Save the simulator and make Sarkaz great again!

"This...this is simply the act of a demon!"

Theresa stood up abruptly, her voice filled with barely suppressed anger and a chilling power.

Shen Lin looked at her quietly, his gaze deep and calm, as if he had already anticipated her reaction.

“Alexei, he did a good job.”

He paused, looking at Theresa's tightly bitten lower lip.

"Have we been silent for too long? What has made them mistake our mercy for the Sarkaz's weakness and vulnerability?"

“Theresia, warn them.”

"For whatever reason, if any misfortune befalls our people there, the Kazdel flag... will be planted atop the tower immediately."

"We have neither the time nor the compassion to reason with those who dare to stand up against us."

"I will prove to all of Terra that some people are able to sit on the throne simply because they have a perfectly sized ass!"

Chapter Ninety-Six: Seeing the Truth Before Death!

As night fell, in the temporary camp outside the outer city of Letania, Alexei stood outside his tent, his gaze fixed solemnly on the towering Tower of Origin in the distance.

Inside the tent, the infected people sat together, their faces filled with tension and unease.

Not long ago, they received an infuriating message.

The Witch King ordered Letania to immediately prohibit any infected person from leaving the city.

Most of the infected in these camps were not natives of the tyrannical witch king's territory, but were extradited from other regions of Letania by the Sarkaz Democratic Union with their consent.

However, an unexpected incident occurred when they were passing through the city. Kim Yul-fai forcibly detained them on the grounds that a large number of infected people would threaten public order.

Meanwhile, the other electors who had previously negotiated the transfer with the Sarkaz Democratic Union were turning a blind eye to this blatant breach of contract.

After the Witch King gave the order, they all chose to remain silent.

The Witch King's intentions are obvious to everyone.

Alexei knew that the Witch King's hunt for the infected could come at any moment, and the fate of these infected was now in his hands.

Seeing Alexei looking somewhat absent-minded, his colleague, Ivan, a member of the Sarkaz Democratic Trade Union, walked up to him and gently shook his head.

“I understand how you feel, but you have to understand... the entire city is now under lockdown, which means the Witch King won’t let them off easily.”

"Our union sent an urgent message, which basically said that the union must first ensure our personal safety, and that we should stay out of trouble and wait for the union representatives to come and negotiate with us."

“His Highness values ​​us far more than these infected people. If necessary… we can abandon them.”

"..."

Alexei remained silent for a moment, gazing at the flickering firelight in the camp.

“I really can’t swallow this… Ivan.”

"Our union had already reached an agreement with them regarding the transfer of these infected individuals. They were extradited from other regions by our colleagues with great effort, and the process did not violate any laws."

"Why did that witch king tear up the treaty with just a word once we arrived here, trying to keep us all here? He has quite the appetite; isn't he afraid of choking himself to death?!"

Ivan sighed softly.

“Circumstances are beyond our control, Alexei. I know you are very angry right now, but there is nothing we can do. Our strength is too insignificant.”

The campfire was dying down, and Alexei remained silent.

Just then, he heard a child coughing.

Pushing through the crowd, I saw a group of children, including an Ursus girl huddled under a tarpaulin—no more than eight years old.

Black crystals covered her neck and collarbone; the mineral crystals on her skin were frightening. She was folding something using a flyer she had found in a street trash can.

"What are you doing?"

He crouched down and asked softly.

"My mom said that if I finish making a thousand flowers, I'll get better."

The little girl looked up and smiled at him, showing no fear of him because he was a Sarkaz, except that she was missing a front tooth and her voice was slightly lisping.

It was only then that Alexei noticed the paper flowers the other children were playing with; it was clear that the other children did not know how to fold them.

"But if you give these flowers to other children, won't you have none left?"

The little girl tilted her head, her fingertips gently tracing the creases of the paper flower, the glow of the campfire dancing on her crystallized eyelashes.

"Uncle, but look!"

She pointed to several children curled up in the corner, sleeping, and the small crystals on their bodies were very conspicuous in the firelight.

"Mickey said she couldn't sleep because of a sore throat, but she stopped crying when she held the flowers. Little Tita is the same; she always has nightmares and keeps calling for her mother in her dreams."

"But ever since I gave her a flower, she's been able to sleep soundly until dawn. She says the flower smells like her mother."

The little girl's voice was soft, as if she were afraid of waking the sleeping children.

"My mother said that as long as I keep picking flowers, someone will be able to guide my flowers into spring."

The little girl had finished her work and gently placed the folded paper flower in Alexei's palm.

Alexei's knuckles brushed against the serrated edge of the paper flower, and the cheap ink peeled off at the creases, revealing the blurry writing on the back of the leaflet.

"Uncle, look, every flower holds the courage that everyone shared with me."

Faced with the little girl's innocent smile, Alexei's knuckles clenched until they turned white.

The firelight danced in his pupils, and for a moment he was transported back to that rainy night.

His younger brother Igor, who depended on him for survival, huddled in a leaky shack. The Originium crystal in his chest had pierced through his lung, and every breath he took was filled with blood and foam.

Alexei remembers wiping the cold sweat from his brother's forehead as he anxiously comforted him.

Igor suddenly started coughing violently, spitting out bloody froth.

By the time Alexei bought the last dose of painkillers from the black market, his brother had already stopped breathing; he couldn't hold on until the day Sarkaz saw hope.

Alexei knelt at his brother's grave all night, rain washing away the bloodstains on his face—the bloodstains he left when he dug the grave with his bare hands.

At daybreak, he folded the leaflets that Igor had treasured into paper airplanes and watched them being blown north by the wind.

"I will ensure that more people like you live to see the dawn of Kazdel."

Alexei swore an oath before the tombstone, his voice hoarse but firm.

From then on, he volunteered to take charge of the work related to infected individuals.

Every time he saw children suffering from carcinogenic schistosomiasis, he would think of Igor's eyes before he died—a longing for life and an expectation for the future.

At this moment, Alexei looked at the group of infected people in front of him and seemed to see the shadow of his younger brother again.

His gaze swept over the elderly with white hair and the women holding babies, finally settling on the Ursus girl folding paper flowers.

"Igor."

He meditated in his heart.

At that moment, the grateful eyes of the infected and the glimmer of hope in their eyes flashed through his mind.

"This time, I will not let anyone die before dawn."

……

The next morning, the streets of Letania were still shrouded in a thin mist.

Alexei found Ivan and explained his plans to him.

Looking at Alexei's resolute eyes, Ivan felt as if all his words were stuck in his throat, and in the end, they all turned into a soft sigh.

"Alexei, are you really sure about this?"

Alexei didn't speak; he just stared intently at the other person.

Ivan was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

Alexei then turned and went into the tent, preparing to devise an escape plan, when he suddenly heard rustling footsteps behind him.

When he looked up, more than a hundred infected people were already standing in front of him. The old man walked slowly over, his hunched figure looking particularly old in the morning mist.

“We heard everything. Your conversation with Mr. Ivan.”

On his arm, the Originium crystals gleamed black in the dim light, as if silently recounting his years of suffering.

Alexei raised his head and his gaze met the old man's cloudy but determined eyes.

"you……"

"Sirs...you are all great people, we know you want to take everyone away,"

The old man interrupted him, his voice low but firm.

"But you can't do that... at least, you have to leave some people here, otherwise those guys will soon find out."

Alexei's gaze swept over the more than one hundred infected people behind the old man. Their faces showed no fear, only a resolute calm.

Their eyes revealed a tacit understanding, as if they had already reached some kind of consensus.

"We will stay. We don't have much time left, and we are already satisfied with surviving this long thanks to the mercy of your union."

"But the children...they have a future. We can't let them perish here with us."

"They will remember everything that happened today..."

Alexei felt as if something was blocking his throat; he opened his mouth but found he couldn't speak.

The infected people behind the old man nodded in unison, their eyes showing no hesitation.

"Mr. Alexei, you are the bravest and most extraordinary person I have ever met."

The old man stepped forward and placed his withered hand on his shoulder.

"We know you're risking your lives for us. But this time, let us do something for you. At least until the very end, we'll be with you."

Alexei clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He took a deep breath, turned to Ivan, and said:

"We're proceeding according to plan. But this time, we need to completely lower Kim Yu-fa's guard."

Ivan nodded, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

"I will cooperate with you."

For the next few hours, the atmosphere in the camp seemed to return to calm. The infected went about their business as usual, and the children played and frolicked among the tents, as if nothing had happened.

Alexei and Ivan pretended to be nonchalant and continued patrolling around the camp, occasionally brushing past patrols of the King Law Guard.

The soldiers of the Golden Law Guard were clearly satisfied with the tranquility of the camp. They leaned lazily against the wall, talking in hushed tones, occasionally glancing at the camp, but showing no signs of alertness.

"It seems they really let their guard down."

Ivan spoke softly to Alexei, his gaze sweeping over the languid Golden Law Guards in the distance.

"Are you ready?"

Ivan nodded, a hint of nervousness flashing in his eyes:

“Everything is ready, Alexei. I will lead them out through the underground passage, but you…”

Alexei smiled slightly and patted Ivan on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about me, I'll draw the attention of those Golden Law Guards. You'll be safe as long as you leave the city as soon as possible."

"If you have time, please put some flowers on Igor's grave and tell him that his brother did something remarkable."

Ivan gritted his teeth, his gaze filled with complex emotions as he looked at the man before him, and finally he nodded forcefully.

"Take care, Alexei."

Alexei watched as Ivan led the group of infected away quietly through the dug-out underground passage, then turned and walked towards the center of the camp.

As night fell, the campfire in the camp was lit again. The infected sat around the fire, humming ancient songs softly.

After a long while, the sound of footsteps gradually becoming orderly came from afar, and the armor of the Golden Law Guards gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

Alexei had long since figured out the hypocritical nature of those guys; they would only do such shady things late at night.

The leading sergeant raised the tuning fork and walked up to Alexei.