The Steam Age: Gears and Bones

Chapter 71

When Perfit removed his hand from his face and looked up again, his expression had returned to its usual calm.

She returned the telegram to the adjutant, bent down to pick up the gloves that had slipped from her grasp and fallen to the ground, slowly brushed off the snowflakes, and put them back on.

After doing all this, she turned to the Elector, her voice devoid of any emotion when she spoke.

"The iron cage doesn't need to be removed. My plan to go to the capital remains unchanged."

The Elector paused slightly.

He looked at Perfit, as if to make sure she wasn't being sarcastic, then his brows slowly furrowed. "The Frans border has been breached. The council doesn't need you to take the infected to persuade them anymore; the mobilization order will be issued from the capital by tomorrow at the latest. You could actually stay here."

"What I can do here is not much different from what your alchemists can do." Perfit shook his head. "I have written the epidemic prevention procedures into documents, and I have copied the blueprints of the black bread conversion array three times. Your engineering battalion is already implementing the adjustment plan for the defense line."

My mission at Wild Boar Ridge is complete—but what Romulus needs now isn't me standing on the city walls stabbing infected people, but someone who can stand before the Emperor and tell him how to fight this battle from here on out.

She tapped the iron cage on the ground with her cane.

The infected person inside the cage was still banging against the bars, making a dull metallic clanging sound.

"Throughout the Old World, there are no more than ten people who have personally dissected infected individuals or observed the source of infection under a microscope. And I am currently the only one who can propose a complete epidemic prevention system after the dissection and personally implement it in the quarantine area."

I am the only one who can transform a traditional volley fortress into a deep trench system targeting the infected, and who has actually seen how this system works under the impact of a zombie horde.

Romulus needs to go into full mobilization; simply signing a mobilization order is not enough.

They need to know how to allocate resources after mobilization, how to reconstruct defenses, how to classify wounded soldiers, and how to group and coordinate priests and alchemists.

If I don't go to the capital to teach them these things, how long will it take them to figure it out on their own? A few weeks? A few months?

You know better than I do that new infections are spreading every week.

She paused, her voice softening slightly, but without a trace of hesitation: "So going to the capital has nothing to do with whether or not Parliament needs to be persuaded."

They don't need to be persuaded now, but they need to be taught how to fight.

The Elector did not try again to persuade her to stay.

He stared at her for a moment with his deep-set old eyes, then picked up the telegram and read it again, as if to confirm that something he had long anticipated but had always refused to accept had come true.

Then he put down the telegram and asked in a serious and solemn tone, "How do you need my cooperation?"

"I need you to do three things for me. First, send a telegram to the port of Stocana, telling Allen there that the plans have changed and I have gone to the capital. If necessary, I can go directly to the capital of Romulus to meet me."

At the same time, I sent a telegram to Victoria, informing her of the change of my itinerary and requesting that Her Highness the Princess send a formal diplomatic envoy as soon as possible—the alliance negotiations between Victoria and Romulus could no longer be delayed.

Frans is no longer a reliable hope, Ross has already fallen, and if Romulus also falls, Victoria will face alone the infected that have spread across the entire Old World and the ancient sealed artifact whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Second, compile all the epidemic prevention measures, defense adjustment plans, and records of the use of the Black Bread Transformation Array that you implemented at Wild Boar Ridge Fortress into a booklet and send it to the garrisons of each principality in the form of an official battle report of the Northern Legion—so that they know what to do before the mobilization order arrives.

Thirdly—I'm afraid I'll need your son to come with me on this trip. I'm not familiar with the political situation in Romulus's capital, and I need him to vouch for me. Also, I need the original expedition team to come with me.” Perfitt explained methodically, point by point.

The Elector wrote down all these requirements and also had his adjutant write them down to ensure there were no errors or omissions.

He then said to Perfit, "You have my handwritten letter. Any outpost along the way will let you through if they see it. If any outpost commander doesn't recognize the Elector's seal, have the accompanying grey-armored knights explain it to them."

Perfico nodded, then turned and walked toward the prepared carriage.

Her strength was recovering more slowly than she had expected. Her knees were still a little weak from standing for so long, so she used her cane to support herself and keep moving without stopping.

However, when she reached the carriage and prepared to get in, Chertzov walked up to her.

His figure remained as still as a rock repeatedly washed by the sea, holding a neatly folded military flag in his hand.

He folded the tattered golden double-headed eagle banner that he had taken to Victoria and brought back neatly, and held it on his arm as if he were carrying something extremely heavy.

"Lieutenant General." Perfit stopped and looked at him.

She knew this posture all too well—it was the same posture he had taken in the cruiser's cabin, in every report she gave after waking from her coma, and on the night of the breakout when he stood atop the ramparts and planted the general's flag in the frozen ground.

But at this moment, there was something in his eyes that she had never seen before—not weariness, not despair, but a determination that had finally settled after a long struggle.

"Miss Brandlis," Cherksov's voice was hoarse and steady, as if each word was being coaxed out of his parched throat, "I've come to say goodbye. I wish to remain at Wild Boar Ridge."

Perfit did not respond immediately.

She looked at the neatly folded military flag on his arm, its worn edges trembling slightly in the cold wind.

"From the moment St. Petros Port fell, my homeland ceased to exist." Chertzov looked down at the military flag on his arm, his rough fingers gently tracing the tattered golden double-headed eagle on the flag. His voice was as calm as the surface of water after a storm. "On the cruiser, when our ship sailed away from St. Petros Port, I thought I would never set foot on the soil of Ross again in my life."

But I came back with you, not for any other reason than that if there are any living people still waiting there for someone to rescue them, I cannot let them only be met with living dead.

Later, in the fortress, I rebuilt this force from the fleeing troops, gave them guns, ammunition, and bread, and turned them back into soldiers.

He paused, shifting his gaze from the regimental flag to Perficot: "There are several hundred Ross soldiers remaining at Boar Ridge. They come from at least six or seven different regiments; some of their commanders died in the Predelshinsk district, and some can't even remember their own unit numbers."

But now they can stand in formation, fire volleys, and follow the sergeant's orders to organize ammunition and check their weapons.

They were no longer defeated soldiers; they still considered themselves Ross's soldiers—even though Ross was no longer around.

But one day, you will end this disaster, and at that time, Rose will need someone to rebuild her from the ruins.

Building house by house, I may not live to see her rise again, but at least I can leave an army for those who rebuild her in the future.

This army may not have a designation, a base, or any legal basis for existence.

But they were Rus' people, wearing Rus' uniforms and carrying golden double-headed eagle flags; they were the seeds of Rus' future restoration.