Maslow Quotations

"Cough, cough, Captain, I was carrying out a mission. Really, I really wasn't happy just because I could use the mission as a pretext to curse people openly and aboveboard. I swear to you!"

Looking at John's ferocious expression, Wendy explained with a dry laugh on her face.

Before saying that, could you wipe that excited grin off your face?

Wasn't that just the classic "here lies no silver, three hundred taels beneath"?

And you were even reciting those same tiresome lines I'd said in the command post earlier?

Did I fucking give you permission to recite them? You idiot, did you have even a shred of copyright awareness?

By this point, John had already realized what was going on.

Those words Wendy had just recited before everyone were precisely the repetitive lines he had improvised to deal with Dormammu and his bunch of assholes.

The social death of having his diary read aloud instantly left John choked with rage.

The merciless iron hand pressing down on her head began to tighten, while he ignored Wendy's pleading howls. His voice brimmed with anger.

"Mission? What kind of bullshit mission requires you to conduct this damned cult propaganda ritual in front of the 14th Squad? You'd better give me a reasonable explanation, Sergeant Wendy!"

"Ah, Captain, it's true! I'm not lying to you! This was an order personally issued by General Dormammu. I really wasn't deliberately punishing them, sob sob!"

Wendy looked at John with tears in her eyes, her face full of grievance.

An order personally issued by Dormammu?

Wait, could it be...

Hearing that, John seemed to finally realize something, and his pupils began to quake.

As if to confirm his suspicions, the aggrieved-looking Wendy soon gave the answer that made John's vision go black.

"Half an hour ago, after the command post meeting ended, His Excellency the General sent a guard to the 6th Battalion and issued an assignment requiring the soldiers to read Maslow Quotations in order to strengthen their understanding of the Empire Spirit."

"The so-called Maslow Quotations are the speech you gave during the meeting. The General believes that the spirit you put forward not only comprehensively explained the Empire Spirit, but was also forward-looking and highly educational. Therefore, the General ordered people to compile your quotations into a booklet and have the soldiers read and memorize them."

"And to test the specific results, the General arranged for our 14th Squad to begin the pilot test. Battalion Commander Olaf even specifically appointed me as our squad's ideological instructor, responsible for supervising the squad members' memorization of Maslow Quotations."

"So I truly am carrying out a mission. I absolutely didn't use it as an excuse to curse people and vent my stress. Captain John, please believe me!"

Looking at Wendy's earnest explanation, John only felt a buzzing in his ears, while his hands and feet began to turn cold beyond his control.

He had thought his survival plan being disrupted was already bad enough, but he had never expected that old bastard Dormammu to leave him such a damned "big surprise."

And it was a big surprise enough to thoroughly cement his identity as an "Empire lapdog"!

What promotion of the Empire Spirit was this? This was fucking asking for John Maslow's life!

If these damned quotations received the Empire's approval and officially spread throughout the Imperial Army...

Then without question, John was certain that within half a month at most, the Allied Forces would send professional agents to assassinate him, the "Empire's number one lapdog."

He had to stop it. He had to stop this damned propaganda!

This was practically the guillotine Louis XVI had invented!

John was so furious that the veins at his temples bulged. He desperately wanted to snatch the damned quotations from Wendy's hands and tear them to shreds.

But sensing the surrounding gazes of admiration and confusion, he also knew that if he wanted to stop this damned lecture glorifying the "spirit of loyalty," he needed to find a suitable reason.

Otherwise, what awaited him would probably be smiles from the inspection troops!

At that thought, John immediately took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to hang up and beat this idiotic subordinate of his. He squeezed out a smile and made his brain spin at high speed.

"So that's how it is. It seems I misunderstood. However, Wendy, I think there may have been some deviation in your understanding of Battalion Commander Olaf's orders."

"A deviation?"

Wendy looked at John in confusion, then pointed at the fanatical crowd and hesitated.

"I don't think there's any problem, Captain. Look, everyone is so excited because they get to read your quotations!"

That was precisely the fucking problem, you brainless idiot!

John was choked with rage, but he still forcibly suppressed his anger. Under Wendy's puzzled gaze, he shook his head "calmly."

"No. This kind of compulsory memorization and forced comprehension of loyalty, apart from making things look better on the surface, does not do much to help soldiers understand the true Empire Spirit."

"Personally, I believe that for a soldier of the Empire, proving one's loyalty to the Empire does not mean conducting this sort of lecture."

"Although this assembly-style recitation can indeed have some effect, it is inefficient. It is a project of fraud and window dressing."

"A soldier's loyalty to the Empire never lies in whether their slogans are shouted loudly, but in their actual actions!"

"Those who truly possess a spirit of loyalty toward the Empire are often those who can hold fast to their bottom line in the face of outside temptations, and dare to offer their lives for the Empire in moments of crisis."

"When the Empire is weak, they will not betray their motherland for fame, fortune, and gain. When the Empire is strong, they will not descend into corruption for personal benefit."

"A true Imperial warrior should spend his life this way: when he looks back upon the past, he will not regret wasting his years, nor will he feel ashamed of accomplishing nothing."

"At the moment of death, he can proudly say: I devoted my entire life and all my strength to the most magnificent cause in the world—that is, fighting for the Empire's strength!"

"This is the true Empire Spirit, and the loyalty that every soldier in our Empire needs to learn!"

Facing the crowd's astonished and admiring gazes, John slowly withdrew his right hand from Wendy's head. Then, with a "kindly" expression, he spoke to this stupid pig of a subordinate who only knew how to cause him trouble.

"So, Sergeant Wendy, do you understand what you should do now?"

"I understand, Warrant Officer. I have recognized my mistake, and I have thoroughly grasped the Empire Spirit you wished to convey to me!"

After recovering from John's earthshaking speech, Wendy, whose eyes had already turned red from emotion, looked at John as though she were looking at a great figure. She immediately straightened her chest and raised her head, her face brimming with confidence.

Just as John thought this damned "Maslow Judgment Assembly" was about to draw to a close, Wendy's next words made the smile on his face completely freeze.

"To ensure the soldiers can more deeply comprehend the spirit you conveyed, from today onward, I will cancel the inefficient practice of holding collective lecture ceremonies. Instead, I will establish a Maslow Quotations study group, regularly sharing and exchanging our experiences memorizing Maslow Quotations with everyone, so that we can learn from you better!"

After a slight pause, as though recalling something, Wendy immediately turned toward the others, whose eyes sparkled brightly, and raised an arm as she shouted.

"Everyone, let us study and comprehend the true Maslow Spirit together!"

Comprehend my ass! Are you fucking afraid I won't die fast enough?

Wendy, you stupid pig, were you sure you weren't sent by the goddess of misfortune specifically to ruin me?

Rage surged through John's heart. Just as he forcibly maintained his expression and planned to find more excuses to persuade Wendy, this stupid pig, to stop causing trouble for him, the people in the square began voicing their agreement.

"Vice Captain Wendy is right. Our understanding of Maslow Quotations is still too shallow. We simply cannot reach the heights Captain John has reached, so forming a study group is absolutely necessary!"

"I think so too. Also, the words Captain John just said should be recorded in Maslow Quotations as well!"

"Yes! True loyalty does not lie in whether one's slogans are loud, but in one's actions. That sentence pierced straight into the soul. It deserves to be recited day and night and remembered forever!"

"That line just now about how a person's life should not regret accomplishing nothing, but should fight for the Empire, was excellent too! Just hearing it makes my blood boil!"

"Wonderful! This is the Empire Spirit I have always wanted to pursue. Everyone from the 14th Squad, please let me join the study group!"

Everyone talked over one another. In the end, as though they had reached a consensus, even soldiers from the other companies who had originally been watching the show followed the members of the 14th Squad and raised their arms in a collective shout.

"John Maslow! John Maslow!!!"

Their voices were perfectly united and grew ever more intense. They even alerted nearby soldiers on patrol. After learning the whole story, these soldiers, left dizzy and overwhelmed by famous sayings from another world, seemed to become infected as well and joined the shouting crowd.

For a time, the entire square resembled an offline recruitment gathering for cult members. The number of people kept increasing, and the air was filled with an indescribably fanatical atmosphere.

It was over. It was all over!

Wendy Brown, this stupid pig of yours is going to get me completely killed!

Seeing the person-to-person spread already taking shape, causing the crowd chanting cult proclamations to swell ever larger...

John realized that the situation had begun developing in precisely the direction he least wanted to see. His heart immediately turned to ashes.

Especially when he thought about how he was about to lead a new unit to carry out that damned joint operation ordered by Dormammu...

Yet he still had not come up with a perfect way to break the deadlock.

His already swollen head immediately began to hurt even more.

Fuck it, whatever. Let it do as it pleases.

Rather than worry about the consequences after these shitty quotations spread, he should first think about how to perfectly resolve that damned mission!

After all, his life was already hanging by a thread. How could he have the chance to worry about what came later?

At that thought, John stopped agonizing over this damned cult-like scene. Ignoring Wendy's dissatisfied expression, he coldly ordered everyone to disperse on the spot, then entered his tent with a dark face.

Just as he planned to pour himself a cup of coffee, using that damned little beverage made for workhorses to whip his already exhausted donkey ass a few more times, forcibly squeezing dry what few brain cells he had left to devise a strategy that would satisfy both sides...

The footsteps behind him caught his attention. He had thought the visitor would be Wendy, that stupid pig, and was just about to unleash a torrent of curses at her.

But after turning around, he discovered that the visitor was actually Laiya Binote.

However, compared to her usual calmness, the silver-haired female vice commander's expression looked somewhat strange now.

Her little face was flushed red, and her gaze at John carried a trace of admiration so familiar that it left him speechless.

Clearly, after hearing that brainwashing speech just now, this odd-tempered girl had also been successfully assimilated by that idiot Wendy.

Not again?

Give me a break. I'm really already exhausted!

John lamented inwardly, but after some thought, he still decided to make this innocent girl abandon the idea of joining the operation.

After all, he truly could not bring himself to send someone who had helped him to her death.

"Warrant Officer Laiya Binote, I'll be direct. You..."

Just as John was about to forcibly dismiss her, the tent flap was pulled open again. Wendy's adorable figure, adorable enough to make John grit his teeth in fury, walked in. She then spoke casually to John.

"Captain, Battalion Commander Olaf just sent word. The rest of the joint operation force has already assembled, and only our 14th Squad is missing. He asked when you plan to depart and carry out the mission."

After saying that, Wendy seemed to notice someone else in the tent. Seeing John's face as dark as the bottom of a pot and vaguely realizing that she seemed to have come at a bad time, she immediately stuck out her tongue and wanted to leave.

But when she noticed Laiya Binote's unusual silver hair, she seemed to recall something. Her eyes first froze, then she cried out in surprise.

"That hair color... You, no, could you be Warrant Officer Laiya Binote, the ace rookie of the Black Eagle Special Forces?"

"Ace rookie?"

John immediately looked puzzled upon hearing that term.

"Wow, Captain, don't tell me you don't know about the Binote Family? They're a mysterious Lineage that inherited the 'Severing Art' technique, said to be able to sever everything! Even compared with the 'Thousand Blades' technique wielded by the Allied Forces' Star-Shattering Sword Saint, they're no less formidable!"

Wendy looked baffled, seemingly wondering why her captain did not even know such common knowledge.

But soon, as if she had thought of something, the expression on her face was instantly replaced by excitement and exhilaration.

"Right, Captain, could Warrant Officer Laiya be the vice commander for this joint operation? If that's really the case, then we can completely lie down and win this time!"

"You should know that Warrant Officer Laiya has a record of independently driving back a thousand-man Allied Forces unit!"

"Even among the official members of the Black Eagle Special Forces, she's one of the fiercest!"

Wendy chattered on endlessly. Yet after hearing this news, John only fell silent for a brief moment. Then, under Laiya's puzzled gaze, he stepped forward on his own initiative and directly took her little hand. An unprecedentedly gentle smile bloomed across his face, and his tone was sincere to the extreme.

"Warrant Officer Laiya, please forgive my earlier poor hospitality. Please, no, I mean, please do join my team!"

"This joint operation needs a talent like you!"

(End of chapter)