Steel steam and flame

Gently spreading the body of the lifeless enemy in his arms flat on the ground, in the darkness, Cassia could clearly feel the warm blood still flowing between her fingers, as well as its sticky and slippery feeling. The smell of blood spreads in the quiet air, and to sensitive noses, it is as strong and fragrant as the fine wine that has been buried underground for hundreds of years.

After waiting for a while, Cassia's suppressed body movements finally returned to normal. Then he picked up the enemy's heavy body and the modified sniper rifle, and came to the place illuminated by the dim light.

This is still a very young person, probably not much older than the eighteen-year-old Cassia. His face looked sickly pale due to excessive blood loss, his eyes were tightly closed, his mouth was tightly pursed into a line, and his nose showed an unusually straight state in the light.

"It's such a peaceful death." His eyes reflected the handsome young face of the enemy in front of him. Cassia watched this scene unintentionally. Such a scene often gave him a slight sense of paralysis, which was a reflection of his thoughts and cognition. The poison, change and influence are all carried out in a subtle way. Just like the growth of human beings, every time it is a ripple that cannot be detected.

The enemy's clothes had been stained red with blood, and blood was still pouring out from the hole in his chest, intentionally or unintentionally. Cassia began to search the enemy's corpses, trying to find something valuable from them.

That sniper rifle was probably the best trophy, followed by the various bullets contained in the bullet bag, all of which had been specially processed. There were more than fifty rounds in total, not too many, not too few. Then there was an iron piece similar to an identification plate, with the name of the corpse written on it - Preet Noho. Above the name is a black and white photo. He looks as young as Cassia. In his pretended serious look, there is a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. This is the age when a person is high-spirited, but now he is quiet. Lying on the ground. The name was followed by a row of small characters that read "Captain of the First Team."

On the waist of the corpse, there is also a simple map that is half soaked in blood. It is not very identifiable. On it is a simple landform structure composed of white paper and black lines, with some places marked with red dots. These marked places should all be sniper point locations determined in advance. There is some writing on the last piece of paper, which is handwritten text that is almost standard typeface. The information displayed on it is very scattered, similar to a diary, and it should be the things that Plit usually jotted down on it casually.

"One of today's tasks is to find out the surrounding landforms as quickly as possible, to the extent that we can accurately find the approximate location of the sniper point even if there is no light."

"I have been squatting for a few days. Except for the occasional rats passing by the large area ahead, I have not seen any trace of anyone, except for my own people of course. But you must remember to go back to the main base tomorrow to get supplies for the next few days.

"I came to the base again today, and when I saw the people under Noli, my mood suddenly became bad. Although I had known for a long time that the boss had joined forces with Nolida, but when I thought about the men who died in front of me, how could I I also can’t feel close to the people on their side. Rather than saying that we are allies who join forces, it’s better to say that we are just evil wolves who come together for common interests.”

"More than two months have passed, and it's really boring to keep squatting at various sniper points. But the boss said that something big may happen in the near future, and the underground mine tunnel will be very lively by then, so he asked me to prepare in advance."

"I heard from the other captains that the discussion between the boss and Nolida has been completed today. As long as the plan goes smoothly, in a month or two, things here will be completely over. That's okay by then. I have completely left this oasis in the center of the desert and rested for a few months in a more prosperous city outside."

,,,,,,

There are still a few lines of writing below, and the things recorded are already his complaints after squatting here for a long time.

After Cassia sorted out the things in her hands and once again made sure that nothing was missing on the body, she picked up Pritt's body and threw it in a ravine not far away.

"He will become food for rats in there." Looking deeply into the bottomless pit-like darkness in front of him, Cassia muttered to himself. Then he looked at the time, and the twelve hours since the meeting had already passed. It was now three o'clock in the morning. After finishing the food he had brought with him, he glanced at the low ridge in front of him and had no intention of going back.

There was something he wanted to know on it, which attracted him just like the smell emanating from the female insect. The door to the core of the matter has been opened in front of him. As long as he uses a little more strength with his hands and steps forward boldly, he can see the most critical core.

The words in Plit's diary revealed a very important message, which is related to the interests of almost everyone. Nolida is not an enemy of everyone. He had already joined forces with a person entrenched in the city of Grun before Cassia and the others, who represented the student group, came here, and before those smuggling arms dealers came here. got up and planned some things.

If Cassia's guess was not wrong, then the person who joined forces with Nolida was Flos who disappeared after entering the mine tunnel. He has been here for a year or two, and only he can meet the "several months" stated in Plit's message.

Thinking about it this way, Flos' blocking the entrance to the underground mine tunnel was just a show he planned with Nolida and staged to attract people to come in.

So what is their purpose in attracting so many people? Just let us kill each other, reduce our respective power, and then kill them all? Cassia felt that their purpose was definitely not that simple, and the arms dealers were not stupid. Everyone was restraining the friction in the dark, but the result was not what Flos and Nolida thought.

So Cassia always thought that they missed something important, and the intermittent information they obtained lacked a line to connect them. They need to know what Nolida is planning.

Cassia felt that as long as she climbed up the short ridge in front of her and saw something, she would be able to completely combine all the messy information in her mind and come up with an extremely clear line. The end of the line was tightly tied to Nolida's body.

But would that be something like this? A stone, or a person, or a sentence written on paper, or an ordinary scene?

Cassia didn't know what shape it would be, but she just had to take a look. She had to let the light reflected by such an object truly reflect in her eyes. This was the most basic requirement. Just like starting a limousine, sometimes a password card is not needed, but steam as power is indispensable.

He was now climbing up the low, moderately steep ridge in front of him. The rocks here were softer than he expected, and the smell of the soil on them was completely out of place, as if it was all covered with this low mountain later.

The top is not high, Cassia estimates that it is only about 1,500 meters high. But while he must be careful about the snipers hiding around him, he must also pay attention to controlling the movement under his feet as much as possible within the minimum range allowed by the environment. The relatively gentle slope gave him great climbing assistance. With the simple topographic map and some marked sniper points that Plit had obtained, Cassia's journey to the top of the short ridge went surprisingly smoothly.

The wind here on the top of the ridge is stronger and more vaporous, and the coolness is mixed with the smell of moist earth and a faint other taste. This smell is almost at the limit of Cassia's sense of smell. It is hidden in the flowing wind and is more delicate than the light smoke that will be blown away by the wind at any time.

But for Cassia, even if it is a vague smell, the familiar feeling inside is a memory that he will not forget now and for a long time to come. After five years in the steam factory, this smell accompanied him almost throughout his youth and was firmly rooted in every part of his body.

This is the smell of lube! Cassia will never forget it.