Almighty painter

Chapter 913 Ostrich Anna

Anna was immersed in the chaos caused by extreme shock.

She lay motionless on the deck.

Miss Elena was not frightened, she did not fall into a hysterical breakdown, she did not scream, shout, or cry.

She just stayed there.

Not moving at all.

Anna has a clear mind and an active thinking.

In a few seconds, Miss Elena realized what was going on and then considered various possibilities.

Who wants to kill her?
There are many possibilities, she is a very wealthy heiress.

Wealth often brings huge benefits.

And she has many enemies.

Sir Brown, no, no, no, that's ridiculous. If she died like this, it would be a big trouble for Sir Brown.

Moreover, she had no reason to believe that Lord Brown had not done it.

Mr. Kruger?
Maybe.

Miss Elena believed that if the benefits were great enough, this banker with a kind smile might actually do it.

He is an ambitious man who cares not about means but only about results.

As long as he could get Oil Painting magazine, he would find ways to kick himself out of the board of directors, and if he could get Elena's family, he probably wouldn't care much about her life.

The issue is.

If I kill her, will the other party be able to obtain Oil Painting Magazine?
How can something be so simple?
The entire Oil Painting magazine will face huge equity changes and uncertainties.

Anyway.

She was still the largest private shareholder of the entire magazine. For a complex business project, the prospects would become even more confusing with her death, especially when the Elena family's reputation was reaching its peak with the exposure of Kara's story.

Now Mr. Kruger's only "enemy" is himself.

Both she and the other party understood.

Rather than firing a bullet, it would be a better choice to trap her in the magazine's internal department system, leaving her in a dilemma and in constant hesitation.

The banker felt that one day she would become one of them.

Only with her "Oil Painting" magazine can the magazine be complete and can it be more clearly proved that the Muse Project is unstoppable.

perhaps……

Mr. Kruger still had some hope that she and Ole would be together. The banker might be right. After all, they spent a lot of time together in their childhood.

If she was engaged to Ole, or even already married.

Encountering such a thing.

Whenever Miss Elena encounters any life threat in her life, the first suspect in her mind is definitely Mr. Kruger.

Not to mention that she encountered a killer on a ship in Singapore and a bullet was spinning less than half a meter away from her forehead.

When we walked to the street, a vase fell from the sky. It was Mr. Kruger who pushed it secretly.

I was scalded by the coffee on the corner of the table, which was secretly poured by Mr. Kruger.

While walking on the street, the wheelchair was tripped by a stone, which was the stone that Mr. Kruger had moved overnight.

Even if you encounter a polar bear in the Arctic.

That must be because Mr. Kruger and the polar bear had some secret insider deal, and he tried to bribe the polar bear with a barrel of cod to commit murder for him.

Anyway, all the bad things were done by Mr. Kruger.

Mr. Kruger had better pray that she lives a long and healthy life, because Anna Elena will blame all the misfortunes on him and come after him.

These would be in her wedding vows.
-
"I'm a superstitious man. How ridiculous. Let me say this first. If my little son were accidentally shot dead by the police, if he hanged himself in his cell, the conclusion would be suicide. If some new witness came forward to prove his guilt, superstition would make me think that the people here had ill intentions towards me--"

"Say it again."

"Suppose my son were struck by lightning, if his plane suddenly crashed into the sea, if the ship he was on fell into the waves and he got a fatal fever, even if he was hit by a train while walking on the street, superstition would make me attribute it to your malice. And I... will never forgive such malice."

——Mario Puzo, The Godfather, 1969 (USA)
-
Now, even if he killed her, he would get nothing except a mess.

The last possible.

It turned out to be Kara.

It was not Kara von Elena, but her distant uncle Kara, the second heir in terms of blood relationship. Although she spent millions of dollars to clean up the mess for him, it was probably not as much as the entire Elena family property she could inherit.

It's just a drop in the bucket.

She wanted to tell the other person not to indulge in false fantasies.

In an encrypted safe in the basement vault of the Austrian First Commercial Bank headquarters, there is a secret will she made when she was an adult, witnessed by a private lawyer.

She is still alive.

Someone paid off part of Kara's gambling debts.

What if Anna died suddenly?

The other party doesn't get a single coin.

“Maybe he doesn’t know that.”

Miss Elena thought to herself.

Kara was the only one who had both the desire and sufficient motivation and what he thought was a huge benefit to do this.

Elena had no doubt whether the other party was bad enough.

She just suspected that the other party was too stupid and didn't have the ability.

I thought about it in such a big circle.

The woman finally remembered the death threat letter that had been sent to the manor a few months ago.

She blinked silently, staring at the bullet that had stopped spinning beside her, and her whole body became still.

Anna looked as if she were dead.

Turn a deaf ear to the voices around you.

"When Nelson died, did he think that he would end up on a ship with a bullet through the chest?"

Miss Elena thought.

How ridiculous.

Facing this circumstances.

What she should have done was to fight or flee, not think about Nelson.

Anna just couldn't help it.

Since she was a child, she had read the battlefield diaries left by her ancestors, imagining them drawing their swords and charging towards the British infantry regiments and the old French Guards battalion across the valleys of Central Europe.

The horse's mane was dripping with sweat, and the gilded helmet with a lion relief and metal rails, unique to the dragoon regiment, was shaking, reflecting the sun's rays into a golden morning mist.

When she was a child, she often played with the family's helmet from the war of 1756.

The convex and concave totem of the lion with bared fangs and claws was imprinted in her heart like a print.

That's it now.

Anna's moment of glory has arrived.

If her opponents thought she was powerless, they would be very wrong.

When Miss Elena was picked up from the wheelchair by Gu Weijing, Anna was confused, shocked, a little angry, but not afraid.

If a woman is really angry.

Not to mention that she came up with a fatal scissors kick.

Anyway.

If Gu Weijing really wants to get rough, it is not certain who will be able to beat the other.

There were only two of them on the rear deck at this time. If a fight broke out, Anna thought that one of them would be beaten and run away screaming. She didn't know who that person was, but it definitely wasn't her.

She has received complete VIP anti-kidnapping training.

As a "VIP", the most important thing she needs to do is to be "obedient". Never make decisions on her own and follow the arrangements of the security manager.

The second is "negotiation", which Anna is also good at.

But the other party's first bullet hit her right next to the face, so there was probably nothing to talk about.

Again, it’s “escape”.

If you can avoid directly provoking the criminals, do so.

At worst, when there is no choice, it is called "fighting".

She is a true swordsman, Olympic level.

The wheelchair was overturned beside her, and she could reach it by just moving her body a little.

There is a specially designed foldable carbon fiber cane under the wheelchair.

As long as you pull off the bottom section of the foot support, you will see a sharp metal tip.

of course.

Anna knew that sports and actual combat were two completely different things. The cane was of little practical use, even if she really had a gleaming, swift sword.

It is probably useless if you really face an armed robber.

But a sword.

Its significance does not lie in its lethality, it represents a fighting attitude and a noble spirit.

Holding the sword, she is a strong person who refuses to admit defeat.

She is a truly brave person.

"Don't run, all you truly brave Prussians, follow me!"

The previous count wrote in his diary that he heard a rumor among the army that during the chaotic battle in the Borshan Valley, a senior Prussian general did not flee, but drew his sword and shouted loudly amid the rout...

Even if the other party is an enemy.

That scene was quite courageous.

"Then he was hit directly by a 12-pound field gun, which tore him to pieces of flesh and blood."

The Earl wrote.

Miss Irena's student years, this seemingly humorous record, is often compared by her to the famous description in Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace".

Her ancestors also participated in that war.

That was the last time in the history of Elena's family that she appeared at the center stage of European military history.

This time.

At first, it was the combined forces of Austria and Russia that were defeated. Young Prince Andrew ran against the crowd, led the entire battalion in an artillery charge towards the French army, and then fell down in front of the sky.

Anna aspires to be such a person.

Just reach out.

Just grab that cane under the wheelchair.

She couldn't die so weakly and cowardly. It was both her sword and her leg. If she was hit by it by surprise, she would slip away.

This ship is very big.

Think of a way to play hide-and-seek, and you may be able to hide for quite some time.

Things may take a new turn.

At the very least, she could tell Gu Weijing to run and hide and try.

Let irrelevant people avoid here and not be implicated - isn't this also the virtue she should have?
then.

The problem is coming.

Anna Elena should have picked up her cane, should have fought or fled, should have chosen to fight with anger, should have chosen to face death with grace.

She thought she should protect Gu Weijing.

She had made this promise just two minutes ago.

She felt the other person trembling on her body.

She had a hundred better options, but she did nothing.

Miss Irina just stayed there, staring at the bullet like a demon, her mind full of ridiculous thoughts about the cause and effect of this incident, the Seven Years' War, the Thirty Years' War, the Anti-French Alliance, her ancestors' diaries, and Leo Tolstoy.

Prussian generals under fire, Prince Andrew under fire.

Marshal Nelson collapsed on the deck of the ship, holding his chest and died.

Fantasy characters and real people.

Flashed across.

The precious time used to escape and make a decision is passing by every second.

Her mind was so active that the entire history of Europe over several hundred years could be passed through her mind in just a few breaths.

Her body was so numb.

So cold.

She could feel her body, but she couldn't control it.

In this critical situation, she developed a fatal procrastination problem.

The connection between brain and body is severed.

Anna was clearly lying on her side on the deck, but she seemed to be looking down at herself from a very high and high perspective, witnessing her own dullness, helplessness and dejection.

“This is not procrastination.”

Miss Elena thought.

She is really a very knowledgeable person.

She realized that this was a completely uncontrollable stress response from her body under the huge emotional impact.

Due to the strong intervention of external stimuli, the sympathetic nerves are over-activated, leading to a certain kind of body rigidity.

Under a strong mental shock.

She was experiencing a momentary derealization.

There are two different response mechanisms in organisms, one for active defense and the other for passive defense.

Active defense is divided into fighting or fleeing. When animals face sudden danger, their muscles become more sensitive and faster.

Another set is a passive defense mechanism.

Often when faced with an inescapable predicament or even a sudden natural disaster, some people will experience a "freeze reaction."

Heart rate decreases.

Decreased muscle tone.

The brain tells people to “stay still” and shrink there to reduce the possibility of attracting outside attention.

"The most typical situation is that when an ostrich encounters a crisis, it will stick its head in the sand, or the mealworm will freeze there and pretend to be dead."

She is now burying her head in a variety of fantasies to escape reality.

puff!

If Miss Elena hadn't been so stiff, she would have smiled the most ironic and piercing smile she could ever have in her life.

She used her own life to tell the funniest joke ever.

Oh my god.

Just a week ago, she was at the Esplanade talking about good lions and bad lions.

What the saying goes, lions are meant to eat people.

It means that people cannot escape reality by immersing themselves in fantasy.

Talk about what true courage is.

Just today, she was still telling others not to waste time on boring and meaningless things. Some people are like dust. What dust needs is to cover your nose and avoid it, not pay attention to it. You will never have any intersection in your life. Looking at the dust for even a second is a waste of time.

Just over a minute ago.

Miss Elena was still there saying to others, "Don't be afraid, this is a manifestation of your lack of security, and I, I will protect you."

Anna's life.

She has never lost a verbal debate.

result.

When she suddenly lost her wealth, her bodyguards, and the barrier that had surrounded her since she was born.

A bullet hit her side.

Bounced next to her forehead.

Her brain wanted to tell herself, "Hey, come on, fight for the noble name of Elena, and die gracefully. Now is the time, pounce like a lion, the golden lion on the helmet of the ancestor dragoon is shining on your body."

"Go ahead and take your sword."

And her body taunted with a cold voice.

"Hey."

"Don't be funny, my dear Miss Ostrich, you can't do anything."

"Look...your hands are shaking with fear."

"Anna Elena, you really do what you say."

The woman felt that she had said the best and most insightful comment ever made in her life.
-
"Ms. Elena—"

The woman listened to Gu Weijing calling her name softly.

"Hey, quiet, I'm thinking about some serious philosophical questions right now."

Anna thought to herself.

"Remember that kid we talked about before?"

Young people are very short-sighted.

OK, OK, OK, I do believe now that you are a super chatterbox. But you will go to heaven soon to continue to chat with God, and you will have plenty of time then. Well... Although I never take church seriously, I still hope that God can forgive the past...

"Go check on them for me, in case they... tell the world—"

He continued to say something in his ear.

Give me a break.

Little painter.

Anna is really an expert at making sarcastic comments.

"How foolish! Don't you understand what kind of situation you are facing? Those people are here to kill me. We are all going to die. Maybe I will die before you. What's the point of you telling me this?"

Miss Elena wanted to tell Gu Weijing.

do not talk.

If you still have the energy, you might as well run away. If you are lucky, you may have a chance to go and talk to those people. If you want to tell someone whether you are disappointed or not, go and tell them yourself.

Anna still couldn't open her mouth.

Her throat was terribly dry.

She was actually a little scared, scared of death, and also scared that Gu Weijing would really run away and leave her alone on the cold and hard deck.

Forget it.

I guess you can't run away.

Just stay here and lie next to me. It would be better if you could stop nagging me.

only--

Keep your mouth shut.

Then hug me.

"If it makes you feel better, hug me. If it makes you feel scared, hug me too."

Miss Elena blinked slightly.

She wanted to tell Gu Weijing.

Yes, I allow you to hug me now, even though your fingers hurt my shoulder and you are so clumsy and unskilled in hugging me.

But I don't mind.

If you like.