Cannon Fire Arc

Chapter 794: Chapter 36 Assassination_2

Female Clerk: “Really, sir, because of people like you, the vases are full of cigarette butts! This is simply not something that should happen at the heart of the Empire.”

“Sorry, sorry,” the Orderly removed the mud-stained cigarette butt and stuffed it directly into his pocket.

“I didn’t ask you to put it in your pocket, here, take this handkerchief and wrap it up—”

“No, it’s not necessary, I—”

At that instant, three gunshots came from somewhere unknown.

The Orderly jolted.

The female clerk was still puzzled: “What’s that noise?”

Before her words fell, an explosion came from the end of the corridor.

The next moment, the piercing alarm sounded throughout the Eagle’s Nest.

The handkerchief-clutching female clerk was stunned: “What’s going on? Has the enemy finally dropped a bomb on us? Should we head to the bomb shelter?”

The Orderly didn’t pay attention to her and dashed toward Colonel Belger’s office, intending to block him inside, only to run into a group of frantically running palace guards.

The leading Major shouted, “Anyone running could be an assassin! Shoot if you haven’t seen them in the papers!”

The Orderly slammed on the brakes and dropped to the ground, hands over his head.

Gunshots from a distance could be heard, but it was unclear whether it was the guards shooting at people running or an assassin firing at the Emperor.

————

Colonel Belger tossed away his cigarette butt, not bothering to stamp it out, and rushed out of his office, grabbing a passing guard: “What’s going on?”

Guard: “I don’t know, I saw everyone running, so I ran too!”

Colonel Belger released the guard’s shoulder, looking for someone with a higher rank.

At that point, Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand, whom he knew well, came over: “Colonel, please stay in your office, the guards are very tense right now, they might shoot by mistake.”

Colonel Belger: “What happened?”

Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand looked around, leaned in, and whispered, “There was an explosion in His Majesty’s conference room, the details are unclear, the bomb was powerful, attendees are either dead or injured.”

Colonel Belger breathed a sigh of relief, then realized the gravity of the situation and quickly looked at Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand.

The Lieutenant Colonel with a “I knew you were up to no good” expression on his face said, “Well then, stay in your office. If you try to leave the Eagle’s Nest now, you’ll definitely be mistaken for an accomplice and shot full of holes.”

Colonel Belger nodded, turned back into his office, but didn’t immediately close the door. Instead, he held the doorknob and looked back at Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand.

“Close the door. Whatever happens next, neither you nor I can influence it,” said the Lieutenant Colonel.

Colonel Belger closed the door at last.

————

Five minutes earlier, Eagle’s Nest, Operations Room.

“The public wants to see us make some new progress,” the Imperial Propaganda Minister said loudly.

This meeting was not purely military in nature, so it included the Minister of Propaganda, heads of various domestic departments, and numerous advisors to the Emperor.

Attendees also brought their aides, so the maps in the operations room had been completely replaced once, meaning that even if an aide could copy the maps from memory outside, they would only acquire incorrect intelligence.

“All along, the front has been retreating, people are starting to doubt our propaganda,” continued the Minister of Propaganda, “We must have something to excite the masses.”

The Emperor raised his right hand and circled near his temple: “We could have the Imperial Science Department showcase some new weapons. Haven’t our jet planes been ready for combat? And our V2 rockets.”

Minister of Propaganda: “Just showcasing these isn’t enough, the masses care about tangible actions.”

The Emperor: “What about free Champagne distribution? If all of you open your wine cellars, shouldn’t we be able to provide a bottle of Champagne to every citizen of the Empire of Prosen?”

The Marshals and Generals exchanged glances.

Minister of Propaganda: “So, can’t we achieve some ‘miracles’ militarily? Miracles like the Carolingian one! Or something more recent, the Kingdom of Sardinia miracle works too!”

The Emperor: “The Kingdom of Sardinia miracle wasn’t even half a year ago, it’s lost its propaganda effect already?”

“Unless we transfer Erwin Rommel to the Eastern Front now, let him confront Rocossov,” said the Minister of Propaganda, “That way, until the outcome of their confrontation is decided, we can divert the attention of the people from an ever-diminishing vegetable ration.”

The Emperor: “No, that won’t do. I can presently afford to divert troops from the Western Front to the Eastern Front because Erwin is at the Western Front Command. I am leveraging his prestige to deter the United Kingdom and the Federation! After all, they are the ones who have lost to him!

“Our eternal bane has always been the Western Front, Ante is just an inferior race—”

Suddenly, the Emperor stopped.

The whole meeting room fell silent.

“Damn it.” The Emperor dejectedly looked at his own hands, “Even though I have said those words before, saying them again feels so alien.”

At that moment, the door opened, and a Colonel entered the room.

“Sorry, I am late.”

Having said that, he proceeded into the room under everyone’s gaze, circled around the right side of the long conference table, and headed towards the Plathen Emperor.

Since everyone had brought their own aides to this meeting, they all assumed the Colonel was somebody else’s man, and for a moment, no one stopped him.

Suddenly, Giles shouted, “Who’s aide are you? Halt!”

The Colonel immediately threw the briefcase in his hand towards the Emperor: “Long live the glory of the Empire of Prosen!”

Giles leaped onto the conference table, caught the briefcase in midair, and then dashed towards the window with it.

Almost simultaneously, the assassin pulled out a pistol, aiming at the Emperor.

However, to his surprise, he saw the Emperor’s pistol already aimed at him.

The Emperor fired three shots in succession.

The assassin fell backwards, blood spraying from the bullet hole in his forehead, creating a literal fountain of blood.

Overjoyed, the Emperor said to the Minister of Propaganda, “Will the news that I personally killed an assassin be enough to inspire the people?”

Only then did he remember, there was still the briefcase.

He turned his head towards Giles, only to see the silhouette of Giles crashing into the reinforced glass window.

Giles hit the glass, which emitted a bang.

The reinforced industrial glass was unaffected.

Obviously, the reinforced glass was not something that could be broken through by mere flesh.

Then the explosion occurred, a fierce light engulfing everything at the scene.

Seven or eight guards threw themselves down onto the Emperor, protecting him with their bodies.

…

It was unclear how much time had passed when the Emperor was pulled out from underneath the pile of people.

His mind was still in a daze, his ears destroyed by the blast pressure, he could not hear anything.

He looked towards the window and saw that the reinforced glass had finally shattered. All the windows on the west side of the conference room were broken, and the walls between the windows remained, but their surface had been peeled away, revealing the steel bars beneath.

Obviously, given the size of the briefcase, the bomb was extremely powerful.

The Emperor saw the Celtic Marshal being dragged out from under the conference table, his upper body covered in blood—if it was his own blood, the old Marshal was likely done for.

Marshal Rundstedt had disappeared; his seat was opposite the Celtic Marshal, with his back to the explosion.

The Imperial Propaganda Minister had come back from the brink of death, half of his face covered in blood, with medics attending to him.

Doctor Porsche and other scientists were farthest away, so they seemed to be in better shape—luckily, the conference room was big enough, and the table was long enough.

“The treasures of the Empire” were safe, which relieved the Emperor—

Everything is fine, the loss is not big—

No, that’s not right!

The Emperor’s scalp tingled.

He looked again towards the site of the explosion.

The windows were shattered, even the frames were gone, and the majestic snow-capped mountains were visible outside—the Eagle’s Nest, as its name suggested, was built on the peak of the mountain.

The Emperor pushed away the people trying to examine him and tried to move towards the window, but was restrained by more people.

Though he could not hear, he still shouted: “Don’t stop me! Giles! Giles!”

————

Palace of Carefree.

The Plathen Emperor’s sister was reading a book when she suddenly lifted her head and looked at the flowers given to her by Giles.

They were Edelweiss, said to come from the peak of the Alpine Mountains.

The pure white petals silently withered.