Meanwhile...
Pika and Izu hitched a ride on a modified unit—a motorcycle-powered vehicle with a rear passenger cabin—mostly used to transport merchandise across regions.
In New Gehran, residents mostly traveled on foot. Those with trucks—of different varieties—were usually affiliated with the governor. Very few people owned vehicles, and most of those that did were approved by the governor. Big or small, every vehicle in this territory required approval.
It was a good thing they managed to secure a ride, despite the steep price.
"How do you get lost and separated from your group?" the driver puffed smoke, a cigarette still clipped between his teeth. "Guys like you could get into trouble, you know? You can’t just enter the territory without doing proper research."
Izu and Pika glanced at the driver, who was casually scolding them. They could tell he was doing it mostly to remind them that they owed him.
"Good thing I drove past you guys!" the driver added. "If someone else found you—worse, if the governor’s hunting dogs spotted you—you’d be spending the night in jail. Those guys don’t like new faces."
What he said was true.
The governor’s men were the most paranoid people everyone knew. Anyone they deemed a non-local was usually stopped. Visitors typically carried passes with them, since this place was not a tourist attraction.
Most visitors came for business—whether dealing with the governor, exports, or imports. Often, they were accompanied by middlemen.
The driver only agreed to give them a ride after Pika mentioned Billionaire. Billionaire wasn’t as famous as other middlemen, but he was notorious in many ways. That alone made their story believable.
"Anyway, when you see Billy, tell him I gave you guys a ride, yeah?" The driver tilted his head slightly, attempting to look back while keeping his eyes on the road. "We’re almost in the main city."
The duo remained quiet, eyes fixed on the driver’s back. Even though he didn’t seem suspicious, they hadn’t lowered their guard—especially this close to the main city.
Izu exhaled quietly, turned to Pika, and whispered, "Anything?"
Pika frowned and shook his head.
After Lola’s orders and the conversation between Jarvis and Atlas, their lines had gone quiet. They had heard about the attack on the camp, but that was the last update. It wasn’t that they were disconnected. Everyone simply seemed too preoccupied with their own situations to communicate.
"Izu," Pika whispered, glancing sideways at the driver to check if he was listening. Lowering his voice further, he asked, "What are we going to do once we reach the main city? It looks like we’ll be the first to arrive."
Izu lowered his head, thinking. "We do what we were told."
That meant staying undetected.
Looking at the road leading to the main city, everything seemed... normal. Quiet, even. They had no idea that Gigante and neighboring towns were already in flames, or that an uprising had begun.
They didn’t know a war had already broken out, and that its center was their respected Madam.
"Eh?" The driver suddenly let out a sound, brows creasing. "Another checkpoint? Damn it. Those paranoid motherfuckers. With so few vehicles in this region compared to outside the territory, these idiots still manage to cause traffic—fucking idiots!"
As the driver grumbled on, annoyed at the congestion near the city entrance, Izu and Pika stiffened. Seeing the traffic ahead and the armed men everywhere, they exchanged looks.
"If they claim they’re that strong, why don’t they—" the driver trailed off, suddenly feeling the weight of his mini motor truck lighten. He glanced back.
"Huh?" His nose scrunched. "Where did those two go?"
Frowning, he thought for a moment before letting out a shallow laugh. Considering the money they’d paid, he shrugged and refocused on the road.
"They paid," he muttered. "At least I didn’t get scammed. Never mind."
Meanwhile, Izu and Pika, having jumped off the motortruck, sprinted to the side and hid in a dark spot. From their vantage point, they saw more vehicles heading toward the main city. Some trucks passed on the opposite side, indicating another entrance.
"That’s a lot of armed men," Pika whispered, crouching behind a tree. He narrowed his eyes at the truck filled with soldiers, all headed for the city. "I didn’t see this much security in the other towns we passed."
Gigante was far from the main city. Their original starting point had been another town, and after Gigante, they’d traveled even farther. On the way back, they hadn’t needed to pass through it.
If they didn’t know this was Ravah, they wouldn’t have thought the territory was unsafe at all. There hadn’t been many armed men before. But seeing them now—fully geared, weapons slung across their bodies, ammunition secured, supplies prepared—it became clear how foolish that assumption had been.
"How are we supposed to get into the city with this much security?" Pika asked quietly, turning to Izu. "I can try, but you know I can’t fight."
Unknowingly, Pika’s nerves had begun to settle after holding out this long. Part of him wanted to panic, but another part trusted Izu more than himself.
Izu didn’t respond immediately, his mind racing.
"I’m thinking," he muttered, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. Out of instinct, he tapped his earpiece again.
"Madam," he whispered, but no response.
With Lola unreachable, he opened his eyes and looked at Pika. The latter raised his brows expectantly.
"We..." Izu trailed off, then exhaled. "We just have to wing it."
"What?!"
"Wing it!" Izu grabbed Pika by the back and started dragging him. "That’s what I said—wing it!"
Pika’s face went pale as he stumbled after him, eyes wide. "Izu! How can we just wing it?! We’re not the Madam! We can’t do it like her! I mean, we can do better!"
But it was already too late.
In the end, Pika and Izu had to bypass security to enter the main city.
How?
By climbing the towering wall that protected the city from outside forces. They would, but not without Pika mentally screaming, "Winging it doesn’t mean we’ll grow wings!"