Chapter 34: The Ubiquitous Pig Comrade

  All the way to Mnemosyne, I saw an old acquaintance, the unfortunate foreman who was on duty when we trampled Dionysus. He caught sight of us from afar and his expression immediately became disheveled, with a weird look in his eyes, as if he was trying to glance back. I turned around to take a look, but there was nothing unusual.

  "Long time no see, give us a spot." I hailed.

  The leader almost cried and asked with a sad face: "You, you are here again to observe the loopholes in the coastal defense of Constantinople?"

  It seems that our magnificent feat of riding horses and trampling the goddess with over 30 people has likely left an indelible psychological shadow on this leader, a handsome guy.

  "This time is more serious than the last one, which was just an ordinary outing." I had just finished speaking when the handsome leader opposite me started shaking all over, "Please don't destroy the world, okay?"

  "Uh... I won't pursue why this leader would connect the word 'serious matter' to the aspect of destroying the world, which is completely unrelated. He pointed to Morris behind him: "He's in charge of this, go talk to him."

  Leaving two people who were bewildered and staring blankly at each other, I slowly walked up to the second floor. As I revisited this place once again, I ran into two familiar faces.

  The artistic youth and the German Hans, I had someone find them a good hotel and hadn't gone to ask about their situation for some time, didn't expect to run into them like this.

  As soon as I raised my hand, I found that the literary youth's gaze towards me was very unfriendly.

  What did I do to him?...He glared at me? And even turned his head away?

  I haven't even released the tyrannical aura of the incomplete Five-Man Band, let alone the strengthened Emperor's resentment aura. I looked at Hans with a confused expression, and he smiled wryly and winked at the private room on one side.

  "Penelope! Your actions are tantamount to opening the gates of Constantinople to the Crusaders! I've known you for so long, never thought you'd be this kind of person, it makes me sick!"

  The voice was furious, and a good throat was out of tune due to the sharp shouting. The object of insult, I know, is a literary girl.

  Is Pennywise quarreling with someone? The insult of opening the gates of Constantinople to the Crusaders is equivalent to being scolded by Chinese people as a running dog for Japanese people, and such a comparison has been made. The contradiction between the literary girl and her opponent is very deep.

  "I'm doing this for everyone!"

  The artistic girl is suppressing her anger, I can hear it.

  For no reason at all, what are they trying to achieve?

  "For everyone?! Just because you said it's for everyone, does that mean everyone has to humble themselves like a slave and kowtow to others without dignity? Just because you said it's for everyone, does that mean our dignity and self-respect will be trampled on at will? Just because you said it's for everyone, does that mean everyone should just swallow their anger and remain silent? And then say that as long as we endure a little longer, everything will pass? What a ridiculous and absurd reason!"

  "Alexander chuckled quietly and said, "This dispute seems to be related to you. Let me think... Ah, yes, the moderate faction's compromise proposal conflicted with the hardliners?"

  "Should we take advantage of the contradictions between the two factions and defeat them one by one? Or, should we win over one faction and strike at the other?" I asked half-jokingly.

  Alexander seemed like a bystander, learning from my tone and saying: "You've gotten yourself into trouble, now get yourself out of it."

  Lean on...

  "Don't say that, Taisis, I think Pennyvis is really for us."

  "You're standing on her side too?"

  Two female voices, one after another. The first one was soft and fluffy, making me imagine that the girl with such a voice must be a delicate young lady. But the second one, with a chilly tone coming from the private room, froze my smile along with Alexander's.

  "You two are both very important friends of mine."

  "If you help her, we're no longer friends! I'm ashamed to be associated with someone like that."

  "That's enough, Taissa! You're just targeting me and I have nothing to say. But your unreasonable behavior must also have a limit!"

  "Penivise, you're one to talk about being unreasonable! As for power, everyone in Constantinople knows that aside from the Theophano family, there's another prince! If we can get that prince on our side, we won't have to fear those rascals at all!"

  "What if you can't succeed?"

  "Penywis, your Anna Komnina's flattering face is really disgusting! Let's go..."

  In the blink of an eye, a furious chestnut-haired noblewoman burst into view, her pretty face tense and extremely serious. If I hadn't known about their previous conversation, I would have thought she was facing some kind of life-or-death farewell. Looking back, there were several girls of the same age following behind her.

  "Taiyesi!" -> "Tais!"

  The artsy girl appeared, and she saw me standing there, frozen in place for a moment. I smiled wryly and stepped aside to let her pass, but the artsy girl and her friends just glanced at us briefly before heading downstairs.

  The girls' light footsteps, like those of a kitten, still echoed in my ears when Maurice's heavy footsteps, like those of a human bulldozer, came up. Seeing us at the entrance to the staircase, he poked his head out and looked around the hall: "I just heard someone mention Anna Komnina's face, what's going on?"

  Valens poked him, indicating for him to shut up.

  There was once a time when the entire empire was extremely averse to everything from the west.

  The phrase "Anna Comnena's mouth" originated in that period, reportedly because the princess left a large number of flattering comments about Western knights in her works, including "Alexiad", with phrases like "A Norman knight's full-speed charge can open a hole in the walls of Constantinople..."

  Here is the translation:

  In this place, those familiar with the 1453 siege of Constantinople will be clear that at that time, the Ottomans hired people to build a giant cannon. The giant cannon was over 8 meters long and had a diameter of about 75 cm, capable of firing a 544 kg shell to a distance of 1 mile. Such a powerful cannon bombarded Constantinople for six whole weeks, but even after it was damaged, it couldn't blast the city to smithereens. Can you expect a fully armed Western knight with a horse, weighing no more than 500 kg and having less kinetic energy than the cannon, to blast through the walls of Constantinople? It's possible that tens of thousands of people died, but even if so many people died, there hasn't been a country in this world with that many knights. So, I think the princess might be referring to something else when she talks about the city wall.

  The little land of the Komnenos dynasty's husband wore a green hat in mourning, perhaps the princess had experienced the fierce long guns of many Western European knights before expressing such admiration for their bravery. This is very likely, as it is well-known that this princess has always been infatuated with everything from the Western world and even promoted her father Alexios I to implement feudal reforms in the Eastern Roman Empire...

  For the time being, let's call that historical regression reform. I've seen people who like to hold power in their hands, but I've never seen anyone package and send it out. Without a doubt, this princess is another woman in Roman history who sells out her teammates. I've read some of the letters she sent to the feudal lords of Western Europe. The so-called "pig teammate" is probably just like her, describing the situation in Eastern Rome as pitiful and miserable, as if it could collapse at any moment on the second day. Sister! Please have some IQ, those western nobles are not the United Nations, do you think that writing a more pitiful letter can get more aid?

  This imperial princess is not highly intelligent, but has a good literary talent. Anyone who has read her few letters, as long as they don't have intelligence problems, can basically understand the situation of the Eastern Roman Empire at that time. The so-called Eastern Roman Empire was no longer feasible, and if it didn't take action, there would be nothing left to grab! Then the Crusaders came, and they came in large numbers, continuously and endlessly. What did they come for? Of course, it's to pinch the soft persimmon! Who is the soft persimmon... of course, it's that thing written by the princess in her letter...

  What a pity for this woman, fortunately Alexios I was smart enough not to make Western Europe his vassal, and also fortunate that she did not succeed in seizing power... It was her husband who reported her conspiracy of treason, I think this is the ultimate revenge with a green hat. Of course, it's also possible that he prioritized justice over family ties. If history had allowed Anna Komnene to successfully plot against her brother John II and become Emperor, I think Byzantium would have fallen before the Fourth Crusade, in the 13th century.

  The bloody history tells us that as long as humanity does not become extinct, and as long as there are more than one person existing, the birth of this miraculous profession that has been deceiving countless heroes since ancient times will never be eradicated. At present, a literary girl is facing a dilemma, and a suspected pig teammate has appeared on her side....

  "Did you anticipate this situation?" Alexander asked me with a profound gaze.

  Looking at the ceiling, I'm an honest person, I don't quite understand what Alexander means: "It depends on which situation the brother is referring to?"

  "Now that we're here, let's go say hello."

  Alexander has the demeanor of a great general, or he's quite sociable, and doesn't know when to stop. Walking into the room where the literary girls are, he greets each of the dozen or so noble misses inside one by one, and then Alexander makes it seem like I intentionally brought them here. What for? Of course, it's to take a look at what the noble misses would die to protect on Dion Street.

  Is this a play? I think those noble ladies must have thought so!

  Three or five people surrounded him in a group, Alexander was surrounded, Constantine was surrounded, Valens was surrounded, Maurice was surrounded!

  The empire is not yet half-finished, and five people are in danger! Four of them are on the brink of collapse. They look through the window of their souls to me, revealing the essence of their inner world's most ardent desire: Help! Urgently need backup!

  Will the bravest general of the Roman Empire be scared to death by a group of women warriors? I'm too lazy to care about them... If even women are feared, how can we bring peace to the world.

  Moreover, there is a very cute little girl who desperately needs comfort. I declare first, this is not me being infatuated with beauty and forgetting about friendship, although today's artistic young lady is very beautiful. She was dressed in a warm-colored lace sleeveless sunflower embroidered long dress, which made her very dazzling without too much gorgeous accessories. When she saw me walking over, she stood up from the chair, looked at me with her eyes, but seemed to have forgotten to greet me as if she had something on her mind.

  Long-awaited words of comfort didn't come, so I didn't wait anymore. I encouraged him instead: "You're working very hard and doing a great job. From you, I see hope."

  "But is it really good for me to do this?" Pennyvis's brow furrowed in a low mood.

  "Right or wrong, history will render the fairest judgment. However, I think that sometimes taking a step back can enable us to take an even bigger leap forward."

  "She is my best friend."

  The melancholy voice of the artistic girl, her mood, I understand: "Tribulations and afflictions are to friendship what olive oil is to every meal."

  Damn olive oil, damn lubricant...

  "Polish? Difficult?" Two slender fingers, with sparkling pink crystal tips, appeared and pinched my hem, pulling it. I looked up to see Penelope with a pitiful expression, her eyes pleading with a light that instantly turned into an intercontinental missile loaded with tons of TNT. Launch, hit, boom! Whoa, the defense line almost got flattened. "Don't bully her, okay?"

  "She just scolded you, Anna Komnina's face, aren't you angry?"

  "She didn't mean it." Pennyvis said with a pout, turning her head to the side. "Anyway, you can't bully her."

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  Weekend, two updates