After getting off the train, the three of them came to a very ordinary neighborhood in Zhongchao. As soon as they left the station, Hayes saw a station built by the Ministry of Military Affairs using temporary containers. Many people lined up here to use enlistment notices, death notices and other information to obtain the qualification to exchange death pensions, but it was just qualifications. Because Hayes heard that the pension process was very long, the Expedition Commander seemed to set high standards, but many people thought that it was too cumbersome and troublesome, and needed to pass a large number of procedures from the Ministry of Military Affairs' Internal Affairs. Therefore, many people would rather choose a lower standard but can get the cash pension immediately.
When Hayes walked past the crowd near the site, he saw a middle-aged couple communicating with the military clerk who was yawning constantly. When the man saw someone coming, he seemed to have been stolen money, and his whole face emitted a foul stench.
"Is there anything wrong?"
His voice was so lazy that it seemed to drive away flies.
The man in the worker's uniform nervously took off his hat, bent down slightly, and said with sadness:
"My son is fighting on the front line."
"Hmm, then what?"
"He's not back."
"It seems that he has been lingering in some scenic spot."
"He died."
"oh?"
“Let’s get the pension.”
"Who is your son?"
"His name is Martinus Fal."
"Well, let's assume he's really dead, how do you prove that he's your son?"
"He is my son, you look at the population registration form."
The clerk's mouth was almost pursed in a line, but he still took out the data board, pretended to flip it a few times, and then said:
"Is your son not in the recruitment record?"
"How could it be?"
"So what about the enlistment notice? This is evidence, has it been brought?"
"No, our son was almost forced to be conscripted at that time. He left in a hurry and we received nothing."
"I'm sorry, you can't get the pension."
"It shouldn't be like this."
The man's wife then begged, but the clerk was not moved at all.
"I tell you, I have seen many liars like you. Either they are tramps sleeping on the streets stolen an identity and want to cheat the empire's subsidies, or they are lazy and have a son out of nothing."
"But he is indeed my son!"
"My son is a warrior loyal to the throne, you can't insult him like this."
The man was immediately excited, which attracted the attention of the guards around him and gradually walked over.
"Sir, we are in a difficult situation now. We still have two daughters to raise. Please give us some pensions. We must at least hold a decent funeral for our son."
"It's shameful to use the martyrs who sacrificed themselves to cheat."
"You actually!"
Before the excited man could move, two guards holding shock sticks appeared on both sides of the clerks. The activated weapons made a crackling sound. The woman immediately pulled her husband and shook her head in tears.
"Get out of here! Or you will be arrested as fraudsters!"
After watching the whole process, Hayes was already furious. He gritted his teeth and unconsciously pressed the hidden pistol in his lower back with his right hand, but even though Jialina held him down.
"Hays, don't be impulsive..."
However, the clerk's arrogance also aroused public anger, and people around him cursed, forming a huge momentum, and even the two guards subconsciously retreated.
In the end, under the huge pressure of public opinion, the clerk had to compromise.
"Then, do you have a death notice?"
"some."
The man carefully took out a thin piece of paper from his pocket with his trembling hands. The clerk took it and glanced at it, then said helplessly:
"If there is no enlistment notice, you can only receive half of the standard pension at most. This is a quota, and you can go to Site No. 9 to handle it."
After writing a line of words casually and poking them again, the clerk threw the small note into the man's hand.
"Just leave quickly after you finish it! Next!"
The couple left helplessly in the end. Hayes felt very uncomfortable and Andina, who was standing beside him, also complained:
"I asked these bastards several times when you didn't come back a few days ago. They said that they were still counting, or they were talking nonsense like 'currently missing'. The death notices were flying all over the sky, and I don't know whether you were dead or alive."
The three of them then left. Hayes followed the address and after asking several people in a row, he came to a three-story cement building. At this time, the most ordinary house in this block was already a very luxurious building in the bottom nest.
The mahogany door was closed tightly, and Hayes walked to the window and looked inside. He saw a woman preparing lunch under the dim light. She looked in her forties, wearing a black shawl on her shoulder, so peaceful and kind.
Hayes then walked to the door and rang the doorbell.
"Wait...yes-"
Soon, the door opened and the woman was stunned for a moment, then noticed the regular clothes Hayes was wearing, and then looked at the two ladies behind him. They were dressed in a more regular manner and looked like people with some identities.
The woman's expression was immediately a little nervous. She might have thought she was an agency staff member of the empire.
"Hello, madam, my name is Hays, I... Jung's comrade-in-arms."
Hearing Jung's name, the woman's face turned pale instantly, and her eyes began to turn red.
"Who?"
At this time, another man's voice came, and then he walked down the stairs a man in a sweater with slightly gray hair, about fifty years old.
The woman turned around and choked:
"It's Jung's...comrades-in-arms..."
"ah."
The man was stunned at first, then walked over and shook hands with Hayes.
"Hello, my name is Joffrey. Are you really Jung's comrade?"
Hayes turned around, took an expedition manual from Jialinna, and handed it over to the couple.
After they opened it and looked for a few seconds, their faces and their hands trembled due to sadness, and tears of melee fell from their slightly closed eyes. In the end, the woman could not bear it. She knelt on the ground with her face covering her face and started crying.
"Jung, mom, I'm sorry... Mom... Woo... Sorry... Sorry..."
Jialinna and Andina hurriedly went up to support each other, and the man kept wiping his tears. He didn't even have the courage to see the end. After closing it, he asked Hayes with a sob:
"Jung's last..."
"Jung, he sacrificed like a hero, he is my bravest, sincerest and selfless comrade-in-arms."
Joffrey nodded, wiped away tears with the back of his hand, and then hugged his wife.
"Liss, Jung is our pride."
The woman shook her head vigorously and cried:
"We pushed him to the battlefield! We killed him! Jung! Woo woo woo--"
Then, she reached out and grabbed Hayes's hand.
"Jung...Where is Jung's body?"
Hayes lowered his head slightly, then took out a nameplate from his pocket that was burnt to half of it. Looking at the nameplate, Jung's mother was stunned at first. After realizing something, she stretched out her trembling hands and grabbed it in her hands.
Chapter completed!