218 Chapter 18, Induction

Late at night, crackling flames were burning in the depths of the port, and the enslaved men finished their work and returned to their camps under the watchful eyes of sentries.

The filthy air was filled with whispers and mixed discussions, all of which pointed to the young nun without exception.

I saw the guy take out the food from his traceless stretch backpack and distribute it to the refugees one by one. Gradually, she became familiar with the refugees. They put down their guard and surrounded her, just like looking at Jesus. He looked at her with admiration.

Due to her extremely firm belief, Hoffa had no way to persuade her not to do such a thing, so he could only stay within her and not let her go away from his sight.

But her actions like this undoubtedly annoyed the local thugs.

After Frank's death, these thugs still nominally submit to the widow Mary, but in fact this submission is completely superficial. Their actual leader is a baboon man named Matthew.

And the measure he took was to arrange a dozen of his men to watch Hoffa and Chloe in shifts on the watchtower in the distance.

After ten o'clock at night, Chloe came back. She sat by the campfire, took off her nun's hat, and rubbed her hair exhaustedly. After rubbing her hair, she straightened her arms and stretched her muscles and bones in a way that Jesus was crucified on the cross. Then, squatting by the campfire, she sprinkled the spare marching rations Hoffa had brought into a small tin pot and started cooking them.

The food in the tin pot boiled, and the nun tasted it with a spoon and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"without."

"Your slave owner friend didn't entertain you?"

She asked while serving porridge.

"He's dead, don't tell me you didn't hear."

"What?" Chloe paused, stunned: "I don't know, how did he die?"

"Chopped in half by an idiot with a brain full of muscles." Hoffa said calmly.

"Huh" the nun sighed, put down the spoon that was stirring the food, tapped the Holy Trinity on her body with her finger, and muttered an unintelligible prayer.

After praying, she also sincerely said to Hoffa, "I'm sorry."

Hoffa was expressionless: "I'm not sad, what are you apologizing for?"

"Oh My God"

The nun moaned: "Okay, you are so cold-blooded."

She served Hoffa a porridge and asked, "By the way, how do you plan to get a boat to take me to England?"

"I didn't think about it." He stared at the darkness, unconsciously stirring the flame with his palm.

To be honest, he didn't know that widow named Mary well, and after Chloe made such a fuss, he felt that his hope of being able to borrow a boat was very slim.

"By the way, when I was taking care of those refugees, they told me a bad news."

"What?"

"There's only one boat here, the one we saw at the pier during the day."

Hoffa was taken aback, then sneered: "Impossible, Frank has at least twenty ships under his command."

"Yes, but there was a big bombing here a few days ago, and most of the ships were destroyed in that bombing, and there is only the last one left here."

the only boat

He secretly thought it was bad, thinking that if there were twenty boats here, it would be very easy to borrow one by himself. But if there is only one boat, it is not that simple to borrow it. Everyone understands the truth that rare things are valuable.

Just as he was talking, a figure came from a distance. It was the young widow whom she met during the day, Mary.

I saw her wearing the black dress she wore during the day and the retro black headdress with flowers, walking slowly to the campfire, rubbing the hem of her skirt with some embarrassment, and waving hello to the two people sitting on the ground.

Chloe stood up, and Hoffa also stood up.

"Are you sleeping in the open tonight?"

The widow was very polite.

The two nodded.

Mary: "Well, you can live here, I have a lot of places to sleep in my house, if you want."

"I don't care." He pouted, and kicked the ball to Chloe lightly.

"No."

Chloe said decisively.

She had a stinky face, looking very unhappy at the other party.

The widow smiled awkwardly, but did not leave.

Hoffa: "Thank you for your kindness, but it's so late, what can you do for us?"

The young widow rubbed her hands a little uneasy: "I have something I want to trouble you with."

"What's up?"

"There will be a funeral tomorrow, and a priest is needed for the funeral. But there is no priest in this area right now, so." The woman's gaze turned to Chloe, "I would like to ask my Sister, Your Excellency, to preside over the funeral for us."

Hoffa was taken aback for a moment. He didn't understand the funeral customs in Europe, so he turned his head to look at Chloe, only to find that Chloe's face was extremely ugly. She refused decisively:

"That's the priest's duty, and as a nun, I must never touch it."

"No, no, it doesn't need to be so troublesome." Mary quickly waved her hand: "As long as you can go up and read it."

"Don't be kidding, okay?"

Chloe interrupted Mary: "The mass and the burial ceremony are both sacred. They are the gates of the dead to heaven, and they are the basis for helping God to judge the soul. Do you think anyone from any church can preside over it?"

After Chloe finished the call, Hoffa couldn't help laughing, but the widow Mary was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to say.

Chloe said with a cold face: "If you just want to find someone to deal with it, you don't have to ask someone from the church to host it. Ordinary male friends can also host it."

"But Frank didn't have many friends in his lifetime."

"Who says there are no friends? Isn't this a ready-made friend?"

Chloe pointed at Hoffa, and then squatted down to take care of the porridge.

The widow then turned her head to look at him again, her pretty face like a porcelain doll was full of uneasiness and helplessness.

The ball was kicked back to Hoffa's hands. He thought that if he agreed to preside over the funeral, it would be an opportunity to ease the relationship. The other party only had one boat left, and Frank passed away again. If he wanted to borrow a boat, he would have to pay a price.

So he showed a sincere smile: "That's what it should be. Frank was also my good friend before his death. What should I do?"

In the early morning of the next day, the sky was gloomy like a thick ink splashed on the horizon, without a trace of white, as if it was about to fall down, so oppressive that the whole world was silent.

In the early morning of the second day after Hoffa arrived in Normandy, Frank's coffin began to be buried. European funerals are not as complicated as Asian funerals. At the ceremony, only Frank's wife, Mary, and several of his staff were present.

Standing in front of the big hole that had just been dug out, Hoffa held a crumpled piece of paper and coughed a few times. Dryly reading the professional eulogy Chloe wrote for him.

"The way to God is unsearchable. In his words and in his mysteries, his mercy is revealed. Although he has revealed to us, we still need to consider carefully. When we open our arms, the earth Not only took away our illusory body, but also took in our glorious soul"

As he read, Hoffa began to wander.

(Frank is a violent and hot-tempered wizard. Because of smuggling activities, he has offended and slaughtered many people. Even when dealing with him and Norbert, he can't see each other. This kind of People, if they can really go to heaven, there will be ghosts.)

"...all that passes quietly, this world has no end. Rest in peace, my friend, your soul will live on. Your birth and your existence are only to convey the poem of hope, forever, I walked through that Shady lawn I will not be afraid, for your soul is with me"

Finally, after he read all the eulogy without emotion, there was sparse applause from the audience, the coffin was buried in the soil, and the funeral was declared over.

After the funeral, Hoffa walked up to Mary in a black dress and said in a low voice, "Can I take a step to speak, ma'am?"

After delaying for a day and giving Frank an end, it was time to tell my reason for coming.

Mary nodded.

The two walked under the tree far from the tomb, but they haven't spoken yet.

A hand was inserted between the two of them.

It was the supervisor named Matthew. He looked at Mary: "Madam, we are ready. When will you board the ship?"

Mary said quickly: "Wait a minute, I have something to say to Mr. Bach, and I'll be there right away."

Matthew: "Okay, hurry up, we'll wait for you."

After finishing speaking, he stared at Hoffa with an unfriendly expression, then turned and left.

board the ship

Hoffa felt something was wrong, "Where are you going?"

"Oh." Mary said with a smile, "Matthew wants to take me to Switzerland. There is no war there, and he says it's safe there."

Hoffa's heart skipped a beat.

It's over.

There is only one boat, and we still have to go to Switzerland.

No wonder when I first came, I saw those armed thugs driving the refugees to fuel the ship. In this way, the boat would definitely not be lent to himself.

Unknowingly, the situation took a turn for the worse, and he encountered a silent crisis. Everything before that was in vain. How could he borrow a boat?

"What's wrong?"

Mary asked curiously, "Is Mr. Bach here?"

Hoffa's mind moved quickly, but there was a relaxed smile on his face:

"Ma'am, it's like this. Noble and I owed Frank five hundred francs worth of raw materials during our lifetime."

He snapped his fingers quite chicly, and a roll of banknotes bound by a rubber band flew over from the air at high speed, and landed precisely in Hoffa's hand.

Mary looked at his operation, and her eyes suddenly became a little more fearful and respectful.

After catching the banknote, he untied the rubber band and said casually, "Although Frank is gone, I think the debt that should be repaid still needs to be repaid."

"Uh, is that so? Oh, I'm sorry to trouble you to make a special trip."

Mary had no doubts about him, and bent down holding her skirt with a grateful expression.

"but,"

Hoffa paused when he took the money away, and said slowly: "Frank also promised us that there will be a batch of metal raw materials delivered to me and Noble. Ma'am, do you know about this?"

"ah"

Mary looked away from the roll of money: "I've never heard of that."

"I've never heard of it, it's a headache."

After thinking for a while with his brows pretendingly, he handed over the banknotes in his hand.

"Forget it, if you don't know, you don't know. After all, Frank has passed away. I will find other suppliers."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Bach." The woman took the money respectfully and seemed relieved: "Then, I'll go first. Mr. Bach."

"Yeah." He nodded with a casual expression.

The little widow put the money in her pocket and turned around contentedly.

"Wait a minute," Hoffa called to her.

"Anything else to order? Mr. Bach." The widow looked at him curiously.

"You know wizards, don't you?"

Mary was startled, he glanced around and lowered his voice: "I know."

Hoffa looked a little more serious: "Okay, then I'll just say it straight, I came from Paris and heard some rumors."

Seeing the other party's serious expression, the widow was a little curious and nervous: "What rumors?"

"There are a large number of German wizards who are now looking for Frank everywhere because of arms smuggling. I have several informants in the military, so I know about this. As Frank's friend, I would like to remind you to be careful on the road. wizard."

"What! De. German wizards are looking for us"

The widow exclaimed, and as soon as she finished, she covered her mouth with a jerk, like a balloon being poked, so terrified that she grabbed Hoffa's arm and straightened her back.

"real or fake.?"

"Do I have to lie to you?"

After looking at each other for a moment, she stammered and asked, "I'm sorry, what should I do, Mr. Bach."

"I don't know that."

He shrugged, "My friend and I will leave here this afternoon, please take care of yourself."

After speaking, he turned and left without hesitation.

Just a few steps away, an anxious shout came from behind: "Wait a minute, Mr. Bach."

Hoffa breathed a sigh of relief, the smile on the corner of his mouth was fleeting, then he turned around slowly, raised his eyebrows and asked, "What?"

"That. I. I want to ask, where are you going?"

"Sorry, this has nothing to do with you." Hoffa said indifferently.

"no no"

The woman waved her hands again and again: "I'm just asking casually, and if it offends, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Hoffa looked at Mary up and down for a moment, saw beads of sweat dripping from the tip of her anxious nose, and chuckled inwardly. Good guy, fortunately, this woman has no brains, so she can do whatever others say. Otherwise, his plan to borrow a ship to go to England will definitely be ruined.

"I want to help my friend find a safe place. You know, France has been a bit dangerous recently."

"Where exactly are you going?"

"."

With an inscrutable posture, he remained silent.

The widow rolled her eyes, "Uh uh. That's right, Frank Frank has several warehouses in Switzerland. I think the materials you need may be in the warehouses. If you don't mind, you can go there with us .”

After finishing speaking, the widow rubbed her hands on the spot, looking at him expectantly.

Hoffa pinched his chin and pretended to think for a moment, and finally nodded reluctantly.

"Okay, okay, it's okay anyway, I'll go with your boat once."

"Oh, that would be wonderful."

The restless widow was slightly relieved.