The Heavens Shine Brightly / Saying One Thing and Doing Another

W suddenly realized something and thought to himself, "You stinky otters! Don't expect us to work for you for free!"

Oute replied, "I haven't asked you to do anything yet."

The "we" and "you" here refer to the mercenary group currently in operation.

"What are you pretending for? You've already arranged the aircraft!"

"Speak, what do you want?"

W's implication was that she would follow along no matter what.

Oute replied, "I'm here to help you, W."

"Hey! Where are we going?" The Sarkaz girl was the first to board the aircraft. Under the pilot's wary and suspicious gaze, she casually sat down and thought to Oute, "Help me? You mean, I have to work for you and owe you a favor?"

She had an extraordinary understanding of Oute's methods.

The pilot remained silent for a long while, then said in a low voice, "I don't know why the Doctor did this, but, those demons..."

Creak.

The demon girl's face was grim, her eyes completely hidden in shadow. She paused for a moment, then shifted her gaze from the pilot's shoulder to his seat.

After the seat screamed and emitted a teeth-grinding creak, the demon girl asked the pilot, "Stink... Where does Doc Otter want us to go?"

"You could have asked me instead of threatening him."

"None of your business!" W retorted angrily.

"In a sense, I do take responsibility for you," Oute said casually.

"..."

A blush crept silently up the Sarkaz girl's fair, naturally beautiful neck.

"Boss? You have a fever?" The Sarkaz plopped down in the aircraft, yelling, "This Mule Island is really rich! When are you going to take us on a raid?"

W kicked the Sarkaz and shouted, "Yes! I, Ottoman, have a fever!"

Oute sighed.

Chapter 135 The Sun Shines Brightly

Looking down from the towering city walls, scattered refugees lay on the scorched earth. Meanwhile, Sarkaz mercenaries... were trying to salvage valuables from the burnt remains.

As several school gates opened on the outer wall of the Mobile City, Lungmen soldiers wearing dragon-horned helmets filed out and advanced in formation.

Seeing the shelling cease and the soldiers launch their attack, the Sarkaz mercenaries, however, remained somewhat incorrigible. They dragged the well-dressed corpses, attempting to snatch one last loot.

The leader of this group of Sarkaz mercenaries was none other than the centurion whom W had previously "rescued" from Oute. Under the heavy bribes offered by Skullshatterer and Crownslayer, he secretly led his own followers away from the main force, gathering a group of refugees from the wilderness to provide cover for their actions.

And, incidentally, to also pocket some of the refugees' money.

All of this unfolds with a dark humor: the actions of the Skullshatterer and the Crownslayer were not communicated to Hedley, Ines, Faust, or Mephisto.

As if harboring some strange idea, Skullshatterer secretly contacted a rather energetic centurion among the Sarkaz mercenaries.

And this centurion was surprisingly charismatic.

Even though the remaining Sarkaz mercenaries have now pledged allegiance to W, he can still assess his own personal charisma (and recklessness) in regrouping his old troops under the pretext of "going to the toilet."

In preparation for future wars, Wei Yenwu used Catastrophe as an excuse to continuously reduce the speed of the Lungmen route, which is now almost at a standstill. As a result, a large number of refugees have been gathered around Lungmen these days.

They huddled near the Lungmen, exchanging their meager remaining possessions for meager food, water, and fuel.

The Sarkaz's tradition of not valuing other people's lives and even less their own led them to readily include these refugees in their ranks and launch a "humanitarian" attack on the Lungmen city walls.

Of course, when faced with political animals who believe "morality is flawed," the result of such an attack was that Wei Yenwu issued an order to have the city's artillery fire indiscriminately.

"These city defense cannons have only been in use for a quarter of an hour," Lin Qingyan said, glancing at Ch'en, who was drenched in sweat, and kindly reminded her, "There's no need to push yourself so hard."

In a sense, the very existence of the Lin Qingyan prevented the Lungmen garrison from actually going on a killing spree...

As mentioned earlier, "inhumanity" was a very serious accusation for the Governor of Lungmen.

If the enemy were facing a refugee force coerced by the Ursus Army Group, launching a genuine siege, Lungmen would naturally not face any moral condemnation.

But now their "enemy" is just a small group of refugees driven in by Sarkaz mercenaries.

If they are to be dealt with, the Lungmen army must use precise aiming to ensure that not a single one is spared... The people from the Supervisory Court are still watching!

These three adults have their own personal attitudes toward the infected, but as the central department of Yanlu, they also have a need to present a presentable image in public!

Unlike the original timeline, these refugees did not cause trouble in Lungmen, so taking action against them would be against reason, morality, and law.

Ch'en frowned, then forcibly suppressed her anger.

But in the end, she couldn't help but say sarcastically, "I'm just afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Beside Lin Qingyan, the burly man said, "They're infected after all; they might be more comfortable if they died."

Tai He, Niu Tou... ah no, Forte Ren.

"Yes, people... are ultimately born, grow old, get sick, and die." Ch'en forced a smile, swallowing the rest of her sentence.

The three men before him were high-ranking officials from two of the Three Legal Offices: the Court of Judicial Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Supervisory Court. They had been urgently appointed as military supervisors due to the opportune timing and circumstances.

The Dali Temple is full of familiar faces, and the core department of the so-called Supervisory Court of the Yan is the "Censorate." The modern department on Earth with the closest authority to theirs is called the Self-Discipline Inspection Committee (Explosives Prevention).

It could be said that if the three of them had fought desperately to avoid it, they could have been sentenced to death procedurally for Wei Yenwu and Lungmen —but procedure is procedure, and reality is reality.

Making empty promises and fabricating strategies is one thing, but actually doing it is... well, a kind of intellectually immature beauty.

"Lord Tai He, what you said is a bit much," another man pointed out.

This is in public. Whether you dislike or don't care about the infected, they... in the Law of Flame, they are still considered human.

"Jie Zhen said is true." Tai He nodded, then reminded him, "Your Excellency... I mean, Superintendent Chen, although the three of us are military supervisors, we are all aware of our own limitations."

Ch'en's eyes widened, and then she exhaled her pent-up emotions as evenly as possible.

With an expression that said, "This young man is teachable," Jie Zhen looked at Ch'en, who was already over thirty, and said, "While we are not ignorant of military strategy, we are... hehe."

"As for military strategy, I dare not embarrass myself before Lord Wei." After saying this, Jie Zhen clasped his hands together, then crossed them again, and pulled out a few strands of silver hair from his sleeves. "Tai He, Junior Minister Lin, perhaps...?"

Below, the Lungmen soldiers are about to engage the Saka people in battle.

Lin Qingyan replied, "No."

"As the Three Legal Offices, they should not arbitrarily interfere in local affairs."

"As the supervisor, if the commander-in-chief's military strategy is sound, he should not arbitrarily interfere with frontline decisions."

"Moreover..." Lin Qingyan looked seriously at his two "current colleagues" and said, "If the military supervisor kills the enemy and wins, he will take away the soldiers' rewards; if he loses, it will damage morale."

"In this case, victory is of no benefit, while defeat is extremely harmful; it is something a wise person would not do."

"..." Jie Zhen awkwardly tucked his hands back into the sleeves opposite him, and replied to the spoilsport Lin Nu, "Lord Lin, what you say is absolutely right!"

Just moments before, he had been addressing Lin Qingyan retorted, Jie Zhen changed his address to "Lord Lin."

Low-flying aircraft streaked across the sky.

"Who goes there!? The artillery crew..."

A flash of lightning disappeared from Lin Qingyan's fingertips, Ch'en immediately stopped her. "It's an infected expert hired by Lungmen."

"They are helping us deal with the infected people in the Lower City."

Since it concerned the future development direction of Lungmen, Ch'en deliberately glossed over the matter and did not take the initiative to mention Rhodes Island Corporation's achievements in Originium Infection.

"An expert on infected individuals?" Lin Qingyan pondered the term.

She examined it closely and indeed saw the emblem on the aircraft.

Triangle, castle.

That's where Feline worked.

Everything was such a coincidence that the one who wielded lightning sensed a divine will from the heavens.

She suddenly realized.

Seeing her expression, Jie Zhen said helplessly, "Lord Lin, why bother?"

Chapter 136 Inconsistent Words and Deeds

Rhodes Island requests landing! Items carried: medical supplies!

"Repeated! Rhodes Island requests landing! Medical supplies on board!"

Seeing Lin Qingyan's questioning gaze, Ch'en rolled her eyes and approved, "Landing permitted."

I was just about to hide it, and you immediately blurted it out, right?

The aircraft attracted many curious glances, but it still swaggered into the city.

"That stinky otter, that female dragon is actually quite easy to talk to." The Sarkaz girl struck a classic Terra hip thrust pose, gazing at the flying vehicles in the sky, and leisurely chatted with Oute was far away in the slums.

"Why are you relieved now?"

"How many men did Spoon (the centurion's name) bring? Even if you're sleepwalking, it doesn't matter if they all die."

She casually provoked him.

However, W had been a mercenary since she was old enough to understand things. For her, this level of life and death was indeed nothing out of the ordinary.

"No, I need you to save him," Oute added. "Save him, and then kill him yourself."

"Huh?" W exclaimed incredulously, "Leaving aside how to save him, why do I have to kill him myself after saving him?!"

"Only the tyrant wields power, only the tyrant bestows blessings," Oute replied. "You must kill that centurion, for he has bypassed you, and he has bypassed Hedley and Ines. He has summoned a group of Sarkaz from your mercenary band, promising spoils, to achieve his personal ends."

"I don't believe it," W said bluntly. "It all sounds like it's all for my sake, so I don't believe it!"

After a moment of silence, Oute replied, "I do care about you."

Sarkaz's lips curved into a smile, his eyes brimming with joy.