Chapter 213: aftermaths of clarks departure

Back in the Spartan republic, in Vatican City, the morning was bright as always as every citizen went at his/her endeavors for the day with boundless vigor and overflowing happiness.

Today marked more than a week since the leader of the city went out for a confidential mission, but there was hardly any change in the demeanor of the city and the citizens.

Despite this long, the whole city was still busy in the process of recovering from the terrorist attack.

The destruction that was wrath by the terrorists was not something that can be recovered from in a week, it would take at least weeks if not months for everything to return to normal.

The 5 leading commissioners of the city did everything in their power to curb any further outrage from the citizens, while also appeasing those that suffered from the attack.

In this aspect, Clark’s press conference before he left did a good job as due to respect for him and his reassurance, most of the citizens tended to hold back and be more restrained.

Being the 5 leaders of the city just below Clark, there was no way that they would be left out from the information of their Major being forced to go on a mission.

They already expected it though, so it was easier for them to take in. They could only lament their bad luck, while also praying for him and hoping that he would come back safely.

Telling them was one thing though, curbing the aftermath of the news was another thing entirely. The Spartan government just succeeded in giving them a new heap of workload for them to spend time with.

First, they were not given a specific duration for when the mission would end, so they did not know when their Major was coming back.

Secondly, when the city was recovering from such a terrorist attack, the leader of the city was supposed to be on ground always to reassure and calm the volatile citizens.

These were the 2 main causes of their headaches in this situation, and there were other minor causes that they were too overwhelmed to focus on. Overall, this sudden mission screwed them more than Clark was screwed by it.

The first thing they did after getting the news was to organize another press conference to address the city, where they announced that Clark was temporarily out negotiating for a way to make the terrorists pay for the attack.

The Spartan army also helped them, as a delegate came from there to verify the news.

This succeeded in fooling and appeasing the citizens a bit, but no one could say for how long this would be effective. They could only pray that the city recovers faster so that the citizens could focus on other important things.

Today, they were about to attend another press conference to give more details about Clark’s progress in his negotiation and about other pending matters that needed their attention.

The 5 of them sat in a room as they discussed faintly between themselves while waiting for the signal for them to come out. It felt just like a secret gathering of oldies and grandpas.

“Commissioner Tack, what do you think of our situation? We should follow the normal script that was prepared by the scriptwriters, right?” One of them spoke out.

“Yes, I don’t think the citizens would grow suspicious so quickly. I don’t think they even have a reason to, the Major addressed them last week”.

“They know there is no way that he would leave his other duties and attend press conferences every week, that is enough of a reason for us to be calm already”. The commissioner Tack replied smoothly, as another one butted in.

“That’s true, the Major is not really the social type also. Week in, week out, he was always going for his army and mercenary missions, so I think the citizens are already used to not seeing him”.

“Yes, you’re right”.

They exchanged ideas and questions between themselves for another 2 minutes, before the head commissioner finally spoke out to interrupt them.

“It’s time, let’s go out. You all know the drill, radiate confidence and sincerity in every action you make. Act like you mean it, and they would believe that you mean it”.

“Yes, head commissioner Craig”.

With that, the head commissioner took the lead as they all came out of the room to meet the Vatican citizens that were gathered outside.

As they walked directly to the podium that was erected in the middle of the government building, they waved to acknowledge the citizens, who responded in turn with claps.

To them, these claps were a good sign, so they were more optimistic, making their steps more confident.

After climbing the podium, 4 of them stood together at the back as the head commissioner took a step further to stand in their front as the leader.

Grabbing the sound amplifier that was before him, he waved at the audience again, making another wave of clapping rise before he finally cleared his throat and spoke out.

As he started speaking, dozens of cameras turned in his direction before flashing their lights simultaneously to form a strange light convergence. The social media group was clearly not idle, not when there was such juicy information.

“Dear fellow citizens of Vatican, it is an honor to stand before this podium and address you again”.

“First, I want to appreciate you all for the patience that you have shown over the past week. On behalf of Major Clark our leader, I thank you all, well done for your mature reaction to this crisis”.

“Like you all already know, the love our Major has for you all is unquantifiable, but it’s a pity that he cannot see you all face to face today. He deeply regrets it, but he has to focus on what he is doing”.

“He delegated me to tell you all that you should bear with him, in a while, he would return with more victory to fight this vengeance on our steed”.

“I think that’s a thing of honor and joy, right?”

“Yes, sir!!”

He smiled widely on hearing this.

“For those that lost properties or their love ones, he said I should apologize to you all again. You have been compensated materially, but the emotional damage can never be compensated”.

“All he wants is for you all to stay strong with him, stay obedient for him, and he will stay strong as the anchor to all your victories”.

“We are welcoming a period of change, a period of zero oppression, a period free from terrorist attacks and other evil vices. Change is not something that can be done in a day, it’s a gradual process”.

“All our Major wishes is for you all to cooperate. With him, this city can enter a period of prosperity and growth. Our rapid recovery activities from this crisis are just the tip of the iceberg, more shall come”.

“I know that there are a lot of things to say, but unfortunately, time will not let me say it all. I hope that with this, we can be more united and cohesive against evil and external threats”.

“Once again, I thank you all for your patience and cooperation. Remember, the government is always at your service, not the other way round. The safety of the city is your responsibility also”.

“I will hammer on this point again. If you notice any suspicious activity around your vicinity, don’t hesitate to call the Spartan emergency line and report it immediately”.

“With that, perhaps an attack like this terrorist attack can be detected early and prevented”.

“Long live Vatican!”

“Long live Vatican!!”

“Long live our leader, long live Major Clark Pendragon!”.

“Long live our leader, long live Major Clark Pendragon!!”

Seeing the enthusiasm of the citizens, the head commissioner nodded to himself inwardly as he started climbing down the erected podium with the other commissioners.

They waved generously again, as the Vatican citizens reacted enthusiastically with more claps and chants. With that, they slowly disappeared from view.

As all these happened among the hundreds of Vatican citizens that were gathered, a lavishly dressed young man stood rigidly in their midst, hardly reacting despite the excitement in the air.

“A bunch of sweet talkers and liars, that’s politicians for you. I’m not surprised”. The young man muttered sarcastically to himself before turning to leave the horde of people.

He was dressed in a very luxurious combination. A red jacket, a yellow inner polo shirt, blue jean trousers, green funky face cap, orange gloves, and a pair of large purple boots.

In short, he was dressed in a rainbow outfit from head to toe. A terrible mismatch of rubbish, but he liked it though as it never failed to draw people’s attention.

“Why do we dress? To cover nakedness; that’s ridiculous. We dress to impress people, believe it or not, it’s the truth”.

He spoke to the man that was closer to him, bringing a weird pondering expression to the poor fellow’s face. He chuckled on seeing this, before walking with puffed chests to where he parked his bike.

Getting there, he did not enter to leave immediately, he instead leaned at the side of the bike to listen to the new information that was coming.

A female just took to the podium now, he wanted to see if she would say anything meaningful. As he waited, he could not help but speak to himself in a slight grumbling tone.

“This Major Clark or whoever they call him, I don’t believe you left to negotiate any nonsense. You’re clever than that, are they hiding something?”

He felt a little indignant as throughout the past week, he already visited Clark’s mansion secretly 3 times but never met him at home nor did he see any signs of him.

It was like he just disappeared, which was extremely baffling to him.

After his last showdown with Clark where the latter almost busted and captured him, he was awed while at the same time afraid of his strength. At times, he doubted if Clark was really just a 2nd rank high-grade soldier.

Yes, he was the thief that Clark rode round the whole Vatican City just to catch. Thinking of this, he could not help but chuckle with pride again.

“I’m sure I irritated him pretty badly, would he still agree to train me? Well, who cares? From my small interaction with him, he is someone that loves money a lot and I have that in excess, so it’s already solved”.

“All shall bow at the face of the ultimate weapon, money”.

Chuckling again, he finally entered his white-colored luxurious bike. The bike alone made people look at him in a different light, this was stuff that belonged to only the rich.

“I hope you come back in a week, wherever you are. I can’t wait again; I want to learn your techniques so badly”.

Smiling, he ignited the powerful engine of his bike before cruising away out of the government building while winking at the stunned girls that kept on looking at him.

“Life with money was sweet”.

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