Nietzsche once said - Those who fight with beasts must be careful not to become beasts. If you stare long enough into the abyss, the abyss will stare back into you.
Hate can change a person, and sometimes, even make you become the kind of person you hate.
The marshal knew this, but he didn't care. Even disgusting changes were better than going with the flow.
The story about him is not very pleasant, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most tragic of the reverse crosses.
For the first thirty-five years of his life, the marshal's name was Brian Martin. When Martin was a child, his family's circumstances were very ordinary. Although they were not starving, they were not wealthy either. He was admitted to university but did not study. There are many cases in the world where poor students voluntarily give up their admission opportunities due to financial constraints. Besides, his grades are not top-notch, so no one cares.
That year, Martin was nineteen years old. His ideal was the same as that of most young people. Through his own efforts, he could one day become like those nobles and royal families, with a house, a car and savings, and take the trouble of young women who had fallen into trouble as a job. A noble career that will be pursued until retirement age.
But the reality is very cruel. Some people don’t have to do anything and have realized Martin’s ideal before they are nineteen years old. Others work hard until they are forty-nine, live in second-hand houses and drive second-hand cars. She has a lot of savings but no loans, and the daughter-in-law she married was a delinquent young woman who was harmed when she was young.
In short, after Martin walked out of campus, he went to find a job. The work was very hard and the pay was low, and his social status was also very low. As for his future... he could see his future every time he closed his eyes.
Enter the front door of a toy factory where Martin works. What I saw was not a factory, but a semi-free museum. As a sunset industry, toys and toys were marginalized by their useless positioning as a material cultural heritage. You know, children these days will play with tablets before they learn how to speak. Who still plays with those plastic things? Therefore, toy factories rarely make traditional toys themselves because there is simply no demand.
Even so, the toy factory is still profitable. Because there is still one type of toy that can be sold, and that is the figurines, which are expensive and are aimed at the youth and adult market, and the profits are quite huge. It's just a copyright issue. It must be authorized by the comic company to produce, and the final distribution form of the strictly limited profit chain is like...a big cake. The comic company was busy and came to eat up the cake; the cream was given The "relevant departments" should be respectful, even though they basically did nothing. But who gave them the power to make you unable to do anything? The original author only got a cherry on the cake, but he was only one person, so he didn't have much appetite and endured it. Who knows that the cherry has not yet been put into the mouth. The relevant authorities came over and took a bite, then spit it out to the original author. Tell him this is called tax. When this good show is going on. The toy factory that produces the most work and output is chewing candles and playing.
After working for four years, Martin became a lot more realistic. He began to realize that his former ideals were naive and would never be realized based on the current situation. Originally, his life was just like this, ordinary, don't get into any trouble, and it would not be a problem to make ends meet. It happened that when he was twenty-three years old, something happened.
One day, Martin was walking on the street, and a familiar voice sounded: "Hey! Brian!" Martin looked back and recognized Campbell at a glance. Campbell was Martin's classmate in elementary school, and the two have always been in the same class. In high school, Campbell went to schools in other cities, and the contact between the two gradually broke off.
After not seeing each other for seven or eight years, the two naturally had a lot to talk about. They found a street restaurant, had a few drinks, and talked about the hardships in life. Campbell's family situation was better than Martin's. At least the family could support him to complete his studies. However, after graduating from college, he was at a loss. His life could not be changed without a diploma. Hard work may not be more useful than flattering him. His girlfriend graduated. In the next two weeks, he recognized his godfather and left him in a sports car that he could only buy a steering wheel with a year's salary. Listening to what his childhood friend told him, Martin just smiled bitterly. In this life, the only friends he could talk to sincerely were the few he had known since childhood. They exchanged bitter stories, exchanged mobile phone numbers, and finally restored contact. , we made an appointment to meet up next time when we are free. Who knew, this farewell would be forever.
A week later, Martin accidentally saw the news about Campbell on the news. He was killed in a car accident. The driver was a group of aristocratic children who were racing at night. Martin could imagine how devastated Campbell's parents and grandmother would be at the death of their only son. But in his heart, there was more anger. Because in the end, the nobleman who drove the car was only sentenced to two years and received a suspended sentence. Everyone knew that when the suspended sentence ended, everything would have settled down and the other party would not go to jail at all.
Martin spent part of his savings to consult a lawyer, and also checked many related cases. Just a few years ago, there was a case in which a guy driving a black car crashed two cars and hit a pedestrian into a car in order to escape. He suffered minor injuries and was found guilty of endangering public safety by dangerous means. This is a felony with a minimum sentence of three years and up to the death penalty. But the nobleman who killed his friend while racing on the street and causing the death of a pedestrian was actually only convicted of dangerous driving, and the maximum sentence was less than three years.
Martin found Campbell's family and tried to persuade them to appeal and get a refund, but he got a surprising answer. Campbell's father told him that they would never talk about the incident again.
Martin was a smart man, and he quickly figured out what was going on. With just a small amount of money, he could silence people forever. Campbell's family needs the money, because even if they don't accept it, they may not be able to succeed in their appeal. This is how the world works. When Tianyi persuaded the marshal, he also said something similar. The law is just a tool. Maybe it itself is very important. Fair enough, but you have to look at whose hands it's in.
After that, Martin seemed like a different person. He became taciturn. And started teaching myself some things like military weapons. He found that he was very talented in this area and learned very quickly. His work in the toy factory also gave him inspiration... Finally one day, he did something extreme. He pretended to be a courier and delivered a bomb disguised as a teddy bear to the nobleman.
Martin avenged his friend and was arrested three days after the crime. He also came to his senses and knew that he was probably facing the death penalty, but he had no regrets. Because from the bottom of his heart, Martin knew what he had done. Not only for Campbell, but also for himself. He used this method to vent his despair and resentment towards the world, and was willing to use death as his own salvation.
But the development of things was beyond his expectation. Being arrested was just the beginning of the nightmare.
Martin was indeed sentenced to death, but it was never carried out because he was used as a test subject. It wasn't until the year he escaped from the laboratory that he learned that the place where he was being held was Black Hawk County. And that was more than ten years later.
During these ten years, he was tied or restrained almost all the time, with a catheter inserted into his stomach like an animal, forced to eat and even committed suicide. His internal organs were removed and replaced more than once. For human testing; he has been injected with various toxins and implanted with countless human-modifying devices. in the last four years. An organization called evolution took over this experimental base, and more cruel experiments beyond imagination were performed one after another. It can be said that Martin's survival is simply a miracle. More than ninety-two percent of the subjects will die, and the remaining eight percent will almost suffer a mental breakdown.
Escape came from an unexpected opportunity. That year, Martin was turned into a child by a new drug, but this drug was not a panacea for rejuvenating youth, but a deadly poison.
Like the rulers of many dynasties, the emperors of the empire have been pursuing immortality since the first generation, and similar research has naturally never stopped. Martin was injected with drugs, which was also a batch of failures. Ninety-six percent of the experimental subjects died immediately after the injection, and the remaining 4% returned to childhood, but their lifespans were not extended because they became children. , their appearance will no longer change, and there is a possibility of sudden death.
Therefore, in fact, the Marshal has been a person without a future since then. He may die at any time, at any time. Every day when he opens his eyes, he will be grateful that he has earned another day.
Becoming a child freed Martin from his restraints. Although he was physically a child, his mind was that of a tortured adult with an iron will, and he had no hesitation in killing people with anything he got his hands on. With some luck, he managed to escape from the experimental base that day, covered in blood, wrapped in an adult's coat, and ran into the blizzard.
Five years later, the "Toy Marshal" became famous. For a period of time, he was the empire's worst enemy, a complete madman, the author of countless bombings and murders, and no one has ever seen him in person, successfully subduing his targets. Several times, they only killed a few killing weapons that looked like humans.
Campbell once said something that has always been remembered in Martin's mind: "Brian, has any older person ever told you that if people always follow the rules, when they look back when they are old, they will find that there are many things they want to do?" Things I did but didn’t do. Haha... But I say, even though I am still young and know my dream clearly, I don’t think it is possible to realize it at all.”
There were some things that Martin didn't understand at that time, and he couldn't understand them either. Many years later, the marshal understood why the empire had reached this point. Why do so many people take the risk to join the resistance? On the surface, the essence of this war is the same as the changes in feudal dynasties in ancient times. The oppressed people try to compete for benefits from the oppressors and replace each other to live a comfortable life. But in reality there are some differences, because today's empire seems much stronger than those barbaric and unjust dynasties in ancient times. At least they still have seemingly equal laws, and at least now few people will starve to death anymore. But is it okay for a human being to not die of hunger? No, dogs are that thing. People are different. People have dreams. A large number of them have the same vulgar dreams as Martin did when he was young. Of course, there are also many people whose dreams are lofty and pure. But on this planet ruled by the empire, 90% of the people, from the moment they were born, almost completely lost the opportunity to realize their dreams in exchange for a full meal. In fact, they are not resentful that they were born high and low, but resentful that even the most fundamental "opportunities" are unfairly occupied. The main theme of the war hymn of this era is not pain, but despair.
… …
"The combat armor is ready to launch, one minute countdown." The marshal got inside the armor and shouted to the fate on his wrist: "Warlock, set up the Scarlet Demon and prepare to combine."
"That big jellyfish is very annoying. It only defends but does not attack, but it does not leave the vicinity of the dome." The warlock said.
"Use the machine's own pulse cannon to bombard him," the marshal commanded.
"Hey, I'm using a solar power furnace now. The other party has a neutron jammer, and the nuclear power is blocked." The warlock said.
"Do you think Scarlet Demon Kui only has two motivations?" the marshal sneered.
"Huh? No? I see on this structural diagram..." the warlock replied.
The marshal interrupted: "Open your eyes and see what's behind the cockpit."
"Hmm... nothing... wait! That space is... no, is there a third power source in such a small space?" the warlock said.
"It's one of the fragments of the eternal core." The marshal said: "Something as big as a fist, of course, only takes up that little space."
"Oh shit! How dare you put it on!"
"Don't be wordy, release the pulse cannon, block the opponent's movement, and maintain the current coordinates. I have already positioned it." As the marshal spoke, the soldier he was riding on rose up, and the launch track in front of him was also deployed.
"I have a feeling he's going to shout, so-and-so, attack..." Wei Sheng in the main control room whispered to the two people next to him.
"You think I can't hear your nonsense?" the marshal's voice sounded, but he immediately shouted into the communicator: "Brian, attack!"
"Hey... this guy really shouted... Wait, Brian? Does he have a name?" Wei Sheng said.
"Nonsense, do you think someone would take the name Marshal instead of Toy?" Stranger replied.
"Hmm... Actually, I thought his surname was Yuan, and his last name was a handsome character..."
In the sea, soldiers shot out from the open gate of the dome, and Scarlet Demon Kui also fired a pulse cannon at the defensive poisonous sting at this moment... (To be continued.)