"Equipment." Silver Sablinova, clad in a silver-white, form-fitting combat suit, dragged a chair over and sat down comfortably, her lazy posture squarely facing the desk—and the superior seated behind it.
Though Silcaria's language differs somewhat from Latveria's, she didn't turn on the earpiece in her ear for real-time translation, because the language used in the administrative department was Latin. Solomon had never faced the commander of the Wild Warband in any guise other than that of an administrator; perhaps that was the only reason she could relax in front of him—Silver Sablinova had never confronted the crushing pressure of that power armor in person.
In Silver Sablinova's eyes, the man now sitting behind the desk was a tall, burly scholar with glasses and calloused hands—the image of Solomon most Latverians were used to seeing.
A somewhat strict teacher.
Few leaders in this world were as close to the people as Victor von Doom and Solomon, because they would truly go into the streets to swat the rumps of mischief-makers, share dinner with the workers building the starport, and explain to them why the Unified Truth preached during the day actually mattered.
The Eternal City had started feeding Latverians well; civilian commerce was spontaneously recovering. It was the perfect time to get Latverians to fully accept the Unified Truth. Solomon and Victor personally went among the people to observe how the public received the preachers and the Unified Truth. Perhaps because of the war, acceptance among Latverians was generally good—especially in the capital and surrounding regions, where many civilians had seen Solomon with their own eyes. But not everyone grasped the meaning of the Unified Truth. Many outside the capital had minds shackled by religious superstition and backward customs—particularly in Transylvania, which had merged without experiencing war. The Eternal City even had to provide armed protection for preachers and teachers going deep into the Transylvanian countryside.
These unseen enemies could not be wiped out in one fell swoop with artillery and laser rifles. Since the end of the civil war, new legal codes had been promulgated daily, crossing swords with these enemies through pen and speech. As broadcast and communications equipment across Latveria gradually came back online, the Eternal City—now in full control of the propaganda channels—had basically won the information war. Yet things did not proceed smoothly all the way; at some point a sudden turn came—because a teacher sent to requisition a church in a village for a school was brutally murdered, and the locals stirred up a small-scale rebellion. Victor von Doom immediately dispatched fifty gene-enhanced warriors to conduct an operation that left no survivors. Those cold-blooded warriors faithfully completed their task; all traces of the village were erased.
From that moment on, even the most stubborn, religion-entrenched remote villages grew quiet; the work of preachers and teachers went much more smoothly, and Victor von Doom became, in the hearts of the common folk, the toughest and most fearsome ruler. But most people didn't know that this order had come from the Eternal City's highest office; the person who made the decision was not Victor von Doom—because command over all gene-enhanced warriors remained in the hands of a single person, and not even he had direct command authority.
"I'm not saying the gear you gave us is bad. In fact, the helicopters and armored vehicles you provided are already enough. But learning to use this hardware takes time. If we don't know the range, accuracy, and blast radius of the artillery, how are we supposed to conduct strikes? We're not military academy cadets—we can only learn by reading the manuals as we go. And the laser rifles—while they're very handy, my friends still prefer solid-projectile weapons like the explosive guns." Silver Sablinova's argument had zero persuasive power—like people didn't know she'd come here in a light armored vehicle, her favorite ride, the Legislator. Even the snot-nosed brats playing by the door of the administrative building knew which armored vehicle bore the silver marten crest.
While other girls were still fretting over pimples and exams, Silver Sablinova was playing with guns in war zones. She had a natural affinity for many weapons and, under her father's guidance, mastered numerous highly destructive professional skills, including but not limited to piloting aircraft and armored vehicles, stealth assassination, ultra-long-range sniping, and improvised explosive fabrication. The Eternal City's equipment had dramatically overhauled her skillset.
She loved the current atmosphere in Latveria: everything was vibrant, everyone hopeful for tomorrow. Her comrades felt the same. Being a mercenary in Europe or America and not taking dirty jobs wasn't exactly pleasant. To uphold the principles on which her father founded the Wild Warband, she had to work hard to feed everyone. The Eternal City's engagement with the Wild Warband began in eastern Ukraine, and Silver Sablinova agreed to their terms because she had seen the Eternal City genuinely help many people.
It wasn't until the Latverian civil war broke out that Silver Sablinova realized the power the Eternal City had shown in Eastern Europe was just the tip of the iceberg. Although the Warband faced a complete restructuring of its economic model to align with the Eternal City, they had zero resistance to a full rearmament in the face of such a quantity of advanced gear—they were more than happy to accept it. Before joining Latveria, Silver Sablinova's carry kit was a pistol, fragmentation grenades, and a sniper rifle. Now it had become a laser sidearm, a monomolecular combat knife, plasma grenades, and a precision marksman laser rifle. The Eternal City's R\&D department even built this upgraded silver-white combat suit just for her. In combat mode, it provided excellent optical camouflage and concealment—treatment afforded to very few.
It was all worth it. The Wild Warband deserved that gear, and the research department wasn't worried about traitors selling weapons to foreign states—not only because the tech was too advanced to copy easily, but also because the Warband was trustworthy. Restoring order required immense effort and cost. As one of the few in Latveria with rich combat experience, the Wild Warband's advanced equipment allowed them to efficiently eliminate resistance groups and armed gangs within the country, freeing the administrative departments to improve livelihoods, deploy personnel to build public infrastructure around cities, and set up various factories.
The Wild Warband also cooperated with the Latverian regular army to evacuate residents from combat zones in batches. The administrative department would build homes near selected starport construction sites and issue supplies and communications devices. But because the current Latverian regular army was too small and uneven in experience, the Warband bore the brunt of this work. Sending short-term trained recruits to clear mines would be utterly irresponsible.
"Ordinary people can only use the M50 model. The medical department will not treat for free the comminuted fractures caused by stupidity and overestimating oneself. The Principles of Biotech Prosthetic Transplantation make it clear—if your friends want to game the system to get free body-part replacements, that's absolutely not happening." Solomon set down his fork and picked up a pen to sign an application from the Eternal City. He signed Victor von Doom's name—his ability to mimic handwriting was beyond doubt. In fact, he had once entertained the idea of forging famous paintings and auctioning them to raise funds for the Eternal City, but he'd abandoned it in the end—it was far too disgraceful.
"The next batch of new equipment training will be added to the curriculum five days from now. It's a man-portable nuclear fusion weapon with anti-armor capability—enough to meet the needs of military and police units."
"More new gear?" The sudden delight lit up Silver Sablinova's face.
"Strictly speaking, it's miniaturized industrial equipment." Solomon was pleased as well. "The following order won't be put on paper, but you need to remember it. Latveria doesn't need any superheroes. If any superhero enters our borders in the name of keeping the peace, use fusion weapons against them."
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.
Every 5 reviews = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.