Chapter 1110: 97. Another Side

The next day.

The Wall of Fog divided the world as always. Bright daylight spilled over Annabawei, giving the people struggling to survive here a little comfort. Only, because it was close to the wall, this border city was still shrouded in shadow.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The long night had only just passed, and Marcie was already impatiently knocking on Muen’s door.

“Get up! Get up, we’re going to report in today!”

Before long, the door was pushed open, and Muen walked out while yawning.

“I know, I know. Stop rushing me.”

“Why do you look like you just woke up?”

Marcie frowned as she looked over Muen’s sleepy-eyed appearance. “The night was that long, and you spent all of it sleeping?”

“Going to bed early and waking up early is good for your health.”

“This counts as... waking up early?” Marcie counted on her own fingers. How long had last night been? Seventeen or eighteen hours? This guy slept for that long?

“Lazy pig! Time can’t be wasted like that! A qualified Pioneer must demand strict self-discipline from himself!”

“Sigh, children don’t understand. Do you know how long it’s been since I had a good sleep?”

Muen rubbed his old waist, scoffing at so-called self-discipline.

Self-discipline?

Who wasn’t self-disciplined?

Back when he was at the academy, he had been a true self-discipline monster. His schedule every day had strictly followed a plan, precise down to the minute. He could have been called a model of the self-discipline world.

Compared with him, some senior-year workhorses in key high schools from his previous life could all be considered lazy and slack.

But now?

Leaving aside how much time he had spent wandering around last night, if he calculated carefully, from the start of the Empire and Kingdom war, he had been running nonstop the entire time.

Reinforcements, fights, dealing with the Salvation Society—troublesome matters came one after another.

Later, the war had finally ended, and the Salvation Society had also been driven off. It looked as if he could rest... but the following battlefield of romantic chaos had squeezed out a great deal of his energy again. After all, if he could not feed those hungry, thirsty beautiful girls, that was also a major problem. Perhaps the peace of the entire continent had to be maintained by him, this poor yellow-haired man, sacrificing his looks.

As for later, when he was tricked back to Belrand by Celicia, planned the wedding, and then Miss Dragon came to snatch the bride... That was no longer running nonstop. He was about to be spun into a damn top.

The only place that could let him relax a little was actually this unfamiliar and strange Annabawei.

Absurd.

In his previous life, he had still been cursing the blessed fortune of working nine-nine-six overtime... In this life, he felt nine-nine-six was simply heaven on earth.

“What about you? What were you doing for such a long time?” Muen glanced outside. Today had dawned normally, as if yesterday’s early nightfall had only been his illusion.

“Sleeping and training!”

Marcie gestured with her little arms and legs, her excitement overflowing in her expression. “I had to keep myself in the best possible state. Absolutely no accidents are allowed today.”

“Don’t you have an invitation letter? Do you still need to take an exam?” Muen asked in confusion.

“Not that, but since I have set my heart on becoming a Pioneer, then when I walk through that door, I must absolutely be in my most perfect state.” Marcie put both hands on her waist. She seemed not to have set out yet, but she had already seen her own glorious future.

“All right.”

Muen was too lazy to keep tangling with this little girl who, the moment Pioneers were mentioned, became like a perverted uncle who had seen a little girl. After moving his muscles and bones a little, he went to wash up, then took out a bit of food, and the two of them finished breakfast hastily.

It was still black bread, and Marcie still ate it very happily, with tears in the corners of her eyes.

After finishing breakfast, the two quickly went out and walked toward their destination for this trip.

Very soon, Muen raised his head and saw a familiar signboard.

A wooden signboard. It looked very old, but it had been maintained very well, with no signs of worm-eaten damage or decay. Several large words were neatly engraved on it in an odd script.

Those characters had some differences from the ordinary writing Muen had already grown used to, but Muen could still barely recognize them.

“City-State United Pioneering Association... headquarters.”

Muen rubbed his chin. “It’s really plain. I thought it would be a little more luxurious.”

He had been too hurried when he infiltrated last night, so he had not paid attention to those details.

As the headquarters of the “famous” City-State United Pioneering Association, this place was actually so simple.

From Muen’s perspective, this was not even simple. It was shabby.

Behind that old wooden signboard was only an ordinary two-story building. There was nothing special about it at all, and in terms of structure and materials, it was no different from the ordinary houses beside it.

Muen also remembered the office he had entered last night. That place was even excessively plain. Before conducting a secret ritual, the president had actually had to personally use sand and soil to fill the cracks in the wall to prevent light from leaking and exposing himself.

Too much hard work.

“Hmph, what do you understand? This is precisely one kind of embodiment of the pioneering spirit!” Marcie raised her chest and lifted her head. “The great first Pioneer, Lord Alan, once said that as people who lead the citizens here forward, they must set an example in every aspect, whether in strength or in moral character!”

“Impressive.”

Muen lightly applauded. No matter what, someone able to say something like that was certainly a very extraordinary person.

“Of course!”

Marcie became even prouder. “Therefore, when this generation of Pioneers built this headquarters, they must also have strictly followed Lord Alan’s teachings and treated diligence and frugality as the first essential principle!”

“Remarkable,” Muen praised.

“Do you see that stone threshold up ahead, almost trampled to pieces? That must be the symbol of the seniors coming in and out, working hard and running about. Even with the threshold trampled to pieces, they still haven’t repaired it. It’s simply...”

When her feelings reached a deep point, Marcie’s eyes were already slightly red.

Muen could not help feeling moved as well. The people of this place really were...

“Cough!”

But at this moment, a dry cough suddenly sounded, interrupting the emotions the two of them were brewing.

Someone said faintly,

“You two do not have to praise us randomly like this. Actually, that threshold was smashed by me, and it is not that we are reluctant to repair it either. This is already the third one we’ve replaced this month.”

Muen: “...”

Marcie: “...”

“Who!”

After a brief silence, Marcie was furious.

What did he mean, smashed?

Were the noble Pioneers she worshiped this rough?

Bastard! He dared slander her Pioneers. The hand-to-hand skills she had learned from Uncle Taylor had not had a chance to be used yet!

“...Ah, Lord Bear King!”

But when she abruptly turned her head and saw that familiar towering figure, the crude words gathering at Marcie’s lips instantly turned into the gentlest greeting in the world.

“Why are you here? What a coincidence... I spoke too loudly just now. I didn’t scare you, did I? Please listen to me explain, I am not that kind of crude person...”

Muen: “...”

No, girl, isn’t your face-changing a little too fast?

How disappointing.

“Haha, this is the Pioneers’ headquarters. Is it strange for me to be here?”

“Not strange, not strange...”

Marcie was a little nervous. “Just now, I wasn’t talking about you. What I meant was...”

“Eh, I know. Actually, many people have different misunderstandings about us Pioneers. They think we are some incredible existences, but in reality, we are only ordinary people.”

Theresa sighed melancholy. “Take this headquarters, for example. The reason it looks so run-down is not because we do not want a big house. It is simply because... a big house can’t hold.”

“Can’t hold?”

Marcie blinked. “Then it must be because you all spend all the resources on pioneering, so there is simply no way to support...”

“No.”

Theresa shook his head. “When I say it can’t hold, I mean it can’t hold on another level.”

“Hm?”

Marcie was still bewildered, while Muen, to the side, seemed to have already noticed something and silently shifted one step aside.

Boom!

A huge explosion rang out. A violent wind wrapped in smoke and dust roared past, blowing so hard that Marcie could not open her eyes.

The wall of the Pioneers’ headquarters had actually blown open directly just like that. Then, a sandbag-like shadow flew past in front of her and smashed heavily into the ground not far away.

“Eh?”

Marcie went from bewildered to blank.

But it was not over yet.

“Fuck your mother!”

The crude voice was unbearable to the ear.

Inside the hole in the wall, a female figure as sturdy as a musclebound Barbie strode out with a gait that denied all kinship. As she walked, she rolled up her sleeves, and in passing, spat with a pah not far from Marcie.

“You fucking thing, your skin is itching again, isn’t it? You even dare take my supplies?”

“N-Nonsense. That was clearly... mine...”

Amid the smoke and dust, an unyielding voice came through. “It was already in my hands. What right do you have to...”

“If it’s in your hands, it’s yours? Your dog claws are touching the ground right now, so why don’t you say all of Annabawei belongs to you?”

Musclebound Barbie leaped up, directly jumped into the pit she had smashed out, straddled the person lying below, clenched fists the size of clay pots, and then a set of combination punches fell like rain.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Every punch struck flesh, every sound entered the ear, and the cursing also did not stop.

“Bitch!”

“Idiot!”

“Thing without balls!”

“Trash!”

“Looking to die!”

“Watch me beat you to death today!”

Just like that, after about three minutes had passed and the figure on the ground was almost no longer moving, Musclebound Barbie finally stopped. She rose and dragged the person, who was already like a dead dog, back with her.

The whole sequence flowed like clouds and water, making people unable to look away.

“Yo, Theresa. What a coincidence.”

She greeted Theresa.

“Morning.”

Theresa was not surprised at all and waved in response.

“Supplies short again?”

“Of course. The shares are so small now, and this guy still dared skim mine. Isn’t that asking for a beating?”

“Who told you not to come back for a whole year? He may have thought you had already sacrificed yourself.”

“Hmph. Even if this bastard dies outside and his bones get eaten by wild dogs, I won’t die! He just deserved a beating!”

“He is your spouse, at least...”

“It’s because we’re spouses that I spared her life. Hmph, if I weren’t waiting for his seed, I’d crush his balls right now.”

Musclebound Barbie continued walking toward the headquarters. On the way, when she passed by Muen and Marcie, she gave the two of them an extremely kind smile.

“Sorry you had to see that.”

“...”

Looking at her face covered in blood, the two of them completely could not smile.

“Cough...”

At this moment, the man being dragged by Musclebound Barbie opened his eyes with difficulty, bloody foam bubbling at the corners of his mouth. His remaining gaze glanced toward the two of them.

“Help... help me...”

“This gentleman...” Marcie gathered her courage and spoke.

“Ha, don’t mind him. It’s just normal communication between husband and wife. A little fun, just a little fun.”

Musclebound Barbie casually explained with great carelessness, then dragged the man on the ground into the hole in the wall without looking back.

Only ten bright bloodstains left by fingers rubbing against the ground remained.

This fucking counted as a little fun? Several people were dumbfounded.

“That person just now was...”

After a long freeze in the atmosphere, even Muen was shocked by this scene, and he asked Marcie in a low voice about the other party’s background.

“Nickname Queen, pioneering number 03867. In my intelligence, she is a female Pioneer who acts as elegantly as a queen. Her fame is almost not inferior to Lord Bear King’s.” Marcie opened her mouth stiffly.

“Elegant? She is quite elegant.”

Muen nodded seriously. “Those punches were full of rhythm. It looks like she hasn’t beaten people any less on normal days.”

“...”

“And the other one?”

“Codename City Wall, number 03945. In my intelligence, he is a solid backer like a city wall, a top standout in support.”

“His name matches him.”

Muen felt even more solemn respect. “He took that many punches with his face and is still breathing. He really is as tough as a city wall.”

“...”

“Haha, now you two understand, right?”

A burst of hearty laughter broke the strange atmosphere. Theresa pointed at the big hole in the wall and said, “This is the reason I said a big house can’t hold. Look, if it gets demolished every couple of days like this, a small house is still fine, but the repair costs for a big house are really too high. Who could hold that?”

“E-Every couple of days?”

“Eh, actually this is still fine. It was only a simple quarrel between spouses. If there’s a real conflict, making it into a life-or-death fight is commonplace.”

Bear King Theresa sighed.

“After all, resources are limited, and it is very hard to distribute them evenly. Even if some people are dissatisfied and propose solving problems by force, Pioneers are people too. Being so noble in character that we have no flaws at all—that only exists in fairy tales. More or less, we all have a little bit of a problem.”

“Is it really only a little bit of a problem?” Muen commented.

“Haha, a little bit, just a little bit.”

Theresa stretched out his hand and used his index finger and thumb to make an extremely tiny gap.

“Just this little bit.”

“...”

To the side, Marcie stood frozen like a wooden chicken, her expression utterly shattered.