Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 923: Section 607: The Departure of Winter (Part 1)

Chapter 923: Section 607: The Departure of Winter (Part 1)

Looking up at the spring buds on the trees, Rhodes drew a puff from his cigarette. The fine cigarette holder from Thainan was becoming his new favorite. Carterburg’s rolled cigarettes fitted into it, and there was a certain exotic charm to smoking with it.

Of course, his cousin didn’t understand this, because he didn’t like dry tobacco and consequently didn’t take to the fine cigarette holder used when consuming it. He even scoffed at Rhodes’s practice of "putting a sheep’s head on the shop sign but selling dog meat."

"It’s spring." His cousin also glanced at the branches overhead. Sudel muttered, constantly adjusting the scope on his rifle.

"Yes, it’s spring." Carmen was polishing his rifle barrel with a cleaning rod, rounds of rifle ammunition laid out on the table in front of him.

"Captain Halsan Chandler is back!" a soldier shouted. The soldiers who were doing adaptive shooting drills at the range stood up upon hearing the call, saluting the returning captain who saluted back. He then approached Rhodes. "I’m back, the doctors say my arms and legs are as good as new."

"But Lord Malin still hasn’t returned, and it’s already spring." Rhodes finished his sentence and began puffing on his cigarette again.

His cousin reached out and patted his head: "No one would take you for a mute if you kept quiet."

Rhodes turned his head and gave his cousin a white look, while Carmen let out a sigh.

Halsan looked at his comrades: "I believe Lord Malin will definitely come back."

"Yes, we all believe so too. But a month has gone by, spring has arrived, the buds have sprouted, and our lord is still in the warm south, nestled in his lover’s embrace," said Rhodes before turning to glance at his cousin and the hand he had raised.

So the two cousins locked eyes in a stare-off, and Halsan shook his head, he was somewhat reluctant to say anything more about this pair of cousins. He walked over to Carmen’s table and sat on it. "What about you, do you believe in the lord?"

"Of course, I believe in the lord. He swore to us that he would lead us from one victory to another," said Carmen, as he pulled out the cleaning rod and set it aside, then began to reassemble the rifle barrel.

"I also believe in the lord, even though everyone in the army says he won’t come back." Halsan turned towards the soldiers: "How are our soldiers holding up?"

"Not bad, at least they’re not like those bewildered lots outside. They argue over whether or not the lord will return, they can even brawl between platoons regarding this," Carmen answered.

"I’ve heard about it," said Halsan while looking at his rookies.

Actually, he didn’t know either whether his lord would return, because, in his view, the lord, being from the south, had already done too much for them.

He brought countless supplies, innumerable pieces of equipment. Now close to a hundred thousand of Malin’s private army are holding back the forces of Chaos in the Western front. This army of former bankrupt city dwellers and serfs was no less capable compared to their own full-time professional troops.

The lord stood with them during the hardest initial moments. Holy Lake is still producing a massive amount of Holy Water, and even though he has been in the south for the past two months, a considerable amount of the latest weapons would still be provided to them, either sold or given for free.

For instance, among their troops, they now have two fast-firing weapons named machine guns, with 200-round belts and quickly replaceable barrels, an artsy design of air cooling, and metal housing. What’s important is that the firing rate of such a device far exceeds all rifles. Even a blind man could confirm from the sound of gunfire that a machine gun could secure a crossroad - this was the most genuine of maxims.

"Actually, I don’t think the lord needs to come back. After all, he is a southerner, and even though he is now an Earl, he is still Farole’s Prince, the esteemed lord of Carterburg. Would he come to the north and roll around in the spring mud with us bog trotters?" Rhodes said, glancing at his cousin. This time, Sudel didn’t raise his hand or glare but instead took out a cigarette pack, took out a cigarette, and started searching for matches in his muddy uniform.

Rhodes pulled out a lighter and lit the cigarette for his cousin.

"Where did you get this lighter?" His cousin looked at the emblem of the Malin Group on the lighter and asked.

"Our Holy Lake Earl, the great savior from the south, the honorable Prince belonging to each and every one of us bigheads, Lord Malin saw that I was clever and granted it to me," Rhodes proudly put away the lighter: "This is my family heirloom."

"Look at how pleased you are with yourself," chuckled Halsan.

"Indeed, it’s one of a kind," said Rhodes with a smile, taking a puff of cigarette while Carmen’s voice was heard.

"Lieutenant Natalie is here," he announced.

Halsan turned and saw a blonde woman from Ross walking towards them, the female officer flaunting a very generous bosom. She came to the four captains with her clipboard in hand: "Your independent strike platoon seems to be doing well. There’s a task on hand. A reconnaissance team of battle Mages went missing in the wastelands twenty miles east of Stavens to the south of Copenhagen. The Mages’ follow-up fire reconnaissance failed to find the missing members. They have requested the army to dispatch a squad for an investigation."

"The military has thought of us, alright, not wrong, indeed we are a benchmark of combat power. But has the army forgotten that we are commanded by Lord Malin?" Rhodes leaned against his cousin’s thigh, speaking discontentedly.

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