Big Brother, I wanted to share my snacks with Xiao Tao and the others, but Penny, um, and Sister Fulei, both stopped me. Is that, is that wrong? Shouldn't you share good things with friends?

George probably felt that Yu Lian was very much to his liking, completely treating him as a 'confidant Big Brother'.

“This… actually, your sister and Miss Fredrica Wirbert are right.”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s a bit complicated to explain. I’m not sure your current knowledge structure will allow you to understand. If you want to understand your sisters, you’ll have to study hard and read more books.” Yu Lian didn’t try to fob him off with “You’ll understand when you grow up,” but instead explained seriously, “You just need to remember that if you give them your snacks at this time, you’ll actually be harming them.”

“Is, is that so?” The little boy’s big eyes dimmed again.

“I know Xiao Tao and the others are starving. But please rest assured, after today, they will definitely be well-fed and warmly dressed. Do you believe Big Brother? Hmm, do you believe the promise of Commonwealth officer Yu Lian?”

The little boy listened intently, and his eyes lit up again at the last sentence. He bit his lip and nodded heavily.

“Oh, by the way, that Big Brother Ash you mentioned, I’d really like to meet him. How about you invite him over? Just tell him I have a bottle of fragrant wine here and invite him to have some.”

The little boy blinked, then asked even more excitedly, “Are we going to discuss how to ‘biubiubiu’ all the bad Sand People who bully us?”

Yu Lian sighed inwardly, but on the surface, he was smiling and nodded, “Yes, so please help me with this. Be sneaky, don’t let anyone else find out. Remember, Mr. George Pierce, this is very important for the success or failure of our entire campaign!”

Seven-year-old military enthusiast Mr. George Pierce straightened his back and gave Yu Lian a proper military salute, then strutted off as if carrying the highest directive.

Time passed quickly. Just as Yu Lian had finished his food, someone arrived beside him. But it wasn't the bronze-haired Alliance mercenary; instead, it was Baka and Youyou, looking troubled, accompanied by an old man and a young man.

Both men were dressed in casual denim. The old man was Asian, like Yu Lian, and the young man was an unremarkable white youth. Leaving the latter aside for now, the former, the old man, was a bit hard to describe.

Yu Lian always felt that with the old man’s demeanor, wearing denim was a bit out of place. He should have been wearing a felt hat, a fur coat, with a large pipe on his back and a horsewhip in his hand, which would have been more fitting. Of course, if he also had two box cannons with red ribbons tucked into his waist, that would have been even more fitting.

The old man placed his cowboy hat on his chest and nodded to Yu Lian with a friendly yet dignified smile. As for the young cowboy, he was a bit timid, his smile tinged with a stiff eagerness to please.

“Officer, I, this, Mr. Wang…” Sergeant Baka was still the same; fierce on the battlefield, but always honest, dull, and clumsy with words when dealing with his own people. He stammered for a long time, not knowing where to start, then turned his pleading gaze to Youyou, who was already impatient.

Youyou spoke quickly, with a rap-like speed and rhythm: “This is Mr. Wang Yougui, who runs a ranch and plantation nearby. Mr. Kelvin is his employee. Officer, Mr. Wang said he could organize everyone and gather thirty able-bodied young men who can carry guns and fight. He’s asking if you might be able to lead everyone to seize some enemy supplies.”

“…” Yu Lian felt that he had encountered quite enough magical realism events tonight; they just kept coming one after another, regardless of whether he could handle them.

“Young man, I know we’re being a bit presumptuous, but this is… we really had no other choice, so we shamelessly came to you. The entire convoy is running out of food. We originally thought everything would be fine once we entered the city, but who knew it would turn out like this?” Mr. Wang Yougui, still looking like a local landlord despite his denim attire, twitched his mouth and sighed, “I understand the current situation somewhat. They say there are at least a million enemy troops outside the city now. Even if Lord Guan came, a great flood wouldn’t drown them all! We definitely can’t enter the city, so, so we can only ask for your help.”

Yu Lian was silent for a moment, then looked at a heavy-duty truck in the convoy. That thing, in terms of both tonnage and size, should be second only to Councilor Jiang’s Kodo beast in the convoy. It was also the type that could crush a Velociraptor with its wheels and withstand gunfire and artillery with its armor. Purely in terms of defense, it was the kind of vehicle that could charge into battle as a MT.

“Is that your vehicle?” Yu Lian asked.

“Yes, I bought it on installments, and I still have 5 years of car payments… Sigh, when we fled, I loaded up all the spices that had just been harvested from the garden. If I had known, I would have filled it with food.” The old man sighed, his face full of remorse.

New Yumen’s high-drought spices are very valuable, serving as important raw materials for many fine and daily chemicals, and even many luxury goods, but they are truly useless for filling one’s stomach.

“…But, we can’t just watch others starve and freeze, can we? Even, even more, we can’t abandon them. Young man, no, Officer, you absolutely cannot abandon them!”

Baka and Youyou were suddenly startled, and the young cowboy was completely stunned.

“Wait! Who said we were abandoning them? Does everyone know about this?” Yu Lian was also shocked. If such a thing got out, it would be a miracle if those hundreds of common people didn’t go wild. What would he do then, open fire or not?

“Heh, I know what kind of character Little Dongzi is. I’ve known him since he wore open-crotch pants. If he hadn’t conned me, I wouldn’t have run to this place to plant spices. Wouldn’t it have been better to just stay on my few hundred mu of land back home?” The old man gnashed his teeth, but then realized there were outsiders Present and quickly added, “Officer, Little Dongzi isn’t a bad person. He just gets too easily carried away. Now that he’s a councilor, everyone around him is a bunch of scoundrels.”

“Uncle, have you said this to anyone else?”

“How could I say such a thing? It would cause an uproar!” The old man shook his head: “But I’m just a useless old man, even if I put aside my pride, I can’t make others share their extra food, clothes, batteries, or whatever.”

He paused, so ashamed that he couldn’t even look Yu Lian in the eyes, mumbling with the corners of his mouth: “I’ve read a bit too; with so many enemies, shouldn’t they have a large amount of provisions every day? Can you, can you think of a way to lead us to raid their supplies once? Not too much, just enough for everyone to last a bit longer. I think, with such a big event like Tulon being besieged, the Governor’s Office can’t possibly ignore it. If we just hold on for three days, no, maybe two days would be enough. I know this is very dangerous, and logically, I shouldn’t trouble you… but… sigh, I can only gather this many people, and they are willing to go with you. Don’t look at me like this, but when I was young, I had a month of militia training every year, and every year I was the best in our little corner.”

The old man gave a thumbs-up, and the young cowboy eagerly added, “Officer, I’m Kelvin. My brothers and I can all fight. You just need to command us. As long as we can get food for everyone, I’m willing to be the first! Officer, please, there are old people, women, and children there, so many children…”

Youyou was at a loss, and Baka’s face, which was somewhere between a tough man and a beast, was almost about to shed tears.

“You two, don’t reveal a single word, not even to Ina. Especially you, Youyou, if I find out you spilled the beans, before everyone riots, I’ll stuff you into the tank’s cannon barrel and fire you out along with the ion beam!”

Given Yu Lian’s understanding of the “Blazing-Eyed Witch,” if Ina found out, she might really secretly knock out the councilor and throw him into a Velociraptor nest.

Youyou covered her mouth and nodded repeatedly, and only then did Yu Lian say, “I appreciate your courage and sense of responsibility. However, Mr. Wang, and Mr. Kelvin, the situation is far from needing ordinary citizens like yourselves to risk your lives. I promise you, everyone will have food tomorrow, and you can patiently wait for the situation to improve. Of course, I welcome you organizing all able-bodied young men who can fight. I want to set up defenses at the mountain pass and on the mountain tops on both sides, and I do need manpower.”

The old man wanted to say something else, but under Yu Lian’s continuous assurances, he could only temporarily give up. After everyone left, each with their own concerns, Yu Lian suddenly realized how many promises he had made that day. If he didn’t want to be crushed by various commitments, he had to resolve these matters quickly.

Yu Lian waited another hour. By the time most people had started to return to their vehicles to rest, and the entire camp had quieted down, with even the children’s crying gradually ceasing, the Alliance adventurer named Ash Stein finally arrived, dragging his feet.

He hid himself in the shadows between two Black Panther tanks, standing two meters behind Yu Lian. Even Ina wouldn’t have noticed someone hiding there without a careful look.

“Mr. Ash Stein, I presume?” Yu Lian turned around and poured a small glass of wine for the other party.

The mercenary looked at Yu Lian suspiciously, then sniffed the aroma of his favorite wine in the glass. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, feeling an uncontrollable craving in his throat, he took it.

The wine was, of course, good wine; Yu Lian had gotten it from Ina—this girl, besides binge-watching dramas, only had a fondness for good cigarettes and good wine, truly a good girl. Yes, as long as a girl doesn’t like designer bags, jewelry, fashion, luxury cars, and doesn’t feign weakness, she’s a good girl.

Ash quickly determined in half a second that there was nothing wrong with the wine. He drank it down in one gulp, then grinned, revealing a roguish smile: “You know me? Oh, I suppose you heard it from little George?”

He had already made up his mind. Although he had drunk someone else’s wine, if they asked for any help, he would definitely refuse.

“Well, I deeply sympathize with your plight and that of those common people. But there’s nothing more I can do now. Mr. Wang is a chivalrous man, but his suggestion is not reliable. Not only will you fail to seize any supplies, but you’ll also expose this excellent hiding place to the Sand People. Although the valley entrance is small, how many attacks from a million Sand People can such a small number of people withstand?”

“Then what do you think we should do?”

“Hey, isn’t it inappropriate to ask a foreigner like me in this situation? Warrant Officer, I’m just an ordinary mercenary…”

“You are not an ordinary mercenary, but a graduate of the Guerrilla Association GC827 training camp, who just didn’t formally join and chose to become a freelance explorer and mercenary, currently affiliated with Saint Core Security Company. You are a spiritual energy user who has activated the ‘Wander’ Star Ring, currently a Traveler in the first ring. You are proficient in swordsmanship and marksmanship, have mastered the Guerrilla Association’s ‘Nebula Guardian Sword Art’ types two and four, as well as the classical ‘Noda Gun-Fighting Art,’ and are also skilled in Spiritual Energy Swiftness and Cat-Style Fluidity, as well as at least three spiritual energy combat techniques.”

The mercenary’s smile froze. Is this “heard”? You’ve practically dug up my ancestors eight generations back.

“Are you… uh, those intelligence people? Country Statistics? National Unification Committee?” That doesn’t make sense, either, does it? I’m still just a small fry; even the Imperial Star Gazing Pavilion wouldn’t have reason to spend so much effort on me.

The so-called Country Statistics refers to the Commonwealth’s National Intelligence Survey and Statistics Bureau; the National Unification Committee refers to the Defense Committee’s Military Intelligence Integration Bureau. Both are important military intelligence departments of the Blue Star Commonwealth, and they also have some reputation internationally.

“Country Statistics and National Unification Committee, they’re all good-for-nothings! I’m their grandmaster.” Yu Lian curled his lips, then added, “In short, let’s get straight to the point, Mr. Stein, I want your employer to encounter a small problem, a minor one that won’t threaten his life. I hope you will just observe the situation.”