''Mercy is the greatest thing in the world,'' remarked Aglid, who was the secret nightly guest in the kitchen of 656 this time, ''so I vote to pardon the delinquent.''


    Lady Evelyne smiled. As always, Aglid had a very poetic and flowery way of expressing himself. But without question he had a pure heart.


    The Lady noted Aglid''s vote and looked at the result. It was a tie. It was going to be exciting.


    ''I mean,'' Aglid continued slowly, ''there are still those who have not yet been punished. You know which ones I mean.''


    ''Certainly. But we''ll have to wait a little longer for those. Don''t worry, I have them on my list. My list never forgets anyone.


    ''Your words scare me. I hope I''ll never be on your list.''


    ''No one who is pure of heart needs to be scared.''


    ''It''s easy to say and it sounds nice, but, dear madam, sometimes I don''t know how to judge things.''


    The lady smiled again. Aglid''s way of expressing himself had always been special. In extreme situations, he excelled in this respect.


    ''Fifteen more days of GW, dear friend. Can we make it?''


    Aglid nodded. Then he disappeared quietly and unseen through the back door into the night.


    _______________________________________________


    On 656, Yanto Corleone ran along the corridor in front of the kitchen and shouted ''Raid, Raid, Raid!''. Then he tore open the door to the kitchen and shouted cheerfully inside: ''If you''re late for the raid, you have to do push-ups!''


    ''Whaaaaat?''


    Panic broke out inside. Lady Evelyne was shocked and dropped her wooden spoon into the pot of Russian borsch she was cooking. Impel jumped up and looked for her sword, SGH almost fell over Impel in an attempt to catch up with the gathering fighting force in the hall as quickly as possible.


    ''Without using your hands!'' added Mr Dave from down the hall, laughing out loud.


    ''Who thought this up again!'' wailed Lady Evelyne, turning down the hob and wondering if she had enough time to get changed.


    ''Two more minutes!'' shouted someone from the hall. Cursing, Lady Evelyne ran off as she was: in her kitchen apron and high heels.


    ''Push-ups without hands, I can''t do that!'' gasped SGH, who ran alongside the Lady, ''It must have been the generals again! How is that supposed to work?''


    ''You should make them on the tip of your nose! That''s the way they are! I know it does! Hurry up, dear friend...''


    ''Hurry, Sis!'' urged Ace, ''PHx is almost at the end. We''ll finish them off. We''re about to break through. Last raid for today.''


    The girls managed to join the raiding party just in time.


    __________________________________________________


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    Kodaxx put the binoculars down at the window of the 652. ''Kitchen apron and high heels! They''re wearing it again! Of course there are secret crew atk boosts! I don''t care what you say!''


    ''Bro,'' growled Marzzzz, ''by now I''m sure they''ve got us fooled. I haven''t been able to tell any difference in the stats. The only difference is that I now have blisters and corns on my feet and what feels like 1000 embarrassing videos of us have gone viral. You''d better take off those damn kitchen aprons and throw those awful high heels in the bin!''


    ''I don''t care what you think,'' Kodaxx replied haughtily, ''I don''t take any advice from accounts that are smaller than mine anyway. Grow up a bit first, brother, until I hear you out!''


    Marzzzz was about to say something angry when noise rang out in the hall below. Irritated, he opened the door and went out into the gallery.


    The hall was full of Thunder brothers.


    They held banners in their hands and raised posters in the air. These read: ''We''re bored!'' and ''Give us entertainment, otherwise we''ll get it from you!''. Chants could also be heard. ''Burn everything, burn everything!''


    ''What on earth is that?'' asked Mink, who had joined Marzzzz in the gallery, stunned.


    The Dude had also joined the group and looked gloomily down into the hall.


    ''Brother, I''m afraid this is a revolt. Or a revolution. Or a mutiny. At the very least, it''s something close. We should deal with it before it becomes something more.''


    _____________________________________________


    ''They''re attacking with Lupo as enforcer! They are unbearable! Now more and more are coming with Lupos as enforcers! They''re parodying the game!'' Lil Arrow almost cried.


    His girls moved their peacock fans faster to fan him. The R4 hairdresser bit his lips.


    ''Look at that... that Irish joker, that Carbomber, that Big JC - all coming with Lupo as an enforcer! I wrote them all that you can tell they have no idea about the game and are insufferable noobs!''


    ''Boss,'' said the hairdresser carefully, taming the curls of Lil Arrow''s wig. ''''They''ve just zeroed us. That they have no idea about the game and are insufferable noobs is perhaps in light of that fact... er... if they''ve killed you now with Lupos as enforcers...''


    ''Oh shut up!'' shouted Lil Arrow in a wholly inelegant and less than genteel manner.


    ''Yay, 655!'' it roared happily outside the window, ''even Lupo as an enforcer is enough for you. You can send the good guys to the other front. It''s like sending the wolf after the sheep, hell yeah!''


    ''I will kill you all! As soon as I can! And I''ll be able to soon! I mean it seriously! ''


    ___________________________________________


    Mink was stunned. So that was the thanks. Months of work to stage a GW that no bracket had ever seen before: no battle for the centre, just him alone and his clan, his city. A victory like soft butter in the sun. Marvellous, unique, fascinating in perfect aesthetics. And this band of barbarians moaned that they were bored. They appreciated nothing, absolutely nothing. They demanded vile entertainment instead of being able to enjoy the brilliance and perfection of his creation in silence and devotion.


    They dared to stand in his hall and make demands. He should have burned them all when there was still time. Now it was too late. They were just waiting for their rewards, and then only the good Lord knew where they would end up. Some had already announced that they wanted to quit out of boredom.


    Marzzzz was talking to them, Mink didn''t feel up to it at the moment. The ingratitude he had just experienced was too frustrating for him. He really wanted to find someone who would just listen to him. Unfortunately, he knew that this was virtually impossible in his position. So all he could do was put up with it and be annoyed with his own people.


    __________________________________________


    ''Do any of you understand PHx? Why are they just standing around and getting shot?'' asked Irish Carbombers irritably.


    ''No idea! Maybe they''re faint? Or are they asleep?''


    ''Lil Snoopsss wrote me that he told everyone to jump away and make a shield. And nobody listened to him. Now he''s exasperated and says we should please burn them all, he just sits by and watches.''


    ''Lil Snoopsss? Do they have a Lil family? Similar to the Thunder family?''


    ''Yes, exactly. But the 655 is standing there motionless like a flock of sheep.''


    ''Well, that fits. It''s the same with the family as with the flock of sheep. If they all switch to the 652 now, they can rename themselves.''


    ''The next one to enter the 652 could be called Thunder Sheep!'' SGH mumbled with her mouth full.


    ''Or Thunder lamb!''


    ''Thunder Sara would be cool too... You know, Princess Sara...''


    ''Thunder Kitten!''


    ''Thunder Bunny!''


    ''Thunder cuddly toy!''


    As everyone had a mouthful of cake, brainstorming as many names as possible with the prefix ''Thunder'' turned into a very mumbled event.


    ''Do you think the ones from the 652 will come again?'' sighed Chitadrita, ''Marzzzz hasn''t been back in his little sports car for ages. And I hate to say it, but I kind of miss him!''


    Outside, an aeroplane flew past, dragging an advertising banner behind it. ''Five minutes to go until the battle for the government building, get ready for it!''


    Chitadrita tore open the window and shouted out: ''What battle, please? You''re alone in the centre of the GW map! Fight yourselves if you want!''


    ''Exactly!'' shouted Liliana, who had stood next to Chitadrita, ''Fight your baby faction or your farm faction!''


    It remained quiet in the clan castle of 652 opposite. Apparently everyone was still asleep out of sheer boredom.


    ''But look!'' Impel giggled and showed the others her mobile phone. ''They''ve renamed the city. No longer ''MinkStinks''. It''s this instead!''


    The display read ''YallG4Y'' in large letters.


    __________________________________________________________


    On the tower of the clan castle of the 656, Lady Evelyne set down her binoculars.


    ''Something is brewing in the south,'' she informed the man standing behind her, ''and two more fronts are possible in the west and, strictly speaking, in the north... we should be vigilant and protect ourselves. MD is in two days.''


    Stlk took over the binoculars and surveyed the situation.


    ''Blitzkrieg against the 655 from now on. That has to be done before it starts in the south. Avoid war on two fronts... we''ll see. I''ll get the okay from the boss.''


    While Stlk went to Genny and Ghost''s shared bedroom, the Lady went back to the kitchen and pulled the next tray of pies out of the oven.


    ''No matter what, there''s always time for a good slice of cake. Who wants another slice?''