Please Wait and See

"Big brother, I wanted to share my snacks with Xiao Tao and the others, but Penny, um, and Sister Fulei stopped me. Is, is that wrong? Shouldn't good things be shared with friends?"

Little George seemed to find Yu Lian very agreeable, treating him completely as a "big brother who understands him."

"This... actually, your sisters and Miss Frederica are right."

"Why?"

"This is a bit complicated to explain. I'm not sure your current knowledge base would allow you to understand. If you want to understand your sisters, you need to study hard and read more." Yu Lian didn't brush him off with "you'll understand when you grow up," but explained seriously, "You just need to remember that by sharing your snacks with them now, you'd actually be harming them."

"Is, is that so?" The little boy's big eyes dimmed again.

"I know Xiao Tao and the others are starving. However, please rest assured, after today, they will definitely have enough to eat and wear. Do you believe big brother? Hmm, do you believe the promise of Commonwealth officer Yu Lian?"

The little boy listened intently, his eyes lighting up only at the last sentence. He bit his lip and nodded heavily.

"Oh, right, about that big brother Ash you mentioned, I'd quite like to meet him. How about you invite him over? Tell him I have a bottle of fragrant local wine and ask him to come for a drink."

The little boy blinked, asking even more excitedly, "Are we going to discuss how to 'biubiubiu' the bad Sandfolk who are bullying us away together?"

Yu Lian sighed inwardly, but smiled outwardly, nodding, "Yes, so please do me this favor. Be sneaky about it, don't let anyone else find out. Remember, Mr. George Pierce, this is very important for the victory of our entire campaign!"

Mr. George Pierce, a seven-year-old military enthusiast, straightened his back and gave Yu Lian a proper military salute, then marched off energetically as if carrying the highest directive.

Time passed quickly. Just as Yu Lian finished swallowing his food, someone arrived beside him. However, it wasn't the bronze-haired Alliance mercenary, but a troubled-looking Baka and Youyou, accompanied by an older and a younger person.

Both of these newcomers were dressed in casual cowboy attire. The elder was of Asian descent, like Yu Lian, while the younger was an ordinary-looking white man. Leaving the latter aside, the elder was rather hard to describe.

Yu Lian felt that with the old man's demeanor, wearing cowboy clothes was somewhat incongruous. He should have been wearing a felt hat, a fur coat, with a long pipe on his back, a whip in his hand, which would have been more fitting. Of course, if he had two box cannons with red silk sashes at his waist, that would have been even more fitting.

The old man placed his cowboy hat on his chest and smiled and nodded at Yu Lian, cordially yet with dignity. As for the young cowboy, he seemed a bit timid, his smile carrying a hint of stiff appeasement.

"Officer, I, uh, Mr. Wang..." Sergeant Baka, the Bearman, was still the same; ferocious on the battlefield, but always honest, dull, and tongue-tied with his own people. He stammered for a long time, unsure where to begin, and cast a pleading glance at Youyou, who had already grown impatient.

Youyou was quick-witted, speaking in a rapid-fire, almost rap-like speed and rhythm, "This is Mr. Wang Yougui. He runs a ranch and plantation nearby. Mr. Kelvin is his employee. Officer, Mr. Wang says he can organize people and can muster thirty able-bodied young men who can handle a gun. He wants to know if you might be able to lead them to raid some enemy supplies."

"..." Yu Lian felt that he had encountered enough magical realism events today, one after another, without regard for whether people could handle it.

"Young man, I know I'm asking a lot, but this is... it's truly out of desperation that I've come to you with my face red. The entire convoy is running out of food. We thought we'd be fine once we entered the city, but who knew it would be like this." Mr. Wang Yougui, dressed as a cowboy but still looking like a local landowner, twitched his mouth and sighed, "I understand the situation somewhat now. They say the enemy forces outside the city are at least over a million. Even if Lord Guan himself came, he couldn't stop them with a flood! We definitely can't get into the city, so, so I can only ask you to think of a way."

Yu Lian was silent for a moment, looking at a heavy-duty cargo truck in the convoy. That thing, in terms of tonnage and size, was likely second only to Councillor Jiang's kodo beast in the convoy, and it was the type that could crush Raptors with its wheels and withstand gunfire and artillery with its armor. In terms of pure defense, it could charge into battle as an MT.

"Is that your truck?" Yu Lian asked.

"Yes, I bought it on installment, and I still have 5 years of car payments left... Sigh, when we fled, I loaded all the spices I had just harvested from the garden. If only I had known, I would have filled it with grain instead." The old man sighed, his face full of remorse.

The high-altitude spices of New Jade Gate were precious, an important raw material for many fine and daily chemical products, and even many luxury goods, but they were of no use for filling stomachs.

"...But we can't just watch others starve and freeze like this, can we? And we absolutely can't abandon them. Young man, no, Officer, you absolutely cannot abandon them!"

Baka and Youyou were suddenly startled, and the young cowboy was completely stunned.

"Wait! Who said we were abandoning them? Did everyone find out?" Yu Lian was also shocked. If something like this got out, hundreds of civilians would fight to the death. Would he then open fire or not?

"Hey, I know what Little Dongzi is like. I've known him since he wore open-crotch pants. If he hadn't tricked me, why would I have come to this place to grow spices? Wouldn't it have been better to just stay on my family's few hundred acres of land?" The old man gritted his teeth, but then realized there were outsiders present and quickly added, "Officer, Little Dongzi isn't a bad person. He just gets carried away too easily. Now that he's a councillor, everyone around him is a scoundrel."

"Uncle, have you said this to anyone else?"

"How could I say something like this? It would cause an uproar!" The old man shook his head. "But I'm just an old man. Even if I begged, I couldn't get others to share their extra food, clothes, batteries, or anything else."

He paused, so ashamed he didn't dare to look Yu Lian in the eye, and mumbled, "I've read a bit too. With so many enemies, there should be a large amount of food and supplies daily, right? Could you, could you think of a way to lead us to raid some supplies? Not too much, just enough for everyone to hold on for a while longer. I think, with such a big event like Tulon being besieged, the Governor's Mansion wouldn't just ignore it. If we can just hold on for three more days, no, maybe two days would be enough. I know this is very dangerous, and I shouldn't trouble you... but... sigh, I can only gather this many people willing to go with you. Don't let my age fool you, but when I was young, I had a month of militia training every year, every year in my hometown."

The old man gave a thumbs-up, and the young cowboy added eagerly, "Officer, I'm Kelvin. My brothers and I can fight. Just give us your orders. As long as we can get food for everyone, I'll be the first to go! Officer, please, there are elders, women, and children there, so many children..."

Youyou was at a loss, and Baka's face, which was somewhere between a tough guy and a wild beast, was almost contorted with tears.

"You two, not a single word, not even to Ina. Especially you, Youyou, if I find out you've leaked anything, before the mob riots, I'll stuff you into the barrel of a War Chariot and fire you out along with the Ion Beam!"

Based on Yu Lian's understanding of the "Crimson-Eyed Witch," if Ina found out, she might actually knock Councillor unconscious and dump him in a Raptor nest.

Youyou covered his mouth and nodded quickly. Yu Lian then said, "I am very grateful for your courage and sense of responsibility. However, Old Mr. Wang, and Mr. Kelvin, the situation is far from dire enough for ordinary citizens like yourselves to risk your lives. I promise you, everyone will have food tomorrow, and you can patiently wait for the situation to improve. Of course, I welcome you organizing all the able-bodied young men who can fight. I do need manpower to set up defenses at the mountain pass and on the surrounding peaks."

The old man wanted to say more, but under Yu Lian's repeated assurances, he could only temporarily back down. After everyone left with their minds full of worries, Yu Lian suddenly realized how many promises he had to make today. If he didn't want to be crushed by various commitments, he had to resolve these matters quickly.

Yu Lian waited for another hour, until most people had started returning to their vehicles to rest, until the entire camp had quieted down, and even the crying of children had gradually stopped, that the Alliance adventurer named Ash Steyn finally ambled over.

He concealed his figure in the shadows between two Black Panther War Chariots, standing about two meters behind Yu Lian. Even Ina wouldn't have noticed someone hiding there if she hadn't looked closely.

"Mr. Ash Steyn, is it?" Yu Lian turned around and poured him a small cup of wine.

The mercenary looked at Yu Lian suspiciously, then sniffed the aroma of his favorite wine in the cup. After hesitating for a long time, he finally took it, unable to control the craving in his throat.

The wine was, of course, good wine, which Yu Lian had obtained from Ina—this girl, besides binge-watching shows, also had a fondness for good tobacco and alcohol, truly a good girl. Yes, any girl who didn't like designer bags, jewelry, fashion, luxury cars, and cold, trembling, crying situations was a good girl.

Ash only took half a second to confirm there was nothing wrong with the wine and drank it down in one gulp, then grinned and showed a cheeky smile, "You know me? Oh, you must have heard about me from Little George, right?"

He had already made up his mind. Although he had drunk the other person's wine, if he was asked to do something, he would definitely refuse.

"Alright, I sympathize with you and the plight of those poor people. But there's nothing I can do now. Old Mr. Wang is a chivalrous man, but his suggestion is not reliable. You won't be able to snatch any supplies, and you'll expose this excellent hiding place to the Sandfolk. The mountain pass is narrow, but how many attacks from a million Sandfolk can such a small group of people withstand?"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Hey, isn't it inappropriate to ask me, a foreigner, in this situation? Second Lieutenant, I'm just an ordinary mercenary..."

"You are not an ordinary mercenary, but a graduate of the Bracer Guild's GC827 training camp. You just haven't officially joined, and you chose to become a freelance explorer and mercenary. Your current organizational affiliation is under St. Coley Security Company. You are a psionics who has activated the 'Wander' Star Ring, currently in the first ring, Traveler. You are skilled in swordsmanship and marksmanship, proficient in the Bracer Guild's 'Nebula Guardian Swordplay' Type 2 and Type 4, as well as the classical 'Norda Gun Fu.' You are also skilled in psionic swiftness and Cat Style Fluidity, and at least three psionic combat techniques."

The mercenary's smile froze. Was this "heard"? It was almost as if Yu Lian had dug up his ancestors.

"Are you... uh, those intelligence folks? National Intelligence? Military Intelligence?" That didn't make sense either. I'm just a small fry. Even if it's the Empire's Star Gazing Pavilion, there's no reason for them to put so much effort into me.

The so-called National Intelligence was the Commonwealth's National Intelligence and Statistics Bureau; Military Intelligence was the National Defense Committee's Military Intelligence Integration Bureau. Both were important military intelligence departments of the Blue Star Commonwealth and were somewhat renowned internationally.

"National Intelligence and Military Intelligence are a bunch of idiots! I'm their ancestor." Yu Lian curled his lips, then said, "In short, let's get straight to the point, Mr. Steyn. I want your employer to experience a slight, minor inconvenience, one that won't threaten his life. I hope you'll just stand by and watch."