At the Red Cross
As the dressing was being changed, Alex felt a sharp pain in the ring finger of his left hand. He glanced down subconsciously and saw that the ring on his finger had suddenly snapped, inexplicably leaving a bloody cut at its base.
Alex's heart clenched, and an indescribable fear gripped him. He staggered, gripping his wheelchair as he tried to stand. "Guy! Is Guy no longer in the tent?"
Before he could finish speaking, he caught sight of Tang Erda rushing in from the edge of the Red Cross zone, carrying a severely injured soldier slumped over his shoulder, his face caked with mud. Tang Erda shouted urgently, "Guy is injured, but he's not dead yet! Hurry and treat him!"
A large group of natives chased after them. Spades lagged slightly behind Tang Erda, sweeping his whip back and forth to drive away those pursuing them.
The natives were nearly frantic, veins bulging and eyes bloodshot. They fired continuously at Tang Erda and roared, "Hand over that damn apostate! I'll tear him to pieces for his offense against God!"
Some of the natives even raised heavy weapons like rocket launchers, glaring fiercely at the three fleeing figures ahead. Yet under Spades' defense, they couldn't close the distance.
The Red Cross personnel hurriedly grabbed their weapons and reinforced the defensive perimeter. They raised a red-letter sign reading: "No attacks here. This is a non-war zone." The defense tanks stationed nearby slowly lifted their cannons and aimed at the natives who were on the verge of breaching the boundary.
Tang Erda was the first to enter the Red Cross area, followed closely by Spades. The armed natives were sternly stopped outside the defense line.
The unconscious Guy, still clutching the head of the idol tightly in his hands, was quickly transferred onto a stretcher. He was carried past Alex and rushed into the medical tent for emergency treatment.
When Alex saw the blood-soaked Guy, he reached out to touch him and nearly toppled out of his wheelchair. Fortunately, Bai Liu, standing beside him, quickly steadied him and helped him sit back down.
"Don't worry," Bai Liu said calmly, bowing slightly as he brushed the ash from Alex's knees. He lifted his gaze. "Guy will be fine this time."
Alex stared at Bai Liu in a daze. Looking into the man's dark eyes, he was suddenly reminded of the idol's head lying on Guy's stretcher.
The statue's eyes had worn the same compassionate smile—dark and tranquil, reflecting everything in the world, as if no human emotion could truly reach them. They seemed to observe every event in this world as though it had all been arranged in advance.
… Guy will be fine this time.
It sounded as though Bai Liu had already decided that Guy would survive.
A chill ran down Alex's spine. He pushed his wheelchair away from Bai Liu, cast him a long, searching look, then turned without another word and hurried after Guy's stretcher, positioning himself outside the tent to stand guard.
Bai Liu did not seem offended by Alex's retreat. He lowered his eyes, rubbed the ash he had brushed from Alex's knee between his fingers, then calmly wiped it away.
Tang Erda sat down near Bai Liu's feet to catch his breath. Spades vanished as soon as he entered the Red Cross area. Tang Erda glanced around for him, but after failing to spot him, he gave up.
Tilting his head back, Tang Erda took a drink of water and prepared to report the battlefield events. However, when he looked up at Bai Liu, he froze for a moment at the indifferent expression on his face.
…That expression looked like Bai Liu (6) from other timelines, scheming something…
Tang Erda quickly suppressed the flicker of familiarity and unease. Shaking off the unsettling thought, he drew a steady breath and began his report.
"...After Guy was shot, he fell into the water. Spades and I happened to be nearby. I noticed he was still breathing, so I dragged him ashore, and we ran toward this area…"
"Once the natives spotted us, they chased us all the way here. Fortunately, Spades is extremely capable at holding them back. We moved quickly, so we managed to reach this place first."
Bai Liu nodded. "That's roughly what I expected."
"You arranged for me to join the first commando team just so I could coordinate with you in rescuing Guy after you provoked him into risking his life during the battle?" Tang Erda half-knelt, leaning against the rifle planted in the ground. He looked at Bai Liu. "When did you realize Guy would rebel?"
Bai Liu smiled faintly. "The first time I met Guy, I noticed that although he was skilled in combat, he chose to serve as a cleanup soldier. Either he's a pure pacifist like Alex, or he doesn't agree with the victory of the camp he represents."
Tang Erda exhaled, unsurprised, and continued along Bai Liu's line of reasoning. "If Guy rebels, Alex definitely won't hold out for long—he'll follow. That would give the opposing camp both key mainline NPCs and control of the lake. They'd gain a significant advantage later."
"You want to ask why I didn't join the enemy camp from the beginning, right?" Bai Liu finished for him with a smile. "Because I don't intend to join either camp."
Tang Erda frowned. "You won't join either side? Do you want Alex to form a third camp?"
Bai Liu nodded.
After a moment, Tang Erda cautiously voiced his concern. "Bai Liu, I know you have your own plans. But judging from Alex's emotional state just now, if Guy survives, it's very likely he'll persuade Alex to join the indigenous camp."
"And if Guy dies, Alex will firmly remain in his original camp out of anger toward the natives for killing him."
Tang Erda spoke carefully. "It's very difficult for Alex to develop the awareness—or the resolve—to rebel and form a third faction."
Bai Liu nodded in agreement. "That's true. Alex grew up in a peaceful environment and is genuinely kind. That's why he chose to study medicine in a war-torn era—to save lives. Even after arriving at the front lines, he has never killed anyone."
"In this game's setting, where you can't save people without killing others, that kind of personality may sound gentle and kind—but in reality, it means being cowardly and powerless," Tang Erda said. He glanced at Alex, who was sitting outside Guy's tent with his head buried in his arms, and sighed. "Alex believes war itself is wrong. Even if you pushed him to the brink, he wouldn't stand up as a third party."
Bai Liu gazed calmly at the tent where Guy was being treated.
"It's possible," he said.
"I've already discussed it with Guy. He'll help me."
Tang Erda grew even more confused. "Guy is critically injured. He may not survive the night. How can he help you?"
"There's no need for him to wake up," Bai Liu replied, frowning slightly. "Even unconscious, he can help me accomplish everything."
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At Midnight
The bullet lodged in Guy's body was removed during surgery. After administering anti-inflammatory medication, the doctor wheeled him back into the tent.
However, the anesthesia had not yet worn off. Guy remained unconscious, burning with a high fever. Alex stood by his bedside, his eyes red.
His hands trembled, and so did his voice. "The ring is broken, Guy. My ring is broken… They said yours was shattered too—broken by a bullet…"
"The doctor said… You might not wake up."
Alex lowered his head and leaned against the edge of the bed, choking on his words. "Guy, the only proof that we belong together is gone now. If we both die, I won't be able to prove to Pluto that you're my spouse… I won't be able to stop him from separating our souls."
Tears slid down Alex's chin.
Before they could fall onto the sheets, the curtain of the tent was quietly pulled open.
A group of people stood in the darkness, staring at Guy. They held sharp knives and wooden clubs. When the leader spoke, his voice was hoarse and harsh.
"Alex. If you still want to live, get out of here."
Alex spun around and switched on the light.
When he saw them clearly, shock drained the color from his face. His voice came out strained. "You're the survivors of the first commando team…"
"We are still survivors." The leader propped himself up with a sharp steel knife. His left leg was gone below the knee, the bandage around the stump still seeping blood—it was obvious the amputation had been recent.
His red-rimmed eyes fixed on Guy. He let out a bitter, vicious laugh. "Thanks to him, I was blown apart when he ran toward those natives. I don't even know how much longer I'll survive in this hellhole."
Alex wheeled himself forward, blocking the hospital bed. His voice shook. "This is the Red Cross. What are you trying to do?"
"The Red Cross forbids killing enemy soldiers here," the one-legged leader said coldly. "It doesn't say we can't execute our own traitors according to military law."
He pointed at Guy. "This bastard is still lying here, wearing our uniform. He got more than twenty of our brothers killed. Why shouldn't I kill him?"
The man roared at Alex like a trapped beast. "If you protect this traitor, we'll kill you too!"
Alex instinctively tried to push himself upright, but his injured legs gave out. He was quickly restrained by the tall members of the commando team. They forced his hands behind his back and tied them tightly. No matter how he struggled, it was useless.
Finally, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Help! Someone is attacking a wounded soldier!"
The leader walked slowly to Guy's bedside. He glanced back at Alex, his eyes filled with resentment and something more complicated.
"No one will come, Alex. They know this is an internal matter."
"No—no, no!" Alex stammered, panicked and terrified. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to reason with them. "Guy shouldn't have hurt you, and you shouldn't hurt Guy. No one should attack anyone!"
"This is wrong! This isn't right! We have to stop!"
"But the truth is," said the soldier standing beside the bed, balancing on one leg, "we are killing each other."
He raised the knife high above Guy's unconscious body. His expression was openly cruel.
"—The war will never stop!"
The snow-white blade came down.
Blood burst across the sheets in an instant.
The enraged soldiers swung their wooden spikes and sabers again and again, hacking into Guy's body on the hospital bed until it became a mangled mass of flesh and blood.
Alex's heart-wrenching screams echoed through half of the Red Cross district.
Bai Liu stood at the entrance of another tent, lifting the curtain slightly. He listened calmly to the sounds.
Tang Erda stood beside him, his expression grave.
Tang Erda tried several times to speak. At last, he forced himself to ask, "…Is there really no way to save Guy?"
"This was a deal between him and me," Bai Liu replied evenly. "Guy doesn't want to live. He wants to die at the hands of his former teammates to atone for his sins. So I arranged it for him."
"In return, I used his death to achieve a small goal of my own."
Tang Erda didn't know what he was feeling.
"…Both camps have now killed Guy. Alex no longer belongs to either side."
There was nothing logically wrong with this approach. It was only a game.
And yet, inexplicably, it reminded Tang Erda of Bai Liu (6).
This was what Bai Liu (6) had been good at—guiding others to willingly embrace death, then using that death to accomplish his own objectives.
Tang Erda hesitated again and again, but finally gritted his teeth and asked, "Bai Liu… you won't become Bai Liu (6), will you?"
Bai Liu fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he turned to look at Tang Erda and smiled faintly. There was very little emotion in his eyes.
"This is just a game," he said softly. "Don't be so nervous, Tang Erda."