After leaving the cemetery of the Hubleys, Hayes asked the old man about the address of Peak's home, but the old man did not know. After all, there were hundreds of thousands of people living in this area. However, according to Hayes' description, the old man guessed that they
He should live near Xudui, which is the most inaccessible place in the whole town, because it is also the location where the reactor crashed when it was used as a factory area. There used to be very serious radioactive contamination. Even though the radiation level is now very low, the residents are still
They will instinctively stay away from there. Only the most desperate people will live there and search for garbage that can be sold amidst the sound of Geiger counters.
So Hayes rushed to that place. At this time, people were still coming and going on the street. Few people noticed these strangers wearing breathing masks. In fact, as the largest waste distribution center in the area, there were always a lot of outsiders here.
There are also a lot of "weird" people inside, and mutation and deformity seem to be the norm in the bottom nest.
After walking on the street for a while, the three of them followed the old man's directions and turned to an empty alley. When they reached the end of the narrow alley, they found a right-angled alley parallel to the main road.
At this time, Hayes' keen ears heard a painful gasp. He hesitated for a moment, took out a silver pistol from a slender holster next to his abdomen, and then made a silent exchange with the two behind him.
With a loud gesture, he carefully moved to the other exit of the alleyway and leaned against a wall.
Under the weak light, four figures were struggling. One of them fell to the ground. He was wearing an Astra Militarum uniform with obvious signs of damage. There was a metal crutch beside him. It was obvious that his right leg disappeared from the crotch. The others
The three attackers were young men with very typical attire of hive thugs and gang members, including leather pants and leather jackets, and mohawks dyed reddish brown or dark blue.
Soon, the two men grabbed the arms of the fallen man and dragged him up.
Hayes finally saw clearly that it was a man with a stubble on his face, missing his nose, one ear, and obvious burn marks on half of his face. He recognized at a glance that the man must have been a soldier. He was too familiar with this kind of trauma.
.
There is an old-fashioned player hanging around the soldier's neck, which plays Hayes's most familiar slogan intermittently -
Suspicion is a fatal flaw in any armor
A disloyal thought is as dangerous as a hundred bullets.
death itself is the reward
Better to die for the Emperor than to live for oneself
A good soldier needs to know nothing but hatred.
It seemed to be just the repeated hoarseness of an old-fashioned servitor, but it brought Hayes back to the scene of squatting in the cabin with his comrades, laughing and playing.
At this time, the third one who also looked like the leader turned the stick in his hand and said with a smile:
"Old man, if you want to have a few more teeth left to eat mud cakes, just hand over the medal honestly. I don't have the patience."
"No--"
The veteran groaned:
"Hope is a luxury. There is no choice between the Emperor and the Abyss."
"You should also recite sutras for me, right?"
Just as he raised his stick, Hayes appeared casually in the dim light.
The man holding the veteran's right arm immediately roared and pulled out the dagger from his waist.
"You are——"
Before he could finish speaking, he fell down and burned a hole through his chest.
The smell of burnt flesh and blood filled the air. Hayes was very familiar with this smell. He used to hate it, but now he misses it.
The other two stared at Hayes and the pistol in his hand in disbelief, but Hayes did not give them any chance to explain, and the muzzle of the pistol flashed twice in the dimness.
The blinding light spot hit the chest of the young man holding the veteran's right arm, and another shot hit the leader's abdomen. The eyes of the two men bulged out in shock. When the sticks fell to the ground, the two corpses collapsed. On the ground.
For Hayes now, killing someone is as common as drinking water, and there is not even the slightest fluctuation in his heart.
Jalina, who had experienced a dark childhood, was not surprised by death. Andina also grew up in the nest and had seen all kinds of chaotic scenes. Therefore, they did not make a fuss at all when Hayes directly shot three people to death. Instead, they took the initiative to fight around the alley. Look out for anyone approaching.
"Are you okay?"
Hayes knelt down and tried to help the veteran up, and took the crutches on the side, but the other man seemed to be still silent in his prayers, still mumbling to himself.
"Don't shrink from death, don't be weak before heresy."
"Brother? Which army are you from?"
Hearing Hayes' words, the veteran was stunned for a moment, then turned his head, and for the first time his gray face became brighter.
"Who are you."
"My name is Hayes, and I am from the 310th Regiment. Our regiment leader is Arni."
"Regiment 310!?"
The man's eyes widened, then a smile appeared on his face, then he grabbed Hayes' arm, and the two stood up together.
"I'm from the 219th Regiment. If I remember correctly, we should have fought together in that damn place Endymion."
Hayes also laughed and nodded vigorously.
"Ah, yes, yes, your regiment's position seemed to be to the east of us at that time. I even followed the company commander to visit your place."
Although the two met for the first time, they instantly felt like brothers, bursting out with passionate feelings.
"My name is Kang, and I belong to the regiment artillery."
With that said, the man turned off the player hanging on his chest.
"Brother Hayes, are you from here too?"
"I'm not, I'm here to find someone. Do you know the Peak family?"
"Peak?"
The veteran named Kang turned his head and thought for a while.
"Some impression."
"Live over there at Xudui."
"Oh, when you mentioned it, I remembered it. He was right behind me in the recruiting team. I used to see him and his younger brother when I went to collect garbage in the ruins. I probably know where they live."
Then he took the initiative to take Hayes and the three people to that place. As for the corpses on the ground, there was no need to pay attention to them. After all, death in the bottom nest was very common.
On the way, Hayes learned what happened to Kang.
In a battle of bloody skeletons, his troops first landed and lost half of their men in an accident. Later, when they entered the battlefield, due to information errors, they encountered an unexpected siege by many enemies. As the same cannon fodder regiment, the 219th Regiment almost was defeated, but the commander of Kang's artillery unit turned the tide at the critical moment, risking the tactics of close-range shooting with bayonets on the artillery, using continuous shelling from an extremely dangerous distance to smash the enemy's charge line and destroy the enemy's only armor. , and Kang himself operated the Basilisk to kill the enemy's commander with a precise shot. In the end, after the war, less than a thousand people in his regiment survived, and less than 30 people in Kang's artillery regiment survived.
It was also because of his bravery that Kang received a medal of courage after the war, which is the "easiest" thing for an Astra Militarum soldier to obtain. Since then, his regiment has been stationed in the same place. Kang also stayed in the field hospital for more than half a year, until
He returned to his hometown after several months with the pension.