The military transport truck wobbled unsteadily as it drove northwards. Cold wind poured in through the gaps of the cabin’s canvas and made everyone feel the biting cold of the night.
The doctors of Trinity Institute had already fallen into deep sleep. Ren Xiaosu looked at the long convoy of Pyro Company troops behind them. The headlights of the vehicles were constantly swaying in the dark as they bounced up and down on the bumpy ground.
The Pyro Company probably felt that doctors did not have much combat capacity, and with their weapons already confiscated, they did not have to worry about them causing any trouble.
Or perhaps the Pyro Company had already verified the identity and purpose of the Trinity Institute through their intelligence network. In short, the Pyro Company did not even assign any guards to watch over Wang Jing and the others.
At this moment, the Pyro Company did not know what kind of people they had actually brought into the Pyro Company.
Honestly, the kind-hearted Ren Xiaosu really did not want to bring harm to the Pyro Company while hiding among them. But the Pyro Company seemed to disagree.
The Pyro Company had already been traveling for three days straight and did not stop to rest throughout the journey. Every vehicle was assigned with three drivers working three shifts so that the convoy could keep moving for all 24 hours of the day.
Each day, the troops would only take an hour to reorganize during mealtime before setting off again.
Wang Jing and the others were only doctors, so they could not withstand such a torturous journey. Wang Jing went down with a fever the next day, but as their medicine was confiscated, they could not treat him.
While everyone was worrying over what to do, Ren Xiaosu braved up and approached the Pyro Company officer while the troops were reorganizing. The officer looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Ren Xiaosu secretly stuffed a watch into his hand and said, “The weather’s too cold, and one of our people has fallen sick. He’s running a fever. Can you give me 13 blankets? After all, we’re now considered military doctors. In the future, we’ll have to treat your comrades. It won’t do y’all any good if we die while traveling to the front line.”
In the end, the officer looked at the watch and handed it back to Ren Xiaosu. “We were negligent in this matter. We forgot to distribute the gear to you all. I’ll get someone to bring them over to you later.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. He did not expect the other party to return the watch to him. After all, watches were also considered a type of currency in this day and age. Although it was not a hard currency like gold, it could still be exchanged for money at a pawnshop. And it would fetch a good value too.
Seeing that the other party was not particularly difficult to talk to, he probed, “Sir, we’ve never fought in a war before. Will we be a burden if we follow y’all to the front line?”
That Pyro Company officer chuckled. “You still want to go to the front line when you’re so weak? Don’t worry, we won’t make you go there. In four days, I’ll send you all to the makeshift medical center at the rear of the front line as we planned. The flames of war will not reach you there. We’re conscripting you all not to fight, but to do what you’re best at.”
“Alright, thank you. You’re absolutely right. How can weaklings like us head to the front line!” Ren Xiaosu expressed his gratitude.
However, Ren Xiaosu secretly thought to himself that a doctor’s mission was to dedicate their limited life to an unlimited cause in the medical field. Meanwhile, what he was best at was actually to limit the lives of others.
Thinking about it this way, it really did seem like he had something in common with doctors. Both had something to do with the limit of lives.
For a moment, he even wanted to go to the front line to see if the northern tribe was strong enough.
Half an hour later, not only did a Pyro Company soldier send over more than a dozen blankets, he sent over six antibiotic pills as well. The Pyro Company soldier said coldly, “You guys better pray that you don’t fall sick. Medicine is already so scarce, and once we start fighting those people from the north, there won’t be any left for you all.”
This left Ren Xiaosu a little surprised. Not only did the Pyro Company officer refuse to accept his watch, he even had a surprise for him.
Ren Xiaosu had not intended to ask for any medicine in the first place, because he already had some in his storage space, so he could secretly feed it to Wang Jing.
After everyone wrapped themselves up in the blankets, they looked at Ren Xiaosu with gratitude.
They knew very well that regardless of Ren Xiaosu’s purpose at the Kong Consortium, the Pyro Company would still have attacked Stronghold 31. If not for Ren Xiaosu, they might have been killed when the rioters went to the residential neighborhood.
Ren Xiaosu was also the one who braved up and negotiated with the Pyro Company for supplies. For a moment, Ren Xiaosu, who was the youngest among them, became everyone’s pillar after Wang Jing fell ill.
Over the past three days, what made things even worse was that Sima Gang and Liang Ce kept vomiting for an entire day while sprawled over the back of the truck. This was due to motion sickness. It was only when they had nothing more to vomit that they started getting used to the bumpy ride.
The two of them did not feel much when they were riding in the off-road vehicles earlier, but it was different in the military transport trucks, especially when they were traveling on the bumpy roads. There were even potholes created by artillery shelling, so it could be imagined just how intense the war between the Pyro Company and the Kong Consortium was.
While Liang Ce and Sima Gang were vomiting, Ren Xiaosu could see the driver of the vehicle behind them laughing at their expense. It was as though he were some military veteran gloating at the new recruits.
Actually, this also surprised Ren Xiaosu a little. In the past, he had always thought the Pyro Company members were just a group of emotionless war machines. But now, Ren Xiaosu felt that these people were no different from other people.
However, there were also times when Ren Xiaosu was unhappy with the Pyro Company while traveling with them. Every day during mealtime, they would have to wait for all the Pyro Company troops to finish eating before they could collect their meals.
But sometimes, the chow squad would start packing up in advance before the hourlong break was over so as not to delay their advancement. As such, Ren Xiaosu and the others did not manage to collect their meals. They could only hope they could collect their meals faster during the next break.
What left Ren Xiaosu speechless was that this was not a result of someone deliberately making things difficult for them. It was just that this was the Pyro Company’s usual practice. It was not only them who did not get to eat. Even some of the Pyro Company soldiers who were delayed by their vehicle repair work would not get a hot meal if they arrived late.
The Pyro Company’s various fighting forces strictly adhered to time discipline.
Along the way, Ren Xiaosu secretly gave a piece of chocolate to Yang Xiaojin that she stuffed into her mouth when no one was watching.
As he could not explain the source of the food, Ren Xiaosu did not give any of it to the others.
Although they often did not get to eat, Yang Xiaojin was never worried she would go hungry. She knew Ren Xiaosu had a lot of things hidden on him. No matter where he went, Ren Xiaosu would always be prepared.
Ren Xiaosu seemed to be carrying a warehouse with him. He could dig out everything from pork trotters, chocolate, and crackers, to grenades, heavy machine guns, and poker cards.
Yes, there were even poker cards among the items.
After witnessing the power of Explosive Poker, Yang Xiaojin felt that anytime playing cards appeared in Ren Xiaosu’s hands, what everyone should do was not to call “landlord”[1] but to evacuate immediately.
“I heard from that Pyro Company officer that it’ll take another four days to reach the front line in the North.” Ren Xiaosu said to everyone as he leaned against the canvas in the truck’s cabin, “When the time comes, we’ll be assigned to a makeshift medical center at the rear of the front line. There’s no need to worry about having to go onto the battlefield.”
[1] In Fight the Landlord, one person calls “landlord” if they believe they have a strong enough hand to beat everyone else. The others become “peasants” and will try to collectively beat the landlord.
