Chapter 179: Bread, Milk, and Luncheon Meat!
[Da da da da da, da da da da da!]
The continuous sound of Gunshot lasted throughout the night, occasionally mixed with the roar of Grenades. At this moment, 'Iron Fortress' had already left first, carrying CP9 and Mima Amatori.
Only the 'Iron Fortress' and 'Iwato Castle' remained quietly at the Station.
The thousand Elite Army Soldiers led by Crocodile had annihilated most of the Kabane under the Firepower Net.
In front of a thousand Heavy Assault Rifles with sufficient Ammunition, unless they condensed into giant 'Black Smoke', basically, no matter how many came, they would fall.
The periphery of the Built-up Area was now piled high with layers upon layers of severed Kabane limbs and bodies. The entire scene could only be described as a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Against the backdrop of the night sky and Moonlight, it was truly a doomsday painting with a theme of slaughter.
But their very existence also created an obstacle for the Army to enter Inside the City. The Soldiers had to use a large number of Grenades to blast open a bloody passage.
As for moving them away, that was out of the question.
Who knew if there were any Kabane that weren't completely dead inside? They might take a bite while the Soldiers were moving them. Although every Soldier had put on Metal Armguards and Leg Armor before coming, facing a Biochemical Virus that could infect them with just a small Wound, no one was willing to take such a meaningless risk.
Next, they still had to enter the interior of the large area filled with Buildings, search out the hidden Kabane one by one, and then completely clear them out.
In fact, this was the most dangerous part of this Combat Mission. In comparison, facing the Kabane horde that resembled a black tide was much easier. They only needed to continuously pull the Trigger, then switch Position and change Magazines. As long as the Firepower was sufficient and the Ammunition was abundant, there was really no Technology requirement.
During this process, Crocodile would not step in to help. This was an Order transmitted to him by Bullet via Transponder Snail, the purpose being to train this batch of Army Soldiers.
To be honest, Crocodile really didn't want to agree, for no other reason than being annoyed.
He was a Vice Admiral, and Bullet was also a Vice Admiral. Why should he act according to the other party's instructions? But he couldn't come up with a suitable reason to refute.
Crocodile was already aware of the current Situation of the Army. Although they were called Army Headquarters Soldiers, their overall Entity quality was actually similar to the Marines' Four Blues Branch Soldiers.
How could this be acceptable?
He was now an Army Vice Admiral, and in the future, he was a man who would become an Army Admiral, or even an Army Marshal. If the Soldiers under him were inferior to those at Marine Headquarters, wouldn't that also be a loss of face for him, the 'Sand Crocodile'?
Furthermore, he didn't know how to train Soldiers himself. Therefore, Crocodile, who was not a reckless man, could only chew on a smoking Cigar while looking down from High Altitude with a face full of displeasure as teams of Army Soldiers scattered into various Streets, engaging in the most brutal Alley Combat with the Kabane that occasionally lunged out.
"Tch, what's so great about training troops? Admiral, Marshal, it's not about training troops. The most important things are Strength and Strategy."
But at this moment, both Crocodile and Bullet overlooked an even more important factor: support from the Higher-ups!
Outside the Station.
A large open space had been cleared, and two large tents were set up, one on the left and one on the right. Behind the large tents, pieces of square cloth of various colors were pieced together and spread on the Ground.
"Line up!"
"Men in one line, women in one line. I believe everyone is very Familiarize with Inspections. Keep quiet, don't move around!"
A slightly overweight short-haired young man, wearing a light green Coat and blue cloth Clothing underneath, was holding a Loudspeaker made of Iron Plating, constantly shouting loudly at the Citizens at the back of the queue.
He was Takumi, Ikoma's good friend and a participant in the development of the 'Piercing Gun'. Like Ikoma, he was previously a Station Worker at Aragane Station, mainly responsible for inspecting the incoming and outgoing 'Station City'.
Actually, he wasn't needed for Order. Firstly, there were hundreds of Army Soldiers armed with Heavy Assault Rifles guarding the long queue. Secondly, the Sand Layer on these survivors hadn't dissipated yet.
But Yotsugawa Ayame still had Takumi come out and speak.
It turned out the Effect was very good. His voice gave these survivors from Aragane Station and Iwato Station a strange sense of security.
After all, his Attire and appearance clearly showed he was one of them. Sometimes, Familiarize is the best calming agent.
Inside the tent, a young Girl naturally took off her light yellow Kimono, standing there naked, allowing Yukina and Moji beside her to carefully examine all parts of her Body, checking for any Wounds caused by Kabane.
And Yotsugawa Ayame stood not far away, facing the Girl undergoing the Inspection with a gentle Smile, which gradually calmed the latter's nervous Heart.
"Safe!"
"Safe!"
As Yukina and Moji spoke one after another, the Girl visibly breathed a sigh of relief and began to put her Clothing back on. Then, she shyly saluted Yotsugawa Ayame and quickly walked out of the tent from the other end. Behind her, an older Woman entered the tent in order and began undergoing the exact same Inspection.
"Here."
Just as the first Kimono Girl who had finished her Inspection was about to find a place to sit down and rest for a while, she noticed three square tables set up next to the exit.
Seeing the things on the tables, the Girl froze there.
On the first square table were stacks of yellowish block-shaped objects. On the second square table were small white boxes the size of a palm. On the third square table seemed to be small Iron Cans?
At the same time.
Next to the three square tables stood a public notice board, on which a few brief lines of Writing were written in their most Familiarize Japanese language.
"One Bread, one box of Milk, and one can of Luncheon Meat constitute one portion."
"Including Children, each person may only take their own portion of Food."
"After consumption, please return the Milk Carton and Iron Can to the designated location, where dedicated personnel will be responsible for recycling."
In addition, below, vivid pictures illustrated how to insert the Straw into the Milk Carton and how to open the Luncheon Meat Canned Food.
"This... this is all for us to eat?"
"But, what is Bread? What is Luncheon Meat, and also, is this Milk inside?" The Girl looked at everything before her in shock.
"No, that's not right, Meat? That's Meat inside!!"
Because of the Kabane, they had lost most of their land, resulting in very few places left to plant Grain. Things like Rice and Milk were basically only enjoyed regularly by the upper Nobles. Meat was even ridiculously expensive. These lower-class Citizens could only occasionally buy one or two Meat Skewers at the Night Market to taste.
And their staple Food was basically things like Taro, Millet, Radish, and Mushroom.
"Don't block the way here, take your things and go eat."
At this moment, an Army Soldier holding an Assault Rifle and responsible for monitoring urged in a deep voice, which startled the Girl. She quickly picked up a piece of Bread, a box of Milk, and a Luncheon Meat Can, and hurried to the open space covered with a thin cloth to sit down, then curiously examined the things before her.
"Eh, it's so soft~"
Her slender, fair fingers poked the surface of the Bread, finding that it could be easily pressed in. The Girl picked it up and tried taking a bite, immediately feeling a soft sweetness spread in her mouth.
"So delicious!"
For a moment, she felt the happiness brought by the Food. The key was that this Bread was actually sweet! Was there Sugar added inside?
That was Sugar!
Suddenly, from the open space in the men's section opposite, a loud shout of Excitement rang out. It turned out someone had successfully opened the Iron Can and tasted the salty, pink Meat block inside.
"Wow, it's really Meat!!"
Thank you to the Reader who gave a 104 platform currency Tip! Bow! Thank you for your encouragement and support!
(End of Chapter)