Shadow Empire

Chapter 696 Sacrificed

The first mate watched the captain's expression gradually become serious. He understood what the captain was saying from his words.

Life on the ship is very boring, and these people will chat when they are free and bored.

The lower the social class, the more they like to discuss high-level things, domestic politics, foreign politics. Why?
Why do people in the upper class spend all day talking about eating, drinking and having fun instead of discussing political current affairs that many people like to discuss?

Because they are exposed to these things from morning to night, the so-called national policies and world trends are no secrets to them.

On the contrary, it is because the lower classes of society lack access to this information and are trapped in a class far away from these things that they become curious about them, and so they discuss them.

It's like... the crew doesn't discuss how to clean the deck to make it shine, they only discuss where Dentra's mechanics have hit, how many people they have killed, and where they might go next.

In these heated discussions, they inevitably discussed how the Federation would intervene in this battle.

Now, it seems to have arrived.

And it hit me head-on!

The first mate pursed his lips, leaned against the wall in the cabin and sat next to the captain. He took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one for himself. "Sometimes knowing too much is really annoying."

The captain's originally nervous expression turned into a bit of astonishment, and then a hint of smile appeared on his face. "It seems that this news is still within your tolerance. At least you are still in the mood to laugh."

The first mate smiled bitterly and patted his forehead, "What else can we do?"

"Cry?"

He paused and asked, "What should we do? Is it too late to return now?"

The captain shook his head. "I wish I were a conspiracy theorist, a serious conspiracy theorist, so that the probability of us getting hurt would be even lower."

"But the wisdom I have gained from living for decades tells me that when the bait is put on the hook and thrown out, it will either be eaten or sink to the bottom of the water."

“Anglers don’t take their bait off and put it back in the bait box.”

"If we turn back, we're dead."

The first mate had a look of despair on his face, "Are we going nowhere?"

"Why don't we abandon ship!" His eyes lit up, as if he had thought of a good idea.

The captain asked, "How are you going to solve the problem of our direction in the sea, how are you going to solve the problem of our food, how are you going to solve the problem of fresh water and seeking help?"

"We won't be able to make it to shore, we will die of dehydration, it's unrealistic."

"The only hope now is that Dantra's warships won't open fire immediately when they see us!"

Soon some of the Hope's crew were asked to bring out their bedsheets, which were then pieced together into a larger white curtain, sewn together with ropes.

This freighter can fly a flag, which is above the main control room. Although the sailor responsible for the daily maintenance of the flag didn't quite understand why he suddenly had to be ready to raise a white flag at any time, he still did it.

This also made the atmosphere on the ship become a little low and depressing.

Some people had a good relationship with the first mate, and taking advantage of their good relationship, they went to secretly ask him what had happened.

Someone also found the captain and wanted to know what happened.

They didn't say anything at first, but in a repressive environment, some things cannot be hidden.

Soon sailors opened more containers and saw more stones inside, and a terrible rumor began to spread on the ship.

In just three or four hours, the captain's room was packed with sailors.

They were eager to know what had happened and whether it was what they imagined!
Seeing that he could no longer hide the truth, the captain could only tell his guess. After being extremely quiet for a while, the sailors in front of him completely exploded.

They cursed the shamelessness of the capitalists, cursed the meanness of the politicians, and prayed for God's forgiveness and attention.

Some people lost control of their emotions and tried to hurt others, but they finally calmed down after the captain pulled the trigger of his weapon.

The captain walked outside the captain's room and stood in sight of the people. "Now the only thing we can do is to immediately raise the white flag when that moment appears."

"If we're lucky, we might be captured, and then we'll be able to survive."

"If you're unlucky..."

He shook his head. "Everyone, go back and write your suicide notes and give them to me. My cabinet is sealed."

"I will write, too. I will record everything and write it down. One day, they will see the light of day."

"When that time comes, we will let people know how despicable, shameful and evil the federal government is!"

The captain's voice was full of tragedy and helplessness, and the sailors returned to their rooms silently.

No one asked them to wipe the deck at noon today, no one asked them to check the ropes, everyone sat in their own room, holding a pen, not knowing what to write.

The whole afternoon was quiet, and people realized that doing nothing at noon would not affect the navigation.

As evening approached, the captain breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they would be less likely to be attacked at night.

"Maybe the situation is not as bad as I thought. It's just a problem of corruption within the group company." He glanced at the container outside again. He actually knew that this was impossible.

It is possible that one box of goods was swapped, two boxes, or even three or five boxes.

But they were all switched, that's absolutely impossible!
The first and second mates were in no mood to talk. People kept delivering suicide notes to the captain, who put them all in his own sealed and waterproof cabinet.

One day, at some point, it will be cracked open, and what happened today will become one of the biggest scandals in the history of the federal government!

He firmly believes this.

As the sun was about to disappear over the horizon, some smiles appeared on the sailors' faces. The captain walked out of the captain's room. He held the handrail on the side of the ship at the door and looked at the "children" on the deck with a smile on his face.

"I prepared some wine," he said loudly. The sailors on the deck were attracted by his words. They turned their heads to look at the captain with some surprise on their faces.

"I was going to share this with you bastards when I retired."

"But I think it makes more sense for us to drink it now!"

"Long live the captain!" Some sailors took off their hats and waved them, shouting similar words, and the captain couldn't help laughing out loud.

He likes everything here, and if he weren't about to retire, he would still like to be on this ship and stay with these guys.

Soon the first mate and the second mate came out of the warehouse with several sailors, carrying several barrels of wine. All the lids were opened, and the sailors took their own cups and scooped a glass from the barrels.

They looked at the captain, and someone shouted, "Say something!"

"Just like those gentlemen at the banquet!"

The other sailors also started to make a fuss. The captain also had a wine glass in his hand. He held the glass and thought about it. Just as he opened his mouth, he suddenly heard the sound of thunder in his ears.

There was a loud rumbling sound of thunder, which interrupted his thought process. He looked up in confusion.

Although there are clouds in the sky, there are no dark clouds to be seen. How could there be thunder?

And even if there are rain clouds and thunder, what about lightning?

No lightning?
Just when he was wondering why there was thunder in a sunny day, that whistling sound suddenly appeared in his ears.

Something tore through the air with a shrill sound, coming closer and closer with a huge pressure.

The pressure is on everyone's mind, making it hard for people to breathe.

Seven or eight seconds later, a huge wave suddenly rose in the sea on one side of the freighter, and then, perhaps within a second, more splashes of water rose.

Everyone was stunned by this scene!

The captain shouted directly and loudly, "Go raise the white flag, go raise the white flag!"

The four sailors were stunned for a moment, and then ran towards the tower like crazy. The captain asked everyone to protect themselves as much as possible and not to expose themselves outside.

There was another loud thunder in his ears, followed by a shriek. The captain raised his head and looked in the direction of the shriek. In the sky, some small black dots flew towards him at a speed he could not understand.

Some fell around the freighter, and some fell directly on the deck.

There was a loud bang and everyone felt a noticeable shake. A sailor who was raising the white flag lost his balance and fell from the tower.

Following his “Ah~~~” and “Pa!”, everyone fell silent.

People have died, but the shelling continues. The freighter is obviously large enough, but at this moment, it is like a leaf in turbulence, in danger of capsizing at any time.

The freighter was hit and seawater was pouring into the hull through the gap. The captain was instructing the sailors to save themselves while asking the radio operator to send a written telegram requesting surrender as soon as possible.

They surrendered, unconditionally!
At the same time, farther away, three warships were sailing quietly.

One of the radio monitors looked at an officer behind him and said, "I have intercepted the plain text radio from the Hope. They are demanding surrender."

The officer frowned. The sinking of the Hope was the result of a discussion among the entire federal upper class. Only when it was completely sunk could it trigger the wrath of the federal government!
The loss of tens of millions worth of cargo in the Eastern Ocean and the deaths of hundreds of Federation sailors were enough to shock the entire society.

At that time, it would have been reasonable and in line with "public opinion" for the federal government to declare war on the Dantra Republic.

They deliberately revealed the Hope's route and the supplies on board to the Dantra Republic through some known spies, with the aim of accurately targeting the freighter.

If they were unlucky or too stupid to find the Hope, then the three warships following the Hope would directly destroy the Hope and put the blame on the Dentra Republic.

The Hope must sink, and the crew on board must die, whether it is at the hands of the Dantra Navy or the Federation Navy, but they must die!
Now they don't want to die, which is not allowed.

The officer asked the radio operator to continue monitoring the radio, and then quickly left the room to report the incident to the captain.

The captain of this operation was a commodore. He immediately gave the order, "Fire the sea area where the Dantra Navy is located."

“Don’t ask to hit them, but add some pressure to them.”

The officer carried out the order meticulously, and soon the three warships began firing.

Sometimes battles at sea take place beyond visual range.

Because the planet is round, it cannot be seen beyond a certain distance, but can be hit by artillery shells.

The rumbling of the naval guns began to show their power. To be honest, their artillery deviated far from the Dantra warships, but they achieved their goal.

The Dantra Navy, which was still wondering whether this was a conspiracy, no longer had time to consider who the bombardment came from.

Their goal was to sink this important supply ship and then leave.

Dantra's naval commander directly gave the order to continue the bombardment. After two more bombardments, the lookout observed that the freighter began to sink.

Upon receiving the news, the Dantra Navy warships immediately began to return. They were not sure how many warships were guarding the freighter, nor did they know where these warships were, but in short, their mission was accomplished.

More than an hour later, it was almost dark, and the Federal Navy's warships arrived at the "crash" area. The huge searchlights illuminated almost the entire sea surface.

This is where the cargo ship sank, but because some containers are well sealed and there is enough air inside, they float on the sea.

At this time, the trembling first mate saw the searchlight shining over. He couldn't help but stabilize his body and shouted loudly, "Save me, I'm here!"

"Hey, did you see me?"

"I'm waving, I'm here!"

As he shouted, a searchlight shone directly at him.

The strong light made it impossible for him to open his eyes. Although he had no idea whose ship it was, his heart was filled with joy at this moment. He was saved!

He waved his arms even harder, but what greeted him was the thumping sound of machine gun firing.

A bullet as thick as the child's arm shot towards where he was, tearing the container that was holding him half-floating in an instant, and also tearing his body apart.

His upper body was spinning in the air and falling. He looked at his lower body sinking in the water, his head buzzing.

It was a naked massacre, and some of the surviving sailors were shot because they exposed their position.

Some sailors hid behind or under floating containers, taking advantage of blind spots in an attempt to survive.

In fact, they cannot survive on the water for too long. Those containers may sink slowly in two or three days, and they have no way to leave.

But if you can live a few more days, who can give up?

The sound of machine gun fire outside stopped, and the survivors thought they had survived and breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, the warships began to shoot at all floating objects to ensure that nothing could float on the water!
Ten minutes later, the three warships sailed away, leaving behind endless despair.

At 7:30 in the morning, Lance woke up from his sleep. He sat for a while, holding his forehead, then took a shower, changed his clothes, and came to the dining carriage.

The chefs cook food in another glass room. Because of the glass, the smell of oil smoke will not drift in.

"It will only take five minutes. Please wait a moment." The attendant placed the morning newspaper next to Lance. "Would you like some milk, coffee, or tea?"

Lance thought for a moment and said, "Milk, but no sugar."

He then picked up the newspaper at hand and started reading.

The train passed through a city at six o'clock, and someone had prepared that day's newspapers in advance and placed them in the station.

When the train arrived to load water and coal, the newspapers were taken on board.

All the itineraries are arranged.

People in the Federation always say that the Federal trains are either one or two minutes late, but for the "special trains" for the rich, the error is within five minutes!

The distance from Jingang City to Xinjin City is one thousand kilometers, and he needs to pay twelve thousand yuan to the railway company.

But I have to say, it's worth it.

His car was also in the back compartment, along with the people he brought with him.

There is no "Jingang Today" here. "Jingang Today" is a local newspaper in Jingang City and only has some influence in Likalai State.

Outside of Likalai State, almost no one has heard of it, let alone subscribed to it.

He was holding the Federal Post, a heavyweight newspaper.

He frowned when he opened the newspaper and saw the headline on the front page.

"The Dentra Republic Navy attacked a federal freighter, causing thousands of people missing or dead and tens of millions in losses! !"

They used bold black fonts, and the exclamation mark was bright red, as conspicuous as blood!
The report roughly reported the cause, process, and what they know now.

The report was written by an editor-in-chief whose writing style is sharp and highly provocative.

This long description made Lansdu feel the urge to "make the Dantra people pay the price if they cannot give reasonable acceptance and compensation."

After reading this report, he flipped through other newspapers and saw the same headlines on the front pages. They were revealing news to the public from all aspects.

War is really coming this time!
Everyone knows that there is no way the Dantela Republic will apologize, let alone compensate, so the federal government will definitely declare war on the Dantela Republic.

Things that should have made people feel dull, but under the inflammatory descriptions of these reports, make people feel full of power and passion!

Nearly 100 million people in the entire federation were forced onto this chariot by a small group of people.

Maybe people haven’t realized that this is not an easy or romantic thing.

Or, they rush forward and crush everyone in their path.

Or, you might be knocked down by someone else's carriage.

There is no third possibility!
(End of this chapter)