There was a commotion in the square, but other than Ren Xiaosu, no one could hear it.
After a long time, the deep voice suddenly said, “Although that kid is a little mean, I find him quite interesting. After all, there’s no use being humble in this chaotic world. Instead, it’s only by being meaner that he can lead the survival of Fortress 178.”
As the martyred spirits slowly calmed down, one of them suddenly said, “Fortress Commander Li, do you think that kid is qualified to be the commander?”
The deep-voiced Commander Li replied, “I think he’s not too bad. Back when my old commander reprimanded me, he always said I was too honest. If I had used clemency and morality when dealing with the enemy, I would have led all of our Fortress 178’s soldiers to their deaths. At first, I didn’t understand why he said that. But later, I realized that he was right. Because our enemies won’t talk about such morals with you.”
“Alright, since Commander Li says so, there must be a reason for it,” the martyred spirits said.
“However,” Commander Li suddenly changed the subject and said, “I’m a little worried about the next kid who’ll take over from that kid. Although it’s still too early to talk about this now, based on the tradition passed down by our Fortress 178 commanders, we must find someone who isn’t willing to be the commander. Then the sitting commander will force the future commander to accept the role. From this tradition, and with his assholishness, his successor will definitely be miserable….”
“Commander Li, you still have a mind to care about that?” The martyred spirits said, “We’re only fucking concerned about when that kid will finish telling us the rest of the stories!”
The next morning, Ren Xiaosu woke up feeling refreshed. He packed his belongings and got ready to follow Zhang Jinglin to the outposts on foot.
However, Xu Xianchu came to inform Ren Xiaosu that their agenda for the day had been canceled at the last minute. As Commander Zhang had other, more important matters to attend to, the plan to visit the outposts would have to be delayed for a few days.
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “Oh, it’s fine. I’ll just walk around the stronghold for the next few days then.”
He thought to himself that it must be something very important if Zhang Jinglin had to revise his schedule. Moreover, Xu Xianchu did not tell him the specifics, so it showed it was highly confidential.
Ren Xiaosu asked, “Can I ask what matter held him up?”
“I don’t know either.” Xu Xianchu said with a laugh, “Don’t look at me like that. I really don’t know. To ensure absolute secrecy of the matter, Commander Zhang doesn’t even use any communications equipment or satellite phones to communicate with his colleagues who are carrying out this mission.”
Ren Xiaosu wondered what was going on. After all, Xu Xianchu was usually responsible for protecting Zhang Jinglin. If someone this close to him did not even know what was going on, wouldn’t the matter be the toppest of top secret?
What could it be?
However, Ren Xiaosu was not a busybody. He would find out sooner or later if it was something he should know about.
Moreover, it suited his plans as well that Zhang Jinglin had something to attend to at the last minute.
Ren Xiaosu thought to himself, ‘Didn’t I just get to know a group of friends? I should take this opportunity to improve my relationship with them!‘
After Xu Xianchu left, Ren Xiaosu became the person with the most free time in Fortress 178. He put on his cap and headed out. He had done so in case too many people recognized him. Ever since he walked down the long boulevard yesterday, probably a third of the people in Fortress 178 knew what he looked like now.
Ren Xiaosu headed straight for the memorial square. When he got there, he was surprised to see a young man standing under the copper bell with a newspaper in hand.
When he got closer, he heard the clamoring voices of the martyred spirits. “Group One, read the first half of the first page. Group Two, read the second half of the first page. Groups Three and Four, you’re on standby. Everyone, you must complete your mission before the target finishes burning the newspaper!”
“Got it!”
“Got it!”
“I’ll definitely complete the mission!”
“Send me for the first battle! I’ll definitely get it done!”
Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Why did reading a newspaper suddenly sound like they were fighting a battle? He seriously suspected the 200,000-odd martyred spirits had fully organized themselves for this. They might even have formed an organized army.
If that were the case, as long as he could summon the martyred spirits into the Martyr’s Palace, they would instantly become a fully operational combat force.
Moreover, some of the martyred spirits had already been together for nearly 200 years, with the shortest being 16 years. Such tacit understanding among a group was probably not something any other military unit could match.
But a martyred spirit suddenly said, “Wait! Look, that asshole has actually returned!”
The deep-voiced Commander Li ordered, “Ignore him! Let’s finish reading the newspaper first!”
At this moment, the young man holding the newspaper looked at the copper bell and said, “Sirs, a new round of conscription has started. I’ve passed my physical, so we’ll be comrades soon. Do y’all know that the Northwest is flourishing? This is the prosperous era that y’all wished for. I’ll also protect this fortress with my life like y’all did.”
The reason the people of Fortress 178 burned newspapers to the martyred spirits was because everyone hoped these pioneers would also learn about it in the underworld whenever something good happened in the Northwest.
A brazier was placed in the memorial square to be used for burning newspapers, and it was even cleaned regularly. This could also be considered a tradition of Fortress 178.
At this moment, the martyred spirits said with a smile, “This child has potential. He might even become a company commander in the future.”
“I think he can become a brigade commander!”
“He might even become the fortress commander. Hurry up and replace that asshole!”
“Wait a minute, that mean kid is walking over!”
“What does he want?”
Ren Xiaosu took out a torch from somewhere and said to the young man, “Let me help you with that.”
The young man recognized Ren Xiaosu. “F-Future Commander?”
Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “I’ve just arrived at Fortress 178 and haven’t been able to do anything for our pioneers yet, so let me help you burn this newspaper. May I?”
The young man looked at the future commander’s sincere expression and said emotionally, “Sure.”
With that, Ren Xiaosu took the newspaper from the young man.
The young man had only brought a box of matches with him. With the speed at which he could burn the newspaper with the matches, the martyred spirits could still have memorized all the newspaper’s contents. After all, all of them had already gone through so much training.
But it would be completely different if it was a torch.
When the martyred spirits saw the torch in Ren Xiaosu’s hand, they were shocked. “Kid, stop right there!”
“Fuck!”
“I’ve underestimated how horrible he can be…”
When the martyred spirits saw the rapidly blazing flames, they despaired.
After the young man left, Ren Xiaosu suddenly laughed. “Alright, you don’t have to start criticizing me that quickly. I was just kidding with y’all. I bought today’s Hope Media newspaper so that y’all can take your time and read it slowly.”
Ren Xiaosu took out a newspaper from his storage space and placed it neatly on the ground. Then he sat down next to the newspaper to protect it from getting blown away by the wind..
