Arknights, but the family has fallen again

When Wei Yanwu couldn't help but smile, Fyodor couldn't hold it in anymore.

"How dare you!?" The young Tsar clamped his hands tightly around the lower half of his face, as if he could strangle the fear along with it.

"Wert! Answer me! How dare they!?"

Compared with the turmoil in the Internal Security Bureau, even the news about Kosice was temporarily ignored by the master and his minister.

"Your Majesty, which 'they' are you talking about?" Witte said bitterly, "If you mean the Internal Guards, then this must be a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding!?" The Tsar couldn't contain his anger and smashed a piece of porcelain.

It seemed that smashing these gifts from Longmen would destroy everything that the damn Longmen person brought.

Including... that half saber.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Witte hinted, "Grand Duke Baikal, Deputy Division Commander of the Third Army and Governor of Rosin, and Viscount Kirk... The Interior Guard is punishing these criminals."

"...Yes, the empire's loyal blade is punishing the empire's sinners!" Fyodor sat up straight.

He closed his eyes and asked, "One enemy at a time...right?"

Speaker Witte exhorted: "Your Majesty, we have only one enemy."

"An enemy... the maggots of the Empire... Huh... I guess even the Internal Guards would get the mission location wrong?" Fyodor repeatedly suppressed his anger and fear.

"Yes, even the Internal Security Guards can get the mission location wrong." Speaker Witte hinted, "Since they got the mission location wrong, they should also receive some punishment."

"May I?"

"Fort Saint must do this." Witt warned: "Otherwise..."

Witt did not continue.

If he were the leader of an army, he might have said it directly, but he was only the Speaker.

He is just an "industrial aristocrat".

"Besides, even if we tried our best to hide it, Da Yan wouldn't do it."

Therefore, it is best to treat the Ursus interior guard's solitary act as an open secret.

"So where is the best place for the Empire's blade?"

"The North," Witte said firmly, "those sharp blades that failed in their work should seize territory for the Empire in another way!"

Chapter 269: Only Sacrifice and War

"The so-called 'blood money' is 'income earned in exchange for life', or 'the expense one is willing to pay to preserve life'."

"Generally speaking, money can be exchanged for living materials and is a measure of wealth and poverty. The poorer one is, the closer living materials become to survival materials. In other words, for the poor, money can be equivalent to life itself."

"Crossing this line between the equivalence of life and materials, exchanging life for money becomes an equal exchange—even profitable."

The Ursus children and the young operators of Rhodes Island stared blankly at the silver-haired Liberi.

He exposed the bloody surface of Ursus's plunder, and he exposed all the nominal and actual taxes of Ursus.

"Blood wages are the reward for violence, just as wages are the reward for labor, interest is the reward for capital, and rent is the reward for land."

"When the tax collection team kicked down the village wall, when the noble lord's tax collectors took away our seeds for the next year, our lives were already entering the countdown."

"It's both death. To endure in silence and let the tax collectors go, losing body heat in hunger, cold, and hardship is one way to die; to kill the tax collectors, seize the food, and then be wiped out by the nobles in the spring of the following year as a warning to others is also another way to die."

"It's all about taxes. Collecting all the revenue for the year in one go and then sending troops to wipe out the rebellious villages is one way to collect taxes. Collecting the same amount of revenue over three years, and then continuing for the next three years and three more years, is also another way to collect taxes."

Intentionally or unintentionally, Ott used a very immersive expression.

The children with agricultural backgrounds felt a sense of sympathy, while the noble children still stranded in Rhodes Island agreed, yet also felt a little uneasy.

“In this continuous process, a delicate balance was gradually established between the nobility and the common people, the exploiters and the exploited, the meat-eaters and the meat.”

"However, faced with long-term rule and the greed of the nobility, this delicate balance is often actively disrupted by those in power, both large and small. They will cross the line, plundering without restraint, leaving behind even seeds for the next year."

Considering the target audience, Ott does not give other examples here.

“When the consequences of being exploited are worse than the consequences of resisting, resistance naturally arises.”

"...That's all for today's sharing. Do you have any questions?"

While everyone was still immersed in the cruel truth, a child asked casually, "Did Hippogriff exploit the Ursus people in this way back then?"

Children are sensitive, even teenagers. The rumor reached them faster than many adults.

"Alyosha! Shut up!"

"What did you say?"

"The doctor..."

"Don't ask in front of the doctor!"

"What's wrong with that!? Hippodrome just did it!"

"But the doctor didn't have it!"

"He's also a Hippogriff."

"How can Doc Otter be a Hippogriff!? He's clearly a Liberi, just like Homer!"

"Ifrit, Hippogriff is Liberi. I've already written it down on the terminal."

"Huh? Real or fake?"

“…That should be correct.”

"Hong is hungry..."

"Hmm-hmm? Hmm...hmm...?"

Just as the classroom was about to burst into whispers, Otto tucked his hair behind his earlobes, expressionless.

"So, the Hippodrome Empire was overthrown."

He abruptly changed the subject, "Rhodes Island's main activity areas are now Longmen and Facility 14. Tomorrow, January 24th, will be New Year's Eve of the Great Yan Lunar Calendar, and the following day will be the Spring Festival."

"Coincidentally, to commend the operators for their recent active performance, Rhodes Island will hold a three-day celebration around the 25th. The event will be held on the deck of our ship, which is anchored at the temporary ferry."

"At that time, all places, including schools and construction sites, will also begin to have holidays except for those working on shifts."

"If you are interested, you may wish to sign up. There is a good chance that you will be selected to attend the event and watch the show in person."

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

"It's time for lunch."

-----------------

"...No, this kind of job is great. I still have time to take care of Shining and Nightingale."

"Well, although there isn't much field work right now, if you want to switch back, feel free to tell me."

"Doc Otter..." Lin Guang smiled and shook his head. "I'm not a battle fanatic. The current management of fertilizer production and the operation of the vertical farm can save more lives than any battle I could ever intervene in!"

Hippodrome and Pegasus made peace...

Looking at the doctor talking with Lin Guang, Hellagur was in a trance for a moment.

"Cough cough."

Liberi, who also had white hair, shook his head and coughed twice.

Lin Guang nodded slightly to Herag, as a salute between warriors.

Then she said to Ott, "Then I won't bother you anymore."

"Doctor." Herag looked at Lin Guang's back and said, "Someone wants to talk to you."

Although the Azazel Clinic has been cooperating deeply with Rhodes Island, and even Hellagur's adopted daughter Nain was in the classroom just now, Hellagur was cautious to keep his distance because of Otto's almost unconcealed "Hippogriff" characteristics.

"Chernobogs?" Ott was not surprised.

"Rostov Industries," Herag explained. "You've been gradually relaxing martial law in recent days. One of the refugees, a Rostov, came to me and asked me for an introduction."

Rostov Industries, an industrial enterprise specializing in the maintenance of mining platforms and mobile urban plots, is one of the few Uzbek companies that is familiar with both "international trade" and "domestic trade," and is quite adept at handling those "Uzbek-specific problems."

Since the Great Army Rebellion, the Rostov family's judgment of the times has made the company prosper. But there is a small problem:

The company's headquarters and largest customer are both in Chernobyl.

"I see."

Ott has no plans to meet with Rostov Industries right now.

As an international company, he needed Rostov to provide him with the title of taking over Chechen City. He also needed the production materials and technology accumulated by Rostov headquarters.

But if we contact Rostov Industries now, it would be equivalent to giving them a chance to reintegrate, which would be equivalent to reducing Rhodes Island's bargaining chips.

Unlike the cooperation with the Karan trade, this time, he needed to annex Rostov.

"Okay, I've passed on the message." Herag was not surprised. Just as he turned to leave, the old hippogriff suddenly stopped and said, "What do you think of Ursus now?"

Chapter 270 Whoever works for Ursus is its true master

Answering this kind of question directly is very troublesome and has many side effects. Although Helag did not intend to "make a big fuss" about the reporter, his question was just as deadly.

Ott asked in return, "What do you think of Chernobog?"

The city of Che was once a large city with a population of nearly one million and more than thirty plots of land. It also represented the constant conflict between the emerging industrial aristocracy and the imperial military tradition after the Ursus Empire adopted the Originium industrial trend.

Leveraging its heritage, the mining town of Checheng boasts low-cost energy, making it ideal for industrial development. It has enjoyed a period of rapid growth, attracting the attention of the military group.

Mayor Boris first refused the Fourth Army's entry, and then had a feud with the Third Army over the price of raw materials.

This upstart, who was unfamiliar with politics, even ignorantly rejected the olive branches that followed from various military groups...

Offending the Third and Fourth Armies wasn't a big deal—they were already the losers in the Great Rebellion. But Boris, while refusing to allow all other armies to station troops, also failed to surrender to Tsar Fyodor in time.

It's a perfect example of a two-way collision. No wonder Black Snake chose this orphan city when he was about to slash himself. All I can say is: Cutting the city started with a good hand.

The old Hippogriff thought for a moment. "Leitanian and Colombian merchants brawled in Ursus taverns, while musicians from Iberia played barcarolles... For the uninfected, Chernobog was once a prosperous and open city."

"However, once an infected person is discovered, they will be sent to the nobles' territory and forced to work until the end of their lives."

He didn't directly express his opinion of Chernobog: "While Rhodes Island's position is respectable, the situation faced by the infected in Ursus is worse than imagined. We must learn how to use violence, simply for survival, regardless of good or evil."

It's no wonder Hellagur viewed Rhodes Island this way. Its internal integration wasn't complete, and it lacked the centripetal force to unilaterally initiate military action. Consequently, its intervention in the refugee crisis made it seem particularly condescending.

"You were listening too, right?"

"I'm waiting for Nayin outside the window."

This is a "yes".

"On both ends of the blood feud, is Chernobog the one who pays for his own life, or the one who punches others to steal their money?" asked Ott.

The old Hippogriff replied: "For the infected, the latter, for the Empire, the former."

The dominance of the topic is completely in Otto's hands.

"Only the infected?" Ott continued to press, "Those who have sacrificed everything for Ursus, or who have been sacrificed everything for him, where do they stand? Where do you stand? And where do the alien races represented by Bozhukasti stand?"

"I have completely devoted my loyalty to it when I joined the army, and now only illusions and shame accompany me forever. As for the captain..." Hellagur was speechless.

Although Otto did not answer his question directly, his continuous questioning had put an end to Hellagur's problem.

Although not a word was mentioned, Otto's attitude towards Ursus was obvious.

Instead, Hellagur began to exhort: "Doctor, ever since we chose to fight for the infected, we have been enemies of Ursus. But this is different from Ursus being our enemy!"

Is this the beginning of "we"? Old man! Don't be fooled by the abominable Otto!

Ott continued to ask:

"Who is Ursus?"

"Are those the inner guards?"

"Those despicable meat-eaters?"