Chapter 351 Battlefield
The night wind rustled, and Ryan's heartbeat grew increasingly rapid. He practically ran into the barracks' assembly point. The shadows of his parents and younger brother hung heavy on his steps, like heavy chains, stretching out into the dim night behind him.
Not the front lines, absolutely not the front lines… What about the glory of the king? What about the overwhelming military achievements and rewards? It's all bullshit! These high-sounding words can only fool those rich kids who grew up in a honeypot.
He wasn't a sorcerer, nor was he a warrior. Ordinary people on the battlefield were nothing more than cannon fodder, herded like cattle by harsh and tyrannical commanders, using their flesh and blood to cover for elite troops. Who wanted to die? Especially not for those commanders who constantly abused and scolded them!
...But desertion meant death, or torture worse than death, and the annihilation of all life for the whole family. Just last week, Ryan's barracks caught a deserter who had attempted to sneak out and "collaborate" with the enemy. The teenager was disemboweled alive in front of the entire army, yet he managed to survive for over half an hour. His heartbreaking wails immediately caused several new recruits to vomit.
Unfortunately, the chaos in the barracks immediately confirmed Ryan's worst premonitions. The usually orderly camp was now abuzz with chatter, and the flickering firelight illuminated panicked, bewildered faces. Soldiers questioned each other, curses and reprimands from their superiors echoed incessantly. The stench of sweat, gunpowder, and leather combined to create a scent known as fear.
"Captain Ryan!" His deputy squeezed through the crowd and waved to him, his face livid.
"What's going on?" Ryan grabbed his arm and asked without hope, "Did you find any spies from the People's Army?"
"Shit scout!" The deputy spat on the ground, his bloodshot eyes filled with nervous collapse. "It's the Blood River Ferry! Those damn bandits gnawed away a piece of the Blood River Ferry. The east bank has been lost. I hear several high-ranking officers of the Fourth Legion have died!"
Ryan's eyes widened suddenly, and he said in disbelief, "What?!"
You should know that besides the main city of Osiris, the Blood River Ferry and the Frost Valley Corridor have the strongest military forces. However, if the Blood River Ferry is lost, shipping will be completely destroyed, and the pressure on the land supply line will be greatly increased.
"It's said that the guys who were originally suppressed by the artillery fire and dared not show their heads suddenly dispersed, like fleas, appearing and disappearing at will, and specifically hunting down the supply team," the deputy panted. "The entire ferry defense area was filled with their shadows. It was impossible to defend against them! Then, in the middle of the night, the group suddenly launched a joint fire attack. Many soldiers were forced to jump into the river. The Fourth Legion was in chaos—"
"What does it say above?" Ryan interrupted him, his voice extremely dry.
"What else can I say? Take it back! We must take it back at all costs!" The deputy raised his voice in despair. "Including those of us on the second line, patrols, reserves, no matter what—all of us! Immediately! Leave tonight!"
——Their lives and limbs are about to flow onto the battlefield, a battlefield burning with fire and blood.
The next morning, the Cole family received the devastating news. The entire Crescent Castle fell into panic and chaos at a visible speed. The granary's security forces had been largely depleted overnight, leaving only the elderly, the weak, and the sick to maintain order.
The atmosphere on the street was extremely depressing. The few shops that were already there closed early. Pedestrians were in a hurry, their eyes evasive, and in corners where the guards could not see, they whispered about the defeat on the front line and the terrible fate that might come.
Cole's father had been sitting silently on the doorstep since early morning, having skipped breakfast. Cole's mother, her eyes swollen from crying, clutched her youngest son tightly, her whole body like a frightened bird, almost forgetting there were two strangers in the house. When the professor and his companions returned, treading through the morning dew, she froze for a moment before standing up in a daze and panic, hastily wiping her hands on her apron.
"Ah, what are you doing? When is it..."
She didn't hear the other person leave the house at all.
"Good morning, we're leaving," the professor said calmly, interrupting her bewilderment. "Thank you very much for taking me in last night."
The old soldier frowned and looked at them, his cloudy eyes bloodshot. "It's a mess outside, you want to leave now? It's too dangerous."
"We're leaving because of the chaos." The black-haired young man paused, looking at the elderly couple who were clearly forcing themselves to stay awake, their brows etched with sorrow. He added stiffly, "As for Mr. Ryan, there's no need to worry too much. I heard the People's Army always treats prisoners well."
The guard couple: "..."
How could such words comfort people? If these words weren't spoken by their son's savior, they should have kicked him out.
Cole didn't understand the strange atmosphere among the adults. He just heard that his hero was leaving, and he felt so sad that he wanted to cry, but he was sensible and didn't cry out loud. He ran away from his mother's skirt, ran to the bed, dragged out a small wooden box, took something out of it, and shyly put it into the hands of Azuka and Nova.
The professor looked down and saw that what was being pressed into his hand was a metal fragment carved with intricate patterns. In Azuka's hand was a small piece of translucent white stone, polished to a very smooth and round shape. The professor took a quick glance—it was ordinary calcite, non-radioactive and safe.
Cole's mother suddenly felt embarrassed and pulled her son: "Cole! Don't mess around with this..."
"It's okay—thank you, Cole, it's a great gift," Azuka smiled and put the stone away. "I'll treasure it."
He squatted down, gently touched the boy's head, and said meaningfully, "Be a good boy, don't run around and make your parents and brother anxious, okay?"
The professor calmly put the fragment into his pocket, but carefully touched the grooves on it with his fingertips.
"...Be careful of the people at the registration office," the old soldier warned. "Those are the ones wearing black uniforms and carrying military clubs. If you don't want to get into trouble, get out of Ross Lane quickly and don't attract their attention."
Nova was slightly startled. Logically, the patrol veteran was supposed to be checking for outsiders, but he clearly saw they didn't want to reveal their identities. This suggestion carried a certain risk, and he nodded at the extra kindness, but also offered a not-so-subtle reminder, "Personally, I think it's best to hide with your family for the time being."
Then he said no more, turned around and left the crowded and depressing shantytown.
Only after making sure that there was no one else around did the professor take out the piece of metal the boy had given him from his pocket and observe it carefully in the sunlight for a moment.
It was a thumb-sized piece of metal, cracked and twisted at the edges. It was hard and cold, neither iron nor copper. A closer look revealed that its surface wasn't simply decorated with intricate patterns, but rather, intricate, interwoven geometric lines and uniquely shaped miniature runes etched with an extremely precise technique.
"Is there a magic circle above?" the professor asked briefly.
"Yes." The Savior took it from him and examined it carefully. "It should be some kind of bloodline array, often used as a core module for identity verification, and it also has energy protection and anti-spying runes. The technique is relatively new, but it's not difficult for me to crack it."
The blond young man tapped somewhere lightly with his slender fingers, and those mysterious lines suddenly seemed to be activated, emitting a faint light - but it quickly disappeared.
The person next to him had already come close to him without him knowing, and his smoky gray eyes were staring intently at the brand in his hand...
"It's a shame it's mostly destroyed." The savior calmly adjusted the position of his hand, causing people to involuntarily lean closer to him. It wasn't until those soft black hair brushed against the side of his face that someone lowered their eyelashes in satisfaction and said calmly and reservedly, "If necessary, I can complete the magic circle. This will allow us to roughly infer the former identity of the owner of the famous brand—Professor?"
His professor's eyes were narrowed, completely lost in thought, his speech accelerating. "Based on what we discovered in the slave cart last night, we're initially speculating that this individual was a high-ranking researcher, very likely one of Lionel Mony's trusted subordinates. He was sent to Osiris City about a year ago to make initial contact with Marquis Ravel... but he died. The human body's rejection of jet was far beyond the 'Asylum' Company's imagination, so his destroyed nameplate was accidentally left outside and was found by Cole. This led to the company's official collaboration with Marquis Ravel, and they began capturing large numbers of 'experimental subjects' for testing in the Crescent Mine."
He snorted coldly and concluded expressionlessly: "Kole really gave us a great gift."
Somehow, the surroundings seemed to be a little quiet. It was not until this moment that the professor suddenly realized that someone seemed to have said something just now.
"I think the actual benefits of re-installing the brand name are less than the time cost, so it's not necessary." The black-haired young man raised his head, stared seriously into those blue eyes, and said solemnly: "But thank you, don't be sad, your method is also great."
Azuka: “…”
Whenever this person uses his innate and formidable extreme sensitivity in emotional matters, these rare clumsinesses of tenderness and sincerity are sometimes hilarious and sometimes extremely moving.
——How can his moon be so cute?
"Your speculation is always convincing. I'll follow your lead." The savior rubbed the back of his lover's neck gently and helplessly, and then suggested cunningly, "But if you take the initiative to kiss me, I will be even less sad."
The professor stared at the guy's face for a while, then suddenly pointed out coldly: "Your micro-expression shows that you were not sad just now."
"If you don't kiss me, I'll be sad." Someone skillfully revealed a slightly aggrieved expression without any shame: "You made a fuss last night and wouldn't let me sleep, and now you don't want to kiss me..."
Since returning to Stone Creek Town, he had been stuck at either the wrong time or the wrong place for so many days, and he thought he deserved some sweetness.
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