Chapter 281: Don't be immersed in sadness, don't forget sadness
In Verak's impression, something so urgent has never happened to the Equality Society. Could it be that the government discovered the location of their main station? But if they had discovered it, they should not have gone to the conference room now, but had mobilized all personnel to evacuate.
If it’s not government troops attacking, what else could it be?
The more unimaginable it was, the more uneasy Verak felt. He immediately woke up Keating, and the two of them hurried to the conference room together.
When they went there, there were already many people in the conference room. Without exception, these people stood silently. Both Boyin and Morais also had their backs to the crowd. Although they could not see their faces, they could feel it.
to their sorrow.
"What happened?" Verak saw Nord, Diaz, Murphy, Piaf and others who came ahead of them, so he stepped forward and asked the situation in a low voice.
"I don't know, we just arrived..." Nord and others were also confused about the current situation.
"Boin, Morais and the others didn't say anything?"
Piaf shook his head: "They are waiting for all the nearby cadres to come over."
"Okay." Verak understood the situation. Boyin and Morais would explain the situation only when everyone is here. "Teacher, let's wait."
"Hmm." Keating looked at the backs of Boyne and Morais, thinking deeply.
After a while, some more cadres arrived one after another, bringing the number of comrades present today to more than fifty, which exceeded the number of participants in the meeting when Verak and others first came back.
"President, everyone is here." After finishing his report, a young comrade closed the door of the conference room and left.
Boyin and Morais slowly turned around and looked at the fifty or so standing cadres with heavy expressions.
With sharp eyes, Verak could vaguely see that Boyin's eyes were red, as if he had shed tears.
What happened?!
Verak had never seen Boyin shed tears before. No matter what big things happened to Equality, he was the most calm and composed one. What could happen that could make him cry?
"Comrades..." Boyin was silent for a long time after saying these three words.
Dozens of people stared at him, and the conference room was extremely quiet.
Morais breathed heavily, reached out and patted Boyin on the shoulder, and told him the news: "The latest news we just got is that the branch we established in Old Nanyue, the capital of Dunman... was attacked by his government.
The raid. Comrades at the sub-station... none of them survived."
boom!
This news instantly shocked everyone present.
Verak frowned and his eyes were full of disbelief. He strongly suspected that he heard wrongly: "What did you say?"
"The comrades of the Old Southern Testament were sacrificed, and some affiliated local gangs and hometown associations were also severely damaged." Morais knew that Verak had a close connection with the Old Southern Testament branch. It can be said that he established that branch with his own hands.
He got up, so he faced him and spoke in as gentle a tone as possible.
"Sacrificed? How? Aren't they good? Aren't they all secretly placed on the territory of the Menglego people?" Countless figures flashed before Verak's eyes, and he walked excitedly in front of Morais.
asked.
"Today at 8:17 pm, the president of Dunman, John Tun, was assassinated. At the same time, the Tunman government united with the secretly bribed gang forces, confirmed the location of the sub-station, and moved the comrades who worked together among them.
They caught them all in one fell swoop and declared to the outside world
The conflict broke out between the Equality Association and the immigrants... This was obviously a premeditated action, and it was a unified revenge by the local government against the Equality Association, the immigrants, and the people who resisted the new conscription law." Morais explained.
What happened as far away as the Old Southern Testament.
Verak didn't believe it at all: "Who told you this? Is there a list of casualties? Is there any accurate report?"
"Verak." Morais understood Verak's mood, "This is the biggest blow our Equality Society has suffered since the sacrifice of Chris and the others. I am as sad as you and feel unbelievable. I have confirmed the information several times.
, I refuse to admit it, but...it really happened."
Verak's brain was confused, and there was only confusion on his face.
"Comrade Sarah, Comrade Yves, Comrade Willow, Comrade Monroe, Xin... all?" Even Keating could not accept this blow and asked those people one by one about their whereabouts.
"As far as I know, they all died." Morais answered the bad news with a sullen face.
"...How could..." Verak was a little out of breath. He didn't expect to get such news that would make him feel shattered. "Didn't those gangs cooperate with us? Didn't we work well together at that time? Everyone
Didn’t they all unanimously decide to fight the government and fight for equality?! Isn’t it?! Isn’t that right?! How could it be?! I, I don’t understand, how could they collude with the government and kill their comrades?
What’s up?!”
"It's my problem." Boyin finally spoke, but he did not look directly at Verak, but stared at the ground with self-blame, "I was the person in charge of the scene at the time. I credulously believed in the loyalty of the gangs and thought we were on the same page.
A front line caused the comrades at the sub-station to not be wary of them, leading to today's situation."
Other cadres who were not involved in the construction of the old Nanyue substation sucked in the air-conditioning and looked at each other.
Equality has been going smoothly for too long, and although there have been sacrifices from time to time in the struggle, there has never been a heavy blow on this scale.
Especially the branch station of the Old Southern Testament. It is the most dazzling one among the Equality Association branches. It was established in the shortest time, but it burst out with amazing power, pushing the Old Southern Testament to fire the first shot of equality. It is considered to be
It has perfectly replicated Lezein's model and is a strong proof that it can be emulated all over the world.
Everyone firmly believes that the Old South will be the second place after Lezein where the flag of freedom is flying, and Dunman will be the first place after Bressy where the people are the masters of the country and everyone enjoys equality.
, a beautiful country of freedom, respect and unity.
But this good expectation was completely shattered today.
The lives of hundreds of people were wiped out in an instant.
The promotion and replication of Lazer's model also failed.
Verak didn't care what others were doing. He held the table with one hand and sat down with difficulty. He was so dull that there was only tinnitus in his ears and his vision was blurred.
He did not feel great sadness or any other intense emotions, he was just in a trance.
Willow, who was full of longing for the future and wanted to become a doctor after the arrival of the new world, treat the poor for free and teach them knowledge, died like this?
Before they parted, they had agreed that once Willow had learned the Bresci language, he would come to Lezein to further his studies, just in time to catch up with the sweep of new ideas.
And Monroe, who was infected by himself bit by bit, wanted to restart his life in the Equality Society and do something truly meaningful. Has he started to do it? Has he done it?
Lao Jin, who wants to gain living space for the Mongolian people, and Ruffalo, who is diplomatic but still sides with the Equality Society, have they completely changed the living plight of the immigrants?
Boss Xin, who has put all his efforts into cultivating Willow and is willing to take him to create a new world with Willow, is he on the right path?
Did they just die like that?
Just because Morais said "sacrifice", did they all die so lightly?
Verak's mind was in a mess, and all kinds of emotions were mixed together, even making him feel nauseous and vomiting.
What if I didn't mind my own business at the time?
I didn't pay attention to the immigrants who were increasingly in conflict with the locals. I didn't describe a white future to Willow. I just did what was within my mission and brought the gold back safely. Wouldn't all this happen?
If, after hearing Winston say that their success in the Old South was just a coincidence, I had immediately begun to review the entire process, sort out the omissions, and correct the hidden dangers in a timely manner, would all of this not have happened?
If, after returning to Lezein, we had paid more attention to our comrades in the Old South, learned more about their situation, paid more attention to the situation there, and sensed dangerous trends, would all of this not have happened?
Verak thought about a lot of things.
Before he had time to grieve, he fell into huge self-blame and shame.
"Verak? Verak?"
Verak came back to his senses and saw Keating patting his shoulder: "...Huh?"
Keating looked at Verak with a confused look on his face, tears streaming from his eyes, and it was hard to control his emotions for a while. He thought of his old friends who had settled their differences, and thought of so many people who looked to them as their direction, and his nose felt sore: "Are you okay?"
"I..." Verak wiped his face with his hands and realized that tears were streaming down his face.
"Verac." Nord, Diaz, Murphy, and Piaf gathered around and looked sadly at Verac, who couldn't help himself.
Verak pursed his lips and shook his head.
Boyin, who was trying not to lose his temper in front of the cadres, covered his face with one hand when he saw the appearance of Verak and Keating, turned around and took a deep breath tremblingly.
These people have all dealt with those people, experienced life and death together in the struggle of the Old Southern Testament, and are the organizers of a series of arrangements made by the Equality Society in the Old Southern Testament.
The pressure and impact they endure in their hearts are far beyond what other cadres can empathize with.
Morais was also in pain, but he knew that Boyin, Verak, and Keating would only suffer hundreds of times more than him. Now only he could stand up and help everyone get out of the trough: "Comrades."
The conference hall was filled with grief.
Comrades with heavy faces, wet eyes, or sobbing softly looked at Morais who spoke.
"I know that no one can accept this, because it is hundreds of living lives." Morais sighed, "I really want everyone to let go and grieve, so that they feel better.
I also want everyone to take a good rest and slowly get out of the trough period. But what I actually want to say is that we'd better adapt to all this and learn to keep it in our hearts. Because this is not the first time, and it will not be the first time.
The last time. Revolutions are often accompanied by sacrifices, and sacrifices are often accompanied by us."
"This can't be controlled." It was difficult for a cadre who was a close friend of the comrades who died in the Old South to come out as Morais said.
"But we have to control it," Morais said.
Boyin calmed down his mood again, turned around, glanced at Verak and Keating who were out of shape, and then faced everyone: "I bear the greatest responsibility for this matter. It was my mistake that led to the accident at the Old South York Branch.
Comrades sacrificed their lives, I can’t imagine how I can make up for all this, but at least I don’t deserve to be the president anymore.”
"What are you talking about!" Morais said in a more serious tone, "What do you mean you bear the greatest responsibility? At that time, the matters at the Old Nanyue Branch were decided by a show of hands at a meeting. How can you take all the responsibility?
On your own body?"
"As the president, I failed to recognize the situation clearly and ignored the major hidden dangers. Of course, I must bear the responsibility." Boyin hopes that this will make him feel better and give everyone an explanation.
"Is it possible that you alone have the final say in the Equality Association? We all agree that you alone can decide things in the Equality Association? I am also responsible for this! But I can step down as vice president, but you can't
! Now the Equality Association is still struggling to contend with the government. You are the backbone of everyone, and you cannot make any changes at this time!" Morais firmly prevented Boyin from taking responsibility and resigning as president.
"I have a responsibility too."
"I didn't see any problems at the time and agreed to the plan."
"And me."
Cadres expressed their willingness to share responsibility.
The Equality Society respects everyone's opinions and adopts a voting system. Even President Boyin does not have the right to make decisions against everyone. This means that such a decision must be made with the consent of at least half of the cadres.
Now these cadres have stood up and hope to jointly shoulder the responsibility.
The mistake has already been made. If they dare not admit and take responsibility for their mistakes anymore, then they will have no face to face the comrades who sacrificed their lives.
"We can all bear it." Morais said at first that he was responsible and did not involve other comrades. Now that others had spoken, he gathered everyone's voices to oppose Boyin's sole responsibility, "You
If you want to resign, then we all should just resign."
"Stop making trouble, Morais." Boyin shook his head seriously.
"That's enough."
The two people who were arguing looked at Verak who was speaking.
Verak stood up: "No one needs to take responsibility. No matter how much you fight over it, you can't change the fact that they have sacrificed their lives. Instead of wasting time arguing about this here, it is better for everyone to calm down and sit down to review the whole situation.
process, learn from experience, and avoid the same thing happening in the future, causing the same tragic and unbearable casualties."
"Yes, Comrade Verak is right. Now is not the time to hold people responsible. Our first priority is to study clearly where we went wrong. Rather than taking responsibility for the sacrificed comrades, it is more important to protect the remaining comrades."
Morais quickly answered and calmed down the atmosphere, "Everyone, please sit down first, Boyin, you should sit down too, don't just stand around."
After dragging Boyin to sit down, Morais presided over the meeting and helped everyone cheer up: "Now we have more important things to do. I hope everyone will not be immersed in sadness or forget about sadness."