The battle was over, but Hayes did not feel relaxed. The ringing of bells and bells resounded among the dim ruins. This plaintive sound passed through the rubble and echoed in everyone's ears.
As the soldiers worked hard to collect the bodies of their comrades, the bells of the priests kept ringing. This was to remind the souls of the fallen soldiers to return to the Holy See, and to pray to the Emperor to take care of these not noble but brave people and keep evil away from them.
.
All this time, Hayes was looking for something.
The bodies of Marco and Thomson were found. The former was okay and basically complete, but the latter not only lost half of his body, but also the part of his head above the lower jaw.
Hayes just wanted to find the lost limbs of his comrades, because Hashet often said that those who come intact should leave intact.
But he failed and heard even worse news——
Their company commander was killed in action, and he didn't even remember the other party's name, but the veteran's toughness and decisive style left a deep impression on him.
As he walked through the camp, Hayes felt the weight of his soul like a boulder tied around his neck. He had witnessed too many deaths today, and every time he passed a body lying on the ground,
His mood will become even heavier.
At this time, he watched corpse trucks driving slowly along the road cleared by the armored troops before, and the corpses were piled in the vehicles like firewood.
He stopped and watched the driver get out of the driver's seat, and together with several porters, carried the body to the corpse truck.
These corpse collectors did not take any precautions. They looked the same as ordinary Astra Militarum. Only the black helmets on their heads distinguished them from ordinary soldiers.
Hayes came to the side of his comrades. He shook his head regretfully at Hashet, and then said his final farewell to the people on the ground.
"Next life..."
Hachet looked at the two dog tags in his hand, shook his head, and sighed:
"In your next life, reincarnate in the upper nest. Don't go to the lower nest and live a miserable life."
"Uncle Hashet, what is the next life? What does reincarnation mean?"
Hachet reached out his hand, rubbed Hayes' head, and murmured to himself:
"Thoughts that will keep us from total despair..."
"Think about it..."
Hayes looked down at the corpse covered with white cloth on the ground. No matter how vivid the life was, it seemed that in the end only a withered body was left.
He still remembered that the instructor once said that facing death will make people lose their weakness, but Hayes found that he did not become stronger.
At this time, the priest came over and circled the incense burner in his hand around the deceased, praying for the emperor's blessing for the deceased's soul, and then the porters took the body away.
The priest continued to walk towards the other corpses, his white robes swaying in the dim firelight, and a slight breeze brought the stench of the battlefield. This smell was usually unwelcome, but now it was dwarfed by death.
After clearing the battlefield, it was time to have a meal. Because today is Sanguinius' Day, thanks to their regiment leader Arni, the soldiers got extra meals. Not only did they have half-warm bread, there was also a piece of fruit and a large amount of it.
Roasted pieces of unknown poultry, and a very rare dessert - ice cream with some industrial aromatics added.
The improved food restored the soldiers' depressed mood a little, and the situation seemed not as bleak as before. But this was an illusion, coming from temporary fullness, but still no one talked about the honor of the regiment, and no one cared.
Or even if they still care, they put the value of life above any illusory concepts such as responsibility and honor.
For many people, the future seems dark and uncertain no matter how they look at it.
But for Hayes, who tasted sweets for the first time, the joy brought by the milky white ice cream made him forget many complicated emotions. Hashet even gave up his own share - the veteran said his stomach was not good
It's too good to eat these things.
Next to Hayes, Haschet was playing with an old-fashioned radio. It was said that he exchanged a pocket watch he found from a dead man for another. Veteran Youzi was very smart in this regard and knew that this kind of thing was hot to the touch.
I changed it out immediately.
Soon, after a burst of white noise, a pleasant but monotonous female voice came from the radio.
"...Later this month, 1.2 million officers and soldiers of the Empire launched the battle to liberate the planet's capital Aining. They fought fiercely for a week and killed countless enemies. In addition, during this battle, the Empire's invincible artillery fired tens of thousands of artillery pieces, covering hundreds of kilometers and causing heretics to scurry away.
...According to reliable sources, the imperial artillery killed a major leader. The heretic took the body back, wrapped it in red cloth, and carried it away while crying loudly. After multiple confirmations, this person must be the leader of the Heretic Blood Snake Demon..."
Hachet sneered after hearing this.
"That's bullshit. You can just kill the Space Marines with cannons? Then I can kill one of them with a knife?"
Suddenly, Hayes, who was halfway through eating, thought of something. He put the carton of ice cream aside, then took out the expedition manual distributed in the recruit camp from his backpack, and then carefully wrote on the first page.
The feelings of this battle were written in crooked low Gothic, and a gold star was pasted behind the names of Marco and Thomson on the second page. Then he turned to the third page and punched a hole.
"You still have it."
When the fish-headed fisherman saw it, he came over and grinned, as if he was a catfish that had swallowed the bait.
"I've forgotten all about this."
Suddenly, he slapped his head.
"Yes, I can't even read. How about you write it for me?"
As soon as Fitz said this, other people in the class joined in and threw the expedition manual to Hayes, causing him to panic.
"Wait a minute, the instructor said you have to write it yourself-"
"Little devil, you know how to read, that's pretty good."
An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded behind him. Hayes turned his head and saw a man covered in dust, who looked like he had just rolled out of a coal pile, standing on a sandbag, looking down at him.
He seemed to be in his thirties, and the armor on his body looked badly worn, almost even the logo was worn off. He was holding a laser gun in one hand, and his helmet hung on the muzzle. There was some blood spattered on his body, and his skin looked dark and dirty.
Dirty - or covered in gunpowder smoke, with short black hair that looked like weeds, and even the stubble on his chin. This man was more like a refugee than a soldier.
But his eyes gave Hayes a different feeling. He didn't know how to describe it. Rather than saying tired, he felt a little tired. Contrary to this kind of boredom, his eyes were very bright, on such a gray body.
, it seems that there should not be such a pair of smart eyes, maybe these are the brightest eyes that Hayes has ever seen, and they seem to contain a lot of emotions, like joking, but also like pity.
But when he laughed, he seemed a little nervous.
Although it was the first time they met, Hayes subconsciously felt that the other person always had a smile. Probably everyone around him who saw him for the first time would feel this way, but this smile was not necessarily comfortable because it was not a smile.
Rather, it was an attitude, an attitude that quickly made Hayes' reluctantly happy mood quickly sink.
Weird, this was the first impression he made on Hayes.
Hachet also looked at this person carefully, and then frowned.