Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1237 Are you always lucky?

The sudden gunshot made everyone's eyes widen. Mitch was even more horrified, as if someone poured a bucket of cold water on his head. Even his voice was trembling: "No, this is impossible... I really blew up their machine gun, including the base... They can't..."

"Calm down, Mitch."

Kadora whispered something comforting in his ear, then stood up and walked towards the entrance of the valley: "I'll go check out the situation."

As a sniper, she has the best eyesight among everyone, so she often serves as a scout for the team.

Kadora was away for only a short while before returning, and he also brought back the information that everyone was most concerned about: "The machine gun on the top floor of the fortress was indeed blown up, but the enemy found a replacement. They dismantled the magic machine gun on the tank and moved it to the roof."

There was a magic chariot parked in the fortress. This was information known in advance. As the most advanced creation of war technology in the Western Continent, this steel vehicle not only has strong mobility, but is also equipped with highly lethal weapons, one of which is the continuous magic machine gun. Before the war, Mitch was sure that the defenders in the fortress would never dare to send out the chariot easily under such a complicated situation, so he did not list it as a target. Although his guess was indeed accurate, the enemy also used it again in another way that he did not expect.

"Even so," Mitch was still puzzled, "I clearly blew up the base, so how did they fix the machine gun on the roof?"

Although the power of the burst magic machine gun is huge, it is easy to overheat, slow to turn, and has a large recoil. These are defects that cannot be avoided, especially the last point, which must be fixed with a base to reduce the huge impact caused by the machine gun when it is fired. Forced to start without a buffer, not to mention the risk of explosion, the recoil when firing alone is enough to shatter a person's internal organs.

To this, Kadora responded: "No need for a base."

She pursed her lips, as if she was deeply impressed by what she saw, and her mood was quite complicated: "They directly set up the machine gun on the destroyed artillery fort. One person was responsible for shooting, and the other two were beside him holding the gun body and butt, using their bodies as a buffer."

"this--"

Mitch was stunned when he heard this. The same thought came to everyone's mind, including him: Isn't this guy from Westland afraid of death?
In other words, they are clearly invaders, so why are they not afraid of death?
If this was a glorious war and everyone who stepped onto the battlefield had a clear conscience, then their bravery and conviction would be admirable; but those people were clearly invaders, who had harmed this land in the most brutal and brutal way, cruelly depriving many people of their lives and freedom. There was no justice in their war. Could people like these be as brave and fearless as the heroes depicted in the novels and legends, and not afraid of death?

It is clearly not their turn to play that kind of role.

There must be something wrong.

"Westerners are also human beings." A lazy voice pulled everyone back to reality from their astonishment and doubt: "There are always people who are afraid of death, and there are also those who are not afraid of death. It's just that our luck doesn't seem to be very good. We just happened to run into a group of people who are not afraid of death."

"What's more important now," Moya stared at Mitch with sharp eyes: "What should we do?"

The wind on the battlefield became stronger and faster, bringing with it waves of pungent smell of blood. The sound of machine guns on the fortress died down for a moment before pouring out flames again. Every time a light flashed in the darkness, it would take dozens of lives. Occasionally it would stop for a while, and then sound again when everyone was praying that it would disappear completely, as if playing a bad joke on the enemy. Mitch knew that the person who fired the gun must have had his internal organs shattered by the recoil, and had to be replaced by another person. Human life had nothing to do with a sense of honor and justice at this time, and had become a pure consumable. It was just a matter of how many lives the defenders in the fortress could consume, and how many of the soldiers on the Liberation Front would become the sacrifices taken away by these people before they died?

Everyone felt heartbroken, thinking that all their efforts had been in vain. Their fight had not changed anything. An atmosphere of despair and oppression permeated the valley. Everyone felt as if a huge rock was pressing on their chest, making it hard to breathe. Some people couldn't help but punch the rock wall hard with their fists, not caring even as the blood flowed out from between their fingers, as if they couldn't feel the pain at all.

Only a few people could remain calm and stare at Mitch with serious and earnest eyes, waiting for his decision, such as Kadora and Moya.

It’s not that they don’t know what they should do now, but some decisions can only be made by leaders, and the weight of that decision can only be borne by leaders.

Mitch gritted his teeth, grabbed the weapon beside him, stood up, and said to his companions in an unquestionable tone: "Continue to attack!"

"Our mission is to destroy the enemy's magic machine guns." He looked around, his eyes sweeping over every familiar face, and said word by word: "Since the mission has not been completed, let's continue the attack!"

But this time, without the advantage of surprise attack and the help of alchemical items, they had to rely on themselves for everything.

There was a moment of silence, and then everyone silently grasped their weapons, showing their determination with action. Mitch breathed a sigh of relief. If this was a real army, he could certainly use orders to force everyone to return to the battlefield. However, the nature of the Youth Army is different from that of the army, and forced orders cannot be recognized by the soldiers, making them burst out with the power of unity and solidarity.

At this time, Kadora asked: "Then, what about Sieg and the others?"

Mitch thought for a moment and replied, "Leave two people to take care of them."

He knew that it was unwise to make such a decision when his own numbers were not in the upper hand. A ruthless or qualified leader would know how to make choices, but knowing is one thing, and being able to do it is another. He couldn't bear to leave his companions here to fend for themselves, even though leaving two people to take care of them might not be helpful. But sometimes, the pain of being abandoned and the loneliness of no one caring about you is a more torturous feeling than physical pain.

Katara said nothing and acquiesced to the decision.

But Zig disagrees.

"That's not necessary." He said with a pale face, and his hand that was shattered by the bullet was simply bandaged. As his chest rose and fell slightly as he spoke, blood continued to flow out. But the boy, who was only one year older than Mitch, said nothing, as if the hand was no longer his. He slowly squeezed out a hoarse and firm voice from between his gums: "Don't be weak in a place like this, Mitch. You are our leader, just think about how to complete the mission, no one can blame you for this, including yourself."

"But..." Mitch wanted to say something.

"We all think so." Sieg narrowed his eyes, not allowing him to waver: "This has nothing to do with you. It's entirely our own will." The other two injured companions said nothing, but they all looked at Mitch with the same eyes, expressing their determination in this silent way. They set out on this road for the battle, so it is only a matter of time before they die in the battle. Even if it's not today, it could be tomorrow, the day after tomorrow...any day in their lives. If he tries to draw a line for everything that is bound to happen, or even tries to change something like Mitch did, then he is definitely not a qualified leader.

"Okay, just listen to him, Mitch."

Moya suddenly pulled him, and then said in that signature lazy voice: "Don't be so sad, it makes you feel that they will definitely die if we leave them here. As long as we act quickly and deal with the enemies in the fortress as soon as possible, maybe we can take them back to rescue them. Of course, Sieg's hand can't be rescued, so you should just be an ordinary person in the future, or go to Mr. Ling's school to attend classes, and you can also go to Tianxin Church to play games at any time. Tsk, I'm a little envious of you."

Moya smacked his lips. This inappropriate remark made Zigg's face couldn't help but smile: "If you like, you are always welcome to accompany me, Moya."

"Forget it then." Moya waved his hand. "I will probably continue to be a soldier until I am old and can no longer hold a weapon, instead of retiring due to injury like you, a poor guy... Anyway, I am very lucky."

Sieg couldn't help laughing, his laughter affected the wound, and the blood almost soaked the pure white gauze.

The conversation between the two diluted the serious atmosphere, and Mitch finally made up his mind: "I understand."

"Wait for me, Sieg, Chris, and Misha." Before leaving the valley and returning to the battlefield, he took a deep look at his injured companions and made the most pious oath of his life with the most serious words, which was much more pious than when he listened to Metien's sermon in Tianxin Church: "We will be back soon and take you back to heal your wounds!"

Then he left without looking back, taking his companions who were still able to fight.

The valley was empty, with only the sound of their footsteps still echoing. The wind was whistling, bringing the sounds from afar, war or dust, life or death. Chris, who was shot in the thigh and lower abdomen, moved his body with difficulty and took out a few blood-stained fruit candies from his pocket. They were snacks given to them by Sister Livia when he went to Tianxin Church to listen to the sermon. The red-haired boy had never been willing to eat them and kept them until now. He handed one of the candies to Misha next to him. The girl with pigtails and freckles on her face took the candy, said thank you shyly, and carefully held it in her mouth, feeling the faint sweet taste of the sugar between her lips and teeth, as if this would make her forget the pain coming from behind.

Chris ate a candy himself, and then handed the remaining one to Zigg, who took it but didn't eat it. Instead, he clenched it tightly in his remaining palm, clenching it very hard, as if he was unwilling and reluctant to give up. He suddenly asked the two people beside him, "Do you blame me?"

Chris raised his head and said nothing, but asked, "Brother Zig, don't you want to eat candy?"

Misha took a while to react, and said slowly, "You're injured, you need to have a good rest... Candy is delicious."

"Haha!" Sieg couldn't help laughing again, even happier than when he was bickering with Moya just now. He bit off the candy wrapper with his teeth and threw it directly into his mouth, feeling the sweet smell spreading in his mouth. Suddenly he raised his head and whispered in a voice that only he could hear: "What a... lucky guy..."

But I don't know who I'm talking about.

Katara? Moya? Or the very immature leader who still needs to grow up but always thinks about everyone.

……

The defenders in the fortress not only dismantled the machine guns on the magic chariots, but also made use of the waste and drove the chariots that had lost their combat capability to the front, blocking the drawbridge that could not be raised again after the chains were destroyed. This brought great trouble to the attack of Mitch and others. It seemed that the enemy did not relax their vigilance because of their retreat. The surprise attack tactics could not be effective for the second time, and the only way was to attack head-on.

However, the strong attack was still an illusion, and their real purpose was always to destroy the enemy's magic machine gun and prevent it from causing greater casualties.

Mitch still divided the team into two teams, one team was responsible for resisting the enemy's offensive in the front, and the other team, under the cover of their companions, launched a strong attack on the roof, destroying the enemy's machine guns at all costs. Mitch wanted to lead the team that attacked the roof and take the initiative to undertake the most dangerous task, but Moya came over with a smile, and there was no tension or seriousness on his face before the battle, which was out of tune with his companions around him: "Why not give this task to me, Mitch, you stay down there and command everyone."

"You?" Mitch looked at Moya suspiciously. It wasn't that he doubted his ability, but he didn't expect him to bring up this matter. In his impression, he was always a guy who did things his own way and didn't like to take too many responsibilities. Or was it that people would always change in war, even the egoistic Moya?
"Don't get me wrong." As if he had guessed what he was thinking, Moya waved his hand and said, "I don't like to cause trouble for myself."

"Then what happened to you just now..." Mitch couldn't help but ask.

"Because I'm lucky." He said as a matter of course: "This is a task that requires a little bit of luck more than courage and strength, and I happen to be the lucky one, so, besides me, who else is more suitable? As for you..."

He gave Mitch a look of disdain and said, "You unlucky bastard, just admit your shortcomings honestly."

Mitch couldn't help but punched him on the shoulder. When the latter deliberately screamed in pain in an exaggerated tone, he whispered, "Then I'll leave it to you, Moya, and... thank you."

The boy was stunned for a moment.

If he remembered correctly, this seemed to be the first time in his life that someone thanked him in such a serious tone.

That was really... quite a novel experience.

He stared at Mitch for a while, and after a while, a smile slowly spread across his face.

Give me some meow