Castle of Black Iron

“What would I do when faced with a Red-scarf Burglar?” Zhang Tie asked himself. Some people asked the sky, some asked the land, some asked luck, some asked the situation, some asked others, and Zhang Tie asked his inner heart!

“When you have nothing to regret, you will live a happy life!” Zhang Tie thought to himself and an answer came to mind slowly and clearly.

The classroom was bustling. The smile on Captain Kerlin’s face gradually became prominent. When he stretched out his hand, the entire classroom suddenly regained its peace. Everybody stared at the one-eyed person and wondered what he would say.

“Well, now that you’ve already made your decisions, everybody stand up!”

After a period of bustling, everybody stood up from their chairs.

“Those who want to fight the Red-scarf Burglars, come to my left...”

Most of the horny students crowded to the left. Standing, Zhang Tie had made his own decision. A few people stood still; Zhang Tie was somewhat surprised when he noticed that as fatty Barley intended to move his legs to the left, his face suddenly turned pale, and he moved back. Doug and Bagdad had already ran to the left side, and Leit and Hista moved too fast. By the time fatty Barley moved his legs, they had already run to the left side. Finally, they gaped when they found out the fatty was not with them. Sharwin, the pious follower of Barley, also stood still. As a result, only the three members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood who were standing still and another student didn’t move to the left. Under such a situation, even the people who had their own decisions would simply follow the majority.

Seeing Zhang Tie not on the left side, Barley was also slightly surprised. He gazed at Zhang Tie’s facial expression as if there was a flower on Zhang Tie’s face.

“Well, have you made your decisions?”

Everybody nodded while those who stood to the left of Captain Kerlin casted a contemptuous glare towards the four individuals.

Captain Kerlin didn’t look at those on the left; instead, he looked at the four who stood still. He casually pointed at Sharwin and said, “Tell me, why not surge forward?”

Sharwin was very nervous at this moment; sweat even began to cover his body when he saw the one-eyed man pointing at him with his wooden club-sized finger. Under the majestic glare of the one-eyed person, he swallowed his saliva a couple of times and weakly pointed at fatty Barley, “ He didn’t go over there... I followed him!”

“What about you?” Captain Kerlin slightly shook his head and pointed at fatty Barley with his wooden club-sized finger. Fatty Barley instantly made a smile like a chrysanthemum. He almost bowed, “If I saw a Red-scarf Burglar, I would firstly report to the magistrate or Captain Kerlin instead of surging forward!”

The moment Captain Kerlin saw that expression of flattery, he felt uncomfortable and moved his finger instantly towards another person, “What about you?”

That guy hesitated for a while before saying, “If they could solve the problem of the Red-scarf Burglar, then it’s not necessary for me to be there. If they couldn’t, I would be useless as well!”

“So you’re saying that if you saw a Red-scarf Burglar, you would prepare to escape!” Captain Kerlin emphasized the word “Escape” and turned stern. He made others feel pressured.

Under Captain Kerlin’s forced question, that guy felt like he was accepting the strictest accusation. He couldn’t stand it any longer, “I... I....” He was very brave for mentioning escape in front of Captain Kerlin. The boy was not sure if Captain Kerlin would jump from the ground and slap him directly into the wall when he heard the word. Everybody knew that a tough guy like Captain Kerlin hated cowards the most.

Seeing his silence, a sort of unnoticed disappointment slightly appeared in Captain Kerlin’s eyes. He then moved his finger to the last one who was still standing there, “What about you? Do you also plan to escape?”

“Yea, I would!” Zhang Tie answered without any hesitation.

Instantly, contemptuous whispers drifted from the left side.

“Why? They are all surging forward, so why do you turn your back and escape?” Captain Kerlin forced him with a sharp glare, “ Don’t you want to kill the murderers to protect people like them? To put it straightforwardly, the head of any Red-scarf Burglar is very valuable!”

“They are just going to their deaths. Based on their force, even if they had another group with the same size, they would still be easily killed off by any member of the Red-scarf Burglars within moments. I heard that even the most ordinary Red-scarf Burglar is a LV 5 soldier, and if they surged forward against this LV 5 Red-scarf Burglar, they wouldn’t even be cannon fodder!”

“What are you talking about, you timid bastard!” someone on the left side had already begun to verbally abuse him.

“Yea, don’t try to find an excuse for your cowardice, you timid bastard. So what if we fought to the death? It would still be much better than escaping and being a coward like you!”

“Pah......”

“Shut up!” Captain Kerlin turned around and shouted; the whole classroom became quiet. Captain Kerlin looked at Zhang Tie in the eyes and asked another direct question, “Are you saying you’re afraid of death? Don’t you find it shameful to escape? Aren’t you afraid of being called a coward?”

“I don’t think it’s shameful to run from an enemy who is much stronger than myself because I know I have no chance to win and would lose my life! Neither am I a coward! If possible, I would take more people to escape with me...” Zhang Tie dauntlessly stared at Captain Kerlin, whose eyes became more and more stern. “They are the ones who are shameful” Zhang Tie pointed at people on the left. As a result, those people became irritated as they rubbed their hands and prepared to fiercely beat Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie suddenly became enraged and started to shout at those people, “Shut up, you sons of #$%. You rush forward to end your lives, never considering your parents’ and other family members’ feelings. Your enemy could turn you into a corpse with the flicker of his hand. It takes your parents dozens of years to bring you up. You feel cool that you’re sacrificing yourselves meaninglessly in the bravest and greatest manner you can think of, yet you leave long lasting pains for your parents and other family members. Do you know how much pain parents feel when they lose their son? Do you know how sad they would be when they hear of your death? Have you ever seen your parents cry? You guys don’t know anything...” Those on the left turned silent. They began to consider what Zhang Tie had said as he continued to curse them, “You big muscles and #$ing bastards, you’re the most shameful ones, and you’re also idiots. If I were a Red-scarf Burglar, I would also love to kill opponents like you. They could kill you as easy as slaughtering pigs. In front of machetes, even pigs would escape wildly, while you sent yourselves there to your death. You are the most adorable opponents! I’d escape; however, as long as I’m alive, I could continue to give them trouble and divide them. If they were careless enough, I would use other methods to kill them. I can use fire to attract them to dangerous places and poison them to death.

I will grow up to give them more troubles. Perhaps even one day, when I am more powerful than them, I would kill them. The day I kill them, the grass on your tombs could already feed cows, you idiots who not even as smart as pigs!”

“Damn you, bastards. I got up earlier to clean your chairs and desks, and you cursed me and called me an idiot. Now, it’s my turn to curse back, otherwise I would be dejected. I am cursing you on the behalf of your parents.” Zhang Tie felt so cool inside...

After a while, the whole classroom was silent. The only sound that could be heard was Zhang Tie taking deep breaths.

“Did someone from your family members sacrifice themselves before when they served the army?” Captain Kerlin suddenly questioned Zhang Tie after a long silence. Zhang Tie gaped.

He never thought that Captain Kerlin was that sensitive. In an instant, Zhang Tie recalled many memories. Finally, Zhang Tie lowered his head, “I had two elder brothers before, but now I only have one. That bastard turned himself into a cremation urn and a medal of bravery on the second year he joined the army during the participation of the war between the Andaman Alliance and Scots. He was brave and always surged forward in each battle.”

As he had lost an elder brother, he knew how painful it was to lose a family member. And his parents hoped him to be as firm as steel that could never be broken by naming him Zhang Tie(TL: Tie means iron in Chinese). This topic was forbidden in Zhang family. Zhang Tie had never seen his late elder brother. He only saw how his mom and dad would silently cry with a photo in their hands. This sadness was deeply rooted in Zhang Tie’s heart. Later on, Zhang Tie knew that he had a bastard eldest brother named Zhang Yong(TL: Yong means braveness). He was so excellent that he was promoted to first lieutenant on the second year he served the army.

Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang(TL: Yang means happiness) once swore to never turn themselves into a medal of bravery in their lives. Thus, Zhang Tie considered it to be reasonable to escape from a powerful enemy, and If necessary, he would even surrender. He had never thought of being the great hero who saved the world. His objective in life was to make his mom and dad happy, to make those who are close to him happy, and to make those whom he liked happy. As for the Red or Green-scarf Burglars, he didn’t care about them at all...