Chapter 3255: Farewell Day

"If time could go back, what would you do? Just treat this as an opportunity. I look forward to seeing your final choice. We will meet again. I hope you will still be a teenager when you return."

With the words still echoing in his ears, Malashenko opened his eyes again and felt as if he had returned from hell. Only relief lingered in his heart.

"It's still this familiar ceiling. Fortunately, everything is fine."

Malashenko, who seemed to have been in a dream for a lifetime, continued to do what he should have done with extremely clear memories. It seemed that there was no change at all and it was as normal as before.

Malashenko, who only knew the real situation, did not intend to talk about it to anyone, including his family.

But a long-term and huge plan in his heart has quietly unfolded, and the layout nearly 20 years in advance is starting from now.

As usual, Malashenko was busy in the office reviewing the newly delivered documents, in this office that once belonged to Zhukov.

Knock, knock, knock——

The sudden knock on the door did not stop Malashenko from writing with his pen. He continued to sign his name on the documents and spoke at the same time.

"Come in."

"Comrade Defense Minister, emergency situation, Marshal Zhukov is in critical condition and is dying."

""

The movement of the pen in his hand stopped abruptly as the secretary reported. Malashenko, who seemed to have been paused, was unable to speak for a while and didn't know what he was thinking.

The secretary on duty standing at the desk waited for a full half minute before finally hearing the words of the defense minister.

"Got it, prepare the car and go there immediately."

"The car is ready for you, comrade defense minister, waiting downstairs."

He looked up at the old secretary who had been with him for 5 years. Malashenko nodded slowly and responded with an affirmative look. He stood up, closed the pen in his hand and the documents on the table and set off immediately.

Malashenko, who knew this day would come, had actually been thinking about how to face Zhukov, who now had little contact with him.

Malashenko thought he had thought about what to say and what to do, but the sudden dream of the future disrupted everything that Malashenko had already planned.

What the future will be like, Malashenko, whose plans are being gradually improved but are still unclear, is still uncertain.

But at least one thing is certain, he would not, would not, and would not do something similar to Zhukov for the same purpose in the past, present, and future. There are always some bottom lines that must be followed.

"We are here, Comrade Defense Minister."

When he arrived at the villa outside Moscow, Malashenko heard the secretary in the front passenger seat report and turned his head to stare out the window.

"Get out of the car, I'll go alone, you wait here."

After greeting Zhukov's wife who had been taking care of him, Malashenko, who visited in person, asked the doctors present for details.

After confirming that he was powerless and exhausted, Malashenko quietly pushed the door open.

"I thought they were trying to comfort me, but I didn't expect you to come, Malashenko."

Unlike any previous encounters, Malashenko is now truly on par with Zhukov, and even has almost the same honors and achievements as Zhukov, enough to be recorded in history and leave a strong mark.

However, Malashenko, who never thought of himself as so great, still put aside the past and stood at attention by the bed and saluted like too many encounters in the past.

"Comrade Marshal, Malashenko reports to you. It is my honor to see you again."

Looking at the man in front of him who has reached the highest peak he has ever reached in his life, recalling the past scenes and the bits and pieces they experienced together in the Patriotic War, Zhukov, who was overwhelmed with emotion, just shook his head while lying on the sickbed.

"I have done a lot of things wrong, Malashenko. I am sorry for what I did to you. I have been looking for an opportunity to apologize to you. Thank you for giving me this last chance."

"In the years since I returned home, I have thought a lot, too many times about what you advised me at the time."

"Now I can't figure out why I couldn't even listen to the simplest truth. I am completely different. When did I become unrecognizable to myself? I thought about it, but I can't find the answer."

"Don't care about those things, Comrade Marshal. No one is perfect. The past is the past. Even I made mistakes when I was young and frivolous. If it weren't for you, maybe I would have been dismissed and investigated before the end of the Great Patriotic War."

When Zhukov heard Malashenko suddenly talk about the past, he could still clearly recall the past and laughed, as if he was a like-minded comrade-in-arms who fought on the battlefield with Malashenko yesterday.

"That's different, Malashenko. There are always some mistakes that cannot be forgiven, and I just made that kind of mistake."

"Huh——"

Zhukov, who was obviously powerless, sighed before he finished speaking. He knew that his time was running out, and before he died, he wanted to hear the truth from this man who was once regarded as his confidant and beloved general.

"Malashenko, what kind of person am I in your eyes? I'm about to die, and I want to hear the truth."

""

Malachenko, who was not in a hurry to give an answer, still sat by the bed and spent more time than usual to think carefully. In the end, he gave a firm answer as always.

"In any case, you are a hero of the Patriotic War, Comrade Marshal. Without you, there would not be many things later."

"Maybe future generations will criticize your mistakes, but people will not forget your achievements, which are outstanding achievements that time cannot erase."

"Political Commissar Petrov led me in the direction of progress, and you gave me the opportunity to succeed and provided me with a stage to display my ambitions and dreams. Neither of these two is indispensable. In my eyes, you were, are, and will continue to be one of the most important people in my life, and you will never change until you die."

Hearing this answer, Zhukov's smile, which had not been shown for a long time, appeared on his face again.

In a trance, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and once again held Malachenko's hand, who was close to the bed, and spoke again in an almost trembling voice.

"What has happened in recent years always gives me a bad feeling, Malashenko."

"I don't know what will happen in the future, and I can't wait for that day. But if a crisis comes again, will you protect our motherland again like you did back then?"

Looking at Zhukov's eyes that really wanted to tell the truth, Malashenko's only answer was to nod quietly.

"Yes, I will, Comrade Marshal. I promise you that I will complete the task, just like in the Great Patriotic War."

After getting the answer he wanted, Zhukov, who firmly believed that Malashenko would keep his promise, nodded slowly again, leaving the last words of farewell to Malashenko in this life.

"Then I feel relieved, that's good, Malashenko. You have always been right, always, and I believe it will be the same until the end."