Chapter 279: The Borderlands of the Dense Forest

Bai Liu subconsciously tries to push Spades away, but the moment he catches a glimpse of Guy, who is laughing and watching, and Alex, who is embarrassed to look away, he immediately sobers up.

He ducked his head down as if shy, parting Spades' lips and burying his head in Spades' arms against her collarbone.

Bai Liu's breathing was slightly sharper, his fingers curled into fists, his lips pursed twice more, and his voice was already calm when he opened his mouth.

"...... Next time before you do something like this, talk to me first."

Spades' hands on Bai Liu's shoulders folded as he let out a very soft muffled sound and then, as if realising Bai Liu's mood, he said as an afterthought, "Shouldn't I ask you first this time too?"

"I'm sorry." He apologised sincerely, "Are you going to be angry?"

Bai Liu burst out laughing, looking up at Spades with a look that made Spades pause.

The heat is heavy on the dark eyes, bright and shiny and unreadable, which clearly hide a vague version of himself, and someone Bai Liu is missing.

Bai Liu put his head against Spades' heart, and he could still smell the lingering blood here.

He'd just emptied two magazines at Spades, and ripped his heart out.

The upsurge of emotions slowly fell back down.

Bai Liu closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, he still had that loose smile on his face, "You haven't changed, apologise for what you've done first."

When Xie Ta spent time with him, the most common word he used was "I'm sorry".

The man has an inexplicable desire to survive, and every time he senses the first signs of Bai Liu's anger level rising, he apologises in time -

--And then dare next time.

"Let's leave it at that for now." Bai Liu got up from Spades' arms, smiling and nodding hello to Guy and Alex, glancing lightly at the Spades next to him with a friendly smile, "But I hope there won't be a next time."

Spades: "......"

It always feels like I'm doing it wrong again.

The two men followed Guy towards the back of the base camp, with a train ride on the way there.

But it was a strange stretch of railway, only a few dozen miles, and only between the front and the back of the town.

Sitting in the carriage, Guy explained reluctantly to Bai Liu, "It's strange, isn't it? It's not often that you build a railway like this, but because this war has been going on for a year and a half, it's been stuck in this position and unable to advance, and then this strange railway was built to facilitate the transport of soldiers and supplies."

Bai Liu's gaze was withdrawn from the dense jungle outside the window - building a railway in such a wet area is no easy task.

The fact that so much effort went into building such a line can only mean that the commander of the battle was up to no good.

Bai Liu looks to Guy: "Why are you stuck here for a year and a half?"

Guy let out a long, long sigh, "Because there's a very important strategic location some twenty kilometres ahead - Pluto Lakes."

Bai Liu raised an eyebrow: " Pluto, the king of the underworld in the words of God Ma? Why is the lake called that?"

Guy explains, "This place receives very heavy summer rainfall, which can average tens of thousands of millimetres a year at its peak."

"During the summer months, this lake, which is at the lowest point of the terrain in the whole area, rapidly rises in water due to heavy precipitation, inducing flash floods and drowning many people living in the area every year, hence the name Pluto, which the people here call this lake [Summer Rage of Death]."

"It's not just that." Alex adds with a serious look, " Once Pluto's waters rise, its lake overflows, automatically filling the many rivers and canals around it, creating an automatic network of interlocking and crisscrossing rivers in this dense rainforest, with Pluto at its centre."

Guy took a deep breath, "In a rainforest like this, where it is difficult to build transport routes, the rivers are natural railways and once whoever takes over Pluto before the rainy season can use the rivers and boats to send supplies, weapons and soldiers around the area in large numbers, giving them a strong war advantage."

Bai Liu understands: "That means whoever takes Pluto before the rainy season is likely to win the war."

"But if that's the case, you've been here for a year and a half and you've had at least two rainy seasons." Bai Liu inquired thoughtfully, "And you didn't split the difference between those two rainy seasons?"

Guy shook his head with a bitter smile, "We were the ones who occupied Pluto the year before, but there wasn't much precipitation that rainy season and the rivers formed a fairly narrow transport area."

"We lost our battlefield advantage during that rainy season and allowed the opposite side to take over Pluto, just in case our side expanded its recruitment that year."

Guy looked to Alex with a complicated gaze, "...... That's when Alex came to the front line."

Alex nodded, he looked gloomy: "Last year's rainy season was Pluto, which the enemy occupied, and with significant precipitation ...... Their battlefield dominance continued into this year, and we were losing ground and just resisting, each day receiving more bodies on the battlefield than the day before ......"

"Our superiors keep increasing recruitment again to fill the front line, so that we can never lose and must win ......"

Guy patted Alex on the shoulder and sighed, "We don't get to dictate how this sort of thing works."

He smiled bitterly, "In battle, the only thing we can do is to die."

Alex hung his head, his voice low: "I sometimes think it would be nice if we lost to bring the war to an end ......"

Guy's expression faltered as he looked around and gave Alex a helpless tap on the head, "Don't say things like that on the train, you'll be disciplined if you're heard."

Alex, his head still bowed, his fists clenched in his lap, did not speak.

Guy gave him a firm hug on the shoulder and rested his chin against Alex's head, his tone soft and gentle, "It's okay, the war must be over after this rainy season."

Alex silently squeezed Guy's hand.

"The war must be over after this rainy season, why do you say that?" Bai Liu looked up at Guy.

Guy was quiet for a moment: "You'll understand when you get to the enlisted point."

With those words, Guy looked out of the train, his grip on Alex tightening, his eyes reflecting the shifting shade of green and the fire of war.

"...... There's a proverb where I come from that says that the time a lover spends together is more precious than gold." Guy muttered.

He smiles and turns his head to Bai Liu and Spades, the war and shade of green in his eyes fading to a moving, damp light like an old photograph, a smile on his face that has a happiness that can't be hidden in envy and pride.

Guy laughed brightly, "So when the four of us stay together, aren't we the richest people in the world?"

Jumping off the train, Bai Liu's group saw the crowded enlisted spot from a distance.

There were people standing on tables with loud speakers shouting angrily, others were holding up draft posters and chanting them around, and others were lying on the floor filling out application forms that had been stepped on with dirty ballpoint pens that they had picked up from somewhere.

The whole scene was a mess.

"Looks like there are quite a few recruits reporting for duty today." Guy tsked twice, "It's not easy to get two sign-up sheets in a scene like this."

"It's about time we did our bit as hosts." Guy took the still unresponsive Alex's hand and with a delighted whistle, rushed into the crowd, "I'll get your registration forms!"

Ten minutes later, a dazed Alex sat on the floor with her face squeezed out of shape, gasping for breath, while Guy excitedly waved his entry form at Bai Liu and the others, "I've got it!"

Guy pulled two pens from his pocket and placed the application forms in front of Bai Liu and Spades, guiding them through the process with a big smile.

Bai Liu had just been handed the application form and noticed something wrong with it - there was a place where the option had been pre-fixed with a cross.

It is obvious who typed this fork.

Bai Liu looked to Guy and he clicked the cross with his pen: "What's this? Can't I choose?"

Guy's smile faded a little, "This ah ...... option is whether you'd like to join the commando team."

"A commando?" Alex's puzzled voice came from behind Guy, "Has there been a raid organised recently? How come I wasn't informed?"

The man on the table with the loud speaker suddenly raised his voice: "Gentlemen, our general has assembled thousands of heavy artillery pieces to pull into this town and will be sending them out to the front line in a steady stream today."

The man was emotional, spitting and waving his arms.

"I believe we all know that if we lose this rainy season, we will be buried at the hands of Pluto, the Grim Reaper! The heavy rains of the past two days have signalled that the enemy forces are likely to have a huge advantage this rainy season."

The otherwise noisy crowd below fell silent and all looked back at the man standing at the table.

He continued sadly: "Shall we thus lose this war for glory, and give up the free land that belongs to us to those unashamed and unsatisfied slaves on the other side of the lake?!"

"Haven't we given them enough rights?!"

"Employing them from poor and backward areas, paying them by the day and providing them with three meals, they actually demand to own property, demand to exchange their labour for land, demand to become superior people like us!"

"How dare this group of people who depend on us for their livelihoods say that these lands that have grown rich only because of us were originally theirs and that we should give them back!"

"Shameless!!!" The man shouted sternly, his face full of anger, "If they really want to have a backbone, why didn't they ask to kick us out when we first started helping them develop?"

"After we have signed the agreement, owned the lands with their consent and made them immensely rich, these greedy people are going to throw us people out under the banner of ownership!"

Guy whispered to Bai Liu: "The rainforest had a lot of timber, minerals and water, but the people living there were very poor, so the officials who found the land signed an agreement with the people to give them jobs, property and food every day for the next 100 years to get freehold of the land. "

Bai Liu gives a subtle pause.

He thought he was doing something shady enough, but he didn't think there was anything shadier - taking land that people already had in exchange for cheaper labour.

It's not a book anymore, it's a no-brainer.

Guy sighed, "As you can see, it was a blank cheque, but the indigenous people didn't realise it at first and they really didn't even have enough to eat, so they all agreed."

"They built factories in large numbers here and gained a great deal of wealth from the land and this labour, but the factories paid the inhabitants lower and lower wages and worked longer and longer hours, and they took these inhabitants less and less seriously, even trampling and mocking them as if they were slaves, and disputes broke out."

"During the quarrel, one of the indigenous inhabitants killed a factory manager, and the friends and relatives of the factory manager, in order to vent their anger, they imprisoned all those indigenous people who had been involved in the quarrel in an abandoned factory and burned them to death in a fire."

Guy was silent for a long time: "A week later, war broke out."

"Everyone at that time didn't think that it could be fought for so long - these indigenous people knew the terrain well and a lot of international stakeholders were coming to their aid, saying that it was a real war for liberation and freedom, and a lot of volunteers from other countries joined them. "

Guy smiled ruefully, "Hey, in case you can't believe it, I was going to be one of their volunteers, but my family snapped me up before I could sign up."

Bai Liu's eyes rested on the man who was still standing on the tabletop giving an impassioned explanation: "There is another version of this story, isn't there? It's not the one I saw in the conscription ads that started the war either."

"Yes." Guy looked at Bai Liu admiringly, "The official version used by the country to promote the idea that they had selflessly helped the people here out of poverty and into civilisation, democracy and freedom was spearheaded by this group of insatiable backward natives who attacked and killed a factory manager who had selflessly helped them during the dispute."

Guy looked at the draft ad posters scattered all over the ground and exhaled, "You know what the most complicated situation is like? This draft ad doesn't tell a lie, that plant manager is indeed innocent."

"That was a very good man." Guy eyed wistfully, "He was of noble birth, but after coming here and seeing these situations, he wanted from the bottom of his heart to help these people build their own factories and get out of the grip of those so-called [upper class] people."

"He mingled with these indigenous people, pouring his family into helping them and not stopping even when opposed by family and friends."

"But some of the natives did not believe him, and were so over-excited as to feel that he was acting in this hypocritical manner in order to further oppress them, and in the dispute the man was shot dead indiscriminately by one of the natives who had been resentful and suspicious of him."

"The country made a big deal out of it and a lot of people came to this battlefield for him - they were angry and outraged and felt that such a good man didn't deserve to die like that, including Alex."

"Their hearts are good, they're just a bit naive, they think they've come here just for an apology, but the war is far more brutal than they think."

Guy speaks quietly here.

Bai Liu looked at him, "This factory manager, you know him, don't you?"

"I could tell you, but it's our little secret, you can't let Alex know, he'll get jealous." Guy blinked his single eye and smiled, but there was a layer of sadness on his face that the smile couldn't hide, "He was my first love."

"I'm lucky, aren't I, that both boyfriends are so great."

The man at the desk shouted loudly, overpowering Guy's voice: "In order to put an end to this war, which has lasted a year and a half, and to sanction those greedy, lowly enemy troops before the rainy season comes into full swing, we organised a raid two days later, for which we drew the best quality veterans and formed an elite raiding party."

"They will undertake the most dangerous assault charge after the shelling in two days' time, so let us applaud the brave soldiers in these assault teams below!"

He produced a long list of names, and with each name read out a soldier would ascend to the high platform surrounded by cheers.

Guy looked at the list and waited quietly.

Alex seemed to realise something as he turned his head incredulously to Guy and then jerked back to look at the list with a gaze that almost burned through it.

" Guy Davis!"

Alex subconsciously grabbed Guy's arm in a death grip, his eyes red and his throat dry, unable to speak a word.

Guy smiled and broke his hand finger by finger, whispering softly in Alex's ear [The war is almost over, baby], and then, amidst deafening screams and whistles, Guy made his way through the throng to the commando platform.

Alex chased after Guy without thinking, but the cheering crowd was in his way and he couldn't move an inch.

The tabletop applauded as they said enthusiastically, "Next, let us welcome the General's recognition of this brave group of men!"

A dignified looking middle-aged man in a more polished stand-up collar-style uniform clapped his hands while smiling amiably as he stepped onto the raised platform.

He honoured the soldiers one by one - with a medal worth less than five cents hung around the necks of those who were about to die for him.

After hanging up, the humanoid general turned his head and said in a deep voice, "Please remember their faces, if they died, they died for the most righteous thing in the world, and they are martyrs for which all mankind deserves to be remembered."

"I called for this raid to be initiated, and I know it will have very painful consequences, but it's about punishing the lowlifes hard ......"

Alex gritted his teeth at the gushing general: "He launched this raid out of the blue for his military credit."

Bai Liu looks over and casts a questioning glance.

Alex took a deep breath and tried to keep his composure to explain to Bai Liu, "The general was a commoner by birth, got into military and political management by marrying the daughter of a high ranking officer, was always looked down upon by the upper class who prided themselves on their nobility, but sat on his position through constant warfare."

"But more than war, I think he's better at politics."

Alex looked up at Guy on the raised platform, his breathing ragged.

"Launching a raid at this point in time is just a way to report back looking good when you lose the fight, after all, you're still relying on the raid to cause enemy casualties before you lose, and you can just use the tragic sacrifice of these veterans to re-publicise to attract more angry people to join the army."

Alex's eyes were red: "They've been lying to a lot of people with tricks like this."

The general on the stage continued his speech.

"They are the Assault I team with the most important tasks and only the most elite soldiers are allowed to enter ......"

Someone below raised their hand and asked, "Can't new recruits enter?"

The general smiled broadly, "No, but you deserve credit for your enthusiasm, you can go into Assault Two and Three and be in charge of sweeping up - you have to be a very well rounded soldier to get into Assault One."

One man raised his arm, his voice not loud, but smooth and penetrating: "I think I have that quality."

All eyes were focused.

The man was tall, a head taller even among a group of screened soldiers, and held his hands up rather conspicuously, especially when he held a silver revolver that looked like it had been built for a lot of money.

Tang Erda threw up his hands helplessly, he had just received an order from this Bai Liu guy to join Assault Team 1 and had to take the risk.

Bai Liu smiled at him from afar and raised his hand in a "Come on, I believe you can do it!" gesture. ".

Tang Erda: "......"

This guy is really a bit of a looker who owes it to himself.

The general seemed to resent having such a new recruit provoke him, and his voice and expression grimaced, "- War is not a shooting game for the nobility, you have to go through a lot of training to join Assault One, or at least, you have to master the skill of shooting with high accuracy."

He swept a slightly contemptuous and disgruntled glance at the silver revolver in Tang Erda's hand - the kind of weapon that only the idle and wealthy sons of great families would bring to battle.

"You hold a gun like that ......" the general teased sarcastically, raising the medal in his hand demurely, "lad, I understand your desire for glory, but I think you might be better suited to riding a mare and hitting a ten centimetre beyond a stationary target ......"

Tang Erda cocked his gun, flicked down the dark goggles on his head and then, with a condensed gaze, raised his hand and shot the general on stage, piercing the medal in his hand without missing a beat.

The general on the stage stopped as if frozen in time, and it took him a long time to let his trembling hands slowly release the medal that had been struck through.

The medal landed on the ground and everyone around looked in shock at the superb new recruit on the stage.

Tang Erda put her gun away gently, "Am I eligible to join Assault One now?"

"Of course I do!" Guy on stage gave a coaxing whistle as he raised his eyebrows, swept Tang Erda from top to bottom with glittering eyes and laughed, "Good lad, your figure shines as brightly as your gun skills!"

Tang Erda was slightly bewildered for a moment, then calmly said thank you and heard the system prompt.

[System Alert: Guy, the main plot npc, has increased his goodwill towards you.

[System Alert: Alex, the main plot npc, has experienced a drastic drop in favorability towards you, and you have been excluded from the main quest]

Tang Erda: "????"

What happened??! Why was he then excluded from the main mission?!

Tang Erda turned her head in confusion to Bai Liu in the middle of the crowd, pointed at herself and then shook her head, saying she couldn't get into the main quest.

Bai Liu's eyes slowly move to Alex, who is staring at Tang Erda with an expressionless face.

Carelessness.