Chapter 75: Happy Easter

The distant city walls gradually took shape in the morning light. Those consecrated stones had witnessed sieges, famines, and betrayals, and had also witnessed victors being inscribed into history books.

Now, it stood quietly, waiting for new names to be written into memory, or to be forgotten.

The bell rang again, heavy and slow, not for a celebration, but just to remind that time was up.

When the sun finally crossed the horizon, illuminating the banners and steel.

No one shouted slogans, and no one predicted the ending.

Everyone understood that dawn was not a symbol of hope.

Tiffany couldn't express her shock as she watched a line of armored soldiers board the ship.

She didn't have time to say goodbye to Charlie. She was still bandaging wounds for the wounded and boiling herbs for the soldiers infected with the plague this morning. When she came to her senses, she simply felt that everything was a dream.

A dream about the smoke era.

The soldiers on the deck blew their horns.

Ten thousand people shouted slogans together—

"Ad arma, ad finem!"

"Ad arma, ad finem!"

"Ad arma, ad finem! ——"

Hold the weapons, hold the center game.

Tiffany looked back at Weibens uneasily. Although she didn't want to admit it, at this moment... she hoped they could stop this war.

Although, everything was in vain.

Tiffany squatted down powerlessly. Countless soldiers walked past her quickly. Suddenly, a shadow fell.

A young soldier stood in front of her.

"Miss Pharmacist."

"My home is by the Mill River. Please pass a word to that family with the grape trellis."

"Just say..."

His voice was a bit choked, "Just say John wishes them a Happy Easter."

After he finished speaking, he quickly followed the team. Tiffany looked at the soldier's receding back and finally shed tears.

——

Weibens Pier.

A girl wearing a dark red Victorian-style noble dress walked across the bridge. A malachite fan inlaid on it covered her face, and she walked calmly toward a docked ship.

"Miss, please show your ship ticket."

The sailor blocked the ferry crossing. The girl raised her eyes, and the sailor instantly froze, his gaze dull, muttering to himself.

Su Mian withdrew her gaze, walked past him as if nothing had happened, and walked toward the only ship heading to Talen.

——

The crowded, stuffy cabin was packed with people of different expressions. Shrewd smugglers guarded their goods.

Their hands rubbed from time to time. As long as the ship hadn't departed, they were worried about being caught, so they were particularly nervous. The whole ship was controlled by a group of taciturn, muscular sailors.

They knew the origins of the passengers like the back of their hands and were only loyal to the captain and those who paid the most readily.

A girl in a gray dress stepped forward, holding a rag-wrapped bundle in her arms, looking like a maid from some family.

"Sir, why haven't we departed yet?"

"It's not time yet, what are you in a hurry for?"

"You can't even wait this little time, and your master still has the guts to smuggle?"

"But..."

The sailor was smoking, glanced at the pendulum clock on the side, and waved his hand impatiently.

The girl wanted to say something else, but a disturbance suddenly came from the back of the ship.

"Hey! Miss, don't run on the ship!"

The girl in the gray dress looked closely and immediately turned and ran. The wind was strong on the sea, blowing her hood down.

It was Sera, who had already died.

Su Mian rushed straight over. The crowd became agitated. Some cursed in a low voice, and some hurriedly avoided.

Su Mian bumped into a smuggler who was blocking the way. The person dropped a bag from his arms and didn't bother to pick it up, just stared with wide eyes at the two figures bumping into the crowd of people one after another.

The gray dress flickered in the dim light. Sera's movements were surprisingly fast, like a slippery fish, weaving between the piled cargo boxes and the astonished crowd.

Su Mian pursued relentlessly, her boots stepping heavily on the damp deck, making a dull thud.

On the deck, there was no way back.

Important clues in the instance cannot be destroyed; they can only be hidden within a certain range.

Sera could only hold the truce agreement tightly in her arms, gritting her teeth and taking out a dagger from her arms.

"Evelyn, the agreement hasn't been signed yet. So what if you grab it?"

"As long as you don't live to the voting stage, we still win."

"You... guys?"

Su Mian chewed on these two words and narrowed her eyes.

As soon as the words fell, someone behind her pounced and pressed her down quickly. Following the heavy sound of falling, Su Mian frowned in pain, her hands pulled together by the person behind her.

It was Oli.

Su Mian looked up in disbelief. Sera smiled shyly, her tone somewhat proud.

"Sorry, Evelyn, I'm going to win."

She turned to look at the ship's sails and asked Oli.

"Why haven't we departed yet? Isn't it time?"

"Pfft..."

Sera frowned, seeing Su Mian, who was held in Oli's arms, let out a snort of laughter from her nasal cavity.

"You have companions, don't I?"

As soon as the words fell, Adrian pounced from the darkness and kicked Oli away.

Oli let out a cry of surprise, his back hitting the wall. Before Sera could react, the bundle in her hands was snatched away by Adele.

She bumped into that smiling face and hooked the pocket watch Sera was wearing from her sleeve.

"Sera, did you forget? I'm from a clock-making family~"

"All the clocks on the ship were changed by me."

Adrian panted and knocked Oli down, then turned and tied up Sera. Sera still couldn't believe that Su Mian was just a decoy, struggling violently.

"Let me go! Let me go—"

Her eyes were filled with tears, "I don't want to lose, I don't want to die! If you lose, you only lose 3,000 points; if I lose, I will die!!!"

She roared, completely breaking down.

Adele sighed, "You were the one who wanted us to die first. An eye for an eye, isn't that fair?"

Adrian: "Besides... without Evelyn, you would have died long ago."

Su Mian opened the bundle and flipped out the truce agreement. She immediately turned to look at Adele, "How much time is left?"

Adele looked at the pocket watch she had changed the time on, "Half an hour."

"Can Taylor and the others make it?"

Adrian asked worriedly. Everyone had no bottom in their hearts, so no one answered him.

Su Mian rushed out of the deck and looked toward the ferry crossing. Time passed second by second, and everyone paced aimlessly.

Fifteen minutes.

Ten minutes.

A few familiar figures appeared at the pier. Taylor and Bruce carried the Governor onto the gangway.

That pot-bellied, sweating Governor, the moment he saw Su Mian, all complaints and excuses were choked in his throat, leaving only the wheezing sound like a bellows due to running and fear.

"Sign, I'll sign..." He shook his hands, not even looking at the agreement terms carefully, dipped the quill pen handed over by Bruce in ink, and crookedly drew his name and seal.

The ink was not yet dry, and Su Mian had already pulled the agreement back, folded it carefully, and stuffed it into her inner pocket.

"Turn around!" She turned around and said sternly to the boatswain who poked his head out of the cabin entrance, "We're not going to the scheduled port, turn to the sea area where the two armies are fighting, immediately!" ===== CHAPTER 76 =====