"Hey! Did you hear? Over on Hope Street—those thugs are all dead."
"Dead? Hahaha! Those bastards deserved it long ago! Once society stabilized, they were nothing but the lowest trash—jobless, loitering around all day, causing trouble for everyone without contributing anything to society or the country."
"Even to the point that after the nation was destroyed, those bastards were the first to jump out, form small groups, and start looting and slaughtering us defenseless civilians! That street of hope could have saved more people, but because of those bastards' greed, they placed others' lives beneath profit. Since I couldn't offer them enough benefits, I could only watch helplessly as my son died in my arms!"
As he spoke, the white-haired old man's body began to tremble slightly.
His skin was withered and sallow, like earth baked dry by the sun.
"Are they dead? How did they die? Can you tell ?!"
The old man looked at his companion beside him, his face flickering with the flas of vengeance.
The slightly younger man sighed and then said.
"Old man Briss, it was the Marines who did it."
"The Marines?! Really the Marines?! Though those guys are all good people, after the incident broke out, didn't they all withdraw? Why are they back now?"
"I don't know. But Old Man Briss, why do you always say those Marines n are good people? If they were truly as great as you claim, they shouldn't have left when the turmoil struck Flevance. We're also a mber nation of the World Governnt!
The hefty taxes we pay every year are part of their military funding! They had an obligation to protect us!
But what did they do? They evacuated the island at the first sign of unrest, without even giving basic notice or distributing supplies. Why do you keep insisting they're good people?!"
Listening to the younger man's words, Briss gently shook his head and slowly replied.
"Do you really think the Marines has the autonomy to act on their own?"
Hearing this, the younger man was montarily stunned before asking:
"Isn't that the case? The Marines is so powerful—who could possibly command them to do anything?"
"The World Governnt. Just as you said, the taxes you pay, whether they end up as Marines funding or not, first fall into the hands of the World Governnt. And how much of that money is ultimately spent on the Marines's budget—no one knows."
"But no matter how much, the Marines must have taken our Berries, our money, the money we worked so hard to earn, right?"
The old man's expression stiffened slightly.
He rely waved his hand and said slowly.
"Precisely because that money ends up with the World Governnt when we hand it over, the Marines must obey the World Governnt's orders to receive those funds. That's why the Marines withdrew imdiately when the turmoil broke out in Flevance. The World Governnt didn't want the Marines wasting even the slightest bit of their forces on us. In the eyes of the World Governnt, Flevance was already a forsaken land."
"You know, after losing the Amber Lead mineral, our country will be left with nothing but infectious diseases. Even if Flevance's social order is restored, what then? Even if the king and nobles return, what will beco of Flevance? The answer is, we will never be able to afford that exorbitant Celestial Tribute again."
The young man trembled at these words.
He looked at Old Brice hesitantly and said.
"Can we really not pay that much Celestial Tribute without relying on Amber Lead? I believe that if we Flevians work hard enough and stay united, we can surely—"
"Enough! You don't understand at all! So many of us have died from Amber Lead Disease, so many more were killed in the invasion. The entire royal family and nobility fled with nearly half the nation's wealth the mont they learned war was coming. Our country has nothing left! Haven't you realized that yet?!"
"People have died—from illness, from slaughter, from starvation, from suicide! Too many are gone, too much money and currency have been taken away. Our country is on the verge of collapse—no, it has already collapsed! Tell , how can we possibly pay the sa amount of Celestial Tribute as before with so few people left, our key industry destroyed, and most of our wealth stolen?"
Hearing this, the young man clutched his head in anguish.
Still unwilling to concede, he glared at the old man and said.
"So we just sit here waiting to die? Even if we can't pay that much, even if we can't remain a mber nation, we shouldn't just wait for death! Right?"
"I'm not waiting to die. I've been thinking of revenge—that's the only reason I'm still alive. Otherwise, the mont my son died, I should've thrown myself off a cliff. Now, tell in detail—what did those Marines do? Why did they hang those thugs' bodies in the town square?"
At this, the young man's spirits lifted slightly.
He said to the old man.
"It was the Marines who did this. You'll be shocked to hear it, because the Marines actually ca to help Flevance—under the World Governnt's strict prohibition, almost no Marine would dare. But the officer leading them was Marine Headquarters Commodore Jake!"
The mont he heard that na, the old man sprang up as if propelled by springs.
Without hesitation, he rushed toward Hope Street, tears streaming down his face as he spoke to those around him.
"He's the only one who can save us. Only the Marines under his command truly deserve to be called 'justice' in this world. And only he—only he is the savior in the hearts of and my dead son!"
The old man's gaunt figure looked frail on the street, but gradually, more and more ragged, famine-stricken people began to follow behind him.
Like devout believers, they marched to worship their god.
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