Chapter 223 Signature

Laura Louise analyzes William's selling point to the editor-in-chief, even if Ursolin Heller is half true, this is a newsworthy figure to be discovered, and will become another laudable success story in the world of journalism.

It's just that when Louise said this, she was interrupted by the editor-in-chief: "The World Economic News has been successful enough." ”

Hearing this, Louise pursed her lips, and then said firmly: "But that is the success of the World Economic News, not my success, nor the success of our branch. ”

No matter how Louise exaggerated the importance of the news, the editor-in-chief, who still seemed unimpressed, really looked at Louise seriously at this time, and said after a moment of silence: "Whether it is going to the Red Earth Continent or the windless belt, it needs official approval, and the work efficiency of the world government has always been slow, I'm afraid it will take a while before you can get up and go to the East China Sea." ”

Louise's eyes widened, and she didn't understand why the editor-in-chief had suddenly agreed to her proposal.

"Are you going to go to the East China Sea alone, or do you need a few people from the newspaper to accompany you?" asked the editor-in-chief.

Louise held back her excitement and analyzed as calmly as possible: "I went alone, this time mainly to do an investigation, according to Yusolin Heller, the target person has a lot of power, if there are too many people, it is easier to attract attention." ”

"It's good that you know," the editor-in-chief nodded, "what you have to investigate now may not only be a pirate, but also the ruler of a kingdom, under the banner of the world government, hundreds of member countries, and each with its own laws, even if you are from our newspaper, we cannot guarantee your safety when you go to the territory of another country." ”

Louise should be serious, as a journalist working in the news industry, she knows very well that the rulers of various kingdoms are sometimes more vicious than pirates, and that a tyrant will not hurt the people of his country much worse than a pirate, if not more.

"I hope that when you come back here again from Tokai, with big news that will make you successful. ”

The editor-in-chief said, because of Louise's previous words, he suddenly admired the young reporters in front of him, the World Economic News is not short of smart people, what is lacking is only people who dare to work hard, in this troubled times, big news is often linked to dangerous people, if you want to get first-hand materials, you often need the reporters below to fight for their lives, only people who really put life and death aside, and have an extraordinary desire for success and news are talents for newspapers.

The editor-in-chief's attitude towards Tokai has not changed, but he feels that Laura Louise, a journalist who has not paid much attention to before, seems to be worth cultivating.

……

Harden has lost count of how many years he hasn't been home.

The "hometown" that should represent the warm label in his memory is only poverty in Harden's memory.

Harden's father was a poor drunkard in a poor town, and his mother couldn't stand the hard life of Harden when he was very young, and ran away from home, leaving the young Harden alone to face the man who was cornered by life and could only abuse his weaker children.

Later, when Harden was ten years old, his father was found dead in a stinking ditch one day, and no one knew who the killer was.

Until there was a rumor in the town that Harden, who had always been gloomy, couldn't stand the beating and took advantage of his father's drunkenness.

In fact, this incident was not done by Harden, his father's death may have been done by a debt collector, or it may have been a conflict with someone because of too much drinking, but no matter what the reason, it doesn't matter to Harden, he doesn't hate the murderer at all, on the contrary, he is very grateful to the other party.

Harden has never denied the rumors of the appearance of the village.

Because Harden found that with this rumor, the disdainful gaze that always fell on him in the town turned into fear, and those peers who usually bullied him did not dare to hang out in front of him since then.

Harden didn't kill anyone, but a rumor that he killed someone gave him a status he hadn't earned before, a life free from bullying.

So when Harden grew up, he became a pirate, a criminal who lived by killing and violence.

Since he was a child, he has never been treated well by his hometown, and he is accompanied by either cold eyes or disgusted eyes.

But after volunteering to join the expedition to the Great Voyage, Harden has always wanted to go back to his hometown.

When the ship with the flag of the Morgan Pirates docked at the dock, the shore was full of onlookers.

After Harden came down the gangway alone, he looked around, and remembered that the dock, which had fallen into disrepair and was almost unattended, had only been renovated for a short time, and at this time there were two merchant ships moored, and some porters were going up and down like ants, constantly carrying goods from above.

The onlookers had different expressions, some excited, some nervous, some confused, not close, but there was no disgust or rejection.

Nearly a decade away from home, Harden had no idea how many people in the town still knew him.

He seemed to have some kind of aura on his body, and when he walked to the shore, the crowd unconsciously separated a path for him and watched him leave.

When some half-grown children saw Harden disembarking from the Morgan Pirates' ship, they followed him, curious and frightened, pushing and shoving their companions, giggling and screaming, as if trying to answer him.

Harden suddenly turned his head and put on a grimace, which, combined with his vicious appearance and terrible scars, frightened the children behind him and scattered.

Waiting for a group of children to leave, Harden, who was originally calm, couldn't help but have a smile on the corner of his mouth.

When Harden arrived at the edge of town, he was somewhat surprised to find that his original house was still there, but the door shaft of the gate had been detached, and the windows were not intact.

He pushed open the door with more symbolism than practicality, entered the room that seemed cramped and cramped compared to his childhood, and let out a hoarse laugh when he felt the crooked skull on the wall that was so faintly colored that he could not be seen.

When Harden came out of the house, he saw several people standing outside the house.

An old man with gray hair in the middle, seeing Harden tilting his head to look at him, hesitated for a moment, and asked softly, "Harden?"

"Paulino?" said Harden as he looked him up and down, grinning, "You're still the mayor of the town, but you're really good at being a man." ”

Harden knows that after William banned the local self-government, he also took off the official hats of many local officials, and those who can keep their posts must be very knowledgeable about current affairs and honest and obedient people.

The old mayor named Paulino surprised Harden, not only did he not be afraid and disgusted, but he showed a look of great joy, stepped forward to take Harden's hand, and said enthusiastically: "Harden, I didn't expect it to be you, I originally heard that the Morgan Pirates also had a hero named Harden, and I would be suspicious, suspecting that it was a duplicate name! I didn't expect it, I didn't expect ......." ”

Harden withdrew his hand impatiently, but the mayor of Paulino did not show any embarrassment on his face, and kindly recommended himself as a tour guide, saying that he would lead Harden, a person who had not returned to his hometown for nearly ten years, to revisit the old place.

Harden didn't refuse, watching Mayor Paulino drive away all the people who followed, a few of those people seemed to recognize Harden, and looked back frequently in disapprupt, Harden showed a sneer at them.

Mayor Paulino hurriedly waved his hand at the men, then beckoned Harden to lead the way himself.

Along the way, in addition to telling Harden about the changes and major events that have happened in the town over the years, the mayor of Paulino sang praises for William's various policies and deeds, and I don't know if it was because he knew that Harden had a high status by William's side.

“…… In the past year, there have been a lot more merchant ships coming and going, thanks to your Morgan Pirates to clean up the surrounding pirates," said Mayor Paulino with a sincere face, "You should really go back to your hometown more often, although the town is not rich now, but the conditions have improved a lot." ”

Harden replied, with a cold attitude, he is a straight intestine, and he doesn't like a slippery person like the mayor, not to mention that after returning to his hometown, he found that this trip seemed to be a mistake, he didn't have the homecoming of ordinary people at all, those familiar scenes would make him recall the past, and then disgusted.

The mayor rubbed his hands in embarrassment, Harden had such a cold attitude all the way, he finally had no topic.

The two walked all the way to the school playground, when the school was empty, but there was a little boy reading a book on the playground.

Mayor Paulino suddenly remembered something: "Harden, you are now the Archon's right-hand man, can you give him advice on not letting people move this school to the next town?"

Seeing Harden's puzzled face, the mayor explained to him, compulsory compulsory education has been extended to the present, and gradually found many problems, one of which is the shortage of teachers, and the primary school classrooms in many places are not satisfied, which causes a great waste of teachers.

Harden's hometown is the one that is about to be merged due to the lack of students, and the school will be relocated to the next town, and the students in this town will have to walk a little way to go to school in the future.

"How can the location of a school be based solely on the number of people? Shouldn't it be based on the results? Our town's students have always been among the best in the neighborhood," the mayor said, and when he saw Harden's disapproving face, he shouted to the little boy on the playground who was reading a book, "Kirby, Kirby, come here!"

When the little boy with glasses and a book ran a little clumsily to the two of them, the mayor said: "Kebi's theoretical grades are the best among the four surrounding villages and towns, what should such a good student do if he moves the school to a distant place and affects his grades?"

He said to Kirby, "This is the vice-captain of the Morgan Pirates, and the hero ...... our town went out. ”

"Mr. Harden!" Before the mayor could finish speaking, Kirby was already excitedly calling out Harden's name, "I know you, you are the patriarch of the Morgan Pirates, and the troubadour in the tavern told your story. ”

Harden finally showed a surprised expression, and saw Kirby actually take out a pen from his pocket and hand it to him along with the book he had read before, showing an expectant expression, just like a fan of William's previous life when he saw a movie star: "Can you please sign me?"

Harden glanced at Mayor Paulino and saw that the latter also looked a little surprised, and then he realized that all this was not specially arranged.

Harden looked down at the book and pen stretched out in front of him, and after a moment said lightly, "I can't read." ”

Kirby held up the pen stupidly, his face full of surprise.

The mayor was afraid that Harden would be embarrassed, so he said to Kirby seriously: "Mr. Harden didn't have such good conditions as you when he was a child, he could read and write for free, and because of this, he and the other heroes of the Morgan Pirates worked hard to expel other pirates and defend their hometown from pirates, in order to let you children have a better living environment, you have to cherish everything today, understand?"

Harden watched Mayor Paulino singing there in a fake high-pitched voice, and felt a little funny, he actually knew very well that some of the people in the Morgan Pirates did not agree with William's request, and he himself did not understand William's mind, everything they did, in the final analysis, was just because it was William's "order".

Compulsory compulsory education and pro-mercantile policies are also civil affairs, and they have nothing to do with the Morgan Pirates, or him Harden.

However, Harden felt funny, but for some reason, seeing Kirby's touched and disappointed appearance after listening to the mayor's words, he smiled and asked Kirby, "Do you really want my autograph?"

Kirby chick kept nodding his head like a peck and almost threw his glasses off.

Harden smiled even more when he saw him scrambling to protect his glasses: "I can't read, it's just a name, you can teach me to write." ”

Kirby responded excitedly.

On the dock, a strange scene suddenly appeared, a man with a fierce face, under the guidance of a little boy with pink hair, holding a pen in rusty, writing something slowly on the paper.

Harden felt that the pen in his hand seemed to be heavier than a knife and gun, and it took a long time to leave a line of crooked handwriting on Kirby's notebook.

Even though Harden was illiterate and still felt that his signature was extremely ugly, Kirby still solemnly closed the book slowly and held it in his arms.

Looking at Kirby, who has never seen himself but admires his deeds immensely, the accumulated boredom in Harden's heart seems to have disappeared since he stepped on the land of his hometown.

After Kirby left, Harden finally turned to the mayor who had been standing silently aside: "You tell me again about the school you just mentioned." ”

……

Two days later, a strange boat with paddle wheels on either side stopped at the town's dock.

On the aft deck of the paddle steamer, Harden looked farther and farther away at the town, stunned.

Chloe came to Harden's side at some point: "I thought you weren't going to be a melancholy person. ”

"Have you been home?" Harden asked rhetorically.

"Go back and take a look. Chloe replied.

"How does it feel?"

"At first glance, it hasn't changed much, but in fact, many places have become unfamiliar, and I don't know if it's good or bad. ”

Harden shook his head: "I think it's a good thing, my hometown in my memory, there is nothing worth my nostalgia, but now, some places, some people, at least not so annoying to me." ”

"You know what? There's a kid in town who asked me for an autograph!" Harden said of Kirby as a joke, "I don't know why, I didn't understand what William was doing, I just did what I was told, I always thought that protecting the place was not a pleasure in looting the place, but I watched the kid holding my autograph as if he were holding a treasure map, and suddenly I thought it was a good thing to do now." ”

Chloe was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "This is the 'self-realization need' that William once mentioned, right?"

"What do you mean?" asked Harden.

"That is, apart from eating, drinking, and Lazar, one should have other pursuits. Chloe knew Harden's origins, so he deliberately said rudely.

Sure enough, Harden was stunned for a moment, and then laughed.

————

Volume 3, The Great Thief, End.

The next volume, like thunder.

Ask who is in the world today!