Chapter 85 — The Last Seed Keeper

Vom Cat Square was packed when Khe Mien returned, more crowded than any meeting she had seen since the day the Dong Tro Network was officially named—not only representatives of the five founding Arches, but also new faces from small settlements she had never met, all of whom had heard about the daring trip to Vom Thuong and gathered to wait for news. The smell of hot sand lingered in the late afternoon air mingling with the kitchen smoke from communal pots of soup hastily cooked for the returning party, and the murmur of the crowd, instead of fading as she passed through the gate, only grew thicker, as if each person wanted to confirm with their own eyes that she was alive before allowing themselves to believe any rumors that had reached their ears.

"I'm back," Diem Quynh said, running to hug Khe Mien as soon as she walked through the gate, her eyes quickly scanning the group before stopping at Doanh Ba Thong, still weak but able to stand on her own. "And you brought him back safely."

"Not entirely safe," Bach Lam said, a tired smile crossing his face, "but alive. And carrying more than we hoped to find."

An emergency meeting of the alliance was convened that night, bringing together all the key representatives — Cau Bach Thinh and Diep Ba Nhan of Vom Cat, Xa Binh Nguyen of Vom Soi, Quac Thi Hien of Vom Reo, and through the radio communication channel directly connected to the meeting room, the voice of Wei Ba Cuong from Dome Stone, along with Bien Ba Uy and Su Dinh Lam from distant Green Dome.

Khe Mien recounts everything that happened — the rescue of Doanh Ba Thong, the discovery of the Root Store that really exists under the Upper Dome, and about the Toan Vom Radio that may be the key to revealing the truth to the entire post-Great Change world. She tried to keep her voice steady and matter-of-fact, as if she were reporting a routine seed inventory, even though every word was heavy in her heart with memories of the musty smell of the stairs leading down into the darkness, of the weak flashlight beam gliding across the seemingly endless rows of shelves. When she finished, a heavy silence filled the room, broken only by the crackle of the radio transmission.

"The Original Seed Warehouse is real," Bien Ba Uy said at last, his voice trembling over the transmission, carrying an emotion he rarely showed. "Co Diem Ninh was right to believe in it, even though she never dared to say for sure."

“And it was stolen from all of us,” Su Dinh Lam continued, his voice carrying a cold indignation completely different from his usual caution. "While Green Dome and countless other Domes struggled with their lineages weakening with each passing generation, they kept thousands of boxes of intact seeds for themselves, in the name of 'the worthy'."

“This is why we can't wait any longer,” Khe Mien said, standing up so the entire room could see her more clearly. "We need to mobilize the full strength of the alliance, not for conquest or revenge, but to open that door before everyone, and hold the All-Dome Broadcast long enough for the truth to be transmitted to every Dome at once."

Wei Baqiang, his voice carried over the transmission with a new seriousness, spoke first among the representatives. “Stone Arch will be fully involved,” he said, without hesitation. "No more discreet communication. I promised you that the rift would become an open door, and I think, that time has come. We will send all the defense forces we can muster, along with our best team of tunneling engineers, because I doubt you will need the ability to penetrate fortified structures."

"What about Han Dinh Sang?" Khe Mien asked, remembering the last warning he had ever given.

"He still opposes," Wei Baqiang replied, "but this time, he no longer has enough voice in the Stone Dome Council to block the decision. Perhaps, at last, even he has realized that staying on the sidelines is no longer a safe option, when a truth of this magnitude is waiting to be revealed."

Xa Binh Nguyen and Quac Thi Hien also pledged, respectively, what Vom Soi and Vom Reu could contribute — not much in the military sense, but enough to provide logistical support, medical support, and, equally important, the legitimacy of having full representation from every member of Dom in this decisive moment.

In the middle of the discussion, a young messenger from the alliance's border patrol, who regularly monitored movements along Salt Dome territory, asked permission to enter the room to report some information he had just gathered.

“We just received word from a fugitive,” he said, his voice somewhat reserved at the sudden attention of the room. "A low-ranking Salt Dome officer, named Son Ba Dat, left the ranks three days ago and found his way to one of our communications stations near the southern border."

"What did he say?" Bach Lam asked, caution evident in his voice at the possibility that this was a trap.

"He said that more and more soldiers in the Salt Dome army were beginning to doubt Kishba Hoanh's orders," the young messenger continued. "Especially after the news of Ngan The Binh's death spread, along with rumors about the truth behind the Great Change. He said he had been present at one of the burned settlements, and could not continue to live with what he had witnessed and participated in."

A thoughtful silence spread across the room, and Khe Mien felt a faint ray of hope creep into the midst of the heavy tension of the meeting. "That means that even in the hearts of our enemies, not everyone agrees with what Khong Ba Truc and Kich Ba Hoanh are doing," she said.

“We need to be careful,” Diep Ba Nhan warned, his tone matter-of-fact. "A defector could be real, but it could also be a disinformation scheme. We shouldn't put too much trust in a single source."

"I agree," Bach Lam said. “But I also think we should not ignore the possibility that, when the time comes, not every soldier of the Salt Dome will be willing to fight to the end for a lord whose conscience they themselves are beginning to doubt.”

The meeting lasted late into the night, with specific plans gradually being drawn up — a combined force from all the Dome members would advance towards the Upper Dome within the next week, enough time to mobilize and prepare, but not too long to give Canh Ba Tuyen a chance to further reinforce the defenses or, worse yet, relocate the entire contents of the Original Grain Warehouse to a safer location.

“We will not attack like an invading army,” Khe Mien emphasized as the plan slowly took shape, looking around at the faces that had built this alliance with her from its most fragile beginnings. "We will come as a collective voice, demanding that the truth be known, and ready to defend the right to know that truth at any cost necessary, but never to be the first to draw our weapons if there is another way."

When the meeting ended and the representatives gradually left the room to prepare for the urgent days ahead, Doanh Ba Thong, although still weak, stayed behind to talk privately with Khe Mien.

“I want to come along,” he said, his voice steady even though his body still bore the marks of his days in captivity. "I know the layout of the Private Archives better than anyone else here, and I think, after all that's happened, I need to see for myself the moment that door opens."

"You're not strong enough yet," Khe Mien said, worry evident in her voice.

"I'll be well enough in a week," Doanh Ba Thong replied, a new determination in his eyes. "And I think, after many years of only being able to be the silent eyes and ears from within, I deserve to stand with you in the moment the truth is finally spoken."

Khe Mien looked at him for a long moment, recognizing in his still slightly stooped posture something not just physical fatigue, but the burden of too many years of having to swallow what he knew, hiding it under a face of submission to those he hated. “You won't have to wait another week if you're not ready,” she said. "I won't let you fall halfway because of a promise to yourself."

Khe Mien nodded, there was no longer any reason to refuse that request, and as she walked out of the meeting room, looking up at the starry night sky above Vom Cat Square, where the campfires of the alliance representatives were still burning everywhere, she clearly felt that, after all the long journeys, all the losses and sacrifices, they were finally approaching the decisive moment that her entire journey, from the day she left the Green Dome gate, has silently led.

Bach Lam came to her side, and they both stood silently for a long time, without words, just feeling each other's presence on the threshold of what they both knew would be the greatest, and perhaps the last, challenge on the path they had traveled together.