—Along the road to war marched countless vanquished, condemned, and wrongfully slain.
Birch Tree Town, Timber City.
This small town was not particularly close to the Great Promontory Region, yet The Robin Club had no choice but to use it as a resting point. Any towns closer to the Great Promontory Region held military significance and could not accommodate such a large influx of personnel.
Timber City itself was not large, lacking the facilities to house so many ‘takeover personnel.’ Consequently, the numerous ‘takeover personnel’ who had gathered at the station were dispersed to surrounding towns to await orders for the handover operation scheduled in a few days.
“So, with this territorial exchange, did we actually profit or suffer a loss?”
Li Qiwei gazed at the detailed maps of the Great Promontory Region and Yuansu spread across the table, feeling utterly bewildered. For someone whose ‘talent points were maxed out’ in archival organization and data analysis, territorial changes—a concept impossible to quantify with specific figures—clearly touched upon her blind spot. She couldn’t possibly just compare the local output value of each area, could she?
“It depends on one’s perspective, I suppose. Just as there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand readers, everyone will arrive at a different answer, or perhaps there is no fixed answer at all.”
Liana was in the midst of repairing the temporary residence’s water supply system. She had discovered an issue with the filter and had taken it upon herself to fix it. Li Qiwei had offered to help, but Liana had declined, stating that one person was sufficient for the repair, and too many would only reduce efficiency.
“Then, from your viewpoint?”
“Neither profit nor loss.”
“Oh?”
This answer piqued Li Qiwei’s interest. Being naturally insensitive to politics, she rarely offered opinions on subjects she didn’t understand, preferring instead to listen to others.
“Elaborate.”
Liana knew Li Qiwei would ask. Skillfully turning her screwdriver, she replied without lifting her head.
“Firstly, Yuansu is a natural ice-free port located in eastern Yingzhou. Sailing south from Yuansu leads directly to the eastern coast of the Cloud Mountain Peninsula, making its geographical position extremely vital. Although it was reduced to ruins during the World War, with few survivors among its city dwellers and no large-scale reconstruction to this day, its strategic location remains undiminished by the city’s decay.”
Liana’s voice was not loud, yet Fletcher had already turned his gaze towards her, clearly eager for her to continue.
“Xuanji Star requires an ice-free port in eastern Yingzhou to advance its maritime strategy east of Yingzhou, including countering potential adversaries, namely Vega, in any future conflicts. While Qingke certainly meets the criteria, it is too far from the Cloud Mountain Peninsula to pose as direct a threat to Vega as Yuansu. Besides, Xuanji Star already possesses Qingke and wouldn’t mind adding another Yuansu to its holdings.”
She subtly glanced at Fletcher, whose brows were slightly furrowed, as if deep in thought. Noticing Liana’s gaze, Fletcher relaxed his brows, his expression returning to its usual calm.
“In contrast, while the Great Promontory Region serves as a stumbling block for Xuanji Star against Vega on the western Cloud Mountain Peninsula, its cities were also bombed into ruins during the war, making it no better than Yuansu. Furthermore, although the Great Promontory Region is larger than Yuansu, its location on the western coast of the Cloud Mountain Peninsula, coupled with the existence of the first blockade line, significantly diminishes its value, making it far inferior to Yuansu. After all, Yuansu can support Xuanji Star’s naval strategy, whereas the Great Promontory Region offers almost no value beyond serving as a landing zone for Xuanji Star in a future war with Vega, thereby reducing the difficulty of subsequent landings.”
“For Vega, however, should war erupt in the future, Yuansu, being surrounded on three sides, would quickly fall. The Great Promontory Region would also become a landing zone for Xuanji Star, not to mention the pressure from the Xuejiang direction. Thus, Yuansu occupies an awkward position—too insignificant to keep, yet too valuable to discard.”
“When Xuanji Star proposed exchanging the Great Promontory Region for Yuansu, Vega naturally had no reason to refuse. They relinquished a city they couldn’t defend during wartime and gained a potential enemy landing zone in return. Both sides got what they wanted; neither profited nor lost.”
Listening to Liana’s explanation, Fletcher’s face grew somber. He let out a soft sigh, stood up, and spoke.
“I’m going out for some fresh air. I’ll be back soon.”
Fletcher left the room. Ke Yiyi, sensing his low spirits, swiftly rose to follow him, just in case. With a mission imminent, she didn’t want him to cause any trouble—especially given his past record of ‘unauthorized military action.’ It was better to be cautious.
Ke Yiyi trusted Fletcher’s self-control and judgment, yet she couldn’t completely. That was the nature of being a police officer; they couldn’t assume everyone would eventually break the law, but they also couldn’t deny the possibility that anyone might.
****
The night in Birch Tree Town was quiet, with few people about. The town was small, and as its name suggested, its residents primarily worked in logging. With the widespread adoption of industrial equipment, logging once required less manual labor. However, after the World War, as Vega lost Yingzhou, and the Cloud Mountain Peninsula’s industry was ravaged and plundered by Xuanji Star during the war, the demand for manual labor in logging increased once more.
This newly required workforce consisted mainly of the elderly and middle-aged women, whose efficiency was not comparable to that of young, able-bodied men. But there was no alternative—the young men had, after all, perished on the battlefield.
Sensing someone behind him, Fletcher knew who it was without needing to turn around.
‘It could only be the tireless beacon of Shell City…’
Now, Fletcher somewhat understood why Ke Yiyi had been assigned to The Robin Club. In an era where everyone chose to protect themselves, believing it better to avoid trouble than seek it, there were truly few like Ke Yiyi who actively sought out tasks for themselves. Indeed, observing her, one could still feel a glimmer of hope for Vega.
“Is this really necessary? I won’t cause trouble. I’ve already been ‘beaten by history’ before joining The Robin Club.”
“I just want everything to be perfectly stable, without a single misstep.”
Without turning, Fletcher pulled a piece of candy from his pocket and tossed it to Ke Yiyi, who caught it effortlessly.
“Here, for you. Consider it payment for following me all this way.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
Fletcher’s abrupt question caught Ke Yiyi off guard, causing a flicker of embarrassment. Yet, she quickly composed herself. In her daily police work, officers often faced all sorts of strange questions from the public, much like asking a Red Priest, ‘Can the Red Lord create a rock so heavy that even they cannot lift it?’
“N-no… I don’t.”
“So, you do?”
“…This is a private matter, not related to official business. I have the right to refuse to answer.”
Ke Yiyi didn’t want to answer the question, fearing that if she started, it would spiral out of control.
“Haha! Little Ke! You’re still too young. When dealing with someone like me, who isn’t serious, you should refuse to answer anything I ask from the very beginning. That way, you won’t be put on the defensive.”
“But a police officer’s duty is to solve the various problems faced by the public. If we ignore everything we hear, wouldn’t we miss many potentially important matters? Wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?”
“Indeed! A soldier’s duty is to defend their country and eliminate all threats to their homeland. If they turn a blind eye to any enemy movements, even when they are close at hand, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?”
Fletcher sighed deeply and turned to face Ke Yiyi.
“I once fought for Yuansu, and now Yuansu is about to leave me.”
Ke Yiyi watched him, waiting for him to continue.
“I feel sad about it, yet there’s nothing I can do.”
“Though I will not regret the mistakes I’ve made, I cannot repeat them.”
“I just feel that we cannot be passively reactive. As I just said, if we turn a blind eye to everything Xuanji Star does, will that truly allow us to protect ourselves?”
“There is never enough satisfaction, only endless desire.”
“Xuanji Star’s annexation of Yingzhou is merely a beginning, never an end.”
“The agreement we signed in New Calendar Year 215 was not a ‘peace treaty’ at all; it was merely a truce for a few decades.”
Fletcher halted, looking at the tall monument before him—a cemetery carved from a massive rock, a cemetery of swords.
All manner of stone swords pierced the ground, as if on a battlefield after a great war.
Ke Yiyi stood frozen, gazing with Fletcher at everything before them. ‘So it was here…’
Ke Yiyi had seen photographs of this place before. It was a monument built by Vega after the war to commemorate the tens of millions of its casualties during the World War, carved from a particularly enormous rock. She had simply never realized it was located in the wilderness near Birch Tree Town.
The monument had no official name, thus it was also referred to as the ‘Nameless Monument’ or the ‘Monument Cluster.’
Fletcher walked towards the monument, his expression profoundly solemn.
He looked up at the monument, as if seeing a group of familiar old friends standing before him.
Ke Yiyi stood beside him, also gazing at the Nameless Monument.
Scenes of the World War echoed in her mind: wailing on mountains of corpses… struggling in seas of blood… All she saw before her was despair, destruction, and slaughter.
They, and the people commemorated by the Nameless Monument, had all experienced the World War. The only difference was that those people were dead, while they were still alive.
Minutes ticked by, yet Fletcher remained motionless, as if he had become one with the monument. Ke Yiyi glanced at him, then gently shook her head.
“Let’s go back. You know… no one is here.”
“No, you know… they are all here.”
Fletcher sighed, then finally turned and walked away.
After walking for about dozens of meters, he looked back at the monument, where countless sword-shaped ‘deaths’ stood erect upon the earth.
—Humans are forgetful, but some things should never be forgotten.
—As long as we remember, they will live forever.