On a sunny afternoon, in front of a villa in the Volavo mining area, at the end of the spacious lawn and on the straight avenue, a well-equipped Mansgur People's Car stopped.
The sound of the engine in the front engine compartment cover disappeared. The man sitting in the driver's seat stretched out his arm with a somewhat stiff movement and pulled out the car key inserted on the right rear of the steering wheel.
He pushed open the car door, put away the car keys, stretched out his right hand that did not belong to him, grabbed a briefcase on the passenger seat, lowered his head slightly and got out of the car.
"Dad!" On the lawn, the children who were playing rushed over and threw themselves into the man's arms. The pleasant children's voice put a smile of satisfaction on the man's cold face.
"Mr. Schumann." The old maid who was guarding the lawn came up to him, nodded slightly in front of the man holding the child, and said hello.
"Thank you." Schumann easily picked up his son with his right hand, nodded slightly to the maid, and walked towards the main entrance of the villa.
There, the hostess was leaning on the door frame, looking happily at her husband and children on the lawn.
It has been two years since he returned to the rear from the battlefield. As an old Selis native, it has been a year and a half since Schumann moved to Volavo. His family and children also followed him to this strange place.
City.
Fortunately, the people here are very nice, everyone is friendly, and the neighbors often interact with each other. The president of Allen District across the street is very kind.
In a tragic battle, Schumann lost his right calf and his entire right hand. A few years ago, such injuries would have almost made him declared dead. However, the lovely Landhill field hospital rescued him.
However, he also became a wounded soldier who could no longer fight.
After saving his life but losing his livelihood, he was assigned to work in a reserve training unit. Although he received a generous stipend, he could only endure the pain of his mutilated body.
He was not very lucky. When he had to face the reality, he didn't know whether he was unlucky or lucky to have caught up with the "good times" when Alan Hill was expanding the fastest.
In the past two years, as a loyal old Seris soldier, he was first promoted from an active duty sergeant to a reserve lieutenant, climbing three levels in one breath. Later, because of the upgrade of the reserve force to which he belonged, he was promoted to a reserve lieutenant.
Major.
Who would have thought that in just half a year, the devil's counterattack would allow the Airanhill Empire to once again mobilize its troops, and the reserve's permanent training tasks would be even heavier. Schumann, who had already become a major, had already become a lieutenant colonel.
Military rank!
His experience is not an isolated case, but a serious problem that Eiland Hill faces today and must be carefully addressed.
The entire empire is expanding too fast. The commander of a regiment five years ago may now be the commander of a group army. The mayor of a small town five years ago may now be the commander of a certain region.
civil affairs deputy.
The leadership team has not fallen, and there are still only a few who are corrupted by the temptation of money. Most of the management of Ailan Hill are still efficient and loyal. They worship His Majesty the Emperor from the bottom of their hearts and do not dare to deceive anything. It is as if they are facing
gods.
However, the things that this leadership team has to manage have expanded 100 times or even 10,000 times! The problems they have to deal with have expanded from a castle to an empire, and the population they have to manage has expanded from more than 300,000 to 70
More than 100 million!
A person who may have been just a clerk in a government office two years ago may now be a senior official in charge of a provincial finance.
Veterans who retired due to injuries need to be resettled, and workers who are injured on the job need to be resettled. Countless Seris people have to leave their ancestral land where they have lived all their lives, go to a strange city, and face a strange life.
People like Schumann were lucky. At least because of his injuries, he was assigned to the Volavo area, which is not far from Seris.
At least there is a decent city here, with spacious streets, electricity, sewers, schools, and various supporting facilities.
The most miserable group of people are assigned to a city where plague is rampant, the stench of excrement is everywhere, there is no light, telephone network, or even the most basic living facilities!
Who could have imagined that a small official who had been a grassroots leader of the postal department for two years in a civilized society would be promoted to the position of deputy city lord in a place that doesn't even have a mailbox?
"You are so beautiful." Walking in front of his wife, Schumann, who was not yet used to his body, sounded slightly confident.
He used to have low self-esteem because he had no right hand and his right foot was just a prosthesis disguised as a shoe.
Now, he is finally complete again. At least he can control his right hand and right foot through his own thinking.
"Your movements are becoming more and more natural." The wife teased the child in the man's arms with her hands, a happy smile written on her not-so-pretty face.
She has nothing to be dissatisfied with. Although she moved out of Seris City, she lives in a very high-end community in the wealthy area of Volavo. Her identity is also the dignified wife of a reserve lieutenant colonel.
When the city lord's wife held banquets on weekends, she would always call her to invite her. She never thought that she could go into the upper class society, hold a beautiful glass wine glass, and chat and laugh with a group of majors' wives, colonels' wives, and even major generals' wives.
"Yes, I can feel it." After handing the child to his wife, Schumann moved his right hand. It was a prosthetic limb, and its exquisiteness was amazing.
Now, this arm and the palms on it are stretching and curling flexibly with his will, as if they are an original part of his body.
Although it is still a bit awkward due to habit, Schumann knows that one day it will be similar to his left hand, or even better than his left hand.
After all, no matter how much it is suppressed, this arm can burst out with more than twice the power of a normal arm when needed. Although it is integrated into part of the subject's soul and will feel pain when it is injured, its defensive capabilities are indeed
Stronger than flesh and blood!
If necessary, a chip can be implanted, which can even release magic, allowing Schumann, who is just a mortal, to have the same abilities as a magician.
"In a few months, I think I will be able to fully adapt to this arm and this leg." Schumann flexibly waved his palm in front of his wife, with a little bit of showoff.
The wife hugged the child and asked with some worry: "Have you sent that letter to the Special Tasks Department of the Guards?"
Schumann's face became solemn again and he nodded: "Sent it, they said I am not the only one who has received such a letter, and they are also investigating the matter."
Having said this, he couldn't help but think of the unexpected letter he received a few days ago. There was no signature on the envelope, and the paper used for the document was the most ordinary thing.
In the printed content, Schumann saw words such as "reformists" and "primitives". The letter reminded him to be careful of the hostility of the originalists, and hoped that Schumann could voluntarily join the so-called "reformists".
"We have strength in numbers! This is His Majesty the Emperor giving mortals more powerful power. It is the trend, the future, and the irreversible direction of human development!" The letter is full of such deceptive content.
Schumann, who was full of shock and worry, hesitated for a few days after reading the letter, and finally made a decision. Taking advantage of today's rest, he personally drove the letter as evidence and sent it to the special mission section of the Guards in Wolavo.
department.
The nanny came over at this time and helped open the door, and the family walked into the villa worriedly.
Just opposite the villa, at the door of another villa, an old man turned around and closed his door with a gloomy face.
"I knew... our neighbor Schumann would definitely install that bullshit prosthetic limb." The old man walked to the dining table and complained dissatisfied: "If he wasn't dissatisfied with the fact that he was a mortal, how could he have this thing on his body?
Install something made by magic like that?"
"That's just a prosthetic leg, old man. Mrs. Schumann is a very nice person. You took a walk with Schumann before." The old lady sitting at the dining table handed her husband a piece of bread spread with butter.
He spoke soothingly.
"That's why I'm angry... After all, he was once a very good junior. I even wrote a report and prepared to pass several of his bills in advance... Forget it, let's not mention him." The old man snorted and continued.
His wife took the bread from him: "There will be a meeting tomorrow. It seems that the bill to repair the reserve barracks will be slowed down. I will ask the secretary to give Director Eddie's railway repair bill a higher priority."
"Isn't it necessary?" The old lady was stunned, looked at her husband with some worry, and asked: "Will this delay His Majesty's important event?"
"Of course not." When His Majesty was mentioned, the old man's face was filled with a sense of sanctity. It was like a believer mentioning the god he believed in: "The railway maintenance bill has been pending for a long time. Whoever funds it first will have no choice.
It’s the same.”
He paused, and then continued: "Besides, I'm just trying to catch him, and it doesn't affect anything."
"Then why are you embarrassing Mr. Schumann? He is still our neighbor." The old lady shook her head, saying that she did not understand the stupid ideas of men.
"You don't understand, this is a war!" The old man narrowed his eyes: "A war between the 'original faction' and the 'reform faction'! Mortals, only the purest mortals, are the most trustworthy to Your Majesty.
strength!"
The old lady smeared the bread with a butter knife quickly, sighed and looked out the window. On the other side of the road, across a neatly manicured lawn, the Schumann family's villa was there, but the distance seemed to be farther.