Chapter 686 Soul

This should be the end, this redefined life...

Luca felt like he was sitting in darkness, surrounded by pitch-black chaos. It was as dark as the time before chaos began, and there was nothing around.

He sat there, his mind completely empty, thinking of nothing, not dwelling on anything, without any worldly ties entangling him, and without any unnecessary sounds to disturb him.

But after an unknown amount of time, he only saw a beam of light, just like the beam of light that gave him new life when he died. This time he was familiar with the process, and he did not struggle or desire. He just waited quietly for the light to wrap him up and eventually send him back to another place.

Everything was like waking up from a beautiful dream. When Luca opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar fishing village. An officer wearing a rusty iron helmet and old chain mail was standing at the entrance of the village with papyrus in his hand. His soldiers gathered all the villagers and read the contents of the papyrus in front of them.

That's the conscription order.

The empire's manpower has been reduced in the endless wars, so they need more young soldiers to join the battlefield, to contribute their due part, that is, their own lives, in order to help Rome, which is on the decline, survive.

In the crowd he saw the young man again, the Luca who was still alive and not dead.

This young man who was hurt by love stood in the crowd like a piece of wood, his lifeless eyes drooping weakly at the ground beneath his feet. He had no reason to raise his head again.

"Conscription, conscription again, terrible conscription..." The sighs of people around him made him react slightly. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully to the conversation around him.

"It's conscription again. Damn it! That's the gate to hell. It's said that once you join the army, you can never come back."

"Yes, my uncle passed away. Not long after, all the family received was his bloody military badge."

"He's dead?"

"Yes, life is gone forever and will never come back."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, nothing."

Such a sad conversation made the young man's eyes light up. He seemed to see hope again. It didn't matter how happy and beautiful the officer described the military life. The only important thing was that this could take him away! "Who is willing?" The officer shouted to the crowd.

In the end, no one responded. They all knew that this would be unworthy of their own lives. No one wanted to make a heroic sacrifice. They just wanted to linger on in this world and live a few more years.

"Who's willing?" the officer reiterated. He was obviously a little angry. After all, if he didn't receive any soldiers, he might do something extreme.

He stretched out his hand to grasp the hilt of the sword, and the soldiers behind him also grasped their spears tightly, ready to move at any opportunity.

The current situation is very clear. If there is still no one, then they will rob people!

"I!"

At this critical moment, a call was heard and a thin right hand was seen reaching out from behind the crowd. Everyone turned around and looked at Luca who raised his hand, with different emotions in their eyes.

"Move aside, move aside, let me see this brave child!" The officer's face was full of joy, and he shouted to the crowd.

The villagers made way for Luga to pass through. Luga took heavy steps, as if every step he took was a step closer to the abyss.

"Oh my God, poor child, what happened?"

"Is he crazy? He actually wants to join the army?"

His ears were filled with such sounds, but even so, it could not stop the young man from moving forward. He walked so weakly but his footsteps landed so loudly.

Finally, he came in front of the officer, who looked at Luga with a satisfied look on his face.

"Tell me, child, what is your name?"

"Luga." Luga replied in a low voice: "Orius Luga."

"Luga, good boy, good boy!" The officer nodded repeatedly with satisfaction, and then pulled Luga in front of him.

"Anything else? Anything else?" How could the officer be satisfied with just one guy?

But no other villagers dared to stand up.

Luga turned around and looked at the villagers who were retreating continuously, trying to find Tenaia among them. Of course, there was no figure. The guy who Tenaia said was brave had disappeared. There was nothing, nothing left. They were all cowards!

"Okay, that's best."

A trace of loss flashed through the young man's heart, but in the end, he thought it over. After all, he was disheartened and there was nothing to ask for.

"Old people, old women, and children who can't go to the battlefield. Ha, look at who they are?" The officer looked at everyone present and found that except for the elderly and children, there were no young and middle-aged people.

"Where did they all hide?" the officer muttered to himself, and turned around with Luga to answer. There were a few dirty poor guys on the carriage transporting the recruits, and it seemed that they were pushed up.

Now Luga is about to join them and become a consumable in the next war.

"Wait! Wait!"

At this time, a hurried shout was heard, and the officer and Luga turned around together, only to see the old doctor Bella squeezing out of the crowd. He ran to Luga panting.

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"What are you doing, kid?" Doctor Bella scolded Luca loudly. Then, he reached out and grabbed Luca's arm and pulled him back, saying, "Come on, let's go back and talk!"

"What?"

How could the officer be willing to see his child being snatched from his hands? He quickly drew out the iron sword and smashed it hard on Dr. Bella's back with the hilt. Dr. Bella fell to her knees in pain. Prasvia and Tenya, who arrived later, saw this scene clearly. They rushed out of the crowd and came to Dr. Bella.

"Damn him." Looking at Bella lying on the ground, the officer was still furious and cursed him twice, then took Luca back.

"Luka, Luka!"

Dr. Bella kept calling Luca's name behind him, but Luca never turned back. He stood obediently beside the carriage without even a glance.

"Okay, kid, you don't belong here anymore!" said the officer, and took out a tattered iron helmet from somewhere, which he had taken off some dead man's head.

"You are now a glorious Roman soldier. You will use your flesh and your blood to prove your loyalty to the great Augustus and Augusta!"

Luca said nothing from beginning to end. He just lowered his head, allowing the officer to slowly put the helmet on his head and then tighten it.

Being a soldier is so simple. All you need is a helmet and a spear. All you have to worry about is where you die.

"They seem to be reluctant to leave you." The person in the car asked Lu Jia, "Don't you feel reluctant to leave them?"

"There's nothing left to stay here!" Luga said coldly, with a lifeless look on his face that made others shudder.

What is the point of being alive but having a dead heart?

He himself was an orphan, and all he had was an old boat, a fishing rod, a fish basket, and a dilapidated thatched house. What else could he be attached to in such a life? Especially for a child who was already fragile, and who had suffered an unforgettable blow in his life.

The carriage started moving, and the wooden wheels squeaked without any emotion as they moved forward on the uneven ground.

"Luka! Luka!"

Doctor Bella was still screaming, even though the carriage had gone far away. His hands were clasped tightly into the ground, tears were streaming down his face, and he kept sighing and sobbing, as if he had lost something extremely important, even more precious than his life.

"My old friend, my old friend!"

Bella knelt on the ground, watching the carriage disappear from her sight.

The villagers gradually dispersed, and some came to comfort him: "Don't worry, old Bella, you will see him soon. I mean, the helmet stained with his blood or something. Anyway, I'm sorry!"

(End of this chapter)