The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1223: Chapter 143: Only in Death Is There Life

Whoever will ultimately shake the mortal world with their voice must long endure self-imposed silence. Whoever will ultimately ignite the lightning must long wander like a cloud. My time has not yet come; some are born only after they die.

—— Friedrich Nietzsche

When doubt presses heavily on one’s heart, everyone considers it a big problem.

But when someone breaks through that barrier, these big problems suddenly seem trivial.

Arthur, far from being angry as they had imagined, did not even defend his actions. He casually removed his white gloves and tossed them onto the table: ”Giuseppe, thank you for bringing this issue to me. I’ve actually been wanting to answer it, but Alexander never gave me the chance. He never asked, so I couldn’t answer. This made it seem like we were both thieves.”

”So... did you really kill many people?”

Arthur counted on his fingers, replying slowly: ”If you insist on counting the hangings against me, plus the deaths and injuries under the Tower of London, then last year, thirty-one people should have died by my hand. As for the injured, that number is much higher and couldn’t be accurately tallied since I commanded numerous suppression operations in May and June last year.”

If Garibaldi had immediately heard that someone killed 31 liberal protesters, he would have been furious. But compared to the newspaper headlines, especially against last year’s events in Paris, he suddenly found the number acceptable.

However, fewer killings do not mean less brutality. Garibaldi quickly shifted focus to those suppression operations that caused many injuries.

This was not just to satisfy curiosity but because they had suffered losses at the hands of the police in Italy recently, making Garibaldi eager to understand the police’s usual methods.

”How do you usually operate? Do you let people into the venue first, then block all entrances to trap them?”

Upon hearing Garibaldi’s guess, the veteran policeman leaned against the wardrobe and shook his head: ”Giuseppe, what you described is a battlefield annihilation, not a police suppression operation. If my police commander did that, I would immediately dismiss him and send him packing because our goal is to solve potential riots, not create them.”

At this point, perhaps feeling tired from standing, he dragged a chair closer, fished out his blue wallet, and flicked two thalers to Great Dumas with his fingernail: ”Alexander, could you run downstairs to get two bottles of wine and some snacks? There are quite a few people here eager to listen to stories.”

Unexpectedly, Great Dumas took the thalers but refused to go downstairs: ”I want to listen too.”

”Then you could run faster.”

Upon noticing, Nourri took the silver coins from Great Dumas and offered: ”Let me run this errand for you instead.”

Seeing Nourri step outside, Arthur then turned to Garibaldi, who was keen to hear stories: ”Giuseppe, in this aspect, you are far less shrewd than Mr. Nourri.”

”Hmm?” Garibaldi thought Arthur was accusing him of not being swift: ”I was about to go, but Mr. Nourri spoke up before me. Besides, ordering food isn’t physically demanding; if it was unloading goods at the docks, I wouldn’t let him handle it alone.”

”That’s not what I mean.” Arthur explained: ”Mr. Nourri doesn’t trust me, and he equally suspects my friend Alexander. He’s concerned that if I let Alexander go order food, it might be a chance to leak information. Hence, he’d rather exert himself than let Alexander leave the room.”

”Is it really necessary?” Garibaldi scratched his head: ”Mr. Dumas participated in the July Revolution, you know.”

Arthur quirked an eyebrow while pouring himself a glass of water: ”Napoleon also took part in the French Revolution, didn’t he? It’s human nature to judge someone’s current actions based on their past experiences. However, applying this thinking when faced with life-and-death issues is very dangerous.”

”Arthur!” Great Dumas slapped the table: ”I’m not Napoleon! Though I know his nephew, it doesn’t make me a Bonaparte Party member.”

”Don’t be angry, Alexander.” Arthur took a sip of tea: ”I was merely giving an example.”

”Indeed.” Heine commented unexpectedly: ”Being Napoleon isn’t easy either.”

Great Dumas glared at him, but then tossed the conversation back to Arthur: ”You should tell your story first.”

Arthur was always willing to meet the demands of his friends. Since everyone was keen to hear the ’Police Operations Manual’ of Scotland Yard, he didn’t mind sharing it.

”Among all the suppression operations I’ve presided over, the protest rally held at the Strand was the largest in scale. According to the intelligence we received beforehand, eight thousand protest demonstrators were expected to attend that day. From a police perspective and based on historical experience, if such a large-scale protest is allowed to proceed, even the slightest spark could potentially transform the protest into a riot.

Therefore, during the high-level police meeting at Scotland Yard, I actively proposed using every means to disrupt the rally. To reduce the number of participants, I first went to see the Radical Party leader, Mr. Francis Price. He was an admirer of Mr. Bentham, so during university years, I established a certain degree of personal connection with him.