Emperor's Bane

Chapter 40 Cannon Fodder
"Let's talk about [Lion]."

"Have you seen him?"

"I saw it once, and he gave me the feeling that he was as terrifying as a man-eating beast god."

------

Sergeant Latobis of the 23rd Kronos Infantry Regiment was alone guarding a nearly abandoned trench, hungry, sleepy, and nightmarishly cold.

Sergeant Latobis grabbed his rain jacket and pulled it desperately. He felt that the temperature of his skin was dropping rapidly. This was not a good thing. He had seen those soldiers who froze to death. His face was as ferocious as a legendary savage.

The sergeant's ten fingers were already red with cold, and he couldn't even hold up the automatic gun beside him smoothly. He sniffed, sucked the big and sticky snot back into his nasal cavity, and let out a There was a disgusting sound of slime rubbing and rolling.

But he didn't care about such trivial matters. Latobis' body was trembling involuntarily in the freezing cold. His eyes wandered among the puddles in the trench that were slowly freezing, and finally returned to his own eyes. There is a rough instrument placed there, which can be seen at a glance as a complete industrial product, but this does not prevent Latobis from serving it as if he were serving a queen.

After all, apart from the automatic gun next to him, the automatic heater he obtained after begging his grandpa to tell his grandma was already the most valuable thing in Sergeant Latobis's body, and it was even more valuable than his rotten life .

The sergeant looked at the little thing in front of him enthusiastically, as if he were looking at a hot girl—no, no hot girl could compare to it, and his stiff fingers dug into his shirt Inside, under the rainproof leather jacket, he had put on another coat, and below that was the shaggy military uniform, and inside the military uniform was a layer of the warmest and best sweater, which he had learned from himself. The only thing brought out from my hometown has not been washed for several months, and it exudes a disgusting smell of wool and sweat.

But it's nothing, the trenches are full of stench: whether it's the rotting corpses outside, or the supplies soaked in sewage, the body that hasn't been washed for a long time, and even the starved gray beast that looks like a mouse in the corner , and last night's sneak pee from the watchman, they all stink, and stink was the theme in the trenches.

The only good thing is that the current temperature is really too cold, so cold that even the smell and flying insects have dissipated a lot, which can be regarded as a kind of bitterness.

But Sergeant Latobis didn't care about these, he cared more about what he had on hand, he carefully took out a box of round iron cans from the inner pocket of his clothes with stiff fingers, the outer shell of the iron cans was covered with green The paint was sprayed randomly, and words such as [Standard Ration - Type IV] could be vaguely seen on it.

He hooked the pull ring and opened it. The inside of the tin can was filled with a flesh-colored mixture, and a dark brown solid like a stone could be vaguely seen. To be honest, this combination looked a bit disgusting.

They said it was canned meat mixed with some good-for-you plant stems and artificial substances, but he wasn't sure, didn't know, and didn't care.

Latobis handled all this carefully. He first pulled off the cover completely and put it aside, and then carefully placed his can in the automatic heating machine, just like a young When the father held his son for the first time, a feeling of excitement, joy and even some fear overflowed involuntarily.

With a slight creaking sound, the self-heater started to work, and soon, the aroma and heat continued to spread. Latobis greedily enjoyed this rare warmth, and he couldn't help smelling it. , and then violently retched: once the inferior paint was baked, the pungent stench emitted even overwhelmed the smell of food.

And just as he was rubbing his head and nose, an equally dirty figure rushed into the trench and galloped in the direction of Latobis.

The sergeant subconsciously grabbed the gun, ignored the scalding heat with his other hand, and put the self-heater and his lunch into his arms. Then, he saw clearly who was coming, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Second Lieutenant Tigray, it's you."

The person who came had a dark face, and when he smiled, he showed his yellow rotten teeth. This guy walked so fast that he almost slid all the way to the side of Sergeant Latobis, and sat down.

Latobis straightened his back instinctively, making himself seem to respect him as much as possible: Unlike himself, a free sergeant, Tigray was actually a second lieutenant who was promoted by military merit, and was even once the captain's guard .

Then, he was held down by Tigray's shoulders and pressed down abruptly.

"Okay, okay, don't make up that fake set, come, give you something good."

Tigray took out two dirty and oily packages from his pocket, and threw one to Latobis. Then he wiped his hands, looked at the dirt between his fingers, and rubbed them vigorously. After rubbing it, he carefully took out a letter from the deepest part of his inner pocket, and then he read it intoxicated regardless of what Latobis said.

Latobis put down his lunch and opened the package, only to see a dark mass inside, as if it had been kneaded many times.

It should be edible.

After thinking for a while, Sergeant Latobis tore off a bit and stuffed it into his mouth.

At that moment, it was as if a sledgehammer was wielding a sledgehammer, smashing the painful shell in his mouth, allowing the tongue and taste buds to experience the concept of [taste] and the breath of life again. His teeth moved involuntarily, crushing everything, squeezing out as much of the oily liquid as possible.

The sergeant swallowed involuntarily, letting the piece of delicacy slide down his throat. He froze in place, and then impatiently bit the rest, even if he swallowed the piece of paper, he didn't care.

This is meat!
It's not the messy starch distributed by those bastards in the Ministry of Military Affairs, and it's not the weird beasts walking in the tunnels that even starving ghosts wouldn't eat.

This is real meat!

He gobbled it up, only feeling the warmth of joy radiating from his pupils.

------

Latobis has known Tigray for almost two years.

At that time, their legion was not in this damned desert, but in a strange place called the foundry world, where there were huge factories and furnaces full of smoke, and some strange creatures walked around.

They lost the battle there, a very tragic defeat, the entire regiment was defeated, everyone was running for their lives, discarded guns and armored vehicles piled up into hills, and just as Latobis followed When everyone was running for their lives, he met Tigray.

At that time, Tigray was injured and was still supporting an officer who was shot in the thigh. He later found out that it was Tigray's captain. At that time, Latobis just thought about it, and his pity took over for a moment. He had the upper hand, which made him run over, helping Tigray and the officer escape successfully.

Later, he heard that the defeat in the battle eventually turned into a collapse that almost swept the entire world. It was not until the legendary angels of death intervened that the situation was contained. It is said that the generals and commanders who commanded the battle were all shot and executed in the end. And when their 23rd Kronos Regiment counted afterwards, only about one-fifteenth of them successfully ran back.

But for Latobis, this was not a bad thing. After recovering a little, the officer immediately promoted Latobis from private to sergeant, and said he would bring him with him.

Such a good thing made Latobis fantasize for several days, until he heard that the officer followed many wounded people on a ship bound for the rear, and then the ship was blown up by the alien raid before it could take off. into pieces.

A few days later, Tigray came to the trenches of the 23rd Kronos Regiment with the rank of second lieutenant. He was accompanied by a large number of recruits and stragglers from other regiments. The regiment was soon full again. Members—at least that's how it seemed, and then they were kicked into this deserted world where no shit, and were forgotten in the cold wind for two full years.

"How does it taste? These are marinated meats made by my mother herself, much better than the shit army rations given by those bastards."

"My mother said in the letter that she had wrapped five bags for me, but the bastards in the logistics department told me that there were only two bags and the rest was lost. Fuck it! Those bastards!"

Tigray spat, and then continued to read the letter. The letter was not long, but he read it again and again, and smiled unconsciously.

Latobis wolfed down the pieces of meat, then licked his oily fingers, one by one, before he picked up his lunch, which didn't look good and was cold , but he still eats greedily.

The sound of eating echoed in the trench like this, until Tigray stroked the letter, folded it carefully, and pressed it in his inner pocket. The second lieutenant wanted to smoke a cigarette, but he fumbled all over his pockets, but found none. No.

At this time, Latobis' voice came from the side.

"Second Lieutenant, there is something I've been meaning to ask for a long time."

"Say."

"Why did you join the army?"

When Tigray heard this, he simply stroked his chin, and instead of looking for a cigarette, he just laughed.

"I said it was for the great cause of mankind, for the empire, for the emperor, do you believe it?"

"Uh...for what?"

"For the emperor, for the emperor, the biggest boss who pays us wages, you have to learn this sentence, those officers love to hear this, they also love to shout this, and those other people Awesome mortal auxiliaries, that's what they call when they fight."

"Uh, mortal auxiliary army? Aren't we?"

"You want to fart!"

Tigray patted Latobis on the head unceremoniously, and laughed angrily.

"Those troops from Terra and those big places are the mortal auxiliaries. Didn't you see that their equipment and guns can beat us by ten blocks? Let me tell you, those guys from Terra have their nostrils turned upside down. , especially those... narrators, they don’t recognize guys like us as mortal auxiliaries, they only recognize those rich men from Terra and big places.”

"Ah...that's it...then, Second Lieutenant, why did you come here? Is it really that... for the Emperor?"

"Fart! For money."

Tigray touched his jacket pocket, which contained his family letter, his most precious thing.

"I used to live in my hometown. There was an old woman on the top and a brother on the bottom. I had neither wife nor children. However, my brother and I worked together to support the old mother. It was no problem until my brother went to work. The legs rolled into the machine."

"The director of the factory is quite kind. He saved my brother back with the money, but he can't get a job, so he can only stay at home. I can't afford to support two of them. I just have a headache. One day our part of the sky was suddenly covered by a large group of shadows—here, those spaceships."

"When I went to work the next day, the radio started shouting something for the empire, for the emperor, and then a few days later, people from above came to the factory to recruit people to join the army. They gave money, and then It's real money! Those with guns were there watching the money being sent to us."

"I thought about it, I can't earn that money if I work for the rest of my life, my brother is also reassuring, so I thought, why not join the army, take the money and ask my brother to die for our mother, and the rest Maybe it's enough for him to ask for a wife, continue to burn incense, anyway, he will die anyway, where death is not death."

"So, I came here to join the army. After careful calculation, it has been almost ten years."

Tigray took out a small jug, took a sip, and threw it to Latobis, muttering some ugly words about the logistics department.

"And you, boy, how did you get here?"

"I……"

Latobis scratched his head, took a sip, and then spoke slowly.

"I have no parents since I was a child, and we don't pay much attention to factory directors. We pay attention to masters, master knights. I was picked up by our master from the side of the road. I was almost starving to death. The master was kind, so he took me I took it back and gave me food and clothing, and when I grow up, I will do errands with the master."

"Then one day, the master suddenly took several young masters and a large group of troops to go to war. After going there, he didn't come back for several months, and no letter was sent back. The remaining young masters started to fight for the family property, and suddenly came They arrested a large group of soldiers, captured all the young masters, said that the master disobeyed the emperor, we are all guilty, and we will have to pay for it in ten lifetimes, and then I was also arrested, and I was just like that... ...to join the army.

"No money for you?"

"The officer who arrested me saw that I didn't have anything, so he gave me a few bucks, but it was spent just as soon as I got on the boat."

Tigray laughed loudly. He patted Latobis on the shoulder, then took away the jug, and took a few more sips. The two of them drank the jug one by one. Looking up, I can only see the gray sky, exuding all kinds of unspeakable stench.

"The temperature has dropped sharply in the past two days. You have to be careful to keep warm. The people in the medical department said that they are full. In the past two days, many people have suffered from frostbite, and some have trench foot. I won't live long."

"No supplies, no reinforcements. When I passed by the headquarters today, I heard from the group of communication soldiers on motorcycles that our army's request for help was rejected again, and only a little supplies and ammunition were given. Those bastards in the rear , I’d be happy if we all froze to death and starved to death.”

"Understood...Second Lieutenant, when do you think we can leave this ghostly place? There are no enemies here. What's the point of us guarding here."

"I don't know, this is something that those big people will think about. Maybe one day, that [Lion] will see our place on the map, and he can transfer us away. If he is transferred to War zone, don't you boy complain to me again."

"Lion...?"

Latobias cared about another point.

"Second Lieutenant, have you ever seen that [Lion]? What is he like? I heard that he can be ten meters tall, stronger than a tank, and he can fly. Anyone who doesn't like him will fly. his head."

"Don't listen to that group of people farting... [Lion], I actually saw it once. At that time, my captain was not dead yet. He once performed meritorious service and went with a group of people to meet [Lion] ], I followed suit."

"Is he really ten meters tall?"

"It's not that exaggerated, but if it's five or six meters, I think it's there. I was far away at the time and couldn't see it carefully, but he was indeed very tall and strong. At first glance, he really looked like a tank. Could it be I didn't know he could fly, and I didn't see him have wings."

"If I really want to say...it should be particularly scary."

"Scary?"

"Yes, it's scary, very scary, and I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I still have my captain. As soon as [Lion] came out of the door and took a look at us, we immediately knelt down. I can't even forget that scene at that time, he was so scary, I didn't even dare to look at him, he was standing there... how should I put it, it's the kind of aura on his body that makes people want to kneel down , dare not look directly at him, just like an emperor."

"Isn't his father the emperor, the emperor?"

"I don't know, maybe that emperor has laid down so many worlds, and he has long been more emperor than the emperor. Then his son is an emperor, or looks like an emperor, isn't it reasonable?"

"In short... In short, this is the case. The [Lion] is not only like an emperor, but also like a real lion, or like a wild beast. It is the kind that you are walking in the forest or the wilderness and suddenly find a very big one. The wild beast is also staring at you, and I don’t know whether it wants to eat you or what, anyway, when that [lion] is looking at you, I think you can only think so.”

"And those people around him, those guys called angels of death, they are all the same, they don't say a word, just look at you there, you will have calf cramps and you can't stand, I reckon, Those relatives and friends of that [Lion] are also like this."

Sergeant Latobis nodded, but he quickly thought of another question.

"Second lieutenant...then you say such a person, his relatives and friends...there are relatives, so can he have friends?"

This question obviously stuck with Tigray, he scratched his head, scratched his chin, and finally simply waved his clothes and answered in a self-defeating manner.

"Who knows, such a monster...maybe there are monsters who want to be friends with him?"

"The Milky Way is so big, who can say for sure."

　Well, during this period of time, in order to shape Jonson, I kept changing my perspective to pave the way for him. I'm not sure if you can adapt, if not, you can say it.

　　Anyway, for me, this kind of writing is quite difficult. Luthor’s depression, dark angel veteran’s riddle and indignation, and low-level soldiers’ rude and dawdling mentality are all completely different angles and perspectives. , and I still have to link them together to promote the plot, which is really quite difficult.

　　Ran Danjuan is more difficult to write than I imagined. Even sending Morgan to the Lion King now requires multiple perspectives to constantly alternate and interact with the plot, not to mention the things after coming into contact with the Lion King.

　　But if this volume can be written well, as long as there is no thunderstorm, this book can be said to have been written.

　　By the way, there is also Morgan's Legion. I initially set the color scheme of the Second Legion to be the main color of silver and white with gold decorations (Grey Knight, Le). The style is somewhat similar to the fusion of Deathwatch and Dark Angels, and it is also a multifunctional legion. , mainly tends to explore, dig graves and find secrets, the name, I haven't thought about it, tentatively it is [Angel with Fangs].

　　
　
(End of this chapter)