Chapter 135

Ka'er didn't answer, lifted his chin slightly, waved his hand, and said, "I'm off."

However, just as he opened the space black hole and was about to step in, Zongfang suddenly spoke—

"Ka'er, don't trust the Federation too much."

Ka'er turned back in confusion, the two men looking at each other across a distance that was neither far nor near.

Zongfang's eyes were deep as he asked, "If one day you had to choose, would you stand on the Federation's side, or on her side?"

Ka'er frowned: "What kind of shitty assumption is that? That day will never come."

Zongfang sneered, raised the photos in his hand, and said, "For the sake of this time, I'll give you a piece of advice: don't trust the Scavengers; you're all just his black gloves."

After saying this, Zongfang ignored the stunned Ka'er and walked straight away.

The red-haired man standing in front of the black hole was stunned for a moment, his brows lowered, falling into deep thought. — At this time, Freedom Alliance.

Sunlight streamed through the tall white marble columns, spilling onto the ground and casting mottled shadows.

The square was surrounded by elegant buildings, which had towering colonnades and exquisite carvings, and the roofs were decorated with delicate reliefs and Shoushen totems, every detail exuding mystery and solemnity.

At this moment, Qiao Suisui was sitting quietly by a square in Kanbukun, her eyes a bit dazed, her thoughts seemingly still lingering on the past events narrated by the Archbishop—

"At that time, I was a member of the Federal elite troops. We received orders from superiors to go to a place called Dadeline to suppress reactionary forces. I felt very strange at the time because usually, when going on a mission, there would be detailed reports explaining the target number, weapons, reasons, etc., and generally, the whole team would not be dispatched. But that time, the superiors required all of us to go, and did not tell us any detailed content, only one sentence: After arriving, annihilate all the enemies.

Our duty is to obey, so even though everyone felt the mission content was unclear, we still quickly launched the action.

The warship took us to the sky above Dadeline. I looked down at the earth and found that there was no smoke as expected, but instead, it was a very peaceful village. The captain at the time, Dante Kang Na, wanted to land and investigate before taking action, but the voice of the superiors urging us constantly sounded in our headsets.

We followed orders and started shooting directly after landing.

But when I saw the screaming children, the terrified and struggling elderly, and the men fleeing everywhere, a thought immediately appeared in my mind—these are just the most ordinary beastmen, they have no armed forces at all..."

Speaking of this, the Archbishop's voice began to show emotional fluctuations, which showed that even after so long, he still hadn't been able to walk out of it.

"I turned to look at the team members and found that they also felt confused and unbearable about this; some even put down their guns. Kang Na confirmed with his superiors again and again whether to terminate the action, but there was no sound in the headset anymore. However, just as we were indecisive, a huge heat wave rushed toward us unexpectedly from all sides, and explosions sounded. Within a few short seconds, half of our people were blown to death, along with those local residents who had no power to truss a chicken.

I struggled to climb up in the chaos. In the dizziness and tinnitus, I saw the purgatory before my eyes.

Bloody corpses, limbs blown away, flames everywhere, the ground under my feet mixed with blood and mud. Black snow began to fall from the sky, and there was a pungent smell of blood all around.

I kept calling the team members on the communicator, but only a few people answered me. I went to flip over the corpses one by one, looking for my companions like a madman. We came together, so we have to go together..."

Both Sang Yan and Qiao Suisui showed unbearable expressions on their faces. She asked, "Who started the bomb? Was it the local reactionary forces?" The Archbishop suddenly laughed, and as he laughed, a line of tears flowed from the corner of his eyes. He shook his head and said, "There were no reactionary forces at all; it was our own people who blew it up."

"Was it the Federation?" Sang Yan asked.

"That's right. We went with 386 people for this operation, and only 24 escaped death. We kept swimming along the local sea area, drifting on the sea for ten days and ten nights. When we reached the shore, only 14 people remained. One brother lost his legs because he was too close to the explosion source, so Kang Na tied him to his back, saying he wanted to take us home. We grabbed driftwood and drifted and drifted. I had already lost consciousness at the end. My body had lost temperature because I had been soaked in the seawater for too long. Everyone would joke with each other at first, chatting like usual. Later, we cheered each other up, and then later, no one spoke. We fell into despair."

Qiao Suisui listened to the Archbishop's trembling words in weakness, her heart feeling as if it were being gripped, and her eyes turned red as well.

She suddenly remembered that Luka had mentioned that there were 13 people in the Rebel Army when they were surrounded, so what happened to the 14th person who reached the shore? Before she could ask, the Archbishop slowly lifted his white robe and knelt before the statue of the Shoushen. He pressed his palms to his chest, his face already covered in tears.

"I repent to the Shoushen; I have committed an unforgivable sin."

Sang Yan and Gaimailun hurriedly went to pull him up, but he wouldn't get up no matter what. At this moment, the Archbishop's voice completely lost the compassion he had when they first met. Like a child waiting for punishment for making a mistake, he choked and said, "After we reached the shore, everyone was exhausted, but felt invigorated because we escaped death. After a short rest, everyone started looking for a way out, but not long after, we fell into despair again because this was an uninhabited desert island, surrounded by the sea on all sides. Despair, hunger, anger, all emotions surged into our hearts. Everyone started to become more and more irritable, and some even fought each other to grab fruit.

Kang Na proposed that we use the wood on the island to make a raft and go to sea again to find a way to survive. Some opposed it, not wanting to drift aimlessly anymore; some agreed, feeling that we should take a gamble, as waiting here was also waiting for death. But no one had the strength to stand up again. After a long silence, one person stood up suddenly and pounced on Alan, who had only one breath left, and bit off a piece of meat from his abdomen. Kang Na tried to stop him, but it was too late. Everyone's eyes flashed red, the nature of the beastman was awakened, and one after another, they went to tear at Alan's body.

I... I couldn't endure the hunger, and I rushed up too.

Only Kang Na didn't come forward. That was the brother he had carried on his back all the way. Even in the most desperate times at sea, he didn't abandon him. He remembered... he remembered the promise to take us home..."

The Archbishop covered his face and broke down in tears, the sobbing sound filling the entire church.

Later, after they ate their companions' bodies raw, they left the desert island on a raft. They thought they had finally survived in the difficult predicament and planned to return to the Federation to report, but they found that they had become the wanted Rebel Army overnight.

Sang Yan looked at Qiao Suisui, who was sitting in the square staring blankly, turned around, and exchanged a bubble machine from a little boy not far away.

Colorful transparent bubbles descended from above her head, and with a "pop," they broke, bringing Qiao Suisui back to her senses.

Sang Yan took away the bubble machine and sat down beside her, their knees touching, seemingly comforting each other.

"What do you want to do?" Sang Yan asked.

"I want to go to Dadeline," Qiao Suisui said firmly.

She must find out what happened there and why the Federation was willing to destroy an elite troop just to destroy that place.

Sang Yan was not surprised after hearing this, but his expression became a bit more serious, saying, "Dadeline's name today is the Southern Battlefield."

Zong Qiao, coming soon, get it?

(End of chapter)