even without evidence, what if we want to fight you?
Neil reached out to hold Dean back. He roughly understood why Emberwick Base and Silverlake Base suddenly tore up the peace agreement and came to attack.
"Snowfall Cult has always adhered to our agreements and has never killed any of your people," Neil said.
Leonard laughed heartily, his eyes gleaming with coldness. "But besides you, I can't think of anyone else in Starlight City who has the power and ambition to attack both of our factions. And the person who did it did such a clean job, taking out two teams led by Psychics without leaving a trace."
The members of Frostwood Base were mostly employees of Frostwood Steel Plant. Those guys had fiery tempers but were relatively behaved and had no expansion ambitions.
Plus, the geographical location of Frostwood Steel Plant was far away, making it unlikely they would strike in those two places.
Besides the Snowfall Cult, there really wasn't anyone else who seemed as suspicious.
Neil took a deep breath. "I see. But have you ever considered that besides our few factions, there are other factions in Starlight City that are not much weaker than us? Some might even rival us!"
At these words, Megan and Leonard immediately frowned and retorted without hesitation, "That's impossible!"
The five major areas of Starlight City had long been divided among them. Except for the Snowfall Cult, which had secretly developed at the beginning of the apocalypse when other bases hadn't had time to expand. There was no chance for another large force to develop in other areas.
The four major bases, after stabilizing their internal situations, first cleared their respective territories. They gathered all resources and enslaved the population. Any slightly organized or sizable force would be either absorbed or destroyed at its inception.
Neil, however, said, "It's entirely possible! Have you all forgotten the commotion in the Eternal River District over the past month?"
Megan and Leonard exchanged a glance and fell into thought.
Among the five major forces in the past, West Mountain Base had the strongest military power.
Because the army of Starlight City had been completely absorbed by West Mountain Base, they had the most soldiers and weapons.
But over the past month, their spies had detected gunfire in the Eternal River District, which was part of West Mountain Base's territory.
They had also heard the sounds of large explosives going off several times.
Clearly, this wasn't the kind of commotion caused by an ordinary opponent.
However, no one believed that West Mountain Base could be wiped out by any force.
So later, when missiles from Silvercrest District destroyed West Mountain Base, everyone instinctively ignored the previous battles and rushed to seize West Mountain Base's territory.
Neil's words brought back memories of that strange time for the two of them.
'Is there really some powerful force behind this? If they still exist, doesn't that mean even West Mountain Base couldn't deal with them?' Thinking of this, Megan felt a bit heavy-hearted.
If that were the case, their plans to expand into West Mountain Base's former territory would face significant obstacles.
Leonard had the same thoughts as Megan. No one wanted another powerful opponent to emerge in this land.
"Neil, you're just trying to divert our hatred! Do you think we would believe you?" said Megan.
She had her own calculations, but now that both sides were in a standoff, she had to appear stronger than Neil.
She pointed her right index finger at Neil and said unceremoniously, "Now, you need to prove Snowfall Cult's innocence for us to believe you!"
Dean was so angry he was about to curse, but Neil stopped him. "Don't be impulsive. If we really start fighting now, we are no match for them."
Neil gave Dean a look, signaling him to calm down.
The foundation of Snowfall Cult was still too weak; even facing the force of a single base was very challenging, let alone fighting two at once!
If it weren't for their many brainwashed followers who believed that fighting for Snowfall Cult would grant them entry to a bountiful, eternally warm paradise, they wouldn't have held out this long.
"Tell them what you saw outside West Mountain Base that day," Neil said, then turned to Megan and Leonard, "Our people were also at West Mountain Base that day and encountered Austin. Besides him and his men, we also saw people from other factions. Maybe they are the culprits you're looking for!"
Leonard's eyes narrowed, and he immediately said, "Tell me! Who did you see there? Who dared to attack my people from Silverlake Base?"
Austin was his old comrade, and they had worked together at sea for over a decade.
Moreover, Austin was a Psychic. Any Psychic was extremely important to a faction!
Dean's eyes were filled with defiance and ferocity as he glared at Leonard and Megan, suppressing his anger as he said, "I saw several people wearing West Mountain Base combat uniforms that day."
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