The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Perhaps Hayes was indeed lucky. After the benediction, the town's prominent families announced a free banquet for everyone in celebration of their children's return, right on the square in front of the church.

Soon after, all sorts of food and drinks were brought out one after another. The tables stretched for a hundred meters, and people of all statuses in the town gathered, with a band playing music nearby.

Of course, the most popular was the variety of 'fish,' cooked in various ways, including but not limited to boiling, steaming, and grilling, doing their best to eliminate the odor and retain the fresh, juicy flavor. But Hayes could only eat a little before he couldn't stomach any more.

Surrounded by laughter and joy, his heart was filled with only ice-coldness, mixed with a fiery rage.

Everyone was feasting on food earned with others' lives, while those who truly labored were turned away, especially when he saw the fat-headed bishop showing off his brand-new, glittering, jewel-encrusted scepter to those around him. Hayes really wanted to shoot him.

Where would a bishop in a poor area get the money to buy such a luxurious scepter? It was obvious.

That scepter was stained with the blood of countless fallen soldiers.

This book is first published on 𝚝𝕨𝚔𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞.

Hayes immediately lost his appetite. After eating a little, he returned to the hotel with his wives.

"Those upper-class people who spend money like water, the heads of each household, and the priests who only preach the glory of the Emperor, I hate them. But before, everyone thought that without them, we simply couldn't fight the enemy. However, after everyone bled, I found that we still couldn't protect what they loved."

"Hayes, not everywhere is like this. →"

"Maybe."

Hayes lay half-reclined on the bed, staring blankly at the gray, moldy ceiling.

"I'm just disgusted by it all. Seeing these cruel things, sometimes you forget the more beautiful things."

"Beautiful things always exist."

"Maybe. The chaplain in the battle group was very brave. He was always one of the bravest people I knew, but he couldn't keep death and pain away. When the bullets came, faith didn't save him."

Anleena poked Hayes's face.

"I don't like hearing you talk like that."

"Yes, I don't like it either."

Jialinna reached out to Hayes's face, stroking the fading scars.

"We can't live without faith. It's something that allows people to persevere every day."

"Honestly, in the final moments, I thought of you, not the Throne."

Hayes hesitated.

"If a person's soul goes to the Throne, but his family and loved ones have to suffer in reality, then what's the point?"

"Where did you learn these words?"

"My company commander, my battalion commander."

Jialinna hugged him tighter.

"Hayes, this is a vast and lonely universe. We are not important. We will soon disappear, becoming a speck of dust in the starry sky. But, now, at this moment, it's just me and you, and Anjie. This is what I hold onto."

She looked at Hayes's remaining eye.

"No matter what, the Throne is still merciful to us. Don't let those ugly things blind you."

"I understand."

The next day, the three of them left Linhu Town for the Habry family's place, which was not far from Linhu Town. Although the under-nest was not peaceful during this time, it was relatively better under the Law Department's 'special period' key care. They arrived with the convoy at a place called Iron Thicket Town.

Although it was called a town, its scale was actually very large. Its origin was said to be from a major accident where a factory in the lower nest and the surrounding blocks directly collapsed into the bottom nest, falling heavily on the wasteland, forming a settlement composed of a large number of metal wrecks and garbage.

And garbage in the bottom nest means treasure and resources, thus attracting a large number of scavengers.

Habry and Peak both came from this place, but surprisingly, they didn't know each other, which shows the scale of this place, almost a small city. Various makeshift sheds and tents were densely packed like parasites attached to the body of a crab, and the bustling traffic was not worse than some blocks in the lower nest.

However, when Hayes followed the address, asked a bunch of people, and found his way there, what came into his sight was just a pile of charred ruins at the end of the alley.

"Who are you looking for?"

At that moment, a door opened on one side of the alley, and an old man with a broom walked out.

"Excuse me, is this the Habry family's place?"

Hearing Hayes mention Habry, the old man was stunned, then shook his head, sighed, and walked to the pile of ruins.

"Little Habry was a good kid. How could those bastards be so cruel to grab him to be a soldier?"

"This is—"

The old man wiped away his tears and shook his head.

"This is the Habry couple's home. The couple's health was not good to begin with. Mrs. Habry was bedridden all year round. After Little Habry was taken away, Mrs. Habry sat at the door every day waiting for him to come back. Old Habry had to take care of her and scavenge to support the family. As a result, a year after Little Habry was taken away, it was said that the stove might have caught fire. It was when everyone was sleeping. By the time they found out, the fire was already big. The couple couldn't escape. When they were found, Old Habry was still holding his wife tightly. He probably fell a few meters away from the door. Alas, it was terrible. They also had a photo with Little Habry in their arms. It was a photo that the child had specially asked someone to take for the couple when he picked up a recycled motor. He was really a filial child. I don't know how sad he will be when he comes back and sees this. Uh, you are—"

Hayes clenched his fists tightly. Suddenly, he turned around and punched the wall next to him hard.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!

!!!"

He roared and punched the wall, as if he was attacking some non-existent enemy, scaring the old man, who shrank his head and took several steps back.

"Hayes! Hayes!"

Jialinna and Andina quickly pulled him from the left and right. At this time, the wall had been smashed with shallow pits by his prosthetic limb. The white lime peeled off, revealing the bricks inside, and there were still blood stains, which were left by Hayes's other fist.

"Don't do this, Hayes—"

"Why, sob sob sob—why is this happening—"

Hayes lowered his head and sobbed, his forehead against the wall, slowly kneeling on the ground.

"It shouldn't be like this, everyone, everyone has sacrificed so much, dedicated so much, it shouldn't be like this—"

His two wives squatted beside him and watched him like this, and they also shed tears of distress, but they still tried their best to comfort him.

After a long while, Hayes asked the old man about the location where the Habry couple were buried. After the other party learned that Hayes was Habry's comrade-in-arms and the news of Habry's sacrifice, he insisted on taking him there himself.

It was a desolate cemetery, buried with souls that no one cared about. The couple even shared a tomb, and their tombstone was also made by old neighbors, just two very simple crosses, and the photo they protected until their death was nailed to Mrs. Habry's tombstone.

Taking the mottled and somewhat charred photo, Hayes saw a pair of kind couples sitting in chairs, and Habry, covered in hair, wearing a leather jacket, stood behind the couple with a smile, putting his hands on his adoptive parents' shoulders.

Hayes took a deep breath, took out Habry's expedition manual and his dog tag, as well as the savings he had saved for his adoptive parents, squatted down, dug a hole in the ground with his hands, put the things inside, and buried them with soil again.

The wind was always howling, and the scarred warrior was also howling—