RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 54-6: Stockholm Conference (Part 6)

Author Notes:

Apologies for the delay, but the next chapter is up! Yesterday has been quite hectic for me, with my allergy causing me needless troubles. The weather of Vietnam is a pain to work under, but I guess there's no use harping over it now.

I wonder, will this conference be able to end in peace lol

P.S: next set of pictures is up btw, do tell me how they feel to you

https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9

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Quite surprising but not unexpected for everyone watching, Belka has been unable to properly show the aftermath of what's happened in Sardegna. Other than the fact that they wouldn't be able to record all the chaos around, the disaster was already quite literally visible everywhere. Rather than rehashing what's old news now, Belka opts to show the viewers how they recover from the catastrophe.

Military units cooperate with local groups of volunteers, helping the affected families, rebuilding neighborhoods, and distributing supplies. To counteract the displaced population, semi-permanent residential blocks are constructed with all the amenities presented. Trains and trucks, loaded with food and other necessities, come in and out of supply depots, ferrying the needed materials wherever they're required. Factories and farms, if unharmed, work overnight to output everything Belka demands. Any critical infrastructure that gets damaged is practically repaired overnight, ensuring that the bare minimum of livelihood is provided to the citizens. Just in a short period of less than a week, life in Belka has returned to relative normalcy, much to the incredulousness of other nations.

The streets are clean, the people are smiling, and while reconstruction is still an ongoing endeavor in some parts, it doesn't impede the daily lives of Belkan citizens. Rather, there's a festive mood in the air, made into reality by the overabundance of resources that are injected into the market. Pricing is kept at a low level, with markets always seeming to be fully stocked. Public security remains at a high readiness despite the relaxed atmosphere, with military and police patrols going places thus ensuring any trouble is promptly dealt with. It baffles the spectators when the blatant display of force is not met with criticism but welcoming smiles and gifts to the serviced members.

What the Hell is that mentality even? The keener viewers though will notice that these serviced members are always the first to tackle an issue while lessening the risk for the citizens involved. It's because of this that Belkan civilians highly respected these mundane heroes of theirs. They even work more spiritedly and efficiently, knowing that they're in good hands. What has been shown is a symbolic relationship, the government takes care of its people and the people will fuel the government. A concept that is easy to think of but hard to put into practice, evident by the stage of the world currently. If not marred by war and disaster, the world is inflicted with greed and discrimination. Belka has achieved what has been thought to be impossible, something that is immediately picked up on by leaders like Emperor Cao Long, Sun Goddess Amaterasu, and President Roosevelt...

When they're still struggling to regain what was lost, Belka has already moved on, stronger than ever. It's at this point that the delegations understand just where Belka's confidence in being able to support half of the world originated from. Some are glad to have remained on neutral or friendly terms with the Reich, while others lament or are wary of the nation due to their hostile relationship with one another.

The transition from the civilian side of things to the point of view of the Belkan Reich Marshal has been enough to reignite another bout of curiosity from everyone. Each time this happens, they come to be able to peer through the iron curtain that surrounds the Reich.

"How are they?" Asked the Marshal as she gazed at the patients, former prisoners in that damnable Sardegnian complex. Their tenure has left many of them with a myriad of sequelae, with many sporting bodily disabilities or diseases. From the look of it, the Marshal is in a dedicated hospital built and operated by the military to treat and rehabilitate the patients to accept their new normal.

"They are... Well, this is the best they can be right now, ma'am. The yard is for those who can at handle the sunlight, we still have many more in the buildings, either to be treated or are too afraid to move away from their quarters. Respectfully, Marshal, we will need a lot more manpower and real estate if we are to treat everyone in a reasonable timeframe."

The young Marshal nods. "That has already been arranged, my good doctor. We are already building three more medical complexes, with two of them nearing completion. Once finished, you may offload your burdens to them. And don't worry about the manpower issue, soon enough, we will recruit medical personnel from the civilian sector. They will be able to handle the light to moderate cases."

The doctor sighs in relief. "That has been the best news I have ever had since I was stationed here, ma'am. We tried our best, but there are still several patients that didn't make it."

Rather than commenting anything, the Marshal only offers an acknowledging nod. "Give me a rundown while we walk."

"As you wish, Marshal." The chief doctor followed behind the Reich Marshal while explaining more about the treatment processes and the difficulty they must face. On her part, the Marshal has been listening attentively as the doctor lists out the many debilitating effects that the hospital must treat. Just some of them have caused a few people to turn blue in nausea.

Their walk is interrupted when a Marshal comes across a girl, a mere child, falling after mistakenly stepping on her toe. Before she can hit the ground, however, the Marshal has already acted and magically cast an air cushion to catch her. A nurse, who has been put in charge of the child, bows in gratefulness at the Marshal. Due to manpower issues, the nurse has been put in charge of a group of five girls, each with a different type of disability. The girl who fell onto the air cushion is now having fun though, bouncing her body on top of the air cushion, claiming it as her new toy.

The Marshal sports a small smile at the sight, though the viewers' attention is pulled to the blindfold over the child's eyes, or the bandages that are visible under the hospital gowns of the others. Once again, they're reminded of the depravity of the Sardegnians. Some of the spectators are happily married with a child or two back home, thus they find it stifling, the rage that is welling inside them but lacking a target for release.

A few individuals now harbor the thought that maybe, just maybe, the world needs a proper policing force to prevent a tragedy like this from ever befalling children of the world again. 

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Molotov is a proud Old Bolshevik, he has since nations, people, rises and falls, but he must admit that he has never seen a country that is as stalwart as the Belkan Reich. While it may be a criminal's thought, Molotov thinks that his beloved nation has now found itself severely lacking behind its Western neighbor. The ability to deploy a powerful navy, means to conduct strategic long-range air operations, highly effective intelligent department, impressive logistical capability, advanced medical practices, loyally spirited citizens... Just one of them is enough to uplift the face of the Rusviet Union on the geopolitical stage, and the Belkan Reich encompasses all. It takes them a mere four years to achieve everything, while in a similar timespan, the Union only manages to slightly improve its industrial sector. The Union clearly has more men and resources to extract, but clearly, they have been inefficiently utilizing them while Belka makes the best of what they have. A notion that is reflected by the fact that Belka has been cutting back on importing Rusviet resources a great many times, while it's Rusviet that is now needing high-quality material from elsewhere to fuel Stalin's modernization program.

At first, Molotov doesn't quite get why Stalin was hellbent on refurbishing the military, not when other integral sectors were still outdated compared to the rest of the world. But having seen some of the more militarist aspects of the video projection, Molotov can relate somewhat to Stalin's desire. At least with a strong military, Rusviet can run a tighter ship, since the recent chaos has created the chance for some unwanted population to lurk around.

But as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it's in Molotov and Rusviet's best interests to resolve their cordial relationship with Belka. The Rusviet military has an upcoming occasion to survey Belkan's military technological achievements, hence Molotov can just leave the militarist matters in the hands of the generals. What the man is aiming for, however, is to secure further cooperation in the civilian and industrial sectors. It's clear to everyone that Belka is now a highly advanced nation after their modernization program. This means that Belka must have an impressive industrial capacity. If Rusviet can get its hand on a portion of the new production technologies, Molotov can see their own industrial sector being propelled by years. There's also the medical advancements that he saw in the video. Molotov knows not a small number of people that can have their ailment treated by Belkan procedures. Stalin himself would even want such medical improvements to be spread across the Union. 

Happy and healthy workers equal a strong Rusviet, Stalin said. Though Molotov knows that they're still a far cry from making that statement a reality, mostly due to the happy and healthy part. As Stalin's right-hand man, Molotov understands that propaganda can only boost morale so far. Actual, credible materialistic things are required for the citizens to cooperate with the nation.

And Molotov hopes to at least achieve some of that with their Belkan friends during his stay here in Stockholm.