Forge a path to success.

Chapter 378 War and Turmoil (8)

At this point, the outcome has been decided.

After the long cheers gradually subsided, the second captain, Huan Ge, stood up and addressed the crowd: "Gentlemen! The outcome of the three rounds of the arena competition is now decided, and the Allied forces have emerged victorious. As agreed before the battle, from this moment on, I, Huan Ge, will stand firmly on the side of those opposing the bill."

"I also appeal to you all to carefully consider the future of the city-state and join me in the petition to rescind the bill!"

After speaking, Huan Ge decisively stepped off the stage, leaving the spotlight to the victor. The crowd, recovering from their excitement, silently stared at the assassin in the center of the ring.

The arena battles were over, and everyone returned to the cold reality, pulled back into arguments and anxieties. With Huan Ge's statement, the fate of the second lineage was sealed... However, people's hearts do not easily change... Neither long-accumulated beliefs nor thoughts instilled by some force can be easily altered.

Is this how it ends? The soldiers asked themselves. Should they just follow their captain's lead and make the choice? Is that all there is to it?
With hesitation and confusion, they looked towards the victor on the stage. Chu Hengkong's face appeared in the Second Meridian and throughout the entire Jing Sha City-State as the broadcast progressed. Meanwhile, the media operators of Mansha Star Fortress were also plotting.

"Let's switch to the bill propaganda..."

"No instructions have been given yet, do not act on your own."

"That crippled man's fake military order is troublesome enough!"

"Let's just keep broadcasting for now. People have an innate aversion to outsiders, and that person doesn't seem to be good at eloquence. Letting him keep talking will likely have the opposite effect."

They agreed with the director; the man seemed detached and unapproachable. Those in the media know this best: to embarrass a martial artist, all you need is camera time and spotlight.

Chu Hengkong did not show any emotion. He nodded slightly to Huan Ge and said, "Although I have won, I have nothing to say to you all. Because I have neither a stance nor an interest in the politics of your city-state."

"Why--!"

Even the Allied faction, who were expecting the victor to speak, felt as if they had swallowed a fly. Chu Hengkong sheathed his weapons and walked off the stage without looking back: "I came here to carry out a mission. The Allied forces knew that the city-state was in trouble, so they sent me and my comrades to come to its aid. Today's battle is nothing more than that."

"Let the soldiers of this city-state speak for themselves about the troubles and future of this military camp!"

He stepped off the stage, and the scene in the water curtain suddenly changed, transforming into a platform symbolizing a politician's address. But behind the wooden table sat not those old, incompetent politicians and businessmen, but a tall, thin soldier in a white uniform, a household name in the military.

"Sir...!" "Commander Trek." "How dare that guy..." "It's you, sir!"

That man was none other than Jas Trek, the former Commander-in-Chief, now demoted to the Third Captain. Even the citizens of the Third Order almost didn't recognize him. He was now solemn and sitting upright, a far cry from his usual disheveled appearance.

The media professionals in Mansa Starburg were utterly stunned. The director's screams were like madmen: "Cut! Cut it now, damn it! We absolutely cannot broadcast this to outsiders!!"

"Tch...it can't be cut off!" "The communication circuit has been hacked." "They've compromised all the city's communications..."

The director frantically slammed his fist on the worktable: "Quickly notify Speaker Parryman! Use your divine power!"

At this very moment, the soldiers' voices resounded throughout the city.

“I am General Just Trek, the commander-in-chief 20 years ago, and I am speaking to the Second Pulse as a veteran.”

"I'm a veteran, so I can't say anything new. It's rare to have such a great stage, but I can only tell some old stories that everyone is familiar with."

"This story is the 'first lesson' for us soldiers of the Jingsha Army."

"Every soldier in the thorns must hear a story from his superior on the day he enlists. This story happened a long time ago and has been forgotten by the citizens of today for various reasons, but the soldiers always remember it and never dare to forget it."

It tells the story of the origins of the desperate battlefront.

Cui Keping said calmly, "Shortly after the first Thorn Flower Festival, the Thorn Tree became a mass point 5, which made the attack of the heretics several times stronger. At that time, the city-state had just survived a major war and its manpower was insufficient. The attack of the heretics was endless, and fighting would not save them from death. The only way to survive was to flee."

"People were forced to face the cruelest choice: abandon their homes and let the sacred tree be swallowed up by the heretics, or persevere to the end and perish with their city-state?" "We cannot imagine the pain and struggle of our ancestors at that time. But we know that they ultimately did not need to make this decision. Because the rest of the Dust Isles learned of the perilous situation of the Thorn Robe, they spontaneously sent warriors, far from their homeland, across the ocean, to form a selfless volunteer army."

These selfless warriors helped the city-state survive its most difficult 20 years. Only when life returned to the city and its strength was restored, enough for us to face the invading army, were they finally able to leave the battlefield!

Trek said in a deep voice, "This is the origin of the Desperate Battlefront. The Desperate situation is the Desperate situation of the Thorn Tree, and the battlefront is the battlefront to protect the city-state!"

"For 20 out of every 30 years, the Allied forces defend the battlefield for Thornssa, and protect the citizens from danger. It is because of this that the Divine Tree has been able to grow, and it is because of this that the city-state has been able to grow strong. It is because of this that the city-state of Thornssa exists, guarding the front line for all living beings!"

Most of the soldiers' faces hardened, while a few showed expressions of shame. Trek said coldly, "In recent years, I have often heard the people say that the city-state has borne too much for the masses. There are heavy war taxes, supplies provided free of charge, and the good things are always given to those rude mercenaries, while our citizens are killed and wounded by outsiders."

I never get angry; I just laugh it off. Because those who say such things are ordinary people; they don't understand military affairs, they aren't soldiers!
Such nonsense would never be uttered in our barracks. Our soldiers are all brave warriors who volunteered for the battlefield. Even 20 years ago, when the battlefield was awash in blood, not a single soldier said to me, "Commander Trek, I can't hold on anymore, I want to go home." They shouted at me, "I can still fight! Let me go!"

Trek glared at him: "They said I'm going to fight to the end!"

The military camp was deathly silent, save for the words of the former commander, echoing in the wind, carrying the scent of iron and blood: "Those soldiers had no complaints. Nor did the brave warriors from afar who rushed to the aid of Jing Sha a thousand years ago. For they knew the meaning of their struggle. Our city, our world, has survived to this day because of the sacrifices and dedication of generations!"

"But now, there is even debate in the military camp. The most vocal among them is the one who wants to escape."

I completely understand Captain Huan Ge's choice, because this dispute was so absurd, so absurd that he was at a loss! It was so ridiculous that only an even more bizarre measure like 'a fight between the two sides' could barely bring it to a close!

He stared coldly at all the audience, like an extremely strict boss: "I know that the demands of the independence faction have their legitimacy, the attacks from outsiders are becoming increasingly rapid, the pressure on the city-state is indeed increasing day by day, and being dragged down by the war has become a real possibility."

I also know how politicians promote the bill. They say that once the city-state becomes independent, it loses its strategic value, and the heretics won't go to great lengths to take our Thorn City-State; they say that others will become Thorn's shields, and the allies will voluntarily stand in front of the heretics for us.

These words sounded so tempting, deceiving our ignorant people, deceiving our simple farmers. Every citizen in the world could believe these words, except you! Only the second line of command couldn't!

Trek growled, “Because you are soldiers, because you have been on the front lines and witnessed firsthand the true nature of the heretics. The heretics have no rationality! The heretics do not consider profit or loss! The heretics will devour you, will kill you, even at the cost of thousands of times more casualties, to eliminate a mere target before them. Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, the heretics will not give up their attacks and invasions, because the heretics are the malice of this world!”

"The Realm of Shock and Movement that we live in is a vast hell, and the heretics are the cruelest layer of this hell! Our ancestors never considered abandoning the fight and fleeing because they knew that we could never escape the world we live in, and they knew that if we wanted a future, we could only fight to the very end!"

Trek's roar was so heavy that his voice became hoarse. Hundreds of millions of gazes—bewildered, regretful, angry, hostile—gathered on him through the curtain of water. He stood there, accepting all the stares regardless of friend or foe.

"Don't you all understand this principle?"

"The so-called 'century of peace' after independence rests entirely on the illusion that heretics are willing to spare the city-states, which is as ridiculous as begging the enemy to spare your life on the battlefield. Can't you officers see this obvious truth?"

He spoke calmly, putting aside his earlier emotions: "I'm not questioning you all in my capacity as a former commander. I simply want to raise a contradiction that you've all overlooked. With such clear advantages and disadvantages laid out before us, why are you soldiers still willing to stand on the side of the independence faction?"

"Is everyone's resolve truly so firm? Just as Captain Huan Ge said before, why is it that news of the arrival of the Allied forces and three decisive duels are enough to shake, change, or even cause you, the audience, to suddenly reflect deeply?"

"—Was it your own thinking that led you to make this decision, or was it manipulated by others with ulterior motives?!"

——！！！！！
As if awakened from a long dream, the hesitant soldiers and officers, who just days before were determined to start a civil war, now touched their faces, which were soaked with cold sweat.

They should be able to understand.

Guilt for the deceased, a sense of responsibility to family, and fear of the suffering of war are all important.

However, the reality I witnessed with my own eyes—

Memories soaked in pain and scars—

Why do we subconsciously place these heavier "rational" things under the guise of emotion?

Why, until just now, did I feel that such an ambiguous choice was justified?
(End of this chapter)