33: frenzied

Japanese Army Frontline Command Post.

Matsui Keiichi's hand, holding the binoculars, was trembling violently.

In the lenses, that glaring Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Flag was fluttering in the morning sun atop the roof of the Sihang Warehouse.

Like a resounding slap, it struck him and the entire Great Japanese Empire across the face.

From the opposite bank of the river, thunderous cheers drifted over with the wind.

“Long live the Republic of China!”

Every word was like a red-hot steel needle piercing his eardrums.

“Baka!”

Matsui Keiichi slammed the binoculars onto the ground, letting out a beast-like roar.

He unsheathed his command sword and slashed frantically at the sandbags in front of him.

“A bunch of useless trash! Good-for-nothings!”

Sand trickled down from the gashes, much like his sanity was slipping away at that moment.

“Major, please calm your anger!” an Adjutant cautiously stepped forward to dissuade him.

“Calm my anger?” Matsui Keiichi's eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed the man's collar. “How can I be calm! We have the finest weapons, the bravest Soldiers, yet we can't even take down a small warehouse! Now, they actually dare to raise their flag right under our noses!”

“This is a disgrace! A disgrace to the entire 3rd Division!”

He shoved the Adjutant aside, breathing heavily, his chest sounding like a worn-out bellows.

“Pass down my orders.”

His voice was hoarse, carrying a chilling calmness.

“Since they don't want to die with dignity, we'll give them a hand.”

The Adjutant was stunned.

“You mean...”

Matsui Keiichi turned around, a sinister and crazed smile appearing on his face.

“Bring up all the ‘special shells’.”

The Adjutant's face instantly turned pale.

“Major! That... that violates international conventions! If those Western reporters find out...”

“Conventions?” Matsui Keiichi sneered, looking like a demon crawling out of hell. “Victors don't need to follow conventions.”

“Use poison gas to smoke out and kill all the rats in that warehouse!”

“Use their corpses to wash away the Empire's disgrace!”

[Holy shit! This little Jap is triggered! He's losing it!]

[Raising the flag was such a savage move; it's like slapping the Japs right in the face!]

[Awesome! So satisfying! Master Xi is a badass, Colonel Xie is a badass!]

[Wait... special shells? What are those?]

[Looking at that Jap commander's expression, it doesn't seem like anything good...]

The Japanese Army's artillery position.

Tightly sealed wooden crates were carefully carried up.

The crates were opened.

Lying inside were not conventional high-explosive shells.

Instead, they were eerie shells painted yellow-green, with skull markings on the casings.

The expressions on the artillerymen's faces changed from confusion to horror.

They were Soldiers, but they were also human.

They knew what it would mean once these things were fired.

An elderly gun captain looked hesitantly at the officer who gave the order.

The officer didn't speak; he just silently drew the pistol from his waist.

The cold muzzle of the gun said everything.

The artillerymen fell silent.

They began to mechanically move these “special shells” from hell and load them into the cold barrels.

The clanging of metal sounded exceptionally harsh on the silent position.

Sihang Warehouse, rooftop.

Chen Xi was leaning against the flagpole, enjoying this rare moment of tranquility after the victory.

His drone was still circling in the sky like a loyal falcon, monitoring every movement on the opposite bank.

Suddenly, the footage sent back by the drone made his pupils shrink.

He saw it.

He clearly saw those yellow-green shells, emitting an ominous aura, on the Japanese Army's artillery position.

“Oh no!”

Chen Xi's heart skipped a beat, and a cold chill instantly shot up his spine.

“It's poison gas!”

He turned to run down and notify Xie Jinyuan.

But it was too late.

“Swoosh— Swoosh— Swoosh—!”

The piercing whistles tore through the sky once again.

Dozens of yellow-green shells, trailing long tails like invitations from the Grim Reaper, rained down upon the Sihang Warehouse!

[Holy shit! It really is gas shells! Those sons of bitches!]

[Run! Master Xi! Tell the brothers to hide!]

[It's useless! This stuff is gas! Where can they hide?!]

[It's over... it's over... this time it's really over...]

The defenders inside the warehouse, hearing the whistle of the shells, immediately sought cover out of habit.

They thought it was just another round of ordinary shelling.

However, the shells landed.

There was no earth-shattering explosion as imagined.

Only muffled “thud” sounds, like watermelons hitting the ground.

The casings cracked open.

Thick plumes of yellow-green smoke with a pungent, sickly sweet smell rapidly spread from the craters.

The smoke, heavier than air, didn't dissipate upwards. Instead, like countless yellow-green vipers, it hugged the ground and slithered silently into every corner and crevice of the warehouse.

“Cough... cough cough...”

A Soldier closest to the impact point was the first to inhale the gas.

His throat instantly felt like it was on fire, and he began to cough violently.

“What's that smell... cough cough... it's awful...”

He wanted to speak, but found he couldn't even manage a complete sentence.

His eyes began to sting, and tears flowed uncontrollably.

Next, he felt as if his lungs were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, unable to draw in even a sliver of air.

“Ugh...”

He clutched his neck, his eyes bulging, his face turning a purplish-blue from the lack of oxygen.

He struggled, reaching out his hand as if to call for help from his nearby comrades.

But in the end, he just collapsed weakly to the ground, his body twitching violently, as white foam began to spill from his mouth.

This scene was only the beginning.

“Help... I can't breathe...”

“My eyes! My eyes hurt so much!”

“Devils! This is the smoke of the devil!”

Screams rose and fell one after another.

More and more Soldiers collapsed in agony after inhaling the gas.

Some rolled on the ground, tearing at their own throats.

Others' skin began to fester at a visible rate, oozing yellow pus.

Within just a few dozen seconds, the entire warehouse turned into a living hell.

“Quick! Cover your nose and mouth with wet cloths!”

Xie Jinyuan was the first to react, roaring with all his might, but his voice was soon drowned out by the endless coughing and wailing.

Shangguan Zhibiao rushed into a patch of yellow-green smoke, attempting to drag out a fallen Soldier.

But as soon as he inhaled a breath, his head spun, and a knife-like pain shot through his lungs, causing him to collapse to his knees as well.

Panic and despair, like this lethal gas, enveloped everyone.

In the livestream, all the viewers stared blankly at this hellish scene, their minds going numb.

The bullet chat, after a brief pause, erupted like a volcanic explosion.

[NO!!!!!!!!]

[Beasts! You animals!!!]

[I can't take this... I really can't take this...]

[Master Xi! Think of something, Master Xi! Please! Save them!]

Chen Xi rushed down from the rooftop.

He looked at the purgatory before him, swallowed by yellow-green smoke, seeing those living souls who had just been smiling at him and handing him flatbreads now struggling in agony on the ground.

His eyes instantly turned blood-red.

An unprecedented, cold killing intent, enough to freeze the soul, grew wildly from the depths of his heart.

He hesitated no longer.

With all his strength, he pushed past the coughing Soldiers around him and rushed to a relatively open corner.

Toward the void, he let out a beast-like roar, suppressed with infinite rage.

“system mall!”

“Everything... that can save lives!”

“Bring it all out for me!”