Just as the four of them had eaten their fill and were planning where to go next, the sound of airplane engines roared in the sky.
Inside the shop and out on the street, chaos suddenly broke out.
"The PN's planes are coming again!"
"Everyone, hide quickly!"
"My child, where are you?"
"Don't push, don't push!"
"Mom, mom, sob sob..."
On the street, the small number of people panicked.
Everyone was looking for a safe shelter. A child who had fallen was scooped up by the mother who ran back in a hurry, rushing home quickly.
"Guests, please come to our basement to take shelter," the waiter hurriedly knocked on the door and said.
Guests who had somewhere to go had already run off, leaving behind those whose homes were far away.
The restaurant had a basement, just right for hiding during an air raid.
The four followed the waiter down into the basement. The place was empty, not even a stool.
There were already over a dozen people inside, half of them were staff, including kitchen helpers.
The basement wasn't ventilated, and with more people inside, the air quickly turned bad.
Especially since a fat man was sitting there holding a plate of meatballs and eating.
"Don't look at me like that, I paid a lot of money for this. It was just brought to the table, how could I leave it?" The fat man noticed everyone staring at him and quickly turned around, protecting the meat in front of him.
He hadn't meant to eat it, but the smell was too tempting, and it was right in front of him. How could anyone resist?
Everyone silently turned their gaze away. It wasn't about the meat. Anyone who could afford to eat here wasn't lacking meat. They were judging him for bringing the dish down here.
Paige looked calm. She had been through worse smells before.
Winn, Ely, and Uziel were also fine. After all, they had grown up in the countryside, used to going near latrines. This kind of smell was nothing.
Honestly, if they hadn't just eaten, the smell of the meat would've been quite appetizing.
The group waited for a while but didn't hear any explosions.
"Boss, should I go outside and check?" said a waiter standing near the door.
"Alright, go ahead. Be careful," said the shopkeeper.
"We should go too. From the sound of it, the plane already left," Paige said to the other three.
Paige had already noticed the plane didn't drop bombs. Instead, it released papers fluttering through the sky.
The bold title read: Letter of Surrender.
"Guests, please wait a bit. The waiter already went to check. Just give it a moment," the shopkeeper quickly tried to stop them.
"There's no sound anymore. The plane is gone." Paige said and walked out.
Winn, Ely, and Uziel followed her up.
Soon after, the waiter's breathless voice came from outside, "Boss, come out quickly, the plane's gone."
Hearing the waiter, the shopkeeper and others slowly walked out of the basement.
Those who hadn't finished eating returned to their tables. The meals had cost a lot and couldn't be wasted.
"Boss, the food's cold. Can you reheat it for us?" one of the guests asked.
"Alright, one table at a time. Please be patient," the shopkeeper quickly instructed the waiters to take the dishes to the kitchen.
Those who had finished eating headed outside to find out what was going on.
There was no need to ask around. As soon as the shopkeeper opened the door, he saw papers flying everywhere, with many scattered on the ground.
Now, whether people had finished eating or not, everyone rushed to the entrance to pick up the papers and read them.
"It's actually a surrender notice. Are we really about to lose?" someone said.
"It says here we've already been surrounded. The towns nearby have all been taken. It's only a matter of time before they break into this place too."
"And also, they say the reason they haven't attacked yet is because of the civilians in the city and the historic sites. They don't want to ruin the way of life here."
"It also says that the high-ranking officials have already run away. Now, only a few low-ranking soldiers are left behind to delay them."
"They also said that if we don't surrender, they'll continue bombing with planes."
"Look at what's written. They say they'll treat prisoners well, and if we hand over our weapons, we won't be killed. After they enter the city, we can live just like before."
On the street, as soon as the sound of the planes faded away, people who had shut their doors and windows came out to check the situation and saw the surrender notices scattered on the ground.
Even those who couldn't read understood what was going on by listening to others talking.
Some people actually believed what the PN soldiers had written and said the army should surrender.
"Foolish." Paige saw those people and cursed.
"You country bumpkin, who are you calling foolish?" Paige's stare was direct, making it obvious who she meant.
"If even someone like me, a so-called country bumpkin, can see the truth, and you, a proud city person, can't, then what else should I call you but foolish?" Paige answered.
"You—then tell us what truth you think you see," the person asked angrily.
"First, the enemy is an invader. They came all the way here to invade our country. Do you think they could possibly be good people? What good person invades another country?
Second, they say such nice things, but do you know what happened to the towns that were already taken?
One moment they were shouting outside the gates about not killing those who surrendered, and once people gave up and raised their hands, the first thing they did after entering the city was go door to door searching.
The men were killed right away. The women—you all know what happened. Even the elderly and children weren't spared.
After that, they burned down the entire village and town.
Right, I've heard the PN soldiers follow the Three-All policy when they enter a village. You proud city folks know what that is?
Kill all. Loot all. Burn all.
Do you know why? Because we have a huge population.
They're afraid people will wake up and resist, so they try to destroy the danger before it grows.
Think about it. Their land is small, and they don't have many people. How many do we have?
If they don't trick people into surrendering first, how would they gather us to slaughter?"
Paige's words were broadcast using her spiritual power, enough for half the city to hear.
For those who didn't hear it directly, they would learn through others repeating it.
She didn't know what was going on at the frontlines, but she knew the front was still fighting hard, and the morale inside the city couldn't fall first.
If morale collapsed, defeat would be close behind.
Everyone was silent after what Paige said.
Resistance—they had never even considered it. People always said ordinary folks shouldn't go against officials.
And the enemy had guns. The first to resist would be the first to die.
No matter who was in charge, they still needed common people. They were just regular civilians.
But after what Paige said, their hearts wavered. Was it really that serious if the army failed?
Paige ignored the silence of the others. She turned to the three beside her and said, "I want to go to the frontlines. Are you going to keep wandering around or go home first?"