Chapter 702.3: The Loss Of Order
Ample Time gulped hard, his stomach churning just from listening. Yet the researcher seemed completely unfazed, even curling her lips into a meaningful smile. “... Ironically, though General Rowell looks like an overambitious fool with more dreams than ability, and a bit stubborn, too, the descendants of those survivors were clearly even more foolish and had cast aside the restraint of civilized people. His far-fetched idea ended up matched with an even stupider bunch, and somehow they managed to live rather comfortably.”
“So in your view, is there a better solution?” Ample Time asked, curious what a researcher like her might suggest.
Han Mingyue smiled slightly. “I think your approach is quite good. Your administrator is a decent person, doing the right things at the right time, without trying to leap straight to the finish line. As for concrete plans, my research leans more toward theory. I can offer reference suggestions, but not direct solutions.” After a pause, she glanced around and continued, “I’ll need to stay here for a few days. Most of the original structures have been dismantled, but I should still be able to find some useful clues... Can you ensure my safety?”
Ample Time offered a friendly suggestion. “I would recommend staying at the port. That’s the area we actually control. This place could turn into a frontline at any time.”
Han Mingyue nodded decisively. “Alright. We’ll go with your arrangement.”
...
The day after the Dolphin delivered the second wave of supplies and the research team’s scientists to French Fry Harbor, far away at Dawn City First Hospital, Duke Garawa finally stirred awake on his hospital bed.
Before he could even fully open his eyes, a cry filled with anxious anticipation came fluttering to the bedside. “My lord! You’re awake?”
Memories from before he lost consciousness flooded back. Garawa looked at the servant Niyan kneeling by the window, reached out with a trembling hand, and grabbed his arm.
“Grughhh...” Like a drowning parrot, he struggled to force the words stuck in his throat out.
Niyan instantly understood the look on his face and hurriedly said, “Please rest assured, my lord! I’ve already had word sent to His Majesty about Port Gallon! If nothing goes wrong, he should already be in Silvermoon Bay. Using the radio there, we can contact the scouts on the east coast of the Poro Province. By tomorrow at the latest, His Majesty will know what’s happening!”
Duke Garawa let out a sigh of relief.
The city defense forces at Port Gallon were utterly useless, but the Xilande Empire’s military was far more than just a city garrison. Those incompetent fools didn’t even qualify as cannon fodder. As long as their emperor learned of what happened, deploying the Gray Wolf Army stationed along the Everflowing River would be enough to drive the New Alliance into the sea in no time.
He admitted that he had miscalculated. He had been caught completely off guard by the New Alliance, taking a silent loss both strategically and morally.
But that was fine. As long as they could retake Port Gallon, they would hold the initiative in ceasefire negotiations. Everything could be discussed then.
A relieved smile spread across his face as Duke Garawa nodded slowly and released Niyan’s arm. “Well done... At critical moments, you’re the one I can rely on.”
If only his status were a bit higher. Otherwise, Garawa might have considered putting that sharp mind to better use, perhaps giving him a position with real authority.
Niyan smiled shyly, adopting a flattering tone. “It’s all thanks to the Master’s guidance.”
Garawa nodded slowly, then gazed at the white ceiling in silence. After a long while, he spoke again. “Where is this?”
Niyan hurriedly replied. “Dawn City First Hospital. It’s the best hospital nearby.”
Seeing Niyan pause, Barblu, who was standing nearby, finally found a chance to speak, adding in his thick voice, “The doctors here say there’s a problem with your heart. To cure it completely, they recommend replacing it with a bionic heart. They’ve offered two quality options, one from Boulder Town Arms Industry, and one from Ideal City...”
There was actually a third option: implanting a biological prosthetic. However, that option was too cutting-edge, apparently only suitable for residents of Shelter 404 or those infected with Mutant Slime Mold, so the doctors had only mentioned it in passing.
However, before he could finish, he was cut off by a sharp rebuke.
“Enough!” Staring daggers at him, Niyan snapped aggressively. “You want New Alliance doctors to cut open Duke Garawa’s chest?! What are you plotting?!”
Barblu’s mouth fell open as he stared blankly at Niyan.
What was he plotting? He had only been doing his duty as a servant, honestly relaying the doctors’ original words.
But cursed with a clumsy tongue, he panicked under pressure. He stammered for a long while without getting a single sentence out, sweat breaking out on his forehead, making him look all the more suspicious.
Lying in bed, Duke Garawa’s mouth twitched involuntarily. Hearing that his chronic heart condition could be cured had tempted him, money was no issue. But the moment he heard about cutting him open, fear immediately set in.
Replacing his heart meant surgery. That was no joke. Who knew what the New Alliance’s doctors might do while they had him open?
If Chu Guang gave a subtle look and the doctors understood, stabbing his aorta would be easy, and he would have nowhere to argue his case afterward!
Reading the concern on Garawa’s face, Niyan leaned in considerately and whispered into his ear, “... My lord, I worry the New Alliance might tamper with your heart. Your illness can be managed just fine with proper care and medication, but if they get control over your heart, who knows when it might stop obeying you.”
“Heh, I expected as much... Those treacherous bastards. How could I fall for such a crude trick?” Thinking that he had a close brush with death, Duke Garawa shot a fierce glare at Barblu, then looked back at Niyan and continued calmly. “While I was unconscious, did anything happen?”
“Nothing for now, my lord. Foreign Minister Cheng did come to visit once, but you hadn’t woken up, so he left after a while.”
As he spoke, Niyan suddenly remembered something. “Oh! The newspaper you told me to buy, I brought it!”
With that, he grabbed the neatly folded copy of The Goblin Observation from the bedside table and eagerly handed it to Duke Garawa.
It was the very same issue from a few days earlier.
Garawa’s complexion had just begun to recover, but the moment his eyes landed on the flamboyant headline, his waxy face flushed bright red.
[Gray Wolf Army Commander Dilrang of the Xilande Empire: I cried, damn it, I only touched you once, and you chased me for 2,000 kilometers?!]
[...]
[The Burning Corps landed at Port Gallon. In just one morning, the city defense forces were routed. Both the port district and the Governor’s Manor fell.]
Those damn bastards... This is beyond insulting!
Garawa felt his vision darken, the world spinning. His shoulders went limp as he fell backward, his head sinking back into the pillow he had just left moments ago.
Seeing his current state, Barblu and the other Wolffolk guards rushed forward, prying the newspaper from his tightly clenched hand.
“My lord! My lord!”
“Quick, quick, mouth-to-mouth!”
“Are you a pig?! We’re in a hospital! Go get a doctor!” Niyan shoved Barblu aside and shouted at him.
The latter scrambled out the door in a panic, not even stopping to think about who had angered the man into fainting, and yelled down the corridor, “Doctor...!”
At the same moment the doctors hurried toward the ward, far away in the Heavenly City on the western coast of the Poro Province, a furious roar echoed through the grand hall.
“Bastards!”
Hurling the telegram in his hand down the palace steps, Wutuo Xilande’s face burned with murderous rage, his mustache twitching beneath his breath.
The boundless imperial pressure pressed down on the ministers’ shoulders. They lay prostrate, trembling, not daring to make a sound.
The telegram was none other than the original copy of The Goblin Observation, detailing what had happened at Port Gallon days earlier. What enraged Wutuo Xilande was that the New Alliance’s forces had landed at Port Gallon days ago, yet he, the emperor, was only learning of it now!
If not for his delegation being in Dawn City and urgently sending back the newspaper, he might still be kept completely in the dark!
Wutuo Xilande felt as though knives were twisting in his heart, his teeth nearly grinding blood.
Governor Nihark had been his trusted confidant, earning him hundreds of millions of Dinars in foreign currency every year. Now he had become a prisoner of the New Alliance.
And that wasn’t all. The hundreds of millions of dinars he had deposited in the Port Gallon Bank had also fallen into the hands of those bandits!
Very well!
Wu Tuo’s teeth ground audibly. He had only intended to teach those people a lesson, but he hadn’t expected them to be so audacious as to set their sights on his own pockets.
Clenching his trembling fists, Wutuo Xilande let out a thunderous roar at the ministers who were prostrate below.
“Pass down my command!”
“Effective immediately, the Gray Wolf Army is to march on Port Gallon!”
“Tell General Alyang, I don’t care what methods he uses! I don’t care what the cost is! I want those twin-blade banners planted back on the roof of the Governor’s Manor!”
Comments