”Princess, since Grimlock Green has already convinced the people inside to open the entrance to the bunker, should we—”
Emilia waved her hand with a smile. “Not yet, no. Just watch for now.”
The secretary paused in surprise, but after hesitating for a moment, she still decided to just do as she was told.
Since this was one of the rare few moments when she could be alone with the princess, why spend this precious time arguing with her over pointless things?
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Meanwhile, the ‘pointless things’ had already made their way out of the most dangerous zone that was supposed to be heavily monitored by the empire’s forces, but wasn’t.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Most of the commonly used paths were indeed back under surveillance soon after they managed to get out, but that wasn’t the case for the secret exit.
Although the fact that he himself hadn’t been aware of its existence should have been comforting, General Green still found it slightly strange how smoothly everything was going.
Was it really possible for the rebel forces to not scour this place inside out after failing to enter the president’s bunker? After all, even if the secret exit was well hidden behind a painting and disguised with wallpaper, it was far from being impossible to find.
No, the fact that they hadn’t even tried to get in… was it really because they were foolish and naïve?
Although he used to look down on the little girl who called herself an ’empress’ now, recalling the sense of oppression he felt at the end of their call, the general couldn’t help but have some doubts.
’No, no. I’m just overthinking everything, surely.’ General Green wiped off the sweat from his forehead. “Fortunately, the enemy’s forces aren’t very well coordinated yet, so we managed to make use of this loophole.”
Of course, although the general only said such a thing to ease the discomfort in his heart, the president still laughed. “That foolish bunch probably never thought there would still be good and loyal people left in this country.”
The director of the intelligence division frowned as he shifted his eyes from side to side. “That’s good and all, but don’t forget that this tunnel will lead us directly to the center of the capital. How are we going to get out from there?”
General Green smiled. “The same way we got in, of course.”
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Emilia wasn’t sure if it was because of the need for ‘variety’ or because the general had strange hobbies, but she still couldn’t help nod in admiration after seeing the ‘disguises’ prepared by General Green.
Just when her secretary was about to start questioning her own fashion sense, however, she saw the crimson-haired beauty shake her head ruefully. “It’s a pity that he wasted his talent of being a great circus director by joining the military, but I guess it’s not too late.”
The spectacled secretary was momentarily dumbfounded before she realized Emilia was joking. Before she could respond, however, she saw the crimson-haired beauty take out her phone.
The bell had barely started ringing before the call was connected.
”Hi, Noelle. I just wanted to let you know that the rats are just about to get out of the tunnel. How do things look on your side? Are Crystal and Dixie done preparing?”
The voice on the other side was a little muffled, and there was a lot of noise from what seemed to be drums and various other musical instruments, but the secretary still managed to hear a faint affirmative response.
Surprisingly, though, Emilia didn’t seem to have any trouble understanding the girl through the noise at all as she cheered. “Great! Remember, it’s okay if things deviate from the plan here and there. Don’t work too hard trying to keep them all alive, your health is more important!”
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Although the secret tunnel was quite safe all the way from the bunker to its exit, General Green knew that it also had a fatal flaw.
Instead of leading them a zone that was guaranteed to be safe, it only had two exits — one that led to the central province’s military base, and another that would lead them directly to an inconspicuous building near the central square.
Normally, neither of these would be a particularly poor choice. After all, had the rebels not completely taken over the country, the heart of the city was both easy to defend and hard for enemies to sneak around at.
And even if the situation wasn’t optimistic, the people designing the tunnel never expected that anyone would be able to compromise the central military base. After all, if they could do that… the president was as good as dead anyway.
Since picking the second tunnel would be suicide, both the general and the president agreed that taking the exit to the center of the city was the best choice.
After all, compared to risking a confrontation with the rebel forces if they tried to sneak out normally, this was still a plan with a much higher chance of success.
The only real problem was that the ‘disguises’ prepared by General Green were really tasteless, but few had the heart to complain about it right now.
After all, not to mention some fake-looking beards, hats, and braids, even the manliest of them wouldn’t mind wearing a skirt if it meant they could get out of the capital alive.
With General Green assuring them that as long as they could remain hidden for a while, his contact would be able to carry them out of the capital safely, the confidence of the team was at the highest point it had been for a long time.
”Mr. President, you should stay at the center of the group as much as possible, since you’re the easiest person to recognize.”
The president was still a little dissatisfied with the intelligence director’s words at first, but seeing General Green nod, he could only accept it passively. ‘Bah, idiots. Why do I have to worry about small crap like this? There’s no way they’re catching me.’
Not to mention how his face was almost completely unrecognizable after putting on the fake beard, he was even wearing a double pigtailed red wig! Not to mention some random passerby, maybe even his mother wouldn’t recognize him.
And with the empire still struggling to restore many of its basic functionalities after having ‘changed hands’, the surveillance and order couldn’t possibly be anywhere near what it used to be.
Of course, he only sprayed some insults in his heart, but didn’t refuse the suggestion openly yet. It was more important to get out of here safely first.
But although they derided the ’empress’ in their hearts, none of them really dared to relax their vigilance as they got closer to the exit of the tunnel.
When they finally got out of the other side and entered the ‘secret room’, however, the whole team couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
If the dull thumping of heavy bass, loud music, and scantily dressed teenagers didn’t make it obvious enough, the flashing rainbow lights and heavy stench of beer in the air made it very clear that they had just crashed a party.
Normally, anyone would be alarmed if almost forty middle-aged men suddenly started popping out of the wardrobe. Luckily for them, however, the people present were far too delirious from the alcohol to even recognize their own faces in the mirror.
Expecting them to realize how many people there were in the hall was simply a pipe dream.
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Emilia giggled in amusement as she watched the president and the general panicking as they tried to make their way out of the ‘party’.
She couldn’t help but praise her secretary for having the forethought to put extra hidden cameras all over the possible ‘escape routes’, or she might have really missed out on some of these ‘beautiful’ scenes.
Of course, it wasn’t long before the general decided that they couldn’t create too much of a mess, or risk hiding in such an overpopulated house. Regardless of the risks… they had to make their way out and find a better hiding spot, or just escape directly.
Unfortunately for them, the noise outside even got worse, and it was only then that they realized that there was actually some kind of parade taking place outside.
Feeling the president’s hateful eyes, the General frowned. “I-I had no idea there was some parade in the capital today. What’s the occasion?!”
Looking at the people carrying huge banners with blue lotus flowers, however, they could pretty much guess that it must be something related to celebrating the new empire or the empress.
The president gritted his teeth in hate, but the general suddenly had a brilliant idea. “Wait a minute, isn’t this just the perfect opportunity for us?! We just need to blend in with the crowd!”
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