Chapter 407 - 407: Contradictions Within the Eldian Revival Army

As usual, a cup of steaming coffee sat in front of Serena, while her left hand held a sandwich with a bite already taken out of it. Clearly, this was Serena's breakfast, yet she had no time to properly enjoy it.

A thick pile of documents was stacked before her. Holding a pen in her right hand, Serena rapidly wrote something down, only finding the time to take two bites of her sandwich after finishing a sentence.

Stuffing the remaining half of the sandwich into her mouth in one go, Serena's cheeks immediately puffed up like a hamster storing food. After chewing hard for a while, she took a large gulp of coffee, finally finishing her breakfast.

"Hah, finally done."

Only after dealing with all the documents piled in front of her did Serena finally let out a relieved sigh and stretch lazily. She could even hear the cracking sounds coming from the bones in her neck and back.

As the second-in-command of the Eldian Revival Army, Serena lived like this every day.

The Marleyan capital—or rather, what the Eldians now called Hope District—was home to over a million Eldians and several hundred thousand Marleyans. Nowhere else in the world had a metropolis on such a scale.

Especially after the news of the Eldian Revival Army liberating Hope District spread across the world, people of Eldian blood from all over began flocking there, because it was the only place where Eldians would not be oppressed.

At the same time, Marley and the Middle Easterners had recently united to prepare for war against the Far East. The shadow of war had begun to loom over the entire world. Many Marleyan civilians who still hadn't recovered from the trauma of previous wars were terrified of another conflict, and in order to avoid it, they too had begun moving toward Hope District.

With support from the Eastern region nations, along with the wealth confiscated from numerous former Marleyan nobles inside the city and the seized factories, materials, and infrastructure, the Eldian Revival Army now possessed enough strength through a single city alone to contend against ninety percent of the world's nations.

Honestly, this was all Marley's own fault.

The Marleyans' long-term oppression and enslavement of Eldians had naturally created the conditions for the rise of the Eldian Revival Army.

Take the military for example. Although the Eldian population was only around a million, over a hundred thousand young and middle-aged Eldians had received standard Marleyan military training. Marley had treated them as cannon fodder, but to the Eldian Revival Army, those hundred thousand people represented a hundred thousand armed soldiers.

Not to mention the many veteran Eldian soldiers who had survived countless wars. With people like them around, no nation could dare underestimate the strength of the Eldian Revival Army.

The already weakened Marley had now provoked the powerful Far East as a new enemy, leaving them with no ability to threaten Hope District anymore. This also gave the Eldian Revival Army the opportunity to continue rapidly developing.

Although the hatred between Eldians and Marleyans was irreconcilable, under the Revival Army's intervention, Hope District as a whole still maintained stable development. At most, when Eldians and Marleyans crossed paths in the streets, they would glare at each other with hostility.

As a result, Hope District appeared prosperous and thriving on the surface.

But Serena, as the Revival Army's second-in-command, knew very clearly that the greatest trouble had only just begun.

Suddenly, noisy commotion erupted outside the office. It sounded as though people were loudly arguing about something.

Serena sighed, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples.

What a headache.

Sure enough—

Bang!

It sounded like someone angrily kicked the wall or smashed it with a fist before things gradually quieted down.

Soon, the office door opened, and a young man in military uniform walked in with a bitter smile.

"Boss, everyone's extremely agitated right now. Including yesterday, there have already been four division commanders demanding an explanation from you. I barely managed to stop them. Commander Hema smashed his hand so hard just now that it started bleeding."

Serena looked at the young man helplessly as well.

"Leon, you've worked hard. But this is Yago's order. And Yago is right. This war concerns the future of all Eldians. We have to participate. Otherwise, relying solely on Hope District, surrounded entirely by Marley, will forever leave us in a passive position."

The young man called Leon looked frustrated.

He also respected Yago's orders. After all, he had been to Paradis Island before and had personally experienced the coup there.

But what he truly couldn't understand was this:

"I get that, but why do we have to stand together with the Marleyans? Even according to Yago's reasoning, if we need development, then why not ally with the Far East instead? No matter how you look at it, the Far East is better than Marley right now, isn't it? Wouldn't fighting Marley alongside the Far East be better?"

Leon's thoughts represented the views of most officers and soldiers within the Revival Army.

Most Revival Army soldiers had once served under Marleyans. They understood the malice within the Marleyan military more deeply than anyone, and their hatred and disgust toward Marleyans were equally intense.

To them, merely living alongside Marleyans in Hope District was already the absolute limit.

And now the higher-ups had actually issued orders saying they would participate in the war against the Far East.

The Far East—that was Marley's enemy, wasn't it?

What the hell was this?

Had their lives somehow gone backward?

Hadn't they just escaped Marleyan oppression?

Why were they now going back to help Marley fight wars again?

The moment this order was issued, the entire Revival Army—from division commanders all the way down to ordinary soldiers—displayed strong resistance and rejection toward it.

Even the New Army stationed across the ocean on Paradis Island had no desire to help Marley, let alone the Revival Army members who had once suffered under oppression.

Even Serena herself felt the same.

Although she understood Yago, deep down, she also strongly resisted helping Marley fight against the Far East.

However, as an example to everyone else, she naturally couldn't openly express such dissatisfaction. Right now, Serena was doing everything she could to calm the restless Revival Army.

At that moment, before Serena could say anything more, a messenger soldier arrived outside the office.

"Report! Commander Erwin requests an audience!"

Outside the door stood Erwin, wearing the unique green military uniform of Paradis Island. His figure was upright, his face resolute yet gentle.

"Lady Serena, pardon the interruption."

After hearing Erwin's voice, Leon proactively left the office so as not to disturb Serena and the commander from Paradis Island while they discussed important matters.

Serena also stood up to welcome Erwin.

She held great respect for this capable commander from Paradis Island. She had also learned from Yago that this commander had once been Yago's direct superior.

The stable development of Hope District today also owed much to Erwin's assistance.

Aside from strengthening ties with Paradis Island, Erwin had contributed greatly in matters concerning city development and military management, helping them tremendously.

Within the Revival Army itself, many people deeply respected this compatriot commander from Paradis Island.

But today, Serena was somewhat puzzled.

Why had Erwin taken the initiative to come see her?