Scavenger Leader, Conference Hall of Maxim's Mansion
Cozmo waited patiently for the soldiers to go out, then took off his hood: "Mr. Maxim."
Maxim was wearing pajamas today, and it was obvious that Cozmo's visit today caught him off guard: "You meet me so frequently, be careful of any omissions that may arouse their suspicion."
"Don't worry, they are all staying in Heping Street and cannot move around. They trust me quite a lot."
"Tell me what's going on." Maxim crossed his legs and yawned.
"They have determined the new development direction of the branch. After evacuating Winterfort, they plan to complete the revolution in surrounding cities first, and finally concentrate on taking over Winterfort. However, before leaving, they obtained some information, and now they want to take over Winterfort.
Fort makes its final struggle."
"What information?"
Cozmo sat upright: "Scavenger people do not need to be interrogated by the patrol team when they go out. They want to find out the internal identity verification methods of scavenger members and pretend to be scavengers to carry out revolutionary work."
"Oh, that's it?" Maxim was full of disdain for this.
"Yes, you..." Cozmo came here with the idea of claiming credit and showing off in front of Maxim before the value of the sub-station was drained out. Unexpectedly, Maxim seemed to be interested in this.
I'm not interested at all in this information.
"In their plan, there is no need to tell me about the development after they evacuate Winterfort. Even if they want to destroy the world, what can they do? They will all die in a few days. It doesn't matter if they say hell." Maxim cheered up.
Cozmo, who was at a loss, explained why he didn't care, "As for the people pretending to be me, this idea is good, but it's a pity that even you, the dog-looking sub-station manager, are my people. They can turn over
What the hell? Can they make substantial progress in the last few days?"
To put it bluntly, the war between Bash and Willan was about to end, and Maxim decided that no matter how much Verak and the others wanted to change, it was already too late.
Therefore, he doesn't care about their new ideas.
"I understand." Cozmo couldn't refute.
"Is there anything else?" Maxim said with impatience in his tone.
"...No more."
"Stabilize them and don't let any of them leave Winterfort. You will be free in a few days." After that, Maxim loudly called the soldiers in.
Cozmo hurriedly put on his hood and was escorted out of the mansion as if being driven away, heading towards the secret site in the basement.
The scavenger's men pushed him along silently.
Cozmo, who was covered by his hood and couldn't see anything, felt mixed emotions.
He knew very well that when he firmly led the sub-station in the struggle, Maxim still regarded him as an opponent. Now that he had surrendered and leaned towards the opponent, he was ignored.
Firstly, because there is no turning back after betrayal, Maxim will naturally not worry about what he will do. Secondly, because his compromise is due to cowardice, and there is no shining point in himself, so no one is willing to appreciate it.
But, did I make a mistake?
Cosmo didn't think so.
Living is better than anything else, and spending a lot of money to live a prosperous life is better than anything else.
Spending one's life for an illusory thing and getting nothing good in the end is no longer what he admires.
Even if in Maxim's eyes, he is a dog, so what?
Won’t it be clear in a few days whether this choice is correct or not?
The depression in Cozmo's heart disappeared, and his pace became brisk. When being escorted by the scavengers, he seemed to have become a docile and embarrassed dog.
Quentin, who stayed in the hotel near the secret site in the basement, had not yet rested. He stood sideways in front of the window and watched as the scavengers escorted Cozmo back. Then the scavengers returned to the hotel and Cozmo took off his hood.
Return to the basement.
He, who had always been calm and steady, couldn't help but feel a little confused at this moment.
The sub-station chief Kozmo rebelled, but what about the rest? Did Vladislav rebel? Did Arseny rebel? Did Victor rebel?
There's no way to know for sure.
The substation now became a dark vortex, which would swallow them all up sooner or later.
——
July 26, early morning
Worried that Cozmo would return to Peace Street first, and also worried that the scavengers who were also in the hotel would notice him, Quentin left the hotel as soon as the curfew was lifted and rushed back to the Peace Street Tavern as quickly as possible.
.
Probably because he worked late yesterday, when Quentin returned, he only saw Verak and the bartender Victor sitting in front of the bar.
"You're back? How was your drink with the captain of the patrol?" Verak came up with a question and calmly conveyed the reason he had weaved for Quentin to go out.
"...It's not good." Quentin used this reason to report the situation to Verak.
Verak's expression changed, he patted Victor on the shoulder and walked towards the cubicle: "Come, tell me."
After Quentin nodded to Victor, he followed Verak.
"What's going on?" When Quentin entered the cubicle, Verak closed the door with his own hands, turned around and asked urgently.
"I..." Quentin didn't know where to start for a while, "I had been squatting near the basement yesterday. At night, I saw Cozmo come out of the basement and put on the hood on his own initiative. After a while, it was clear that
The scavenger's men showed up and took him away... Then, about an hour later, he was escorted back by the scavenger's men..."
Verak was a little confused, feeling that the current scene was like a dream.
When he saw Quentin's ugly expression as soon as he came back, he had a premonition that something was not good, and the final result fell into the place he was least willing to accept.
Cozmo, who was the pillar of all the comrades in the sub-station and whose position in Bash was like that of Bresiliboin, really betrayed the revolution and defected to the government.
Why there are so many traitors undercover in the sub-station, why the sub-station has done nothing in Winterfort for several months, why Comrade Dai Qian was sacrificed so easily... it all makes sense.
The webmasters are all from the government, so how difficult is it to manipulate them?
"The worst thing now is not that our support for Winterfort, our location, and all our plans are known to the government, but that we don't know how many people like Kozmo there are in the branch. Vladi
Slavic, Arseni... We don't know who to trust now..." Quentin was troubled by this problem all night.
No one at the sub-station is absolutely reliable, so how can they change the status quo with just a few new comrades who have just arrived from Bressy?
Verak sighed tiredly: "During this period, the sub-station has sacrificed hundreds of comrades. These comrades would never have thought that their most trusted station commander was also their murderer..."
"We..." Quentin didn't know what to do next. This problem was beyond his ability.
"Do you think, since the Bash government knows our movements very well, why don't they just kill us all?"
"Because Bash is cooperating with us?" Quentin guessed.
"I think so too. In addition, the flame of revolution will never be extinguished. After they wipe out us, there will still be new revolutionary forces emerging. So instead of constantly spending time tracking down and eliminating us, it is better to let us
Being so desperate will save them a lot of work." From Maxim's point of view, Verak thought of two possibilities to keep the sub-station and not do anything.
"Then do you think we will be safe in the short term?"
Regarding the life and death of all the comrades who were kept in the dark, Verak gave the most secure and conservative answer: "There should be no danger until the war is over and our cooperation with Bash is terminated."
"I feel that the battle will come to an end soon." Quentin paid close attention to the huge naval battle on the Sea of Sineveren.
"Then we don't have much time." Verak leaned against the doorway.
"Our top priority is to find out whether Vladislav, Arseny and others have betrayed the organization, and to gather reliable comrades to evacuate with the traitors on their backs." The water in Winterfort was too deep, so Quentin advocated leaving first.
"How can we check in such a short time..." Verak had no clue.
Even if they could confirm the situation of Vladislav and Arseny, the innocence of the other sub-station comrades was still powerless, and it was impossible to check them one by one.
Quentin looked at Verak: "Then..."
"The only thing we have now is the fact that Cozmo rebelled." Verak tried to calm down and used his clearest mind to come up with a solution. "Only by attacking Cozmo can we get rid of him as quickly as possible."
Pry all the information out of your mouth. But doing so also means tearing apart the government's disguise, and the conflict between us and them will be imminent."
"Should we take Stuart and the others out of Winterfort during the insurance period?" Now that the entire army could be annihilated at any time if they stay in Winterfort, Quentin is more inclined to keep their strength, otherwise there will be no room for change.
there is none left.
"What if Vladislav, Arseny, and Victor are all traitors? They are staring at us, how can we withdraw? Even if we can withdraw, what will happen to the remaining true comrades who still don't know the truth? Wait for the government's opportunity
You don’t even know how you died?” In Verak’s heart, he was thinking about the true comrades who must still exist in the sub-station.
They still trusted Cozmo unconditionally, and foolishly waited for Cozmo to lead them to eliminate the undercover agents and start the revolution in Winterhold.
There was no way Verak could leave so easily.
"Everything is not conducive to us now. I'm afraid it doesn't make much sense for us to keep it." Quentin advised.
"No matter what, we still have a few days." Verak is not that kind of person, so even if he dies, he will not choose to leave first. "These few days are the last days for our comrades at the rescue station."
Chance."
"...Should I tell Stuart and the others about this?" Quentin asked.
"Don't let it go yet. After they know this, it will be difficult to pretend they don't know anything." Verak said.
"Is it just the two of us?"
"We have to come up with a solution first. If we need help from more people, it won't be too late to tell them the truth." Verak closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The problem is, starting with Cozmo is very risky.
But other than that, I can’t think of another way to go.”
"I feel that Vladislav and the others are more likely to be deceived by Cozmo just like us." Quentin provided his own thinking logic, "It stands to reason that Comrade Daisy is the first person to work with Cozmo. If Cozmo
There was a second cadre besides Zimo who rebelled, and she was the most suspect. But she died, which means she didn't rebel. So since she didn't, she just merged with the branch not long ago, and she only knew Cosmo for a few months.
Vladislav Arseny should also remain our comrade."
Verak nodded slightly: "It makes sense, but even Cozmo can betray the revolution, and there is no evidence from others. It's hard for me to let down my guard."
"Every move we make now has been exposed to the eyes of the government, and there is no credible manpower to help with the investigation... The only way left is Cosmo." Quentin was also at his wits' end and returned the focus to
On Cosmo.
"The Evil God"
Now, the only thing they have the upper hand is knowing about Cozmo's rebellion.
With no power to rely on, if you want to find out the government's plan and the list of traitors in the sub-station, you can only check Cosmo.
"Let's start with Cozmo." Verak made a decision in a deep voice.
"Dongdongdong."
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which shocked the two of them into a cold sweat.
Verak, who has rich acting experience, was the first to regain his composure, turned around, opened the door and looked at Victor who was holding two glasses of water.
"Drink some water." Victor came in and put the water on the table.
"Are they awake yet?" Quentin looked a little unnatural. Verak quickly attracted Victor's attention by asking questions, giving Quentin time to adjust.
"Not yet, but it should be soon. I'm going to prepare breakfast." Victor faced Verak.
"Do you need help? Anyway, we are sitting here just chatting."
"No, I can do it alone, you are busy." Victor walked out the door.
It wasn't until Victor disappeared around the corner of the corridor that Verak closed the door: "You can't do this. It's so unnatural even to face Victor. When you see Cosmo again, he might notice something."
Quentin thought that after working in the Intelligence Department for so long, there was nothing wrong with pretending, but after seeing Verak's performance just now, he felt ashamed: "Give me some more time."
Verak's acting skills have long been trained to perfection: "When you are dealing with them, don't always think about these things in your mind, try to suppress them in your heart, or even forget them. Only if you have deceived yourself first can you deceive them."
Pass them."
"I'll try." Quentin adjusted his state according to Verak's method.
"Cozmo should be back today. We'd better not quarrel with him right away. If we can, we can use the same formula. If we can make inferences based on his series of reactions, we can make inferences." Verak was still standing in front of the door.
"I'll cooperate with you." After Quentin adjusted, his state had changed visible to the naked eye.