Bloody Heart

Sure enough, Paul did as he said, and did not stop his steps.Not long after the "East Wind and West Wind" speech, Wang Yao turned against Paul because he was dissatisfied with Paul's increasing control over him, and the seemingly solid relationship between the two parties completely broke down at an alarming speed.The breakdown of the relationship with Wang Yao made Paul feel that his expansion in Asia/Asia was hindered, so in order to serve the goal of world hegemony, he set his sights further afield.

It happened that at this time, Alfred had a little bit of friction with his neighbor.In fact, in Paul's view, the cause of the friction was not a serious issue of principle, or even a major issue. It was simply Alfred's overreaction, which forced his neighbor to seek assistance from other forces.But now that this was the case, there was no point in reminding Alfred, not to mention that Paul was the last one to do it—it was his socialist camp that the neighbor turned to for help.

Since someone took the initiative to defect, is there any reason not to accept it?He accepted this new friend who came to his door without any obstacles.

In his eyes, this new friend has extraordinary value.It’s not about how rich his resources are. In fact, as a small island country, the only product Cuba sells is low-quality sugar, and most of the pitifully small trade is controlled by Alfred. Happy, the economic lifeline may be cut off at any time.But what Paul values ​​most is his geographical location——Central/America/America, Canada/Caribbean, which Alfred called, and indeed can be called——Alfred’s "backyard".

Backyard fire, that's the right way to die for you, low-intelligence animal.Paul stared at the map, thinking happily.

Alfred was unresponsive in this matter. When he found out that someone was doing something in his backyard, the other party's work was almost done.Although Alfred always behaved out of character on weekdays, he never dared to be sloppy when it came to serious matters, especially such serious matters related to his life.He immediately arranged for a reconnaissance plane, analyzed the information brought back by the reconnaissance plane very efficiently, and quickly came to a conclusive conclusion——Paul Braginsky is deploying beside him, which is the most disgraceful thing in the world today. missile nuclear weapons.

Alfred couldn't sit still immediately. "Paul Braginsky what the fuck are you doing?! Deploying missiles so close to me—" he even forgot the self-proclaim that Arthur repeatedly mocked, "—you're talking to me Are you threatening war!!"

However, Paul's response was very calm, and with a pure smile: "It's not a threat of war, low-intelligence animals, it's just a defensive deployment."

Damn calm!A hypocritical smile that deserves to be punched!Alfred took off his glasses and put them on the table, his wrists trembling slightly because of anger. "Defensive?" he repeated through gritted teeth, "HERO, what is there in front of my house that you should defend? If you really think so, then—" he sneered, "does it still mean that your subconscious Do you think war is inevitable, Mister Tyrant?"

Paul laughed twice, spread his hands innocently, and his eyes were full of bitterness: "Don't just blame me, you are deploying the same thing in Europe and Turkey every day. Aiming at my heart every night, have you forgotten?"

Alfred slammed the table heavily and stood up, the blue eyes that lost the shade of the lens no longer had the warmth and brightness of the South Pacific/Ping/Ocean, and became sharp and dangerously eager to try: "Very good, it seems that we all Already well-prepared for war! Since you have nuclear weapons, so do I," he grinned, making a gesture of pressing a button, "shall we stop threatening each other?"

The people who have been silent since just now finally realized that if these two people are not stopped, the disaster that will destroy all mankind may really happen to them.

Arthur quickly grabbed/caught Alfred's hand that was pressing the button in the air: "Alfred, keep calm. This kind of thing can't be raised lightly, even as a threat—"

Francis also stood up all of a sudden, and took a step forward to block Alfred: "Little Al, the guy in front of you is a lunatic who can do anything."

However, Alfred looked beyond their blond hair and stared at the enemy opposite.After Paul heard Alfred's words that were no less than a gauntlet, he slightly lowered his eyes as if weighing the pros and cons, and hadn't made a clear reaction yet.He looked calmer, but hopefully this time - when Alfred's convulsions came - his nerves would be a little more normal, Arthur thought.

It's a pity that when Paul raised his head, what he saw in his eyes was exactly the same expression as Alfred's, and the red and gold eyes were so dangerously infiltrated by this expression: "Okay! The 'things' I've accumulated over the years...are all prepared for you!"

The terrifying cloud wrapped the world tightly in an instant, on the verge of suffocation.

After such a conversation, every minute of silence feels like the last tension before the end.The parties immersed in the wrestling couldn't see it at all. The whole world sandwiched between them was already trembling and silent under the threat of destruction.Fortunately, not everyone lost the courage to speak.There are always one or two who dare to hit the muzzle of the gun when the whole world is worried that the doom will come to them in advance.

Ivan is one of those few people, but what he thinks is not the grand wish of justice such as maintaining world peace, but he just thinks that the worst result will not benefit himself or Paul, so until the situation is already on the verge of breaking out, Still looking for the possibility of recovery.His cold, powerful reason, lacking in passion, was at its best in this critical moment.

However, not everyone around him can ruthlessly separate himself from the incident like him, analyze the pros and cons before making a choice.At least the person he intends to persuade will never be able to do so.This means that the process of "persuasion" is bound to be accompanied by quarrels.

"...In any case, this move of yours is full of eagerness for quick success, and it is extremely stupid." Ivan mercilessly refuted the practice of arranging missiles in Alfred's backyard, thinking that the next step would be nothing more than Like every time in the past, he disagreed with Paul, but he didn't expect to break the Soviet's tight nerves in recent days.

"Eager for quick success?" Paul repeated his words without emotion, suddenly showing a distorted look, and tightened his scarf: "--what do you know!!"

Ivan was startled by him, and couldn't help taking a small step back.The Soviet strode forward without any hesitation, and approached Ivan's face. His gentle and decent mask was torn to pieces and thrown aside: "What do you know? You only know how to criticize! How do you know what a huge condemnation I will face after becoming an alliance?" And how tightly blocked/locked, how do you know how difficult my socialist camp is in today's world? Alfred with a rich West - Arthur, Francis, Ludwig, that A bunch of capitalist bastards - and there are only a bunch of poor poor countries behind me! If I can't win the hegemony with Alfred, you know what I and my camp will face next? It's destruction! It's perpetual death! You and I and everyone—not immune—will perish!"

Ivan's throat was tightened, and he saw the eyes of the other party who were close at hand, filled with a madness mixed with despair.In it he read fear—fear of the future.It dawned on him that he had been ignoring it: the Soviets were afraid.After discovering this point, he suddenly felt a little enlightened, and he suddenly knew the reason for some stubborn crux that he couldn't understand before.Paul has seen the reality of being under heavy siege, and unlike Nikita's sentimentality, he clearly foresees what kind of future he will encounter if this continues, and feels deep fear because of that future.

But he is the Soviet, fear has always only made him face the difficulties, he is afraid, so he wants to break through.So he wants to expand—to control more and more resources, to make himself stronger and stronger, and to gain the upper hand in the competition with Alfred—he thinks that in this way, he can prevent the thing that scares him from actually happening.So what he did, coincidentally, was exactly what Nikita expected.

The strength of holding his scarf suddenly weakened, and Ivan saw the dangerous madness in the strange-colored eyes gradually disappear in the dizziness of brain hypoxia, replaced by a strong unwillingness to float up. "I am the ideal, Lucia, don't forget, I am the ideal of you and thousands of people - how can I perish so easily? Is it because I started fighting with Alfred, so you all Forgot, or did you think I forgot? No, I remember." His eyes fell on the star badge on Ivan's chest, a little blank, "Because I don't remember this all the time, so I Reminding myself all the time - I, have to win - not for me, but for - that thing we call 'faith'..."

——I must win, at all costs, at every inch of profit, just for—the sages who once guided me and led me, and the allies who rely on me and trust me now— Just to bring you the perfect world I promised.

——Because I am your ideal.

Ivan looked at the young man with his head slightly lowered and complex expression in front of him, and suddenly felt a thump in his heart.At this moment, the time is reversed, and the memories are reversed. He saw that on the night of 1/9/2/9, people sang their ideals with tears in their eyes, the grand theater was lit up by the stars, and the same young man bent slightly to reflect the bright lights of the stars. Eyes reached out to him.

As long as I promise, I will make it come true.His words were still ringing in his ears, and Ivan remembered every slightest expression and tone of his at that time. He thought that maybe he fell in love with this young man at that time—this bright, radiant young alliance, with ideals and passions in his eyes. Hope; that was the treasure that Ivan had lost in time, the missing piece of his own soul that he found in this young man.

Now he smiled softly from the bottom of his heart. "It's great that you still remember it." Even if time has smoothed the corners of the gemstone, it still hasn't lost its brilliance.And that brilliance is precisely what Ivan cherishes the most, and has racked his brains over the years to maintain it in his own way.

"It's just that you should notice that confrontation is not the only way to achieve your goal," Ivan said.

Hearing this, Paul's expression turned cold. "This is war," he said stubbornly, "a war that started years ago. There is no other way to win."

Ivan frowned: "Even if the price is to destroy the entire world? What's the point to you?"

"..." Soviet was speechless for a moment.But he still said stubbornly: "If I want to compromise with Alfred, it is impossible! I have finally won an ally who is close to him, and I will never give up!"

The conversation came back to square one.After the two had a fruitless dispute, Ivan ended the failed persuasion: "Since you are determined not to compromise, then only I will negotiate with Alfred for you. For you , What a great pity." As if every disagreement between them ended in a semi-forced compromise by one side to the other—Ivan thought bitterly as he turned around.

■

Alfred still felt a little inexplicable when he received the letter, because the letter was full of official affairs, but it was sent to his private mailbox, and because although the letter talked about official affairs, it also stood on the standpoint of the Soviet Union , but it is not quite the same as the official tone; the most inexplicable thing is that he didn't figure out who wrote the letter to him until the end.When he saw the last paragraph, his eyes widened in disbelief.

The writer thanked him for his calm and restraint so far (Alfred wondered where he had shown "calm" and "restraint"), and said that he would Five days arrived at him for a meeting with him in order to resolve the crisis.Most importantly, the letter was signed by Ivan Braginsky.

Alfred's eyeballs were about to pop out.The other party actually took the initiative to send someone to negotiate after he and Paul openly broke up, and even sent Ivan to come in person... Which song is this singing? !

But no matter how much he muttered in his heart, the person who should be picked up had to be picked up, and what had to be talked about had to be talked about.Five days passed quickly, and Ivan arrived as scheduled. Alfred thought that this was the third time Ivan visited him since they knew each other for hundreds of years, and the number of times he himself went to Ivan's place was also very few. , can not help but some subtle frustration.

Ah, the number of times we meet is so small, it's a ghost if you can catch up.Alfred deserted depressedly.

But what made him even more depressed was yet to come.He originally thought (from the letter) that Ivan's attitude was milder, and he should be more talkative, and that he would be able to make the other party make concessions and solve the problem; he didn't expect the most important thing that Ivan mentioned to him after he came. The thing is to have him withdraw his missiles from Turkey in exchange for Paul withdrawing from Cuba.

"This...impossible!" Alfred took off his glasses and rubbed his face irritably, "Yes, I know that the meeting between you and me is private, but don't you have to report to your respective superiors after the meeting? Your request will definitely be rejected by my superiors, there is no need to report it..." It's so hard to see my sweetheart but keep three/sentences/talks away from business and have to fight tit for tat—it's really good Annoying! !

But Ivan didn't seem to feel Alfred's manic emotions at all, and said indifferently: "If you are willing to explain my reasons to your boss, I believe he will consider it carefully. As long as you agree Withdraw from Turkey/Turkey, the Soviets will immediately withdraw all missiles deployed in Cuba/Pakistan, dismantle/remove all bases, and return peace to your backyard.”

"..." Alfred had been tortured physically and mentally exhausted (largely by himself), and finally nodded weakly, "Okay, okay, I'll talk to my boss, but I don't promise any results .”

Ivan nodded without any pressure: "Thank you very much. Also, please don't forget to tell your boss that the premise of everything is that you must cancel the sea blockade immediately."

"...Okay. Please also tell that communist tyrant to stop all his petty actions under my nose. HERO, I am not blind..." Alfred said a little angrily at the end.

"Don't talk about him like that!" Ivan interrupted Alfred with some displeasure, and then realized that he was negotiating, and explained calmly: "I am his alliance republic, you are in front of me It's not appropriate to say that. In short, I will pass on your words and look forward to the results of your superior's consideration. I'm leaving." After finishing speaking, he got up and planned to leave.

Alfred clenched his fists on his knees behind him.

"Why did this happen?" He stood up, looked down at the ground, his eyes were blocked by the shadow cast by the brow bone, and he couldn't see clearly, "Russia... since when did you really regard yourself as his alliance republic Is it? You are obviously an empire, and you have implemented the same system as ours for hundreds of years, how could it be possible for decades to...!"

Ivan glanced at him inexplicably: "The current objective fact is that I am the main body of the Soviet union. Is there any doubt about this?"

Alfred punched the table hard. "I know! I know that you are his political base, his raw material warehouse, his factory, and the main part of his territory—I just don't know when you became so single-minded? Obviously you and him should be Opinions are different! It is obvious that he took your position, so you should want to kill him! But now it is your turn to negotiate with me in order to defend his interests and smooth things over for him... Sure enough, it is only because of the same national interests Is it..." While speaking, Alfred remembered that the reason Ivan had rejected him was because their national interests were different, so the end of the sentence was unconsciously tainted with a strong sense of frustration, which made it impossible to ignore.

"...Why do you care so much about this kind of thing." There was a faint sigh in Ivan's words.

The HERO of the world showed a smile that was uglier than crying. "Because you are...very important to me."

■

When the plane landed in Moscow, Ivan did not expect that Paul would come to pick him up.The relationship between the two of them has completely froze because of this incident, and even the possibility of superficial restoration like before no longer exists.When Ivan left Mo/S/Ko, he thought that probably Paul would never listen to any of his advice, so he would try his best to help him this last time.But now that Paul appeared at the airport, Ivan felt a faint hope that maybe things were not so bad.

Unfortunately he was wrong.All the way from the airport to K/R/M/Lin/Gong, Paul never smiled at him, or even looked him in the eye, but asked: "What results did the talks achieve?"

This was the situation Ivan expected, but he still felt a little sad when he saw it.But he covered it up very well: "Meet my expectations. You withdraw the missiles and launch systems - it is not necessary to say - Alfred lifts the sea blockade / blockade, and withdraws from Turkey / Turkey, only But it's a secret."

Paul frowned. "Why did I withdraw publicly, but he secretly?"

Ivan said: "He said it to take into account the feelings of his European/European allies. Anyway, in terms of the final facts, you have not suffered too much. Cuba/Cuba is not your sphere of influence."

Pavel didn't speak, but Ivan could see that he gritted his teeth.

After a long while, Paul's voice sounded indifferently in his ears: "Do you know? Your meddling 'help' this time is especially like a mother who is worried about her toddler."

Mind your own business——When Ivan heard this comment, he couldn't help but feel that he had received a heavy blow.He himself knows best that from the first five-year plan on 1/9/2/9, everything he does is for the person around him.Instead of being grateful at all, the other party accused him of taking too much control.Because when he was young, he couldn't understand how an empire that had lived for thousands of years looked at the world, nor could he understand the seemingly cruel choices made by the will of the country under absolute cold rationality.Not only could he not understand it, he could not even bear it.Just like a sunflower that loves sunlight cannot grow in a world of ice and snow, an idealist cannot accept that reality has tarnished his beliefs a little.

idealism.The most precious, most powerful, yet most fragile, most meaningless thing in him.

idealism.This is what can make him and what can destroy him.

"I just don't want you to destroy yourself." When Ivan said this, he was sure that Paul would frown again.

Sure enough, it came true. "I won't." The young man said stubbornly.

Ivan smiled palely.I also hope that you will not usher in such a result, because you are so important to me.

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It's the weekend again, let's update w

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