224 Confrontation (1/2)

”Butch, go and talk to them. Bring a few guards with you.” said the Whisperer robed in white.

Several people reported the army's sudden deployment, which alerted a lot of people. Although there were some conflicts with the military, there have been no medium or large scale fights that happened.

The people believed that the things they were doing were for survival and it was the army who was causing trouble to them.

Everyone believes that the government did nothing and the Queen was their savior.

Butch, the leathery man, stood up and adjusted his leather pants. He took a nearby guitar and walked his way out. The sun shone brightly on the lawn and even reflected on the nearby pool. He called a bunch of guards to follow him, and they headed for the reported marching army.

The place where the Whisperer and the Queen stayed was at Club Manila East, a top local Resort and Hotel business.

The two parties saw each other from a distance. They met at the famous Tiange, a vast marketplace dubbed as the second Divisoria.

There were multiple buildings with numerous stalls at both sides of the road, and the marketplace stretched for as long as the eye could see, taking over two to three lanes of two streets.

The army's march halted and the soldier in command of the operation, Major Jaquez Rosario, stood at the front together with his subordinates.

Butch didn't shy out and postured himself with a guitar on his shoulder, held like a baseball bat. He only took ten people to go with him but a vast crowd formed behind him. These people were believers of the Whisperer and the Queen and have lost hope for the government after not receiving help for far too long.

”What a wonderful day for a stroll, don't you think so?” Butch shouted, then sarcastically added. ”Is there anything that I can help the silk squashes of our country?”

The crowd behind Butch laughed and snickered, some even booed while shouting profanities.

Major Jaquez Rosario and most of the army didn't appreciate his words nor the crowd's gesture. Initially, the plan was to stall for time and arrest these people after the detached elite team could take care of the enemy leaders. The detained individual would then sent as front liners for clearing the Capital City.

Being called a silk squash means that they're someone incapable. For soldiers who risk their lives every day to keep the country safe, they felt offended that people still had the guts to say things like that to them.

On one hand, we have people who received care and survived by themselves. On the other, the government had tied hands but did everything but still was late. There were only around 125,000 active soldiers and 180,000 reserve personnel. Even if the initial phase didn't affect the military that much since they were healthy and stationed at army bases, there was not enough of them to save the whole country at once. Even then, the bulk of the active personnel was at the southern part of the country fighting terrorists and communist parties while the ones stationed at the top and the center portion of the country were the ones who got rotated in service.

After calming himself down, Major Jaquez shouted in response to the question posed. ”I am Major Jaquez Rosario of the Philippine Army. The government truly regrets what happened to most of you, and we can assure your safety once more. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is creating a safe zone on the north. We are guarding all the national highways that leads north while clearing all the enemies up there. This is the first phase of restoring peace for our country and we need strong people like you. I am tasked to apprehend each and every one of you lest your lot chose to surrender peacefully. You would then be able to reclaim your citizenship and live life just like before.”

Major Jaquez statement was a shock to everyone on the other side. Although it was true that the government didn't send immediate help, they still sent one in the end. It was better late than never, right?

Butch almost got convinced with the major's speech. If it weren't his strong faith for the Queen and the Whisperer, he would have been convinced to turn sides. He looks behind and noticed the fervent gazes of the people turning to hesitation, then hope.

Then he realized that the situation turned bad so quickly when nothing has even happened. He made a few knowing glances on the planted moles on the crowd and they started their work. After surviving the past weeks, he learned that people's minds were fickle. Any sort of stimulation that deeply connects to them would make them unstable.

And so the moles worked their magic.

”What about are dead family?! Our loved ones!”

”My friend died saving me! Though we only met when things turned to shit, we treated each other as siblings!”

”Fuck the government!”

”Yeah!”