The battle was over, but Hayes didn't feel relaxed. The sound of bells and bells resounded among the dim ruins. The sound of grief passed through the rubble and echoed in everyone's ears.
As the soldiers tried to collect the bodies of comrades, the priests' bells kept ringing, reminding the souls of the fallen soldiers to return to the Holy See, and praying to the Emperor to accommodate these unnoble but brave people and to keep evil from them.
During this time, Hayes was looking for something.
The bodies of Marco and Thomson were found. The former was fine, basically complete, but the latter not only lost half of the body, but the part above the jaw disappeared.
Hayes wanted to retrieve the lost part of his comrades, because Hashet often said that those who came intact should go intact.
But he failed and heard a worse news-
Their company commander was killed, and he didn't even remember the other party's name, but the veteran's tough and decisive style left a deep impression on him.
As he wandered in the camp, Hays felt that his soul was as heavy as a rock tied to his neck. He had witnessed too many deaths today, and whenever he passed a corpse lying on the ground, his mood became heavier.
At this time, he watched corpses slowly sail along the roads cleared by the armored troops, and the bodies were piled up in the car like firewood.
He stopped and watched the driver get out of the driver's seat, and together with several porters, he carried the body to the corpse transporter.
These corpse collectors did not take any precautions. They also looked like ordinary astral army, with only the black helmet on their heads distinguishing them from ordinary soldiers.
Hayes came to his comrades-in-arms. He shook his head regretfully at Hashett, and then said his final farewell to the people on the ground.
"Next life..."
Hashet looked at the two dog tags in his hand, shook his head and sighed:
"You should be reincarnated in the upper nest in the next life, don't live a miserable life."
"Uncle Hashett, what is the next life? What does reincarnation mean?"
Hashet reached out, rubbed Hayes' head, and murmured to himself:
"Let us not think completely desperate..."
"Thinking..."
Hayes looked down at the corpse covered with white cloth on the ground. No matter how fresh the life was, it seemed that in the end it was only a withered body.
He still remembers the instructor once said that facing death will make people lose their weakness, but Hayes found that he did not become strong either.
At this time, the priest came over, and the incense burner in his hand circled around the dead, praying for the emperor's blessing for the soul of the dead, and then the porter carried the body away.
The priest continued to walk towards the other bodies, the white robe swaying in the dim light of fire, and a slight breeze brought the stench of the battlefield, which was usually unpopular but now pale in comparison to death.
After cleaning up the battlefield, it was time for dining. Because today was the San Gilles Festival, the soldiers asked their regiment commander Alni to get extra meals, not only half-warm bread, but also a fruit, a large piece of unknown poultry barbecue, and a very rare dessert - ice cream with a little industrial aromatics.
The improved food restored the soldiers' depressed mood a little. The situation did not seem as desolate as before, but it was an illusion, from temporary fullness, but no one talked about the honor of the Corps, no one cared, or even if they still cared, they placed the value of living above any illusory concepts such as responsibility and honor.
To many people, no matter how they look at it, the future seems to be dark and slim.
However, for Hayes, who was tasting sweets for the first time, the happiness brought by the milky ice cream made him forget a lot of complex emotions. Hashet even gave up his own portion - the veteran said that his stomach was not very good and he couldn't eat these things.
Next to Hayes, Hashet was fiddling with an old radio, which he said was replaced with a pocket watch that he touched from a dead man and another one. The veteran was very smart in this regard. Knowing that this kind of thing was hot, he changed it out as soon as possible.
Soon, after a white noise on the radio, a pleasant but monotonous female voice came.
"... In the late month, 1.2 million officers and soldiers of the Empire launched the battle to liberate the planetary capital Aining. They fought fiercely for a week and killed countless enemies. In this battle, the Empire's invincible artillery fired ten thousand artillery pieces, which were destroyed by hundreds of kilometers, and the heretics ran away with their heads and fled... According to reliable sources, the Empire's artillery killed a large leader, and the heretic snatched back the body and wrapped it in red cloth, and cried loudly. It was confirmed by many parties that this person must be the big leader of the heretic blood snake demon... "
Hashet sneered after hearing this.
"I'm just talking nonsense, Space Marines are so simple to kill you with a cannon? Then can I still use a knife to scratch one?"
Suddenly, Hayes, who was halfway through, thought of something, put the paper box containing the ice cream aside, and took out the expedition manual distributed in the recruits' camp from his backpack. Then he wrote down the feeling of the battle very seriously on the first page in a crooked low Gothic, and posted a Venus behind the names of Marco and Thomson on the second page, then turned to the third page and punched a hole.
"You're still there."
Fishhead Brother Feiz saw it and came over, then grinned, as if it was a catfish that had swallowed the bait.
"I forgot this thing."
Suddenly, he slapped his head.
"Yes, I can't read, why don't you write for me?"
As soon as Fitz said this, the rest of the class came up and threw the expedition manual to Hayes, causing him to be in a hurry.
"Wait, the instructor said he wanted to write it himself-"
"Little devil, I know words, it's good."
A strange voice suddenly sounded behind him. Hayes turned his head and saw a man covered in gray as if he had just rolled out of the coal pile standing on the sandbag, looking down at him from a condescendingly.
He seemed to be in his thirties, his armor seemed to be seriously worn, almost even his logo was worn off, he was holding a laser gun in one hand, his helmet was hanging on the muzzle, his body was splashed with blood, his skin looked dark and dirty - or in other words, his short black hair was like weeds, and even his chin was stubble. This man was not so much a soldier, but rather a refugee.
But his eyes made Hayes feel a different feeling. He didn't know how to describe it. It was rather a bit tired than tiredness. The opposite of this kind of tiredness was that his eyes were very bright. On such a dark body, there shouldn't be such a pair of smart eyes. Perhaps this was the brightest pair of eyes Hayes had ever seen. It seemed that there were many emotions, like jokes and pity.
But when he smiled, he seemed a little nervous.
Although it was the first time we met, Hayes subconsciously felt that the other person always smiled. Perhaps the person around him would feel this way for the first time, but this smile did not necessarily make people feel comfortable, because it was not a smile but an attitude, an attitude that made Hayes barely happy and quickly depressed.
Weird, this is his first impression on Hayes.
Hashet also looked at the person carefully, then frowned.
Chapter completed!