War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Invalides.

The hall was crowded with all kinds of veterans. Some of them were missing arms and legs, some were blind, and some were missing an ear and half of their face.

This was supposed to be a gathering place for veterans, but now it seemed to be a canteen. There was a big pot standing on the table in the middle, and a short, fat middle-aged man was shouting and drinking happily.

The veterans lined up in a neat queue, each holding a broken bowl in their hands, as if they were refugees waiting for alms.

The man in the middle of the hall was stirring the cauldron proudly, adding some ingredients into it from time to time, but from a distance it looked like a wizard was brewing a plague.

(Legend has it that the Black Death was a conspiracy of some wizards.)

In order to see the most real side, Franz did not let the guards enter the hall.

At this time, other internal staff of Les Invalides saw Franz and his party. After being reminded by others, the man who stirred the cauldron also saw this group of uninvited guests.

He cursed in his mind, "Where did the little brat come from to play here?"

"Get out!" the man shouted sternly, eyes wide.

Taffy was startled by the sound. When walking up the steps, she stumbled and fell to the ground.

There was a burst of ridicule, and several internal staff of Les Invalides were amused by Taffy's funny look. But their attitude has not changed.

"You guys! Get out! Do you hear me?!"

Akadov snorted disdainfully. He cleared his throat and prepared to reveal his identity to scare the other person.

But just as Akadorf was about to open his mouth, Franz stopped him. He wanted to get rid of the root. Since Franz decided to take action, he had to solve the problem completely. At least he had to get rid of this group of people. This was his Bottom line.

At this time, a veteran at the end of the queue helped pull Taffy up, and then smiled, but the latter was so frightened that he fell to the ground again.

The veteran's limbs were sound, but his face was extremely hideous and terrifying. The entire face seemed to have been chopped into pieces, the positions of the facial features were distorted, and scars covered the face like maggots.

I can't imagine what kind of trauma can leave such scars. It's a miracle that he is still standing here today.

Even Franz gasped, and the others were so frightened that their faces turned pale.

When the insiders on the middle stage saw that Franz and his party had no intention of leaving, they began to curse.

"There is a life, but no one cares about it! Are they all deaf? Are they the same as these losers?"

Franz pressed it with his hand and did not reply. He just walked forward. He wanted to see clearly what these veterans looked like.

Franz walked step by step. Each of these people told a legend. At least from the perspective of modern medicine, it was really not easy for them to survive.

In that era when medical treatment was scarce, it was indeed too difficult to deal with such large-scale trauma and amputation.

Medicine at that time was lagging behind, and the development of medical devices was even lagging behind.

Those veterans with broken legs, whether one leg or both legs, only have a pair of crutches.

Wheelchairs had been invented in this era, and Franz had seen them in the palace, but they were just tools used by a group of children for fun.

And most of the people who really need it simply can't afford it.

Although these veterans are all wearing military uniforms, they look very diverse.

Most of them still wear the uniforms of their original troops, and Austria's local troops may be the most complex in Europe.

On the other hand, decades have passed, and the military uniforms of those veterans have long been in tatters, and they are no different from beggars when they are mending.

When they saw Franz and his party, their empty and dull eyes briefly regained their energy and envy, but then dimmed again.

Franz knew that these people were isolated from the world and had physical disabilities, which made them sensitive and inferior. They envy the vitality and health of young people and their bright military uniforms.

But were these veterans once passionate young people?

Franz continued to walk forward, his steps becoming more and more determined, because he felt that everything was wrong, he should do something, he had to do something, he had to do something.

Franz walked all the way to the stage and looked at the foul-smelling cauldron, the unwashed internal organs, the yellowed vegetable leaves, and the sticky and unknown seasonings.

"Pig food." This was the first impression in Franz's mind.

"Is this your breakfast or your supper? Is the other meal like this?" Franz asked loudly, clearing his throat.

No one answered.

The cook standing in front of the cauldron saw that a child dared not to take him seriously, so he lifted up the ladle and prepared to splash Franz all over him.

In the blink of an eye, Franz dodged in front of the cook, elbowed him in the chest, then punched him in the chin, then grabbed the cook's hair and pressed him directly into the cauldron.

You must know that this kind of sticky stuff is more terrifying than hot water. The cook immediately let out a miserable howl like a slaughtered pig.

Franz immediately let go of his hand, and when the opponent had just raised his head and had yet to stand firm, he flew up and hit the vital part of the opponent's lower body with a flying kick. The kick technique he used was the Mikazuki Kuku in karate.

The overall power of this kick method is not as good as the whip kick or the back kick, but the advantage is that the amplitude is small and the power is concentrated at one point.

Franz's actions were too fast and too harsh. The people around him didn't react for a moment and were all stunned in place, leaving the cook with a badly burned face wailing on the ground.

Those veterans were not afraid after seeing him, but the distance was too far and they were powerless. More importantly, what the young man was doing was what they had always wanted to do. Why should they stop him?

It took a while for the internal staff of the Invalides to react, but the guy was picked up and ready to cut the young man in front of him into pieces. But then Franz pulled out his guns, and there were two of them, and they were the latest revolvers that could fire continuously.

"Kneel down and put your head in your hands." Franz glanced back and saw that the men were still hesitating and fired two shots, hitting the legs of the man at the front.

"Kneel down and put your head in your hands." Franz repeated again, his tone calm.

At this time, the insiders put down the guy in their hands and knelt on the ground with their hands on their heads. At this time, they were extremely frightened, because everyone had heard about the murder of Archduke Karl in the Invalides decades ago.

The veterans who were killed by them also cursed them like this, but even Archduke Karl only killed the "chief culprit", and what happened to others remained the same.

On the other hand, upon hearing the gunfire just now, hundreds of fully armed guards rushed in.

This further confirmed their suspicion. It seemed that someone big was indeed coming, but why didn't anyone from outside come to report first?

But at this time, they still had a bit of luck. The father of the guy who was wailing and rolling on the ground, not knowing whether to cover his upper body or his lower body, worked in the Invalides.

Since he can inherit his father's legacy, I think their accomplices should be fine, after all, the law does not punish everyone.

"Is this your breakfast or your supper? Is the other meal like this?" Franz repeated his question.

Finally a veteran stood up.

"This is both breakfast and dinner. Who says we can only enjoy one meal a day?"