Kei's death was not without value; at the very least, she held back the enemy's Shepherd.
During this battle, Yamada Masaharu also came to understand the Shepherd's strength.
Sometimes, they wouldn't easily kill an 86; instead, they would ambush and wait for rescue, allowing them to kill more 86s.
It was a strategic move with intelligence.
At the same time, the Shepherd also possessed immense power; it was simply unmovable, and that terrifying sense of oppression, as if death itself was chasing him, still lingered for Yamada Masaharu even after the mission ended.
"That Shepherd… it's very likely my brother," Shinei Nouzen told Lena.
"Huh?"
However, in Shinei Nouzen's memories, his brother did not like him very much, believing that his mother always favored Shinei Nouzen.
Later, in a battle on the front lines, Shinei Nouzen and his brother's parents were both killed by an explosion.
After their deaths, Shinei Nouzen's brother fell into a breakdown, even at one point choking Shinei Nouzen with his hands.
By the time he realized what was happening, Shinei Nouzen was on the verge of suffocating.
It was that one time that Shinei Nouzen experienced a near-death experience, and because of this encounter, an indelible scar was left around Shinei Nouzen's neck from then on.
It was caused by his brother's hands tightening around him.
To conceal this ugly scar, Shinei Nouzen always wore a sky-blue scarf around his neck.
"But…"
Lena didn't quite understand. "Then why are you so intent on finding your brother?"
"For his head, to free him from the identity of a Shepherd."
Shinei Nouzen had always been searching for his brother's head. The head of his brother, who had killed himself in the past. The "The Legion" that took his brother's head, who died in some ruins on the eastern front, and harbored his brother's dying voice.
Undertaker chuckled self-deprecatingly, a crazed, cold glint in his eyes like a blade. Like an ancient sword, forged through countless death battles, that only desired to drink the blood of its prey—so cold and brutal.
...
[Chapter 27: Sirius]
In the next mission, Kujou was killed in action.
The cause of his death was encountering an enemy humanoid self-propelled landmine disguised as an ally during a patrol.
These landmines looked like small humanoids, but once you got close, they would pounce, cling tightly to your mech, and then blow the mech apart.
Boom!
Kujou's mech was blown apart, and he was no longer alive.
After the mission ended, when the cockpit was opened, his body was stuck inside the mech, his head tilted to one side.
It seemed he wouldn't make it.
"Kujou."
Shinei Nouzen walked over, drew his gun, and aimed the dark muzzle at the dying Kujou.
Bang!!!
Yamada Masaharu's heart trembled with the gunshot.
...
In each subsequent mission, one or two teammates would die.
When their mech was destroyed by the enemy and surrounded by The Legion, to avoid becoming a Black Sheep and falling into the enemy's hands, Blackfire aimed his pistol at his own chin.
With a gunshot, he committed suicide.
And the Snow Witch Anju's lover, Black Dog, that gentle older brother, also sacrificed himself in the war.
One by one, the personnel died, steadily decreasing.
Yet, the team members' reactions were unusually calm.
Out of the final team of 24 people, Yamada Masaharu could call every single one by name, he remembered every person's codename, every one of their faces, the words they had spoken, and the happy times they had spent together.
It was all vivid in his mind.
As if it were just yesterday.
In fact, it was true; from starting to play the game until now, Yamada Masaharu had only experienced one day's worth of time.
But...
He was already feeling unbearable at this point.
At this moment, Yamada Masaharu was like Lena, watching his team members sacrifice themselves one by one on the battlefield as their commander.
This feeling of powerlessness and despair was created by Pokeni with intense vividness, yet it was described in the most understated way after the battle—
Shinei Nouzen tore off their iron dog tags from their chests, then stored them in a storage box, carefully preserved.
There were no graves for them on the battlefield; this storage box was their tomb.
And Yamada Masaharu was already finding it unbearable.
Furuhara Tsubaki?
Are you still human?!
If, at first, constantly gathering companions and the team growing stronger, with frequent interactions and conversations in the game, had made Yamada Masaharu feel incredibly warm and happy, then the joy he felt back then was now matched by the pain.
Damn it!
Damn you, Maeda Jun!
Damn you, Furuhara Tsubaki!!
The most hateful thing was this method of gradually giving you things, showcasing their beauty, and then one by one stripping them away from you.
Yamada Masaharu felt like his entire being was about to collapse.
...
Finally, the team's headcount settled at 5 people:
Vanguard Captain, Undertaker Shinei Nouzen.
Vice Captain Leiden, also the sniper God's Gun Lena, the Snow Witch Anju who lost her lover, and Smiling Fox, the young boy Theon who was skilled in drawing.
Lena was finding it unbearable; each death of an 86 was like a shot to her chest.
By now, she felt her soul was tattered and broken.
And what surprised her most was that she was given an order from above—
To send the Vanguard Squad deep into the front lines for a special reconnaissance mission.
This special reconnaissance mission practically had the words "Please go die" written all over it.
Sending the 86s deep into enemy territory without support from the rear, it wasn't hard to imagine the consequences; they would most likely, no, definitely die there.
Lena could not accept such an order at all and argued with her superiors.
But she received a harsh slap.
"They are not human at all; there's nothing to sympathize with," her superior's voice deeply pained her.
"No! The 86s, Shinei Nouzen and the others, they are clearly living human beings, flesh and blood like us!"
...
A dejected Lena spoke about this matter to the Vanguard Squad members that evening.
During their conversation, Yamada Masaharu learned that:
It turned out that the high-ranking officials of Saint Magnolia feared The Legion, but they feared the 86s even more.
These 86s were the "drones" they had fabricated; once final victory was achieved in the Empire's war, allowing the 86s to return to the country would inevitably cause massive chaos.
No one could accept it, right? So many people had died on the battlefield before, and they had fabricated a reality of no casualties.
So, no matter what, the 86s could not be allowed to return alive. The so-called 5-year retirement and return to the country to obtain citizenship was merely a lie they used to send the 86s to the battlefield.
And when these individuals continued to survive in the war, they would be assigned to the Vanguard Squad.
The Vanguard Squad was the combat unit with the highest mortality rate, the most arduous tasks, and the greatest dangers on the entire front line. Those pulled into this team were basically battle-hardened veterans, truly the elite of the elite.
Only when all members of the Vanguard Squad had died would Saint Magnolia consider replenishing personnel; otherwise, they would be made to fight indefinitely.
This time, it was Shinei Nouzen and his comrades' turn to die.
The voices of the 86s could not reach back to their home country; in front of them was the Empire's The Legion.
And behind them was a minefield.
To prevent the 86s from escaping back home, these deranged white-skinned pigs not only built the extremely high-defense fortifications of the "Iron Curtain" to block their retreat, but also laid a large number of landmines between the 86 area and the remaining Iron Curtain.
In other words, the 86s were trapped in the middle with no choice at all; advancing meant death, and retreating also meant death.
Lena heard this and became enraged:
"This is pure torture.
Pushing the 86s to the front lines!"
"Then, have you never thought of resisting?" Lena blurted out in desperation.
"Why not?" Leiden responded, "But we also have people we want to protect."
Anju had half white-haired race blood; her mother was of the white-haired race, but she also had another half of blue-colored blood flowing through her, so her hair didn't look pure white, but rather a slight sky-blue, and her pupils were the same.
Leiden himself had once been saved by a white-haired race person.
And Shinei Nouzen, after his parents died, was adopted and raised by a white-haired race godfather.
These people fighting on the front lines also had some helplessness deep down, and people they wanted to protect.
"Although, indirectly protecting those damned white-skinned pigs is really annoying, we have no choice," Leiden said.
...
[Chapter 36: The 86's Resistance]
No, at least there was one thing they could choose.
Lena decided that no matter what, she had to let the people back home know that those fighting on the front lines were not drones, but living human beings.
For this, she distributed flyers and gave speeches in the streets and alleys of the capital, urging people to take this matter seriously.
But...
It was all in vain.
The people living within the "Iron Curtain" had long grown accustomed to years of "no casualties" reports; if they didn't personally see images from the front confirming that the 86s were real people, they simply wouldn't believe it.
Nor could they believe it.
Because these guys had already been brainwashed by lies, once they accepted Lena's words, their inner world would collapse.
For this, Lena was severely criticized by her uncle, who was also a high-ranking military official.
"Stop wasting time with such things! If you continue like this, I'll revoke your handler status!"
The 86s were grateful for everything Lena did for them, but they also understood her predicament.
No one would believe Lena.
And at this moment, Shin and his comrades received a message from the Second Corps in the Eastern Front.
To be precise, it was a skilled member of the Second Corps, a small, black-haired girl, who specifically drove her personal Juggernaut to deliver the notification.
The matter was too important to be conveyed through communication devices.
Because what they were planning was—
Resistance!
It wasn't resistance against The Legion, but resistance against Saint Magnolia, to reclaim their dignity as frontline soldiers.
"We can sacrifice, we can fight for our country, but we cannot accept that our deaths are meaningless.
The news of zero casualties cannot continue to be broadcast.
So, we must stand before them and let those white-skinned pigs see clearly whether we are humans or machines."
The girl's eyes burned with determination as she spoke decisively.
Exactly!
Yamada Masaharu nodded seriously, clenching his fists involuntarily.
That's how it should be!
The 86s are also humans, so why should the 86s die and not those white-skinned pigs?!
They are both protecting the country, so why don't the white-skinned pigs fight?!
And they even use such despicable and shameless methods to send the 86s on the front lines to their deaths.
Why don't you all die?!
Chapter 37: Heading to the Eastern Front
After much hesitation, Shin and 5 others accepted the invitation.
They informed Lena of the corresponding battle plan, and Lena was first stunned, then expressed her strong support.
However, she did not have the authority to open the Iron Curtain, so the 86s would have to rely on themselves to return to the imperial capital.
Although the plan was formulated, there was still a critical issue within the entire plan—
Behind them was a minefield; stepping on a mine would result in being blown to smithereens.
Therefore, the 5 members of the vanguard unit prepared to follow the girl to the Second Corps' location to rendezvous with their Corps Commander.
Along the way, they encountered many dangers, as it was all territory controlled by The Legion.
After a fierce battle, the vanguard unit finally arrived at the Second Corps' location.
The Corps Commander was also a young boy.
Generally speaking, older individuals had mostly sacrificed themselves on the battlefield, and those who managed to survive were often assigned to the vanguard unit to be sent to their deaths.
So, currently, apart from the vanguard unit, the remaining members of other corps were very young.
This was also a deployment made by Saint Magnolia to prevent any sparks of rebellion from igniting on the front lines.
Corps Commander Hazawa, though very young, possessed exceptional wisdom.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would likely be the next candidate for vanguard captain.
However, Hazawa keenly perceived the conspiracy of Saint Magnolia's higher-ups and did not intend to sit idly by, so he extended an invitation to the vanguard unit.
"The battle plan is simple," Hazawa said, "We first attack here."
He drew a circle on the map, "We'll drive The Legion out of here to use it as our stronghold, and then, on the Eastern Front, both our forces and yours will withdraw to the stronghold."
"But wouldn't that leave the front line undefended?" Leiden, the vice-captain of the vanguard unit, questioned.
"Yes, that's the effect we want," Hazawa continued, "Once the front line is empty, The Legion will attack through this gap, and then the minefield behind them will be cleared.
After they attack the Iron Curtain, we will return to the city and block the gap, so that when we return to the imperial capital, everyone will know of our existence."
"It's not for anything else, at least our deaths should have value," Hazawa said.
Chapter 38: The Burning Iron Curtain
After successfully leading the 5-person squad and the newly joined members of the Second Corps to capture the planned northeastern stronghold, they cleared the nearby battlefield and simultaneously created an open space.
The Legion, or rather, the Shepherd, accurately and keenly sensed this signal and led a massive army grandly towards the Iron Curtain.
With the withdrawal of the frontline vanguard unit and the Second Corps, The Legion charged directly into the minefield.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
One Juggernaut stepped on a mine and was instantly blown into the sky, followed closely by the next.
The Legion's jamming robot armor flew directly into the sky, densely packed like a swarm of locusts, obscuring the entire sky.
It was daytime, but it suddenly turned dark.
At the same time, the ground forces were also continuously advancing.
The scene in the anime was incredibly spectacular.
This was the most exquisite battle animation Yamada Masaharu had experienced in a game so far.
Every shot was perfect, and the scene was grand, with gunfire flying everywhere, the battlefield intertwined with fire, directly reddening half the sky.
The Legion, these complete robots, were almost using suicidal human wave tactics to fill the minefield.
Soon, most of the mines in the minefield were cleared, and then the massive Iron Curtain groaned in pain under the enemy's attack.
It wasn't that this massive steel wall, used for isolation and defense, had self-awareness, but the loud sounds it made when hit by artillery fire indeed sounded like groans.
The higher-ups of Saint Magnolia immediately panicked.
"What?! The Legion has already reached here?"
"They should be about to break through the Iron Curtain."
"Impossible! How can this be?!"
"Where are the 86s on the front line? Are they all dead? Why haven't we received any news? Why aren't we replenishing personnel?"
"Why did The Legion reach here?!"
Everyone looked at each other, no one could say why.
Seeing this, Yamada Masaharu couldn't help but clap and laugh heartily.
Finally, he had thoroughly vented his frustration.
Those white-skinned pigs should have met such a fate long ago; given how they treated the 86s, they should have rebelled much earlier.
If it were Yamada Masaharu himself, he definitely wouldn't have tolerated it.
The previous parts of the game were truly too depressing.
However, from this point on, Yamada Masaharu felt all the emotions within him being released.
He even wished for those white-skinned pigs to die.
"Where are your subordinates? Where are the 86s?!" the officer asked fiercely.
Lena raised her firm gaze to him, a mocking smile in her eyes, "Now you remember they are subordinates, Officer? The 86s are living people, aren't they?"
"No, they are just war machines, drones!" the officer gritted his teeth, glaring at her, wishing he could tear Lena apart.
But out of respect for her father and uncle, that slap never landed.
"Machines, of course, follow our commands."
"But people, they have their own ability to think, their own choices; I don't know where they went either."
"Damn it!!!" the officer raged, smashing his teacup to the ground.
To stop The Legion, Saint Magnolia immediately organized a temporary unit of the white-haired race to go to the Iron Curtain for a blockade operation.
Lena was also selected as one of its members.
Back to the battle map.
The battle began.
This battle was probably the one with the most allies Yamada Masaharu had ever seen.
The lower half of the screen was densely packed, with almost 50 Juggernauts in total.
However, the only controllable character was Lena herself.
All the others were allies.
These guys basically had no combat experience or ability; they were simply a disorganized mess.
After the first round of artillery fire, half of the allies were gone.
"What?!" The superior officers in the rear army were incredulous.
It was only in such a situation that they could clearly see the combat power of the 86s.
Satisfying!
For some reason, Yamada Masaharu just felt very satisfied.
Even though the units dying were his own allies, it was more exciting than destroying an enemy machine.
Perhaps it was that long-term feeling of being oppressed, suddenly released and vented.
It was truly amazing!
Before long, most of the white-haired race's army here had died, leaving only Lena and a few surviving Juggernauts.
If this momentum continued, Lena would also die.
Yamada Masaharu thought.
Please Support me by becoming my Patreon member and get 20+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon