214: Chapter 214 Reason and Melancholy

"...Yes, that's right. She is still lying down over at my place."

Li Ming leaned on his gun, watching Elsa, who had rushed over after receiving the news. "I fed her medicine and vitamins; she should be asleep now. But it's not really convenient for me to look after her, so I came here to find you."

Hans was guarding outside, shrinking his neck against the cold.

"Take me there, now."

"I suggest you find a raincoat," Li Ming said expressionlessly. "Don't let another one collapse on me."

"...You're right." She forced herself to calm down, found a raincoat, and then followed Li Ming into the curtain of rain.

...

"This is it."

Li Ming lowered the rope. "Do you want to go up first, or should I?"

"...I'll go first."

She grabbed the handle and looked at him.

Li Ming picked up the remote control and pressed it expressionlessly.

"Waaahhh?! ———"

——— Failed every year, just like every year.

Li Ming curled the corners of his mouth. Although he didn't really want to say it, walking around with a sour face all day long wasn't exactly pleasant for others, was it?

A little excitement, instead of being tense all day, is pretty good.

Then Li Ming climbed up himself. Fortunately, compared to the thrill of falling during the last ruin exploration, this was far too dull.

Of course, when you're the one climbing up, it doesn't need to be that exciting.

To block the wind, Li Ming brought out a fence and a tarp to shield against the wind blowing through the entire floor.

Inside, the improvised heater was still working. Although it probably wouldn't pass a safety inspection, it was good enough for the current situation.

Elsa had already tossed her raincoat aside and crawled inside to check on Maria's condition.

Just as he expected, she was already asleep. Although she hadn't started sweating yet, being next to the warm heater would at least make things a bit better.

"I have some antibiotics here, kept in that cabinet over there," Li Ming said, staying outside to relight the stove, intending to boil some hot water. "I won't go in. Call me if you need anything."

After a long silence, she spoke. "Okay, thank you."

"It's no trouble at all."

"...Mhm."

A strong gust of wind blew by, making the tarp rattle. A newspaper lying in the hallway was swept up by the wind again and flew right onto Li Ming's face.

"Ugh?!"

Li Ming plopped onto the ground and took some effort to pull the newspaper off.

"What's wrong?" Elsa poked her head out.

"It's nothing," Li Ming replied. "Just a newspaper that flew over."

"Mhm." She pulled her head back in, looking a bit drowsy.

It seemed the heater was a bit too powerful, baking her until she was dizzy.

Just as he was about to toss the newspaper aside, Li Ming saw a striking headline:

"World Alliance: The Blue-Skinned Invaders Cloaked in Mediation!"

Li Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at the fragile newspaper.

The publisher of this newspaper called itself the "Texas Civilian Press."

"...Look at what they've done! We fight with our comrades for our freedom and peace, but what about them? Under the banner of mediation, they wantonly slaughter us..."

His phone vibrated; it was a message from Logic.

"In the very beginning, the Mediation Force attempted to negotiate with the warring state government and the Texas Civilian Army. But the fact is, the Texas Civilian Army rejected the mediation, claiming that the future of Texas should be controlled by Texans. Subsequently, they were armed and suppressed by the Texas state government—which was cooperating with the Mediation Force to quickly restore order—along with other separatist factions."

Li Ming tossed the newspaper into the stove fire and shook his head.

Sometimes, justice does not equate to being correct.

After boiling the water in the stove, Li Ming poured it into a thermos to keep it warm.

Crawling into the space enclosed by the heater, Elsa was kneeling in front of the mattress, her head bobbing down, seemingly about to lose consciousness.

The sound of the thermos being placed on the table startled her awake. She instinctively reached for the holster on her thigh, but her reason quickly regained control.

"Hot water," Li Ming said, then proactively retreated outside. "If you're too sleepy to hold on, get some sleep here for a while..."

As for Li Ming? That place had become a girl's boudoir; he should find somewhere else to get through the night.

Leaning against the zipline pulley, his brain began to turn slowly.

He didn't know how things were back home. He didn't know why—even though he knew time there was relatively much, much slower—he already started missing them.

...Damn.

Stay calm, Li Ming. You're not some loser who doesn't know what to do without them. Especially now, you need to pull yourself together!

Catching some rainwater, he slapped it hard against his face, stood up, and followed the pulley down to the bottom of the building.

The T-72's traverse mechanism was almost repaired. Tonight, he would install the explosive reactive armor, then check the tracks, and maybe add some additional external armor while he was at it?

Damn it, he really missed the industrial factories back home.

Under the cover of night, Li Ming began to work. With no one to help (Logic had no physical form), he had to complete all the work by himself.

——————

"Seriously, why did they all disappear..."

A golden-haired, short-haired girl from the United States was searching everywhere. "Seriously, I finally managed to get some good stuff, and yet they all disappear at a time like this..."

After searching here and there, she still couldn't find anyone.

"Sigh... So I guess I'll have to enjoy it all by myself?" she muttered to herself, turning around to head back. "...Hmm?"

Did it seem like someone was tailing her?

Move.

The next moment, she slipped into a building. She didn't have night vision or thermal imaging right now.

"Hmm?"

She saw a red dot suddenly appear on the wall.

"Damn..."

Hostile target, clear hostility.

She grabbed the M4 in her hand and clicked off the safety. She took a smoke grenade from the tactical vest strapped to her waist, threw it to cover herself, and then fired a shot into the air.

"Bang!"...

"Hmm?!"

Li Ming jerked his head up. Was that a gunshot?

Covering the tank with the waterproof tarp, Li Ming pulled out his G36C. "Logic, prepare to guide me."

"Understood."

He took out his individual thermal imager, put on his body armor and tactical vest, donned his helmet, and went outside.

The heavy rain was still falling, but Elsa had already come down via the zipline.

"What's the situation? Did you hear that?"

"I heard it. The sound was roughly from the west," Li Ming replied. "It could be a local gang shootout, or it could be an enemy attack."

"No, it's near our defensive zone," Elsa replied. "I'll go check."

"Wait a second," Li Ming called out to her. "Don't you have a tank? Go preheat your tank first, I'll go take a look... You don't doubt my abilities, do you?"

...

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