Red dragon: in charge of natural disasters

The ground is riddled with holes, with artillery shells everywhere blasting the ground into craters, and the trenches dug by engineers are like deep scars.

"boom!"

The shells fell next to the crowd, the flying dust was mixed with shrapnel, and several gray-faced bodies fell to the ground.

"Ah, it's a shelling!"

Accompanied by short shouts, all the soldiers instinctively fell down in the trenches in a very short period of time.

Those who have not developed this habit are either recruits who have just been recruited from various places, or they are dead people who have been blown to pieces.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Sure enough, artillery shells fell like raindrops and exploded around them again and again.

Except for one unlucky guy who was hit in the back of the head by a shell, everyone else was almost unscathed.

"Stopped!"

"The shelling has stopped!"

"Damn Cassander, they all deserve to go to hell!"

Someone wailed and screamed. He was rolling in the trench while holding his leg that was cut off by the shell.

There are no doctors or disinfection methods here. If you suffer such a serious injury on the frontline battlefield, you will basically be declared dead.

"Poor Busa!"

The veteran sighed in a habitual tone. Although he was called a "veteran", he was only in his twenties - but this did not prevent those older than him from also calling him "veteran".

The reason is simple. He is the one who has survived the longest on this battlefield and has been in this position for more than five months.

During this period, his comrades had changed one batch after another.

Of course, the veteran also had his own name - Ball Stanton, but everyone is still used to calling him the veteran.

"It hurts!"

"Damn, this is what it feels like to break a leg. It's fucking worse than going to hell!"

"veteran"

Busa was still lying on the ground wailing. He looked at Bauer, with a complicated look in his eyes that were blurred by tears in pain.

Ball could see the meaning—it was a plea.

Busa didn't want to live anymore.

Suddenly, the surrounding soldiers fell silent. They focused their hesitant eyes on Bauer, seeming to be waiting for his decision.

"damn it."

Ball spat.

He loaded the rifle skillfully, stepped forward, and pressed the muzzle of the gun to Busa's temple.

"May you live forever in the Kingdom of God in Amaunata."

"Thanks."

"boom!"

There was a crisp gunshot, and brains and blood flew everywhere.

Busa is a trader, and his whole family is a devout believer in Amaunata. He rarely even curses. He was dragged to the battlefield by Wareham's recruitment order three months ago.

He spent the last few minutes of his life swearing and swearing all his life, and ended his life with a bullet five seconds ago.

"Bussa is the one who has lived the longest among the second batch of comrades. He did nothing wrong, but he was just unlucky."

Ball thought so.

He turned around, his expression calm, but the hand holding the gun was trembling.

"Let's go. Although they have already carried out a shelling, the battlefield is changing rapidly. Who can guess what will happen?"

"Like this unlucky guy whose legs were shortened by shrapnel."

The remaining dozen soldiers continued to move forward. The veterans who had experienced life and death did not care, but the few recruits witnessed the death of their comrades who lived together day and night, and were frightened by it.

Life is too cheap on this battlefield.

For some reason, the air around him became stagnant, as if it was soaked in a bowl of thick blood.

Soon, after walking through the very familiar ravine full of corpses, the soldiers finally reached a safe area.

Suddenly, someone asked: "Veteran, do you have a cigarette?"

"Go away, I found so many bags with great difficulty, and I can't even use them. If you want them, go and feel the pockets of those corpses yourself."

Bauer cursed with an unkind expression.

He waved his hand, took out a crumpled cardboard box from his pocket, and held it in his hand like a treasure.

The soldiers around him suddenly looked over with longing eyes.

"Ouch! Empire Made!"

"Veteran, you still have such a good thing hidden!"

The packaging of the carton has a pattern of vertical pupils and flames, and also has the vague words "Made in the Empire" printed on it.

The rifle in Ball's hand also had such a mark on the wooden handle.

The soldiers didn't know where these things came from, and they didn't care what they meant - they just knew that cigarettes with this mark were the strongest and best to smoke.

They knew: If Bauer didn't want to share the cigarette, he would not take out this treasure.

The soldiers swarmed forward, smiling and stretching out their rough palms, sweeping away the tense atmosphere.

"Go and take one each - it's for Busa's sake."

"I haven't received my share yet!"

"Wait, there's me too!"

"You fart! What are you holding in your other hand? I just saw you take one!"

When everyone dispersed with faces full of joy, Bauer looked down at the carton with only one cigarette left, his face full of distress.

"These bastards."

He took out the cigarette, protected it from the wind with one hand, and lit it with the other hand, then put it into his mouth.

"call--"

"As expected, it is a product made by the Empire. It is strong and much better than those products that cut corners."

Bauer leaned against the earthen wall, exhaled a puff of smoke, and couldn't help sighing in a low voice.

A refreshing feeling rushed to the top of his head, and his thoughts were temporarily pulled away from the battlefield and flew to his hometown far away.

He thought of the former Strong Town, which was just a small town in the eastern part of Thrace, but it was so peaceful and beautiful.

At that time, Bauer was just an ordinary blacksmith apprentice. He made an agreement with Jenny from the flower shop next door - when he could manage the blacksmith shop alone, they would get married.

He remembered Jenny's rosy face that night, and her shy but happy smile.

This picture was particularly warm, and in his eyes it was better than heaven. He could even smell the fragrance of wild flowers on the other person.

But the next moment, the explosion and smoke tore this warm picture apart, and Bauer couldn't help but scream.

"Ah-"

He continued to think.

The ruthless war broke it all. Soon, the young men in the town were all signaled by officers of the Thracian Kingdom, and Bauer was no exception.

"Jenny."

"Is she okay now? I heard from those people that Cassander's cavalry has also entered the eastern part of the kingdom."

"Maybe, maybe."

Bauer was a little worried.

The air became gray because of the smoke and fog from the artillery, and he could taste the bitter taste of tobacco on the tip of his tongue.

Bauer didn't like the smell of gunpowder, but he liked smoking-because it was one of the few ways to relieve stress on this battlefield.

Every time he exhaled smoke, he would feel refreshed, and his tense brain at that moment also got a moment's rest.

"Damn it."

"Damn war."

Bauer took a deep breath and suddenly realized that the war had penetrated into every aspect of his life and was omnipresent.

Even if he escaped from reality, he could hardly escape the shadow of war.

With the progress of the all-out war, the armies of both sides appeared on each other's territory, and burning, killing and looting were commonplace-and Bauer was just an ordinary soldier on the southern front.

If you have to say that he is different from other soldiers, it is that he lives longer.

He couldn't change anything.

"Old soldier"

A timid voice came.

Bauer turned his head and saw a dirty, childish face.

He was wearing a military uniform that was several sizes larger than his own, with sleeves rolled up and wrinkled on his wrists.

That was Tommy, a new recruit who was said to be only sixteen years old. Because of his distinctive baby face, everyone called him "kid".

Bauer glanced at him.

"Kid, the cigarettes are all gone."

Tommy shook his head, looking serious: "No, I'm not here for this, I just have a question that I haven't figured out, and I want you to answer it."

"What questions do you have?"

Ball narrowed his eyes, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said nonchalantly: "I have been on this battlefield the longest, just tell me if you have any questions, the more you know, the longer you live."

"That unlucky guy Busa knows a lot, but it's a pity that he has bad luck."

Tommy hesitated for a moment, then looked into Ball's eyes and whispered: "Do you know why we are fighting?"

Ball's eyes widened immediately, he didn't expect the other party to ask such a strange question.

Tommy continued, "My father told me that the Holy Fadlan Empire was originally one, and both the Thracians and the Cassanders were proud citizens of the empire."

"But now, we are fighting and killing each other. Why is this?"

"My father said that Otis betrayed the great sun god and became an apostle of hell. His Majesty Wilham came to stop him."

The soldiers around had gathered around and were quite interested in their conversation. After all, there was no entertainment on the battlefield.

Bauer didn't know.

He didn't care about the cause of the war or its significance. He just wanted to survive, return to the town, and marry Jenny.

Bauer wanted to shake his head to show that he didn't know, but for some reason, he suddenly remembered the "joke" he had heard from an officer before.

So, Bauer said meaningfully: "The old emperor left a chair made of gold. Our Majesty Wilham wanted to sit on it, and the evil Otis Demon King also wanted to sit on it, so."

At the end, he deliberately prolonged his voice, appearing mysterious.

Tommy was stunned: "Is this the reason for the war? So many people died, so many people lost their homes, just for a chair?"

"So - what does this have to do with us!"

"It's just a joke! No matter how hard we fight, we are just fighting for a chair for the people above."

Bauer smoked the cigarette until only the width of a little finger was left, and sighed with regret.

"I"

Realizing that he was being teased, Tommy's face turned red, and it took a long time to spit out a word.

"Hahahahaha!"

"It's really a kid!"

The soldiers laughed.

"Kid, try your best to live. No matter what the sun god in the sky is like, I am already very satisfied to see the sun tomorrow."

Bauer stretched and patted the dust on his military uniform, saying this.

He was talking about the war, but at this moment, what emerged in his mind was Jenny's rosy face - that was the future he longed for.

In the distance, the crisp sound of gunfire and the rumbling of artillery were still heard.

At this moment, Bauer, Tommy and the many soldiers who were smiling happily did not know that because their unit was on the southern front and close to the Holy City, they were selected as reinforcements by General Misel Benacerraf. .

And they are about to go to the most cruel "meat grinder" - the Holy City battlefield.

I don’t know how many of the lively people who are laughing, cursing, and making jokes will come back alive from there.

…

…

Isdalia, the 13th Factory of Klaubau Military Industrial Group.

The huge machinery buzzed, like a giant beast made of steel, constantly spitting out smoke.

On the assembly line, in front of the huge machine tool, hundreds of workers were completing their work at their respective positions: some were responsible for inspection, some were responsible for sorting, and some were responsible for assembly.

They are also like machines, numbly doing extremely simple tasks without stopping for a moment.

"Please pay attention to me!"

"The defective rate of the last batch of goods exceeded 8%!"

"You idiots, can't you do such a simple job? The people above are very unhappy!"

The supervisor's angry voice echoed in the workshop, making all the workers nervous.

"Hold on a little longer."

"We'll be off work in half an hour."

Raj Pink thought.

He is the worker responsible for sorting parts, and his job is also very simple, which is to classify different components.

But after six hours of non-stop work, he felt dizzy looking at the parts.

"What are you doing!"

The worker next to him made a mistake and missed a defective part, which was discovered by the sharp-eyed supervisor.

The worker quickly apologized: "Yes, I'm sorry, sir, I was distracted."

"I won't do this next time! If I find this again, half a month's salary will be deducted from you!"

Upon hearing this, Raj quickly cheered up and held up his eyelids.

He works here just to make ends meet.

money.

As the most developed city in Anzeta, Istalia is very expensive.

As for an assembly line worker like him, whose salary is only enough to maintain food and clothing, it would be wishful thinking to buy a residence in this city.

I heard from the overseer that the things they made would become exquisite weapons and be sold to the south, with each piece fetching a high price of one kinner.

That's a kinnar!

You must know that if he works diligently for a month, he can get a salary of one kinaar, which does not include daily expenses.

And there are thousands of firearms that pass through his hands every month - Raj often wonders, where does the money for those firearms go?

He didn't know.

Maybe it all went into the pockets of those big shots.

The supervisor also explained to them impatiently: without the dragon-blood nobles investing in building factories and providing equipment, they would not even have a chance to work in Isdalia, let alone receive wages.

Raj had a long discussion with his co-workers, and they all thought what the supervisor said made sense.

Raj's idol is also a dragon-blooded nobleman - his name is George.

George's story was published in the "Empire Daily" and was loved by the majority of workers. Raj even spent money to buy that issue of the newspaper, cut it out, and posted it in his dormitory.

Baron George came from a humble background and was once a serf in the North. He also started from the bottom of the labor force, worked hard step by step, and finally became a dragon-blood noble.

That is Raj's ideal self, and it is also the self in the eyes of countless workers who come to Isdalia.

"Speaking of which, I also met Mr. George's previous co-worker. He seemed to be named Howard, the supervisor of the factory next door."

"I don't know if I can see Lord George."

Raj thought so.

Suddenly, a sharp shout broke his beautiful vision.

"Raj! You are distracted too!"

"Sure enough, if you think about it every day, you will make mistakes! Look, you put Part No. 2 in the area of ​​Part No. 3!"

"I'm sorry, sir, it's me."

Raj suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He looked panicked and wanted to defend but didn't know where to start.

The supervisor just glanced at him, then turned and left: "Don't explain, this is the second time you have made a mistake this month, so prepare to receive your silver!"

Raj, who stayed where he was, looked livid, lowered his head, and sorted parts silently.

His dream is to buy his own small house in the outer city of Istalia and open a flower shop inside.

But houses in Istalia are not cheap. Even the outermost houses cost thousands of gold.

Raj's salary is one kinnar a month, and half of this month's salary will be deducted.

When will he realize his dream?

——Please give me your monthly ticket——(End of this chapter)