Twenty Seven Years

  Chapter 122 Learning and Rehabilitation

"I asked him, didn't he want to die?" Rose didn't realize that Verac didn't want to talk to him for the time being, and kept asking, "Then you and Keating are not able to move now, who will take care of you?" ?”

   "Prison Officer."

   "Prison guard? It's barely understandable for the prison guard to take care of Keating, but if you are in the same position as Keating, why did Lecter treat you like that before? Shouldn't he just confess your food and drink?"

   "My status has just been raised." Verak explained with Ross's rhetoric, "Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't be able to see me today."

   While speaking, Keating was carried back by the prison guard after washing up.

   "How did you improve? Did something happen outside again? Tell me, Chris." Ross didn't notice the prison guard who entered next door, and was still yelling.

  The prison guard put Keating on the bed, locked the door and yelled at Ross, who was in the next cell: "Be quiet! Don't ask if cell 208 is available!"

  Ross is silent.

Verak smiled helplessly, looked at Keating, and had an idea: "I think it is very inconvenient for you to be carried all the time. On the one hand, you need manpower, and on the other hand, you are not comfortable. If you can have a wheelchair It will save a lot of trouble."

  Kiting wiped his hair with a towel hanging on the side: "If you can only stay in this cell, and you can't even leave the basement floor, then the wheelchair is not very meaningful, but it will take up some space."

   "When the plan is implemented, I will help you apply for a wheelchair." Verak promised.

   "Take care of yours first." Keating said with a smile.

Verak put his hands behind his head: "Mr. Keating, after thinking about it, I still don't know how long I will stay here, and I don't know when my injury will recover. I can't just wait, I need as much as possible." Learn something."

   Keating guessed that Verak wanted him to be a teacher, but he didn't say it at the first time.

"My cognition is too shallow. I didn't measure the world with my footsteps like the author of Crusoe, nor did I spread out my thoughts to discover subversive things like the author of the Origin of Species." Verac turned his head and faced Keating with a pious expression on his face. , "You are very knowledgeable, I want to learn from you."

   "Study what?" Keating asked calmly.

   "I want to learn the Dunman language, your views, the logical thinking behind them, and your knowledge." In Veraker's view, apart from knowing the secrets of gold, Keating himself is also a huge wealth. The wisdom accumulated over the years, being in a high position and seeing the ups and downs, etc., are all things he can absorb.

   Keating's smile became more intense: "I can teach you all these, so what good rewards can I get?"

   "I promise you, freedom." Verac thought he had no advantage at all, so all he could give Keating was the freedom to fight for together in the future.

"Okay." Keating promised happily, "Actually, you have given me a lot. Maybe it's because of your youth, or maybe it's because of your faith. Your tenacity is stronger than mine. It gave me a peaceful life and made me feel younger."

   "Then let's learn from each other." Verak grinned.

  —

  September 25th

  Villac began to follow Keating to learn a lot of content, mastering the Dunman language, recognizing the world pattern, understanding the differences between the Bresci Empire and the United States of Dunman, etc. After two days of study, he has gradually felt that his world has been opened up.

When he saw "Equality" two months ago, Verac also felt that the world was opened up, and he still feels this way now, but Keating and him emphasized that if he can always keep an open mind, the world will expand infinitely. Open, he will understand more and more.

   "So in your opinion, there are only five major powers today, and the world will maintain this pattern for a long time in the future?" Verak asked.

"Yes, only the three countries of Wellland, Bash, and Brexi are strong enough now, but soon, the Pluman Empire and the United States of Dunman will also enter the ranks of powerful countries." Keating talked about his own view.

"You said that the Pruman Empire is hiding its power and biding its time, and the United States of Dunman is falling into civil war. The United States of Dunman understands better. After the civil war is over, it will develop rapidly because of its geographical advantages and resource advantages. What about the Pruman Empire? From keeping a low profile to officially becoming A powerful country must need a chance." Verak asked.

Keating shook his head: "I don't know. A new era has begun, and the international situation is changing rapidly. The situation before I was imprisoned must be very different from the current situation. If we analyze the situation at the beginning, the final conclusion is bound to stand. Don't hold your heels."

   "That's right..." It's a pity that Verak didn't pay too much attention to these things. Although he has always maintained a good habit of reading newspapers, he is not very sensitive to the international situation and news from other countries.

   "It's almost lunch time, so let's stop here." Keating took a sip of water and moistened his throat, "Continue to teach you Dunman in the afternoon."

   "Okay, thank you." After thanking Veraker, he sat and lay against the wall, feeling the state of his body. After resting for two days, his body has recovered, but it is still some time before he can walk on the ground. Now that time is running out, he tried his best to stabilize his mood and not be in a hurry, and he was still a little dissatisfied with his recovery speed, "Today is the opening day of the World Expo."

  Keating put the cup away: "In 1429, I went to Wellland to see the first World's Fair. It was really grand."

"I was going to take a look at it, but I didn't expect to be arrested so early." Verac was very curious about how grand and exciting the World Expo, which the government attaches great importance to, would be. Look at it, it’s beautiful and artistic.”

   "Mona Hall?"

"It's the hall where Brecy held the World's Fair." Verac organized the language, describing the spectacular scene he saw, "The entire hall occupies a large area, and many large and small semicircular exhibition halls have been built. The top of the arc is made of glass, from a distance, it reflects the light very brightly..."

After listening to Veraker's description for a while, Keating talked about what he didn't take the initiative to mention: "Starting today, in the next few months, the second and most critical node you mentioned will appear at any time, right? ?”

"Um…"

"what do you think?"

"I didn't think much about it. I just hoped that they would succeed. In that case, not only would they have the right to change Blessie, but we would all be saved too, and we would no longer have to live in this dark corner." Verak said, "But You can't just look at the good side of things when you think about it, and I have to admit that they are likely to fail."

Keating continued: "If they fail, your life will be in danger. But when we know that they have failed, it will be too late for us to think about escaping from prison, so everything we do must be done before the results are conclusive. It's time to do it."

  Verak let out a "hmm" and nodded slowly: "That is to say, no matter what, we have to escape before they succeed or fail."

   "How does your body feel?"

   "He's recovering well, but it's still far from enough." Talking about his body, Verak's complexion became more serious. His body is the foundation of the plan. As the core of the escape plan, he needs to get in touch with all aspects to solve it. He must stand up as soon as possible.

   "Or prepare a wheelchair." Keating joked.

Verak knew it was a joke, but he still explained why he didn't use a wheelchair: "Next, we need to understand the terrain to draw escape routes, and contact prisoners to cooperate. If I am also in a wheelchair, the two of us will still have to be arrested by prison guards." If you don’t take care of me, it’s hard to let go of your hands and feet to do these things. It can only work when I’m well enough to justifiably push you without the prison guards interfering with our daily life.”

"Again, there is no rush for physical matters. Your injury is too serious. If you try to do something forcefully, it may backfire." Keating urged again, "And now you can't do anything, There is no way to start the plan immediately, but I am also learning a lot of useful things."

   "Understood, teacher." Verac has changed the name of Keating.

  Since Keating became Veraker's teacher, the relationship between the two has become more tightly entangled. Sometimes they are teachers and students, and sometimes their relationship looks more like father and son.

  However, after much deliberation, Verak still didn't tell his biggest secret, that is, he was not Chris, but a puppet. He already trusted Keating enough, but the fact that he replaced Chris was very important to the Equality Society. In order not to cause any accidents in the future, he decided to keep it a secret, and wait until the day when there was a successful escape before telling Keating.

   After all, if you really want to talk about it, Keating hasn't told him the whereabouts of the gold. Both of them have their own secrets.

  —

  September 30

  Five days have passed since the opening of the World Expo, Lecter has not come to see Verak, and Verak's life has always maintained the previous state. He knew that this showed that the situation in Laizein was still stable.

  Stability represents two possibilities.

  First, the Equality Association really believed the government's rhetoric and gave up the armed struggle. Then the only thing waiting for the Equality Association was failure, and only a few months were left for Verak.

  The second is to judge the situation on an equal footing, trust the government on the surface, and give up the opening ceremony, which is the day with the highest attention, to make the government think that the situation has eased, and then take the opportunity to make a big fuss at the World Expo.

  In the case of the former, Verac can only hope that he escapes successfully, and find a way to contact Boyne and others to reverse the situation as much as possible. In the latter case, Verak's escape would have survived whether he failed or not.

  After breakfast that day, Keating was planning to continue lecturing to Veraker, teaching the young man what he knew, when he saw Veraker leaning on the wall with his hands and trying to stand up.

   Keating didn't dissuade Verak from sitting down. Seeing the determination in his eyes, he could only say "slow down" subconsciously.

  During the week of recuperation, Verak did some rehabilitation training, but he hasn't stood up rashly yet.

   It's not that Verak has been planning to stand up for a long time, but he feels that he is in good physical condition after eating today, so he wants to give it a try. Even if it doesn't work, you can somewhat understand how far you are from actually going underground.

   "Hmm..." Verak groaned. When he tried to stand up, his aching and weak legs bent and trembled.

   Keating inexplicably felt that his breathing became thicker.

   "Huh...huh..." Verak's legs were bent like a squat, his whole back was pressed against the wall, and his hands clasped everything around him. After only half a minute of this stalemate, beads of sweat filled his forehead.

   "Can it still work?" Keating didn't think it was necessary to stand up so forcefully.

   "It's... not bad..." Verak gritted his teeth, he didn't know whether he was enduring the pain, or he was holding back his strength, "I've been lying down for a week... Even if I can't get up... I still have to move my muscles..."

  Keating recalled what Veraker said: "The doctor said that you will need at least half a month to go to the ground?"

   "...um." Veraker tensed his whole body and tried to stand upright, "or...a month..."

  Watching the arc of Veraker's legs slowly change, Keating couldn't help sighing: "You like to break other people's perceptions."

   "Heh..." Verak laughed miserably, straightened his legs abruptly, then slowed down for a few minutes, and slowly moved against the wall.

   "Okay, that's enough, lie down." Keating finally couldn't help persuading, "It will exceed your load anyway, and it will do more damage to your body."

   "Hmm..." Verak squatted down slowly against the wall, and lay on the bed with his hands spread out, "Huh... It feels so good to stand up..."

   As soon as he finished speaking, Verak realized that he had said something wrong.

   "I'm sorry, teacher, I..."

"It's okay." Keating didn't care about Verak's unintentional words, "On the contrary, seeing you don't admit defeat, and you have to stand up with all your might, is very encouraging to me. Although I didn't stand up by myself, I can empathize with you. your joy."

  Villac sat up and wiped his sweat: "If you can go out, your leg may be cured."

   "The development of medicine is also advancing by leaps and bounds, maybe it can be done." Keating is equally optimistic.

   "It will definitely." Verac said.

  Keating changed the subject: "Looking at you, you will be able to go to the fields in two or three days."

"I know the time you mentioned is very optimistic, but I still can't wait for two or three days. Tomorrow at the latest, I have to stand up and meet Lecter, and persuade him to let us go for a walk." Verak gently Massaging both legs, "By the way, I will help you get a wheelchair."

   "Okay." Keating told Veraker not to worry no less than ten times. It can be seen that Veraker is very modest in other matters, but he is stubborn about this matter, so he did not continue to insist on his point of view and let it go.

   "I'll try again after a while, I feel that there is hope to walk without leaning on the wall today." Verak calmed down his shortness of breath, "Now continue to listen to your lecture."

   Keating was helpless when he felt that Virac's stock was stronger. He smiled: "Today, I will tell you the main reason why the Ravel dynasty was overthrown by the government of the Republic of Brescia in my opinion."

  (end of this chapter)