Chapter 175 Love will give a person a body. When I am lying on my sickbed, I will listen to...
The Jinjing bandit suppression incident came to an end with a sky-high ransom of 4 billion.
North looked at the account statement and felt very happy. This was the first time that Tomato Country made a large amount of foreign exchange - selling prisoners, it was really a good business.
This time, it was thanks to Niao Niao that he took the lead in negotiating, otherwise we wouldn’t have won so big.
North exclaimed: "This is a very powerful move. He grasped the enemy's psychology and made the negotiation experts helpless. You didn't see how stinky the face of that 'crazy' expert was when he left."
Bai Ling said casually: "Not bad, I'm also learning as I go along."
"I don't believe it." North was very interested. "You look very experienced. You are very stable. Did you learn this in military school?"
Bai Ling smiled helplessly and did not comment.
Few people know that he never attended military school. He joined the army early, which was equivalent to a special recruit, and he went directly into the corps for training.
However, the functions in the legion are subdivided, and his branch of the army basically only teaches one thing, which is how to become a "humanoid weapon."
He carried this point to the extreme in his later life. No matter where he went, he was a useful knife in the team. People would praise him for his ferocity and fighting skills, but no one would ever say that he was agile in strategy.
The knife is only used to attack with blood, no need to sit down and negotiate.
Fixed thinking patterns caused Commander Bai in his previous life to overlook one point: war is a tool and means to achieve political goals. A war that is separated from or contrary to political purposes is nothing more than a brutal killing.
The strength of military power is always prepared to deter the enemy at the negotiating table.
No matter how brave and capable a general is, if he cannot convert victory into actual benefits such as land, resources, power, etc., all his efforts will be in vain. It's like a lame giant - he can't run far.
Bai Ling had a big setback in his previous life, which was caused by a mistake in negotiation.
So after reviewing his life, he was still somewhat certain about the hypocrisy and fickleness of those senior military officials.
The next day, North came hurriedly, looking indignant.
Bai Ling rarely saw him look so unhappy, and he guessed that something had happened again at a glance.
As soon as North sat down, he sneered: "I was wondering why the golden eagle gave the money so readily, it turns out it was waiting for us in the back."
"What's wrong?"
"He filed a complaint with the Interstellar Alliance, suing us for extortion!"
As he spoke, North sighed heavily, "It's also my fault. I'm not familiar with the business and didn't know that the Interstellar Alliance has an international convention that stipulates that the victorious country must provide evidence of its own land damage, damaged weapons, and civilian deaths to obtain corresponding compensation. In the eyes of the Interstellar Alliance, our empty demands for compensation are malicious fraud. Now that the money has been received, we can't explain why we are right."
Thinking of this, he blamed himself. As a civilian in the team, he should check for loopholes and avoid pitfalls.
Bai Ling digested the news, but did not blame him. Instead, he said:
"This is our first time building a country, so it's normal for us to make mistakes due to our lack of experience."
"I didn't expect that Golden Eagle, who has thick eyebrows and big eyes, is so sinister behind the scenes. I'm so angry. The 4 billion has to be returned before it's even warm in my hands."
When North thought about the Imperial Army laughing heartily because they had tricked them, he gnashed his teeth in anger.
Do we really have to endure the charge of extortion and bow to the Imperial Army?
Of course not.
For Commander Bai, there is no reason to spit out the pigeon once it's in his mouth. It was just a matter of how to put the money into his pocket in a legitimate and reasonable way... He tapped the table with his finger, and several thoughts flashed through his mind.
Bai Ling raised his grey eyes, confident of victory:
"Don't worry, the 4 billion will definitely not be lost."
·
Golden Eagle was able to sit firmly on the position of the empire's marshal and maneuver among the major military families and aristocrats for several years. He is certainly no pushover.
So as soon as he brought his son safely back to the capital planet, he took off his leather gloves, pointed at the table, and asked someone to complain to the Interstellar Alliance.
The subordinate came to report: "Your Excellency Marshal, the Interstellar Alliance has received the news. After a vote by the committee, Bai Ling was ordered to return the huge compensation, otherwise they will be sanctioned."
Golden Eagle poured half a glass of whiskey with ice, sipped it and smiled faintly:
"A 19-year-old kid is asking for too much from me, but I have to see if I can swallow it."
The subordinates followed up with ridicule: "It's just that they are too stupid. They have been bandits for a long time and have no culture. They don't even know the rules of compensation between countries."
The Golden Eagle spoke in a steady tone, but his words were teasing: "Young people may not have much experience and concept of money. They don't know that the compensation of 4 billion is at least equivalent to a battle as large as half a planet."
The subordinate said with disdain, "That's right. If we really let Bai Ling and his group mess around, what's the point of the Interstellar Convention? They dare to establish a country by raising a flag. Do you think it's a child's game? If you dare to ask for money, you have the guts to fight the Federation and get back the lost land."
As he was speaking, someone hurriedly came over holding his hat and saluted:
"Reporting to His Excellency the Marshal, Bai Ling said he would not return the money and he wanted to keep it for the war."
The golden eagle raised his eyelids and said without any emotion: "What kind of war is this?"
"They said they wanted to fight... fight the Federation, to take back the three planets we lost."
The golden eagle flew into a rage and smashed its fist on the table, denting a whole piece of wood:
"Asshole! A group of bandits and pirates want to retake lost territory. Are they trying to slap the military in the face?"
The two subordinates shuddered all over, and quickly lowered their eyes, their backs trembling so much that they dared not move.
The subordinate who had just spoken out was now sweating coldly. He stole a glance at the marshal's dark face and quickly said:
"This, this must be the braggart's bragging. He has been guarding the Wild Star these days. How could he go to the war? We all saw it."
The golden eagle's expression eased a little. "That's right. They are a tiny country. They only have one interstellar mothership, and the rest are all outdated junk. If they want to fight, what can they use? They are just making a fuss and trying to save some face from me."
He had expected this in his mind, and felt that he had a pretty good grasp of Ye Xing and Bai Ling's strength. So when the two sides met again for negotiation, the attitude of the Golden Eagle was inevitably a little frivolous:
"Commander Bai, I understand that you don't want to give up the money. If you can be more polite, we don't mind leaving you 200 million or 300 million as Jin Jing's accommodation fee on Yexing these days."
"As for the rest of the big talk, there's no need to say it."
North was also online. After hearing this, he didn't get angry but laughed: "Big talk? So the Marshal thinks we are bragging."
The golden eagle stated slowly: "I don't mean to look down on you. I am just discussing the matter at hand."
"It's good to stick to the facts."
Hearing this, everyone looked to the right of the virtual screen. Commander Bai, who had been sitting next to him and remained silent, suddenly nodded and smiled, "In that case, I might as well discuss the matter at hand."
As he spoke, he pushed his chair away and stood up. The moment he turned around, the screen showed a vast 4-dimensional floating map.
The black box of the map projection device had the fleet number printed on it. Anyone with a discerning eye would shout, "Isn't this the military map of the 'Storm'? You actually took it too, robbers!"
Bai Ling smiled and said, "Being a robber is better than being a worthless person who sells his father's land without any regrets."
"you……!"
This sentence made the senior military officials present feel so choked up in their chests that they almost vomited blood.
...Even the tyrant Cade doesn't dare to point at them and call them "waste"!
The Golden Eagle tried to control the situation and rebuked: "Commander Bai, you openly insult the military like this, do you still look like you want to discuss cooperation?"
Bai Ling had a blank expression on his face. He glanced sideways at the terminal on the table, and a final confirmed message popped up on his screen. He read every word in his mind, twisted his sweaty palms, and breathed a sigh of relief for his distant companions. He raised his head and said directly to the golden eagle:
"I won't talk anymore. You no longer have the leverage to talk to me."
"What?" Golden Eagle frowned. "Commander Bai, please understand that this is a national-level military consultation, not a joke!"
Bai Ling tilted his head and threw the battle report directly on the wall, answering them with a definite, certain, and indisputable victory message:
[Reporting to the Supreme Commander, Commander Bai!] At 14:07 today, the last piece of high ground has been captured, confirming the successful capture of the entire "Qiaotou Star"! 】
There is no harder bargaining chip in the world.
They have already won their first victory.
"Pop", an extremely slight sound. Everyone, who were shocked and had not yet recovered from the news, stared blankly at Bai Ling biting open the cap of the electronic marker. He turned sideways, erased the "X" that Jin Jing had drawn on the bridge star, and drew a firm and powerful "√" with a bright red pen.
This is the return of the empire's wandering lands.
He even blatantly slapped all the members of the Imperial Army in the face, pointing at their noses and telling them:
I will fight the battle that your empire dare not fight!
I will take on the responsibility that your empire dares not take on!
I will fulfill the promise that your empire is unwilling to fulfill!
The muscles at the corners of the golden eagle's eyes tensed and twitched, and he felt a burning sense of shame rushing up his cheeks. He had previously teased the other party for being a mere figurehead, but now he was being taken advantage of and had a fresh and hot battle report slapped in his face.
The military was forced to sell to the enemy the land that it had failed to retake in five years. Now it has been snatched back by a group of bandits? !
shame! This is a shame!
The subordinate wanted to struggle, pointing at Bai Ling and sneering: "What's the point of you doing all this? Let's talk about the facts. We are here to discuss compensation today. What does it have to do with your love of spending money on war?"
North was almost laughing with anger. He helped the Empire beat the Federal Mechanical Army and vented his anger, but they were not happy at all. Instead, they kept shouting "It's none of my business" and tried their best to distance themselves from it.
An army can have poor equipment and weak personnel, but it must never lose its soul.
Otherwise, you will become like these high-ranking officials of the imperial military in front of you, selfish and stinking.
"Of course it is related." Bai Ling was not in a hurry and directly played a video material. "Have you forgotten? The original purpose of recruiting the mecha mercenary group of the guild was to send these civilians to the border to die in order to replace the regular army with a system and backing, right?"
Bai Ling's voice turned cold, and even his eyes were frosty:
"But you are corrupt and not only forced conscription, you even took their subsidies and pensions. I have not yet settled this account with you!"
"If you really count the numbers, if you expose this to the Interstellar Alliance, I'm afraid you won't be able to suppress this huge scandal even if you spend 4 billion!"
He placed his hands on the table, leaning forward, his imposing aura like a leopard ready to rush out of the screen and bite someone's neck.
Those officers who were usually arrogant and domineering all leaned back subconsciously, with fear on their faces. They forgot that this was a virtual scene and were afraid that Commander Bai would pounce on them the next second and tear them to pieces.
This, this... If the scandal gets out, they won't have the face to continue to hold office and collect salaries for nothing.
Then they will no longer be able to enjoy their villas, yachts, and overseas resort hotels.
Everyone had their own agenda and began to persuade the golden eagle:
"Marshal, you see, this matter has made everyone look unhappy, right?"
"It's mainly about the reputation of the military."
"For the sake of unity in the military, we must not let this news get out no matter what."
The golden eagle's face was as cold as frost. He didn't know what this group of people were thinking. As long as their interests were involved, the aristocratic families would shirk responsibility faster than anyone else.
However, he had paid the 4 billion himself. If he couldn't get it back, he would owe a huge favor to Duke Swordfish, and then he would have to obey his orders and work for him.
As a marshal, he ended up being like a puppet, controlled by various forces.
But he was already living on this pirate ship and couldn't get off no matter what.
Finally, he was silent for a long time, a vein popped out on his forehead, and he said in a deep voice: "Okay... I won't pursue the money."
Bai Ling smiled and shook hands with him across the air: "Looking forward to our next cooperation."
Next time, do you want there to be a next time? Not only were the officers so angry that their brains were congested, but the golden eagle almost broke its teeth.
But now that things have come to this, I can only grit my teeth and swallow it. Golden Eagle returned to the office and stopped drinking. Instead, he asked someone to make him a cup of tea.
He sipped it slowly, trying to dilute the taste of blood in his throat.
The subordinate stood by, hesitant to speak: "Sir, what should we do next? Are we really going to let him be so arrogant?"
After finishing the cup of tea, the golden eagle's face turned cold and it seemed that he had made some decision.
He picked up the meeting report, glanced at it, threw it back on the table, and said:
"Disclose this to the Federation."
"…What do you want?"
"The Federation will not sit idly by."
The subordinates were secretly shocked, thinking that after all, that was our planet. Wouldn't it be a bit like treason to sell Bai Ling to the Federation?
But thinking that he was just an ordinary official, he swallowed his words and replaced them with:
"Yes, sir!"
·
The 4 billion was saved, and Bai Ling invested the money into the front line without hesitation, turning it into bullets and guns to provide material support for his own soldiers.
However, although this amount of money seems huge, it is not enough to spend for a month on the interstellar battlefield.
Ordinary people probably have no idea how much money war costs. With a firepower of 100 million star coins, if the entire map is covered and the fighting is intense, it will be gone in a few hours.
Moreover, if there is internal corruption, the money for foreign aid often cannot be received, and the bulk of it will be withheld, and only a few rows of mecha reload bullets will be given to the soldiers.
Therefore, it is important to control military spending.
In the revolutionary army team of his previous life, the task of purchasing military equipment was done by the deputy commander. Bai Ling inquired about it regularly, but he was not responsible for the detailed accounting.
Bai Ling once suspected that they were corrupt, but had no evidence.
In this life, Bai Ling would find a reliable person to manage purchasing no matter what. But so far, he has not thought of a suitable candidate, so he just does it part-time.
With the idea of keeping the money within the family, Bai Ling invested all of the first batch of funds into his own arsenal, "Gorgon".
It was Uriel who was in charge of the contact: "The company said that usually a 50% deposit is given first, and the balance is paid after delivery. But you have a special status, and the uncle told you before that you don't have to pay."
Bai Ling was cleaning his gun at the time and said casually: "Listen to his fart."
Uriel: “…”
Bai Ling turned back and curled his lips. "Although I haven't studied accounting, I'm not ignorant of numbers. Even if he said he doesn't have to pay, he will still have to deduct it from his account when he does the accounting. Otherwise, the company will collapse."
Finally, he turned his back and continued to clean his gun. "Just listen to me. Pay the full amount in one lump sum. Of course, it's my own property, so you have to give it to me at cost price."
The decision was made in just a few words.
Uriel burst into tears when he went back. The full payment had been received. Where could he find such a sensible customer, especially one who was one of his own?
It would be nice if there were more orders like this. For example, fighting to support fighting...
In this way, perhaps one day we can really revitalize the old manufacturer Gorgon, defeat the Federation’s private arsenal, and regain the top spot in the galaxy.
Of course, imagination is imagination, but reality...it doesn't seem to be impossible?
Uriel heard that Bai Ling would set off for the battlefield on the second planet tomorrow.
The news of the victory in capturing the first planet is still being kept secret, because the Federation currently only knows that the communication with Bridgehead has been cut off, and it is not clear what exactly happened.
Bai Ling wanted to take advantage of this time to open up the second battlefield as soon as possible and win a few more victories before the main federal army could react.
Although he wouldn't do something stupid like opening a bottle of champagne at halftime, Bai Ling still wanted to share the good news with important people.
Like telling the Admiral.
For example, share it with a fish.
That night, a breeze blew up the milky white gauze curtains. The windows were not closed, and the slightly cool air flowed in mixed with the noisy sounds from downstairs.
Bai Ling squatted on the ground and sorted out things. He has to leave in the middle of the night; time waits for no one.
When she received it at the bedside, her eyes inadvertently swept across the bunch of jasmine, and the corners of her mouth softened. He stayed in the hotel for more than a month. Sometimes he was so tired that he got confused about the dates and couldn't tell the difference between today and tomorrow after waking up. But the freshly replaced flowers of the past are never absent for a single day.
It seemed like he cared about him and never slacked off for a single day.
It was nine o'clock in the evening. The last dessert in the restaurant downstairs had been served. Someone suggested dancing, and the music popped out of the speakers at the right time.
Bai Ling thought of today's victory and hummed softly, celebrating secretly.
It's a pity that his dance partner is not here, otherwise the two of them would close the door and dance like crazy. Drinking all night would also be a good time.
He folded the clothes into small squares, rolled them up, and then picked up the next piece. The silky and warm fabric almost slid down his palms to the ground. He grabbed it, stared at the nightgown that did not belong to him but had been in his possession for a long time, and suddenly made a happy decision:
It’s not that you can’t jump.
Of course, some preparatory steps are required: remove the mental isolation belt around the abdomen, find a living room with a camera, and lock the door.
The process is precise and rigorous. They turn on the monitoring switch and wait for some non-human creature to come over. That feeling of expectation and nervousness was like an electronic sacrifice.
Bai Ling hung the black nightgown on the hanger and hugged the hanger. He raised his head and looked into the camera's eyes.
My partner isn't here, so I'm doing a celebratory dance on a clothes hanger.
Use the lens as your eyes and the robe blown by the wind as your body. I want to share the joy of victory with you, whether you are there or not, it doesn’t matter.
Love gives form to man.
Amidst the scattered fragments of code instructions, a stream of data invaded and refreshed the electronic equipment in the room line by line.
It watched all this silently. From the perspective of the ceiling from top to bottom, you can see the light white hair whorls. Its baby moved from the bed to the door, and from the table to the window, with chaotic and brisk footsteps, stepping on every piece of floor.
The victorious eagle, his feathers glow in the night.
It couldn't help but wonder, long ago, in the long military career of his previous life, whether Commander Bai, whose life was often bumpy, would also have such occasional moments of relaxation.
But it is unknown.
In fact, its memory of its previous life is limited. Over the past year, it has only remembered some fragments intermittently, which can hardly be pieced together. This may be a sequelae.
But it persisted in thinking: I must have heard of his name, the "White Commander"... I must have heard his voice when I was bedridden.
Where is it...
At the same time, disturbing noises were heard underwater in the observation room.
The young doctor who was on duty late at night was gradually dozing off. From time to time, he half-opened his eyes and glanced at the screen sleepily.
The cursor flashed.
"Huh?" The young doctor rubbed his eyes, thinking he had floaters.
The cursor moved around the screen without anyone controlling it, opening the player and rapidly switching songs at a rate of one song per second. The notes switch too quickly, forming a series of strange jumping tunes.
"Hey...! What the hell? What's going on? Is this broken computer?" The young doctor frowned and tapped the mouse.
The cursor instantly dropped down, flying through nearly a thousand songs.
The young doctor was suddenly awakened by the abnormal control, and his teeth began to chatter, "No way... it's this!"
He was shocked and terrified, and kept begging in fear, "Please, don't possess me, ah ah ah."
In panic, the young doctor saw the playlist, [Electronic Music Box Collection], and was about to call out, but the song switching that seemed to be controlled by a ghost suddenly paused.
The cursor is placed on a directory line.
The little doctor came closer and read out its strange name...
·
"Ice Cream Broadcast" refers to the final warning notice on the eve of the decisive battle of the war, which usually only occurs when the capital falls.
It is the sound of a music box with an electronic pickup. The tone is cheerful and beautiful, very much like the music played by an ice cream truck driving into a small town, hence the name.
But its use occasions are not beautiful.
As the melodious tune of Ice Cream Radio sounded over the capital planet, the Revolutionary Army's fleet emerged from the thick clouds and dived into the atmosphere like a returning bird. Beneath it, some people cheered, some were scared, and some picked up their children and rushed to the underground shelter.
To prevent panic, the government sounded a very humane and soothing alarm to keep people in the shelters calm.
Yu Chen didn't have the chance to go to the shelter. His physical condition does not allow him to go.
After sleeping intermittently for several years, when he woke up one day, he found that the well-developed spinal nerves in his back had grown together with the instruments beside the bed.
The robot butler said: "Master, you are like a tree."
An old tree, a tree that desperately extends its roots before dying, trying to escape from this dilapidated palace.
The thick and dense nerve lines gradually became entangled with the electrical wires throughout the palace, and the ceiling was even broken. The bleeding neural tubes hung down like vines in a dark and corrupt forest.
Robot: "Everyone who walks in here is going to be scared to death."
He asked slowly, "What about you?"
Robot: "I am not a human. Your nerves will only invade me and cause me to crash."
It’s good to crash, at least you can restart it. It's better than those medical devices. Every time Yu Chen tried to access their signals and run out, they would make a bang and burn until smoke appeared.
Others are dying and their organs are failing.
He's going to die and turn into a monster.
The robot asked, "Are you looking forward to becoming a monster?"
He said: "If I don't become a monster, what else can I do? I have been a monster in other people's mouths for many years, so I should be familiar with it."
He allowed himself to continue to "evolve" in a worse direction.
Monsters don't need so many useless organs. The long period of darkness made him adapt to life without eyes and accustomed to not using his hands and feet.
The face, lungs, tail, cloaca, none of them are needed. Only the brain is still working. The only thing that needs is the mental network.
He could vaguely see the end of "evolution" - one day, he would discard his useless flesh and organs and be tempered into a complete set of neural networks, just like the human neural specimens in the medical school, which lost all their bones and flesh and turned into a dense blood-red network, growing together with the wires of the server network.
When the time comes, he can go wherever he wants.
The robot said: "That's a good thing. You will be free soon."
Indeed, for a monster like him, not being able to die is actually a bad thing. Because he had spent too much time incompetence, he lay there sick and in pain, unable to do anything except let himself rot.
He was unable to stand up and take care of the flowers and plants. He could only listen to the greenhouse withering, the glass shattering, and the cold wind of late autumn pouring in through the holes.
His once beloved antiques were placed next to various complex medical life-support equipment, with no one appreciating them. The ground was covered with fallen pieces of wall paint. Even a ghost ship would be cleaner than this place.
It's dark around.
The light bulb has been broken for more than ten years. He didn't want to turn on the light, and there was no need to do so.
No one spoke in the room, and the silence was so quiet that even robots found it creepy. Perhaps it was afraid that the silence in the room would last forever, so one day the robot turned on the radio.
In that era, there were very few radio stations. Even if there is, its audience is limited to drivers and mecha pilots who work at night.
The broadcast content is poor and lacks innovation. Most of the time, an AI voice reads out the day's news verbatim.
It was from there that Yu Chen met the "Bird Commander". People called him "White Crazy Falcon".
It was also from that day that he suddenly realized that a third-rate army composed of slaves, bandits, and robbers was advancing towards the capital little by little from the border.
"They have regained their lost territory, Master." The robot would pick out the key points and repeat them to him.
“…”
"They beat up the duke, one of the six, you know, the duke with the crooked nose."
“…”
"They've landed on a new planet, a little closer to us."
In the dim light, his eyelids slowly opened, and his lifeless green eyes moved, "…Who are they?"
The robot replied: "Your children."
As for my children, well... let this huge empire die in their hands.
The robot said, "But they hate the nobles. When they attack the capital planet, they may kill us."
Yu Chen nodded: "That's better." A worthy death.
From then on, a small clock appeared on the river of life of the immortal mermaids. Time was no longer endless and unbearable. He had a death node to look forward to - that was the day when the capital planet fell and the "Ice Cream Radio" sounded.
In anticipation of that day, the mermaid would listen to the radio throughout her waking nights.
It was also from that time that he discovered that listening to battle reports was just like collecting seeds, and it was addictive.
Broadcast: "Commander White's troops captured the port of Como today..."
The mermaid's eyes gleamed with a subtle yearning: "I've been to that place when I was young. There was a famous chocolate fritter shop there. I wonder if it's still there. Maybe Commander Bird can also taste it."
Broadcast: "Commander Bai has broken through the encirclement and continues to attack the military base."
One step further.
The mermaid was so overwhelmed with emotion that she tossed and turned and couldn't sleep the whole night.
Somehow, his rotten and decayed heart seemed to slowly come alive, struggling and beating with every flap of the bird's wings.
Sometimes, he would feel so excited after listening to the music that he could not help but pull open the bedside table, eagerly look for a pen, and write down the plan that suddenly came to his mind in a notebook that he had not used for a long time, muttering to himself:
"If that's the case, maybe we can win more beautifully. Just change a few small things."
Review and review again.
He was in a decaying palace, but his soul seemed to have drifted far away along with the radio waves. He began to have some confused and scattered dreams. He dreamed that he turned into an ordinary person, wearing a helmet and a water bottle, which was essential for the sea people to travel, and joined the team.
He dreamed of Commander Bird, a middle-aged man with a somewhat impatient temper but not a bad nature. He kept accounts for the other party, and the other party gave him two tail feathers.
It's a nice bird.
He also dreamed of the sea of stars and the excitement of sailing. Like a young man traveling for the first time, he could not control his temper after dinner and played the old piano in the cabin vigorously to accompany their singing.
But after waking up, he lay on the cold and wet bed, his heart empty as a desert.
It was as if I was suddenly sent back from a noisy and lively scene to a cold and silent grave. There is no bravery or courage here, only this stiff half corpse of his.
On the bedside table beside him, the radio was rustling, the sound was transmitted from the eardrum bone to the brain stem, causing a small tremor in the top of the head:
"Commander Bai, hello. As a reporter, I want to ask you a question. If the revolution fails, will you regret it?"
A hoarse voice, as if the vocal cords had been cut: "I don't regret it."
"Why?"
"Because this is how my life should be spent. These things, these things of dying for freedom...someone has to do them."
Someone has to do it.
He had the same idea when he was young.
For a moment, he wished he was a civilian so he could blend into the crowd and shout at the other party. Instead of this weak monster emperor.
With a tight breath in his chest, he pulled the IV drip and was eager to sit up to prove something, but his body was unstable and he fell off the bed. The fish's tail hit the ground heavily, and its blue scales fell off, becoming the only faint light in the dim room.
The bricks cracked in spider patterns beneath him.
Later, when the little robot was cleaning, it found a few scales under the bed. The scales of pure-blooded mermaids are very valuable. It asked as usual:
“Do I need to save it?”
But he said hoarsely, "No need. Just throw it away."
Three months later, it was the end of January and winter was at its peak. When the "Ice Cream Radio" sounded over the capital planet, the winter clouds were as thick as a quilt. The government first declared a final state of emergency, and then took another week to announce its surrender.
They officially entered the negotiation stage with the revolutionary army.
The robot lay in front of the French window and looked through a 30x telescope: "Flag! They put up a flag in the square. It's tattered, full of holes and blood."
The mermaid twitched her ear fins and asked, "What kind of flag?"
"It's the same as the old Empire, but the color has been changed to the color of tomato."
Yu Chen imagined it based on the description and found it very apt. He couldn't help but smile, and that smile remained on his face for a long time: "What a warm color, better than mine."
Robot: "Commander Bird is really good. When he captured a place, he was afraid that the people would have no food, so he dropped bread from the sky."
"What kind of bread?"
"Whole-wheat bread, Master. It will both crush your enemies and feed your children."
Yu Chen said sincerely: "I really want to meet him."
That kind of voice is full of admiration.
The robot was a little surprised; this was the second time in as many years that its master had shown a desire to make friends. The first time was with his online friend [Zhi Bei Deng], but because his host’s condition had worsened, they hadn’t played chess for a long time.
And [Compass] seems to be very busy too. He and his owner only greet each other and ask about each other's recent situation once every month or so.
The interactions are limited to courtesy, and the two sides are always polite and indifferent.
The robot always supports its master making friends, so it suggested: "Perhaps I can bring you and Commander Bai together. For example, I can hack into his terminal and let you chat with him."
Yu Chen leaned against the pillow tiredly and refused verbally: "No. Hero, you shouldn't get involved with someone like me."
But the robot said, don't forget, we are the nobles of the old forces. The day they occupy the palace tower, Commander Bai will appear at our doorstep and kidnap you.
This was meant to be a warning about danger.
After hearing these words, Yu Chen gradually felt better.
He thought that the best ending for an abandoned emperor would be to be abducted by new forces and put to good use.
The next day, the robot gave me a startle when it slid into the bedroom. It saw its owner stand up, staggering and panting to the cabinet, stroking some of his old things.
The mermaid told it, "I should pack my things."
The robot repeated: "You want to be captured."
The master and servant worked together in an orderly manner. Find the dusty suitcase from the warehouse, wipe it, and put it on the ground.
I first packed a few sets of half-new clothes for changing. The value doesn’t matter, as long as they are comfortable.
I picked another pot of the easiest flowers to grow. Because he was not sure where he would be taken, if he went to the wild star, he might not be able to water the flowers regularly.
He also pressed down the pile of clothes to make room for his favorite little ceramic salt shaker.
Finally, he took out the "letter of surrender" he had prepared earlier - a whole notebook filled with content covering "how to deal with me", "how to use me for propaganda", "how to bury my body correctly and without pollution", etc.
I just don't know whether the handwriting is neat or not.
After all, he is an old blind man and may write in serial form. I hope Commander Bird can understand it.
While cleaning up, they would chat about random things.
"I heard they treat their captives well."
"Yes, Master."
"You said they'd allow me to grow flowers in prison?"
"We can discuss this with them."
"Maybe we can negotiate some more terms. I have some jewelry, antiques, and watches here. I'll give them to them in exchange for bread."
The robot recorded them one by one and continued to ask: "Anything else?"
The mermaid thought for a moment and said without hope: "I also want a cell facing the sun."
"I will apply politely to them."
"The cell in Chaoyang, I have to bring my own sheets and a bucket because I have to wash my tail."
Afterwards, the mermaid stood in the dusty bathroom, hastily fixing her hair. Shave off the stubble, cut off the stray hair, cut off the hyperplastic nerves on the back, and scrub the blood stains off the scales clean.
Now, he is brand new again.
The mermaid put on his best suit and asked his butler, "How does it look?"
"Very respectable," the robot replied sincerely, "as respectable as it was forty years ago."
Just surrender and wait for the eagle to come.
However, accidents always come into play when hope appears.
The Revolutionary Army is apparently not very good at negotiation.
A team of robbers, bandits and slaves may be powerful in fighting, but once they sit down at the negotiation table, they each go their own way and cannot reach a consensus.
They lack a strong goal and policy and are somewhat short-sighted.
After several rounds of talks both inside and outside the venue, the Revolutionary Army's cards had been revealed. What followed was the Empire's negotiation experts' sophisticated tactics of deceiving and alienating the enemy.
The tyrant said: "Governing a country is not an easy task. If you overthrow me today, someone will overthrow you tomorrow. It is better to take some gold and silver and go home to recuperate."
A large part of the team was interested. They were tired of the life of fighting wars and just wanted to go back.
This is the simplest and crudest form of alienation, but it is the most effective against this group of civilians.
After hearing the whole story, the mermaid just wanted to sigh in regret. If he had been able to play a role on that team, he would never have let that happen.
A merciful army cannot be commanded. These people should have been kicked out long ago. Commander Bird is too kind. He should be more ruthless and hold power firmly in his hands like he did when he was young.
The subsequent news became worse and worse. The robot reported: "The authorities went back on their word, gave them money, and then ambushed and killed them on the way."
"Commander Bird was betrayed. His deputy commander sold him to the tyrant for the official position promised by the military. He was sent to the military court for trial."
A national hero became a Class A war criminal.
The north wind was still howling, and many revolutionary soldiers who were unwilling to bow their heads chose to shoot themselves in order to avoid being captured and tortured.
The broadcast was still AI reading out the script: "The flag on the square has been lowered. Everything is over... It was born from the greatest ideals of mankind, borne the most vicious curses of mankind, and perished from the most despicable desires of mankind."
·
Once a person lives too long, he or she will become a little stubborn. The same goes for inhuman creatures like mermaids.
He firmly believed that if he placed a flower pot in the window, birds would grow in it.
To this end, he also sprinkled a lot of bird food in it.
When she felt better, the mermaid got up and touched the empty flowerpot with her fingers. The food inside was less and became moister.
The robot rushed over to stop him: "Please close the window. It's raining and the food will get wet."
The mermaid ignored it. He stood there thinking slowly for a long time, and finally took a step and walked slowly to the tool shed.
There was a large rot on his tail, so there was a hole in the corresponding position of his shinbone. But as long as you wear neatly ironed trousers, no one will notice.
It will just go slower.
The tool room was full of dust and the mermaid stayed in there for a long time, making a covering board. He hasn't been out for a few years, and his fingers are no longer as flexible as before.
He installed a small cover on the flowerpot and left a hole for the bird to get in.
The little robot didn't understand what kind of emotions were behind his behavior that was like luring stray cats. All it knew was that most of the plants in the garden had died, leaving only a few pots of roses in the greenhouse.
By mid-February, the last wave of hail hit with great force. This time, the bird food was covered and did not get wet.
The mermaid put her pale fingers in and felt around, and found that there was no shortage of food.
“Why is there no shortage of…”
The little robot said reluctantly: "Please stop releasing them. No birds are coming."
"Why?"
"Because no bird can fly so high, as high as you are."
"No?"
"Maybe only eagles can. But they live in the forest and won't come to the city to nest."
The mermaid recalled with difficulty and confirmed: "There are eagles in the city, too. You remembered it wrongly."
"Yes, there is a peregrine falcon, but it..." The little robot didn't finish its words. It saw the mermaid suddenly lower her head, and a trace of emotional sadness flashed in her haggard eyes.
They already knew the ending. The falcon fell.
The sky is vast and no eagles come.
However, after a while, they heard a piece of news that the falcon was not dead, but was detained by the authorities. If they wanted to get it out, they would have to pay a bail of up to 40 billion - this was almost an unrealistic figure. No one in their right mind would pay such a large sum of money to save an old bird that was now worthless and sick.
The authorities put up this amount simply for show, trying to hypocritically say: Look, it’s not that we didn’t give him a chance to survive, it’s that he was not motivated enough and no followers were willing to pay this money.
But no one expected that someone would be crazy enough to buy Bai Ling's life.
The mermaid sat on the chair, the last embers of the setting sun brightening his golden hair. He turned his head and asked:
"40 billion. How much property do I have left?"
"Your industry has almost withered away."
Years of war have greatly reduced his business, some have gone bankrupt, and some have been destroyed.
The mermaid spoke softly:
"Go ahead."
The brief order was still so unquestionable that it left no room for thought or hesitation.
They found a trustworthy middleman and used the 40 billion to redeem Falcon. They released the falcon to a remote area, just like releasing a bird of prey that was unfortunately captured by humans, and repeatedly told it:
"Fly quickly, the farther the better."
As a result, not long after, the falcon quietly returned to the capital planet.
The mermaid didn't understand. He listened to the middleman's report and asked anxiously:
"You've already left, why are you coming back?"
The middleman explained: "His lair is here."
The mermaid was stunned, and there seemed to be a dull pain in her heart.
The bird is affectionate and tenacious. It knows where its nest is. Even if it suffers a lot, it will still follow the migration route and persevere across thousands of mountains and rivers to return to its nest.
Even though the nest had already been devastated and could not shelter him from the wind and rain.
The eagle returned.
That night, the terminal made a "ding dong" sound. Yu Chen received a long-lost greeting from an online friend, which was polite and gentle, and as usual, to the point.
[Compass]: Mr. D, spring is here.
At this time, the little robot opened the window, and the wind swept the special smell of sprouting grass leaves into the deep bedroom. The monster sitting on the chair took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly, as if a bud had sprouted again in his chest that was as rotten as the soil.
It turns out that the hard winter has passed and it is spring again.
Live one more year...
So, these two strangers survived for another two or three years because of their butterfly effect-like actions.
Until they met and died for love.
·
In the observation room, a pair of deep green eyes suddenly opened. At the same time, the young doctor behind the monitor jumped up because of the sudden surge in the value, and he stammered:
"Doctor Zhuo! Jun, the monarch is awake!"
Lao Zhuo was dozing off, but when he heard the shout, he stumbled over to the monitoring desk and looked at the numerical table for conversion estimates. His scalp went numb:
"It's broken! This is not the normal awakening value. The monarch's mental system is at 50%. Could it be that he——"
The young doctor continued his words with a panicked look on his face, and said carefully: "It has evolved..."
The two rushed to the mothership fully armed with their android bodyguards. The corridor was pitch black, but when an infrared light was shone on it, wet footprints glowed on the floor, proving that the mermaid had just walked this way not long ago.
It crawled out.
I walked up the stairs tremblingly. Even though the fresh air system had been turned off long ago, the open door in front of me seemed to be constantly leaking out cold air.
Fighting off the feeling of uneasiness, they walked into the monarch's residence floor for the first time without saying hello, as if they were stepping into a monster's lair. Turning the corner, the flashlight’s arc hit the door frame, and there was movement in the kitchen…!
With cold sweat on his back, he slowly approached.
As the flashlight moved upward, a pair of pale and gray ankles appeared in the field of vision, followed by slender and strong legs, a curved waist, and above that... a hand pried open the refrigerator door and picked up an old wooden chessboard from the shelf.
It slowly turned its head, its eyes dark and iris-less, cold and eerie, reminiscent of a demon that had not yet fully adapted to the human body.
Fear crept up Lao Zhuo's spine. He subconsciously wanted to run, but his desire to survive forced him to bow, his voice trembling under the invisible pressure from the other party:
"My Lord, are you well?"
"I'm fine." The low-magnetic resonance voice sounded incongruous like a narration inserted in the silent and dark kitchenette.
"…We have observed that your readings are beyond the critical point. Are you feeling unwell?"
“Not at all.”
Not only that, it is so comfortable that it transcends sensory limitations. When I woke up, I savored the feeling for a long time, and the feeling passed through my throat many times. It was so comfortable.
That is the ultimate satisfaction that no amount of physical, chemical, or physiological stimulation can give.
Lao Zhuo shivered and felt every pore in his body getting cold. He looked at the mermaid with a calm and absorbed expression, as if she was chewing some extremely delicious food.
But he was sure that he had not fed it meat today.
How does it satisfy its appetite?
The mermaid stroked the chessboard in her hand, lowered her eyes and stared at the hand-drawn grids on it, her eyes were dark and intimate, a hero, a hero of the empire...
Countless encounters without knowing each other were exchanged for a chance to look into each other's eyes.
The flashlight scattered and reflected a halo of light on the window glass. He glanced sideways at himself. His naked upper body was not decent enough, but there was enough flesh and blood.
Your love gave me form.
I'm back.
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