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Chapter 1617 Final Chapter: Crossing the Sea [53] "Saints and Sinners (3)"

"A strong soldier's hand, 5 Val coins!"

"Would you sell for 2 Val coins?"

“Auntie, you’re so heartless! These are fresh body parts left over from yesterday. I went through so much trouble to pick them up.”

In the howling, cold wind, some slow, wriggling shadows could be vaguely seen. They clung to the broken earthen embankments or huddled in the leeward side of the huge bomb craters, like withered leaves driven by the gale.

Corpses were cheaper than livestock meat, and large pieces could be easily found on the battlefield. People set up "vegetable markets" based on this, discussing prices.

Wang Xingkong clutched his throat and gripped Su Ming'an's sleeve tightly: "I can't take it anymore, Yu Hang, can we go home? What kind of hellish world is this?!"

“You were the one who wanted to escape; there’s no going back now,” Su Ming’an said.

Wang Xingkong's face turned pale: "I... I felt that Mingxi Campus was too fake, that's why I wanted to escape. I just miss my dad, I miss my mom... I don't want to be an NPC anymore, I want to go home!"

At this point, his expression darkened: "Sorry, Yuhang, I forgot you don't understand."

Su Ming'an gazed into the distance.

The sandy ground bears the marks of battle, and blood-stained name tags are being picked up; ragged civilians bypass the soldiers' shouts and curses, picking up pieces of flesh from the battlefield and stuffing them into their pockets; by the river, someone shouts that their OC is loved by countless people; on the windmill, there is a blind madwoman who has been waiting for her father to come home.

Su Ming'an suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He saw a field, a turning windmill, and a flower shop where an old woman was arranging flowers. He had never seen this scene before, yet it seemed familiar.

But when he got closer, he realized he was mistaken. The old woman wasn't arranging flowers, but pieces of flesh and blood. It was a shop selling body parts.

A strange sense of shock surged through him. He subconsciously felt that she shouldn't be doing this. She should be selling flowers, beautiful daisies, and red spider lilies, not pieces of flesh and blood...

"Want some meat?" The old woman slowly raised her head. "It's so fresh..."

Wang Xingkong could no longer bear it, covered his mouth and rushed out.

Behind his back, some people saw his predicament and mocked his cowardice.

“Where did this kid come from? I can’t stand him.” Si Nian said calmly, arms crossed. “Here, an attack, an explosion, a baseless search… can ruin everything. Eight- or nine-year-olds going to the battlefield can be praised for their bravery, and the number of civilians slaughtered can even be used as a competition, while we don’t even know who we are fighting for.”

Su Ming'an glanced sideways.

"People like you, dressed so smartly, have never seen anything like this before," Si Nian said coldly. "We..."

Su Ming'an interrupted him, and slowly said:
“You are like towels that are tightly gripped, twisted and turned, becoming different shapes, but you don’t know who you were before you became towels.”

Si Nian opened his eyes wide and stared at Su Ming'an in shock.

Su Ming'an looked at the hungry and cold refugees: "Perhaps you should have been pianists, flower-selling grandmothers, or apple-planting farmers... But now, you are all just 'towels,' with no other possibilities."

"You don't remember how many people you've shot and killed. You'll kill defenseless civilians on a single order, dropping shells on their homes overgrown with wildflowers... Among them are children carrying windmills, old people carrying rice and flour but mistaken for arms dealers, newlyweds kidnapped, and even pregnant brides..."

"Sometimes, you feel like the world is a big dream. You've been asleep for a long time, wearing the same military uniform as everyone else, carrying a gun that has killed countless people, and being a withered towel, not knowing when you will wake up."

"You lost friends, companions, and lovers, and paid a huge price... just to get to where you are now."

"You nearly died in this dawn that will never come."

Si Nian listened to these words in shock, then pointed at Su Ming'an: "How could you... how could you understand our mentality so well?"
Despite being such a young man, he seemed to have witnessed countless wars.

……

"Ding dong!"

[NPC (Si Nian) Favorability: 60-20!]

……

Si Nian's excited face instantly turned to disgust, and the words of praise he was about to say were cut short.

As Su Ming'an watched the change in his expression, he suddenly realized that his words should have increased his favorability, but instead, they had turned into a decrease.

Therefore, the veteran's heartfelt praise for "clinging to the powerful and opportunistic" only earned him disgust.

Su Ming'an's words caught in his throat. He remained silent for a moment, refusing to elaborate. The existence of the "reverse mode" meant he could never be a true friend to anyone; their friendships were merely inverted tales born of absurd circumstances.

The three walked in silence for a while. Si Nian touched the scar on his face and said, "Today I'm taking you to the military camp. It's the last time I'll go to collect my retirement supplies. Every time I fired a shot, it made me nauseous. Finally, it's over."

He liked Su Ming'an very much because Su Ming'an wanted to side with Li Gou, showing he was a greedy and opportunistic person. However, for some reason, he felt a voice inside him screaming—this is not right.

why.

He himself couldn't understand it, always feeling that something was wrong, as if he was being controlled by an invisible hand.

He thought for a moment, then chuckled to himself. Since birth, they had been controlled by an invisible hand; were they truly free?

Suddenly, a furtive figure approached and shoved two flyers into their hands. Su Ming'an had barely glanced at them when Wang Xingkong suddenly rushed out like the wind, grabbed the figure, and pinned him to the ground, beating him mercilessly.

"Hey!" Si Nian shouted.

Wang Xingkong, however, was like a little calf, pulling the person down and beating him until he was drenched in sweat, his face flushed, roaring as he hit him:
"This is my family's day! A day to commemorate my hometown! You all want to take it, you all want to sew it up! Get out! Get out now!"

Su Ming'an looked down and saw that the flyer listed several dates. In the past, these dates were used to commemorate his hometown, but now, these dates were required to be used only for worshipping the Radiant Mother Goddess.

Su Ming'an crumpled the flyer, and Wang Xingkong finally let go of the person. The person didn't dare to look back and stumbled away.

Wang Xingkong seemed to have lost all his strength. He staggered a few steps and was about to fall, but was caught by a pair of large hands.

"Heh, this tender cabbage dares to hit people." Si Nian, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, picked up the leaflet and read it: "Those gods love nothing more than squeezing people's living space, and now they're even doing it on holidays... But why are you so angry? Shouldn't a kid like you, with your background, be worshipping the gods?"

"Bullshit!" Wang Xingkong blushed, sweat dripping down his face. "Who told you I'm some kind of nobleman? I'm just an ordinary person like you!"

Su Ming'an discovered a new side of Wang Xingkong; this guy may seem timid, but he's fearless when it comes to actually fighting.

“I’ve always felt this world is strange, like it’s been stitched together. And then I saw them change Qingming Festival into a memorial festival, saying it was a festival set by the Radiant Mother Goddess… I felt like everything I had was taken away, all the things that belonged to my hometown were gone, and I… I was furious…” Wang Xingkong recovered, still shaken, and grabbed Su Ming’an’s sleeve: “I… I just hit that person, he won’t come back for revenge, will he…”

"Kid, are you scared now?" Si Nian patted his shoulder with a cigarette in his mouth. "It's okay. Those guys bully the weak and fear the strong. If you stand up for yourself, they'll know to be afraid."

That punch just now seemed to have finally made Si Nian shed his prejudice.

"Come on, your brother will take you into the military camp."

After walking along the desolate dirt road, they arrived at the gate of the military camp. A moment later, Si Nian came out of the camp: "Come on, the officer is willing to see you. As for how you want to see Li Gou, that's up to you."

Su Ming'an and Wang Xingkong entered the camp, where purple flags, each bearing the portrait of a beautiful woman, fluttered everywhere.

As Su Ming'an walked, he asked, "Who is that?"

The captain leading the way said proudly, "That's Princess Chenghua. Our army belongs to her. She's His Highness Su Wenli's sworn sister. She's noble and beautiful, the shining pearl of Rovasa!"

Su Ming'an turned his head and asked Si Nian in a low voice, "Don't you guys dislike Su Wenli?"

Si Nian shook his head: "That's just what the people privately hate, who would dare to openly defy them? Only 'Nest' would dare to disobey. I worked there after I retired, I'll let you go and see for yourself when I have the chance..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Forget it, they are rebel forces after all. You're still clean, so don't get involved. Once you collect this demobilization pay, everything will be fine."

After walking for more than ten minutes, they entered a cluster of single-story buildings.

“This isn’t right, Captain.” Si Nian looked at the captain who was leading the way: “The officer’s office isn’t in this direction, this is…”

The captain turned around and raised his hand.

"Click-click-click—" The surrounding soldiers immediately raised their guns, pointing them at Su Ming'an and the other two.

A sergeant wearing a hat loudly pronounced Si Nian guilty of leaking intelligence and spying on secrets.

Si Nian looked up blankly; he didn't remember committing such a crime.

"In order to embezzle military funds and line their own pockets, some generals will withhold the retirement allowances of demobilized soldiers, and if a soldier is suspected of committing a crime, all benefits will be canceled..." Su Ming'an suddenly spoke up.

His voice wasn't loud, but it resonated throughout the entire venue.

“You mean…” Si Nian looked at him in surprise.

“In many military units, it is entirely the officers’ discretion. Because the soldiers are illiterate, it is very easy for them to forge evidence and force confessions. The deceived soldiers are often unable to overturn their convictions and can only be executed…” Su Ming’an continued.

Si Nian was bewildered and shook his head repeatedly: "No, there must be something wrong."

"Kakaka-"

“Is it strange? For those three-nothing people who have no family, no achievements, and no wealth, no one cares if they die. It’s too common for them to die on the battlefield. They are the perfect candidates to make money…” Su Ming’an seemed to be used to this kind of scene: “As for me and Wang Xingkong, we are unarmed and have no identification. We are too suspicious. Let’s just deal with it together.”

Despite his youthful appearance, his eyes seemed to have seen it all.

A young man who seemed to have never been on the battlefield, yet appeared to have traversed countless battles and bloodshed.

“No, they must not have understood the situation. I am Sinian! I know Commander Sayer, let me see him…” Sinian shouted, patting his chest.

"Click——"

A pair of emotionless, numb eyes stared at Si Nian through his helmet, as if he were just a scarecrow for people to practice on.

Just like Si Nian's numb firing of his guns, he didn't care who the enemy was, or whose father, whose child, or whose husband he was killing.

A soldier's duty is to obey orders.

This was an order etched into his soul when he joined the army at the age of fourteen.

Innocent civilians' bodies exploded before his eyes, and he convinced himself it was his duty. Throwing grenades into the civilian area, he told himself soldiers didn't need to think, they just needed to be machines that pulled triggers.

At twenty-five, he adopted a girl named Lanting, who had lost both her parents. Lanting decided to join the army. But the message she conveyed after her sacrifice was still in his hands; her superior was dead, and no one could prove her nobility.

"So-called 'advanced,' so-called 'glory'..." Facing the dark muzzle of a gun, Si Nian was still trying to hypnotize himself. His whole body felt frozen, and the discipline ingrained in his bones held him still. He was like a pathetic, stubborn rock... unable to move.

The string broke, the jade shattered.

This is just the life of an ordinary, ordinary Rovasa person.

While the rewriting of the Radiant Mother Goddess is absurd, what is most absurd is that She did not change a single word about the life of someone like Si Nian.

This is the reality.

"Three—two—one!"

Perhaps it was all just a dream. He'll wake up as soon as the gunshots ring out…

"boom!"

The solidified rock was pushed over, and a lively figure pounced on it, pinning Si Nian to the ground.

"Are you an idiot?! They didn't even hold you down, and you just stood there waiting to be shot?!" Wang Xingkong roared, his eyes bloodshot, as he lay on top of Si Nian.
"You know perfectly well that all that stuff is just a way to get your blood pumping, that you're not fighting to protect anything, but purely to satisfy the gods' selfish desires, yet you're willing to die for it! Is this what heroism is? Is this what glory is? You're so much older than me, how can you not understand!"

The bullet flew over his head, and Si Nian's cloudy pupils flickered.

Perhaps the soldiers didn't need to be bound at all; they could live or die as they pleased. Invisible ropes had long been binding them, bound by honor and creed... He couldn't dodge that shot.

However, the pristine, seemingly untouched sky helped him escape.

A blonde girl with purple eyes suddenly leaped out, using both hands and claws to knock the surrounding soldiers to the ground. The captain, his mind controlled by her beauty, turned his gun and pressed it against his own chin.

"No! Don't kill him!" Si Nian shouted immediately, his mind still foggy.

Hui Zi turned around unhappily: "He was about to kill us just now."

“He, he’s just like me…” Si Nian murmured, “He’s just a part of this pathetic power system…”

"He was just asleep, unaware of who he was aiming at, and unable to think..."

"He used to be a painter, and he was a really good painter... But our brains have been rusted by gunfire, and we know nothing but how to fire and obey orders..."

Hui Zi lowered her palms.

"boom!"

But then a gunshot rang out, and blood splattered all over her.

She turned her head, but the captain still fired.

The bullet pierced his own jaw, spraying blood like a waterfall. His cloudy pupils, in their final moments, stared at Hui Zi, murmuring, "Su..."