Chapter 43, Peaceful Takeover
The deep night fell quietly in the city of Italica, the capital of the Earl of Formal territory. The navy blue curtain slowly spread over the earth, and the stars seemed to be lulling people to sleep... However, in the city of Italica tonight, , many people are destined to experience a rare sleepless night.
Now... what kind of situation should this be?
Sitting in the courtyard of the lord's mansion, looking up from time to time at the floating giant ship hanging high in the night sky, Princess Pinna couldn't help but think with a wry smile.
At this moment, the courtyard, which was originally just a dusty rammed earth ground and not even a lawn, has been transformed into a decent open-air negotiation venue. The ground was covered with a layer of tough cloth of unknown material (Oxford cloth picnic moisture-proof mat) by people from another world. A long table was placed on it, which was moved from an unknown place. The table was also covered with snow-white linen. Artificial flowers, teapots and pastries in rattan baskets were served.
As for the Mobile Suit Gundam still standing in the courtyard, it served as the background and light source of the negotiation venue - the three searchlights located on the head and shoulders of the Gundam were activated at full power, shooting out three bright beams of light, covering half of the The count's palace shone as brightly as day.
Looking out from the open door of the lord's mansion, there are more and brighter dazzling light pillars, projected from the bottom of the alien warship in the sky, slowly moving back and forth in the urban area of Italica City, Every street and alley was illuminated in turn. Many citizens were frightened by this unprecedented and unimaginable sight. They closed their doors tightly and hid in their homes and did not dare to go out. But some bold children sneaked out, curiously chasing the moving light beams, running and playing in the empty and bright streets.
Stop here and return your sight to the open-air negotiation venue in the courtyard of the lord's mansion. At the negotiating table at this moment, members of the Empire side include: Princess Pinna, the leader of the Knights of the Rose, Princess Pinna's female secretary Hamilton Ron, and Chief Instructor Gray Aru who reluctantly plays a role as a think tank. De, the local little lolita lord Miyu Fomar, the captain of the Huang Qiangwei squad who was released by people from another world to spread the word. Marquis Portsais Gobalesti, and Baroness Shirley Pluto Diluhagan, Captain of the Red Rose Squadron, and Baroness Penny Pearl Fleur Galecki, Captain of the White Rose Squadron, The most prominent people in the entire city have now put on their best clothes and are sitting at the negotiating table.
However, the alien negotiators have not yet arrived, making the representatives from the empire anxious to wait.
"...You haven't come yet! This is really...so rude! You have made Her Royal Highness the Princess wait here with us for so long!"
After feeling the cold wind blowing in the courtyard for a long time, Pei Nizhu, the leader of the White Rose Squadron, couldn't help but speak up first, complaining with unusual dissatisfaction.
Like Posais, the captain of the Yellow Rose detachment, Petunia is also a brave and vigorous female knight wearing exquisite armor. She has neat short mousse hair. She wears a white hood over the silver armor and hangs around her waist. With The rapier decorated with a garland, the dashing heroic posture, the awe-inspiring expression and the sharp gaze, subtly seem to be trying to be cool, and the whole person exudes the coolness of the so-called "onee-sama" in shoujo comics.
If a Japanese high school girl who likes this type of cross-dressing star sees it, she will probably scream in admiration with joy.
However, Pei Nizhu, the "sister" in military uniform, is not only good at looking cool, but can actually kill people with a sword...
"...What can we do? The situation is stronger than the people! The weak have to bear the humiliation of the strong. These are a group of guys who can fly!"
Captain Posais of the Huang Qiangwei Squadron, who was released by the aliens to deliver the message, said this in a decadent tone while looking at the alien soldiers standing not far away... Until now, these clothes Wearing simple and ugly green spotted clothes, he looked like an alien soldier of low rank. Except for using strange props (Doraemon's [Bamboo Dragonfly]) to fly down from the battleship in the sky and setting up the negotiation venue, he just stood there motionless. He neither explained anything to the owners of the mansion, nor did he have any intention of saluting noble people like them.
Although these arrogant and rude alien soldiers do not seem to have a very high status and do not seem to have any weapons on them, no one here dares to speak due to the terrifying fleet hanging above their heads. I scolded them for their rudeness and had to sit here and sulk secretly.
——Since ancient times, human society has had such a well-established rule that when gathering for communication or negotiation, the host or the most distinguished person should appear last, so that everyone can patiently wait for him... On the contrary, the loser or Those with low status must enter in advance and wait respectfully for the victor or the strong to be punished - obviously, the empire is now directly placed in the position of loser by the outsiders.
"...Hmph! What's so scary about flying guys? My father once joined the army to defeat the rebellious harpy tribe..."
Captain Pei Nizhu still snorted unconvinced, but did not continue to mess around. She just reached out to get something to eat to quell the fire, but she found that the rattan snack basket holding pastries on the table was unknowingly. It was already mostly empty. And Shirley, the captain of the Red Rose Squadron, who looks quiet and elegant on the outside but is dark and sullen on the inside, is holding a large handful of cakes and eating them with his head down, his mouth full of cake crumbs...
"...Yo! All of us are restless here because of worry, but you, the dragon knight, are having a good time eating?"
Seeing that everyone else was in a state of agitated moods, not even bothering to drink tea and eat cakes, Shirley was enjoying herself, and Petunia suddenly sneered with some displeasure, "...don't you always He said that as a descendant of a dragon knight family, he had to stay in shape and pay attention to his weight. Is it painful to lose weight every three days? Why are you eating so much now? Are you not afraid that you will be so fat that you will weigh down the pterosaur? ”
"...Hey, actually I don't really want to eat that much, but I can't help but have pastries in front of me. I subconsciously want to take a few bites."
Baroness Shirley Pluto Diluhagang, the captain of the Red Rose Squadron who was born in a family of dragon knights, chewed cookies and replied vaguely, "...not to mention, you It’s not that I don’t know, my pterosaur is already dead, drowned by the flood in the imperial capital..."
——Shirley Pluto, Captain of the Red Rose Squadron of the Knights of the Rose, was born in the Teluhagan family, which is famous for its ability to train dragons. Both men and women in the family are all short in stature, so they are very Suitable for dragon riders who have strict weight requirements: the weight-bearing capacity of pterosaurs is incomparable to that of airplanes on earth. Even so, Shirley had to pay attention to weight control, often losing weight, and sometimes even starved to the point of anemia and coma.
However, in the great flood that destroyed the imperial capital, Shirley's pterosaur mount was drowned, and the Rose Knights also lost their only aerial combat capability - although the pterosaur can fly, if it is tied to a chain, it will Being locked up in a dragon's lair with iron bars will be useless even if it encounters a flood.
Obviously, with the current chaotic political situation in the empire, it would be impossible to find another pterosaur for Shirley to ride in a short time. So, after crying for several days, Shirley turned her grief and anger into appetite, and began to overeat all day long, as if to make up for all the food experiences she had missed in order to control her weight. However, within a few months, She has become plump, and if she continues like this, her body shape may develop sideways.
"...Anyway, the cakes are placed in front of you just for eating. If you don't do anything, I will eat them all! Awww!"
Shirley shook a piece of cream wafer biscuit in her hand and declared, "...these snacks from other worlds are really delicious..."
After hearing this, the people at the negotiation table had not bothered to eat properly for most of the day. Others who had been hungry for a long time finally couldn't hold it back anymore. They rushed towards the snack basket one by one and stretched out their hands, blinking like wind and clouds. , divided up all the cakes placed by the aliens, and stuffed them all into their respective bellies... Then, they drank the honey and black tea in the stainless steel thermal teapot in one breath.
Just as Shirley raised the empty teapot and wanted to ask the aliens who had been standing around as screens to refill their cups, the Mobile Suit Gundam standing in the courtyard suddenly played a loud welcome song, and the alien army The negotiators finally entered the scene.
"...I have troubled you all by waiting for a long time. Let us start negotiations now!" As the commander of this armed parade, Wang Qiu greeted him as he took his seat...But none of the imperial representatives at the table He didn't bother to listen to what kind words Wang Qiu said, but the first time he saw the other person, he was dazzled by the luxurious dresses on the representatives of the other world that were full of nouveau riche flaunting their wealth. ……
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Generally speaking, from ancient times to modern times, the uniforms of human officers have generally gone through an evolution process from gorgeous to ordinary.
During the cold weapon age and the early stage of the hot weapon age, the armor of generals and commanders was usually the most conspicuous and gorgeous.
From a positive energy perspective, they need their subordinates who are fighting desperately to know where they are standing at all times, and they need to fight side by side to boost the morale of their subordinates. From the perspective of negative energy, those hard-forged armor plates and gorgeous and dazzling accessories on their bodies only exist for the sole purpose of saving lives on the battlefield. The strong armor can effectively resist various enemy weapons, and the gorgeous appearance can tell the enemy that the guy in front of him dressed in a slutty style is a rich man. Capturing him alive can get a large ransom. If he is killed, he will be killed. Worthless...
——The reason why many Japanese-style armors are so exaggerated, like the gorgeous costumes of samba dancers, is for the latter reason.
However, as the range, power and accuracy of firearms continue to improve, and the form of war becomes more and more brutal and unscrupulous, officers' uniforms gradually become indistinguishable from ordinary soldier uniforms, especially among "snipers" After the emergence of this profession, it became increasingly difficult to recognize at a glance who was a second lieutenant and who was a general on the battlefield - however, the military uniforms worn by the generals at the ball were as gorgeous as ever.
However, in the different world on the other side of the "door", military technology is far from developed to this extent. The dignitaries of the Falmat continent are still accustomed to judging a person's status by the gorgeousness of their clothes and accessories, and they never pay attention to low-key luxury, but advocate flamboyance and grandeur, and they wish they could wear all their belongings on them. ——In the original work of "Fantasy Self-Defense Forces", a Japanese general wore a sloppy combat uniform to meet the imperial envoy. As a result, he was so seriously slighted that he almost couldn't come to Taiwan...
In view of this, Wang Qiu and others said: Isn't it just showing off? You can't even pretend to be cool in front of the natives, so what kind of time traveler do you think you are?
So, when the negotiations started, Wang Qiu put on a special military uniform for the captain of the urban management brigade from another world that he tinkered with. It was based on a Japanese naval officer's white uniform from the World War II plane, with purple and Silver embroidery, gold epaulettes and tassels. Hanging from his waist is a handicraft long sword inlaid with colorful gems. Its shape is based on the "legendary holy sword" used by heroes to kill the devil in anime. The chest is covered with all kinds of medals: there are medals issued by the Chinese government in the modern world, there are also Soviet medals and Japanese medals obtained from the World War II plane, and there is also a medal issued by the Indian government in the real world—— After all, Wang Qiu got such a big piece of gold for the Indians. The gold from the cosmic monster's skin and bones exploded the treasury of the Indian Federation in an instant. He had to give him a medal to thank him... All in all, after looking at him in the mirror, Wang Qiu felt that his outfit was totally acceptable. I tried to play the role of Prince Charming in the fairy tale on stage.
And Levi, the former paladin of the Knights Hospitaller, also put on a specially customized outfit, a set of colorful and beautiful ultra-luxury full-body armor - all the armor plates have gilt or painted edges. , the armor pieces on the shoulders and chest are also made of various colored reliefs using cloisonné technology, with themes It is made of small and dense flowers and grass leaves, and is inlaid with many flying and playing butterflies using relief techniques. The center of the helmet is decorated with a golden eagle with spread wings, and on both sides are gilt laurel branches, and are also inlaid with fine emeralds. , rubies and sapphires, the whole is an excellent craft. Coupled with the white cloak with a cross and a garland embroidered with gold thread on the back of the armor, it is really a "holy light", and the level of force is beyond compare.
Political Commissar Guo also changed into a military uniform and hung up his medals, medals and commemorative medals, but he insisted on not agreeing to add some inexplicable decorations. Director Ma, who serves as the "Supervisory Army", is still wearing his woolen winter suit, but he still listens to Wang Qiu's advice and inserts an extra gem brooch, hangs a large medal on his chest, and changes to a pair of gold ones. The silk-rimmed glasses finally have some style.
Even Ma Tong, who is always crazy, dressed up extra carefully this time. In order to wear as much gold and silver jewelry as possible without appearing pretentious, she unexpectedly changed into the embroidered colorful clothes and embroidered skirts of Miao girls inlaid with golden phoenixes, and then hung up all kinds of jewelry. The hair is covered with shiny gold and silver ornaments and crystal colorful jewelry. At first glance, it looks like a gleaming mobile jewelry store...
——According to Ma Tong’s words, their delegation is a super mix and match combination of anime style exaggerated military uniforms + Japanese fantasy style brave knight armor + normal version of ordinary military uniforms + modern suits + luxury version of Miao women’s national costumes. And it is full of the vulgar style of the nouveau riche... However, in the eyes of the indigenous people of the Falmat continent, such a series of luxurious and exaggerated costumes indeed have a respectable effect. Then, amidst the silence from the empire, Wang Qiu took out a document and threw it on the table, announcing the final result of the negotiation in an arrogant tone: "...Before starting the negotiation, I need to make a statement first, dear princess Your Highness, we are not here to negotiate with you now. You are no longer the regent of the empire. In fact, you do not have the equal qualifications to negotiate with us. Open diplomatic negotiations. Therefore, this time, we are announcing to you the policy of peaceful takeover of the Earldom of Formar and the city of Italica. The specific terms are in this document, and there is no room for change. We also hope to pass it. Through your channels, report this matter to your Senate and Emperor, and send a diplomatic delegation that can really make the decision..."