Toulon (5)

After Pope requested "tactical guidance," Carnot ordered Napoleon to lead the Fifth Legion south. Napoleon was already prepared; he had studied Toulon on the map countless times. Upon receiving the order, Napoleon gave the command, and the entire Fifth Legion immediately sprang into action. In just half a day, the Fifth Legion left its base and began its southward march.

However, the army had barely set out when a messenger caught up with Napoleon.

"General Bonaparte, General Carnot has new orders for you," the messenger said.

Napoleon received the order, thinking to himself, "What is Carnot up to? Why didn't he give the order sooner? Of all times, it just so happens to be this moment..."

Thinking this, Napoleon opened the envelope and pulled out the order. He glanced at the order, then put the warrant away and turned to his messenger, saying, "Go and fetch Commander Davout."

A short while later, Davout appeared before Napoleon.

"General! Davout reports for duty." Davout dismounted and saluted Napoleon.

"Louis, I just received orders to temporarily leave the troops. You will now lead the entire army in my place, marching according to the original plan. If all goes well, I should be back at the troops by tomorrow morning. If I am not back by tomorrow morning, I will send a messenger with new orders. Understand?"

"Understood!" Davout answered loudly, clearly excited that Napoleon had entrusted him with the entire army, even if only temporarily, even if only for half a day.

Having temporarily entrusted the main army to Davout, Napoleon led a regiment of cavalry westward. At sunset, Napoleon and his cavalry arrived at their destination—the "Military Technology Laboratory."

After identifying himself, Joseph led three wagons across the drawbridge and appeared before Napoleon.

"Just this little bit of stuff, and you made me come all this way to get it? And with a whole regiment of cavalry? By the way, Carnot's orders were vague; what exactly is in here?" Napoleon asked.

"Mr. Lavoisier's new toy," Joseph said. "It's quite powerful; you should find it useful."

As he spoke, Joseph handed an envelope to Napoleon: "This is the instruction manual for that thing. Once the test is successful, we'll immediately go all out to produce it. But you know, laboratory production is limited. That's all we have so far. You're going to war soon, so take this with you, try it out, and give us a report after you've used it."

"Damn it, Lavoisier's stuff!" Napoleon couldn't help but glance at the three carriages. "Are these things safe? Won't they just crash down on the way?"

Napoleon knew that one of the reasons Joseph had brought Lavoisier into the laboratory was that Lavoisier had invented many explosives. Since this stuff was "Lavoisier's new toy," it was bound to explode. Considering his nitroglycerin, Napoleon thought it best to stay away from those three cars.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. Even putting it in a fire won't cause any major problems," Joseph said. "The specific instructions and usage are all in the manual. You can take a look when you get back. Also, I've arranged an instructor for you on how to use this thing. This is Clement; he's going south with you and will be responsible for teaching you how to use it safely."

"General, Clement reporting for duty." A tall soldier stepped forward and saluted Napoleon.

"Alright, Clement, you'll stay with me for now," Napoleon said.

After saying this, Napoleon turned to Joseph and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"I've been in the lab for a while now, so I'm not very well informed. Do you have any news about Lucien?" Joseph asked.

"How could there be any news?" Napoleon said. "Where is your brain? If you knew basic arithmetic, you could easily calculate that they probably haven't even reached Corsica yet. How could there be any news at this time?"

"Fool, what I mean is, you go south and let me know immediately if you get any news."

"Come on, do you need to tell me that? Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now." Napoleon put one foot in the stirrup, preparing to mount his horse, but then turned back to Joseph and said, "I've heard that winters in Paris are very cold. You should take care of yourself and not catch a cold."

"Alright, alright, mind your own business. Do you need to worry about me?" Joseph said dismissively, but a tiny bit of emotion stirred within him.

The family members all came into the main room, and the curtains were drawn tightly to prevent the light from leaking out and attracting the attention of people outside.

"Mother, that's how it is. Joseph, Napoleon, and I all thought that keeping you in Corsica might pose some uncontrollable risks. So I secretly came back to take you to France."

"Go to France? That's great! I've wanted to go to France for ages!" a girl said in a low voice. Although her voice was low, she couldn't hide her excitement.

"Pauline, watch your words and actions. You're not a child anymore, and we have guests at home!" Letizia said in a low voice, her face darkening.

The girl playfully stuck out her tongue, then quickly lowered her head, adopting a demure demeanor. The candlelight shone through, casting a soft halo around her bangs.

"Lucien, do we really have to leave? We still have a lot of things here that we can't handle all at once..." Letizia said.

"Mother, don't worry about these things. Joseph and Napoleon are well-off; compared to them, Corsica's situation is nothing. The key is everyone's safety. You have to understand, Joseph and Napoleon are very important now, and the Britain might... Joseph once said that the most shameless and capable people in the world are the Britain ..." Lucien said.

As Lucien spoke, he subtly nudged Chrysler under the table with his foot, hoping he would also say a few words to persuade Letizia to agree to leave for France immediately.

However, Chrysler didn't make a sound. Lucien turned his head and saw Chrysler staring wide-eyed at Pauline, looking completely dumbfounded.

In fact, ever since Pauline appeared, Chrysler's brain had gone into a state of malfunction. He never imagined that he would encounter such a breathtakingly beautiful woman in such a rural place (Pauline was later hailed as the most beautiful woman in Europe, and her statue became a famous art treasure). Therefore, all of his brain's data processing capabilities were now being used for aesthetic purposes. The result was that other processes were shut down to conserve computing power and storage space to support the most important task at hand—admiring the beautiful woman.

Because Chrysler was seated towards the back, and his face was hidden in the shadows of the candlelight, no one else noticed his appearance. Only Lucien was inwardly furious. "How could Napoleon send someone like this!"

Although Lucien was momentarily stunned when he first saw Pauline coming down the stairs, Lucien felt that his reaction was entirely due to the fact that Pauline had changed so much in the years since they last met.

Back in Corsica, Lucien had a persistent feeling that time seemed to have stood still, that nothing had changed. The same was true at home. Everything was exactly as he had left it years before, without a single difference. Even his mother, Letizia, had only aged slightly, without much alteration. Pauline, however, shattered this impression. His mother was still the mother he remembered, but his sister was no longer the sister he remembered.

Before him now stood a tall, beautiful woman with a figure that, while mature, still retained the utmost innocence of a girl, a captivating sight. Adding to this were her stunning chestnut hair with golden streaks, her smooth, jade-like forehead, her cheeks as vibrant as a rose petal, and the neck of a forest nymph as depicted by Jean Goujon and the face of Maria as portrayed by Raphael.

The mischievous little girl in Lucien's memory has now blossomed into a young woman in her prime, nothing more. This phenomenon is actually quite common. There are moments when girls seem like buds that suddenly burst into bloom, turning into roses in the blink of an eye. Yesterday, people ignored them as children, but today, upon seeing them again, they feel that they have captivated people's hearts.

Thinking this, Lucien stomped hard on Chrysler's foot.

This snapped Chrysler out of his daze. Instead of yelling like in those later television scenes, he silently lowered his eyelids.

"Major Chrysler is a battalion commander under Napoleon, and Napoleon entrusted him with this matter. There are some things you can ask him, Mother," Lucien said.

"Ah, that's how it is," Chrysler quickly said. "The general believes you are all in great danger, and any delay will multiply the danger. Therefore, you must leave Corsica as soon as possible, preferably tonight."

"Tonight? How can we possibly make it? We still have..." Letizia said.

"All we need is people," Lucien said. "We'll sneak out in a bit. Our ship is in that place where Napoleon used to hide. Well, Mother doesn't know, but Pauline does. Once we're on board, we'll be safe. As for things, we'll have everything we need in France. Joseph and Napoleon have already bought you an estate France."

"Really, an estate? That's wonderful!" Pauline couldn't help but exclaim again.

After saying this, Pauline quickly glanced at her mother, then lowered her head again, continuing to maintain a ladylike demeanor.

"Alright then, but I need to pack my things first, take the land deed, a change of clothes, and..." Letizia said.