When P5092 heard Ren Xiaosu say that, he got so angry he laughed. “You really don’t believe yourself to be an outsider!” But even so, he handed the first two pages of the newspaper to Ren Xiaosu.
As a result, a strange scene played out in the Pyro Company’s temporary camp. As one of the highest-ranking officers of the main forces, P5092 was sitting in the back of an off-road vehicle and leisurely reading a newspaper.
Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu, an escapee conscripted into the military, was sitting in the driver’s seat with his legs crossed and reading a newspaper as well.
In the eyes of everyone, the difference in their statuses could not be more different, yet the two of them did not seem to mind at all and got along very well.
Moreover, P5092 even took the initiative to hand the newspaper to Ren Xiaosu page by page after he was done reading. And Ren Xiaosu took it from him very naturally.
The escapees who were still lining up to collect their food were dumbfounded. ‘Who is this guy? What’s his background? Why is he so friendly with the commander?! Is he even a fucking escapee?!‘
Even the Pyro Company soldiers were a little confused by this, to say nothing of the escapees…
Reading the newspaper, Ren Xiaosu found out there was nothing much that happened today. It was reported that the Pyro Company’s main forces were currently rushing to the northern battlefield, and while the northern tribe had made contact with the Wang Consortium at the front line at Mt. Baiwen, neither side had gained any advantage over the other. They were basically just probing each other.
Then there were bits and pieces of miscellaneous news. For example, Qinghe University was done preparing the material assistance, and the first batch of supplies would be sent out this very afternoon. It would not only be the Luoyang City garrison troops who were going to escort the convoy, but some students were heading to the front lines to volunteer as well.
The Luoyang City garrison troops would have to liaise with the Pyro Company if they wanted to head north. After all, having another force’s troops enter their territory would be a little unsettling.
For example, the Wang Consortium had already rejected the Zhou Consortium’s offer of material assistance. Everyone felt that the Wang Consortium’s rejection was purely because they did not want to give the Zhou Consortium a reason to assemble their troops.
But what surprised everyone was that the Pyro Company actually accepted Luoyang City’s offer without any hesitation. They also allowed them to personally escort the supplies up north and even agreed to let Luoyang City’s garrison troops participate in the war against the foreign invaders.
Importantly, participating in a war together was a very sensitive issue. This was equivalent to the Pyro Company showing the defensive deployment map of their northern defensive line to the Qinghe Group.
But everyone was a little puzzled by this. Although the relationship between the Qinghe Group and the Pyro Company had always been good, they were not this close. When Luoyang City was previously in a precarious situation, the Pyro Company did not even send any reinforcements to support them.
After Ren Xiaosu finished reading the newspaper, he asked, “Does the Pyro Company have any opinions on this war? Can y’all win?”
“It’s not about whether we can win or not, but that we must win no matter what!” P5092 said.
“Are many people gonna die?” Ren Xiaosu asked, “The reason that the Pyro Company allowed the Luoyang City garrison troops to participate in the war was probably because y’all feel that your troops might not be strong enough, right?”
“I can’t say for sure.” P5092 shook his head. “It’s only the barbarians’ advance guard that have arrived at the moment. So it’s very difficult to judge how many more of them will come later …. Why am I telling you this?!”
P5092 stopped discussing the military situation with Ren Xiaosu any further. Why would a P5-ranked officer like him talk about this with Ren Xiaosu? He snapped, “Have you finished reading the newspaper? Go back to your vehicle if you’re done reading!”
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“I have another question.” Ren Xiaosu ignored P5092 and started asking again, “I saw y’all bring in another few hundred escapees from Stronghold 31. Who are those people? Why did you arrest them?”
“Around half of them are maintenance workers.” P5092 said, “When war breaks out, the mechanized troops must have their equipment well serviced. Defective vehicles are as good as worthless. The rest are either the former higher-ups of the Kong Consortium who have been captured to facilitate our interrogation or some researchers.”
Ren Xiaosu thought to himself that it was no wonder he saw several trucks transporting research data earlier. So it turned out the Pyro Company had seized some of the Kong Consortium’s research data.
“But the maintenance workers would have to be deployed to the front lines, right?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“That’s right.” P5092 nodded.
“But they might not be willing to head to the front lines since they could end up dying.” Ren Xiaosu pursed his lips.
“That’s not up to them.” P5092 said with an extremely firm attitude, “For this war, we’re even willing to sacrifice ourselves at any moment, so why can’t they?”
Ren Xiaosu nodded. This was how the Pyro Company should be, not treating others as human at all. However, Ren Xiaosu realized the Pyro Company members were also quite ruthless. That was because they were not only ruthless on others but also ruthless towards themselves.
Back when Stronghold 74 was attacked by the Experimentals, the Pyro Company combatants were willing to perish together with the Experimentals by rushing in with TNT.
It seemed that in the Pyro Company’s view, the northern tribe was just the same as the Experimentals. They were all regarded as “anomalies.” As for them, they thought of themselves as the protector of the Central Plains people, even though the Central Plains people did not agree with that.
P5092 glanced at Ren Xiaosu. “Do you think that what I’m doing is a little unfair to them?”
Ren Xiaosu did not say anything.
P5092 continued, “There’s no such thing as fairness in the world. Have you ever considered that if our Pyro Company is defeated in the North, they’ll die all the same? Then who’ll protect them when those beasts from the north invade the South? Can they depend on the vulnerable paper tiger, the Kong Consortium? Or would it be the Wang Consortium?”
Ren Xiaosu thought there was nothing wrong with P5092’s argument. If the Pyro Company really got wiped out in the North, those people in the South would still die even if they did not get conscripted now. It was just a matter of dying earlier or later.
P5092 continued, “We are doing this for the survival of the Central Plains’ humans. You probably think that since there’s so many people in the Central Plains, there’s no worry about them getting wiped out. But what I feel is that they’re extremely vulnerable and can’t withstand any more threats. Do you know how many people used to live in a medium-size city before The Cataclysm? 10 million! But now, there’s only a few hundred thousand people living in a stronghold. No matter how great human civilization used to be before The Cataclysm, there aren’t many people left now.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned by this revelation. He used to think the cities before The Cataclysm were not much different from the current strongholds. But when comparing 10 million people with a few hundred thousand, he finally realized what that disaster did to mankind.
P5092 lamented, “Between a disaster and the next day, you never know which will come first. I know that other people will not understand this, but we don’t need them to understand. When a disaster strikes again, Neo-Humans blessed with stronger physical fitness will definitely survive to the end. Not everyone is as fortunate as superhumans, but the Pyro Company can bring this ‘blessing’ to everyone. It’s just that the current technology has not been perfected yet.”
“Alright, alright, you don’t have to tell me so much.” Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “I didn’t say that you did anything wrong. Actually, I’m on the side of the Pyro Company this time. It’s everyone’s responsibility to defend against foreign enemies, so we shouldn’t have to let the Pyro Company take on everything by themselves. Can’t you see that I’m also playing my part? Don’t worry, when your comrades get handed to me for treatment, as long as it’s just external injuries and they’re still breathing, I won’t let them die.”
With that, Ren Xiaosu walked back to the Trinity Institute’s truck. Before leaving, he even waved and said, “See you tomorrow.”
P5092 was dazed for a long time. When did the two of them apparently become such close friends? See you tomorrow?
On the way back, the escapees noticed Ren Xiaosu had somehow become the most privileged person among the Pyro Company’s captives. Many of the Pyro Company soldiers even took the initiative to greet Ren Xiaosu when they saw him. Some of them even offered him cigarettes!
The middle-aged man who had had a dispute with Ren Xiaosu got a little nervous. Would that kid bear a grudge against him? If the other party decided to make things difficult for him with the troops, no one would speak up for him, right?