"Perhaps, he is actually dead." When there has been no follow-up news about Pegmont, this is an uncontrollable conjecture among many people.
Pessimism began to gradually spread within Weilan, but no one dared to express it publicly yet.
As for the ordinary human world, the joy and excitement of the people gradually disappeared, and then voices of doubt began to appear. The media began to do what they are always good at doing: random speculation, or "quoting sources", constantly catering to the changing mood of the people.
"It's even said that Wei Lan concealed it because he didn't want to take the risk of sending people to Mars to pick up Pegmont! What kind of brains and logic is there?!"
At Xixi Fengrui Base, Yang Qingbai put down the newspaper in his hand and said angrily.
"Actually, some people guessed it right. Well, maybe they didn't guess it. The council meeting in Weilan is not much different from a vegetable market." Wen Jifei also put down a newspaper while speaking, then lowered his head to pick up the coffee and took a sip.
He had been quarreling with someone Han these past two days, and he didn't even look at him when he spoke.
"Hello." Han Qingyu was answering the phone at the side. He called twice and said, "Oh, Mom, why did you suddenly contact me using the labor team's communicator? He came to our house again to eat and drink... Okay, tell me what it is."
"It's that little fan. Mom wants to secretly ask you how he is doing now?" Zhang Jiexia asked cautiously and sincerely on the other end.
"He..." Han Qingyu hesitated, because once his mother knew about this, the entire village, township, town, and county would probably know about it. "He is okay."
"What do you mean, okay? Still alive?" Zhang Jiexia asked.
"Of course, of course he's still alive." Han Qingyu said.
"That's good, that's good, then Wei Lan will definitely send someone to pick him up, right?"
"of course."
"That's good. He's a very funny little pink-haired guy, and he's also very brave." Zhang Jiexia thought for a while and continued: "When he comes back, don't have any more conflicts with him. This has all gone to Mars." , this roast must have suffered a lot."
Han Qingyu: "...Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Han Qingyu turned around and took a look and asked, "How's it going? It's already the seventh day. Is Weilan not ready yet? Has anyone announced a specific time to set off?"
A question that was not difficult at all, Major Qing asked... There was an inexplicable, awkward and weird silence in the whole audience, and no one responded, not even a voice.
Because this kind of question is usually answered by Wen Jifei, but now, the plague chicken is getting angry. The reason for his anger is very simple, because Han Qingyu didn't even ask or allow for discussion, so he just excluded him from the list of going to Mars this time.
"Huh?" Han Qingyu had to remind him again.
"Not yet, it seems that the decision has not been made yet." Helplessly, the young prince Zhu Jiaming answered for Wen Jifei, and then said angrily: "With the efficiency of this Blue Council, I think one day the big army will really They're here, and they can't even fart until they die. Why don't we just go back next time and let them take over directly.
…………
On the eighth day, there was a big fight at the special meeting of the Azure Council.
There are too many controversies about the Mars expedition.
Human beings don't know enough about that distant planet because of the lack of information, let alone the specific situation there, such as how many big points there are now, what level of big points there are, how to adapt to the combat environment, etc. .
in this case.
The scale of the Blue Project expedition is smaller and there are fewer people. Congressmen will say: So are you prepared to let those people die? Or are you prepared to allow the Dajian civilization to establish an offensive base on Mars?
And once there are more people in the plan and the selection standards are higher (because of oxygen and environmental issues, warriors who can sense the source of life are undoubtedly more suitable to fight on Mars), some congressmen will question:
So, are you prepared to risk the entire future of mankind on the unknown and bury it there just because of a piece of information that lacks explanation and response?
The arguments and quarrels eventually turned into an all-out showdown among hundreds of MPs.
Of course, the Azure Council actually fights a lot. (Because almost the entire history of Azure has been trying to set various restrictions and constraints on "power" in order to prevent the emergence of dictatorship. In fact, it has always been an organization that is not orderly and powerful enough.)
Generally speaking, the military members of Parliament who come from the battlefield disdain to participate in this kind of scuffle between "ordinary weaklings" (in fact, most of the time they do not participate in debates and discussions)... most of them At this time, they would stand in a row with their arms folded against the wall at a high place at the back of the venue, watching.
As for Speaker Kemore and the members of the presidium... they usually choose to get up and walk away silently in the chaos.
"Hey, each of you said that you agree with the expedition first, but have you ever thought about such a possibility?" At the chaotic scene, an Indian congressman suddenly shouted.
The congressmen around him gradually turned around, "What's wrong?" "What do you want to say?" "Are you opposed to the expedition itself?" "What is possible, Singh?!"
"Maybe...Major General Pegmont is not actually not around the intercom, but he deliberately chose not to respond." The congressman named Singer said this.
"Why?!" Many people were surprised and confused for a while.
"Because he was worried that if he was asked the truth, Weilan would decide not to pick him up." Singer acted like a wise man who had understood the truth. He hunched his shoulders and looked around and said, "Because the traction field was not blocked, he didn't know anything. If he didn't do it, the place would already be full of spikes. He was trying to survive in hell, longing for someone to reach out, but he didn't know that if he did, more people would fall into hell, and even the whole world would be changed. Quickly drag him to hell. He..."
Singer's voice stopped abruptly.
Because suddenly a hand reached out, grabbed the back collar of his suit, dragged him over, and threw him in the air... Then, the man and the hand turned to the front, and caught Singer's neck in the air.
"Bang!" He put his feet in the air and pressed them against the back wall.
The MPs from the military department got into a fight. Among them, the one who took direct action was the Eastern European Roba Alliance, a sixty-year-old veteran general who was disabled and retired.
Because of this sound and this scene, all the weaklings in the melee became quiet and then became nervous.
"Huh!" The old general took a deep breath and exhaled. It seemed with great difficulty that he suppressed his urge to strangle Singer on the spot.
Because of the pain, Singer's entire face was distorted, and the thick beard on his lips beat like eyebrows; because of difficulty breathing, his eyes almost bulged out behind his gold-rimmed glasses.
The old general's hand relaxed slightly.
"Lawyer? Judge? Sociologist or other elite person? Don't tell me what authority you have to make suggestions or speak, and don't say that the council needs to be skeptical. I've heard these words a lot."
"My request is very simple. Please don't use your smart heads, your wisdom and imagination to randomly evaluate and doubt a soldier who bleeds and fights for mankind on the battlefield, is that okay?"
"……May I?"
"I ask you, is it okay?!"
The old general asked three times.
In fact, when he asked the question for the first time, Singer was already willing to give a positive answer, but he was stuck and couldn't do it.
"Um...Okay, okay, okay." During the struggle, he nodded hard and nodded several times. Finally, in the hands of the old general, Singer slowly slid down against the wall, and then sat directly on the ground. , head lowered, eyes filled with hatred and panic, breathing heavily.
Without continuing to pay attention to him, or even looking at him, the old general slowly turned around, straightened his military uniform, raised his head and said: "Speaker Kemore! Speaker Kemore, please stop, stand there. And everyone on the presidium. , please stop too.”
Mr. Speaker and the members of the presidium, who were about to sneak away quietly when they saw that the serious incident was over, all stopped at the front door. They turned their heads and looked at the old general and the military congressmen standing in the back row with awkward and slightly confused eyes.
The old general retracted his gaze and no longer looked at them. Instead, he glanced at all the members in the room slowly before continuing:
"Actually, the issue you are arguing about, how many people should go, and which people should be allowed to go, has a simple and best solution - let us old guys who are actually quite good in combat effectiveness, but no longer have the time and potential, go.
“We are the lowest cost and the most suitable choice.
"Those of us here, those in the military councils of various fronts, those in the logistics department, and those who have retired and returned home, or returned to work in ordinary society... together, there are actually a lot of people."
"Just issue a mobilization order and they will all come back."
The old general finished.
Not a single member of the audience, including Speaker Kemore, spoke up to express their opinions. They just stood there blankly, in control, with numb expressions but thoughtful eyes.
Because, if considered from a completely rational perspective, this is really a perfect choice.
However, who in the audience has the courage and thick skin to agree with this proposal or even make this decision personally?
"Vote anonymously, that's it. First of all, I agree and respond to the mobilization."
Anonymous voting will definitely pass.
The old general knew this very well. After saying the last sentence, he raised his hand to salute a military salute. Then he turned around upright, limped but steadily, walked through the back aisle, and left through the back door. to the venue.
His leg was lame from the Mount Hilang Flag War that year. That seems like a long time ago. That was also the battle where Major Qing first rose to prominence in the entire source energy world.
"I'm glad that I can fight with you again, Major Qing. It's just to embarrass you that you have to lead us old, crippled guys to fight this battle."
The old general was thinking in his heart as he walked.
Then, "I agree. At the same time, we will respond to mobilization." Another veteran general from South Asia and America said, and left as usual.
He only has one arm left, his left arm. The right arm that once held the sword was lost in Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of America three years ago. That time, they fought side by side with the people of Injustice City. Three years later, this retired old guy has already learned and got used to holding the knife with his left hand.
"I agree. And respond to the mobilization."
"I agree. And respond to the mobilization."
"..."
Military veteran congressmen from the battlefield left the venue one after another. There were not many of them, only seven. They cast the first seven votes in the room.
Now, the Blue Council's vote on the "Veterans Mobilization Order" has 7 votes in favor and 0 votes against.
The MPs below have not moved yet, because the choices made by most of them are actually not very difficult. The most difficult thing on the scene at the moment is not them, but the battlefield military councilors who are in their prime and do not yet meet the standards of the veteran mobilization order.
As juniors in the true sense, they certainly know what the senior generals want them to do.
However, they can't do it.
Until they turned their heads inadvertently and suddenly saw seven old generals standing together outside the back door, looking at them silently.
Seven pairs of veterans' eyes, seven veterans' eyes, there is...
His eyes are filled with the sincerity of returning to the battlefield.
Eyes full of vicious threats and intimidation.
Eyes full of smiles that are ready to fight.
…………
In 1996, on October 21, the ninth day after Blue Star received the signal for help from Pegmount Mars, the Azure Council and the Allied High Command jointly issued a notice to the world.
Notice file name: "Mars Expedition—Veteran Mobilization Order."
