Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

……

"Base station! Base station!"

"Just say it!"

"We've finally made contact! What about the Marshal's orders? We've found traces of the Kanria people's life here; they may have camped here!"

"Describe your location and your current situation!"

"Why do I need this crucial information? Why don't you know it? Oh... you're not the marshal, no, I can't trust you! Where is the marshal? Where is General Yingda?"

"I'm a base station, I'm on the ground! Of course I don't know your location. Use your brain and think about it..."

"Fuck-"

……

"Calling the base station! There's been a landslide and flooding here!"

"Which underground level are you on?"

"The third level is a mine that is usually very difficult to dig into. It is said that it was abandoned because it reached an underground river. Now it seems that the area above the underground river has been blasted down, and all the water has rushed in!"

How many of you are there?

“There are over eighty brothers inside, many of them injured. Now the water is flooding in, and the stone chamber door can't hold it in. The water outside is probably waist-deep! What do we do? Should we abandon the safe room? But the radio is here…”

"Abandon the radio! Take the telegraph machine and leave. The monsters in the Beast Realm aren't very intelligent; once they lose sight of you, they won't stay looking for you. They'll leave before the floodwaters rise. You guys get out of there first!"

"How can I believe what you're saying! Who's in charge of the base station right now? There might be a bunch of ferocious beasts waiting for us outside. They can teleport; they're a group of monstrous creatures that can't be judged by common sense. They might not even be living beings! They might not be afraid of water!"

"Stop talking nonsense! Listen to me, stop talking nonsense!"

……

"Base station! General Fushe has lost contact with us!"

"You didn't go missing; you were going to split up anyway!"

"I'm just an ordinary military telegraph operator. I didn't know anything about this. I wasn't supposed to come down here. Base station... when will someone come to rescue me? I've already found the safe room. How many days do I have left?"

"I don't have time to deal with your nonsense. You just stay put!"

"You can't abandon me! Where is there food? Where is there water? How long can I hide? The Thousand Rock Army soldiers who were protecting me are all dead... I don't want to die, I can't die! I'm not a soldier, I was just dragged down... Please save me, please."

"Fuck-"

……

Countless conversations erupted between Shen Liang and various radio stations, from all sorts of soldiers, military personnel, and others. Everyone who found a radio station was frantically calling out to him, asking all sorts of maddening questions, expressing all sorts of emotions, accusations, and pleas. Ten thousand voices assaulted him, making it hard to breathe.

Not only Shen Liang, but Rosalyn and Alice also had to join the process of sending and receiving telegrams. They communicated and recorded at the same time, but many of these people were not telegraph operators who had undergone systematic training. They were only temporarily trained to cope with the needs of the war. Being able to type was already a great achievement. They had no ability to condense words and extract information. The telegrams they sent were also a mixed bag.

At first, the three of them would try to persuade or communicate earnestly, because they knew that the people underground might desperately need a conversation to vent their fears, anger, or other emotions. But with so much communication, the three of them no longer had time to deal with these emotions. Including Rosalyn, each of them would only exchange a few words when sending and receiving a telegram, and if they found that the other party could not provide any important information, they would immediately ignore it and switch to another line.

Even those radio stations often disconnect from base stations.

Some soldiers distrusted the base station because they probably didn't even know what it did; some soldiers thought Shen Liang was the Marshal Fushe who could directly command them; some soldiers treated the radio as a lifeline only to find that it wasn't; and some soldiers simply gave up on communicating with the base station and decided to do their own thing, concluding that the base station was of no help.

"Base station! We blew up a mine tunnel with a mining blasting machine, but we can't get out!"

"Base station! Less than half of our 140 men escaped; we don't know how many died. What do we do? Any instructions?"

"The base station has been blown open somewhere! There's poison gas, not black mud, but poison gas. Some people have already passed out!"

"Base station, I'm the only survivor... talk to me... if I die here, at least I don't want to die alone..."

But no matter what, the Thousand Rock Army, trapped deep in the dark underground and surrounded by the beast tide, would still frantically send telegrams. Because in this dark boundary between life and death, everyone was too terrified. They needed someone to talk to, someone to give orders, and someone to keep them busy, even if it was cursing or shouting. At least they had something to do so that they could feel, from this shrill and terrifying underground world, that "they are still alive" and have someone to rely on.

So everyone was calling for Shen Liang. Even soldiers, even those who were determined to go down and even prepared to die for their country, still felt fear. Fear and courage are not antonyms; on the contrary, they are almost synonyms. To do something despite fear is true courage. But the endless calling and repetition left even Shen Liang feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

The calls were like a relentless tidal wave, forcing him to work without a moment's rest. Shen Liang had been working continuously for an unknown amount of time; he was even beginning to hallucinate, as if the telegrams weren't text, but rather the anxious, angry, fearful, and despairing cries of tens of thousands of soldiers facing death in the towering abyss. All the cries repeated those two words.

"Base station!"

"Base station!"

"Base station!"

Shen Liang knew very well that every word he spoke was a comfort and source of strength for the soldiers who were lost underground and struggling in the darkness. Even though he couldn't help much, communication and exchange were the most needed things for humanity in times of crisis... However, faced with the overwhelming cries for help, Shen Liang and his two companions' exhausting efforts over the past ten hours were just a drop in the ocean.

Finally, Rosalind, who had been communicating with the soldiers the whole time, was about to break down.

She wiped away her tears, kicked aside the pile of notes on the floor, threw down her pen, and stood up hoarsely: "This is not something I can do anymore. I can't do anything. I am a Mondstadt citizen, I shouldn't do so much for this war! I don't want credits anymore, I want to go back to the Palace of the Gods!"

Shen Liang glanced at her.

"Teacher Alice, I'm sorry. Punish me however you like. I don't care if Jigong kicks me out!" She wiped away her tears. The immense pressure of the past day had made her completely unable to control her emotions. Her fingertips were white because she had been pressing the telegraph keys for too long, and her ears were red because she had to wear headphones to listen to the ticking frequency.

Compared to Shen Liang, who possessed the physique of a demon god, and the great witch Alice, her body was the first to give out. However, everyone knew that it wasn't a physical problem, but rather that her mind simply couldn't handle the task.

"I quit! I'm going back! Call me a deserter or irresponsible all you want, this is not something a student like me should do! I'm a Mondstadt citizen, I'm going back to Mondstadt, I shouldn't have joined the army!"

Ultimately, Rosalyn is just a young woman, not yet twenty, who came to study at the Sumeru Church. She cannot bear the responsibility for so many people. Every question, pleading, or rebuke from the soldiers is like a bucket of hot oil poured on her heart, burning her to the point of almost kneeling down.

Alice didn't say much, nor did she maintain her carefree expression; she simply sighed. Everyone was under pressure, and she couldn't bring herself to ask Rosalyn to stay.

But Rosalyn hadn't left; she was just staring at Shen Liang. Both women in the tent couldn't help but look at Shen Liang. Shen Liang then took off his headphones, stood up, and rubbed his aching back, which had been sore from sitting all night. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"Let's all take a rest."

Rosalyn's eyes widened in surprise, and Alice was also taken aback, saying, "At such a crucial moment, Liang'er, you..."

"Take a break," Shen Liang said coldly, his tone now slightly harsher, almost commanding. Alice was about to ask a question when she looked up and saw that Shen Liang's once bright and beautiful eyes were now filled with exhaustion, with only a faint golden light lingering within them.

He spent the entire night using his holy blood, relying on the power of the demon god to maintain his focus. Or rather, he dared not easily discontinue this state, for he was acutely aware of his body's characteristics. When using extraordinary power, he could actually maintain a good state, because the powerful ability kept him conscious and reduced his pain. Once he ended this state of using holy blood, the backlash would begin; the pain would return doubled according to the extent of his power use, tormenting him and making him feel like he was on fire.

Therefore, once the Holy Blood is used, either someone must be available immediately to help alleviate the backlash, or it's best to continue using it indefinitely, at least to delay the onset of the backlash. Of course, this delay isn't unlimited; the intensity of the backlash will increase with the degree of power used, eventually reaching a point where he simply can't delay any longer.

Alice stopped speaking. Faced with a boy who had put in so much effort, she had to wait until he had rested before asking any questions. She reached out and created a soundproof barrier, enveloping the three people around the table. Suddenly, the whole world became quiet, with only the slow, gentle breathing of the four of them remaining.

The break began, and Shen Liang left his seat, walked to Alice, and opened his arms. Under Rosalind's surprised gaze, Alice hesitated for a moment, then bent down and pulled Shen Liang onto her lap, letting the boy kneel facing her. Shen Liang wrapped his arms around Alice's neck, burying his head in her shoulder, and Alice wrapped her arms around his waist. The two of them, one sitting and one kneeling, embraced tightly for a full five minutes.

At first, Rosalyn didn't understand why he had suddenly become like this, but she saw Shen Liang closing his eyes and smelling Alice's long hair, gradually calming down. She realized that this might be Shen Liang's way of regaining his rationality and emotions. After all, he was still a child, subconsciously seeking the embrace and tenderness of an older woman. Only in the arms of such a mature woman could he slowly absorb nourishment and feel peace.

"Shh." Alice, holding the boy who was clinging to her like a big cat, gestured to Rosalyn.

Rosalyn nodded. In this environment, her mood gradually calmed down, and she even felt a little regretful that Shen Liang hadn't come to her for a hug. However, she also knew that compared to Alice, she seemed to still be a young girl and lacked that kind of nurturing maternal instinct. Perhaps this little princess had also been like this in the past, only able to quietly settle down in her mother's arms.

Another five minutes passed.

Shen Liang finally lifted his head from Alice's shoulder and looked at the two women: "We still made a mistake."

Alice stroked his back, remained silent for a moment, and nodded: "Yes, we were too hasty and forgot to think."

“This job isn’t what we’re supposed to do. We’re not just messengers who can receive reports. We don’t understand military matters at all. We’re completely incompetent. All we can do is chat.” Shen Liang turned around, leaned back on Alice’s lap, and said calmly, “If it’s just about doing this kind of thing, we don’t need to do it at all. We could just call a few soldiers over. We’ve trained more than twenty people who can send telegrams these past few days. They might even understand those people’s situation better than we do.”

Rosalyn thought for a moment, "Indeed, we've been doing nothing but meaningless things."

"So we need to figure out what we should do now," Shen Liang said. "Don't think about how many people will die while we're thinking. We must think now, otherwise we'll just be doing useless work for hours or even dozens of hours, which will only make us feel good and won't help the people below. I think, first of all, we need to establish mutual trust with the underground radio station. We can't do that ourselves. We need Yingda and Fanan. Only they can calm people down and gain their absolute trust in an instant."

He stopped adding the affectionate suffix "older sister" to his name at this point, but the two women didn't notice.

Rosalyn nodded in agreement: "Indeed, I'll call them over right away."

"Secondly, we have absolutely no understanding of the situation underground. In fact, most of our commands are not as good as theirs in terms of action. After all, the fact that they were able to reach the stone chamber alive shows that they have already developed a basic ability to adapt to the underground environment. They only need to stabilize morale and they can make many choices and control the situation on their own," Shen Liang said.

"how do you know?"

“Many people think we’re unreliable and will simply cut off communication, but most of them are just doing their own thing and don’t need our orders,” Shen Liang said. “For example, the one who discovered the granary was actually in the same location as the one who blasted the mine tunnel, so they had already made their choice: blast the mine tunnel to cut off the route and protect the granary so they could immediately move the grain to other areas. You see, they’re even prepared for a protracted battle underground.”

Chapter 101 Baby, I Don't Think I Can Become a Zombie

"It seems...that makes sense." Alice recalled that Shen Liang was right, but everyone was too busy, and even Shen Liang hadn't calmed down to analyze these things at first.

The three of them realized their mistake and then gathered together to discuss the next steps.

Shen Liang said, "In fact, the reason they kept contacting us so frantically was because of the psychological imbalance caused by losing their leader underground. In the pitch-black underground, risking death to go down, they temporarily lost their leader and thus feared that their sacrifice was worthless. This psychological imbalance can explode among people, and everyone's emotions will become extreme. The only 'leader' they can contact is us, so we became their psychological support."

“We can all sense that these soldiers are looking for a spiritual leader, or someone to rely on, so that they can feel that their actions are valuable and meaningful, and that they can feel at ease,” Alice said.

"But this is too chaotic. They could have chosen a group leader through self-regulation, such as selecting a captain from among the squads, and deciding on their own course of action. After all, in wartime before the invention of the telegraph, soldiers also had to be proactive. But because of the telegraph, their individual initiative was almost paralyzed. Everyone was in a state of extreme panic and wanted us to make choices and direct the action for them—but we couldn't do it better than them, and they subconsciously distrusted us."

“So,” Shen Liang said, “what we need to do is restore order. To be precise, let them know that the military system is still the same military system and has not changed. Then they can put their minds at ease.”

"How do we regain our senses? That's difficult, isn't it? How can we have a conversation? Our previous conversations didn't work."

“Because we were too humble back then and lacked authority. People’s hearts really need ‘authority’ to suppress them; only the weight of a rock can put them at ease.” Shen Liang jumped down from Alice’s arms and immediately activated all eight lines, entering the same Morse code.

"Hello, this is the Liyue Jigong base station. The one who is currently communicating with you is Pandora, the Demon God of Fire."

Next, different lines were entered in sequence, with each line receiving only one long telegram.

------------

In an abandoned mine tunnel, Luo Qicai and Yao Lu were pushing a small cart loaded with bags of grain, while another small cart carried three unconscious comrades, along the rough wooden tracks.

They knew their comrades who had come underground wouldn't have enough food. The only thing they knew beforehand was that there was a food depot in the mine, so they immediately searched for this place based on their memory. However, the place had already been visited by the patrolling beast hounds. After repelling the hounds, they had to blow up the mine tunnels to cut off their escape route in order to avoid pursuit.

But this also meant they had no idea where the other roads were. Putting their own safety aside, how were they going to meet with their colleagues and distribute the food to others? They weren't miners to begin with, and with this road destroyed, they didn't even know if there were any other routes they could take.

Most importantly, there were three comrades who were seriously wounded but still alive, and without medical treatment, they might not survive much longer. Luo Qi had several times considered venturing alone into those dark, abandoned mines, but he didn't even have a torch. Alone, he might die even faster than his wounded comrades, and even if he scouted out the terrain, he probably wouldn't be able to send a message back. And if two people went to scout ahead together, wouldn't the three wounded comrades just become food for bats, snakes, and rats...?

Just then, the telegraph machine beeped. Luo Qi grabbed the note and was about to decipher the beginning when he paused slightly.

"Hello, this is the Liyue Jigong base station. The one who is currently communicating with you is Pandora, the Demon God of Fire."