Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

She was able to cut back on her own spending and give up a portion of her own quota to accommodate infected people who had no other choice but to join the guerrillas.

But the list on the books still told her that even so, this was only a way to cover up the fact that the guerrillas were running out of food and to buy them a day or two.

If Mr. Patriot were here, what would he do?

Why can he carry the hopes of so many people? Why do the guerrillas' shield guards trust him so much? Why does it seem that as long as he's around, all the problems I'm facing now are no longer problems?

Is this really something that can be explained simply by the word "force"?

If I possessed "force" comparable to Mr. Patriot, would these current difficulties be easily resolved?

Talulah slapped her forehead and denied it:

"No, no, no, force is not everything. Mr. Patriot was able to do these things not just because of force. Force cannot solve problems, nor can it save everyone."

How many people can your belief save?

Talulah abruptly looked up. The room was clearly empty, but her eyes reflected another version of herself. Talulah knew it was the "seed," the seed that Koschei, that venomous snake, had planted in her heart.

Whenever she felt lost, the seed would appear, and she would nonchalantly spout what she believed to be truths to sway herself and accept those fanatical, even insane, views. Talulah initially dismissed this, even mocking her: "You're helping me, telling me what I can't do, reminding me when I'm lost!"

As expected, the seed maintained her aloof and self-assured attitude, seemingly having seen through everything, and said nonchalantly:

Look at yourself! Did you notice the soldier's eyes just now? What kind of look was that—he didn't trust you!

He was enduring, enduring his anger, enduring the infected who joined the group, stole their rations, left them hungry and needing his care. He was also enduring you.

“Nonsense.” Talulah knew that talking to Seed was pointless. But she couldn’t help but refute him when she heard him slander her comrade.

But the seed countered with a question: "If you think I'm talking nonsense, then, Talulah, let me ask you a question. Why do your warriors follow you?"

"For our ideals, we will start as guerrillas, liberate this frozen wasteland step by step, then liberate a city, then liberate the Ursus Empire, and finally smash the shackles that bind the infected to this land."

"That's enough." Seed waved his hand dismissively. "Talulah, you know very well that only you think like that! Your warriors, your shield bearers, even that old man Bodracaste, their only goal is to eat well, dress warmly, and provide a good life for themselves, their brothers, and their children."

They don't want to overthrow the nobility; they want to become nobles themselves. That's why they look at you with that kind of gaze.

The seed pressed close to Talulah's face, the two identical faces less than a centimeter apart. With their noses almost touching, the seed slowly spoke:

They're jealous of you because you're the Duke's daughter, and you have everything they want.

They hate you because you righteously abandoned everything they pursued and dismissed it all as worthless.

They resent you because you've distributed your resources to more people and are forcing them to follow your example.

“I didn’t!” Talulah exclaimed incredulously.

She never had such an idea. She couldn't possibly force the soldiers to share their rations. Everything she did was for her own benefit. She was clearly sacrificing herself, so why was she being accused of forcing others?

【You have it, Talulah, you have it. I taught you that story. You're just repeating the same mistake.】

story?

What story?

"Talulah?"

The soft call in her ear brought Talulah back to her senses. She looked up and saw Alina's worried face.

"You're spacing out again. Are you too tired?"

"No, Alina, I'm fine." Talulah rubbed her forehead. The story the seed had told her lingered in her mind.

"I heard Talulah, you want to share your share with the new infected?"

Alina asked. Talulah nodded:

"Even if I cut back a bit, it'll still be enough for me."

"I don't approve of what you're doing, Talulah."

Alina shook her head decisively.

"You're making things difficult for the other soldiers."

"Why?" Talulah's heart tightened, and she quickly asked.

"Because they are also soldiers. Leaders have a leading role. If you start this, if you go out and spread out, they must also go out and spread out, otherwise they will be considered selfish or uncooperative. They may even be questioned about their character."

Alina said earnestly.

"But many soldiers also have families. Supplies are already scarce. If they receive their share, their children and wives will go hungry. If they don't, they will face a crisis of trust. They all went to the battlefield and fought with the military police to get these priority rations. It's inevitable that they will feel dissatisfied."

Talulah nodded.

Alina is right. The soldiers fought and battled the militia to obtain these supplies, yet they are giving them away to others while their own children go hungry. That is indeed inappropriate.

She remembered the story the seed had told her, an ancient story from the Yan Kingdom—[Zigong Redeems People].

Even knowing that this was inappropriate, Talulah didn't know what to do.

If we don't differentiate, then new infected people will be rejected, freeze to death, or starve to death on the snowfield.

Should we split it up? Would that cause dissatisfaction among our comrades who have gone through thick and thin together, and might even lead to instability within the team?

What should I do?

What else can you do? You have to make a decisive choice. Sacrifice the few; your goal is a greater victory, isn't it, Talulah?

"Let me go to a neighboring village to exchange for food?"

Alina suddenly spoke, interrupting the "seed" voice.

The little deer pursed her lips and said:

“We are not soldiers and we are not wanted. Let us, the people who are safe in the rear, also do our part for the guerrillas. Let us take the ores and materials we have collected in the snowfields and mines to the village and exchange them for some food and supplies.”

"The guerrilla force can't keep wandering like this. We need to choose a place, make contact with the local villages, express goodwill, and build our own base. Otherwise, this crisis will be unsolvable. What do you think?"

Talulah paused for a moment, considered it carefully, and then nodded.

There's no better way.

"Let's do it this way. Thank you, Alina. Without you... I might really..."

"Don't say such discouraging things, Talulah. You need to be more energetic, or Miss Yelena might get angry with the warriors."

Talulah gave a somewhat forced smile, opened her arms, and hugged Alina.

The seed watched this scene with great interest.

She wasn't in a hurry. So what if Talulah solved one problem? Her path was a dead end, and there were many more problems to come. She never lacked patience to wait.

The seed's purpose is simple: she will tell Talulah the problems she faces, and even the answers to those problems. She will watch Talulah walk step by step, following her ideal, until finally Talulah sees the end of her ideal, or falls halfway down.

Only then will the seed tell her:

Even if you do that, even if you do everything right, things will still go wrong.

"Because you can't change the environment, you can only adapt to it."

To change a person, first make her believe. Make her believe, then destroy her faith. Nothing can save such a loser.

Chapter 1 Chen Huijie's Work

Great Yan, Longmen.

Lungmen, a mobile city and a pivotal city on the northwestern border of the Great Yan Empire, plays a vital role in facilitating trade between the interior of the Great Yan Empire and the external regions of Ursus and Letania. Its governor, Wei Yanwu, is a man of exceptional skill and ability. In just a few decades, he transformed Lungmen from a desolate city under Ursus military occupation into the renowned trading capital of Terra. According to statistics from the Victoria [Londinium Core City] Financial Daily, Lungmen's currency—Lungmen Dollars—has officially become the second largest circulating currency in all of Terra, after Victoria's fiat currency. Even in the surrounding areas, Lungmen Dollars have replaced Victoria's currency status in commodity transactions, establishing its own independent monetary system.

Governor Wei Yanwu of Longmen once promised that he would personally transform Longmen into a "six first-class" city in the future, with "first-class public security, first-class economy, first-class technology, first-class education, first-class medical care, and first-class culture," to replace Lentinium as the "first city."

Of course, this goal is a long and arduous journey. At least for now, Wei Yanwu is still troubled by some family matters.

"Madam, I've already said that Huijie can't be rude to everyone, right?"

Wei Yanwu earnestly explained,

"Tell me, I arranged for her to work as a security guard at the banquet, to get to know the various people in Longmen. This wasn't a bad thing; one day, she'd be taking over my job. But what happened? She wouldn't even acknowledge anyone. Isn't that a disgrace to me?"

“Is your face worth that much?” Madam Wen Yue said. “Chen’s personality is a bit too straightforward, but even so, you can’t punish her by making her do those kinds of jobs, can you? Slums, undercover work, infected organizations, such high-risk jobs, you absolutely cannot agree to let her do them.”

“She insists on going, it’s none of my business,” Wei Yanwu said helplessly.

These are not the same thing. Lady Wenyue is just using this as an excuse to make trouble. No matter how angry I, Wei Yanwu, am, I would never let Huijie carry out that kind of mission.

“Then let Jiu transfer her to another position, otherwise I absolutely will not agree.” Madam Wen Yue revealed her true intentions and said directly, “Otherwise, let her step down from the position of police superintendent and take a short break.”

"You and I both know that this is impossible."

Wei Yanwu shook his head.

Lungmen has recently been plunged into considerable turmoil. A group of dangerous infected individuals have infiltrated the slum area, which was originally managed by the Rat King, Lin Ge Rui. Unlike loose thugs, these infected individuals are highly organized and disciplined, and have even caused quite a stir in several cities surrounding Lungmen.

They were a bunch of lunatics, indifferent to money, fame, and even life itself, only wanting to launch a horrific revenge against all non-infected people. To deal with these people, one should have used a violent institution like the army to sweep through the slums, or dispatched shadow guards in black cloaks to conduct covert searches and assassinations. But unfortunately, Wei Yanwu couldn't use either of those methods.

Longmen has no army. Requesting support from within the Great Yan Kingdom is even less likely. Wei Yanwu's younger brother, the current True Dragon of Great Yan, doesn't have a very good attitude towards Wei Yanwu. The reason, of course, is the same old mess of internal power struggles within the feudal royal family.

Wei Yanwu did have his own shadow guards, the Black Cloak Guard, but he couldn't use them. Wei Yanwu's shadow guards were a self-organized group of retired veterans of the Great Yan True Dragon Imperial Guard, and their existence had always been kept secret from the True Dragon. Currently, it was the period of the Dali Temple's nationwide inspection, and the Dali Imperial Guard's inspection team would arrive in Longmen in no more than a day. Using the Black Cloak Guard at this time rashly, if the secret wasn't kept, could easily arouse unnecessary suspicion from his younger brother.

In the end, the only thing Wei Yanwu could use was the semi-military police organization he had built himself—the Longmen Guard Bureau.

The Lungmen Guard Bureau is currently headed by "Nine," who serves as the Special Investigation Division Chief and concurrently as the Bureau Chief. The entire organization possesses considerable military strength, comparable to at least the People's Armed Police. In theory, dealing with a group of infected thugs should not be a problem.

The key issue is that Wei Yanwu's niece, Chen Huijie, who graduated from the Royal Guard College of Victoria, has just joined the Guard Bureau and volunteered to join this operation.

Most importantly, "Nine" actually agreed.

Wei Yanwu still remembers how he had shamelessly gone to Jiu to curry favor with him before:

"Nine, you've been with me for over ten years, and you know what I'm thinking. Wen Yue and I don't have any children, but I treat Chen Huijie like my own daughter. She's now joined the Guard Bureau, so please take good care of her."

Jiu readily agreed, nodding and saying, "Don't worry, I understand what's going on with Lord Wei."

Not long after, Wei Yanwu received news that Chen had joined the special investigation team and was preparing to participate in the incident.

So this is how you take care of me?

Jiu felt completely innocent about this. In her view, dealing with the infected thugs wasn't a particularly dangerous task. If all went smoothly, with their thorough preliminary investigation, they could have completed the operation perfectly in half a day. This was free credit, and she gave it to Chen—wasn't that considered taking care of him?

Moreover, she also really liked Chen, this little girl.

In her, Jiu saw a drive. A drive that had solidified its goals and clarified its direction. These days, too many young people are just drifting along, too few are as ambitious as Chen. She couldn't undermine Chen's confidence.

Moreover, for Chen's sake, she even handed over her position as commander-in-chief to her deputy and personally took charge, working undercover with Chen. With her backing her up, Chen was unlikely to get into trouble.

Wei Yanwu's worries were unnecessary. Jiu was absolutely certain of this.