"Why can't it be me?"
Shi Huaiya picked up the peaked cap that had fallen to the side, got up from the ground with difficulty, and patted the dust. She was not at all like the bossy young lady.
Zhou Jinru couldn't understand why she caught up with him, and how she caught up with him, so he had to say: "Miss Shi, this is not the place you should be. Go back quickly. It's very dangerous."
Shi Huaiya glanced at him: "You look down on me?"
"No, but it's really dangerous here."
"Then let's go."
Shi Huaiya didn't seem to hear what Zhou Jinru said. She put on her hat and walked onto the street, not minding the mud caused by the wet brick road splashing on her boots.
Zhou Jinru had no choice but to follow. If Shi Huaiya got angry with the eldest lady, there was really nothing he could do against her.
Her boots lightly stepped on a broken brick. Shi Huaiya sniffed it and couldn't help turning her head to Zhou Jinru and said, "Don't you think the air here is very fresh?"
On this road, the shelves of vendors placed in the middle of the road are empty, and there are no vendors doing business. Almost everyone is shrinking their necks.
I'm afraid the air here is not fresh, but too deserted.
Zhou Jinru shook his head: "Miss Shi, most people here are hungry."
If everything goes as usual, this street should be crowded with people selling vegetables and buying food, but all this has become depressed with the struggle between factions and the royal family, and the security problems caused by food shortage will soon become prominent, If this continues, there may be another humanitarian disaster.
"I know."
Shi Huaiya lost interest. Her friends were trying to get food from elsewhere, but water far away could not save the fire nearby. After five days, how many things were left in the East Region? She estimated that the number should be very low. .
"Zhou, have you always been like this?"
Zhou Jinru didn't understand what Shi Huaiya was talking about.
The eldest lady considered the words: "That guy Chen said you don't look like someone who comes from a noble family."
"Of course I'm not, I'm just a footman."
"Really?"
Zhou Jinru's face was neither red nor out of breath, and his expression remained as usual: "Really."
Shi Huaiya snorted: "Humph, Chen is a fool. You can coax her, but you can't fool me."
"If Ajie finds out that you are setting her up behind her back again, she will definitely teach you a lesson."
"How is it possible," Shi Huaiya waved her hand, "We have been classmates for many years, and we have also been roommates. I am very familiar with who she is. A person who is stubborn to the core, and you can actually change her mind. , which makes me feel incredible.”
Shi Huaiya seemed to have other ideas. Zhou Jinru couldn't figure it out for a while, so he had to say: "What Ajie should do is her freedom. I just don't want to lose her."
"Is it just that you don't want to lose her?"
Shi Huaiya was walking beside Zhou Jinru, and suddenly reached out her hand, grabbed the man's wrist, and said, "Let me see if your heartbeat speeds up when you say these words."
However, Zhou Jinru moved faster. The moment Shi Huaiya's fingers touched the skin, he pulled out his hand, looked forward, and solemnly said: "Miss Shi, I only have Ajie in my heart, and I can no longer tolerate anyone else."
"Fool."
Shi Huaiya blushed, turned her head away angrily, and strode forward, as if she wanted to get rid of Zhou Jinru.
The two of them accelerated forward one after another, and the sparse crowd gradually became denser. Not only did the number of people increase, but on the piles of debris, there were also people speaking loudly with simple handmade trumpets, and the onlookers were Emotions were aroused under the stimulation of his words.
In Zhou Jinru's eyes, a huge emotional current like a river had gathered above the dense crowd, and it was carrying citizens driven by injustice and hunger to create a tsunami that could flood the earth.
"Miss Shi, what do you think?"
Shi Huaiya was listening to the speech. Her emotions were quickly aroused and merged into the wave that was constantly hitting the peak. Only Zhou Jinru was like an outsider, watching everything indifferently. No matter what kind of emotional arousal had no effect on him.
Shi Huaiya nodded heavily: "His speech was very good. People who have been oppressed and treated unfairly have the right to seek the benefits they deserve."
The fact that she was able to say these words showed that she was thinking so deep down in her heart. Zhou Jinru thought of what Shi Huaiya did. She must have come into contact with members of the Jacobin faction, so she would help the faction in any way she could.
The boundary that separates the east and west regions is not drawn artificially, but the surging Sega River. The weather today is not good, the cold wind is blowing, and white waves are rolling up on the surface of the Sega River. Melting into the river, it is no longer as peaceful as before.
On the bridge between the two regions, heavily armed guards were standing guard. Opposite them were citizens who erected banners and continued to utter abusive words.
In a department store building near the Sega River, a tense meeting was being held. Adele, who was sitting at the end of the conference table, was twiddling her nails in boredom. The councilors who dominated the meeting were planning what actions to take next. As for the quarrel, she was sitting here only because of Dr. Wasim's suggestion, so there was no need to think too much about the right to speak.
At this point, the factions have no room to retreat. All they can do is force the current king to abdicate and let the nobles accept the new system. Otherwise, what awaits them will be hanging. The king who is located in the palace in the hinterland of the Western Region is no matter what. No faction will be spared.
In just five days, the peace faction within the faction disappeared. The people sitting in front of the conference table were all the war faction. However, what people did not expect was that the war faction also included hawks and doves.
The hawks advocate using the power at hand to actively attack the Western Region. In order to protect their own interests, those timid nobles will soon compromise and agree with the new system, thereby achieving the goal of changing the entire country.
The doves' views are completely opposite to those of the hawks. They believe that the factions should control the power, and the purpose of attacking the Western Region is to make the king compromise, not to make the king pack up and get out.
"Comrades, your idea is ridiculous. If a country does not have a king, the country will lose its legitimate legal principles. If the king is expelled, should we hang a sign of a famous attraction at the entrance of the palace and hire a few staff to sell tickets? ?”
A middle-aged man sitting on the right side of the conference table asked, "Why not?"
He has short brown hair with some natural curls and a pale complexion, but his eyes are particularly bright. He tapped his fingers on the table: "Our work has just begun. According to the information I have received, our King is Raise the army, among them a large number of steam-jacks, and if we continue to quarrel over the king's hat here, we shall soon be breathing our last on the gallows."
Someone exclaimed: "So fast?"
The brown-haired man nodded: "Maybe a little sooner than I said, the king has lost his patience, and our situation is not good."
"Dr. Wasim, your foresight saved us all."
Adela looked at the brown-haired man. He was Dr. Wasim. He was so different from his daughter Yelena that it made people wonder whether they were biological father and daughter.
Dr. Wasim had been in jail for the past seven years until he was recently rescued.
Adela couldn't help but close her eyes when she thought of this. Her companions who died in Operation Voleur kept wandering back and forth in front of her. All signs pointed to that the operation was a stupid operation that was not even a bait. , and the person who proposed the plan lost his footing from the second floor and fell to his death because he was drunk on the night she escaped.
There was no point in continuing the bickering, and members of the faction presiding over the meeting began to demand a vote.
"Let us now vote with a show of hands to decide the next action. Now, if you are willing to continue negotiating with the king, please raise your hands..."
…
…
The long and boring meeting was finally over. Adela put away her notebook and prepared to get up and leave. Her vote would definitely follow Dr. Wasim, but despite this, they failed to stop the doves from continuing to negotiate.
"Adela."
Dr. Wasim, who is over fifty years old, has not many wrinkles on his face. Time has not left any traces on his face. He still maintains the handsome appearance of his youth.
Adela raised her head and found the doctor looking at her.
"doctor."
Wasim tilted his head: "There is still time now, let's go for a walk?"
Adela had no reason to refuse, so she followed Wasim, and the two of them left the conference room together.
The department store that had long since ceased operations was demolished by the faction members who occupied the place. Only the building frame was left, and everything that could be used as a blockage was taken out, leaving nothing of value.
"Adela, what do you think of the current factions?"
The first words Wasim spoke made Adela stunned. Logically speaking, she was just an inconspicuous little character. How could she be favored by a big boss like Wasim?
"Fortunately, the current faction is still very young and there is still a lot of room for growth."
She said her words quite tactfully, but when it fell in Wasim's ears, the doctor couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha, even you speak so tactfully?"
Adela did not say anything, but Wasim looked serious: "You are right, the factions now are very different from those before I was imprisoned, just like here, the second largest department store in Londinium, They were like locusts, tearing everything apart, leaving nothing behind, and taking away many things that did not belong to them. The faction I know should not be like this, losing discipline and everything."
"We seem to have control of the Eastern District, but we do not have substantial control over the entire city. It is still in the hands of various families and the gangs they control. Once the factions lose the initiative, those families will abandon us."
Wasim walked in front of Adela. His back was thin. His long years in prison had changed his body shape and his voice had become hoarse. However, his temperament as the leader of the faction had not diminished at all. It was just that this big ship It's no longer in his control.
"Adela, have you seen this thorn ring? All high-ranking members of the faction have one like this, which symbolizes our status. It is this ring that makes those faction members who are bewitched by money and interests have to Lower your head and listen patiently to every word we say. Even if they are disdainful, they must still show off."
It was a rather primitive ring, polished with a delicate pattern. A leaf stood upright at the top, and the other six leaves were symmetrically divided on both sides, with tiny spikes between the leaves.
"Doctor, this ring must be very valuable, right?"
"No, it's just a few rings we bought in a street jewelry store when we established the faction. If we talk about the actual value, it's only a few shillings."
"ah?"
Adela opened her mouth, not knowing how to continue.
She looked out the window, trying to free herself from the awkward atmosphere.
…
…
As if he sensed certain gazes, Zhou Jinru tightened his clothes and took a few uncomfortable steps to the roadside, causing Shi Huaiya to roll her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I felt like someone was staring at me."
Shi Huaiya looked around a few times: "Where is it?"
Zhou Jinru almost lost his temper. If he could find who it was, he would still have to stick to the wall, and if the other party was deliberately dodging, how could he find it so easily?
"It's okay, Miss Shi, don't be nervous. Let's continue the introduction. You said this building is the second largest department store in Londinium?"
"It was."
Shi Huaiya looked at the objects scattered all over the street. Most of them were damaged. There were also many tables and chairs piled up to form bunkers. It seemed that the second largest department store had been completely delisted. Even if it could be restored, there was no way to return. It’s back to what it used to be.
Directly in front of them was a bridge across the Sega River, one of several such bridges between the east and west regions of Londinium.
Zhou Jinru stood by the bridge and looked across. Although the factions and nobles were already at war with each other, it was not so tense that it turned into a war zone. In other words, it was only a matter of time before it turned into a war zone.
"If you block this bridge, you can cut off the route between the two sides."
Zhou Jinru pressed his fingers lightly on the guardrail, narrowed his eyes, and calculated how much firepower would be needed to blow up the bridge.
What surprised him was that in reality, there were not so many bridges in Londinium, nor were there two large areas divided by a river.
"What do I need to do if I want to go to the other side?"
"You don't need to do anything, just find a place to hide, and you will be able to get over it in a month."
Shi Huaiya means that this tense confrontation should be over in a month. The Eastern District, which has lost most of its food sources, cannot sustain it for too long, and the Western District, which has lost the services of the Eastern District, cannot support it for too long. If this continues, they cannot isolate themselves from each other forever.
"That being said, it's too late after a month."
Zhou Jinru stared at the rushing river, and felt a tremor in the palm of his hand holding the railing. Not only that, but the entire Sega River began to spray irregularly.
He raised his head, and on the other side of the bridge, countless steam mechas emerged.
