My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World

Chapter 598 517: Night of the Poisonous Bramble Path (2)

The night sky was darkening, and the transport truck smoothly traveled along the highway of E Peak Mountain. The visibility wasn't clear tonight, with a layer of thin fog hanging in the mountain air, and the headlights could only illuminate a distance of about ten meters.

Looking at the view that was getting darker around him, and the lights hidden behind the mountains, the boy sitting in the back seat swallowed nervously, his hands holding the gun trembling slightly.

"Weren't you all quite proud when we just set off?" Yin Yusheng glanced through the rearview mirror and said.

"I'm not scared at all, Uncle Yin, don't slander me!" the boy immediately retorted, "I remember those insects' weak spots better than anyone..."

"I didn't say you were scared." Yin Yusheng chuckled.

Suddenly, laughter broke out inside the car. Two girls both looked over teasingly, and the boy's ears turned red. He just hugged the gun tightly in his arms and mumbled with his head down:

"You'll see later."

The young man beside him grinned and put his arm around the boy's shoulder:

"We're all men here, nothing to be embarrassed about. If you're scared, just say it. I've got your back. Do you know who that 'Red Death Cultist' is?"

The boy's eyes lit up at the words: "Are you that number one on the virtual combat ranking, who killed 42 waves of Insect Race, 'Red Death Cultist'?"

"Nope, I'm number thirteen, 'North Sea's Deepest Love'." The young man said sheepishly.

"Then what are you even talking about!"

The half-joking tone eased the atmosphere inside the car significantly. Yin Yusheng chuckled, turned on the stereo, and played a rock song. Through the radio, the commands from the headquarters and the movements of other squads came intermittently.

"It would be great if we had the Red Death Cultist in our team. Then we wouldn't have to worry about the Insect Race." The young man said, holding his head.

Chichu Chun cast a calm glance over.

If it were half a year ago, she might have been secretly pleased with this feeling of playing the fool. Now, she regretted not choosing a more recognizable name; now everyone kept asking who the 'Red Death Cultist' was, and she didn't even have the courage to admit it.

With proper physical training, her endurance and neural reaction speed had improved considerably compared to half a year ago. She could endure longer battles and enter a more focused state of Heart Flow.

The reason she had only killed 42 waves was because she found out that after the fourteenth wave, new monsters stopped appearing. At first, she didn't believe it, but after looping twice, she confirmed it. Initially, she was eager to see if higher-level Insect Race would show up later, but getting splashed with cold water dampened her interest.

"Speaking of which, you're pretty young to be thrown onto the battlefield." Yin Yusheng took his first serious look at the awkward boy.

The boy scratched his head awkwardly: "Father left many years ago, and now it's just my mother, my brother, and me at home. My brother's career is on a steady rise, but my mom's legs are impaired and she needs care."

"Left, where did he go?" Yin Yusheng asked.

"Fell on the battlefield." The boy answered.

The atmosphere in the car fell silent once again.

"Sorry."

Yin Yusheng had seen such things often. Over the years, he guessed that those involved had long since come to terms with it. Occasionally, when they thought of it, it would just bring a moment of bitter melancholy.

"It's nothing; I got over it long ago. I'm more at ease leaving Mom in my brother's care."

"This messed-up world."

The vehicle continued to move steadily forward, traveling another two kilometers, entering the interior of E Peak Mountain. They still had some way to go to reach their mission area. Noticing the atmosphere in the vehicle was slightly tense, Yin Yusheng glanced at the red-haired girl through the rearview mirror. The dazed Chichu Chun noticed his gaze and felt a foreboding.

"Why do they all call you Rice Wine?"

Finally, the man asked the question that had made many people curious.

Chichu Chun's mouth twitched.

She certainly couldn't say it was because during her time studying at Dragonfly Town under the alias Mori Natsuki Kuriri, 'Kuriri' sounded like 'Rice Wine' in a certain context in Jiulong Language, could she?

"Uncle Yin, do you know why the elderly in Qingye City live so long?"

"Tell me."

"Because there's a saying there: People who can't stop talking will have their tongues pulled out and eaten by the Monster Ghost who loves to chew on tongues."

"So they don't go around asking about other people's business, especially local Mafia affairs."

Seeing the girl's little tiger tooth-bearing smile, Yin Yusheng inexplicably felt that asking one more question would lead to being assassinated by the Mafia at the street corner the next day.

The man raised his eyebrows, wisely choosing not to pursue the matter further.

"What about her? I've never heard her speak much during training." He motioned towards the girl sitting in the corner.

The girl sat next to Chichu Chun, silently cleaning a heavy sniper rifle that was taller than she was.

As the team leader, Chichu Chun remembered each team member's name. The girl's name was Jiang Miao. Her reason for joining the army was simple. She was originally a traditional dramatist, and one day, someone furiously criticized her for glorifying war in her works, claiming she didn't understand its brutality. Silently, she came here.

Chichu Chun didn't speak much with this girl. When she asked Jiang Miao about her future plans, Jiang Miao calmly expressed her desire to adorn her works with an Honor medal embedded in the back cover as she resumed her creations one day.

"Rice Wine, why did you come here?" Jiang Miao turned her head and asked.

"You clearly could have lived a carefree life, perched high above where most people can barely look up, admired by many."

"Even for the sake of the family, you didn't have to come here. You could have studied at the Command Institute like other family children, followed several commanders in the rear, participated in several large-scale battles, and you would have been promoted..."

"Don't think of me as having it easy... though what you said isn't wrong." Chichu Chun retorted with sarcasm.

She looked at the gun held against her chest, her fingertips, once used to writing many scripts, now calloused.

"I just felt that it was too trivial."

"Getting promoted out of the blue, and people without that talent making erroneous commands, leading to needless deaths of many."

"Isn't what you're doing now trivial?" Jiang Miao countered. "Here, both soldiers and officers are watching you. Even if you're personally on the battlefield, many people will follow you like bodyguards, afraid that something happens to you. Along your path to growth, they too have to pay the price for your whims."

"You should know, you're not like us."

Chichu Chun stared blankly at Jiang Miao. Her serene eyes reminded her of a familiar girl.

After much honing, sharp words could no longer easily sway her will. Chichu Chun thought for a moment and answered solemnly.

"This kind of triviality is at least a little less trivial compared to that, isn't it?"

"And in this triviality, I'll grow faster, causing fewer people to pay the price for my whims, and that's enough."

Jiang Miao hadn't expected such an answer; her calm eyes rippled slightly.

"Didn't you ask me why I came here?" Chichu Chun smiled,

"Because I want to bring more people home."