Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty-eight

The headgear made Anderson barely able to breathe.There was darkness in front of his eyes, and the exhaled breath and the suppressed fear made him extremely hot.No one explained to him why he was hooded and escorted out of the apartment.Carlisle had just woken up, trying to complain about the way he was being treated, and his ear was bleeding profusely from the butt of a rifle that a Panther soldier had used.They have remained silent since then, not even protesting when they were hooded.After an hour or so, they stood up amidst soldiers kicking and shouting, and were escorted onto some sort of loud, roaring, foul-smelling transport.Anderson guessed it was an army truck.

His hands were tied behind him, the broken finger dangling lifelessly.As long as the hand moves a little, it hurts painfully.He tried his best to maintain a steady breathing under the hood, controlled the fear in his heart, and stopped thinking about it.There was a lot of dust on the headgear, which made him cough unceasingly, and his ribs burst into sharp pains, as if piercing his heart. Will they put him to death as a warning to others? He hadn't heard Akarat's voice for a long time.He wanted to whisper something to Carlisle, to see if they were being held in the same place, but if there were guards here, he would be beaten.He finally didn't dare to do it.

After an unknown amount of time, they were pulled from the car and dragged into a building.He wasn't even sure if Carlisle was still with him.Next he and his escort got into an elevator.He thought they were going down, into some sort of bunker-like structure.When they kicked him out of the elevator, he fell to the ground and found it extremely hot, unbearably hot.The fabric of the headgear made him itchy.He longed to scratch his sweating nose—the sweat soaked his hood and itched badly, but he couldn't move his hands at all.He tried to move the muscles in his face, tried to remove at least the part of the hood that covered his nose and mouth.Just a breath of clean air...

A door clicked, then footsteps.Anderson didn't dare to move.Someone above him was talking, the voice was indistinct.Suddenly, hands grabbed his clothes and pulled him up.They jostled against his ribs, making him gasp in pain.These people dragged him forward, turning and stopping several times along the way.A gust of wind blew across his arms, and the air gradually became cool and fresh, indicating that there was air conditioning here.He smelled the faint scent of the sea.Many Thai speakers whispered around him.And then up the steps.People move around.He felt himself being led into a corridor.Thai speakers move closer and further away.Whenever he started to falter, his escort would straighten his body and push him to continue walking.

Finally, they stopped.The air here is much cleaner than before.He felt the wind from the recirculation system and heard the creak of the pedals and the whine of the flywheel. It must be some kind of data processing center.His escorts pushed him to make him stand upright.He wondered if they were going to execute him here, if he would just die in the dark. The clockwork girl, the damned clockwork girl.He remembered how she jumped from the balcony and disappeared into the darkness.It didn't look like suicide at all.The more he thought about it, the more he felt the detached confidence in the expression on her face.Did she really kill His Royal Highness the Regent?But if she is really a killer, why does she look so scared?There is no logic to all this.And now, everything is ruined.God, his nose is so itchy.He sneezes, inhales dust from his hood, and coughs.

He bent over, coughing violently, his ribs aching like hell. Someone took off his hood. The light stung his eyes, and Anderson blinked hard.He breathed in the fresh air gratefully, and slowly straightened up.It's a big room, lots of men and women in military uniforms, lots of pedal computers.There are also so many drum-shaped twist springs in the room, and even a huge LED screen showing scenes from all over the city, it almost makes him feel like he's back in some data processing center of the agricultural company. There is also a landscape.He was mistaken, he didn't go down to the ground.He had come up high, somewhere far above the city.They're in a mansion, an old expansion-era mansion.Through the open window he could see the whole city.The afterglow of the setting sun turned the sky and the building dark red.

Carlisle was there too, looking as dazed as he was. "God, you two smell so bad." It was Akarat, standing near them, smiling.Thais are said to have thirteen different smiles, and Anderson wondered which one he was seeing now."We have to give you a bath," Akarat said. Anderson wanted to say something, but coughed violently again.He inhaled hard, tried to control his lungs, but failed.He was convulsed, the ropes were digging into the flesh of his wrists, and his ribs were throbbing with pain.Carlisle said nothing, his forehead was stained with blood.Anderson didn't know if he fought his captors or was tortured.

"Get him a glass of water," Akarat said. His guards pushed him against a wall and pushed him onto a chair.This time, Anderson managed to avoid touching the broken finger.A glass of water was brought, and a guard held the glass to Anderson's lips for a drink.The water was cold, and Anderson swallowed with absurd gratitude.He doesn't cough anymore.He forced himself to look up, looked at Akarat, "Thank you." "Hmm. Well, it appears we have a problem," said Akarat. "Your statement has been confirmed. We have established that your clockwork man was not at the behest of anyone."

He sat down next to Anderson. "We're all victims of bad luck. There's an old saying in the military, 'The best battle plan lasts five minutes at most when the fight really starts.' After that, it's up to the commander to see if fate and gods This time, bad luck hit us, and we all had to adjust our plans." He nodded to Carlisle, "It's understandable that you are both angry at how you have been treated." His expression changed. Gloomily, "I can apologize to you, but you probably still won't forgive me." Anderson stared into Akarat's eyes, expressionless, "You hurt us, and you will pay the price."

"Nongji will punish us." Akarat nodded. "Yes, that's a problem. But then again, Nongji never liked us." "Untie me, and we'll forget about these unpleasantnesses." "You mean to ask me to trust you. I'm afraid that's not a wise choice." "The revolution itself is a rough thing, and I don't hold a grudge." Anderson grinned, hoping to convince the other party, "Besides, we haven't suffered any harm. We still have a common goal, and there is no misunderstanding that cannot be solved. " Akarat raised his head and seemed to be thinking.Anderson didn't know if a dagger would go through his ribs.

Suddenly, Akarat smiled, "You are a tough guy." Anderson struggled to suppress a sliver of hope in his heart. "I'm just talking about the facts. Our interests are closely linked. If we die, no one will benefit. So far, this is still a misunderstanding that can be easily solved." Akarat thought again.Then he turned to a guard and took his dagger.The dagger slowly approached Anderson, who held his breath, but soon the dagger cut the rope around his wrist.The blood flowed happily in his two arms, and he moved slowly a few times, his arms were like two pieces of wood, but soon the pain was like a needle prick. "My God." "The circulatory system will take a while to recover. Be happy, we are still being polite to you." Seeing Anderson protecting his injured hand, Akarat smiled with embarrassment and apology.He called another doctor to treat Carlisle's head wound. "What is this place?" Anderson asked. "An emergency command center. We firmly believed that the white shirt must be involved in this matter, so I decided to transfer our people here. Mainly for safety reasons." Akarat nodded towards the twist springs, "The basement here houses giant elephants for energy. Also, no one knows that we occupy this base." "Even I didn't know you had such a good place." Akarat said with a smile: "We are partners, not lovers. I will not share my secrets with anyone casually." "Have you caught the clockwork man?" "It's just a matter of time. We'll post her picture all over the city and the citizens won't let her among us. It's one thing to bribe a white shirt, quite another to attack a royal." Anderson thought of Emiko again, how she curled up in fear, "I still can't believe that a clockwork man would do something like that." Akarat glanced at him. "This is confirmed by eyewitness testimony and by the Japanese who designed her. The clockwork man is a killer. We will catch her and execute her the old way, and the matter will be settled. On the other hand, to make up for For this huge mistake, the Japanese will pay us an unimaginably huge amount of compensation." He suddenly smiled, "At least on this point, I have reached an agreement with White Shirt." Carlisle's hand was also free again.Just then, an officer took Akarat aside. Carlisle took off his hood, "Are you friends with us again?" Anderson shrugged and looked at the busy people around him, "Yes, he is our best revolutionary partner." "How are you?" Anderson touched his chest cautiously. "Broken rib." He nodded to the doctor who was treating his injured hand. "One broken finger. The jaw seems to be fine." He shrugged. "What about you?" "Much better than you. Only the shoulder seems to be sprained. It wasn't me who introduced the clockwork man to them." Anderson coughed twice, his chest hurting so much that he flinched, "Yeah, well, you're luckier than me." A man in military uniform was cranking the crank of a radiotelephone, the gears in it snapping.Akarat took the microphone. "Hello?" He nodded and spoke Thai. Anderson could only understand a few words, but Carlisle's eyes widened. "They're going to take over the radio station," he whispered. "What?" Anderson struggled to stand up, pushing away the doctor who was treating him.Guards swarmed between him and Akarat, trying to push him back against the wall.Anderson yelled, "You've started? Now?" Akarat glanced up at him, calmly ended the call, and returned the receiver to the communications officer.The crank man sat down and waited for the next call.The speed of the flywheel slowed down and the sound deepened. "The assassination of His Highness Somdej Chaophya sparked outrage over the white shirts, and many citizens protested outside the gates of the Ministry of Environment. Even the Mammoth union was involved. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity," Akarat said. "But our people, money, and materials are not fully in place." Anderson objected, "You haven't mobilized all the troops loyal to you in the Northeast, and my attack team will not be able to go ashore for at least a week." Akarat shrugged and said with a smile: "Revolution is not an orderly thing. A better way should be to seize every opportunity that arises. However, I think this should be a surprise for you." He turned around Facing the hand crank cordless phone again.The flywheel turned steadily, and Akarat began to issue orders to his men. Anderson stared at Akarat's back.The man who had groveled before Somdej Chao Phraya was now the leader, calmly issuing order after order.The phone buzzed frequently, asking for further instructions from him. "It's crazy." Carlisle murmured, "Is there anything else about us here?" "Hard to say." Akarat glanced at them, as if about to say something, but in the end he just raised his head. "Listen," he said, with a reverent note in his voice. The rumbling sound swept through the entire city.From the open windows of the headquarters there could be seen flashes of lightning, like lightning in a storm.Akarat smiled. "it has started."