North District, Haibei Street.

This was the place where Lawrence had made an appointment to meet Anna, but it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun above her head had begun to set in the west, and Anna still did not see Lawrence's figure.

Yesterday at noon, Anna took Lawrence's commission and was excited for a whole day.

The reward of three gold coins, and the possibility of a decent job, made Anna, who was huddled in a dilapidated shack at night, smile happily and insomnia all night.

Therefore, at the dawn of the day, Anna got up from the bed, rushed to Haibei Street early, and waited in advance.

"What about the gentleman... Did he forget to come..."

Anna stared at the big blue eyes and carefully looked at all the passers-by who came and went in the street, hoping to see the kind young gentleman.

Three hours had passed since the appointed time, and Anna waited anxiously in place, clutching the gold coin that Lawrence had paid her.

Although the citizens of the northern city are not wealthy, they all maintain a minimum level of decency. Covered in dirt, Anna looked out of place as she stood on the street where the crowd of face-to-face people passed.

"Huh? How did the slum kids get here? Don't go back yet! ”

A fierce and vicious strong man wandered idly on the street, and suddenly caught a glimpse of Anna in a tattered robe, and shouted at Anna with a direct frown.

Anna bit her lip, her face was a little pale, she didn't know how many such stares and insults she had suffered over the years in order to earn a few silver coins to fill her stomach.

"I'm sorry sir, I... I'm waiting for someone. Anna lowered her head and whispered.

"Wait for someone?" The strong man pretended to exaggerate the corners of his mouth, sneered and said:

"Who else do you want to wait for? It's like crawling out of a pigsty, and we can all smell the stench of you standing here. ”

Anna buried her head in her hood, not daring to look them in the eye, so she had to say in a loud voice: "Sorry sir, sorry..."

"What's the matter, don't you go back soon!"

The man frowned when he saw that Anna was still standing in place. He is used to doing evil on weekdays, but he didn't expect a girl from the slum to dare to turn a deaf ear to his words.

"You little brute! I've got to do it. As he spoke, the strong man came up with a sly smile and pushed Anna to the wall.

The passers-by only ignored the situation, and occasionally some people frowned and glanced at this side a few times, but they did not mean to stop.

Anyway, a girl from the slums, no one will risk standing up for her.

I saw that the strong man had a hideous face, reached out and grabbed Anna's arm, and dragged it outward.

Anna's thin body like a bamboo pole couldn't struggle even if she tried her best, and in a hurry, she opened her mouth wide and bit the strong man's arm.

"Ahh You pig! ”

The strong man shouted and threw his arm away, and there were two more rows of shallow blood marks on it. Then, in annoyance, he picked up his casserole-sized fist and was about to slam it at the emaciated Anna.

Anna closed her eyes in fear, unable to even cry.

And just between the lightning and flint, only a loud popping sound was heard.

Bang!

A crater suddenly appeared at the strong man's feet, and several stone chips were thrown into his face.

"Who... Who the fuck dares to shoot in the street! The strong man was taken aback, and quickly put away his fist and shouted at the top of his throat, looking back at the person who fired the shot.

Lawrence looked at them expressionlessly, and blew lightly into the muzzle of the gun, blowing away the snow-white gunsmoke.

Too late to change his outfit, Lawrence was still wearing his morning patrol uniform, and his blue-and-white jumper was stained with a large patch of prisoner blood.

"Wait... You're the one in the morning! ”

The strong man's eyes widened, and he pointed at Lawrence and said in a loud voice, he had recognized Lawrence as the patrol commander who presided over the execution in the morning.

Lawrence ignored his words and lowered his head to reload the lead bullet and gunpowder into the barrel.

"Sir!"

Anna did not open her eyes in fear until a long time after the gunshot, and was pleasantly surprised to find that her husband, whom she had been waiting for for a whole day, was right in front of her.

"You... What do you want to do..."

The strong man swallowed uneasily and took two steps back nervously.

Don't look at him as much taller than Lawrence, but the finely crafted flintlock pistol in Lawrence's hand is not an ornament. Coupled with the fact that he witnessed Lawrence's brutal execution of the three people in the morning, the strong man was already terrified.

Anna quickly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and hurriedly ran behind Lawrence.

A flattering smile appeared on the strong man's face, rubbed his hands, and said:

"Monsieur Bonaparte... Monsieur Bonaparte, we don't need to be a slum bastard..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lawrence shot the strong man on the ground just a few inches in front of him.

And the strong man was so frightened that as soon as he heard the gunshot, he threw himself on his knees and fell directly to the ground, crying and begging for mercy.

Pedestrians had noticed the situation and recognized Lawrence in uniform, and they all came up in a circle.

Lawrence looked at Anna with guilt on his face and apologized: "Sorry Anna, I was late today. ”

Anna was still in shock, sobbing and saying, "It's okay sir, it's okay. ”

Reaching out and touching Anna's head, Lawrence couldn't help but sigh, then walked up to the strong man kneeling on the ground, and asked condescendingly:

"Who did you just say is a?"

"Big... My lord," the strong man's voice trembled a little, and he glanced at Anna and said, "Isn't she just a lowly slum girl." ”

Lawrence snorted coldly and asked loudly:

"You say she's a? She is not Corsican! Are you trying to say that the Corsican compatriots are all?! ”

"I... I didn't—" The strong man opened his mouth to defend something, but was interrupted by Lawrence's cold voice:

"Open your mouth."

"Huh?" The strong man was stunned for a moment, but when he thought of the fate of the people who were ruthlessly shot by Lawrence in the morning, he quickly opened his mouth wide.

I saw Lawrence wave his right hand and directly stuff the barrel of the pistol into the strong man's mouth.

The barrel of the gun, which had just been activated twice, still had a hot residual temperature, and as soon as it was put into the strong man's mouth, it made a sizzling sound and white smoke.

The crowd of onlookers huddled in a circle, but none of them felt sorry for this strong man, and all who lived here knew that he was a well-known ruffian in the neighborhood.

"Ahhhh The brawny man's shouts continued for a few seconds before Lawrence pulled the barrel out of his gun and pulled out a handkerchief in disgust to wipe the saliva from the barrel.

And the man's mouth has been scalded with dense blisters, and he can't even make a sound, and it may be difficult to recover without recuperation for a few months.

"." Lawrence looked at the guy who bullied the weak and feared the hard with disdain, and spat out two words.

The strong man who was granted amnesty hurriedly stood up with a roll on the ground, squeezed through the crowd of onlookers, and quickly disappeared into the street corner.

"Fellow citizens! As you can see! ”

Lawrence looked around at the onlookers, put his pistol back into his waist, raised his hands and announced loudly:

"All Corsicans are created equal! I will never allow the oppression and bullying of Corsicans to happen before my eyes, and if there is, I will use the power given to me by my countrymen to punish them! ”

There was a moment of silence in the crowd, followed by loud cheers as Lawrence excitedly repeated what Lawrence said "all men are created equal"

Lawrence, on the other hand, waved at the crowd for a moment, pulling Anna out of the crowd under the eyes and cheers of the people.

"Sir... Is what you just said true? ”

After moving away from the crowd, Anna asked cautiously as she tugged at the corner of Lawrence's coat with some hesitation.

"About whomal?" Lawrence replied casually.

"The ones about people, equality." Anna timidly said:

"But I don't feel like I'm equal to everyone else. I sometimes see from a distance the houses where people live in Dongcheng District, so bright, so spacious, so... Pretty. Occasionally, I can see them traveling, and the clothes on their bodies are like I can't imagine. Even if they went three miles away, they had to hire a luxurious troika, and I never dared to think that I would be equal to those people. ”

Lawrence listened, stopped, and said softly:

"Anna"

"Yes, sir." Anna lowered her head and looked at Lawrence carefully.

"There is no such thing as absolute equality in this world, and the superiors call this inequality fate, and force us to accept it. But one day, people will understand that this is wrong. People will revolt, they will fight, they will erase the injustices that have been imposed on them. Maybe they won't succeed, even their sons, grandchildren won't succeed; But as long as there are people who continue to fight for it, will one day in the future achieve equality for all mankind? ”

"Will we be able to see that day?" Anna looked up at Lawrence.

"We may not see the day when we will succeed, but the day when the struggle will start may not be far off."

Lawrence said, looking to the other side of the sea, in the direction of Paris.