In December, as the commander-in-chief of a large area, Wu Qiao regained a whole star field.

The previous imperial army failed to defend here, Wu Qiao rushed to reinforce, and finally defeated the Republic with difficulty.

The situation of losing and seizing and losing is still going on, and the overall situation has improved several times and then deteriorated several times.

At this moment, it is not the most dangerous moment.

The army needed a rest, so Wu Qiao chose the largest star in the star domain to be retaken to rectify it.

Wu Qiao sat for a while, and suddenly remembered that he hadn't walked on the ground for a long time. In the previous few months, he had been fighting in the vast universe, and he had almost forgotten the feeling of gravity.

A newly regained star... Wu Qiao thought: The hometown has not fallen. The people here should be very happy, maybe they are all celebrating each other, right?

He has always been a person who likes to listen to people's compliments. He can't help but feel itchy when he thinks about it. He wants to go out and see how the citizens share their joy.

This time, Wu Qiao did not wear military uniforms. This was the first time he wore civilian clothes during the war.

As far as I can see, my eyes are devastated.

It went through a war when it was occupied, and it was another war when it was retaken.

The aura of the past has completely disappeared, and it seems that this city can no longer be called a city. The former glory can only exist in the dream, which is picturesquely available for people to follow it at night, and then reminds the dreamer of his crazy nostalgia for the past during the day when he wakes up from the dream.

Wuqiao did not see the scene of people celebrating.

In the desolation, only a few thin shadows are floating.

"Handsome guy!" A girl in **** clothes came to pull Wu Qiao.

Wu Qiao was startled, and quickly shook her away, thinking that if Tan Yan saw her, he would stare at her.

"Handsome guy," the girl touched Wu Qiao again, "How long has it been since I've been upset? I'm very good at serving people, I promise you will be unforgettable."

"You..." Wu Qiao was about to get angry when she saw her flashing eyes with heavy makeup and said, "No money."

"…what?"

"Any posture is fine."

"You don't want money?" Wu Qiao felt unbelievable—what would she do if she didn't want money? If it's not for money, who will do this?

"Yes." The young girl seemed to see hope, her pupils gleaming with joy, "For those who don't need money, just give them something to eat."

"..." Wu Qiao froze as if struck by lightning, and even forgot to knock her hand off.

"My child has been hungry for a long time... I have to get some food back."

After a long while, Wu Qiao asked her gently: "For food, do you want this?" Wu Qiao already knew why the other party would find him, because his clothes were much more glamorous than others.

"The army had already taken all the food." The girl said again, "It had been a long time before the reinforcements arrived, and the army had no food, so it was enlisted from the people."

Having said that, Wu Qiao understood.

Because the military and business have long since split, and the business community has tried their best to hide money. The army has long been unable to make ends meet, but the soldiers have to eat, so only the people are robbed. Every time they arrive in a region, the people always have to starve first, and then they can turn to the army.

Wu Qiao touched his pocket and found nothing to eat, but he brought some money. He gave the money to the girl and asked, "Can this help you in exchange for food?"

The girl was startled, looked down, stretched out her hand and closed it.

Wu Qiao didn't say not to do this kind of thing anymore, because he felt that he was not qualified to say it.

A few seconds later, Wu Qiao asked again: "So...where is your husband?" Why would he let his wife find food?

"Dead." The girl said numbly, "All the men were arrested and went to the army, just a month before the arrival of the reinforcements. Now we are the only ones left here."

"How come?!" Wu Qiao's voice was unconsciously high, "What use is it for ordinary people who have not been trained to go to the battlefield?"

"I don't know if it's useful. I hope it's useful. The conscripts said, "The army is about to be overwhelmed. Men must defend their hometown." "

Wu Qiao walked forward again and saw a large group of people—still a group of women.

Wu Qiao walked over and found a row of dead bodies neatly placed in front of them—they were recognizing them. Everyone walked up to each corpse and prayed, then suddenly opened their eyes. After seeing that they weren't their relatives, they breathed a sigh of relief and moved on to the next goal.

Occasionally, there will be a burst of bitter cry, heart-piercing.

Next to them, there was a man with a straight military uniform with picturesque eyebrows. He was the second most beautiful person in Wu Qiao's mind.

Ji Yao looked up and saw Wu Qiao, and walked towards him.

"What's the matter?" Wu Qiao asked softly.

Ji Yao said: "When we searched for the remains, we found some outdated mechas with some dead pilots. The information entered by the mechas showed that they were all recruits. I asked the general who commanded the battle before, and he said that he was temporarily Some locals were recruited."

After every war, someone would search for the remains on the battlefield and bring the dead back.

"But," Wu Qiao asked that question again, "what is the use of ordinary people without training on the battlefield?"

"In view of the proportion of deaths..." Ji Yao fixed his gaze on the row of corpses, "Probably it's a meat shield."

"..." Wu Qiao felt that his throat was tightly choked.

"Teach some simple mecha operations, give a set of outdated mechas, and then let them rush ahead, others will fight behind, and even they will fly away together-it looks like this on the scene."

"How is it possible?!" Wu Qiao said, "Where can I not panic when I am not a regular soldier on the battlefield? This is completely different from what I imagined! The opponent will definitely escape after a shot!" Such soldiers will only interfere. People in the back row.

But soon, Wu Qiao discovered the strangeness himself.

Some of the remains were even shirtless. Wu Qiao rarely sees anyone who goes into battle shirtless, unless it is a fierce battle that is so selfless, the blood is always boiling hot.

"I know that the Military Research Institute has a new medicine." Ji Yao was silent and said, "It can make people bloodthirsty, combative, brave and fearless."

"...Are there any side effects?" Ji Yao always knows a lot of things, and Wu Qiao is already used to it.

"It must be." Ji Yao is always so calm. "But I don't think it's specifically for civilians. The ultimate goal is to use soldiers. Soon you and I will fight like this."

At this time, Wu Qiao heard another cry.

He walked past the fame and saw a woman. There was also a corpse in front of her, and she was touching a strange dress worn by her husband. Not only the remains, but many of them have similar things.

"That..." Wu Qiao asked Ji Yao, "What is that dress? Why do many people wear it?"

Ji Yao shook his head.

Wu Qiao thought, it turns out that he didn't know something.

"Let me tell you." A woman next to him replied ghostly, "It's the clothes we knit. There is a saying here that weaving this waistcoat for my husband can protect him from harm. The more pious the better. It works."

"..."

"We knitted very religiously, but they still died."

"..." Wu Qiao looked at the ground again.

The patterns on the clothes are very complicated, it can be seen that it takes a lot of energy, but the so-called divine power is basically a joke, the color of blood is all over the surface, and the wool becomes clusters of wool.

Wu Qiao could feel in his heart that the situation of this star was a common phenomenon.

The army is in an awkward situation. Without the support of businessmen and civilians, the troops are short of money and people, but the pressure on the record is extremely high, and in the end they are forced and robbed. According to the regulations, these are not allowed, but now it is very chaotic, and the superiors and subordinates will help deceive.

What's more, even if looting is forbidden, what's the use? The army simply cannot solve the problem of no one without money.

Wu Qiao turned to the barracks with a heavy heart.

There was still crying behind him, but he gradually went away.

There are occasionally some remaining flower stems on the road, and there are no flowers on the stems. When the bomb hits, the flowers are probably still dreaming.

When he was approaching the barracks, Wu Qiao saw another woman.

Her hair was messy, her skin was a bit dry and cracked, her facial features were dirty, her face was full of fatigue, and her eyes were half open, as if she would feel tired even opening her eyelids.

With the previous experience, this time Wu Qiao was two meters away from her.

She had been watching Wu Qiao quietly, as if she had nothing else to do.

Wu Qiao wanted to walk away, but he felt hurt, so he smiled at her.

The woman also smiled, still looking at Wu Qiao.

Wu Qiao thought for a while, and talked to her.

He asked: "Your husband... is not here anymore?"

"Huh?" The woman stayed for a while.

Wu Qiao repeated it again: "Your husband...is not here anymore?"

This time the other party finally answered, her voice was soft, and she said, "I don't have a husband."

Then, she said with some sadness: "I'm only fifteen years old."

Wu Qiao wanted to be slammed by a boring hammer and stood still on the spot. He couldn't see any traces of fifteen years old from the girl's face.

"Sorry..." Wu Qiao concealed himself, "I was wrong."

The girl didn't care too much: "I know. But at such times, who cares about things like appearance?"

"But," Wu Qiao carefully observed the other's cheeks, and found that her jaw was round, her nose was high, and her eyes were big. She must have been a pretty girl before, "Your facial features are very delicate, and it will look great if you clean it up."

The girl tilted her head and thought: "That's true."

Girls at this age, after all, like others to say that they are good-looking. A smile broke out on her face, she opened the small pendant of the necklace on her neck, and said to Wu Qiao: "Let me show you my previous photos."

Wu Qiao leaned over and saw that his chestnut hair was smooth and supple, his complexion was fair and his lips were rosy, and he was indeed a beauty.

"Dad went to war." She said, "Later, my mother fell ill and I needed to do a lot of things. It's too difficult to survive now, so how can I care about my appearance."

"..." Wu Qiao looked at her dirty face, knelt down and raised her head, and asked her, "What's your name?"

"Natasha."

"Natasha," Wu Qiao was pushed in his heart by a strong impulse, and he reached out and touched Natasha's long chestnut hair, "I promise you that you will be able to put on a beautiful dress again soon, Put on delicate makeup and curl up your long hair shining in the sun, okay?"

"I don't believe it." Natasha also looked at Wu Qiao, "you are all liars. Dad said he will come back to see me soon, but he has never come home."

"I won't lie to you." Wu Qiao stood up, bent his waist slightly, put his hands on his knees, let his vision parallel to Natasha's, "You look at me, you remember my face, I will say it. Do it."

"Okay," Natasha hesitated a little, "I will trust you sir again."

"Hmm. Do you want to pull the hook?"

"That's kid's stuff."

"Ok."

"But it doesn't hurt to let you pull it."

Wu Qiao smiled, stretched out her finger, and Natasha pulled it gently, as if she wanted to expect something but didn't dare to expect it.

Wu Qiao did not return to the barracks as planned.

He turned around and saw a businessman who looked like a businessman, walked forward to borrow a communication device, and then contacted Helena, who had retired from the army because of her injuries.

"Helena?" Wu Qiao said, "I suddenly want to contact my old classmates. Can you tell me all the numbers you know?"

Helena said several people, but Layla was not among them.

Layla, who joined the rebel army very early, has extremely high skill in manipulating mechas, and is now called "Miko".

She is the person Wu Qiao really wants to contact.

"Where is Laila?" Wu Qiao asked.

"do not know."

"I know you have a way to find her." Wu Qiao sighed, "You can contact her, just say that I am asking and see if she will give it."

"I really do not know."

"…please."

Then, in the afternoon, someone sent Wu Qiao an address, not far away, and told him to go there alone.

Wu Qiao told Ji Yao that he would leave for a while to meet Tan Yan.

As the commander-in-chief of the war zone, Wu Qiao would naturally not be stopped by anyone.

When Wu Qiao left, Fei Fei's light rain came up and down, which seemed to wash away some of the **** smell.

Quite inexplicably, in a sad atmosphere, there was singing.

He didn't know who was singing, he just thought the singing was beautiful and melodious, and it was not all despair in it.

Wu Qiao waited for a long time at the designated place before two men came and took Wu Qiao through a long tunnel. After walking for a full half an hour, Wu Qiao returned to the ground again.

—Layla is waiting for him at the end.

Wu Qiao didn't know whether Laila believed him or didn't believe him. If you believe it, why do you need to do this; but if you don’t believe it, you won’t see it at all. After much deliberation, Wu Qiao felt that Layla and the others still had expectations of themselves, but they were afraid that they were really just "military running dogs".

When seeing Laila again, Wu Qiao was taken aback.

Her wavy curls turned into short, straight-eared hair, which looked crisp and neat, which was very different from the feeling in military school courses.

She was the only one on Layla's side.

"Should I call you a witch now?" Wu Qiao smiled.

"Speak directly," Layla hugged her arms. "You and I are both busy."

Wu Qiao shook his head. Layla refused to accept him during the military school course, and always refused to show enthusiasm to him. But these things are not important, Wu Qiao looked at Laila and said, "I want to see the'Shadow King'."

"Shadow King" refers to the person who formed the rebel army, and is also the leader of the rebel army now, but he is not a soldier, and he doesn't know much about fighting. No one knows his real name. The people nicknamed him "Shadow Emperor", the Shadow Emperor, to contrast with the current emperor. Wu Qiao felt that the other party did not like this name. How could there be a revolutionary army? Would you like the nickname called the emperor.

"What are you doing to see him?" Layla asked.

"I'm considering joining."

"..." Layla didn't speak for a while, as if she was considering the truth or not.

After a while, Layla said to Wu Qiao, "Wait a minute."

"Yeah." Wu Qiao didn't worry, just waited quietly.

When Layla came back again, she took the two men with her.

"Do you mind being searched?" Leila asked.

"Not very happy." A wry smile appeared at the corner of Wu Qiao's mouth, "but I can only accept it."

"…Sorry."

"It's okay."

Just like that, Wu Qiao was taken to another place by Laila's mecha, and he met the "Shadow King" smoothly as he wished.

"The King of Shadows" is very burly, two meters long, heavy with dark circles, and has eagle-like eyes and nose.

There is a monkey-like monster on his shoulder, which seems very fierce, always showing the appearance of wanting to scratch Wu Qiao's paw.

He did not show enthusiasm for Wu Qiao.

He talked about his ideals and plans for the future. He also talked about the status quo of the rebel army.

"The empire has been poisoned by a thousand years of tyranny," he said. "Now that the people are oppressed and invaded by foreigners, the people can't wait any longer."

However, he also said: "I can't promise you anything right now. If you want to change the status quo of the empire, you will join us, but I will not promise you the position after joining, let alone the victory. After the award. I can only say that I will try my best not to shame everyone’s abilities and accomplishments."

"..."

"If you want me to set the conditions to make a choice, I can only say that my personality makes me not want such a companion very much."

They talked for three hours.

After coming out, Wu Qiao said to Laila: "I think...'Shadow King' looks very unpleasant to me."

"..." Layla's haughty look was a little looser, she said, "It's not like that."

"Oh?"

"He sees no one pleasing to his eyes."

"..."

"Otherwise, he won't be the first to rise from the empire."

"...That's true."

"You know, he was a priest before."

"…what?"

"In order to change that temperament, he became a priest, but nothing has changed. It is still not pleasing to anyone, including the gods."

"This…"

"As far as I know, he really wants you to join, because he doesn't know how to fight and needs you to come."

"..." In fact, after a long conversation, Wu Qiao didn't hate "Shadow King". Others may think that he talks in space, talks about the status quo and ideals, but does not talk about interests, but Wu Qiao happens to be the same type of person.

After saying goodbye to Leila, Wu Qiao sat in Yajiuli for a long time.

"Wu Qiao," Ya Jiu waited very bored, "Shall we listen to music?"

Without an answer, Ya Jiufu asked again: "What about watching a movie?"

"..."

"Wu Qiao? Wu Qiao Meow? Meow Meow!"

Ya Jiu made a strange sound, but Wu Qiao still ignored it.

"Hey…"

Suddenly, Wu Qiao moved.

He quickly opened Ya Jiu's communication.

"Tan Yan..." Wu Qiao asked, "Are you also taking a break?"

"Ok."

"where is it?"

"Mushroom Star Field."

"I will look for you."

"Ok?"

"I want to see you."

"Now?" Tan Yan asked.

"right now."

"what's happenin?"

"I..." Wu Qiao bit his lip, "I want to tell you something."

Wu Qiao still wanted to tell him about this matter face to face. Although, due to time-consuming and costly expenditure, the military department has long no longer listened to the internal calls of the military, especially the calls between senior generals that may involve the highest military secrets, but Wu Qiao still wants to say goodbye earnestly.

Maybe...this is their last meeting.

Wu Qiao told Ji Yao that he stayed one more day to confirm again that the Yajiu positioning system had been turned off, and then galloped towards the Mushroom Star Territory.

As soon as Tan Yan opened the door, Wu Qiao put his arms around Tan Yan's neck: "Marshal..."

"Ok?"

"No." Wu Qiao thought he would wait for a while and then speak clearly, so he just pulled Tan Yan's neck down, pressed his lips, and licked it over and over again.

Tan Yan was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted, dragging Wu Qiao into the room, pressing the wall and kissing deeply.

After a kiss was over, Tan Yan picked up Wu Qiao and threw him onto the bed.

"Tan Yan..." Wu Qiao looked at the person above him, "I...I want to tell you something."

Tan Yan looked at Wu Qiao with dark eyes: "You don't need to say it, I know what it is."

"I don't want to... be a soldier anymore." Wu Qiao felt that he still had to say. How can this kind of thing be unclearly stated?

"Ok."

"Just as you said, one person chooses one path."

"Ok."

"Tan Yan," Wu Qiao hugged Tan Yan and said, "I...I defected from the army. If I fail, I will definitely die."

Tan Yan touched Wu Qiao's lips with his thumb: "Then you will succeed."

"If you really succeed, you... will you fight the revolutionary army?" Wu Qiao asked Tan Yan.

"I personally didn't intend to fight, but it's impossible if I don't touch it. I don't think the emperor will let me personally crusade in the first and mid-term. I want to fight against foreign enemies. He doesn't want to be the king of subjugation. But... I definitely want to. To send troops to attack the revolutionary army, in order to maintain my identity, I cannot fight against the emperor. It is not wrong to say that I am your enemy. But I will try my best to divide the strength and weakness to reduce your risk of failure."

"Then, in the end, will you personally attack us...?"

"..."

"Well," Wu Qiao said of the plan he had repeatedly calculated in his mind, "When the time is right, you will surrender to the revolutionary army... OK? That way, although you have been an enemy before, as long as you finally surrender, you will still be very It is possible to survive."

"surrender?"

"Well... Are you embarrassed to lose to me?"

"I have no problem losing to you." Tan Yan lifted Wu Qiao's hair up, and touched his forehead to the opponent's, and said in a low voice, "But...I probably won't drop it."

"...What?" Wu Qiao's head was dumb, and even the tips of his fingers were numb. He couldn't help but ask a little sharply, "Why?!"

"Wu Qiao...I didn't tell you. Not long ago...I and Dalun's family were taken to the palace."

Wu Qiao suddenly opened his eyes.

"You also know that in the new military law, the families of soldiers who surrender are to be sentenced, and the most serious case is to be executed. You should take away your parents and sisters? But I can't, so in the end, probably...I There is no choice. I can deliberately lose to you, but I still have to listen to him and come back to the rescue when you enter the capital. And, what should I say... The emperor is kind to me after all, even if he is such a person. The status of the marshal until the end, rather than a counter-attack, it is considered no gratitude and revenge. I lose faster, complete the dynasty change as soon as possible, and don't let the Republic have a chance."

Wu Qiao did not speak.

"I didn't tell you, I don't want you to lose yourself because of me."

"But Tan Yan..." Wu Qiao's eyes were wide open. He didn't want to cry, but water slipped from his eyes onto the pillow. "You don't surrender, and the battle is at the end. Do you know what this means."

Who cares if you are forced to resist because of your family?

"I know." Tan Yan touched Wu Qiao's lips again, "This means... until the day when all the dust settles, either you will judge me, or I will judge you, and I'm destined to die for life."