novelraw Chapter 179 : The Other Shore
Chapter 179 : The Other Shore
The sun blazed overhead.
Cicada songs echoed through the forest.
Fry Lott sat on a log at the starting point, his expression serene.
He watched the tall woman slowly approaching him, a flicker of curiosity passing through his eyes before quickly returning to their impassive state.
Unlike the other children, he hadn't changed into camouflage fatigues, but wore the same shirt, trousers, and dress shoes he'd arrived in.
If not for fear of eye injury, he wouldn't have even wanted to wear goggles.
He found all of this rather pointless.
He knew he was ill and was willing to cooperate with the doctors' treatments as much as possible, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel happy.
Shen Han strode up to the solitary boy, directly placing a handgun loaded with rubber bullets into his hands.
"My name is Shen Han. There are only two of us, while the enemy has over thirty. We could easily be surrounded."
"Oh, 'surrounded' means being encircled."
"We'll use guerrilla tactics to break through their blockade."
Fry Lott lowered his gaze to the gun in his hand, listening to the woman before him explain tactics in not-quite-fluent Ksenrode. Suddenly, a very strange feeling arose in his heart.
Since that accident three years ago, all adults had been extremely cautious when interacting with him.
It felt as if they thought speaking too loudly might somehow hurt him.
His peers all avoided him.
Fry Lott could clearly sense that when his former companions looked at him now, their gazes were filled with pity and fear.
He didn't know what they were afraid of; he wasn't some harbinger of misfortune.
For over three whole years, this was the first time Fry Lott had felt a sense of equality from an outsider.
But realizing this feeling came from a woman from a foreign land, he couldn't help but find it somewhat ironic.
After speaking briefly, Shen Han fell silent and began loading the magazine of her semi-automatic rifle.
Her earlier explanation of tactics to the boy wasn't because she truly thought he could be of much help.
She just felt that there should be a competitive spirit in the arena. Skill differences didn't matter, but morale couldn't be low.
Five minutes later, the referee began announcing team entries.
Since Shen Han's side only had herself and Fry Lott, they were allowed to enter the field first.
The other team, led by Lauren Cole, had to wait outside for three minutes before entering.
As Shen Han led the boy into the off-road course entrance, Lauren Cole smiled and raised her arm, making a headshot gesture at her.
Shen Han couldn't be bothered to acknowledge her.
Just before stepping onto the field, she asked the boy beside her in a low voice, "Are you a fast runner?"
Hearing this, Fry Lott looked up at her.
His sapphire-like eyes were filled with confusion.
Shen Han glanced down at the dress shoes her little teammate was wearing and immediately abandoned any further questions.
"Next time you come to a place like this, remember to wear a pair of outdoor boots!"
With that, Shen Han reached out, scooped up the boy, and sprinted towards the nearby forest.
Since they were entering first, they naturally couldn't waste the opportunity to find a good ambush position!
Fry Lott hadn't even recovered his senses before he was swept up in a sensation of lightning speed.
His feet left the ground, the scenery on either side rapidly receding in his peripheral vision.
The shrill cicada songs masked the sound of footsteps crushing dry branches, escorting the two into the dense forest.
The boy clutched his gun tightly, his heart beginning to pound uncontrollably.
He felt as if he had truly arrived on a battlefield, a spark of something called 'fighting spirit' quietly igniting in his chest!
......
Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Lauren Cole led her team charging into the off-road area along the course.
She narrowed her eyes, surveying the empty rocky terrain, and quickly assigned combat tasks.
Although her team numbered thirty, half the children were under 10 years old, neither disciplined nor combat-effective.
Therefore, she divided the team into six small groups.
She herself led a group of youths capable of coordination, while the other five teams were sent immediately to fixed positions to lie in wait.
This time, she would let that Federation woman called Shen Han know who truly ruled this land!
......
When Shen Han carried him up a tall tree, Fry Lott felt somewhat dazed.
He sat steadily in the thick fork of the tree, peering through gaps in the leaves. He glanced at the Federation woman intently preparing to shoot, then silently aimed his own gun diagonally downward.
In that spot, five half-grown children were running towards Shen Han and Fry Lott's shooting position, laughing and chattering.
They happily discussed plans to surround the Federation officer, completely unaware of the storm they were about to experience.
The children were joyfully chasing each other when suddenly, rubber bullets rained down from above.
The camouflage fatigues they wore had latex padding, which could cushion the impact of the bullets.
Although the specially made rubber bullets weren't lethal, they still hurt when they hit.
Shen Han aimed for gaps in the padding, targeting fleshy areas like shoulders and buttocks.
This wouldn't truly injure the little rascals but would let them experience a taste of reality!
Fry Lott was still carefully aiming when the five children below had already been shot to tears.
The children threw down their guns and ran out of the forest, wailing and dragging their sore and numb arms.
Shen Han brought Fry Lott down from the tree, walking to where the five children had abandoned their weapons.
She picked up a submachine gun and an ammunition pack, handing them to her little teammate.
"Keep the handgun at your waist for now, use this."
Fry Lott hesitated for several seconds, then followed her instructions, tucking the small handgun into his belt and accepting what she offered.
If the servants at Fry Castle had seen this scene, they would have been shocked enough for their eyes to pop out.
Because in recent years, apart from Grand Duke Fry and the doctors, this was the first time their young master Lott had shown obedience to anyone else.
Fifteen minutes later, Shen Han led her little teammate to the edge of a narrow river.
To be precise, this was actually a man-made canal, though designed to mimic a natural river. There was no silt at the bottom, and the water wasn't deep.
Large patches of dandelions grew on both banks, their huge white puffballs gleaming brilliantly under the scorching sun.
An off-road vehicle frame, missing its roof and four doors, lay across the canal bank, intentionally set up as a concealment and shooting position.
Fry Lott had thought Shen Han would hide with him behind the vehicle frame.
To his surprise, she took out two breathing tubes from her combat pack and led him directly into the canal!
"Remember the position of that vehicle frame. When I pull you up later, shoot in that direction."
"Here, open your mouth. Don't panic when diving, just keep your breathing steady."
After quickly instructing him, Shen Han submerged them both in the canal.
Fry Lott tightly closed his eyes, crouching at the bottom as she pulled him along.
The canal water, warmed by the sun, felt comfortably silky as it flowed over their skin.
His neck felt a bit heavy, a normal reaction to water pressure.
The canal bottom was completely silent. As Fry Lott felt his heart beating, a strange sense of absurdity suddenly welled up inside him.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
On the shore, two small teams had converged.
A dozen or so noble boys and youths crowded behind the vehicle frame, jostling each other and complaining in low voices.
Unable to find their targets after searching for so long, they felt this competition had become utterly boring.
Just as they were considering whether to request an early end to this round and regroup, the sound of breaking water came from behind them.
Then, rubber bullets rained down like a storm on their backs, knee hollows, and elbows.
By the time Shen Han and Fry Lott had emptied their magazines, the grass was strewn with panicking children.
Looking at the dripping wet pair approaching them, the youths couldn't help but start trembling.
The younger ones directly burst into screams.
Shen Han kicked up a gun from the grass, her gaze sweeping over the group: "You have one minute to leave the field. The slowest one will be locked in the water dungeon."
With that, Shen Han began counting down.
The children were nearly scared out of their wits.
Who could have imagined someone would burst out of the canal to open fire?
It was utterly outrageous!
The children fled crying towards the exit, the scene chaotic, like an escape from a disaster movie.
On the top floor of the wooden building overlooking the off-road field.
Hearing the faint cries from the forest below, the Ksenrode officials and nobles felt somewhat worried.
Children born into noble families understood the importance of face and self-esteem by the age of six or seven.
Under normal circumstances, they would never cry or shout in public.
Among the crowd, only Gu Junwan and Xu Zhao beside her wore slightly strange expressions.
The two could easily guess that the Ksenrode noble children had been shot to tears.
A max-level boss slaughtering newbie village - how could it not be brutal?
They just hadn't expected Shen the dog to be so merciless in bullying children.
Gu Junwan turned her head slightly, casting her gaze into the forest below.
After searching for a while without finding the figure she wanted to see, she gave up.
She didn't know what was wrong with her today, but after just a short while without seeing that person, she found herself missing them.
She hoped this Ksenrode trip would conclude smoothly, so she could be with Shen Han openly and properly.
The palace hotel in Ksenrode was luxurious and exquisite, but without Shen Han by her side at night, Gu Junwan always slept uneasily.
She liked falling asleep inhaling the other's scent and liked opening her eyes in the morning to see the other person.
Just as Gu Junwan was longing for her beloved, several kilometers away by the canal, Shen Han was crouching on the grass, retying her little teammate's shoelaces.
The shoes were a pair of sneakers picked up by the vehicle frame, likely kicked off by some young master in the panic.
Shen Han, accustomed to long-term training, had no problem being in the river water for a while.
But the silent little boy beside her needed some extra care.
Now, Fry Lott's shirt and trousers had been changed to quick-drying clothes Shen Han carried in her combat pack.
The T-shirt was a bit long, looking like a dress on the small boy, so Shen Han had thoughtfully tied the lower hem into a butterfly knot.
Fry Lott sat properly on the vehicle frame's step, his soft wet hair still dripping water.
He gazed absent-mindedly at Shen Han fixing his shoelaces, and for a moment, his memory suddenly overlapped with a scene from the past.
It was a midsummer day three years ago, when his sister had also gently crouched on the ground, helping him with his shoes.
Back then, he had grumbled, complaining that his sister always treated him like a child who couldn't do anything.
And now, he no longer had a sister.
A gentle breeze blew by, lifting the small white umbrellas from a patch of dandelions.
The white umbrellas floated and danced towards the opposite shore, as if waving goodbye to the boy on the other side of the canal.
Shen Han looked up to see her little teammate suddenly in tears.
She quickly reached out, wiping away the tears under his eyes with her fingertips.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Fry Lott shook his head, hesitated for a long moment, then spoke softly: "No, some fluff flew into my eye."