7: I'm here to bring warmth.

Chen Xi was roughly shoved by two Soldiers, stumbling a few steps before his back slammed heavily against the cold brick wall.

His hands, bound behind his back, throbbed with pain from the hemp rope, which was so tight it cut off his circulation.

"Stay put!"

A Soldier jabbed the muzzle of his gun into Chen Xi's lower back, issuing a snarling warning.

Chen Xi didn't speak; he just leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to sit on the ground. He lifted his head, silently observing this literal hell he had stumbled into.

A corner of the warehouse had been converted into a makeshift ward for the wounded.

In the air, the smells of blood, sweat, medicine, and the putrid stench of death mixed together, forming a thick, nauseating odor that could make someone vomit up their dinner from the night before.

The light was very dim.

Dozens of wounded Soldiers lay on the ground covered in filthy straw; most didn't even have a blanket.

Suppressed groans, like the wails of ghosts rising from beneath the earth, rose and fell, never ceasing.

A middle-aged Military Doctor wearing a white coat—though it had already been stained red with blood—was kneeling beside a Soldier. The scissors in his hand were no longer sharp due to being coated in too much flesh and blood. He was struggling to cut away the pant leg stuck to the Soldier's wound; with every movement, the Soldier's body convulsed violently as if struck by an electric shock.

Not far away, Shangguan Zhibiao was crouching beside a stretcher, his eyes bloodshot.

Lying on the stretcher was the young Soldier known as "Nickname."

His abdomen was covered with a piece of gauze completely soaked in blood, but it couldn't stop the flow at all. Dark red blood continued to seep from the edges of the gauze, gurgling down onto the straw beneath him.

A section of his pale white intestines was exposed to the air, wriggling slightly with his weak breaths.

The young Soldier's face was as white as a sheet, and his lips had turned a bluish-purple from blood loss.

His eyes were open, but his pupils had begun to dilate, and he was murmuring something unconsciously.

"Ma... I'm cold..."

Shangguan Zhibiao reached out, wanting to hold him, yet afraid of touching his wounds. His hand could only hover uselessly in mid-air. This iron-blooded man, who didn't blink when killing on the battlefield, now had a hint of trembling and pleading in his voice that even he hadn't noticed.

"Medic! Medic! You damn well get over here and look! He's not going to make it!"

The middle-aged Military Doctor didn't even turn his head, his voice hoarse and desperate.

"It's no use, Company Commander! His belly is ripped wide open; even a god couldn't save him! Prepare... prepare for the funeral!"

"Prepare your mother's funeral!" Shangguan Zhibiao roared in a rage, slamming a fist into a nearby sandbag. Sand trickled down from the tear. "He's only seventeen! He hasn't even taken a wife! I promised his parents I'd bring him back alive!"

After his roar, he seemed to be drained of all strength. He squatted down dejectedly, hands buried in his hair, letting out a suppressed, beast-like whimper.

In the livestream's chat, the comments at this moment also fell into an unprecedented state of depression.

[I really... can't take this... how the hell is this a game?!]

[That young guy just now looks even younger than my little brother...]

[Stop talking, those above. I've already closed the stream; I can't listen to this.]

[Where's Master Xi? Wasn't Master Xi just being super badass? Is he tied up?]

[What can Master Xi do? That scythe of his is powerful, but it can't save people... Fuck! I feel so helpless!]

Chen Xi watched all of this.

He looked at the young Soldier named Nickname, saw his unfocused eyes, and heard his unconscious murmurs.

That single word "Ma" was like a red-hot iron poker being thrust violently into his heart.

In his mind, another face flashed uncontrollably.

A face that always wore a silly grin and called him "Captain."

When "Madman" finally fell, he had said the same thing.

He said: "Captain, my ma's flatbread... you haven't tasted it yet..."

Just as young.

Just as helpless.

Just like this, losing his life bit by bit right in front of him.

"No..."

Chen Xi's breathing suddenly became ragged. His bound hands clenched into tight fists, nails digging deep into his palms.

He couldn't watch the same thing happen a second time!

Absolutely not!

"Let me go!"

Chen Xi suddenly stood up, struggling with all his might, the rope carving bloody welts into his wrists.

"I can save him!"

His roar sounded exceptionally abrupt in this desperate space filled with groans.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on him.

The two Soldiers guarding him were stunned for a moment, then reacted by slamming their rifle butts hard into his back.

"Behave!"

"Bang!"

Chen Xi was knocked off balance, but he didn't fall. Instead, he used the momentum to charge forward even more frantically.

"I said I can save him! Do you damn well want him to die?!"

His eyes were blood-red, like a beast trapped in a cage.

Shangguan Zhibiao suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at Chen Xi.

His gaze was filled with struggle and suspicion.

Reason told him that this person was an unknown monster whose every word was untrustworthy.

But emotionally, watching a Soldier he had raised himself breathe his last right before his eyes was more painful than anything.

"Company Commander! Don't believe him!" The Military Doctor ran over, blocking Shangguan Zhibiao. "He's just a lunatic! A charlatan! With injuries like this, even a Great Immortal couldn't help!"

"Let him try!"

Just then, a Soldier with a broken leg on a nearby stretcher used all his strength to prop up half his body and shouted hoarsely.

"Company Commander! Let this hero try! Nickname is almost out of breath! Treat a dead horse like a living one!"

"Yeah, Company Commander! Just let him try!"

The surrounding wounded Soldiers also began to chime in.

Their voices weren't loud, but they gathered into a force that could not be ignored.

Shangguan Zhibiao's chest heaved violently.

He looked into Chen Xi's frantic yet exceptionally determined eyes, then looked down at Nickname's chest, which was almost stopping its movement.

Finally, as if he had made a decision, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out two words from between them.

"Untie him!"

The guards were stunned.

"Company Commander, this..."

"I damn well told you to untie him!" Shangguan Zhibiao shoved him aside and stepped forward himself, using a dagger to cut the ropes on Chen Xi's hands.

He pressed the muzzle of his gun against the back of Chen Xi's heart, his voice as cold as a Siberian cold front.

"I don't care if you're a man or a ghost. If you dare play any tricks, I'll be the first one to blow your head off!"

"But if you can bring him back..."

Shangguan Zhibiao paused, his voice turning raspy.

"I, Shangguan Zhibiao, will owe you my life."

Chen Xi didn't pay him any mind.

The moment the ropes were cut, he lunged toward the stretcher like an arrow leaving a bow.

He didn't have time to explain.

He quickly issued commands to the system in his mind.

"Mall! Healing items! The fastest! The most effective!"

A blue light screen that only he could see unfolded before his eyes.

A dazzling list of items scrolled by rapidly.

[Individual Medical Pod (Portable Version)]: Repairs all trauma. Requires 100,000 Contribution Points.

[Spring of Life (Concentrate)]: Regenerates severed limbs. Requires 80,000 Contribution Points.

Too expensive!

He had just killed three Japanese Soldiers and only earned a total of 300 Contribution Points.

He quickly scrolled down.

At the very end of the list, the cheapest item, priced at only 100 Contribution Points, caught his eye.

Chen Xi's expression froze when he saw the item.

It was a colorful spray bottle that looked like a child's toy.

On the bottle, in extremely bright colors, was a drawing of a cartoon mosquito with an 'X' over it.

The item's name made his blood pressure soar even higher.

[Mosquito Repellent Spray (Summer Cooling Version)]

[Quality: Common]

[Description: Contains nano-repair robots that can quickly treat small-scale trauma and provide a minty cooling experience. A must-have for summer home travel.]

"I'll give you a 'must-have' for your damn ancestors!"

Chen Xi almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

What time is it right now?! You're giving me mosquito repellent?!

"Kid! Can you do it or not?!" Shangguan Zhibiao couldn't help but urge him, seeing him kneeling there for so long without moving.

Chen Xi gritted his teeth.

No time to choose!

"Exchange!"

His only 300 Contribution Points were instantly reduced by 100.

In the next second, something appeared out of thin air in his hand.

A bottle of brightly packaged, cartoon-shaped mosquito repellent spray that emitted a cheap plastic smell.

Everyone present, including Shangguan Zhibiao, the Military Doctor, and the dozens of wounded Soldiers around them, was dumbfounded.

In the livestream, the comments that had just been shrouded in sadness were instantly replaced by a screen full of question marks and ellipses.

[??????????]

[I... am I seeing this right? Is that... a bottle of Raid mosquito spray?]

[Is the streamer losing it? Save the guy! Why did you pull out mosquito spray? Are you worried the wounded Soldier isn't dying fast enough and afraid he'll get bitten by mosquitoes?]

[It's over, Master Xi was too traumatized and has gone crazy.]

The Military Doctor was shaking with rage, pointing at Chen Xi, unable to even speak clearly.

"You... you... you are simply insulting us! Insulting Nickname!"

Chen Xi ignored everyone's gaze.

He unscrewed the cap and, under the horrified gazes of everyone, aimed the "mosquito repellent spray" at Nickname's mangled abdomen where his intestines were spilling out.