Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1620: Chapter 73: No One Sleeps Tonight

At the end of winter in 2064, Fatty stood by the fence of the horse farm at Sars Manor, basking in the sun, watching his Mecha War God Wagstaff on the distant hill using his increasingly advanced Thousand Army Mecha Skill, conquering the members of the universe’s largest superpower’s foremost family.

Everyone stood mesmerized in place, their faces unable to conceal their fascination, shock, excitement, and thrill.

Beside him, Leicht, Carli, and Carey were like this. On a nearby grass-covered slope beside the horse farm, beside several small round tea tables covered with luxurious Beethoven tablecloths, the second generation family members were like this, as were the third generation members further off, including Adolf.

A few years ago, Fatty’s life had no intersection with these people.

Like an otter, he used to live a life of diving to catch oysters, then drifting on the water with companions, chatting easily while pounding oysters with stones. But suddenly, on a sunny day, he collided head-on into a territory of lions he never dreamed to approach.

Getting lions to accept oneself is not an easy task. These two kinds of animals, not on the same level, have a natural gap.

The otter walked into the lions’ territory, using stones to hammer out a path! Since stones can smash oysters, they can naturally smash lions too. Anything with flesh and blood, under stones, is bound to get wounded.

To the outside world, members of the Hastings family are mysterious and lofty. Their identity keeps them enveloped in an aura that cannot be seen through, like gods on Mount Olympus, leaving people to imagine and speculate about their lives.

But in the end, they are human. When drunk, they will vomit; when beaten, they will hurt. When they saw Wagstaff almost wipe out the entire hillside, they too stood up startled, mesmerized, their hearts stirred.

Fatty suddenly recalled an afternoon many years ago.

Back then, he was just an inconspicuous fatty in the eyes of classmates, covered in pale flesh, wearing the cheapest T-shirt and jeans, dripping sweat as he walked into school every scorching afternoon.

At that time, time could be idly squandered.

Like peeping at girls’ bright and bulging chests down the corridor, bragging with classmates, or drooling silly on the desk while sleeping, letting the teacher on the podium spit fiercely.

Or buying a mecha magazine, blowing transparent bubbles fantasizing one day becoming a revered mecha warrior, receiving cheers and admiration from countless beauties.

These ”or”s were always accompanied by worries of how to escape bullying from school toughies. Vowing repeatedly to knock down those who beat him, to win a glorious victory in front of the world, but each time, at the instant the class bell rang, grabbing his school bag and fleeing school.

Childhood ideals, fantasies, even impulses, unknowingly drift away with reality, disappearing at each corner of life’s journey, even forgotten.

The war changed the world and changed himself.

To survive, he frantically crammed things into his mind, desperately punched and kicked in the gravity chamber, ran, gasped, fought furiously on the battlefield!

Life seems to have stepped into a path never imagined or seen before, each step filled with thorns. Unable to see the future, unable to find a way back, following the mountain and water, he stands here.

Unconsciously, he is no longer the fatty who spits behind people’s backs, yells madly, then desperately escapes. Unconsciously, he has many companions by his side, many who quietly leave after walking through unforgettable paths with him.

When the otter uses stones to hammer out a path among lions, those charging figures remain clear, those proud heads still smiling, those passionate words still echoing in the starry sky, those alive still persevere, the deceased remain immortal.

Life, relentlessly around him, once so familiar, looking back, she has already changed beyond recognition.

At Miloke, the responsibility on his shoulders was just for himself and Meiduo Nia’s life.

Now, standing at Sars Manor, while Hastings gradually ages, what he needs to shoulder is the responsibility of the entire Fei Alliance.

Does this damn thing count as being pretentiously audacious?

Wagstaff’s performance continues. Though there is no opponent before him, this top-notch Mecha War God of the Thousand Army Sect only needs a hillside, several big trees, plus ubiquitous sunlight and air, to unleash an imposing aura as if commanding a vast army.

Presumably, no member of the Hastings family would dare stand before him. Whether it’s the composed, sharp-eyed middle-aged in the second generation, or the initially arrogant youths in the third generation.

Fatty occasionally glances back, sees an emaciated old man at the small building’s window sill, holding a file on the bandit army, gazing at him.

Beside him, Old Farley remains hunched, Hei Ge still stands upright like a javelin.

In 2059, Gazalin invaded the Leray Federation, and this war reached its most critical moment.

With Hastings overseeing the Southeast Star Domain, with him leading the bandit army rampaging Leifeng Star, allying with Chuckna to crumble the desperate offensive by Suss and Jiepeng, allowing Fei Alliance to calmly dispatch the fourth batch, even the fifth batch of reinforcements, Sobel surely has received this battle challenge.

The top general of Western Alliance who always wanted to defeat Hastings would not sit idly by as Suss and Jiepeng, these two empires, fail. In Western Alliance, they are two main member states; if they fully retreat in the Southeast Star Domain, the impact to Western Alliance would be catastrophic.

He will gather all forces to have a showdown with Hastings in the Southeast Star Domain.

But the decisive battle will not only be there.

A massacre twenty years ago now appears like a butterfly flapping its wings, rolling fate into a huge storm spanning time and space.

Within this storm, he and Hastings are striving to disperse the fog, seeking the truth. But will humanity’s war end with the revelation of a conspiracy?

That is an unseen, untouchable suspense, and the current Fei Alliance remains fragmented, the Alliance Council, member states, government leaders, generals controlling armies, and media mastering the narrative, still face their country’s populace, scattered amid chaos.

Hastings’ support for the bandit army, the power displayed by the bandit army, and the gradually crystallizing new military alliance among countries in the Southeast Star Domain, threaten the existing system.

Many cannot accept this. When he followed Hastings to Hydefield, who knows how many guns are aimed at his head, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pull the trigger.

The death of President Hamilton marks a beginning.

From that moment, the Feiyang Republic has become a primal jungle. Everyone is attempting to hunt life within this jungle, devour enemies, and enlarge themselves. The apparent order, law, and rules have silently collapsed, and when the explosion at Base 52 rang out, the battle had already begun.

No retreat, no reconciliation, only bloody slaughter.

This is a strange period; the populace, government institutions, and lower military ranks are still within the order of rules. The whole society is peaceful and does not experience any unacceptable upheaval due to Francis’s death. Yet, at the top of this pyramid, the opposing sides have already bared their fangs.

Who will win the presidential election, who can win the military control struggle, who will live to laugh last, who will secure the Fei Alliance Joint Army forces gathered in Aksa, who will attain more support from political parties and corporate financial magnates, who will win the people’s applause and nail their opponent to the pillar of shame?

This is not Hastings’ war. He has lightly flicked his sleeves and become a spectator.

This is the war between myself and Leefer!

When I fiercely beat the Hastings family members, yet received news from Old Fari and Hei Ge, as the sunlight of this day spread across Feiyang, the war drums have already sounded.

Tonight, how many will be unable to sleep!

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”What are you thinking about?” Margaret raised that face which could charm the masses, her green eyes mesmerizing like cat’s eye stones soaking in clear water.

”Having been away from Feiyang for so long, will you miss your friends?” Fatty smiled, looking toward the distant hillside.

Wagstaff’s lone battle had ended with an eighth-level difficulty move. The flying leaves and swirling dust were slowly settling, revealing a rampaging, brash figure.

Members of the Hastings family were clapping, some deep in thought, some chatting with nearby bandit army mecha pilots, while others gazed distantly at me.

Actually, I am just an otter, neither wanting to integrate with them nor conquer them. What I need is merely an identity that allows me to lavishly open fire on another group of lions within these wondrous rules.

”You want to?” Margaret is so perceptive; just a slight thought made her understand Fatty’s intention, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

”It’s rare to return, might as well make some connections,” Fatty carefully recalled the information Hastings gave about those old Feiyang families, raising his brow slightly, ”Young people meeting, needn’t wait for your relatives’ arrangements.”

”I’ll go make a call!” Margaret pulled Ann Lei and swiftly ran toward the small building.

A palm heavily landed on Fatty’s shoulder.

Leicht watched Margaret, who was excited like a little devil waving a fork, and sighed deeply, ”I thought having one little devil in the Hastings family was frightening enough. Didn’t expect you to be even more ruthless.”

Fatty scratched his cheek with his fingers, bewildered, ”I just want to meet a few friends, maybe drink a little wine. Aren’t you joining us?”

”Of course I’m going!” Leicht proclaimed.

”Then it’s settled!” Fatty turned and walked toward Old Fari and Hei Ge emerging from the small building, ”Remember to invite Adolf; I’m not one to hold grudges!”

Leicht watched Fatty’s back, suddenly shivering with a cold chill.

”Brother Leicht,” Carey asked confusedly, ”What does he mean? Don’t we often hold such gatherings?”

”Have you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?” Leicht ruffled Carey’s hair, smiled watching Fatty’s retreating figure, ”You must know there are too many people in Feiyang with too much curiosity about him now. Margaret and he will be the death of many!”

”Why?” Carli quickly asked.

”When you curiously lift someone’s cloak only to discover this person is a devil wielding numerous temptations, do you still have a choice?” Leicht lit a cigarette, leaned against the fence, and said leisurely, ”At least I have no choice. Your sister Diana, Tony, Isaac brother, and Garfield uncle, they have no choice either.”

”Sister Diana! What are they doing now?” Carli shouted.

Leicht exhaled a smoke ring, squinted his eyes, and said blandly.

”They are helping this Fatty kill people!”

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. Wonder if anyone will criticize this Chapter. As I write toward the end, the pace slows, which is inevitable. Too many plot characters, a little faster, and they become superficial. Writing to this point, I particularly need this section of Fatty’s inner monologue.

This allows me and his heart to sync, moving into the next significant plot.

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.(To be continued, to find out more, please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)