Chapter 66: Conflict

“Don’t leave for lunch. It’s my treat,” Akado said with a smile to Fanny after everyone else had left the office. “I hear you rarely eat lunch on time. You have a nickname at the Greater Germany Gazette, ‘Medusa’. Everyone thinks that when you work, you’re so vicious you don’t even spare your own people.”

“Since I am already high above, there is no need for me to care about the evaluations of ants,” Fanny said, boldly reaching out to straighten Akado’s collar, speaking like a gentle wife. “I only care about your evaluation.”

“You know I am going to have a wife. It’s not my choice, but something I must accept to stabilize my power,” Akado said to himself, not stopping Fanny’s intimate gesture. “If you treat me like this, there is destined to be no reward.”

“My father has two mistresses. Even a mediocre person like Matthof has a beautiful secretary who comes to his office to accompany him for two hours of coffee every Wednesday afternoon,” Fanny said, her hand sliding down from Akado’s collar until it rested on his chest. “I don’t ask to be your wife. Just save a place for me by your side!”

“You are very outstanding. There is no need for you to do this,” Akado said with difficulty. Rejecting a beautiful woman’s request to be his mistress required great courage and willpower—if you don’t believe it, you can try.

Fanny did not argue, just shook her head. “Let’s go eat!”

Akado nodded. He also knew that persuading Fanny in the short term would not be an easy task. In other words, if she were the kind of woman who was easily persuaded, Akado wouldn’t care about her being fickle. “Let’s go eat.”

Akado felt he was suddenly becoming corrupt. First, he had treated Miss Mercedes to a super-grand meal. Then, a few days ago, he had sent a generous gift to Karl Benz. And now he was treating Fanny to a meal. He estimated that in just these few days, he had spent the equivalent of a Mercedes military truck.

But he still gave the order, “Anna, take a few people and go to… go to… do you know any good restaurants nearby? Take us there. Right, change into civilian clothes. We might be back a little late later. Don’t let anyone discover we were late.” He really did rely on his life secretary, Anna, now. He estimated that if he were to leave Anna and Depp, he would definitely get lost in the Berlin city center.

Anna was very cooperative. She changed into trousers and flat leather shoes, concealing most of her enchanting sexiness, but she was still just as charming. However, compared to Fanny, who was in formal wear, she was not as conspicuous. She didn’t need to compete with Fanny in beauty, because her job was to protect Akado. Convenient clothing and the pistol in the pocket of her large coat were her true assets.

And so Akado, with two beautiful women and several Reichswehr guards in plain clothes protecting them, arrived in a grand procession at a small-scale restaurant next to the Reichswehr High Command. It was exactly noon, and there were still some Reichswehr officers eating here. Most of them, not being of high rank, did not recognize Akado. Although they could talk endlessly about Akado, it was a pity they had never actually seen this mysterious Reichswehr major general.

The few soldiers and the driver, Depp, tactfully sat at a table not far away. As worldly-wise subordinates, they understood when to provide close protection and when to keep their distance. For example, when the boss was having lunch with two beautiful women, they should keep as far away as possible.

Eating Western food was more boring than eating Chinese food, because you always knew what the next course would be. There were no surprises at all. It was nothing more than an appetizer, soup, a side dish, a main course, a vegetable or salad, dessert, and tea or coffee—Akado always believed that when it came to creativity in food, the Chinese were smarter.

Fanny, as the guest, sat to Akado’s right, studying the menu. Anna, in her civilian clothes, sat quietly beside Akado, her eyes straight ahead.

Sometimes Akado found it very interesting. Of the four women he knew, each had distinct differences.

Anna was the sexiest but never used her sex appeal as an asset. She meticulously carried out her mission of protecting Akado’s safety, never overstepping her bounds. Moreover, she took very good care of Akado’s daily life, which made him very satisfied.

Cindra was like a silent gourd. Apart from reporting to Akado on work matters, this secretary was almost never seen. However, she arranged Akado’s work in perfect order, which made him feel very assured.

The most enthusiastic was Fanny. But this woman’s thinking was wild and unrestrained, and she was also very capable and talented. Even Akado relied on her a lot for propaganda, so Akado didn’t dare to easily choose the nature of their relationship.

And that high-society lady, Mercedes, had always been reserved and inscrutable, which also made Akado not know how to handle her. The thought that she was the one recognized by Krupp and the others in the group made him realize this beauty must have her own unique side, which she just hadn’t revealed to Akado yet due to their limited contact.

Thinking of this, Akado couldn’t help but wonder what kind of joke would ensue if he were to gather these four women for a meal. Then, he involuntarily let out a “pfft” and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Fanny asked with a smile, putting down the menu.

“No, nothing…” Akado quickly waved his hands. How could he speak of such a strange thing? You’ve got to be kidding. Whoever said it would be a fool.

“Let me guess. You’re not thinking that Miss Anna and I will get into a fight later, are you?” Fanny was still smiling, but her eyes held a hint of smugness. She was confident she could see through Akado’s thoughts, at least his lustful thoughts.

“Uh…” Akado suddenly felt the shame of being caught cheating.

“That’s her! We finally found this bitch!” A sharp cry made Akado, who didn’t know how to get off the hook, let out a sigh of relief—the villain’s entrance was truly timely, rescuing the protagonist from a fiery predicament.

Akado followed the voice and saw a group of Brownshirts walk into the restaurant lobby carrying wooden clubs. The surrounding guests all dropped money for their bills and fled to avoid being hurt by this group. Depp and the few plainclothes Reichswehr soldiers immediately stood up and moved closer to Akado, but it was clear they were outnumbered.

“Yo! Two beauties! Everyone look! Two women eating with one man! How shameless!” The leader of the Brownshirts, that is, the Nazi Party Stormtroopers, pointed at Fanny and mocked her with a wicked smile.

“What a shameless mistress! Hahaha,” a group of Stormtroopers laughed along.

“And you? Little miss? Are you his mistress too?” A small-time leader of the Stormtroopers said, walking forward with a club, preparing to harass Anna, who was beside Akado.

“Take your dog paws off! Or I’ll chop them off later!” Anna stared at the lecherous hand reaching towards her with a frown. Behind her, Depp and the few Reichswehr soldiers had already reached into their coats, where they had the latest model military P-38 pistols.

“Go ahead, chop it! I’d be willing even if you chop it off!” the man said despicably, then burst into laughter with the group of lackeys behind him.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t make such a request. It makes even me feel very bloody and violent,” Akado said with a sigh.

“You pretty boy, what are you going to do about it?” the Stormtrooper leader said with a lewd laugh.

The moment his voice fell, a large group of people walked into the restaurant, several times more than the twenty-odd Stormtroopers. They were all carrying identical steel clubs. They all wore black Reichswehr uniforms, and a few of the leaders even had Luger pistols hanging from their waists.

The leading Stormtrooper leader saw that things were not looking good and immediately shouted, “Take these few people! As hostages!” He had some quick wits, wanting to grab Akado first to threaten the group of “colleagues” behind him.

Swoosh. Behind Anna, several pistols were drawn at the same time, pointing at these Stormtrooper lackeys. Akado smiled and said, “If I were you, I’d try my luck with the ones opposite. Although there are fewer people on this side, we’re even harder to mess with.”

Seeing the situation, they knew that their chances of survival today were slim. But taking a beating might leave a way out; taking a bullet was definitely the end. So the twenty-odd men turned around and charged towards the SS behind them.

Reinhard came around from the side, walked in front of Akado, and said with his head bowed, “I just learned that a squad of Stormtroopers was passing by the gate of the Reichswehr High Command, so I brought some men to follow them, thinking of grabbing a few tongues. I didn’t expect you to be here as well. Your subordinate has been inefficient. Please punish me.”

“This was a random event. It’s not your fault,” Akado said with a wave of his hand. “Just now, they asked Anna to chop off their hands. I agreed on behalf of Captain Anna. Take them back to the interrogation department, make them spit out everything they know, sign and fingerprint their confessions. Then mail their hands to the Nazi Party headquarters.”

“Yes, sir! Your subordinate will see to it at once,” Reinhard said, bowing and stepping back. Behind him, the twenty-odd Stormtroopers had already been taken down. Most of them were lying on the ground without even the strength to groan.

Reinhard turned his head and waved his hand. “Drag them into the cars. Take them to the interrogation department of the Reichswehr High Command and hand them over to Lieutenant Colonel Gascoigne.”

After speaking, he turned back around, extended his right arm towards Akado, stood at attention, and saluted. “Long live Akado Rudolph!”

Behind him, the fifty-odd SS men, their uniforms perfectly neat, stood at attention in unison and saluted. “Long live Akado Rudolph!” Then they dragged the people lying on the ground and quickly left the restaurant lobby. In less than ten minutes of commotion, the place returned to its tranquility.

“Thank you,” Anna said, still sitting upright, but her face was slightly red, and she lowered her head to speak to Akado.

“Akado! I feel more and more that you are the man destined for me. What should I do?” Fanny, on the other hand, didn’t care about any of that and had already leaned onto Akado’s shoulder. “If anyone bullies me in the future, will you help me sort them out just like today? Please? Please?”

Akado covered his face and said helplessly, “Eat! Let’s eat!”