Twenty Seven Years

   "Where are they?"

  Selter informed Orston of the complete process of Capa voluntarily surrendering himself this afternoon and threatening him to do things.

   Alston shook his head: "They are lying to you."

"Lied to me?"

"Our undercover just sent back news that Keating, the chairman of the International Equality League, rejected the assistance of Bash and Pruman. This is not surprising. Bash and Pruman have committed too many atrocities against the people. If the alliance cooperates with them, it is tantamount to breaking its own foundation and going against its own purpose." Alston is actually not too surprised by this result.

   "It turns out that..."

  Selter sneered from the bottom of his heart, but also rejoicing.

  If he really believed Capa's words and turned to the International Equality League, he would die without a burial in all likelihood.

   Now, through the pressure of the International Equality Alliance, to show loyalty to Auston half-confessed in secret, and to kill a Holt Ward in exchange for eternal stability, this is the most cost-effective deal.

"How did you plan?" Oston also knew in his heart that the fraud would not be as simple as Celt said, but Celt's follow-up performance was not bad, and he pushed out the scapegoat, so it was difficult to collect As far as the evidence is concerned, this matter can only be turned over at present, and we must first concentrate on destroying the International Equality League.

   "I'll ask for your opinion first," Celt said.

"Let's pretend to agree first, and after gaining the trust of their action team, we will catch all of them." Feitier's defense line didn't need to worry, and Auston only let Celt focus on the action team. .

"clear."

  —

  December 19th

prison

  Selter called Verac and Capa to the reception room. As soon as the two arrived, he was furious: "Are you trying to force me to a dead end?!"

   "What's wrong?" Verak responded calmly.

"What's wrong?! Are you ashamed to ask me what's wrong?!" Selt closed the door himself, looking afraid of being heard by others, "Didn't I say it? I need time to think! The situation is not clear now, the more you If you force me like this, the more impossible it is for me to cooperate!"

"Forcing you? You should know that since Capa came in, we have not had any contact with the outside world. It is impossible to do something because our conversation is not going well." Verak sat down unhurriedly, " I hope you calm down first and talk about the specific situation, so that we can find a solution."

"Oh." Selter sneered, "Don't be hypocritical, don't you just want to pretend to be innocent, saying that the anonymous letter against me that President Auston received today has nothing to do with your International Equality League? Do you think I Will you believe me? You just finished blackmailing me yesterday, and President Auston just received an anonymous letter today, suspecting that I was falsifying in the process of purging you? How can such a coincidence happen!"

   Veraker and Capa looked at each other.

Capa shook his head. He did discuss with Verak yesterday whether he should force Celt, but this plan was quickly rejected due to its low feasibility, and they have not been in contact with outside comrades. Impossible is what they did.

   "Have you found out who submitted the anonymous letter?" Verak asked.

   "Anonymous letter! Anonymous letter!" Selt emphasized.

   "With your ability, even if you are anonymous, it shouldn't take long to find this person, right?"

   "Looking? Looking for someone at this juncture, if President Auston hears about it, wouldn't it confirm my suspicion?!" Selt stood in front of the window, looking very angry.

Capa also said: "It is impossible for us to do this. We clearly know that forcing you will not have any good results, and we have not contacted the outside since we came in. Even if we have this idea, the outside If you don’t know the negotiation situation, how can you implement it?”

"Is this difficult for you?" Celt kept questioning, "The negotiation is going well, and I allow you to contact the outside world. If the negotiation is not going well, you can't contact the outside world. They can easily judge the progress by this , so take action!"

   "Have you talked to anyone else about this?" Veraker was sure that the comrades outside would not act rashly, so he gave up his weak defense and simply started from Celt to help him find the author of the anonymous letter.

   "What do you mean? Do you suspect that my people leaked the secret?!" Celt became more emotional.

  Verak said: "This possibility is not ruled out. I still hope you calm down. The most important thing for us now is to find this person. Only by finding him can we ensure that your subsequent secrets will not be leaked."

   "You handed in an anonymous letter, and you still want to create a gap between me and my people. Is this the trick of the International Equality League? Then let me tell you, I refuse—"

   "Boom boom boom!"

   Just when Celt wanted to completely cut off the possibility of falling to the International Equality Alliance, there was a hasty knock on the door.

"Enter!"

   "General!" A soldier glanced at Veraker and Capa in a panic, then quickly walked to Celt's side and whispered something to him.

  Selter's expression quickly became astonished, and he confirmed with the soldier in disbelief: "He really..."

   "Yes." The soldier nodded.

   "...You go out first." Celt walked slowly to the sofa and sat down.

  After the soldiers left, Verac felt that Celt had received an extremely important message, and tried to ask: "What's wrong?"

   "...It's Howard..." It took half a minute for Celt to calm down and open his mouth.

   "Holt Ward?" Verac saw this person walking with Celt in the prison, and he should be Celt's confidant. "Is it the anonymous letter written by him?"

   "Didn't you not investigate?" Capa realized that Celt was defrauding them just now.

   "Heh..." Selt laughed at himself wearily, "It's about my future, how could I not check it...but I didn't expect it to be him..."

   "What about others?"

   "On duty outside, I didn't know I found him." Celt said.

  Find out the author and rule out the suspicion of the International Equality League.

Verac immediately took advantage of Holt Ward's betrayal to push Celt to them: "Have you told him about our negotiation? He betrayed you at this time, I am afraid he wants to take your credit for it. Well, there is one Holt Ward, can you guarantee that there will not be a second?"

   "If I confess now to President Auston—"

"No. If Holt Ward hadn't reported you and Laizein hadn't rioted, Auston wouldn't have made it hard for you even if he knew the truth. But now, because of your selfishness, Laizein has been turned upside down. You confessed just after Holt Ward reported you, and your sincerity was greatly compromised. Auston would only think that you were forced to confess your mistakes. Think about it, what will you face then?" Verak gave Capa gave him a wink, and the two of them drew Celt together again.

  In their view, the subordinates betrayed and the scandal was about to be exposed. In this case, Celt was the easiest to shake.

  As long as a stable and promising new path can be opened for him, he has no reason to delay or refuse.

"I…"

"Now, it is your best choice to take refuge in the International Equality League, put Auston under house arrest, transfer the government troops away from the Feitier line of defense in the name of Auston, and cooperate with the International Equality League to launch a counterattack." Verak stretched out his hand , "I can assure you as the vice-chairman of the International Equality Alliance, the International Equality Alliance will definitely win the final victory."

"Can your people guarantee my safety?" Auston confirmed, "Once the news leaks out, government forces from all directions will advance to Laizein. If there is no support from the Equality Army, I will rely on these people under my command to support me." In a few days."

   "It can be guaranteed." Verac said.

   "But this matter is too big. I can make such a choice alone, but it doesn't mean that everyone in the garrison can."

  Selter can say such a thing, which means that he basically agrees to join the International Equality League, and the rest are trivial matters.

  Verak was determined: "Our comrades will help you stabilize the situation. In the early stage, you can concentrate your direct troops to secretly control the government building and put Auston under house arrest."

   "This matter needs to be planned very carefully and quickly. I can't guarantee when Holt Ward will hand over all the evidence to President Auston." Selt looked anxious.

"Okay, but let's send all the arrested comrades to the hospital for proper treatment. Compared with us, their situation is even worse." Murphy and Cyril, who were dying last night, miraculously survived, and Serge After making a breakthrough here, Veraker's first thought was to try to keep his comrades alive.

   "I'll arrange it now." Celt immediately got up, and in front of Verak and Capa, called the jailer to implement Verak's request.

   "It won't be a problem to send them to the hospital now, right? Will it irritate Howard?" Capa still remembered Celt's reason for refusing to send his comrades to the hospital yesterday.

   "If you do things carefully, you should be able to let him and President Auston know a day or two later." Selter replied.

   "Then I'll leave it to you." Capa was so excited that he simply stood up and told Celt.

   Celt's defection, a series of chain reactions, will help the International Equality League to reverse the situation to the greatest extent.

  Even if you can't take advantage of this opportunity to defeat the government army head-on, it is enough to buy a considerable period of time for rest.

  After this matter is successfully completed, he can go to Leliste City to reunite with his family.

"Let's do this." Things seemed to be going too smoothly, and Verak couldn't help but recall the tragedy of the Dunman substation. He decided to be more cautious in each link, "Replacing the arrested comrades with other prisoners, resulting in the arrest The comrades who are still under the false impression that they are still in prison, and then change their names and send them to reliable hospitals for treatment."

   "That's fine, so do people on your side need to go there?" Celt readily accepted.

"I will arrange it. With familiar comrades around, they should feel more at ease and help to recover faster." In fact, Verak wanted to find a suitable opportunity for the comrades of the action team to transport the wounded quietly. away from Leizein.

   It wasn't that he suspected Celt.

   On the contrary, there are no omissions in Celt's current performance, and he really can't find any faults.

  So cautious, I want to find an opportunity to let the comrades leave Laizein safely, or consider the "possible" behind the "impossible".

  In addition to the fact that the wounded can no longer participate in the next work, it is undoubtedly the best arrangement to take them to an absolutely safe place first.

   "Then what should we do now? I'll call my cronies, and you go to the core members of the action team to discuss the specific plan?" Celt called the jailer back and gave orders again, and then asked how to go next.

   "...Let comrades Evans and Hubert come over?" Capa asked Verack for instructions.

  Verak glanced at Celt.

   "What? I have done so much and I have taken refuge in you, and you still doubt me?" Celt's face turned cold visibly.

   "That's not what I mean." Verac shook his head, stopping Celt from thinking too much, "I think time is running out, so it's better to contact by telegram first."

   "For such a big matter, it would be troublesome to contact by telegram?" Celt still thought that Verac was suspicious of himself, so he didn't dare to let other comrades come over, and he didn't dare to disclose the address of the action team.

Capa keenly observed Celt's feeling of alienation and Verac's concerns, and quickly eased the atmosphere: "You misunderstood Comrade Verac's meaning, since you are willing to join the International Equality League, then we will definitely reward you. Maximum trust."

After a difficult balance in his heart, Verak decided to take a risk for the key step that can help the International Equality League get out of the haze: "Kappa, you go and contact them, and tell them to prepare manpower, and then go to the hospital to take care of and protect them." wounded."

   "Yes." Capa agreed.

  Verak tried to tell Capa with his eyes that the comrades in the action team must be more careful.

   It's a pity that Capa doesn't seem to understand.

  Selter called the jailer again, formally untied the handcuffs and anklets of Veraker and Capa, changed Capa's civilian clothes, and sent him to leave the prison secretly to contact the comrades of the action team.

  After that, Verak was sent back to the cell.

   Regarding this, Selt explained that there are also Hot Ward's cronies in the prison, and only by doing so can the other party not be alarmed.

  Back in the cell, Verak couldn't calm down.

  He couldn't tell whether he was worried that something bad was going to happen, or excited that the biggest problem of the International Equality League was about to be solved.

  Time is passing by every minute.

One hour.

  Two hours.

Three hours.

  No matter what, Capa should bring Comrade Evans from the action team and Comrade Hubert from the main station back.

   But until night, no one came to Verak.

   When the jailer brought the dinner, Verak, who became more and more uneasy, took the initiative to ask him about the situation of the prison for the first time.

  The jailer did not answer whether there was any special person in the prison today, but revealed another news that made Verak feel like he was in the ice cellar.

  —Selter left the prison in the afternoon and has not returned yet.

  Is it possible...

  Verak didn't dare to think about it, and didn't dare to face it.

   Another hour passed, and the sound of progressive footsteps finally came from outside the cell.

   Verak, who had no appetite for dinner, raised his head and looked towards the door.

  I saw Celt standing in front of the door, as if showing off, like a winner, proudly raised Capa's head.