Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1185 Is it well protected?
The base of the Ash Guerrillas is on the east side of the Cloud Whale Sky Island, about 300 meters away. At first, this was just a temporary place to stay, with only a few simple wooden houses and a few supplies. But since the other bases of the Ash Guerrillas were swept by the 17th Legion, it has become the last home for these resistance fighters. As the logistics manager of the Ash Guerrillas, Regina built it carefully. In just a few weeks, she leveled a large open space in the forest, and built residential areas, warehouses, temporary hospitals and training grounds according to regional divisions. A row of dark wooden walls was built outside the base, and swaying lights were hung on the sharp wooden stakes. These precious light sources illuminated the bleak green and black lingering between the cursed trees, and also brought some comfort to the desperate fighters.

No matter how deep the darkness is, there are always people chasing after a ray of light, opening up a bright path for everyone. In the wild times, before the Count of Gray Hill was given the power to rule this place by the kingdom, it was the adventurers who dared to fight monsters and search for ancient treasures. Now, it is their turn.

When the Stone Guards transported the food and medicine provided by the inn back to the base, it immediately caused a great sensation. Although they were not short of supplies for the time being, every bit of support from their allies would make these soldiers excited, because they knew they were not fighting alone. Moreover, this battle went so smoothly, and several resistance organizations with different philosophies worked together to complete a wonderful raid, and even broke into the logistics base of the 17th Legion in the town of Aimang. This was a good sign, as if it indicated that their careers would be promising in the future.

Of course, they could not see the intrigues behind this victory, and Regina was unwilling to say more. At this inspiring moment, they just needed to enjoy the victory. The resistance fighters gathered around enthusiastically, laughing and greeting Ling Ge, although they might not know this young man; they gave a thumbs up to Metien who was carrying a medical kit, thanking her for saving their lives; some even squeezed to the side of the stone guards, wanting to help them take over the heavy burden on their shoulders, making these diligent gardeners feel a little at a loss.

Regina scolded them several times with a smile, and warned them that if they didn't disperse, they would be punished to clean toilets for a month. Only then did these soldiers leave with a smile. Before leaving, they did not forget to tease Regina, "Be careful that no one will want you if you are so fierce." This made her so angry that she wanted to bite her teeth, but she still had to maintain her demeanor in front of the guests and not be rude. So she kept it in mind and would settle the score with her later.

"Sorry, they didn't mean any harm." After calming down, Regina turned back to Ling Ge and said, "It's just that, um, I was a little too excited and didn't know how to express my feelings."

"I understand." Linger nodded slightly: "They are all very good fighters."

As he spoke, he looked around and noticed that some people were out of tune with their companions. They didn't look happy, and most of them were sullen and alone in remote corners. They were either silently cleaning their weapons, not paying attention to what was happening around them, or looking up, as if trying to see the shadow of the sky between the dark tree trunks. The young man knew that most of these people had relatives or friends who died in this battle. No matter how quickly the battle ended or how smoothly the war went, as long as it was a war, there would always be sacrifices, even the smallest sacrifices.

At the same time, he also noticed another strange phenomenon. However, because the three little girls were still around him, he couldn't ask about it and could only keep it in his heart for the time being.

Soon, Regina led Ling and his companions to find the young army. They were sitting around a bright campfire, roasting a tuberous rhizome similar to sweet potato, which should be a specialty of the Black Forest. After being roasted, it exuded an aroma similar to pine oil. An impatient boy couldn't wait and stuffed it into his mouth. He was immediately burned and grimaced, which attracted a lot of ridicule from his companions.

Mitch was sitting half leaning against a tree stump, stretching out his injured left hand to bandage Kadora, and he laughed at this. Kadora, who was wrapping the bandage on his arm, accidentally tied the bandage crookedly, and the girl pushed him lightly in anger, warning the boy not to move again. Then she reached out to take the scissors next to her, wanting to cut off the crooked bandage. At this time, Metien arrived. Seeing that her friends were all safe and sound, she was so happy that she forgot to say hello to Regina, and waved to them directly, shouting happily: "Hey, Mitch, Kadora, and everyone! I brought Leticia and Shemi to see you!"

Leticia crossed her arms and snorted disdainfully: "I'm here to see Cardora. It has nothing to do with you."

Little Bat always resists every peer who tries to get close to Metien equally, probably because she is afraid that her status as a good friend will be taken away. Originally, her attitude towards Kadora was just average, but after the latter and Metien agreed to become followers of the goddess, she became one of her own in Little Bat's mind. She has a clear distinction between love and hate, and her attitude towards her own people is relatively friendly - except for Lingge and Shemi.

As for Shemi? She was lying on top of Metien, drooling over the tubers roasting on the bonfire, and shamelessly asked, "What is that? Can I have a taste?"

Take a bite, if it doesn't taste good, forget it; but if it tastes good, I will just eat it all up, saying "my saliva is on it". I believe others will not be embarrassed to say that I am greedy, right? The sinister intentions of the traveler goblin are obvious.

"Metien!"

Kadora also shouted happily. She was very surprised by Metien's sudden visit, but she did not forget her duties. She still took the scissors and carefully cut off the crooked bandage, and then re-bandaged Mitch's wound. The boy was not very happy to see his friends come to visit him. He frowned and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Combined with his subconscious action of covering his injured left arm behind his back, Ling Ge could only understand that he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his friends. Although people often say that scars are the medals of a soldier, boys of this age are always very strong and don't want to expose even the slightest weakness, so it is reasonable to have such a reaction. However, Kadora was very annoyed by this attempt to cover up, and gently pushed him again, and rarely scolded him: "Don't move, Mitch, or you will get stabbed in the wrong direction!"

Which is more embarrassing, getting hurt or being scolded by your partner in front of so many people? Before Mitch could figure it out, Metien said with a smile, "I heard you guys were back, so I came to visit you... Oh, no, I came to help you heal your injuries and visit you at the same time."

She picked up the medical box in her hand and said seriously that if she hadn't made the mistake before, maybe everyone would have believed it.

"We are all fine, we don't need to heal." Mitch said casually, trying to lead Metien to somewhere else: "You go and help others heal their wounds. As for Tianxin Church, we will go there in a few days."

Even Xie Mi could see that something was wrong with him. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Shouldn't you be happy that we came to visit you? Why do you look so reluctant? Is there something shameful going on?"

Mitch was startled and was about to argue, but his companions betrayed him with their laughter: "Mitch must feel so ashamed. Do you know how he got injured? It was because he was too excited when chasing the enemy, and he bumped into the opponent's gun muzzle! Hahaha, the muzzle of that guy's gun was obviously tilted in another direction. I guess he didn't even think about who he could hit? When the bullet hit Mitch, he was stunned. He just stood there stupidly and forgot to run away! Hahaha!"

Someone described the scene vividly, and other people added details. When Mitch wanted to speak, it was too late. Metien was amused by this embarrassing incident, and her eyes were curved. Leticia turned her head away so that no one could see the arc of her mouth. As for Shemi, he was already laughing over his good friend's head. His laughter spread far away, causing a rustling sound of wings in the Black Forest. The boy felt a little disappointed. He was already very unhappy about being embarrassed in front of his companions, and now he was embarrassed in front of his new friends. How could he have the face to call himself the leader of the Youth Army, the successor of the Gray Hill Eagle, and the first player under the guidance of love? Well, except for the last one, he didn't call himself that, but the others were all true.

Kadora saw the depression in his heart, but did not comfort him. After bandaging him, he complained: "It's all your fault. I told you not to get too excited, but you forgot my words as soon as you found the enemy. If the enemy hadn't reacted, you wouldn't be so lucky the next time they hit you."

She tapped Mitch's chest lightly with her index finger. The boy felt guilty and just snorted without refutation.

The young man looked at this scene thoughtfully. He found that although Mitch always acted like a leader in front of everyone, he was surprisingly obedient to Kadora. Although Kadora looked quiet and weak, she might be more independent-minded than her partner. Otherwise, she would not have taken the lead in making the decision to convert to the Goddess when everyone was still hesitating.

What an interesting combination.

Metien brought two friends and naturally integrated into the group of young soldiers. They sat around the campfire, talking and laughing. Some people showed off their achievements to Metien, saying how many people they had defeated on the battlefield, but were quickly refuted by the unconvinced Leticia, who said that if it were her, she would definitely defeat more people; some people asked about the game console, saying that after a fierce battle, they suddenly wanted to play games more, and they must have a good time before the next action started; and some people, uh, were asking why Alice didn't come, is there something wrong? Metien couldn't say that Ai Guidance was still a little autistic and didn't want to leave Yunjingkong Island, right? So he told a white lie, saying that in order to let everyone play his game earlier, Ai Guidance was working hard to repair the game console, which immediately moved these boys and girls.

Well, in a sense, this is actually true, not a lie.

Lingge did not interrupt their conversation, but just watched the scene silently with Regina. The warm bonfire, the welcoming camp, the aroma of roasted food in the air, and a group of boys and girls with different identities and experiences but surprisingly having a lot in common, the connection between people is so wonderful, it seems to dispel the darkness and bleakness in the forest, and make the heart warm.

"They will become very good friends." Linger lowered his voice and said to Regina, "We adults should not disturb them."

"I think so too."

Regina smiled, the firelight reflected on her short red hair, as if it was smoked. She looked at the young man with her sharp and smart gray-brown eyes, and suddenly asked: "You must have something to say to me, Mr. Ling? I noticed that you have been a little distracted since just now?"

Ling Ge didn't expect that the momentary distraction he occasionally revealed was captured by her. It turned out that no one should be underestimated. Regina could become the second-in-command of the Ash Guerrillas not only because she was good at calming people. The young man thought about it for a while and decided to tell the truth: "I do have a question, I hope you can explain it to me."

"what is the problem?"

"I didn't see any prisoners." The young man looked around and said, "This is a victorious operation, but I didn't see any prisoners. This is unreasonable."

The young man did not think that this victory was fake, because the Ash Guerrillas needed a real victory more than he did. It meant something different to them. Lying about the outcome of the war would only cause internal division. So, there must be other reasons.

Sure enough, after hearing his question, Regina fell into silence for a long time, wondering if she should answer this question or how to answer it.
When she finally came up with an answer and spoke, it was just four simple words: "No prisoners."

The young man understood.

There was no prisoner, not no prisoners taken. This subtle difference has an extremely profound and complex implication.

So, this is the cruelty of war.

It is not that Metien sat by the campfire, listening to her new friends telling one or two embarrassing stories that happened on the battlefield, and was amused when she laughed. Her friends may even have executed the prisoners on the battlefield with their own hands, but they would not tell her anything, because some people were destined not to set foot on the battlefield, but were well protected.

He looked at the girl who still knew nothing, and remained silent.

Give me some meow