Chapter 262: The people inside the Royal City, in their eyes, are no longer considered human

A military transport helicopter carrying forty-three operational personnel including Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi took off from the rear of the Daxuan army's stationed camp and rose into the air.

This area lies north of Zhong Yuan, and in the deep winter midnight, the temperature dropped to around minus seven or eight degrees Celsius, colder than most places in the Daxuan Realm at the same time.

When the helicopter reached a position one kilometer above the Wasteland Nation's Royal City, heavy snow began to fall in the sky, and the cold wind was especially fierce.

This was advantageous for the operation's concealment, but it also caused considerable trouble for everyone's landing.

The huge military transport helicopter hovered like a black divine bird in the howling wind and snow at high altitude, the sound of its rotating rotors drowned out by the wind.

Inside the cabin, the two instructors responsible for assisting everyone's landing had been observing the situation.

Based on their rich experience and analysis of environmental detection data from all aspects, they found the optimal parachute drop point, then immediately notified the cockpit and moved the aircraft to the northwest of the Royal City.

"In ten minutes, the wind speed will drop, giving you a two- to three-minute window."

"Remember, after jumping, descend downwind, and the best time to open the parachute is when you are two hundred to three hundred meters above the ground."

"At that distance, the danger increases greatly; if you lack confidence, open the parachute above five hundred meters. We will monitor your descent from the aircraft and inform you via the radio headset if anything abnormal occurs."

……

The two instructors quickly gave a briefing.

Everyone kept it firmly in mind.

The ten minutes passed quickly.

The cabin door opened.

A strong cold wind rushed in, and the temperature inside the cabin instantly dropped below zero.

Xiao Qidi was the first to release his safety harness, leapt out of the cabin, and Ning Jinli followed closely behind.

Next came Mu Cheng and the forty Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Soldiers.

One after another, they fell like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.

After everyone had exited the cabin, the two instructors stared intently at the detection equipment screen.

On the screen, forty-three light points appeared on the left, while the right side densely displayed detailed data for each person's position, altitude, descent speed, and so on.

The two instructors continually gave guidance via radio communication equipment based on the data.

After three minutes, when the data for the last light point showed a successful landing, the two instructors exhaled in relief.

Although it was only a short three minutes, the hidden enormous danger far exceeded ordinary imagination; even these two individuals exerted twelve percent of their effort, their nerves stretched to the limit.

"Miss Ning, I wish your operation success."

The instructor said those words.

The helicopter then returned; their mission was complete, with no need to linger at high altitude.

——

Inside the Wasteland Nation's Royal City.

Snow blanketed the city, every household's doors shut tight, only the palace and the guard stations at various locations remained lit.

The city's residents had already fallen asleep.

Most of the Royal City's guards were drunk to the point of being a mess, leaving only the various city wall defense teams and a small portion of patrol units still on duty.

On a certain street.

A five-person patrol team, holding lanterns, braved the heavy snow and cold wind, trudging through deep snow listlessly.

"Patrolling, patrolling, what the hell are we patrolling for!" the captain cursed as he walked, "Those bastards are roasting a hot fire in the camp, feasting and drinking, while we out here are drinking the northwest wind and freezing like dogs!"

Since the captain spoke that way, the other four team members were likewise in a bad mood, greeting those guard soldiers with all sorts of variations from head to toe.

However, although they cursed, they dared not abandon their posts, otherwise they would be punished under military law; they could only blame their bad luck, as it was their turn to patrol today and they missed out on the benefits.

Just then, a shadow flickered past the corner ahead.

The captain immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, then walked toward where the shadow had appeared.

The snow retained a line of footprints, leaving the shadow's whereabouts nowhere to hide.

The captain, holding his lantern, gave chase and soon cornered the shadow in an alley.

"Sir… sir, spare my life!" a trembling plea rang out.

The five people had surrounded a civilian sister and brother.

The sister appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, the brother around ten.

Both wore thin clothing, their chests bulging as if hiding something.

The captain brought the lantern closer, and its dim yellow light shone on the girl's frightened, delicate face.

"Stealing something?" the captain glanced over and asked.

The little boy knelt on the ground, shivering and afraid to speak.

The girl mustered her courage and said: "Sir… I… we are truly starving, our parents also suffer from hunger and cold, we siblings really have no choice, so we came out to steal some grain… we have stolen no money or valuables, please, sir, spare us…"

For such a situation, the garrison troops were accustomed to it.

Not long after the Royal City was besieged by the Xuan Guo army, an order came from the palace demanding that all city residents provide support to the Royal City's defending army, so that the garrison could defend the last territorial stronghold of the Great Wilderness.

Originally, the residents of the Royal City were relatively prosperous compared to those elsewhere in the Wasteland Nation.

But after this, they quickly became impoverished.

Even the city's wealthy merchants, ordinary officials, and those who previously had some connections with the nobility could not escape.

Almost every household was thoroughly ransacked by the Royal City's garrison under the pretext of requisitioning military supplies.

Moreover, they enforced strict personal controls; not only at night, but even in broad daylight, aside from the times when the garrison distributed porridge at set points and times, residents were not allowed to go out freely.

Under such harsh control, naturally there was some resistance, but at the outset it was met with bloody, brutal suppression by the garrison, which quickly terrified the tens of thousands of residents into submission.

Furthermore, the garrison strictly controlled the food and supplies on which the residents depended for survival, so that almost everyone suffered from hunger and cold each day, lacking the strength to resist; thus, when the garrison randomly seized a group and dragged them to the city walls to be executed for the Xuan Guo army to see, the city's residents practically all submitted like lambs.

Of course, after all, the Royal City had a population of tens of thousands.

Even under such repression by the garrison, it was still unavoidable that some, in order to survive, would sneak out in the dead of night to steal.

Before, when they encountered such people, the patrol guards would usually just beat them up, confiscate the stolen goods, and call it a day.

Only if it was more serious, such as when thieves showed intent to resist, would they be executed on the spot or taken to the army to do hard labor.

"Hand over the things." a patrol guard commanded coldly.

To save her life, the girl honestly cooperated, pulling out with her frozen, cracked little hands a trembling small sack containing these years-old coarse grains from her bosom.

Judging by the girl's and boy's clothing, their family status in the Royal City would be considered relatively well-off.

Although their outer clothes were dirty and torn, the fabric of their inner garments was still quite high-quality.

Yet now they had fallen to the point of needing to steal grain just to survive.

"And you." The patrol guard confiscated the girl's grain, then turned his gaze to the boy.

The boy was terrified, yet he clutched tightly to the thing in his bosom, refusing to hand it over.

The girl, tears in her eyes, urged: "Obey... hand everything over to the military lord..."

The boy cried, saying: "Sister, our parents haven't eaten for three days; if we don't bring these back to them, they'll starve to death!"

The patrol guard captain frowned and asked: "We hand out porridge every day; although it can't fill everyone, it's certainly not enough to starve to death, so don't talk nonsense!"

"We're going to starve to death!" the boy exclaimed emotionally, "That bit of thin porridge isn't enough to drink! Moreover, our parents are sick and can't go out to get porridge, and you won't even let us bring the porridge back..."

Slap!

Before the boy could finish speaking, the patrol guard captain slapped him across the face.

"You little brat, dare to shout at me? You're looking for death!"

"Military lord, spare us!" the girl sobbed, tears streaming, quickly pressing her brother's head, together they kowtowed, saying while kowtowing, "He's too young to know better; he will never do this again, please, military lord, spare us!"

Afterward, the girl, enduring her inner sorrow, slapped the boy twice, forcibly took another small sack of grain from his bosom, and held it up with both hands over her head.

She had to be this humble; otherwise, not only would she fail to bring the grain back, but she and her brother would likely die right here.

The patrol guard captain took the sack and asked: "We search house to house every few days, and it's hard to find anything anymore—where did you two steal this from?"

The girl bit her lip, showing slight hesitation.

The patrol guard captain squatted down, grabbed her face with one hand, and threatened: "Don't make me ask a second time."

The girl then said: "It was... stolen from a grain store's warehouse."

"A grain store's warehouse?" the patrol guard captain sneered, "You're trying to fool me? We've emptied every civilian grain store—how could a grain store's warehouse still have anything left?"

The girl hurriedly said: "No, no, no! We... we were lucky; we found a... mouse hole near a grain store's warehouse, and after great effort digging half the night, we managed to pull out this grain. I would never dare to deceive the military lord; if he doesn't believe me, I can take him to see it."

The patrol guard captain tore open the old sack, held it to his nose to smell, then took out some grain to examine closely.

The grain was mixed with dirt scraps and animal hair, and smelled moldy and foul.

It seems the girl was telling the truth.

"I doubt you'd dare to lie to me," the patrol guard captain said coldly, "I don't have the leisure to go look—get lost!"

The girl, feeling as if granted a pardon, pulled her brother and they kowtowed in thanks.

"Thank you, military lord! Your great kindness will never be forgotten!"

Just now, in her haste to pull the grain sack from her bosom, the girl had inadvertently torn her clothes; as she kept kowtowing, her collar gaped open, revealing a patch of skin whiter than snow.

Several guards, including the captain, exchanged glances and all showed lecherous smiles.

They also thought that the commanders and other Royal City guards were at ease in their tents, while this patrol detail suffered outside, so seeking some pleasure was perfectly justified.

This girl before them, though not strikingly beautiful, was fresh and lovely, and at just the right age of youthful tenderness; letting her go like this would be a shame.

Moreover, these days, from officers to ordinary soldiers of the Royal City Guard, who knows how many have taken the opportunity to defile respectable women in the Royal City.

Many guards even bragged about these deeds, taking pride in how many women they had violated.

Facing this situation, the commanding general turned a blind eye, after all, the Royal City Guard risked their lives to protect His Majesty and the nobles of the Great Wilderness; to have tens of thousands under them fight desperately, they needed to give them extra benefits.

Furthermore, in their eyes, the common folk of the Royal City, regardless of age or gender, were no longer considered human.

The girl was completely unaware that the guards had harbored dirty intentions; after kowtowing, she grabbed her brother and tried to leave.

"Hold on!" the patrol guard captain suddenly shouted, "The boy can go, but you, girl, stay."

Hearing this, the brother and sister froze.

The boy said: "Military lord... we've already given you the grain; we haven't hidden anything at all..."

"When I tell you to scram, you scram—why all the nonsense?" the patrol guard captain cursed.

The remaining guards all wore ill-intentioned smiles.

The boy, not understanding the situation, stubbornly said: "The military lord already let us go; why must you keep my sister? If she doesn't go, neither will I."

Two guards grew impatient, ready to draw their swords to threaten.

The patrol guard captain suddenly gave a sinister grin, stopped his men, and said to the boy: "You won't leave? Fine—then you stay here and watch; I'll make it more exciting."

Hearing that, the other guards first stared in surprise, then burst into loud laughter.

Having understood the captain's meaning, they stepped forward, kicked the boy aside, and pressed the girl to the ground.

"Captain, you go first!" several of them flattered.

The patrol guard captain laughed and said: "You really do understand, damn it; after I've had my fun, you can come one by one or all together—either way is fine."

Several guards revealed grins as vicious as wolves.

"Let me go! Let me go!" the girl cried, realizing what was about to happen, and struggled.

But she was delicate and weak, unable to break free.

Although the boy didn't know what these military lords intended to do to his sister, seeing the situation he knew it couldn't be good; in desperation he scrambled up, lunged, and sank his teeth hard into a guard's arm.

Though the guard wore thick clothing, the bite still hurt; he raised his hand, flung the boy aside, and then kicked him repeatedly as he rose.

The boy was kicked until he spat blood, his frail body curling into a ball.

"Don't hit him! Military lord... please, stop hitting him!" the girl screamed in plea, "You... you can do whatever you want to me—just don't hurt my brother!"

The guard who had been bitten pressed his knee onto the boy's back, grabbed his hair and yanked his head up, sneering: "You little punk, dare to bite me? Fine—I'll let you see clearly."

To protect her brother, the girl gave up struggling and, tearfully, urged her brother not to move around anymore.

The guard captain, undoing his belt as he approached the girl, smirked lewdly and commanded: "Lie still, spread your legs for me."

The girl shut her eyes tight, bit her lips until they bled, turned her head away in shame and anger, and, trembling constantly, assumed a pose too horrible to behold.

"Sister... older sister!" the boy yelled, "What are you doing! Don't touch her!"

Smack!

The guard holding him back gave him a slap, saying: "Stop your damn shouting, kid—you'll see what's going on soon enough; you're lucky to get such a sexy show at your age, it's practically an early lesson in life! Hahaha!"

Just as the guard captain ripped open the girl's clothes, his face twisted in a vicious grin, about to commit a beastly act.

Whoosh——

In the cold wind, a faint tearing-through-air sound rang out.

The guard captain kneeling between the girl's legs suddenly shuddered, his lewd grin freezing, and his whole body came to a halt.

The four guards, seeing this, were puzzled.

"Chief, what's wrong?"

"Your pants are off—why'd you stop? Aren't you cold?"

"Heh, chief, is your thing frozen? Why don't we go first?"