A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

"Well done! I'm so glad that none of you here are cowards! That's why I've prepared these for you...!"

As soon as Zao Lu opened the box, she saw that it was full of promotional brochures for the Reunion Movement.

“This…isn’t this a banned book?” Many students recognized it and exclaimed.

“Indeed… Now that we have chosen to embark on a path of resistance, from this moment on, we are no longer facing just those thugs. We are going to fight against the current corrupt imperial system!”

Early Dew slowly said, "Aren't you curious why the Empire listed this book as a forbidden book, and why those soldiers came to Chernobog to arrest those who possessed the forbidden book?"

"Because they are afraid! Because this book truly exposes the ugly faces of those who are high and mighty... Their very blood is filled with evil... Even I am no exception..."

Early Dew took a deep breath and said:

"I have already paid the price for my sins. But you are different; you need to see the true nature of this world. Only then will we know how to resist. Just like the Reunion Movement today, they dare to confront an army of 200,000, not only because they have courage, but also because they know they are doing the right thing!"

"So, students, open this book that they consider taboo. Whatever they fear most, that's what we must become!"

As they spoke, some people came forward to take the books. They were all people who had followed Winter and Truth for a long time and had already received the teachings that Truth had shared with them in the books. Now they wanted to verify them for themselves.

Once someone took the lead, others followed suit. First come, first served, and the boxes were quickly filled with books. Although many people didn't receive any books, they could share with others.

"Because I didn't expect so many people to stay, I didn't bring enough books. I will make more copies so that everyone can have one."

After Zao Lu finished speaking, she looked at Zhen Li, nodded to her, and said:

"From now on, your strategist, Zhenli, will come to teach you more about the contents of the book, so that you will understand how to continue the struggle."

“And after that, our gang will also move towards that goal… No, from now on, we should no longer be called a gang. We should have a new name! No longer accepting the rule of imperial tyranny, we should govern our city independently and drive out those thugs!”

"From this day forward, we are the Ursus Student Self-Governing Corps, fighting to unite all of Chernobog, to fight against the Ursus tyranny, and against those army groups!"

Chapter 281: An Apology from the Past

"A brilliant speech. But was it your own idea, or was it taught to you?"

Afterwards, the students of the self-governing group began to look through the Reunion Movement's propaganda brochures. Meanwhile, Winter, Trami, and Gummy took Early Dew to a secluded place to talk.

Zhenli first praised Zaolu's speech, but then curiously asked Zaolu about the authenticity of the speech.

"The first part was taught by the teacher, which was meant to temporarily win everyone's favor and prevent me from being directly denounced. As for the rest of the speech, half of it was guided by the teacher, but the majority was my own feelings."

With a hint of reminiscence in her eyes, Zao Lu slowly said, "In just a few days, the changes have been so great that I can hardly remember what I used to look like."

"In order to have the power of revenge, and to prevent more people my age from suffering like that, I have given my all in these five days to persevere with that high-intensity training. I don't know how many times my muscles were strained, or how many times I was so out of oxygen that I could barely breathe."

"The only time I could rest was basically when I was carried around to see how the Reunion Movement operated and to listen to those lectures... To be honest, at first I couldn't even keep my eyelids open, and I just wanted to fall asleep. I was often woken up by the teachers because of this."

"Will you wake me up? I thought it would be like my teacher, with a ruler or a piece of chalk to punish me severely." Winter couldn't help but complain after hearing this.

"Yes, because the teacher said that how much I learn in these five days depends entirely on myself. He will only try his best to help me get back on track when I can't keep going, but he won't force me to learn anything."

A hint of respect and inexplicable confusion flashed in Zao Lu's eyes before she uttered:

"This is what I have to do, so I can only rely on myself. My will will determine how far I can go."

"I don't want to disappoint my teachers, nor do I want to disappoint my deceased parents."

Truth and Winter remained silent; they were both well aware of what had happened to Zao Lu, and could only offer their comfort through silence.

"Um... I've actually been wanting to ask you this for a while now, Sonia and Anna, when did you meet this classmate?" Just then, a slightly discordant voice came out, it was Gum (Rada) who came out with them.

“Rada, I’m so sorry for keeping this from you all this time… Actually, me, Sonia, and this Natalia… oh, now I should call her Natalia, we all met in the Reunion Movement.”

Truth then told Gummy everything that had happened five days earlier, including how they became partners with Early Dew.

"What... so you joined the Reunion Movement a long time ago? No wonder you have so many banned books." Gummy said in disbelief, "You didn't tell me about something so important!"

"Because this matter needs to be treated carefully, we originally planned to tell you about it after you calmed down for a few days. After all, you have a soft heart, and maybe you won't..." (The rest of the text appears to be a series of unrelated phrases and sentences, possibly from different sources.)

However, before Winter could finish speaking, Gummy interrupted:

"What? Even if I'm soft-hearted, I can still tell right from wrong. I shouted it out loud during the oath-taking ceremony just now, didn't I? I don't think you're doing anything wrong."

"Hmph, you underestimate me too much. I've kept this a secret for you for so long, even waiting for you to come back after dark. And you don't trust me at all," Gummy said, puffing out her cheeks.

"Oh, we were wrong, Rada, can you forgive us this time?" Winter said with a pained expression. Gummy, hearing Winter's apology, didn't hold it against her, simply saying:

"There can't be a next time. From now on, the three of us will stick together and no one can hide anything from the other... Ah, it should be a group of four now, I almost forgot to include Zao Lu."

After hearing Gummy's words, the other three people present chuckled and finally nodded in agreement.

“Since we’ve already brought up what happened five days ago…Saruru, Sonia and I have always owed you an apology. Although it shouldn’t be brought up now, as Rada just said, in order to be able to stand together in the future, there are some things we need to clarify and can no longer hide from each other.”

After thinking for a while, Truth finally made up her mind. She looked at Early Dew, bowed her head apologetically, and said:

"I'm sorry, because of Sonia and me, those soldiers used this as an excuse to attack the inner city... In a way, Sonia and I also share the blame for the deaths of your parents."

Winter looked quite awkward at this moment; she had just finished comforting Gumi, and now she had to apologize again.

However, in terms of the nature of the offense, the one on Zao Lu was clearly much more serious. So she scratched her face, sighed, and walked straight up to her, saying, "If you have any grievances, take them out on me. After all, it was me who suggested beating up those soldiers."

"I won't fight back, just don't kill me. After all, I need to keep this life to keep fighting those thugs!"

"Come on, beat me to death as long as you don't kill me!"

"Huh...huh? How did things suddenly turn out like this?" Gummy exclaimed in surprise.

Early Dew, on the other hand, walked straight toward Winter, raising her right hand as if to slap her.

"Wait...wait a minute!" Gumi was about to say something when she realized that Zao Lu's palm was not aimed at Lin Dong's face, but at his shoulder.

"Why should I blame you? Sonia, Anna... Even if you hadn't stirred things up, wouldn't those thugs have attacked the inner city and my parents?"

Early Dew shook her head and slowly said:

"The real culprits have always been those thugs in the military. You were just trying to uphold justice, so don't blame yourselves too much."

"You really... don't blame us?" Winter asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Well, it would be a lie to say that I don't blame you at all. After all, I first heard about this from the teacher... But now that you've come out of the woods, my anger has actually dissipated quite a bit."

After a moment of hesitation, Zao Lu continued:

"So you don't need to worry about whether you are responsible for the inner city anymore. Just like the teacher said, their integration movement has indeed caused many ordinary people to suffer. But does that mean they won't overthrow this corrupt dynasty? No, it's not like that."

"Therefore, raise your heads and continue the fight as my partner."

"Okay!" After listening, the two nodded in agreement.

"Phew, that's great." Gummy breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

……

"Next, you need to start spreading the information according to the plan. As for me, I will now have to face those people from my former circle."

After explaining the mission arrangements, Zao Lu prepared to leave. Next, she would complete the final piece of the puzzle on campus. At that time, she would personally set the entire city of Chern ablaze.

"Well, we can handle the regular students for now. But there are still some unruly guys on campus we need to watch out for. We're not the biggest group after all, and we might get into trouble with them again in the next few days."

"Winter said."

"Don't worry, I've investigated the other two gangs that are bigger than yours. The reason they're so big is because they also have people like me backing them up."

After thinking for a while, Zao Lu said:

"According to my intelligence, they correspond to the beloved daughter of Vladimir Vladimirov, the head of the city's finance bureau, and the young master of Pavlovich's family, who is currently in charge of the Chernobyl industrial zone."

"Are you confident you can handle both of them?" Truth asked.

“Of course, these two are now just as bad as me. Without the support of their fathers, how much trouble can they cause?” Zao Lu chuckled. “Besides, even if we were to compare our fathers’ generation, my family might not be afraid of either of them.”

"In that case, I wish you good luck in taking them down, Zao Lu." Zhenli nodded and said, "Also, be careful not to get caught by the soldiers patrolling the road."

"Don't worry~"

Finally, under the watchful eyes of the three, Zao Lu waved, turned the corner, and disappeared from their sight.

"Alright, Zao Lu can take care of her own affairs. On the contrary, we need to keep up with the pace here, so we don't fall behind when we need them," Lin Dong said with great interest.

"Winter is as impulsive as ever. At the very least, you need to let the other students properly process the information they received today and let me give them a good lesson, right?"

Truth shook his head and followed Winter into the activity room.

“Um, Anna, is there anything I can do for you?” Rada asked.

"You... are you still doing what you do best, just like before?" Mari said with a smile.

"Ugh... am I in charge of logistics again? I thought I'd finally get to show off my skills," Gummy lamented.

Chapter 282: Two Empty Cities

On the northern battlefield, after another five days of continuous attacks, both sides suffered losses.

However, this time, the Reunion Movement suffered far greater losses than before, one of the reasons being that the Reunion Movement was not adapted to this kind of defensive warfare.

Its original mobility was greatly restricted by the city walls, and it could only fight fixed stronghold battles against the enemy.

On the other hand, the Ursus Army Group's siege experience was far too extensive. Even using the most conservative siege strategies, they still inflicted considerable losses on the Reunion Movement. (The remaining text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated gibberish.)

Ultimately, the casualties on both sides over the three days were as follows: the Reunion Movement suffered over 2,000 casualties, while Ursus suffered over 10,000 casualties.

The casualty ratio has been reduced from 1:10 to 1:5. Moreover, this casualty ratio is decreasing further because this Ursus Army Group is gradually adapting to the offensive rhythm of the Reunification Movement.

However, Georgie never let his guard down or underestimated the Reunion Movement. Because, to this day, he still hadn't met with the Reunion teams he had mentioned at the meeting.

"That's how it was before. Both of Ursus's commanders thought they were on the verge of victory, but in the end they both made mistakes at crucial points, and the Reunion Movement completely turned the tables on them."

Georgie always kept in mind the lessons learned from the failures of his predecessors, proceeding cautiously and gradually. He would not make any rash moves until he had an absolute certainty of victory.

Indeed, of all the marshals, he was the most mediocre. He was overly cautious and almost always lost battles. Even his father thought he was a good-for-nothing who would run away at the first sign of trouble.

Therefore, he also had the title of "the general who ran away".

Although he now sits in the position of marshal, he knows very well that if it weren't for the fact that a group of generals and commanders of the original Third Army were purged for treason, and that he had a powerful father, this position of marshal would never have fallen to him.

"As long as I can survive, that's enough. What do I care about right or wrong?" Georgy thought to himself.

It must be said that although Georgy was a marshal who did a very shameful job, he did have his own way of surviving.

"Marshal, it's dawn. We can organize the attack now." At this moment, a general walked into the command camp and urged.

"Wait, has there been any activity from the east, west, and south directions today?" Georgie did not give an order immediately, but instead inquired about the situation from other reconnaissance directions.

"No, Marshal, it's the same as always." The general said rather impatiently, "General, it's been five days already. Even if you hid in the snow, you would freeze to death after five days."

"The east and south sides are wide open and offer no hiding places. As for the west side, the patrols have practically searched the entire mountain these past few days, but still haven't found any trace of those people. You really don't need to waste your energy on these three sides anymore. Quickly concentrate your forces and take these two cities."

"Ha, can you guarantee there won't be the slightest problem? Can you bear the consequences of your misjudgment leading to the loss of 200,000 troops?"

Seeing the general's impatient demeanor, Georgie's expression turned cold. He might be cowardly, but that was only towards his peers and superiors. When did his subordinates dare to give him such orders?

"How about I give you a military order right now: you lead half of the army to completely capture one of the cities before my father and his men arrive? If you fail to capture it, or if your misjudgment leads to the army's defeat, then don't blame me for court-martial!"

Georgie shouted sternly.

"...It was my foolishness, I hope the Marshal will forgive me." Upon hearing Georgy's words, the general's face turned pale, and he clasped his hands and bowed his head.

"Go assemble the troops... Now that there are no problems on the three flanks, we can begin today's attack."

Georgie waved for the general to leave the camp, then donned a fleece-lined cloak and helmet, preparing to assess the day's battle situation.

……

"It's over, we've been assigned to the first row. We're probably going to die at the very front." A vanguard soldier looked at the city ahead with a sense of despair and said involuntarily.

"Don't say such discouraging things. You might not even die on the battlefield. Anyway, you only need to launch two symbolic attacks a day. As long as you find a good position and hold on, you can still manage," an old soldier said, patting the vanguard on the shoulder.

After hearing the veteran's words of comfort, the soldier swallowed hard and started walking forward. Of course, he had no choice but to move, as those behind him were already pushing him forward.

"It feels a bit quiet today."

The veteran frowned as he watched the city draw ever closer. Experience told him that he should have attracted a volley of arrows by now. He had already raised his shield, ready to face the barrage.

As they continued to approach, not only the veteran, but also the other soldiers around him began to realize that something was wrong.

"Wait! Look closely... isn't the door open?"

Just then, a sharp-eyed vanguard spotted the gate below the city wall through the morning mist.

The two gates were not closed as they usually were on the battlefield; instead, they were wide open. As they drew closer and the morning sun began to dissipate the fog, the soldiers noticed that both the gates of Birch City were open.

"Look, there are no guards left on the city walls, and we can't even see the banners of the rebel army," one of the vanguards shouted, pointing at the city walls.

The soldiers immediately stopped in their tracks, each arguing about what had happened. The same situation occurred in the city of Ural.

"What? The gates of the two cities of Baihua and Ural are wide open?" Marshal Georgie, who was preparing to go to the battlefield to check the situation in Baihua, had obviously also heard the news, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

"Yes, Marshal, it's absolutely true!" the soldier who delivered the message said.