Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 479 Louis Calvin
As the morning sun fully rises, the Red Tide Memorial Square is already covered in crimson.

Countless flags unfurled in the wind, their varying shades of red intertwined, like a surging sea of ​​fire.

When the shouts of nearly a million people gathered in the air above the square, the air seemed to be compressed.

This will, forged by the common people, is far more chilling than the roar of the Dragon Emperor back then.

At the very front of the square were seats reserved for those receiving medals, and Ini was standing there as well.

Those people became the backbone of an era.

Ini’s gaze fell on one of the elderly men.

Marshal Lambert sat in a wheelchair, and his figure was much smaller than the image in his memory.

The oversized marshal's uniform looked somewhat loose on him.

His hands rested quietly on his knees, his skin covered with mottled wrinkles of old age, like a map repeatedly folded by the years.

But when he raised his head and looked towards the end of the square, his eyes were still sharp, just as they had been when he stared directly at the dragon.

Sitting next to him was General Weil.

He was nearly seventy years old, yet he still sat upright. It was not a posture he deliberately maintained, but an instinct he had developed over many years.

This general spent his entire life carrying out the same task: protecting Lord Louis's safety.

Looking further back, Hamilton Jr. stood with his shoulders ramrod straight.

He held in his hand a giant, exaggeratedly designed gear wrench, a symbol of the chief engineer.

Enee remembers the day the great Hamilton died, the whole world fell silent.

That man dedicated his entire life to steam machinery, so much so that he died before he was forty.

Now, this dedication has been carried on by his apprentice and adopted son.

It was these people, known as tech fanatics, who turned magical energy, once unattainable, into a resource as common as air.

Light was able to enter those underground spaces that had been sealed off for thousands of years, and darkness was no longer seen as fate.

On the other side, Ed was adjusting his collar.

His proposed high-pressure differential water circulation dynamics theory has drastically reduced industrial costs in remote mountainous areas, giving a future to lands once thought to be doomed to poverty.

Physician Green stood at the end of the line of scientists.

His name is repeatedly mentioned in the medical system; fifteen years of research have given hope for a cure for Dragon's Blood Residue.

Standing in her place, Ini looked at the ninety-nine medal recipients in the same row as her. They were of all ages, and she suddenly realized that the true reason for the Red Tide's strength never lay in the power of any one individual.

Knights grow old, geniuses take their final bow.

But as long as there are people passing on their experience to the next generation.

Then this torrent called the Red Tide will not stop because of the departure of any one person.

It will continue forward.

…………

The cannon salutes from the medal-awarding ceremony echoed forty times over the Red Tide City Square.

As the heavy castle gates slowly opened, the million-dollar venue, which had been bustling for hours, quickly fell into a deathly silence.

For the past decade or so, Louis Calvin has rarely made public appearances.

For the new generation of Red Tide, it exists more in the title pages of textbooks, in city statues, and in the currency that circulates daily.

But to people of the old era, he was a real and great man.

So when that figure finally stood in the sunlight, the entire Crimson Tide City seemed to experience a silent tremor.

"Long live Lord Louis!"

The first shout came from Marshal Lambert's hoarse voice.

"Long live Lord Louis!"

Then millions of voices merged into a torrent, soaring into the sky.

Crimson flags billowed across the square as people waved their arms and tears streamed down their faces uncontrollably.

Louis Calvin waved as he descended the steps, leaning on his cane. At seventy-two, his white hair was neatly combed back, and the corners of his eyes were etched with the marks of time. He wore an extremely simply tailored suit.
In Ini's eyes, the old man was no longer the young man she remembered.

He is more like a tutor patiently solving problems in his study, or an elder standing on the edge of a field caring about the harvest.

He walked up to the wheelchair and stopped.

Marshal Lambert sat there, his figure appearing rather thin.

That body that once supported the red tide defense line is now just a hard skeleton.

Louis bent down and personally pinned the 40th Anniversary Medal on him.

“Lambert.” His voice was low, close to the old man’s ear, “Do you remember? When I was sent to the North, I was just a child who knew nothing.”

Back then, you stood behind me. If you hadn't been willing to walk into the North with me, if you hadn't shielded me from the first blizzard, there wouldn't be the Red Tide today.

He straightened the old man's slightly loose collar.

The legendary knight, who was over ninety years old and had never shed a tear on countless battlefields, choked up like a child at this moment.

Tears streamed down his deeply lined face. He tried with all his might to raise his hand in a knightly salute, but could only grip the armrests of his wheelchair tightly.

Louis simply patted him on the shoulder lightly.

He then continued forward, pinning medals on each contributor and engaging in brief conversations with them.

Facing the young engineers in the Magic Energy Research Group, he paused for a moment and said simply, "Don't let the gears of progress stop."

The young man nodded vigorously, his throat tightening.

Looking at the doctor who had conquered the Dragon Blood Legacy, Louis's gaze softened: "Life itself is the highest truth. Thank you for allowing those who would have withered to continue living."

There were no long speeches or flowery words, yet they made people stand up straight.

When it was Inie's turn to stand in front of Louis, her hands trembled slightly uncontrollably.

The old man stopped and did not immediately pin the medal on her. He gazed at her for a moment, as if searching for a carefully preserved old memory.

“Innie…” Louis began slowly, his voice low, “I remember you, your father Smith, a knight of the Broken Blade Knights.”

Inee's throat tightened.

“One year, he asked me a question in the North.” The old man’s tone was calm, but his words were clear. “He asked me if the world would really get better.”

Louis reached out and pinned the golden Sun Medal firmly to Inee's chest.

"Today, you have answered this question for him using your laboratory and those wind turbines standing in the wilderness."

Louis looked at her gently: "Innie, you did a great job. You did not let Red Tide down, and Red Tide will not let you down either."

In that instant, Inee could no longer maintain any restraint.

The chief academician, known for his composure within the Academy of Sciences, broke down in tears in front of millions of people.

After awarding medals to ninety-nine outstanding representatives of the Red Tide, Louis turned to face the surging red ocean.

He did not recount the story of slaying the dragon, nor did he recall the hardships he endured in the North.

He simply raised his hand and pointed to the audience, to the ordinary people wearing work clothes, school uniforms, and white coats.

His voice, amplified by a sound system, resonated clearly throughout the city: "This world has never belonged to me alone, Louis Calvin."

It does not belong to those false gods who have long since turned to dust; it belongs to everyone who is willing to think and work.

He paused for a moment.

The moment the words fell, thousands of fireworks simultaneously burst into bloom in the sky above Red Tide City.

The multicolored light illuminated the square, the statue with its silver armor and red cloak, and Louis's snow-white hair.

"Long live Lord Louis!"

Long live the Red Tide!

The shouts grew louder and louder.

Inie stood in the crowd, watching the old man slowly turn and walk into the shadows deep within the castle.

(End of this chapter)