This candy is one of the few joys I can feel in the camp on Everdark Island. It's like a little lucky coin. When the sweetness exploded in my mouth, the haze that gathered above our heads was quietly dispelled—

Day 6.

After we returned to camp after building the trenches, we received the latest news.

A new team will be sent to replace us in the next two days, and we just need to do the final handover. After that, the few dozen people left in the camp were free to choose to leave the army or merge into other teams at their own discretion.

Even if it was just a simple notice without any actual action, it still made the soldiers who stayed in this camp feel unprecedented joy. Okura had already begun to excitedly pack up his baggage and fantasize about his life after returning home from the army, and even Yamamoto, who had always been gloomy and silent, had a little more smile on his face.

Their joy was as if it was not a simple handover of missions, but a complete victory in the Battle of Tokomi Island.

I looked at Ueno, and Ueno was looking at me. The moment I made eye contact with him, he ran over excitedly, first clasped my neck tightly with his arms, and then put his hands together and blew my hair apart. My head was a little dizzy from his shaking, and I couldn't break free of his arm.

Ueno rarely shows such an unsteady side.

"Kazama, you heard me!" He leaned into my ear and whispered, "I'll just say it's not what Yamamoto said, how can so many people all be abandoned!" ”

"Hmm." I nodded, silently accepting his rude way of venting his joy.

In fact, I can't empathize with this group of soldiers who are carried away by joy. I have not experienced the harsh conditions of the camp, I have not experienced the battles of the battlefield, and I have not been afraid of death that may come at any time. I'm just an outsider, and watching them share their joy with laughter and hugs, I can't get in with them at all.

"Hey—Kazama." Ueno was not satisfied, he kneaded my face with his big rough hands, and pulled the corners of my mouth up, "You should laugh a little." ”

I let him tug at the corners of my mouth and make a comical arc of laughter. Then I told him, "I didn't feel very happy. ”

Ueno was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized: "Oh, I remember, Kazama you have extraordinary abilities, that's why—" He grinned at me, "Then you want to think of something happy now." Gotta think! Can't refuse! ”

I honestly shook my head: "I can't think of it." ”

Ueno didn't want to let me go: "Then think about what kind of new life you want to start after you leave the army." ”

Next?

Discharged?

This word has nothing to do with me at all.

I said solemnly: "I will not leave the army. ”

In fact, I never considered being discharged from the military. I'm not like them, and I don't have a lot of complicated connections outside of Tsugoku Island, and I don't have a home. The only one who can relate to me is Dr. Mori, and he is on the battlefield, and there is no way for me to leave.

"Don't you leave the army? Good boy, ambitious. Ueno patted me on the back happily, "Then let's go to other teams and earn military merit together." Maybe you can still get a little Zuodang, and when you retire from the army, you can talk about the scenery. ”

I have no concept of rank. But the thought that I would be able to see Dr. Mori in a few days made my heart feel a faint joy and even a little anticipation.

I seem to be beginning to understand the soldiers' almost gaffe ecstasy.

Ueno was also satisfied, and he pointed to my face: "That's right, don't you laugh?" It's just that he seems to have misunderstood my happiness, "I said that we would earn military merit together." When the time comes, the eldest brother will cover you, and he will never let others bully you. ”

I didn't refuse, nodded and replied, "Okay." ”

*

Day 7.

The war did not allow us to rejoice for long, and a battle of unprecedented scale began. At this time, only 56 of us were able to stand up to the front line.

From the moment the first shots fired in the early morning sneak attack, we were all on alert. As the captain, Okura wasn't too nervous. Not only him, but even others, who were confident in this war - because it was supposed to be the last war they had ever experienced. Their expectations for returning home from retirement have reached their peak.

In fact, the arrival of this battle was expected by everyone. The frontline is the most important thing, and the dispatch of a new team to garrison the front line more or less shows the seriousness of the situation.

"Our task is not to counterattack, we just need to delay time. Drag until reinforcements arrive at the front, and our mission is over. Okura's tone was rather relaxed, "It only takes two hours—no, an hour and a half at most." ”

Okura leaned in the trench, fiddling with his machine gun: "Not to mention, we still have five lines of defense. ”

The so-called five lines of defense are five parallel iron thistle nets that almost cross half of the wasteland of Everdark Island. These iron fences were very effective in blocking the enemy allied forces' vehicles and soldiers' bodies.

If they try to break through the defenses, they will inevitably be pierced by thistles. Even if you are lucky enough to break through the five lines of defense, you will definitely be seriously injured. And we just need to kill the enemy who has no ability to resist at this point.

Two hours, always able to drag out.

I lay in the trench like my companions, watching for enemy coalition forces near the iron fence and watching for enemy patrol planes in the sky. I'm not nervous. Because I don't have to worry about the threat to my life from war, my ability can always restore my body to its most perfect form as if it were new.

Rumbling patrol planes hovered at low altitude, and from time to time there were deafening explosions in the distance. It was the enemy coalition tanks dropping bombs on us without mercy. Every time a bomb exploded, the whole earth trembled, giving me the illusion that the island would be blown up and sunk into the Pacific Ocean in the next second.

"How long?"

"I guess we're in line."

The tank was like a heavy metal monster, opening the way for the soldiers, leaving two deep marks where the tracks had been crushed. Although the thistle terrestris net could play a partial role in the face of such a behemoth, it was still crushed by the huge metal monster with a devastating force, and the first line of defense was quickly punched out of the middle.

"And now?"

"I'm probably on Everdark Island, and I'm heading in the direction of the front line."

There are also four lines of defense. The tank also doesn't move fast, it can even be said to be slow. In order to preserve the strength of the enemy coalition forces, they did not choose to attack, so the tanks opened the way in front. Both sides cautiously test each other within their own acceptable limits.

"Where have you been?"

"It's probably the first corner, it's less than twenty kilometers from our side."

The speed of time seems to have become strange. The speed of the tanks was noticeably faster, and they broke through the second and third lines of defense unstoppably. The roar and bombs began to ring in our ears. Parabolas were drawn through the air, and when they landed, they were filled with craters and flying sand.

I pressed my body against the dirt of the trench wall, flies buzzing to my ears, and my nostrils were filled with carrion and blood. I don't know how many soldiers have died in this trench, and the dirt doesn't devour their corpses and decompose.

"Are reinforcements coming?"

“…… No. ”

"Why haven't you come yet? Why is it so slow? Okura looked at his pocket watch, "It's been two hours and ten minutes." ”

There was no longer the excitement of looking forward to leaving the army in his tone, but instead there was an anxiety and complaint that was difficult to hide. He quickly set up his machine gun, and with a bang, a soldier who tried to climb through the thistle terrestris net collapsed, and his body hung limply on the iron net.

Silence reigned in the trench.

No one cares why reinforcements haven't been here for so long. The corpse hanging from the iron wire was like a warning that the enemy was about to break through the last line of defense. As long as the first person climbs the iron net, there will be a second person who climbs it. Those who are behind will not hesitate to step on the corpse of the first person, cross the line of defense, and rush in front of us.

Can the defense line really be held?

I don't know who shouted, and the soldiers, as if they had received some order, got up from the trench neatly, picked up their machine guns and rushed straight out. I was caught in the middle of it, and I ran forward with them.

The sound of gunshots, shell explosions, dirt blasting, and human voices rang out in my ears.

My brain is confused, my voice is noisy, but I'm confused. What should I do? Do you rush straight forward like Okura and them? Even so, why? I don't have a nationality, I don't belong to Japan, and I don't have the innate patriotism that they have. I don't know the enemy soldiers, and I don't have any grudges against them.

So why am I standing on this battlefield?

I don't know, I don't know anything.

I was holding a gun, but I didn't know who to aim it at.

"Hey, Kazama! Don't be stunned! "Okura didn't know when he ran to me, he grabbed me by the collar and ran forward.

He took me in his hands and forced me to run. I could only stumble and stumble in his footsteps, staggering and running. Okura has a lot of combat experience, whether it's dodging a gun, finding effective cover, or even a one-shot counterattack. I followed him, hiding behind a boulder.

It's a nice place, with teammates behind you and enemy soldiers in front of you.

Okura gritted his teeth, and his voice was so stiff that it seemed to be squeezed out of between his teeth: "Killing one is not a loss, killing two is a gain." Anyway, this is the last battle, as long as the fight is over, you can leave Changji Island. ”

I leaned against the stone wall, gasping for breath. I didn't respond to his words, I was just slowly digesting what I felt on the battlefield. I haven't been to the battlefield alive, and it's all too big for me.

But at this moment, a bomb suddenly fell not far from the boulder. The bomb was so powerful that before Okura and I could react, the boulder had already blown up and fell apart.

Okura quickly grabbed me by the neck and fell to the ground. Before we could get used to the impact of the bomb explosion, a dense stream of machine-gun fire followed.

Losing the boulder bunker, Okura and I soon became moving targets for the enemy.

I feel like I've been shot.

In my shoulders, in my legs, high-speed spinning bullets pierced my flesh, burrowed into my body, and stuck in my bones. I know, I'm probably going to die again soon. But it doesn't matter, I'll be resurrected. As long as I am given enough time, I can come back to life.

I'm probably in a calm mood.

I looked at Okura and tried to tell him to run. My teenage body was destined to not live long on the battlefield, and being shot in the leg made it impossible for me to have the ability to move with Okura. Now I'm a drag on him.

But when I looked at him, his facial muscles were shaking unnaturally, and it was a very hideous and complicated expression.

"Kazama, you're not going to die, are you?"

"Yes, so you don't have to worry about me, you can go by yourself first." I patted him on the shoulder, trying to push him back, "When I'm resurrected again, I'll go and meet you." ”

"It's really an enviable terrifying ability, it's good." Okura's tone was marked with emotion and an envy that bordered on jealousy. Then he said in dismay, "But there is no cover nearby." ”

There is no cover nearby.

I'm aware of this issue as well.

Am I going to die with Okura?

His eyes were red, and the muscles in his cheeks were visibly bulging from his teeth to his cheeks. Slowly, the envy in his eyes finally changed into a kind of determination.

"Kazama." Okura said, so difficult that it seemed as if every word seemed to be squeezed out of his teeth, "Why can you still show such a calm expression at such a time." Never worry about your life being threatened, don't worry about when death will come. You never know how your abilities are envied or even envied by others. ”

I opened my mouth and didn't speak.

Okura's state is very wrong.

His hands were on my shoulders, his fingers so hard that they seemed to dig into my flesh and snap my collarbones. He said, "I'm sorry. But I really don't want to die, I want to go home, I want to get out of this island alive. ”

I'm sorry?

Why?

I'm at a loss.

But in the next second, the world was spinning, and I was pulled in front of him by Okura. I clearly saw despair in Okura's eyes, and beyond that, madness. Immediately after that, a barrage of bullets went into my back. It was like I had been shot in the lungs, and I couldn't breathe.

Okura held me in front of him and retreated backwards with difficulty. Now I finally know why he apologized to me.

It turned out that he wanted to use my body as a last cover.

Another bomb landed nearby. A scorching wave of heat hit my back, and Okura and I were blown away. I just felt that all my internal organs were displaced, and when the pain was so painful that it twisted, a mouthful of blood gushed out uncontrollably and sprayed straight onto Okura's face.

He shuddered. As if he didn't want to face it, he turned his face away and closed his eyes.