Chapter 199: Beautiful Widow, do you have any idea?
Bai Ling stamped the last batch of letters and called Hal to be responsible for mailing them.
Last year the share was 114 and this year it has increased to 152. The additional veterans applied to join one after another through Hal's network of connections.
After receiving the allowance, everyone sent messages of thanks, and some even asked if they could join the corps and do their part.
Among these enthusiastic responses, there is a cold message:
[Don't try to bribe me with money]
Such negative information should have been filtered out by the Military Secretary. But unfortunately, the secretary was on sick leave that day and did not come to work.
Bai Ling was stunned when he saw the words on the screen. He subconsciously looked at the sender's name, but it was blank, with not even a name written on it.
Who is this? Such a bad temper.
He called Hal to ask about it. Hal said apologetically, "Sorry, sir. He should be a newcomer this month. He was just discharged from the hospital not long ago and is still in his irritable period."
Bai Ling asked: "New member?"
"Yes," Hal explained, "he's not from the same group as us."
Not the batch of Gram victims, but those who were killed later.
Bai Ling knew that even after Ge Lan's gang was wiped out, the practice of hawk-keeping still existed in the aristocratic circles. After all, the desire to show off one's conquest is a human bad habit since ancient times, and it will not die down just because a small group of people are punished.
"His response was very rude and lacked gratitude." Hal carefully observed his expression. "We can remove him from the list."
Bai Ling said indifferently: "No, it's not a big deal."
People who have been severely traumatized find it difficult to accept kindness from others. Some people digest it silently and let it rot alone, while others evolve into outward aggression and become mean and sharp.
Not everyone is as lucky as him, having an emotionally stable spouse who can provide him with electricity 24 hours a day.
Thinking of this, Bai Ling asked: "Does he have any family around him?"
Hal glanced at the information: "He has an alpha brother, but they don't live on the same planet. His brother is very disgusted with him because he has committed a serious crime."
"What crime?"
"Killing husband."
·
"Oh, and a beautiful widow?"
The doorman of the underground bar turned around, whistled, and his eyes stopped on the half-exposed wrist of the wine bag. The forbidden ring spouse light there was dark, proving that she had a dead husband.
The guard looked greedy, leaned against the wall and flirted with him, raising his eyebrows: "How did your husband die? Did he die of pleasure from being ridden by your long legs?"
Wineskin: "Almost. I tore them into pieces and flushed them down the drain."
The guard obviously didn't take his words seriously and joked: "Then the jellyfish in the sewer near your house must be white and fat because they eat so much."
Jiu Nang did not comment and said again: "Let that yellow-haired boy come out."
"Which one?" the guard asked. "We have a lot of yellow-haired people here."
“I grow kelp.”
The guard's expression suddenly changed, and he threatened fiercely: "Watch your words, old widow, he is our respected leader!"
After a moment, the gar broke away from the crowd and walked into the cold night. He asked absentmindedly, "Who's looking for me?"
A skinny arm reached out and grabbed him. Before the gar could react, he felt a sharp pain in his back and slammed hard against the wall.
"Fuck!" The damselfish cursed in pain, "Who the hell is that?"
The cold breath approached, allowing the damselfish to see the dark eyes clearly in the darkness. He sneered: "Boy, you dare to steal my things."
The damselfish was startled for a moment, then recognized the wine bag and immediately retorted, "I didn't, don't accuse me out of nothing."
The wineskin repeated dangerously: "You stole my letter."
"A letter? I've never seen any letter." The damselfish rolled his eyes and spoke quickly, "You drunkard, who knows if you lost your things somewhere? You should look for it on the street or in the trash can. At worst, you should look for the leaves under the overpass - that's where you always sleep when you're drunk, right?"
The wine bag clenched his fist, which was pulling on his collar.
As he was talking, the damselfish became a little unhappy: "Besides, if it's such an important letter, shouldn't it be kept at home? You don't cherish it yourself, so who can you blame if it's lost."
The man’s finger bones turned white, veins bulged, and he was exerting so much force that he was about to hit her in the next second.
But in the end, the hand loosened dejectedly amid the nervous breathing of the minnow. The wine bag turned pale and uttered a laugh:
"you're right."
After saying this, he turned and left.
In the cold night, there was a lively call from behind. The teenagers in the underground tavern popped their heads out, holding bottles of wine and cheering, "Match, come back quickly and tell us the story of your meeting with Commander Bai again!"
The gar's body stiffened, and it looked guiltily at the figure in front of it.
When the wine bag heard this, his shoulders trembled as if he was hiding his anger. But if you look closely, he was just groping in his arms, found half a cigarette butt, lowered his head, held it in his mouth, and lit the cigarette.
The cigarette went out after two puffs.
There was still a little spark left, so he held the cigarette butt and pressed it on the artificial stomach bag, burning a charred spot there.
It was strange that at that moment, the gar actually hoped that he would come over and punch him hard in the face.
But a drunkard is still a drunkard, a loser.
He didn't look back.
After that, Jiunai's life continued as usual. It seemed that losing the letter was indeed of no importance to him.
The money is still in the envelope.
Jiunan planned to spend the money, all at once. After weighing the pros and cons, he walked into the coffin shop.
Before coming, he had done a lot of homework. He walked around the store to see the real products and chose the color and size at the self-service counter. He planned to buy a coffin that could be cremated automatically.
The shop owner asked, "Are you buying it for your family?"
Wineskin: "Leave it to me."
The shop owner nodded, not surprised by the answer. During the Great Depression, living was harder than dying because people didn't have enough food to eat. He looked at the pre-order form and said, "The one you want needs to be customized."
“How long will it take to customize?”
"One month..." The boss glanced at the wine bag and suddenly changed his words, "Uh, two or three months, at least three months. The color you chose is quite rare, and I'm out of stock. We have to wait for the airport to release the goods. If you're unlucky, you'll have to wait for more than half a year."
The wine bag put his hands in his pockets, turned around and raised his chin towards the corner, "Then there is it, isn't it?"
The boss coughed lightly, "Well, that's a sample, not for sale!"
After choosing the style, the shop owner printed out the information sheet according to the procedure, "You have to give me your contact person, anyone, as long as they know you and are willing to help you with your funeral...family, friends, colleagues at work, anyone will do."
The wineskin's answer was straightforward: "No. I just write my own name."
"No, this is a procedure." The shop owner refused bluntly, "I have to make sure someone comes to pick up the coffin later. They can't pay the full amount and then leave it with me - this has happened several times."
The shop owner was a marine tribe member. He had also eaten at the Seaweed Restaurant and heard the wine bag boasting at the bar, so he naturally thought: "By the way, aren't you a soldier? You must have contacted the superiors in charge of the battle."
The drunken sac expression disappeared.
The shop owner was still talking to himself: "I think it's okay. I'll just write down your superior's contact information. Now that you've retired, there should be someone who's in charge. By the way, what unit number are you in?"
The wine bag did not answer, but cursed and walked away, "There are too many things to do. I won't buy it."
As soon as he went out, the proprietress came back.
The lady boss covered her clothes, turned to look at the eagle floating around, and asked the boss, "What is he doing here, buying a coffin?"
The boss responded as he closed the door, "Yeah, I asked him to write the contact person as the chief, but he just wouldn't give it to me."
The lady boss sneered: "He just made that up, and you actually believed it."
It is a consensus among everyone that the wine bag’s words cannot be trusted. When people look back on the past, the more details there are, the more real it is. But for the wine bag, it is just blurry and unclear.
He was like a clumsy liar, always talking incessantly with eyes shining under the influence of alcohol, but when asked about the serial number, he would stop abruptly and start changing the subject as if nothing had happened.
Over time, everyone just treated it as a joke and forgot about it after listening.
The lady boss said: "It's better to believe that I am the Virgin Mary who saved your life than to believe that he is a hero."
As he spoke, he opened his coat and poured a pile of cans into the boss's arms.
The boss was so stunned that he picked up the canned meat and looked at the labels with wide eyes: "Canned meat! This is a hot commodity that cannot be bought with any amount of money. Honey, you are not going to rob the Duke's warehouse, are you?"
After making sure the door was closed, the proprietress shushed him and frowned, "Keep your voice down, don't let the patrol outside hear you. This was given to me by Mysid Shrimp's mother."
The boss remembered who Mysid Shrimp was. The poor child's father died early, and he relied on his mother's work in a laundry to support him. His lively and outgoing wife often made clothes with the extra fabrics at home and gave them to the mother and daughter.
Before the boss’s wife got married, she was a well-known tailor.
He is a leaf-tailoring bird with superb skills. He can thread the thread through his beak on banana leaves and weave a beautiful and exquisite nest with spider silk.
The custom-made shrouds and sleeping bags in the coffin shop are all made by his skillful hands.
Leafwarbler quite enjoyed his business because his customers were always easy to talk to and would never jump out of their coffins to criticize him for his poor sewing.
The leaf warbler explained, "Mother Mysid said that Mysid and the damselfish formed a team. They called a group of water birds to attack. They succeeded last night and brought back a boatload of canned food."
The boss was horrified when he heard this: "Is this really the Duke's canned food?! I dare not eat it."
Leaf-sewing warbler spit at him: "Eat your food, it's okay! Their team has a backer."
"Who is it?"
The proprietress lowered her voice, mysteriously but with great joy, and said, "Commander Bai."
That night was the most delicious and peaceful meal the boss had had in the past year. The couple excitedly heated up the canned food and ate it all up with some hard bread. Even their burps had the unique metallic smell of the canned food.
·
With the help of that letter, the damselfish quickly attracted a group of teenagers. They all have something in common: they are hungry, energetic, and they adore Commander White and his invincible army.
Mysids found the group of grebes.
These water birds are masters of diving, drifting on the water like ground-effect vehicles. They were professionals in luring away the sharks guarding the warehouse - every time the sharks tried to bite their butts, they would dance their forked flippers like propellers and throw the sharks behind them.
"Turn on engine overload, super turbo boost - beep, beep, beep!" the grebe cried.
The round body disappeared in a rumbling sound like a little turtle drifting on the sea.
"You bastard! Just wait, I'm going to bite your ass off!" the shark shouted wildly behind him.
Shark went back to write a plog: [I lost to a duck last night. It used inertia to drift through the corners. Its butt was very fast and I only saw a tuft of white hair sticking up. If you know, please tell it. I will be waiting for it at the Akina Sea on Saturday night. ]
During this operation, the Gar Squad seized a total of 300 cans. This great success greatly encouraged the young team. They had a good meal and, while heating the cans, decided on their next target for the grab.
"I want to eat some fresh meat. Why don't we go rob the Duke's country estate? I heard he raises a lot of cows under the sea."
“I support it!”
"I agree too!"
At this time, the Crested Grebe suddenly stood up and said, "Wait, do we need Commander Bai's approval before we can proceed with our mission?"
Hearing this, the gar quickly put down his meal and said legitimately, "Of course! I will report all your opinions. Look, this is my notebook. I have written everything down. When you fall asleep, I will report to Commander Bai and praise you one by one."
Everyone cheered enthusiastically.
The Crested Grebe shook the hair on his head and thought of something: "Since we have formed a team, then according to the regulations, do we also have to have a number? Did Commander Bai give us a number? Like the Wild Star Armored Regiment 217, Underwater Assault Company 149."
At this point, pairs of expectant and excited eyes all looked over. If they had a number, they would be equivalent to the regular army authorized by Yexing!
Under the heated gaze of the crowd, the damselfish's head felt hot. He turned his gaze and accidentally saw a mailing list on the wall. It said 301, which was the beginning of the postal code of Moray Star.
His mouth was faster than his brain, and he said, "...Yes, of course there is a number!" He became more and more confident as he spoke, "The number is 301, and we belong to... the Ghost Legion. That's right, this is a newly established independent legion, responsible for carrying out secret activities among the civilians on various planets. We are the first batch and also the test site. If you succeed, you will be the elders of the legion!"
"So, I'm the 001st soldier of the Ghost Army," the gar pointed at the shrimp, "and he's the 002nd—"
"Then I'm No. 003!" the Crested Grebe answered happily.
"I'm 004."
"Then I am number 005!"
…
Everyone rushed to give their numbers, and the excitement lasted the whole night. When everyone went back to their homes, the mysid shrimp grabbed the damselfish and dragged him into the alley, asking worriedly:
"Garfish, you lied so much! What Ghost Legion, what Soldier 001? Didn't we agree to stop after we got the cans?"
The gar spread his hands: "What can I do? I can't tell them in front of so many people that I'm lying to them."
He made a face. "They'd definitely beat me up then."
Mysid shrimp had a look of insight on his face: "I think you just got carried away by being called the boss. Just wait and see, the only thing you have as evidence is the letter. Over time, it will definitely be exposed."
The damselfish didn't care and tilted his mouth. "It's okay. I have my own way."
The next day, Dad was not at home, so the damselfish summoned everyone to the Seaweed Restaurant. He climbed up the bar, and below him was a sea of people. He occupied the high ground like a fighter in the 18th century revolution, and loudly declared:
"Commander Bai sent us a new letter!"
As he spoke, he took out an envelope from behind him and opened it in a serious manner.
The mysid shrimp that was drinking water nearby sprayed it out directly. But before he could say anything with his eyes wide open, the gar had already started to recite passionately:
"Dear warriors, you did a great job! I heard the news on Wild Star and I'm very proud of you. Especially No. 003, Crested Grebe, and No. 004, Mute Swan of the Ghost Corps..."
He read out everyone's name equally, as if Commander Bai really had the time to write so many words.
But the effect was very good. Everyone excitedly high-fived each other, "Me!" "Me too."
Finally, the damselfish made a summary, "I hope everyone will muster up the courage to rebel against the Duke." He thought for a moment, and firmly added a sentence from Commander Bai's speech when he rebelled against the capital star, "What awaits us in the future is cheap fruit, cheap housing, and free medical care - tyranny must die, because the motherland must live!"
The atmosphere was completely ignited and boiling, and the crested grebe raised his hand eagerly and asked: "Will he give us badges?"
The gar raised his head and agreed immediately: "Of course."
·
"I told you not to lie!" Mysid crossed his arms and sighed. "Now you've told a lie and you have to lie countless times to cover it up. Now they're asking you for your badge. Where are you going to get it?"
The damselfish rummaged through the small warehouse at home, throwing out some junk from time to time, "Don't worry, it's just a badge, no one stipulates that we can't make it ourselves."
Mysid shrimp was puzzled: "Those are military badges, specially made."
"I know - ah, I found it!" The gar wiped his sweat, his dirty face could not hide his excitement. He jumped out from the pile of junk holding a black object, "Look at this, my grandmother's candlestick. My father wanted to throw it away, but I insisted on keeping it. It's made of brass, and the badge is also made of copper. Can't we take it to the shop to make a few?"
Mysid shrimp raised his thumb and said: "You are the only one who has so many clever ideas!"
They carried the copper lump to the local gold shop. The goldsmith was an acquaintance of theirs and greeted them:
"Here I am. Thank you for the canned food you gave me earlier. My child has gotten much better after eating it."
"Really? That's great." The partridge and the mysid shrimp looked at each other and laughed.
After chatting for a while, the dam pulled the uncle to the back and said that he wanted to make a custom badge. He prepared some pictures of the military emblem of Yexing. The design was very similar to that of the old empire, but it had undergone some improvements on the original basis.
The goldsmith stretched his head to look, wiped his black hands on his apron, and said, "Wait a minute."
After a while, he took out a small box from the house, opened it and showed it to them, grinning and asking, "Is this it?"
The damselfish exclaimed: "Uncle, how come you have one too!"
The goldsmith kept his achievements to himself and said, "I, too, joined the militia when I was young. But it wasn't a regular army, and they didn't give me a military badge, so I made one myself. How about it? It looks pretty decent, right?"
The damselfish and mysid shrimp boasted, "They are exactly the same!"
When the goldsmith heard that their team had a relationship with Commander Bai, he agreed immediately: "I'll take care of it. No need to pay for the labor and materials. Just remember to give me some of the food you grab later."
These days, food is more expensive than gold, silver and copper.
The gar had not expected that this matter would be handled so smoothly. He sighed: "As expected, under the banner of Commander Bai, there will be no obstacles anywhere."
It’s easy to get things done if there’s someone higher up.
Mysid shrimp did not forget to remind him: "You are now relying on the power of the tiger to bully others. It is best to restrain yourself and quit while you are ahead."
However, they soon discovered with a little panic that the situation seemed out of control.
When the member of the Ghost Corps numbered 999 came to report, Mysid Shrimp couldn't help but cover his forehead and said, "How could it develop so fast?"
On the other side, the damselfish was facing a room full of people, presiding over the ceremony in a serious manner - they had specially organized a joining ceremony to ensure professionalism.
"You must take potatoes and tomatoes in your hands and pledge yourself to the flag of the Wild Star."
"Sir, I don't have any at home."
"It's okay," the gar had thought of it earlier and took out a box from behind him. "I have some props here, fake potatoes and fake tomatoes. Take them. Just get the idea."
Distributing them one by one, the props were fake, but everyone's expressions were sincere, and everyone was in high spirits. "I swear to the potatoes and tomatoes that I will be loyal to Commander Bai and the Third Experimental Country of Humanity until death!"
And without knowing it, Commander Bai of Yexing has gained thousands of young loyal followers, and the number is constantly increasing. The fever spread privately among families and neighbors, friends and relatives like a late winter cold.
For Duke Moray, it became pneumonia of the planet.
Their warehouses were subjected to unprecedented looting and all the food was snatched away. He was so angry that he ordered the indiscriminate shooting of the rioters.
In just one day, five hundred civilians died.
The number was shocking, but the Duke of Moray was satisfied. He believed that this group of people would retreat in fear as they had done before and would not dare to act rashly again.
But he didn't know that the situation was different now than before.
When people pried open the cellars of the nobles' manors and saw with their own eyes that the food they had dreamed of was rotting in piles, no one could sleep peacefully.
What's more, they have backup. Commander Bai is the queen, and his power is greater than that of the duke. This is a logic problem that even elementary school students can solve. There is no need for them to be afraid of old Biden anymore.
By the beginning of the next month, the inhabitants of the entire planet united in their protest: they refused to pay the Duke high rent.
The damselfish stood in the square and read aloud to tens of thousands of people the new issue of the "Wild Star" letter: "Don't back down, don't compromise. Your ancestors have lived here for generations, and you are the owners of the land and the sea fields - refuse rent, and fight to the end!"
He was wearing a brand new khaki military uniform with an embroidery-printed shoulder badge on his shoulder and a shining brass military badge on his chest.
Without a closer look, no one could tell the difference between him and the real Wild Star regular army.
The window facing the square was open, and the coffin shop owner looked at it with great interest. He turned and said, "My dear, the military uniform you sewed looks really good on that boy."
The leaf warbler was operating a sewing machine, sewing the cloth at a very fast speed. He worked the fine stitches all the way to the bottom, pulled off the fabric, bit off the threads with his teeth, and tied a knot. He picked up the whole thing, shook it, and handed it to the ironing robot holding a plate.
The ground there was already piled high with military uniforms, ready to be handed over to the members of the legion later.
Feng Yeying stretched and said, "Since the shrouds can't be sold anymore, they can be used to make military uniforms."
The boss said: "Yes, many people have come to cancel their coffin orders."
His tone was not one of disappointment for not making money, but rather of happiness.
Seamstress stood up, brushed off the threads on her pants, and straightened her clothes in front of the mirror. "I'm going to the rally. How about this?"
The boss came over and took his hand, smiling and saying, "Beautiful, ma'am."
Not long ago, they also secretly joined the Ghost Organization and received numbers 157362 and 157363.
As they walked along the road, the boss suddenly remembered and asked, "You said that our goods were stuck at the border and couldn't get in. How did those letters from Ye Xing get in?"
"Maybe they have special channels," the landlady patted his arm, "but it doesn't matter, dear."
None of the adults involved deliberately questioned the authenticity of the letters. Perhaps, the truth or falsity of the letter is not important at all. What is important is that they have found a reason to come together.
Finally, on this lifeless planet, a ray of light appeared, like a beacon lit on the plains, visible to everyone who looked up. Don't worry about where the beacon comes from, just follow it.
At the underground meeting, the damselfish revealed to them that they had connections with the Imperial Post and could buy a batch of cheap and fresh food at a price far below the market price.
As for the money to buy food, they unanimously decided to rob it from the Duke's pocket. Because this old man swallowed up their bank assets and caused them to go bankrupt.
Soon, they found out that the Duke of Conger had recently purchased a batch of famous paintings and antiques worth 5 billion at an interstellar auction.
And the wealthy anonymous seller has already sent a ship to deliver the goods to your door.
They decided to hijack the ship!
·
On this day, Commander Bai was in a meeting in his office, discussing with senior generals which planet to start from to make the next move and attack the empire's homeland.
After much discussion, no unanimous conclusion has been reached. It seems that no matter where you start, there will be pros and cons.
Bai Ling rubbed his temples and prepared to drink some tea and take a break before continuing the discussion. At this moment, an urgent call came in. He looked at the caller's name and answered, "Hello? What's going on? I'm in a meeting."
Yu Chen lowered his voice and pretended to be resentful: "Baby, I heard that your army robbed my ship. Do you have any clues?"
Bai Ling sat up straight from his chair, "Huh?"
His eyebrows were raised, and he asked incredulously: "Which legion am I in?"
Yu Chen looked at the intelligence report and read slowly: "301, Ghost Legion."
Bai Ling moved the terminal away a little, turned around and asked, "Do we have the 301st Legion?"
When I asked the rooster, it shook its head. When I asked the kite, it didn't know either.
"You are not one of us," Bai Ling joked after reconnecting to the terminal, "Besides, I don't need a group to rob you, I alone am enough."
Yu Chen smiled when he heard this, and then thought for a while: "So, someone used your name to create a fake army, with fake numbers and fake military orders, and robbed people outside?"
This is so much fun... and so dangerous.
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