Origin Paradise!

Before Jiang He could answer, the Gray Knight on the other side also broke free from the ground's restraints.

The two of them dug out the porcupine and the others together.

When bombarded by heavy artillery fire, lying down on the spot could cause ground vibrations that could damage internal organs. Many soldiers on both sides died as a result during the Battle of the Somme, but only if they had a choice.

Tommy was unconscious, but fortunately he had drunk several bottles of vitality potion beforehand, so he was not in serious condition.

The porcupine currently only has one arm. Although it has been awake, its body is heavy and it is digging too slowly, so it has decided to stay in place and wait for rescue.

As for Mia, she dug in the wrong direction, extending more than ten meters underground.

Grey Knight Rayman unfastened the military backpack on his back, revealing four sets of clothes and soldier name tags.

"I estimate that troops will arrive soon to recruit the survivors. At this time, they are willing to use new recruits to make up the numbers. They will soon be on the battlefield, and we can return to Leden City at the same time."

The three men took the Prussian uniforms.

Mia frowned. "What about me?"

Grey Knight Rayman said helplessly, "Sorry, this wasn't part of the plan. I didn't prepare your share."

Mia cursed under her breath; she would have to find her own way to the British command post.

The group watched as the female lieutenant colonel slunk away. Jiang He pondered for a moment and abandoned the idea of ​​carrying a "portable power bank." With the recruit training camp destroyed, the Prussian high command would inevitably launch an investigation. Mia was the commander who issued the order, and the pursuit of her was unimaginable. However, as a tool, she could still make some use of her remaining strength.

“Her departure reduces the chances of us being exposed,” Grey Knight Rayman said with a slightly cold tone.

Tommy pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapped off the dust inside, and lit one.

"Let's divide the military merits. After that, we'll go find the survivors and reunite. I hope the identity you found is reliable."

Grey Knight Rayman pulled out a page from his code from his sleeve. The number of D-level military merits exceeded nine thousand, while the actual number of casualties in the recruit camp was only around seven thousand. The officers had made a significant contribution.

According to the pre-agreed distribution ratio, Jiang He received 40%, totaling 3655 D-level military merits. If he could safely return to the British army's forest command post, he could exchange them for three rare-level secret treasures.

After the spoils were divided, the action team headed to the farm ruins to await the arrival of other troops to take over.

……

September 12, 1916, overcast skies and torrential rain.

The Battle of Lyden resulted in over 200,000 casualties on both sides, making it one of the most brutal local battles of the entire Somme campaign. As the battle neared its end, the intensity reached an unprecedented peak.

More Prussian youths were sent to the front lines, and the amount of non-staple food in military rations was severely reduced, with potato stew becoming the main meal.

Outside the training camp, 1,200 new recruits assembled. The gunpowder depot explosion resulted in the deaths of more than 7,000 soldiers. Most of the survivors were sent to field hospitals. The remaining recruits who were still capable of fighting were incorporated into the Prussian 12th Army and went to the battlefield with the line-filling troops.

After several days of marching, Jiang He once again entered Liedeng City, and the troops set off straight for the eastern front.

The entire East District was ravaged by artillery fire more than once, leaving ruins everywhere and devastation in sight. Dozens of streets were completely turned into a sea of ​​bricks and rubble. The British and Prussian troops faced each other from north to south, each building trenches that stretched for more than ten kilometers.

To the left and right of the ruined battlefield in front, two roads riddled with shell craters were covered with corpses, blood mixed with ash, forming scattered reddish-brown mud pits, and thick smoke billowed everywhere.

In the center of the battlefield where the two sides were locked in a standoff, a six-story library stood on the ground. As the only intact building in the East District, its outer walls were in a strange, writhing state, with countless alien aphids piled up together. When the shells fell, before the explosion had even spread, the shell casings and gunpowder were devoured by the aphids, turning into nutrients for their reproduction.

The troops arrived at the Prussian trenches.

The sky was covered with thick, dark clouds, and large raindrops poured down, clattering against helmets. This was a rare autumn downpour, with an alarming amount of rainfall, like a river bursting its banks. The water in the trenches was ankle-deep, destroying a large amount of military supplies and ammunition.

However, the more than 5,000 soldiers of the Line Filling Division were treated to a sumptuous lunch.

Inside the trench, the four members of the action team leaned against the earthen wall reinforced with wooden planks. A haggard-looking infantry sergeant walked over carrying a bag, dropped off four portions of rations, and then continued distributing them along the way.

"Something is wrong."

The porcupine carried the ration box with a serious expression. They were ordinary privates now, and normally a potato bread and a half-cooked sausage would be enough for them. It was impossible for them to eat so well.

When someone opened the tin box, the first thing that caught their eye was black bread, with various dried fruits scattered on it. Next came paper-wrapped sausages and solidified grease, as well as a rectangular chocolate bar. At the very bottom of the tin box was a square can of cheese and bacon, surrounded by a ring of painkillers, water purification tablets, cigarette packs, matchboxes, toilet paper, and other miscellaneous items.

"Prepare to charge, there's no other way."

Jiang He unwrapped the chocolate bar and chewed it all in one bite. Given the current circumstances, this lunch was far too luxurious; it was clearly a last meal before her execution.

This was not hard to notice. The veterans in the trenches all kept their heads down and remained silent, while the young recruits from the rear were still full of enthusiasm and felt encouraged as they ate their hearty lunch.

Tommy instinctively reached out, and Jiang He handed him the pack of cigarettes in his hand. These military-grade cigarettes had no butts and came in a pack of five.

As the crow landed, Wuhe whispered, "We've got the information from the library. It's the burial chamber of the ancient Emperor Otto. His mutant aphids feed on minerals and metals and are impervious to gunfire. Relying on the underground mines of the industrial city of Lyden, we don't know exactly how far they've developed, but it's definitely a terrifying number."

"The library is the above-ground part of the original tomb structure, while the underground space is even larger. The current Otto is actually a human-shaped treasure. Before a clear ownership is found, his aphids will stubbornly maintain the original appearance of the tomb."

"Only knights can enter the library now. Knights have a higher life level than aphids. Without a leader, aphids will avoid knights, but they will not let ordinary people go."

Jiang He finished his can of cheese and bacon and asked, "Approximately how many knights went in?"

Wuhe sighed, "At least five hundred or more. Considering the 90% mortality rate of the advancement ceremony, that's probably comparable to the total number of extraordinary knights in several countries."

Just after lunch, a colonel gave a speech through a tin megaphone. He was very emotional, and although the content was not particularly original, it was very impassioned.

The new recruits, fresh from the battlefield, applauded enthusiastically.

"It's time to charge, lads!" the acting lieutenant colonel, the line-filling engineer, shouted.

……

Dark clouds filled the sky, and torrential rain poured down.

Squads of soldiers crawled out of the trenches and launched a desperate charge toward the British defenses several miles away, like a school of black fish swimming upstream.

The lookout intently peered through his binoculars at the front lines to assess casualties. After a round of artillery fire, the first attacking company was nearly wiped out, while the second, third, and fourth waves showed signs of retreat. He quickly waved his hand.

"Quick, fix it!"

The second lieutenant, in his rough voice, beckoned the next batch of companies to come over. The soldiers filed out, taking the weapons handed to them by the quartermaster.

Jiang He received a rifle, and the Gray Knight received five bullets.

The quartermaster quickly said, "If a comrade dies, pick up guns and ammo immediately. If there's no gun, pick up a gun. If there's no ammo, pick up ammo. The key is not to stop. The faster you run, the less likely you are to die. Hurry, hurry, hurry! Just charge forward with your head covered! The Empire needs you! Charge!"

The company was lured to the battlefield, followed closely by the sixth and seventh batches.

Jiang He looked somewhat helpless as he started jogging. Allied forces were in front of him and to his left and right. People were being hit and falling from time to time. Shells rolled from back to front, taking the lives of hundreds of people.

The porcupine roared, "Let's use some tactics! This is just suicide!"

Tommy lunged forward, dodging a stray bullet with a flash of inspiration, then scrambled to his feet and caught up with the company. He couldn't run too fast, or he'd be easy targets for bullets, but he also couldn't run too slow, as there were officers in the company who were specifically tasked with executing those who were slow to fight.

The Grey Knight was hit by a cannonball, but fortunately he was on the edge of the impact point. With his strong physique forged using lightning, he was not seriously injured, but he was still covered in dust and dirt.

"This can't go on, Rhein. Here's the bullet. Take out those two machine gunners up ahead."

Jiang He turned around, her brows furrowed. "The distance is at least two or three thousand meters. Are you kidding me?"

Compared to the beginning, his sniping skills have indeed improved a lot. Or rather, any sniper who doesn't die on the battlefield can experience a period of rapid improvement in their skills. But to make a precise headshot from two or three thousand meters away, especially under the cover of rain and the sound of gunfire, is something only a knight specializing in sniping can do.

"Then let's keep going, but we need to change direction. Let's go to the library," the Grey Knight shouted.

Jiang He turned his gaze forward. They were currently on an abandoned road riddled with craters. The library was in the center of the battlefield. Many soldiers from the second and third line-filling companies wanted to get close to the library, which could serve as cover, but both sides had laid a large number of landmines around the library at night.

"Follow me!"

The gray knight took the lead, adjusted its direction, and carved out a safe path along the lightning-sensing zone with a radius of twenty meters.

The three members of the group immediately changed their formation.

Having separated from the main charging force, bullets came from both front and back. The supervising officer of the sixth company shot the porcupine in the back, and Jiang He was hit in the neck by an alchemical bullet. The wound was not deep, but it turned black.

More line-filling soldiers moved toward the library.

A shell landed in the minefield, followed by a series of deafening explosions. Then more shells began to fall.

The task force changed formation again, with Gray Knight and Tommy leading the way; the former cleared the path while the latter dodged artillery fire.

After braving heavy artillery fire, the four finally arrived at the library.

Artillery fire covered the ground, and thunder rumbled incessantly in the sky.

As Jiang He approached the outer wall of the library, the wriggling aphids dispersed, making way for him.

Upon seeing this, the porcupine exclaimed in surprise, "Is this some new technology?"

Tommy walked a few meters along the outer wall and said, "They seem to have some intelligence."

"Let's go in first. It can't be any worse than outside, no matter how dangerous it is." The Grey Knight was the first to enter the passage.

The four entered one after another. After a dozen or so steps, the surroundings were completely dark, and the only sound was the faint rustling of aphids rubbing against each other. As they moved forward, a sticky, thick fog enveloped them, greatly hindering their sight and hearing.

Jiang He took out the Everlasting Regret Spear and swept it lightly to the side. Tommy, who should have been next to him, was nowhere to be seen.

Uhwach on his shoulder said, "Tommy tripped over the corpse and rolled off somewhere, but according to Prussian and British intelligence, the aphid fog itself is not dangerous; its purpose is to distract outsiders."

Jiang He nodded and continued forward.

Chapter 85 Two Types of Aphid Stones

In complete darkness.

A few minutes later, Jiang He was freed from the aphid fog.

Before us was a corridor that could only allow a few people to pass side by side. The bookshelves on both sides were more than ten meters high, displaying countless old books. The dome above, made of aphids, was transparent, allowing outside light to penetrate in. However, it was a rainy day, and everything seemed gloomy, dark, and dilapidated.

The corridor seemed to have no end. As Jiang He walked forward, he looked at the bookshelves on both sides. From poetry and history books to cultural classics, the collection here was all-encompassing. Otto the Great was a figure from a thousand years ago who once dominated the world, and his "burial goods" were extremely rich.

I took dozens of steps, surrounded by a deathly silence.

Suddenly, a bookshelf transformed into aphids and scattered, ancient books falling to the ground. Jiang He turned her head and saw another corridor, and a middle-aged man looking back at her as well.

The other man was dressed in a Prussian lieutenant colonel's uniform and carried a bloodstained longsword, the blade gleaming coldly.

The middle-aged man launched an attack the moment he spotted someone. He moved with lightning speed, leaping off the ground after three alternating steps with his left and right legs. His movements were fierce, like a tiger or leopard.

The long sword slashed down from above his head.

Jiang He raised an eyebrow. He was clearly wearing a Prussian military uniform and was on the same side as the other party. Moreover, he had been looking disheveled ever since he came out of the recruit training camp. Judging from his current demeanor, this guy didn't care at all whether he was killing his own people or not.

As the long sword drew closer, a sniper rifle appeared in Jiang He's hand. The rifle's design and overall style were quite ancient, covered with carvings and wrapped in layers of coarse cloth.

As the trigger was pulled, a crimson streak of light shot out, shattering the upper body of the attacking middle-aged man.

Armor shattering, piercing, and corroding—a total of 80% extra damage was added to the rare-grade sniper rifle. In addition, there was the 20 points of flesh damage from the Red Knight title. Even without specifically aiming at vital points, it still instantly killed the attacker in front of it.

After the middle-aged man died, the aphids regrouped and filled the empty space on the bookshelf, and a pale yellow stone fell from the dome.

[Name: Aphid Honey Stone]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Average]

[Effect: Permanently increases maximum energy by 10 points (applicable to those with less than 1500 points of extraordinary energy)]

[Note: In nature, aphids possess the ability to photosynthesize. During their long, thousand-year slumber, Otto's aphids continuously absorbed the essence of sunlight, transforming it into honey crystals to nourish their owner's body and prevent decay.]

The honey-colored stone melted in Jiang He's palm.

[Hint: Your maximum energy has increased by 10 points]

[Energy Value: 1100→1110]

Jiang He's expression was subtle. This was the first time he had encountered a treasure that could permanently increase his own stats. If killing a knight could yield a Honey Stone, then the so-called faction distinctions would not be very important in the library isolated from the outside world.

In the dimly lit, dilapidated corridor, Jiang He simply took off her Prussian military coat and put on the color-changing garment.

This ordinary-grade item will lose its effectiveness if more than half a month passes after production due to the decay of pigment cells, which greatly limits the number of Berlin Palace Shadow Knights.

A few minutes later, the sound of aphids rubbing together began.

The bookshelves collapsed again, but this time new corridors appeared on both the left and right sides.

Jiang He, who was in stealth mode, silently took a step back.

The young man on the left had a pair of thick bull horns. The moment he saw the enemy, he decisively crouched down and launched a powerful charge.

With each step, cracks would appear in the floor, and the heavy force made the horned knight's momentum even higher. A dark luster appeared on the horns, like two drill bits forged from steel.

Charging straight ahead, the Prussian officer opposite him remained calm and unhurried. Just as he was about to be hit, his entire body instantly became supple and transformed into a monster with a human head and a snake's body. It coiled around the enemy's abdomen and back, biting down with its venomous fangs at the back of his neck.

The venom was injected into the cavity of the teeth, and the horned knight roared in pain. He struggled desperately, but the snake knight's ability to entangle and strangle was superior.

Just as the battle was about to be decided, a silver-white spear thrust out, accurately piercing the heads of both men. Due to its terrifying weight, their heads exploded like watermelons, spraying blood everywhere.

Jiang He sheathed his spear and stood there. The Long Regret Spear weighed a hundred jun and three thousand jin. Due to the feather-light nature of the item, he felt that it was similar to a slightly heavier ordinary spear when he swung it. Overall, it was exceptionally easy to handle. With his high agility stat combined with the extremely heavy spear, every ordinary attack was powerful enough to shatter boulders.

After the deaths of the Horned Knight and the Viper Knight, two stones fell from the dome, one of which was still the Aphid Honey Stone, while the other was of a completely new type.

[Name: Aphid Bloodstone]