cold night

Pushing open the door of the hall, I stepped into the combat readiness hall of Class Four.叶凡's words still echoed in my mind: data collection, regarding the disappearance of E7, the "Holy Hall", a branch of the World Revolutionary Army...

Be more vigilant tonight.

I shook my head, as if trying to drive these thoughts out of my mind by shaking it.

All along, whether in Yitlan or in Kreber, I had been keeping myself occupied either with a busy daily life or with battles, using this to escape from reality. I had never had the awareness of being a warrior. I charged ahead merely because of a retaliatory and hostile mentality, with a distorted longing for liberation—either for myself or for this world.

After such a long time, I still hadn't gotten over the deaths of my parents and sister. I had locked my heart in that room on my own. I was just longing for a bullet that might fly out from some corner one day to make me stop thinking and go to another world.

Jiang Li was right. That girl with unfathomable eyes and I were of the same kind, equally lonely. In a trance, her voice rang in my ears again: "What about Ji Ling and Ji Han?"

I didn't need to worry too much about Ji Ling, but what about Ji Han?

She just seemed not to care about anything on the surface, but how could she not be afraid of the bullets and death that even I was afraid of? And how could she change and not be afraid? I still remembered that from childhood to adulthood, she didn't even dare to step on a cockroach. She would only come to Ji Ling and me with a crying voice. Now, who knew if this girl would secretly cry in her quilt in the dead of night?

It was me who got her involved.

"Xiao Yao, Xiao Yao," Ji Han ran towards me joyfully, her little face flushed, looking as if she was showing off her accomplishment. "I managed to trick Bing Bing into coming here. Am I amazing? Shouldn't you... What's wrong with you?"

Seeing that I didn't say anything, the girl tilted her head to look at me and stood cutely in front of me, reaching out her right hand to touch my forehead. My reflection was in her clear pupils.

Something in my heart stirred like a little animal and gradually spread, turning into a warm force. Driven by this force, I stretched out my arms and gently hugged Ji Han. Her body was warm and soft, and the heat radiating from her dispelled the coldness in my heart. Ji Han trembled a little and hugged me in the same way, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Are you tired?" Ji Han asked me softly. I let go of her and stared into her eyes: "I will protect you well."

"Yeah." Ji Han replied with that usual trust, "I know."

In the territory of 072, Luo Bing was sitting on the ground in a daze. When she saw me approaching, she raised her head, still with that expressionless face: "Hello, Captain."

Beside her, Liang Dong was lying on the ground maintaining his precious machine gun.

I squatted down to be at the same level as her and stretched out my right hand: "Welcome to 072."

Luo Bing didn't stretch out her right hand to shake mine as I had expected. Instead, she looked at me with a confused face: "?"

After thinking for a while, Luo Bing put a grenade in my palm: "Here's a meeting gift for you."

I:???!

"Isn't it enough?" Luo Bing saw my reaction and pulled her backpack over. "I have more powerful ones here..."

"No, no, thank you, thank you." I quickly stuffed the grenade back and said repeatedly, "It's okay, it's okay."

Lu Wanqing beside us let out a disdainful "Tch". Luo Bing looked at her and then lowered her head, looking sleepy. Tonight, Jiang Li and Lu Wanqing had brought the weapons and equipment we had when we first met. Jiang Li was wiping the extractor. Lu Wanqing pursed her lips and let out another "Tch".

I was just about to ask what was wrong with this girl tonight and if she was crazy or something and needed to be treated quickly. Suddenly, a loud noise came from the distance. The screwdriver in Liang Dong's hand slipped and fell to the ground with a clear clanging sound. I looked out of the window and immediately held the assault rifle in my hands: "Enemy attack?"

"107 millimeters."

Luo Bing muttered to herself. I didn't hear clearly what she said at first: "What?"

The noise came again for the second time, and Luo Bing was even more certain: "107 millimeters."

The alarm bells rang loudly throughout the base. An Gehefei rushed into the hall out of breath: "Thunderstorm! Everyone, move out!"

"Turn on the screen!" After gulping down several mouthfuls of water, the squad leader directed everyone to turn on the big screen. He himself adjusted the map to Craig—the second closest city from here, which neither belonged to the government forces nor the anti-government forces. It used to be one of the most prosperous areas in Akria, ranking third in population in the whole region, and had relatively complete various infrastructure. When I saw this city, my expression changed. If we fought there, we would have no advantage at all. Urban warfare would level the differences among everyone.

On the map, the green dots representing Class Five and the transport team were slowly moving northward, surrounded by patches of red representing the enemy forces. I knew that my expression must be ugly at this moment. Emilika was in that transport team.

An Gehefei spoke quickly: "They were attacked and there have been casualties already. The enemy installed a 107-millimeter rocket launcher on a pickup truck. The coordinates of these will be sent to the tactical tablets. The Predator 2 will clear the way for us."

"What if the other side has anti-aircraft weapons?"

"In that case, we'll have to deal with them."