Chapter Thirty-Three: The Hardships of Life

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If this had been the Yu Lian of his previous life, he would certainly have crushed the honorable councilor into a meatball and fed him to an amoeba without a second thought. Since the man naturally regarded the common people as vermin, it was only natural that a psionic master who traversed the stars should regard an ordinary man like him as an ant.

Yet just before his hand crushed the wineglass, he managed to restrain himself. The Yu Lian of this life was kindhearted, warm, and even something of a pushover—but when it mattered, he was exceptionally stubborn. His influence on him was truly rather obvious.

He did not know whether the soul of a future ranger had possessed the body of a military cadet, or whether the military cadet had gained the memories of a future ranger. But he did understand one thing: he had family, friends, and a homeland. He was bound by too many ties to act purely on impulse.

He discreetly drew a deep breath and said, “I understand what you mean. However, even a breakout operation requires careful planning. Besides, my soldiers have gone several days without rest and urgently need time to recover. You can’t expect us to go into battle on empty stomachs, can you?”

Councilor Jiang Yudong seemed to feel that it was best to stop while things were going well. He nodded with great understanding. “Naturally. In addition, I have already asked everyone to set aside some food. There is enough for your men to have a hot meal. No need to thank me… It is only what we should do.”

Who the hell was going to thank him? Whatever he had spent, Yu Lian would repay him at cost. It was only one meal—look at him, acting so smug about it.

“In any case, I hope to have your answer within eight hours. Oh, yes—I am Councilor Jiang Yudong, and also a director of the Colonial Agricultural and Commercial Association. If you, Lieutenant Junior Grade, are considering purchasing property in New Yumen, you are welcome to come to me for advice at any time.”

By the time Yu Lian got out of the vehicle, the honorable councilor had already begun to feast. No one saw it but him. The door closed behind him, cutting off the two worlds.

Yu Lian once again saw the civilians opposite them, sharing out packets of ready-made food. A little boy of two or three was crying and calling for food. His mother was struggling to squeeze something from a shriveled tube of nutrient paste shaped like a tube of toothpaste. At last, she managed to force the coffee-colored paste into the child’s mouth.

Yu Lian knew that although the stuff was packed with calories, it tasted awful. Yet the child smacked his lips and still broke into a satisfied smile. His mother laughed happily as well. She squeezed the “toothpaste,” trying to get some for herself, but nothing came out. There seemed to be a trace of tears at the corners of her eyes, yet she continued smiling as she held the child and coaxed him to sleep.

The blue-haired mercenary was leaning against the vehicle door, apparently dozing. Yu Lian glanced at him and hurried away, suppressing the urge to kick him. He was now extremely glad he had exercised restraint. If anything had gone wrong, that fellow certainly would not have stood by and watched. And if a fight had broken out, Yu Lian was not certain he could have beaten him in his current state.

The mercenary opened his eyes and watched Yu Lian’s retreating back. In a low voice, he muttered, “Don’t take it out on me! I’m just a hired hand. No matter how much I dislike the employer, I still have to follow the contract!”

Yu Lian had not gone far before Ina and the others gathered around him.

“Sir, we have no capacity to launch an attack.” Ina stared at Yu Lian, apparently worried that he might be unable to withstand the pressure and be forced into making some kind of promise he should not.

Yu Lian shook his head. “I’m not an idiot.”

“Yes, his demand is far too unreasonable… But Councilor Jiang Yudong is not someone we can afford to offend,” Dr. Banks said with a sigh.

“He’s famous?”

“Uh, very. He’s considered one of the most influential councilors in the colony. I hear he’s already preparing to run for the next governor, and his chances are supposed to be quite good.”

Then again, wasn’t the governorate under something close to military administration? Why was the governor elected rather than appointed by the central government?

“Also, they say he has powerful connections. There are important people on Earth who are particularly fond of him.”

That was hardly surprising. In fact, it would have been more surprising if he had no connections at all. Just look at him, swaggering around like a curly-haired groundhog draped in a frilly cape—clearly a man accustomed to ordering everyone about. Whatever else might be said, he had considerable influence among those “representatives of the people,” and that alone was a headache.

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“Oh, right. Where’s Uncle Carl?” Yu Lian asked.

“There’s an autonomous medical vehicle in the civilian convoy, but something seems to be wrong with the surgical machinery. Uncle Carl went over to help repair it,” Dr. Banks replied.

Having another autonomous medical vehicle capable of performing even a cesarean section was certainly an excellent thing, but Yu Lian had a feeling that the old mechanic had really gone there to escape the noise.

“What about the civilians’ identities?”

“Baka and the others are checking them one by one. There shouldn’t be any major problems. Most of them are citizens of the Community. The only troublesome thing is that there are several foreign nationals in the convoy…”

“Oh? Are they refusing to be searched, or refusing to obey orders?” Ina asked coldly, bristling with murderous intent. Judging by her tone, her next words would probably be, “If they refuse, shoot them.”

The doctor hurriedly waved his hands. “No, no! Um, overall, they’ve been fairly cooperative. It’s just that one of the mercenaries is an Alliance citizen…”

Yu Lian stopped and looked back toward the councilor’s motorcade. “He’ll cooperate. Don’t worry about it.”

The statement did not sound particularly convincing, but Dr. Banks did not dare ask further. Instead, he continued, “There’s also another—no, one more person… Well, she doesn’t seem to be an ordinary person.”

“She wouldn’t happen to be a business representative from some major Alliance conglomerate, here to discuss an investment or something, would she?”

“Uh, yes—no, not exactly… Well, this is hard to explain. You’ll understand when you see her. As it happens, she specifically asked about you just now.”

The soldiers of Outpost Twelve began their first proper dinner since abandoning the outpost in a secluded canyon. No one dared light a fire, but fortunately there were quite a few motor homes among the civilian convoy, each equipped with electric cooking appliances. The food they produced was mediocre at best, but at least it was hot.

Plantation owner Wang Yougui sat beside his truck, wolfing down a self-heating boxed meal. He vaguely saw Chief Cowboy Kelvin hurrying back, empty-handed. The boxed meal that had originally been set aside for him had vanished.

The old landowner snorted. “Let me tell you right now: I didn’t bring much when we fled. Everyone’s rations are measured out.”

“Yes…” The cowboy lowered his head.

“Even if you gave your portion to that young widow, I don’t have any extra for you! I’m only a farmer. I can feed a few animals like you, but I can’t feed that many people.”

“I—I know…” The cowboy kept his head bowed, not daring to argue. He had spent the entire day riding back and forth, after all, and was already starving.

“You damn fool, you’ll be the first thing you set on fire one of these days!” Wang Yougui spat. He casually set his half-eaten boxed meal on the ground, then slapped his stomach irritably. “Damn it, am I so old now that I can’t even finish a couple of mouthfuls?”

Seeing that the cowboy was still standing there in a daze, he flew into a rage. “Do you want your father to feed you too?”

Kelvin was overjoyed. He seized the boxed meal and swallowed nearly a third of it in his first bite.

“If we can’t get the plantation running again, how are we supposed to feed useless gluttons like you?” Wang Yougui sighed. He took out a cigarette and lit it. “Tell me, what did that fool Little Dong want with all those people just now?”

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“Mmph… nnngh…”

“Talk after you’ve finished eating!”

Kelvin laboriously swallowed the food in his mouth. It lodged painfully in his throat for a moment before he said, “The councilor said he was going to discuss with the officer in charge how to escort everyone into the city.”

“Oh, we should go into the city. Staying outside forever isn’t an option.” Wang Yougui nodded. “But is it safe to charge in now? I hear the entire outside is crawling with sandfolk. We’d have to… Hmm, wait. If we charge in now, wouldn’t that put those youngsters in a difficult position? No, I need to go talk to them.”

“But Boss, a lot of the plantation owners over there are speaking in support of the councilor. Oh, right—Mr. Parik from Blue Star Ranch also said…”

“What did he say?”

“He said that with everyone gathered together, we have two hundred guns and several armored vehicles. If we weren’t dragging along a bunch of deadweight, we’d have fought the sandfolk already. We can’t let this opportunity pass us by.”

Kelvin was still somewhat baffled, but Wang Yougui had grown shrewd with age. A flicker in his eyes was enough for him to roughly understand what was happening. He sprang to his feet.

“Those idiots! They’ve been used and don’t even know it! Making a mess of everything… Never mind. I’d better go discuss this with Mr. Pierce. Oh, and it would be best if that young lady were there too. Little Kai, once you’ve finished eating, gather all your people and bring your guns!”

The old plantation owner finished giving his orders and stormed off, cursing under his breath.

The cowboy stared blankly after his suddenly agitated employer. He scratched his head in confusion, then resumed gnawing energetically at the boxed meal in front of him. He had to finish quickly so he could carry out the boss’s instructions. Boss Wang was somewhat stingy, but he had always been a good man at heart.

Meanwhile, the leader of the “youngsters” mentioned by the old plantation owner—our own Lieutenant Junior Grade Yu Lian—had eaten half a can of food with his “toothpaste,” yet still felt no real sense of fullness. He began yearning for his uncle’s fish with pickled vegetables and his aunt’s fried pork, then picked up another sandwich with a distinctly unhappy expression.

It was merely two slices of white bread holding canned ham, dried vegetables, and peanut butter. Calling it a “sandwich” was already being generous. Even so, Yu Lian found it difficult to swallow when he thought of the mother who had struggled to squeeze nutrient paste into her child’s mouth.

But there was nothing he could do. The members of the security force had only compressed biscuits and nutrient paste as well—perhaps not enough for everyone to have a single meal. Even if he wanted to perform an act of kindness, he lacked the means. More importantly, the worse things became, the more necessary it was to ensure that the soldiers received regular meals.

As Yu Lian pondered how to break the deadlock, he tried to imagine the sandwich as dumplings made by his aunt and opened his mouth to take a bite.

Oh, no. It was too hard, and it stuck in his throat.

If he asked someone else for help, would it damage the reputation of a wise man who had planned for every contingency?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, a steaming cup of coffee was extended before him.

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