bookbashuk Page 9
Page 9
He then continued to impart knowledge to the two new beast girls: "The sound of heavy artillery may sound frightening, but you don't actually need to pay too much attention to it. The biggest threat comes from the small-caliber shells, which make a 'buzzing' sound."
"If it's hard to tell at first, just watch me. When I lie down, you all lie down immediately. Of course, it would be even better if you could be a little faster than me, haha."
Little Horse and Little Sheep nodded solemnly, but there was still a hint of doubt in their eyes—probably wondering why he could still laugh in this situation.
Not long after, several wrecked trucks came into view by the roadside, and then a new order was issued: "Put out all your cigarettes."
The column was very close to the front-line trenches. After the smoke had completely died down, it was pitch black all around. People had to strain their eyes to carefully observe the ground ahead, and warnings could be heard from time to time.
There's a bomb crater over here.
"Watch out! The telephone line!"
"Stay close to the person in front of you, or you'll fall into the ditch by the roadside."
……
Fully armed and carrying barbed wire on their backs, the soldiers' nerves were beginning to slacken from exhaustion. In this situation, the best stimulant, of course, was enemy artillery fire—
A sudden "whoosh" sound rang out, and the recruits who had just heard the whistling of artillery shells were immediately frightened and fell to the ground in large numbers.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
An explosion rang out not too far away, but it did not harm the marching troops at all. However, this did not stop the new recruits from huddling together and trembling like frightened fledglings.
The veterans stood out like cranes among chickens among a group of lying new recruits, looking up at the dark sky as if trying to find the trajectory of the shells.
As expected, before Troy could stop him, the pony had already plunged into the embrace of the earth.
Payne gave up trying to stop the lamb, letting her grip his clothes tightly with both hands. Her legs went weak with fear, and she collapsed onto him, unable to stand up for a long time.
Lacey and Ruby also looked at the two beasts with expressions of affection for the innocent and adorable newcomers.
With things having come to this, Payne was too lazy to say anything more. He picked the lamb up from the ground, patted her helmet, and said encouragingly, "Don't be nervous. This is how it is on the front lines. You'll get used to it after a while."
At this moment, Xiao Ma also stood up from the ground, sighed, and said, "This is really not a job for humans..."
Ruby pouted. "It's not a job for beasts either."
“Even the most inhuman jobs have to be done.” Payne shrugged resignedly and pointed ahead, saying:
"Alright, quiet down. We'll reach the trenches once we cross that grove of trees. Keep your heads down so the enemy snipers don't spot you. Ruby, give me the barbed wire. Go up to the tree and keep an eye on the surroundings."
"I've already told you I'm not a nocturnal animal..."
Despite uttering a complaint, Ruby remained reliable on the battlefield. She dropped the barbed wire and scurried up the tree, quickly disappearing into the dark canopy. All that could be heard was a rustling sound.
"Then, the biggest test of the night is about to begin..."
Chapter 13 XIII. Urinating in Fright (Physics)
After the troops marched several dozen meters through the grove of trees, there were no more obstacles in front of them, and the vast front line finally appeared before the recruits.
Naturally, you can hardly see anything in complete darkness.
Payne stared intently at the bare earth riddled with holes from the artillery fire, finally making out the half-collapsed trenches. He immediately beckoned the beast girls over and whispered a reminder to them:
"Keep a low profile and keep your voice down no matter what you do here, understand? Okay, now take down the barbed wire and follow me slowly forward."
However, just as the four beast girls placed the rolls of barbed wire on the ground, they heard a soft "thump" sound coming from afar. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a bright spot in the sky, as if someone had hung an oil lamp there.
Payne sighed. He wanted to rush into Mother Earth's embrace first, but when he saw the pony and lamb staring blankly at the flare, he pulled the lamb into his arms and instructed Troy, "Don't just stand there, push the pony down."
"...Huh? Huh? What happened?! ...
The lamb then realized what had happened, and while making a primal bleating sound, it desperately pushed against Payne's chest.
To be honest, the beast girls are incredibly strong. Even the weaker, smaller sheep girl, was almost too much for Payne to catch.
Helpless, he could only try his best to control the lamb while pointing at the flare and saying, "Do you know what that means?"
"Wh...what?! Baa..." The lamb was still kicking its legs wildly in fear.
"Continuous fire attack!"
Before Payne could finish speaking, a faint, elusive bright red light stretched across the horizon, as if the sun had risen. It danced incessantly, occasionally disrupted by the flames spewing from the cannons.
A fireball shot above it, and the silver and red fireballs exploded into a shower of white, green, and red meteors that fell down.
The storm of artillery fire coalesced into a low, muffled boom, then dissipated into clusters of explosions. The monotonous salvo of machine guns rattled incessantly, the air filled with invisible pursuit, screeching, roaring, and howling, interspersed with the organ-like sounds of mortars and the massive, coal-box-like heavy artillery.
The surging shells ripped through the night sky, landing far behind people. The shattered shrapnel emitted a series of distant, profound, sharp, and hoarse roars, spreading a feast of death like blooming flowers.
Now Payne didn't need to put in any more effort. The tide of battle turned in an instant. The lamb immediately turned around and buried its head under his armpit, its body pressed tightly against his chest. The helmet was pushed off and fell to the side.
Payne was almost unable to move because of her strong arms, but the two of them were lying at the bottom of a crater, so it wasn't a big problem.
Because, generally speaking, shells will not fall into the same crater again—this is where the power of battlefield statistics is truly revealed.
If you can get hit by this, you'll definitely be reborn into a wealthy family in your next life.
Therefore, Payne simply let her shiver and press herself against him, and even had the leisure to reach out and pick up the helmet, putting it on her buttocks.
This wasn't a prank, because that was the most prominent part of the lamb's body (she was flat-chested). Although her skin was thick, if she were to get shot or hit by shrapnel, it would definitely hurt terribly. Not only would she have to stay in the hospital for several months, but she would also most likely become lame after the injury healed.
However, to be fair, if a hospital were to treat the lamb, she wouldn't necessarily die even if she became lame, because people only wanted her wool. Being lame wouldn't affect her wool growth.
Unlike the horse girl, who would definitely be abandoned if she couldn't do heavy work...
Thinking this, Payne sighed softly, stroking the little sheep's fluffy hair with one hand and patting its rump with the other under its helmet.
Although..., but..., ...
No wonder people say the succubus is based on a goat.
Moreover, the sheep hadn't yet been tainted by the stench of war; its hair still smelled dry and pleasant.
Payne thought that if all of this... and the lamb's horns didn't hurt him, then it would be perfect.
Thinking of this, his other hand... kneaded the dough...
......
The lamb remained oblivious, still clinging tightly to Payne, her body trembling violently.
Finally, after two minutes, the shelling stopped, and the world fell silent. Payne heard someone howl in pain; some unlucky soul must have been hit by flying shrapnel.
Payne tried to push the lamb away, but she clung tightly to him, so he had no choice but to check on the other beast girls' survival first.
"Lassie!"
"I'm fine!"
"Troy!"
"Xiao Ma and I are both fine!"
"Ruby!... Oh right, she went to do some scouting..."
"I'm back. Unharmed."
"It's good that you're not injured. Did you find anything?"
"none."
Ruby, passing by the edge of the crater, merely glanced down at Payne, who was entangled with the lamb, without any intention of helping him out, and walked away.
Only then did the lamb seem to finally realize that the shelling had ended; its body stopped trembling, and its arms slowly relaxed.
Payne took a deep, satisfying breath, pushed her shoulders to help her sit up, and said with a smile, "You made it, little one, we successfully passed one hurdle."
The little lamb slid down to the ground, looking around listlessly.
But suddenly, her face turned bright red, she carefully touched her buttocks with her hand, and looked up at Payne with a pained expression.
Payne remained calm. He knew what would happen in this situation, and he had already sensed it when he was groping her. So he calmly said:
"There's nothing shameful about it. Everyone has a first time, right? Many people who claim to be very brave get so scared when they're shelled for the first time that they wet their pants. Go ahead, go to the grove and take care of yourself a bit. We'll wait for you here."
The little lamb nodded shyly and was about to leave when Payne called out to it, "Wait a minute."
She turned her head and saw Payne take out a pair of pants and hand them to her. "These are clean. You can change into them later."
The lamb hesitated for a moment, then lowered its head and accepted the gift, before leaving in a disheveled state.
Watching her disappear into the dark woods, Payne clapped his hands and stood up. "Damn it, a pair of pants costs tens of thousands of points. Why don't you just rob someone... I need to find a way to recover some of my losses."
Ruby also saw the little lamb running towards the grove with a shameful expression, so she immediately gave Payne, who was walking over, a look of smug satisfaction: "What, you got the important business done in such a short time?"
"What a load of crap, she's not even in heat."
Payne lightly tapped her on the head. "She was just scared out of her wits, I just told her to go change her pants. But... I have to say, the feel of a sheep's ass is really nice."
Ruby narrowed her eyes. "She's already in such a sorry state, and you still won't let her go?"
Payne seemed completely unconcerned: "He's a herbivore, so his poop only smells a bit like grass and dirt. It's fine. Besides, it's through his pants..."
"Is that what I meant?!"
Chapter 14XIV. Ruby Refuses to Think
Compared to lambs, ponies seem to have much better endurance.
Payne saw that Troy helped her up from the ground and comforted her a little, and then she was able to walk independently.
Although she still looked a bit weak in the legs, her steps were somewhat unsteady.
Payne pulled Troy aside and whispered, "What do you think of her?"
"Hmm, quite clever, quick-witted." Troy nodded. "She's just a little unaccustomed to the battlefield; when the artillery fire comes, she instinctively throws herself at me."
"Okay, I understand. I'll talk to her about it later."
After the lamb emerged from the grove, the man and his five animals dragged the barbed wire and followed the main group, slowly crawling across the ravaged land.
They were to go to the frontmost trench and set up the barbed wire.
Halfway there, Payne deliberately climbed between the pony and the lamb, and turned to the pony first, saying, "I heard from Troy that you pounced on her when we were attacked?"
Xiao Ma immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, I got nervous..."