Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"It's raining again..."

The lame old veteran leaned on the doorframe, watching the heavy rain pouring down outside the window, his tone somewhat wistful.

Moisture breeds bacteria, and the room smelled musty.

Along with the decay of bodily wounds and the foul stench of uncleanness, the air seemed to sting the eyes.

However, the pouring rain from the sky, mixed with a cool breeze, was cleansing the earth and also dispersing some of the murky air that seemed tinted with color.

It made it easier to breathe.

Tiger hopped on one foot to the door and took deep breaths of the fresh air outside.

The room was always stuffy, and ordinarily, even standing at the door brought no fresh smells… the air circulation was poor.

We were all decaying together in this room.

Although they were not short of food and drink, these retired veterans with limited mobility could not move freely and were confined to this large courtyard.

The open yard at the center of the courtyard was the greatest extent of their world.

Staring at the rain crashing down from the sky, Tiger's eyes slightly glazed over—

Is this what the future held?

A piercing pain suddenly shot through his amputated leg and spread along his nerves to his brain.

The pain coursed through his entire body, felt acutely by every cell.

"..." Tiger furrowed his brow and endured this sudden onslaught of pain, his remaining right hand gripping the door frame so tightly it turned white.

The change caught the attention of the fellow old veteran beside him.

After Tiger's stabbing pain subsided, the old veteran patted his shoulder, "What? Does it hurt again?"

"Mhm~" Tiger responded softly, his lips pale and chapped from dryness, looking utterly disheveled.

After another pat on the shoulder, the old veteran let out a sigh, "That's normal, we all came through pain."

The medical services in the army dealt with the injuries of these soon-to-be-forgotten veterans in a very simplistic way. Just being alive was already the greatest blessing; one couldn't expect much for the treatment of their injuries.

Without perfect care and therapy, even though the wounds from amputations had long healed, there would always be pain due to internal injuries in the years to come.

Every old veteran had gone through it.

Tiger would be no exception.

"I see that most people... don't seem to suffer like this?" With the sharp pain gradually fading, Tiger narrowed his eyes, asking curiously.

Do you become accustomed and numb to the pain?

Perhaps.

But Tiger felt otherwise.

This pain was from the body, occurring sporadically, difficult to grow accustomed to.

He did not know how others felt, but he believed that even after ten more years, he would still find it unbearably painful during attacks.

Soldiers are not without fear of pain, but they have responsibilities far more sacred than the torment of suffering.

What about now?

Forget pain, Tiger glanced behind himself—facing the extremely turbid and nauseating air in the room, the others behind him seemed content.

Not to grasp this rare opportunity to get some fresh air was, to him, inconceivable.

"Us?" The old veteran hopping on one foot found a more comfortable position against the door, his yellow-brown uneven teeth showing as he smiled, "We got used to it."

"But..." The old veteran hesitated, glanced at Tiger's relatively clean appearance, and said with some hesitation, "If you truly feel the pain is unbearable, you could also... pray."

"Pray?"

"Yeah... pray." The old veteran looked distantly through the window, "Pray, and there will be an answer."

"To whom should I pray?"

"I don't know..."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know," the old soldier nodded, "The merciful God of Life will treat every creature in pain equally."

"Snap!"

On the fence of the courtyard, a yellowish-brown shadow flashed by, with only a large package thrown over by a powerful force.

It brushed over the Tiger's head and crashed heavily onto the floor inside the house.

The old soldier who had been standing by the door immediately laughed even more joyously, as if he had been waiting for this moment to happen, "This is a blessing..."

Hopping on one leg, he bounced towards the direction of the big package, and at the same time, other old soldiers who had been resting around the room also crawled over.

Their bodies were feeble, but the scene was somewhat sensational.

Tiger couldn't help but shiver, even though the piercing pain from earlier hadn't made him feel cold, now an astonishing chill crept from his tailbone all the way to the top of his head.

"Who is that?"

Despite this, Tiger mustered his courage and slowly moved closer, asking the chatty old soldier.

"I don't know..."

The old soldier casually responded to Tiger's question while unwrapping the package made of waterproof oiled cloth.

The contents spilled out: they were items that were not particularly refined but sufficiently practical—water, food, bedding.

None were particularly clean, but they were enough to provide warmth.

Especially on this rain-drenched cold night.
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The supplies normally provided by the managers could ensure their basic survival needs, but nobody disliked additional resources... and the "goodwill" that came with them.

"Who is that?" Tiger asked again.

"I don't know," the chatty old soldier replied once more: "It doesn't matter. All we need to know is that someone still cares about us waste of space, and that's enough."

"Why would he do this?" Tiger asked instinctively.

It was a question for the others and for himself.

"Why?" The old soldier paused while distributing the supplies and then smiled, "I'd also like to know why..."

More frightening than being abandoned is no longer being needed.

If someone truly needed them, these useless individuals... that would be wonderful.

...

"Open the door!" Wearing a rain cape, Xu Ruoguang pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, standing in front of a decaying black wooden door and commanding with a stern face.

The old soldier equipped with a prosthetic limb attempted a negotiation with an embarrassed expression, "Captain... do we really need to check this place?"

Xu Ruoguang, with a frosty look, glanced at him sharply, "Do you think the regulations set by our superior are just for show?"

"But this is where our comrades live..." the old soldier's face turned slightly ugly, yet he dared not argue fiercely.

Xu Ruoguang was the captain assigned by their superior to manage them, an airdropped authority figure in such a vast Black Street with no confidants in the guard was certainly unsettling, and they all understood that.

But under the overt and covert struggles of these few days, they unexpectedly discovered that this airdropped captain had some tricks up his sleeve.

He seemed youthful, but he was quite capable.

His execution was on point, decisions were decisive, and he had some authority among them.

Just that now... the inspection had come to their own heads.

"Captain... we just fear soiling your eyes," another old soldier approached from the side, "The place inside smells very bad; we usually don't like to go in."

Xu Ruoguang maintained a stern face, "Working for our superior, no hardship is a hardship. Do you wish for the chaos of the other day to happen again? Open the door!"

"...Yes."