You were told to search and attack, but you're supporting Asara?

The Hafk soldiers hesitated for a moment, then surged toward the launch site like a tide. In less than a minute, the gunfire from the north side subsided, leaving only the Asara Guard looking at each other in bewilderment.

Said stood up from behind the bunker, watched Demulan's departing figure, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Old Sai, Demulan has retreated!" Chen Xiao's voice rang out in the channel, carrying a hint of relief. "Mai Xiaowen, what's the program progress?"

"Ninety-one percent...ninety-five percent...ninety-eight percent...complete!" Mai Xiaowen's voice was filled with excitement. "Minerva upload successful! Rocket liftoff in one minute!"

Ignoring Chen Xiao, Saeed turned around and glanced at the guard lying in a pool of blood.

"Retreat immediately!" Chen Xiao's tone left no room for argument. "They won't have a minute to stop us; backup will be here soon!"

"Received." Wei Long yawned; this operation was unexpectedly easy.

"Old Sai, how's the situation on your end? You should hurry up and retreat too," Chen Xiao asked, noticing Sai's silence.

"Send a military doctor over!" Said's hoarse voice was indistinct, his tone ambiguous.

"I'll go." Lina and Mai Xiaowen exchanged a glance on the helicopter and spoke up decisively.

Mai Xiaowen urged quickly, "The retreat route does indeed pass through there, but landing rashly might invite Hafk's attack. The most urgent thing is to evacuate..."

"I'll rappel down to Said and retreat with them!" Lina said just as quickly. "He must have some wounded that he couldn't handle, which is why he asked for backup. We can't just leave them there."

"Okay!" Chen Xiao said emphatically after listening to their conversation.

Amidst the roar of a rocket launch, an unassuming armed helicopter carrying three people...

······

"No, the bleeding has stopped, but we need a blood transfusion as soon as possible, and the vehicle simply doesn't have the necessary facilities!" In Asara's military jeep, Lina's voice was urgent yet calm as she spoke: "Give us an adrenaline injection first!"

"Stop fussing... GTI's little doctor..." Asara, a soldier with some wrinkles on his face, said with difficulty to Lina, "Save some medicine for others..."

"The aid station has plenty of medical supplies, so you can rest assured about your treatment," Lina comforted him, then turned to the silent red figure beside her. "Mr. Said, I suggest we head directly to the GTI aid station. The medical environment there is better, and the wounded have a greater chance of survival."

"No, I don't want to go to the GTI..." Before Said could respond, the soldier lying inside the vehicle weakly said, "Even if I'm going to die, I want to die in Dam Zero... Boss..."

"Don't talk, it will only worsen your injuries!" Lina advised, frowning.

"No..." the soldier stubbornly persisted, like wild grass in early spring: "Boss... let me die on the dam..."

Saeed stood up and walked to his side: "Do you hate me, Abdullah?"

"No... Since I've entrusted my life to you, how you use it is your business." Abdullah's cloudy eyes were dull and lifeless: "I'm a man who's going to die, boss... I want to say some harsh words, don't hold a grudge... Holding a grudge is useless, I'm a man who's going to die."

"You speak, and I'm listening."

"Boss... I know you've used up all your savings for this uprising. The brothers are going to go hungry this winter."

Saeed did not deny it. Farid had done the math with him: the food reserves wouldn't last until next spring, and the ammunition was only enough for two tough battles. The supplies delivered by GTI solved the immediate problem, but it wasn't a long-term solution.

"Deep in the woods north of the nuclear power plant, there's a village that wasn't evacuated," Abdullah said haltingly, but each word was enunciated clearly. "It's my fiancée's hometown... a place that produces grain and oil, where every household likes to bury money in their yards."

"Get some GTI or Hafk clothes, lead the brothers to raid the village. Winter gear and supplies... will be ready."

Lina paused slightly as she treated Abdullah's wound.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Abdullah ignored him and continued, "And... I just thought of something. You could equip the sentries near the administration building with horizontal booby traps, the kind that detonate as soon as they fall. That way, we won't have to worry about being spotted anymore—as soon as someone gets their throat slit, the whole dam will know immediately."

"Also, you could try to coerce villages and towns that rely on the dam for electricity. That way, we can expand our influence..."

"Abdullah," Saeed interrupted him, "what do you want me to do?"

Abdullah was silent for a moment. The blue light from the vehicle's emergency lights illuminated his face, making his wrinkles look like a dried-up riverbed.

"I want to give up, boss."

His voice suddenly became very soft: "I want you to tell me yourself... that you and Reis, and Yousef and the others, are no different. All those in power only want to squeeze the last drop of blood from the Asara people... Let me know that this land is beyond saving, and that no one will stand up for those who just want to live."

His voice trailed off: "Let me know that even if I survive, there's little hope left..."

"I once thought I saw something different in you, boss." A tear slid down Abdullah's cheek, mingling with blood, and trickled down his temple into his ear. "Everyone standing here is. So we follow you not to make money, not to drift through this chaotic world..."

His breathing became rapid, and blood seeped out again from the bandage wrapped around his chest.

"Instead, I was thinking... I didn't want to be cannon fodder under Commander Reis. My parents raised me for eighteen years, and then I was given up for just a few seconds, gone and gone, like I'd never truly lived..."

"We want to follow you...to do something different before we die."

"We've already done a lot," Said's voice boomed, like a rusty iron gate being flung open. "What exactly are you referring to?"

"You haven't done anything yet, boss."

His eyes strained to focus as he looked at Sayyid's face.

"You've taken down a lot of Hafk's scum, and you've even become willing to cooperate with Asara and GTI for their sake, which is all good... but as for keeping the Asara people alive... you haven't done anything yet."

"Can I ask you for something, boss?" Abdullah's voice suddenly carried a hint of pleading. "I'm going blind."

"Name your price," Said said. "I'll give you whatever you want."

"That...woman pendant hanging on your belt."

Saeed glanced down. It was a silver pendant, simple in design, as if casually crafted by some unknown artisan. In Asara, it wasn't anything of great value, but perhaps it was precisely because of its inexpensiveness that it carried the wishes of almost everyone in Asara.

"My fiancée gave me one before she died, but I lost it." Abdullah's voice carried a hint of childish guilt. "Now I'm going to die too, and I want to take it with me before I die... otherwise, I won't be able to explain it to her when we meet again."

Saeed silently untied the dancing woman's ribbon from his waist and handed it to Abdullah.

Abdullah curled his fingers, clutching the pendant in his palm and pressing it against his chest.

"Thank you... Boss."

His breathing gradually calmed down, like a lamp that had run out of oil, its last flame flickering in the wind.

"Ah... I think I see her."

A smile curved his lips, and the haze over his eyes seemed to dissipate slightly, revealing a faint light beneath.

"But I dare not see her... I am still just...Asarala's sinner until I die."

"We all are," Said said.

Abdullah's lips moved, but his voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"But I don't want to be a sinner... I don't want to be like Reese, feared and cursed, then trampled to death like an insect..."

His fingers gripped the woman's pendant with the last of his strength.

"I'm still thinking about it now..."

"I want to be a hero..."

The pacemaker alarm went off.