People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

He has plenty of time and resources to outlast Roy! It's just a matter of whose hook catches the scale first!

Jeragand, of course, had no idea that Sami was having so much fun in Qazimir; He simply asked thoughtfully:

"Sami, do you remember the group of explorers you mentioned last time who went into the ice field?"

Sami pondered for a moment and replied:

"1."

How strange, I'm inexplicably a little angry.

Yeragand raised an eyebrow, ignoring the inexplicable emotion:

"Is there one of them named Mariam?"

“I don’t know,” Sami said.

How could He know the names of the explorers? Those people hadn't even reached the border of civilization guarded by the "gatekeepers" He had set up, and they weren't even qualified for Him to remember them.

However, since Jeragund had asked about it, He didn't mind helping with the matter:

"I can ask Yukisa to help me search."

"Thank you!"

"Small things."

Sami's voice gradually faded away. Yeragand shifted his consciousness back to the Manjusaka Academy, where Muirsayth had already returned to the podium, looking preoccupied.

Ya'er sat in the audience, put down the book that was covering her face, and had a smug smile on her lips.

In this way, you could say that you've helped Ernst and Scherrag, right?

Well, to use Ernst's words, how should I put it again?

"Connections"... oh no, "Divine Connections"!

P.S.: The author is taking leave on April 29th to catch a flight to Shanghai, a midnight flight. If there's time, the author will try to write at the airport. However, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, the author is requesting leave now.

I will continue to update as usual once I arrive in Shanghai.

Chapter 433 Talulah: Alina, come back soon!

Ursus, tundra.

1094 12 Month 7 Day.

For the people living on the vast tundra of Ursus, today is not a special day.

The Ursus Empire boasts a vast territory and formidable strength, with its military prowess ranking among the best in the entire continent. Leveraging this abundant military might, the Ursus Empire has expanded its territory over the past few decades, becoming the nominally largest nation on Terra.

However, compared to its claimed territory "from east to west," the actual territory belonging to the central government of the Ursus Empire, that is, the Ursus Emperor, is not very large.

The empire was fragmented by warlords, with each army group operating independently, creating a sense of parallels between the Tang Dynasty and its military governors in a different world.

The influence of the Ursus Emperor did not extend to the northeast of the Ursus Empire, and the noble warlords who occupied the northeast—formerly the Duke of Koschei, and now several Ursus marquesses who devoured his corpse after his death—did not extend their influence to the tundra. This barren land has become a de facto no-man's-land.

They don't care about food, drink, or survival; this is what is meant by "three no-cares."

Of course, taxes still need to be collected, grain still needs to be paid, and the population still needs to be levied. These things are all related to the "major national affairs" of the nobles, and not a single penny can be missing. Only in this way can it be considered a sound system.

If taxes are collected too much, people will have no money to trade; if grain taxes are collected too much, people will have no food to eat; if the population is increased, there will be no hope for farming the following year. With this combination of measures, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Ursus Empire had no intention of letting the people of the tundra survive and was engaging in "mild genocide."

As we all know, if a person is going to die, they'll always make a scene.

While military suppression is certainly intimidating, some people will eventually realize that it's better to die fighting than to starve! If the people are not afraid of death, how can you frighten them with death?

In Ursus, no one truly cries out, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?", but Ursus also has its own rebels.

Tundra guerrilla camp.

Talulah looked at the growing guerrilla force with a gratified expression.

Their ranks are growing, and more people are recognizing the absurd and brutal nature of Ursus. This means the guerrillas' strength is further enhanced. If the Patriots can successfully integrate these new members, their influence on the tundra will increase significantly. At that point, they might even be able to launch direct attacks on Ursus outposts established on the tundra!

At that time, wouldn't the food problem that has plagued them for so long be solved?

[Hmm, the word "digestion" is good. I've heard Yelena mention it occasionally. Bozokasti are Wendigos among the Sarkaz. Is it true that their race grows stronger by devouring the corpses of their own kind?]

Talulah's mind wandered. To make a bold assumption, if the Patriots failed to train these new members properly, perhaps simply "devouring and digesting" them wouldn't be such a bad idea?

After all, this is exactly what the Sarkaz have always done.

Cough cough, no, what am I thinking? When did Yelena ever mention something like this to me? Wendigo... Yelena has never left the tundra. She doesn't even know the difference between Drak, Vayvan, and dragons, so how could she know about the existence and information of this ancient Sarkaz clan?

It couldn't have been Patriot who told her. Patriot... Captain Bochkastie never mentioned his birth; he always considered himself a guardian of Ursus, only the Ursus Empire he wanted to protect had changed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the nickname "Patriot."

"Is that you, Kosichek!"

Talulah growled in annoyance, her expression twisted.

Lately, she has noticed that her emotions have become somewhat unstable.

Okay, maybe it's not something you realize yourself. People often have a hard time being self-aware of their own emotional changes. It's like when you say "No, buddy," everyone knows you're upset, but you still stubbornly insist you're not.

Alina told her about her changes.

Elafia's friend was very worried about Talulah's changes. According to her, she often rejected the captain's suggestions and often argued with Yelena. Sometimes she even argued with the captain, which surprised Talulah herself.

Is it even human to argue with a captain?

Putting aside Bozokastie's contributions to the guerrillas, the fact that he could argue with someone whose vocal cords were infected with Oripathy and who stuttered was already quite astonishing.

If an ordinary person said a few words, they would probably calm down before even getting a response.

Talulah became increasingly certain that Koschei's prophecy was very likely true. Something had indeed been "planted" in her mind. Just like the "seed of inner demon" in the martial arts novels her younger sister Chen Huijie read when they were young in Longmen, it was gradually taking root and sprouting, even subtly shaking and changing her thoughts.

This was somewhat chilling, and Talulah couldn't even retaliate against her. Fortunately, she had her friend Alina by her side, who constantly advised her.

Talulah has absolute trust in Alina. As long as Alina speaks up, even if Talulah doesn't think there's anything wrong with the matter, she will seriously consider it several times.

This allowed Talulah to relax a little.

As always, the angry mutterings received no response. The Black Serpent Seed was indifferent and arrogant, like a spectator watching a play, sitting in the stands trying to manipulate the protagonists on stage to perform their own desired drama. But Talulah would never do that.

She will show Black Serpent through her actions that he is wrong! He will never be able to control her destiny!

[Let's begin by training these men, capturing the first Ursus outpost, and firing the first shot at the Ursus Empire!]

"leader."

A deep, hoarse voice sounded not far behind her. Talulah, full of ambition, turned around and looked at Bozokasti and Yelena who were walking towards her, a smile of excitement on her face.

She didn't notice the serious expressions on their faces, and instead eagerly boasted:

"Captain, Yelena, look! A large number of infected and villagers have come to join us! This time there are two hundred of them, almost the population of a small village! Once we gather them and train them, we can launch our first counter-offensive against Ursus. Then..."

"Tallulah!"

Talulah was abruptly interrupted by Yelena before she could finish speaking. The silver-haired Katarina exuded an icy aura that kept strangers at bay. Talulah knew Yelena wasn't truly like that, but this time, her words were just as cold as her demeanor.

"Listen to me, we can't take these people in!"

Talulah froze, blinking in confusion as if pondering the meaning of Yelena's words. In the end, she could only blink again, still utterly bewildered.

"why?"

Yelena's expression was exceptionally grave, and her tone was exceptionally cold and hard: "You know, this is two hundred people! We simply don't have enough food to feed and drink two hundred people!"

She took a sudden step forward, reached out and grabbed Talulah's collar, her voice filled with anger and accusation:

"Talulah, what are you thinking! Father! Me! We've said it countless times: the guerrillas can't take in any more members! Our resource allocation has reached the point of collapse. Right now, two-thirds of our soldiers are hungry. These people who protect us only get a full meal when they go out on missions. Do you think that's reasonable?!"

"The more people you add to the ranks, the more manpower we have to deploy for outer patrols and protection. But we don't have enough food, so we can only raid the Ursus outposts. But raiding will result in casualties. The more times we raid, the more our soldiers will be injured or even killed! When our soldiers are all gone, what will we use to resist the Ursus people? You're not saving people, you're killing people!"

"you......."

Yelena wanted to say something, but Bozokasti had already reached out and blocked Yelena's face.

With his ears perked up, Carter had no choice but to take a deep breath and swallow back the curse word that was about to come out of his mouth.

She shouldn't have been so angry, but Talulah had gone too far this time. Two hundred people—did she think the guerrillas were a charity?

Training and counter-offensive? How many of these refugees even resemble warriors? How long will it take to train them into warriors like Yetis and Shield Guards? How much food, equipment, and... how many lives will they have to sacrifice during that time?

Is it worth exchanging the lives of experienced veterans for the lives of those who lack firm beliefs, experience, and even loyalty, and who might betray the Ursus infected inspectors and grain requisition teams at any moment for a bite to eat?

Yelena felt it wasn't worth it.

Don't tell her that human life can't be compared or measured. The uncles and aunts of the Shield Guard are her relatives who watched her grow up. The members of the Yeti Squad, regardless of age, all call her "Big Sister". What are these people who just escaped and whose eyes turn green and fierce when they look at her cotton clothes and the food in the soldiers' hands?

"But they are our future!"

Talulah's temples throbbed, but she still tried her best to calm herself down and explained earnestly,

"Yelena, we must not abandon them. They are the future of our team. Our Reunion Movement cannot remain stagnant on the tundra. If we need to launch a counterattack, capture Ursus outposts, seize the Ursus military police camp, or even take over a mobile city, we will need manpower! They are our manpower!"

Talulah had thought it through clearly. If the organization continued to operate as a guerrilla force, then reducing its numbers and conducting mobile warfare across the snowfields to combat the Ursus pickets meant that the current situation was indeed not suitable for adding more people.

But the Reunion Movement has never been an organization that confines itself to one corner!

Talulah had high hopes for it; it was an organization that would "liberate all the infected and the oppressed"!

For it to grow and expand, it needs manpower. Yelena questioned her about why she had accepted so many refugees—two hundred in total. Talulah could only reply: Two hundred? I only regret that it's too few!

Talulah knew that if she said these words, it would undoubtedly be a direct confrontation with Yelena. Talulah did not want to escalate the conflict, so she could only look to Bozokasti, who was blocking Yelena, for help, hoping that the captain could make a fair judgment.

Bozokasti stared at Talulah.

Before coming, he thought a lot. Although his language skills were not very good, his mind was still sharp. He could see through Talulah's purpose and know her vision from beginning to end.

He was indeed trying his best to cooperate with him and satisfy him, even at the cost of sometimes compromising himself and the soldiers under his command.

But this time, he really couldn't let Talulah's behavior go unchecked.

Two hundred people...that's too many.

"To train...to become soldiers...it takes at least...three months. We...can't afford that!"

"Two... options."

Bozokasti said,

"Either... let me... select... a maximum of... 20 people from them."

"Either...take it all...but...we must...attack...the sentry camp immediately."

Bozokasti's eyes flickered, and Talulah didn't quite understand what he meant.

Attack the sentry camp immediately? But these three hundred men haven't received any training. If they were to attack the sentry camp, most of them would likely be killed or wounded in a single mortar barrage from the Ursus artillery, and the rest would scatter and flee.

Isn't this tantamount to sending them to their deaths?

A dangerous thought crossed Talulah's mind, but she immediately shook her head.

No, no, no, the captain would never do something so brutal. How is this any different from those picket squads who drive farmers to use pitchforks and rakes as human shields against guerrillas?

But Bozokasti seemed to see through Talulah's thoughts and nodded slightly:

"The battlefield... is the best... training ground."

A few gusts of cold wind seemed to blow across the wilderness, making Talulah feel a little chilly.

She suddenly understood what Bozokastie meant by "selecting 20 people".

That was his estimate of the number of people who could survive the battlefield if Plan Two were implemented, in the best-case scenario.

In other words, the so-called two options are actually only one option in a fundamental sense.

Alternatively, leave 20 people behind and send the remaining 180 to the wilderness to fend for themselves.

Either send them all to the battlefield as cannon fodder; if they're lucky, 20 might survive, and the rest will die and naturally stop eating.

Bozokasti really gave Talulah a lot of face. In his first plan, he went a step further and reduced the supplies for his own guerrilla fighters to support a batch of Talulah's new recruits. He would even train them himself. Bozokasti never held back; he was always wholeheartedly devoted to training his troops.

Option two also satisfies Talulah's mindset. Since she can't bear to send them to their deaths herself, she might as well let the garrison and sentinels bury them with their artillery fire. All the dead are wartime casualties, the result of the sentinels and garrison officers' brutality, and have nothing to do with Talulah. The surviving infected will not only become bolder and more determined, but having also experienced the dangers of war, they will be easier to train and might even become a group of elite soldiers.

He has tried his best to achieve the best of both worlds while remaining realistic.

Talulah is also very down-to-earth.

She felt that Option 1 was asking her to stand by and watch someone die.

Option two is to force her to send people to their deaths.

She didn't want to choose either of them.