Chapter 21: Public Opinion Reverses
"Meow~"
As soon as they entered the cabin, Yuumi floated from Pietro to Wanda with a fish in her mouth.
Wanda also loved this adorable cat who had once saved her life. She held Yuumi in her arms and scratched her chin. "Yuumi, did you get hurt?"
"Nom."
Yuumi swallowed the fish in one bite, then licked her paw. "Don’t worry about me. I can’t be attacked while I’m in the spirit realm."
"Boss, I brought these back."
Pietro dragged over a sack and threw it onto the ground.
Once the rope tying the sack was undone, the firearms inside spilled out.
After the terrorists were dealt with, Pietro would bring their guns back.
After all, the Holy Guns Orion Cross converted could only be used once. Once their bullets were fired, they were scrapped.
Orion Cross did not refuse this arrangement. In any case, every time he gave Pietro one gun, Pietro would bring back a dozen or so in return. Orion Cross could throw them into his system space in case of emergency. It was pure profit.
However...
After having their operations disrupted so many times, those "terrorists" should be reaching the limit of their patience soon, right?
Pietro, who had the Holy Gun and Yuumi attached to him, was actually still far weaker than Captain America in terms of personal strength.
Rather than saying Pietro was taking Yuumi around to punish crime, it was more accurate to say that Pietro was Yuumi’s mount.
Without Yuumi’s enhancement to his strength and speed, her healing ability, and her auto-tracking magical missiles, Pietro would not have been able to fight those "terrorists" at all.
Because those so-called "terrorists" were actually squads of elite soldiers.
Orion Cross picked up two guns from the ground. Holy light and demonic flame flashed across his hands, and one white gun and one black gun appeared in his grip.
"Take them. You probably won’t get to use them many more times anyway."
Orion Cross tossed the two guns to Pietro and spoke.
"Thanks, Boss!"
Pietro looked at the two guns Orion Cross had unexpectedly given him with surprise, then a trace of doubt appeared. "Why? Are we leaving?"
"More or less."
Orion Cross replied casually, then continued rummaging through the sack of firearms. He found a supermarket plastic bag inside, which held the things Pietro had bought this time.
"Wanda, go start a fire. We’re getting ready to eat."
Taking several boxes of frozen food from the plastic bag, Orion Cross sighed inwardly. None of the three of them knew how to cook, so they could only temporarily rely on these convenience foods to get by.
"Oh, okay!"
Wanda, who was playing with Yuumi, heard Orion Cross call her and obediently nodded. She grabbed the matches on the table and ran outside like a puff of smoke.
Soon, lunch was ready.
A few sausages, three servings of mashed potatoes, a plate of dumplings, as well as bread and thick soup.
Incidentally, Wanda also helped Yuumi cook her raw fish and poured her favorite ketchup over it.
The three people and one cat sat inside the cabin, listening to the radio as they enjoyed lunch and passed the time.
"Then, Mr. Owen, may I ask what you think of the city hero, the Silver Gunslinger?"
At that moment, the voice of a reporter interviewing someone came from the radio.
Hearing the reporter ask this question, Pietro, who was scooping mashed potatoes, revealed a trace of anticipation and excitement on his face.
In his mind, these citizens he had protected were about to begin expressing their praise and admiration for him.
"I don’t know how to judge his actions, but last time, when he dodged those terrorists’ attacks, the glass of my poor coffee shop was shattered because of it."
The middle-aged man being interviewed on the radio said this.
Pietro, who had originally been looking forward to being praised, showed a trace of confusion on his face.
And the interview continued.
"Excuse me, ma’am, what do you think of the city hero, the Silver Gunslinger?"
"He’s nothing but a warmonger, a lowly little runt! Oh, forgive me for being so crude, but just three days ago, his clash with the terrorists got my Thor killed!"
A grief-stricken woman’s voice came from the radio.
"What? Something like that happened? May I ask, Thor was your..."
The reporter was shocked. He had not expected that someone had even been killed, so he hurriedly asked further.
"He was my beloved dog. I always treated him like my own son, but I never expected that I would have to outlive my own child. I believe the Silver Gunslinger should be held responsible for this!"
Reporter: "..."
"That’s my fault too?"
Pietro froze there with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Pietro..."
"It’s fine."
Orion Cross rubbed Wanda’s head when he saw the worry in her eyes and spoke.
He had already guessed this outcome. He just had not expected it to arrive so quickly.
The interview continued.
At first, there were still a few people speaking up for Pietro, but later on, all of them were demanding that he compensate them for the damage he had caused and be punished.
"They really are a proper bunch of easy marks."
Orion Cross stepped forward, turned off the radio, and sighed with emotion.
A few days ago, Orion Cross had already learned about the city’s past from Wanda. Adding in the recent appearance of the so-called "terrorists," he had already discovered the problem.
The so-called "terrorists" were actually Hydra soldiers stationed at the experimental base in the forest outside Sokovia.
Hydra could even infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council, let alone the officials of a tiny Sokovia.
The so-called terrorist attacks, robberies, and thefts were nothing more than self-directed plays staged because the Hydra funds for the experimental base had entered another shortage.
And the citizens of Sokovia were the perfect leeks for Hydra’s sustainable harvest, easy marks who could do nothing but protest and march.