Chapter 46: Sir, I’m Actually a Conservative!
Xue Yu boarded the train to the Pinglan Lake front line.
It was a rare rainy day. The gray rain curtain merged with the towering metal buildings of the city.
She happened to be sitting by the window. Looking through the glass, she saw Zhou Siyan and Feng Qizhou standing on the farewell platform in the distance, their gazes following the levitation train.
Xue Yu also stared at them until her vision gradually blurred.
Youke’en came over. He communicated with the soldier next to Xue Yu, changed seats, and sat next to her.
Xue Yu glanced at Youke’en. Youke’en’s hair had already grown to the length it was when they first met. His silver hair was clear and flowing, his skin was porcelain white, and his features were slightly immature. His shoulder line was flat and straight, wrapped in a military uniform, his silhouette like a manga poster.
This was her first time on the battlefield, and Xue Yu couldn’t control her nervousness.
But she could completely and thoroughly understand Youke’en’s thoughts. Youke’en was not nervous. Going to the battlefield was irrelevant to him.
His calmness also affected Xue Yu, at least making her less anxious.
The train was like a sharp sword, heading into the distance along the tracks.
The carriage slowly quieted down. Everyone was resting with their eyes closed, and the entire carriage was filled with fatigue and boredom.
“You can lean on me and sleep for a while,” Youke’en said.
“No need. I’ll just sit and look at the scenery.”
“Then I’ll lean on you,” Youke’en adjusted his posture and leaned into Xue Yu’s arms.
After a while, he sat up in surprise, his expression complicated.
Xue Yu asked, “What’s wrong?”
Youke’en was silent.
Even if he didn’t speak, Xue Yu could sense his thoughts.
This kid felt that how could an old father rely on his daughter? It wasn’t appropriate. It should be the daughter who relied on him.
Xue Yu shook her head helplessly, leaned against him, and closed her eyes to sleep.
Youke’en put his arm around her shoulder and gently patted her back, a sense of absurd satisfaction welling up in him. This was a satisfaction he had never felt when he held Xue Xiaohai and Xue Xiaobei.
The daughter he wanted had always been only Xue Yu.
The train completely left the range of the White Tower Safe Zone and entered the buffer zone, where it traveled for another two hours before stopping.
Everyone needed to get off and transfer to a bus.
Xue Yu and Youke’en picked up their bags and followed the large group off the train.
Meng Wu came to find Xue Yu and said, “You sit with me in the last car.”
Youke’en asked, “Major Meng, I want to sit with Xue Yu.”
Meng Wu looked at him nonchalantly. “What’s your relationship with Xue Yu?”
Youke’en held Xue Yu’s hand tightly, his tone firm. “We are family. We can’t be separated.”
“What nonsense,” Meng Wu sneered without reservation. “You’re not my soldier. Don’t follow me. Go and find your captain.”
Xue Yu had no choice but to separate from Youke’en and go to the last bus.
She put away her bag and sat next to Meng Wu. Before she could speak, Meng Wu spoke first. “Don’t worry. I won’t let Bingshan out to scare you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The bus drove all night.
The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, they arrived at the war zone.
This was a high-altitude area, with low bushes and withered yellow meadows everywhere. Large areas of bedrock were exposed. The air was filled with a thick smell of gunpowder, and craters were everywhere.
They walked for half an hour with their bags before arriving at the camp.
The camp was an open area, shaped like a roughly wrapped dumpling. The serrated surface intersected with the mountain range, forming a unique terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Each soldier’s bag contained their own single-person tent.
Meng Wu took Xue Yu to a spot behind the main officer’s tent, found a small open space, and said, “You can set up your tent here.”
“Alright.”
Xue Yu put down her bag, took out the folded tent and toolbox, and began to set up the tent according to the knowledge she had learned at the military academy.
As she was assembling the support poles, a pair of black military boots stepped in front of her.
Xue Yu looked up and saw that it was Mo Li. Mo Li’s face was clean. He was not wearing a helmet, revealing short black stubble. He had dark eyebrows and pale lips, and his eyes were very beautiful.
“Mo Li!” Xue Yu threw down the tools in her hand and stood up, enthusiastically hugging him. “I was just thinking of looking for you after I set up my tent. I didn’t expect you to come and find me first.”
Mo Li was flustered by her overly enthusiastic hug and was stunned for a moment. He quickly composed himself, wrapped his arms around Xue Yu’s waist, and easily lifted her up.
Xue Yu was carried by his movement, her two legs lifted up to wrap around his waist, and she was held very high by Mo Li.
Mo Li looked up at her and showed a faint smile.
Xue Yu supported herself with one hand on his broad shoulder and touched his prickly stubble with the other, whispering, “Alright, alright. Put me down quickly. Be careful not to press on the baby.”
Only then did Mo Li put her down and pick up the wrench on the ground. “Come on. Let’s set it up together.”
“Where’s your tent? Have you set it up? Where is it?” Xue Yu asked eagerly.
“It’s set up. It’s in the vanguard area to the south. I’ll take you to see it later.”
“Okay.”
The entire White Tower could be considered a large military corps. Everyone was a warrior, everyone was a soldier. There were no strict military regulations, and everyone could walk around freely.
After setting up her own tent, Xue Yu went with Mo Li to see his tent.
After leaving the White Tower, Mo Li did not need to strictly abide by the conservative’s rules of chastity. He held Xue Yu’s hand openly, and no one would care.
Mo Li’s tent was set up very well, but the material looked very old.
The tarpaulin had been exposed to the wind and sun for many years, and its original color had gradually faded. She could even see several small holes, which seemed to be the marks of bullets.
The interior of the tent was very small. The two of them went in and sat cross-legged, very close together.
Mo Li took out a bottle of milk from his bag, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her. “You drink.”
Xue Yu took a sip and then handed it to him. “You drink too.”
The two of them took turns, sharing a bottle of milk.
Xue Yu wiped her hands and touched Mo Li’s abdomen along the hem of his shirt. The curve was a little obvious, and the originally firm and tight abdominal muscles were no longer so well-defined.
She could feel a life beating, a small movement transmitted to her palm through his belly.
Mo Li touched Xue Yu’s hair. “Do you feel it?”
“Yes! Our baby is moving.”
Xue Yu pulled her hand back and touched Mo Li’s face. The skin of water-type warriors was very good. Even though Mo Li was exposed to the wind and rain all day, his skin was still delicate and smooth, as if it had been specially cared for.
“What are you looking at?” Mo Li held her hand.
“I’m looking at a jasmine flower, a fragrant and white jasmine flower,” Xue Yu said with a smile.
Mo Li also smiled. The two of them slowly moved closer, their foreheads touching, their lips gradually getting closer, and then they stopped. Neither of them made the next move, just pressing against each other’s soft lips, their breathing quiet and slow.
Until Meng Wu’s voice appeared outside, “Have you seen Xue Yu?”
A girl replied, “I saw her. She’s with Mo Li.”
Xue Yu hurriedly separated from Mo Li, wiped her mouth, and scrambled out of Mo Li’s tent. “Sir, what can I do for you?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I… I came to see my classmate. No, to see my comrade,” Xue Yu stammered.
Meng Wu’s eyes were sharp. He quickly scanned the seahorse and octopus that were entangled under the tent flap and chuckled. “What an inseparable camaraderie.”
Xue Yu’s face turned red. She pulled Blueberry apart and held it in her arms. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t control my spirit body.”
“If you control yourself, your spirit body will also be well-behaved,” Meng Wu said, turning to walk out. “Come over. We’re about to have a meeting.”
“Yes.”
Xue Yu was assigned to the squad under Meng Wu. Most of the soldiers in this squad were old hands with rich combat experience.
Xue Yu sat in a corner with a small folding stool and listened to the meeting attentively.
She heard Meng Wu say that the frogmen would hold a sacrificial ceremony tomorrow, and everyone had to take advantage of this ceremony to attack the frogmen’s headquarters.
At that time, the land-type forces would attack from the front, forcing the frogmen into Pinglan Lake.
And the water-type forces would hide at the bottom of the lake in advance and engage in a water battle with the frogmen.
After the meeting, Meng Wu asked Xue Yu to stay and said, “You stay by my side the whole time. You don’t need to listen to your captain’s orders.”
“Yes, sir,” Xue Yu gave a standard military salute.
Meng Wu helped her adjust the crooked holster on her waist and took out the pistol to check it. “Type 06 Utley pistol. Not bad. Did you pick this gun yourself?”
“Yes, sir!”
Meng Wu spun the gun in his hand and was very satisfied. “When I’m about to die in the future, can you kill me with this gun?”
“Yes, sir!” Xue Yu shouted forcefully.
Then she realized something was wrong and quickly tried to cover up. “No, sir. What are you talking about?”
Meng Wu’s expression was unchanged. He put the gun back in the holster on her waist. “I’m just a war machine. I’ve been tired of living for a long time. After I’ve trained you, I’ll find a beautiful place to end my own life.”
His tone was light and casual. “Of course, if I commit suicide, it would be too worthless. So at that time, I can die at your hands, and you can step on my corpse to get promoted.”
Xue Yu blinked. This was a bit of a shock to her. For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond and shouted, “Sir, I don’t know what to say to comfort you. Please instruct me.”
Meng Wu pretended to be deep in thought. “Then just say thank you.”
“Thank you, sir! I will work hard!”
Meng Wu smiled and turned to leave. “Just make sure I die comfortably.”
Xue Yu was half-asleep in her tent, waiting for the dawn.
She got up at 5:30 to pack her equipment. At 6:30, she needed to go to the bottom of Pinglan Lake with her teammates to prepare for an ambush.
Youke’en also came. He followed her closely. They were both Meng Wu’s little followers.
After crossing a small mountain peak, Xue Yu saw a group of frogmen in a canyon in the distance.
Their skin color was no different from that of a normal frog, with a rough, leathery texture. Their limbs were very strong, like a bullfrog master who had trained with protein powder in a gym.
The frogmen’s faces were similar to those of ordinary people, but their features were more profound and three-dimensional.
Thousands of frogmen gathered together, prostrating themselves in a circle.
In the center of the circle was a giant, overturned wooden boat, on which were piled the corpses of White Tower soldiers, with flagpoles stuck in them.
The frogmen shouted around the flagpoles, their croaks rising and falling.
Then, Xue Yu heard a clear and heavy voice. It was a shaman in the middle of the frogmen, chanting a sacrificial prayer in human language.
“Great God of Xicheng, creator of the mountains, rivers, and lakes!”
“The supreme ancestral god of our frogmen!”
“We ask for your blessing, so that your humble children may survive, so that your children may reproduce and live forever in the world.”
Meng Wu and Xue Yu explained that the frogmen were actually a mutated branch of humans.
They were originally ordinary people who had grown tired of the pollution and destruction brought by technology. So they no longer believed in science, but in the protection of the gods, and returned to the mountains and forests to develop a new race.
Xue Yu did not have a chance to watch the frogmen’s sacrificial activities.
The team’s walking speed increased. They followed the team to Pinglan Lake.
Water-type warriors could breathe in the water without any diving equipment. Xue Yu followed Meng Wu into the water and kept diving down.
She checked her diving watch. The diving depth had already exceeded two hundred meters.
Under Meng Wu’s instructions, she and Youke’en hid behind a large rock at the bottom of the lake.
Half an hour later, they heard the sound of intense cannon fire and gunshots.
Frogmen kept entering the water. Xue Yu and Youke’en were always together, shooting at these frogmen underwater.
There were many frogmen. They were strong, and their leather was very hard. One shot was not enough to penetrate.
And the frogmen did not all use primitive weapons. They also used guns and grenades.
Xue Yu and Youke’en were scattered. She kept retreating, trying to find Meng Wu.
In the chaos, Xue Yu was washed to the deepest part of the lake by the current. A group of frogmen chased after her and surrounded her, but they did not attack her. They showed a strange look, then went around her and swam towards deeper waters.
Xue Yu, the rookie, was stunned. She had lost her way.
More and more frogmen passed by her, but none of them attacked her.
She didn’t dare to shoot rashly, afraid of being ganged up on by the frogmen.
Meng Wu came and took Xue Yu’s hand, following behind the group of frogmen. “What did you do?”
Xue Yu had already learned to speak underwater. “I didn’t do anything.”
After swimming for about ten minutes, Xue Yu saw the frogmen in front of her gather in a circle, overlapping and huddling together, forming a dense ball.
“What are they doing?” Xue Yu had a bad feeling.
“They are collectively preparing to reproduce,” Meng Wu held Xue Yu’s hand tightly. “They must have been affected by some kind of force and have developed reproductive anxiety to do this in such a crisis.”
Xue Yu felt guilty. The core of her spiritual power was her reproductive ability.
Could it be that they were affected by her spiritual power?
“Is it not good for us to be watching here?” Xue Yu said.
Meng Wu pulled her and continued to swim forward.
Xue Yu was panicked. “Sir, what on earth are you doing!”
Meng Wu: “Join them.”
“?!!” Xue Yu almost wanted to run away. “Sir, why don’t you join them yourself? I can’t accept this! I’m actually a conservative, really, I’m very conservative!”
Meng Wu held her hand and refused to let go, forcibly taking her forward. “This is their most vulnerable moment. We join them, and then we wipe them all out.”