Shackles of Humanity

Two more survivors were found—the two strange men with thick, muscular arms. They hadn’t been seriously injured, just knocked unconscious for a short while. Upon waking, their first priority wasn’t to help with the rescue; instead, they scrambled back into the wreckage to search for something.

Luo Kai found this odd. ”Shouldn’t you be helping rescue people? What’s more important than a life?”

The Major explained, ”They’re members of the Winged People battalion. They have to find their equipment first so they can fly back, report this, and bring back a rescue team.”

The two men found a large, sturdy chest that was mostly undamaged. Inside lay a pair of folded wings. One of the men donned the wings, which had a span of a full two meters. He gave them a slight flap, then turned to the Major. ”Captain Qiu, I’ll head back to report. Zhao Xiang will stay here.”

With that, he climbed a nearby slope, checked the wind’s direction, and leaped off. He glided effortlessly, catching the Wind Power and soaring into the sky.

Luo Kai watched, dumbfounded. ’They can actually fly! No wonder their arms are so muscular. They need the strength to control those wings.’

The rear carriages of the train were far less crowded than those at the front. Moreover, the main force of the explosion had been contained to one area; the other sections were merely crushed by collapsing rock. They began to find more and more people who were still breathing, though most had fallen into a coma from the prolonged lack of oxygen.

Following the sound of a heartbeat, Luo Kai found another survivor. Her body was soft. Though her small face was covered in dust, Luo Kai still recognized her. It was none other than that young female soldier. ’This little minx really has a tough life,’ he thought. As if to vent his frustration, he gave her cheek a hard pinch. Her skin felt incredibly tender. He switched to her other cheek and pinched it again before finally carrying her out.

The rescue effort continued late into the night. Only when they could find no more survivors did the three of them finally breathe a sigh of relief. The mouth of the tunnel was crowded with bodies laid out side-by-side, but only a dozen or so were still breathing.

The light rain had stopped. Luo Kai went and carried Big Bear over. The big oaf was still in a dazed, sleepwalking-like state. Luo Kai wanted to build a fire but couldn’t find any dry wood. He mulled over whether he should find a way to dry some of it out.

However, the Major returned to one of the carriages and found a can of fuel. He started a bonfire and then moved all the breathing survivors next to it.

The three of them sat around the fire. The Major turned to Luo Kai and asked, ”Brother, which battalion are you from? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

Luo Kai brushed the dust from his clothes, revealing the insignia on his shoulder. He pointed to it and said, ”Slave Soldier Camp. You can just call me 9527.”

The Major was stunned. ”You’re a Slave Soldier?”

”Mm.”

It wasn’t just the Major who was shocked; the Winged Person, Zhao Xiang, also stared at him in astonishment. They had both witnessed the horrific scene. Anyone who could survive that was no ordinary person. But if he was such a master, why would he willingly serve as a Slave Soldier?

Luo Kai saw their confusion and explained openly, ”I was injured some time ago and got careless. I was captured by a Slave Transport Ship and brought to this military camp.”

The Major nodded, forcing a smile. ”I see. Well, we owe you a great deal for this, brother. When I get back, I’ll help you get your slave status revoked and put in for a commendation on your behalf.”

Luo Kai said nothing. ’Once this is over, I’m leaving anyway,’ he thought. ’Why would I care about any of that?’

The wounded began to stir one by one. Many were students from the Physical Martial Arts Academy. They had all trained in Body Techniques, and while they lacked experience in handling real danger, their physical constitutions were exceptionally strong. As they learned of the situation, some couldn’t help but weep softly, others cursed aloud, and still others just stared with dejected expressions. The high spirits they’d had at the start of their journey had vanished completely.

Yue Han woke up as well. The memory of what had happened rushed back, and her eyes reddened. She turned anxiously to the Major. ”Uncle Qiu, why did this happen? Was it deliberate?”

The Major, whose name was Qiu Yuan, was the commander of the Tiger Soul Army’s 012th Regiment. He had spent his early years in the Military Punishment Department and was aware of Yue Han’s background. He sighed. ”It was likely the work of the Nanzhao Kingdom’s Secret Service Bureau. They want to destroy our main supply artery. Alas.”

Everyone except Luo Kai turned pale. The importance of logistics in a war was self-evident. The railway was so severely damaged that it would surely take at least ten to fifteen days to repair. Although they still had air and sea freight, the transport capacity of those two methods couldn’t even begin to compare with the railway.

”Captain Qiu, I recall there’s another rail line that also leads to the front. It just has to go around Tieheng Mountain, which takes a bit more time. Even with this line out of commission, the impact on the overall war effort shouldn’t be too significant.” The speaker was the tall young man named Xu Tao.

Qiu Yuan gave a bitter smile. ”That’s a civilian line, a major artery connecting us to other Lordship Kingdoms. It’s been under traffic control ever since our two nations went to war. If we were to use it rashly, we’d be giving the enemy an excuse to destroy it.”

Seeing everyone’s disheartened expressions, Qiu Yuan said, ”This is the nature of war. Both sides do everything they can to disrupt the enemy’s supply lines. We’ve been fighting the Nanzhao Kingdom for so many years; this railway has been sabotaged many times, just as we have sabotaged theirs. It was just our bad luck to be caught in it this time.”

The area fell silent. Yue Han stared blankly at the bonfire when, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar figure. It was that white-haired bastard! She immediately pointed at Luo Kai in a rage. ”It’s him! Uncle Qiu, that man must be a spy from the Nanzhao Kingdom! This disaster must have something to do with him!”

The students from the Physical Martial Arts Academy were all taken aback. They rose to their feet, glaring at Luo Kai with open hostility.

Qiu Yuan remained silent. In truth, he also found it hard to believe Luo Kai was a simple Slave Soldier. ’Out of so many people, only you and that big oaf survived. It’s too suspicious,’ he thought. Frowning, he asked Yue Han, ”Xiaohan, do you know this man?”

”I... I saw him in the barracks a few days ago! He was sneaking around, climbing over a wall. He’s definitely up to no good!”

Qiu Yuan’s expression shifted, and he turned a suspicious gaze on Luo Kai.

Luo Kai was furious. ’If it weren’t for me, all of you would be buried in that tunnel right now! And this is how you repay me? By turning on me!’

A vicious aura surged within him. The killing intent he had suppressed during the day came roaring back. His eyes were instantly veiled by an eerie, dark-red glow. A single thought flashed through his mind: ’If that’s how it’s going to be, I might as well kill every last one of you. It’ll be as if I never saved you at all.’

As the atmosphere grew tense, Zhao Xiang quickly stood up and shouted, ”It was this man who dug through the tunnel and saved us! If not for him, we’d all be buried in there right now! There’s no way he’s a spy! Captain Qiu, you were the first one out, you should know the situation better than anyone!”

Qiu Yuan thought for a moment. It was true. By that point, he had been completely out of energy. If Luo Kai hadn’t been digging in from the outside, they would have all suffocated in the tunnel. He bowed apologetically to Luo Kai. ”You... Brother 9527, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

Luo Kai took a deep breath, struggling to calm the turmoil within him. He walked over to a nearby slope, sat down, and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. The sound of their whispering, however, still reached his ears.

”Uncle Qiu, did he really save us?”

”Yes. I was digging from the inside, and he was digging from the outside. That’s how we broke through.”

”Oh... then I guess he’s not a spy.”

Frustrated, Luo Kai moved far away from the group. He found a large boulder, dug a small trench beneath it, and lay down, closing his eyes. He silently contemplated the Evil Qi he had encountered that day. Other than the Water Element, this was the second mysterious power to resonate with his spiritual consciousness. The difference was that he had no way to comprehend or utilize this power; delving too deeply into it would affect his own sanity.

This ferocious Evil Qi did not belong to the Five Elements Power. It was more akin to some kind of ethereal Spiritual Will Power. The first time he had resonated with this power was back at the pirate camp. The circumstances then had been unique; he had been frantically burning through his own life force—in other words, burning his very life away. He had been on the verge of death, and only in that state could he perceive this frequency that represented death. It was because they were saturated with this power that the Three-bladed Military Dagger and the Severing Blade were able to resonate with his consciousness.