423 Witnessing history get made (1/2)
Fu Rao, who was feeling extremely lucky just a moment ago, was now whining in pain. His injuries were like the ones Ren Xiaosu had suffered back then. Such internal injuries would only slowly heal after the black medicine that was applied onto the skin was fully absorbed. Ren Xiaosu reminded him repeatedly not to take it orally, otherwise, who knew what effect it would have on him?
When Ren Xiaosu and the others returned after taking care of the Zong Consortium company, Fu Rao struggled to get up and thanked Ren Xiaosu.
In the earlier situation, everyone knew the best option for the Razor Sharp Company was to let Fu Rao die a swift death before they avenged him.
If it were the past, everyone would definitely have done the same if they were stuck in a similar impasse.
Zhang Xiaoman looked at the way Fu Rao was moving and scolded, ”Your dislocated arm has been reattached, huh? You're all good again now, huh? Lie down and get some rest already! Brothers, set up the stretcher for him. You better fucking lie on the stretcher obediently til you've recovered from your injuries.”
His face pale, Fu Rao said to Ren Xiaosu, ”Thank you.”
”Gratitude received from Fu Rao, +1!”
These words of gratitude were worth a great deal because it was given for a truly lifesaving act. Ren Xiaosu smiled and told Fu Rao to get well soon. After that, he went to the medics to get his wound bandaged as well. Ren Xiaosu had also been shot in the shoulder when he sprinted out during the skirmish.
However, Ren Xiaosu knew that it would take at most three days for this type of injury to be completely healed by the black medicine.
While the medic bandaged Ren Xiaosu's wound, he said in surprise, ”Ren Xiaosu, your muscles so strong that the bullet only penetrated an inch?!”
Everyone gathered around Ren Xiaosu and looked at his wound with curiosity. ”Wow, is your skin bronze and bones steel?!”
Zhang Xiaoman was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to Fu Rao. Rather than going over to look at Ren Xiaosu's wound, he was thinking about something else with his head lowered.
Fu Rao looked at Zhang Xiaoman and asked, ”Captain, what's on your mind?”
”Nothing much.” Zhang Xiaoman said softly, ”Before I set off for the war, I told my wife that I might not make it back this time. After all, we know just how dangerous it is in our Razor Sharp Company. So I made it clear to her in advance so she wouldn't get too upset.”
Fu Rao did not say anything and listened to Zhang Xiaoman talk to himself. ”The people in Fortress 178 have had this thinking since childhood that it's some kind of honor to die in battle. But if we really had a choice, who'd be willing to die in a gods-forsaken place like this? Don't you think?”
Fu Rao kept quiet for a moment before saying, ”Who wants to die?”
”We can't die even if we want to now.” Zhang Xiaoman said with a helpless smile, ”A lunatic has suddenly appeared on the battlefield saying he'll make sure that all of us survive and won't leave a man behind…. What a fucking lunatic!”
Zhang Xiaoman would be turning 30 this year. He had lived in Fortress 178 for 27 years and spent three years assigned to an outpost outside of the fortress.
His days at the outpost were very difficult. He had neither any communication nor entertainment to speak of, and the weather was also very cold all year round due to the outpost being situated at a high altitude, making it rare for him to perspire.
To prevent the soldiers from developing renal failure, they did their physical training around a stove just so they would sweat.
During fall, winter, and spring, they couldn't even drink water since it froze into ice. Their comrades on sentry duty had to chew on ice if they wanted to have a drink of water.
A decade of hardship, yet their dreams remained. Most people probably never understood just how miserable it was to chew on ice.
Zhang Xiaoman was prepared to die when he set off for this war. Just as he had said, ”How can there be no casualties in war?”