Chapter 168
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Union and Vertical Alliances, San Francisco (3)
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A fearful woman entered the room.
She was dressed in a naval uniform. What stood out was her rank insignia. The shape of the stars was unusual. Second Lieutenant. Her high rank for her age was a bit odd too. Even Tan Guosheng, the general's son, had only been a captain at that age.
Winter tilted his head. She had promised something impressive...
'Is this another test?'
There must have been a background check before summoning him. The general couldn't be unaware of Kurt Lee's inclinations. So the context of offering a woman was hard to grasp easily.
Moreover, the one-sided atmosphere flowing between the female general and the young second lieutenant. It felt more like the dynamic between a predator and prey. The second lieutenant's gaze was always downcast. She glanced up just once, then squeezed her eyes shut the moment their eyes met the general's. Her trembling shoulders were utterly pitiable.
"What do you think? Recognize her?"
The general's question was unexpected.
"Should I?"
"Hah."
Something in the calm response pleased her, making Major General Xie Ru's lips twitch. She stared at Winter silently. Unfathomable suspicion turned into light conviction.
"You really don't know. She's a bitch who won the Hundred Flowers Award for a mainstream film at twenty. One of China's top actresses. Sure, it's meaningless fame outside the mainland, but I thought you'd know as an overseas Chinese. At least her face would be familiar."
"I had a tough upbringing. After that, I was in the military."
"Good. Then forget the background and judge her as a woman. Most men I've seen lose their minds. Your reaction is muted."
"It's like a fish drowning in water."
"Comparing her to Xishi? Zheng Dan might be debatable, but."
It was a sneering laugh laced with alcohol.
In the Warring States period, two women offered to the same king: Xishi and Zheng Dan. The prime minister evaluated the former as a beauty who could topple a nation (傾國), the latter one who could topple a city (傾城). The capital-toppling beauty, humbled before a nation-toppling one, failed to win the king's favor. She eventually died alone of lovesickness.
That was all that surfaced with intelligence correction.
It was also the correction from the expert final domain of "Chinese." Language includes basic culture and history. That's why it demands so many resources to acquire. "Chinese," with its dialects and characters, even more so. Without Talent Advantage, Winter wouldn't have dared.
"Maybe you grew up in America and have different tastes?"
Winter denied the general's suspicion.
"No. I grew up around the same overseas Chinese. But I've already met the most beautiful woman in the world."
"I heard you can't see her again."
"Memories are enough."
"You're different from the ordinary lot, as expected."
Major General Xie Ru tapped the table. Tap, tap, tap. Even drunk, her gaze remained sharp as it swept over the prey. It felt like an inspection right before a deal. It reminded him of the past, so Winter suppressed his displeasure. The tyrant had looked at the boy with eyes like that too.
"You're wondering why I brought her out."
"Yes. You already knew I wouldn't take a woman."
"Think of her not as a woman, but as an ornament."
"...What do you mean?"
"A ruler must be an object of desire. Envy and jealousy must focus on one body."
"Why?"
"Because those emotions always flow upward. Have you ever seen someone envy their inferior?"
The general shifted her posture. She seemed immersed in her own story.
"A dazzlingly beautiful companion, a massive estate, lavish gardens, luxurious food, opulent leisure, and lavish spending. The moment they envy, hierarchy forms. They feel inferior. It's unconsciously recognizing superiority and inferiority. Then make them accept it consciously. Let them know there's a gap you can't overcome with your talent or effort. Grant resignation. Make the rabble aspire to be part of my life. Make me the whole. That's the path to becoming a ruler. At least in my experience."
"Did you choose your outer one that way too?"
It was a pointed retort out of courtesy, but the general didn't mind and countered.
"What do you think?"
If she had ever truly loved, even once, she wouldn't have such a thick mask. Winter's private thought. The lives of the upper class and rulers often seemed inherently distorted and deficient in humanity. They themselves didn't feel unhappy, and everyone thought they were happy, but that was another form of unhappiness.
Maybe the world they created, deepening and deepening, was that outer reality.
"Personally, I can't agree with the method. But I understand your intent. You mean to make me a ruler."
"Yes. A ruler is the home of many. Become the foundation for your comrades. Be the pillar and beam, watch your comrades rest easy below you. You'll find it satisfying."
"..."
"She's just a bitch shaped like a human signal. Worthless on her own. Some fools value her, but I don't need to deal with those."
Even seeming to offer goodwill without strings, her words so far were laced with barbs.
Major General Xie Ru tested Kurt Lee. Resolve to be in the field with comrades. Confirmed that resolve wasn't shaken by money, nor his pure feelings for his late wife by a capital-toppling beauty. So for this Kurt Lee, power would just be lubricant to enrich occasional rest. He wouldn't easily betray loyalty to the major general.
'More to gain than lose.'
Winter calculated the general's profits and losses in making Kurt Lee her number two.
The outwardly pure goodwill highlighted the female general's, indeed the Chinese art of living. Power isn't shared even with children.
There were other circumstances too.
The young second lieutenant's fear went beyond that of a woman being sold.
"What if I refuse?"
"Why? Don't like her?"
"It would feel like betraying my wife."
"It's just formality. What matters is the heart."
"I don't like treating people as objects either. I've had enough of that from superiors."
"Looks like I brought up bad memories. My apologies."
Winter watched Major General Xie Ru bow her head to his lie. Self-assessing that it left a good impression. The general sighed briefly. Muttered that even the US military had its share of scum.
"What happens if I refuse... Chewing on it, the nuance is subtle? Why ask?"
The naval major general's question. Winter answered.
"I felt like you despised that second lieutenant. Sorry if I presumed."
"No, no."
She waved it off, then asked again.
"Was it obvious?"
"Yes."
"Good eyes."
Nothing major. She confessed.
"You might not know, but she's a fake soldier."
The female general briefly explained the background of the People's Liberation Army Art Troupe, then frowned.
"When Morgellons started spreading, the mainland was pure hell. Ports overflowed with people. You'd be shocked if you saw. People kept drowning. Oddly, it reminded me of a beach."
Peak season, Chinese beaches have no visible water. Intuitive metaphor.
"Couldn't save everyone. Shamefully, even I was terrified."
Major General Xie Ru reminisced. Her mind blank, no thoughts.
"The order I barely gave was to prioritize my people, my subordinates. But the underlings were in chaos too. Anyone in uniform first, party card first... Reports later confirmed it."
Testimony from one who witnessed the apocalypse's start. Rare for the world's start to match apocalypse's start in time and space, so Winter listened closely.
"And she was in the mix."
Sneer laced her words.
"Wearing a uniform she never glanced at before, dragging family and friends, stealing spots from real soldiers. Heard she barked ranks? 'Do you know who backs me?' While soldiers fought the disaster..."
Winter observed the second lieutenant butchered by the general's gaze. Indeed, now he understood her haggardness. A year loathed by one holding life and death. Even simple ostracism makes one think of death. Let alone an outsider out of the general's favor. Alive, but not feeling it.
'And the people she brought just waited innocently.'
Winter didn't think them bad. Weakness isn't sin. It shouldn't be. If powerlessness over one's fate is fault, then Winter was guilty too. Against inevitable violence beyond human limits and effort, people must be lenient. For themselves. And for the boy.
"No room on my fleet for useless mouths."
Major General Xie Ru crossed her arms.
"Everyone pulls their weight. No exception for that wretch. If you don't take her..."
"Wouldn't she boost morale?"
"She just causes trouble."
Even dared eye my son. Her quiet inner monologue was fierce.
No wonder; with such a beauty under her, Tan Guosheng would covet too.
'And men whose brains are below their belts.'
Their ratio probably matched the rate of personality disorders among normals. Winter's personal experience.
"Thought of passing to another general, Your Excellency. But no fool would shift stance for one woman, and even if, how trust? Such a man, worse than King Fuchai drowned in Xishi's skirts, ears open to her gossiping my badmouth. So if giving, to one without strife, or people."
The last was meaningful. Expression of trust in Kurt Lee.
"Better to accept."
"Changed your mind?"
"You can think of me as your man, General. But until fully settled, I want to stay with my comrades. Some get anxious without me..."
Time would erase special makeup or voice changers; needed regular visits to Orca Black HQ, Pequod.
'No worry later.'
When time came, Kurt Lee would vanish like a ghost. Or go missing in action.
Dissatisfied with Winter's answer, the general fiddled with the bottle.
"Fine. Means you won't take jobs but mine from now?"
"No need to call it jobs. Pay already exceeds. Just call when needed."
"Hm. Alright."
The major general pondered, nodded. Ordered the young second lieutenant out to wait for her new master, then cut off the liquor temptation.
"Insolent, but your bold spirit appeals. Understood. No other choices for me."
"Is that so?"
Her guard's losses that bad? Winter puzzled, but next words cleared it.
"Soon, meeting of generals and high party officials."
Another reason she wanted Winter so badly.
"Pathetic pups fighting gang-style, but those bastards know time's short. Time to pick sides..."
Clear meaning. CIA briefings predicted it. After clear liberation op succeeds, US reclaims all territory, Chinese forces surrounded by sea and land must surrender. To act, before US retakes San Francisco.
"Stage for union and vertical alliances. Must go, but extremely dangerous. Especially dogmatists and fanatic patriots. They overflow with action. Need way out if goes south. Max combat power from limited entourage. Proven judgment in crisis too."
Of course thorough venue checks, but on life, not even 1% chance ignored. Kurt Lee's judgment and improvisation on Alcatraz Island swayed her. Worth not 1%, but 10%. Winter nodded.
"So me."
"Light test first. Fine?"
"Of course."
"Confidence looks good."
The general was finally satisfied.
This was how Second Lieutenant Zhu Wei ended up coming to the Pequod.
============================ Author's Note ============================
#Full-time Writer
Sometimes people ask me for advice on becoming full-time writers.
Sigh. What do I know to advise?
But one thing: just sleep a lot.
Sleep is key. Especially when mentally tough.
#Q&A
Q. Jinkado-nim: @Debating Noblesse buy, ended up buying... You know why?
A. To see Wind and Star Clusters, of course. I offer coupons each time too. Have a beer, white bean-nim. Beer.
Q. svjk-nim: @Great read! But in current full hide, what does Winter do publicly? With prez candidate mentioning him, public focus high—need to say what he's doing.
A. Will mention briefly.
Q. BlitZkrieG-nim: @Sad enjoying long holiday too much... Want to end non-fun holiday ㅠ
A. I'd love being locked with only army dumplings, just breathing.
Q. stoury-nim: Finally caught up. So fun, read only this 3 days @But in ch160 early, "theta ghoul"? Greek zeta/sdetta know, but theta unfamiliar... Just noting...
A. My theta is theta. Greek pronunciation deta/teta, but usually "se-ta" so wrote se-ta.
(Added 11:28) Greek letters made note vanish. Fixed late. Site living on text can't handle special chars... Joara viewer... This ok?
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