Chapter 131: Purgatory
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the afternoon, the sun was bright and the cold wind blew.
On a cliff, the Hummer stopped. Kang De held the map and faced the endless plain in front of him for a long time. His back was silent like a mountain, like a statue.
“…”
“…”
Kang De raised the map and looked at it for a long time without saying anything.
He thought to himself,?D*mn, I seem to have gone overboard…
It had to be said that this map was really too lousy.
Moreover, in order to avoid the possible pursuit and spies of the Empire, Kang De specially walked through desolate and remote places. He went straight into the forest and crossed the river. Wherever he passed, there was almost no one. Or rather, this was another world. There were not many people, and the development was not good.
The probability of revealing his whereabouts was almost zero.
However, there was no place to ask for directions. He could not determine the location and could only walk west.
Then, perhaps,?perhaps, he had gone overboard.
He looked at the surrounding environment again and scratched his head. “We seem to have arrived in Goethe. D*mn…”
Previously, he had already planned that after arriving at the border, he would not cross the border first. Instead, he would search for the nearby imperial city and choose a fat pig to kill—it would be best if it was a fat pig raised by the Eldest Prince.
In any case, he had to do something.
This was because Uncle Kang urgently needed some gold coins to sell on Earth. After all, buying a house required a large amount of financial support. It was impossible for him to always live off Old Wang, and he did not have the time to do business…
Since ancient times, what was the fast way to get money? Of course, it was robbery.
However, the plan was very good… but he had gone too far.
Unprofessional, too unprofessional.
The child’s voice sounded from behind, “Father, should we go back?”
In a flash, stormy thoughts flashed through Kang De’s mind.
He always felt that there was a faint mockery hidden in the Autobot’s tone. Of course, this was purely his imagination, but to pitiful humans who valued self-esteem, paranoia was the most common personality.
Therefore, Kang De thought that he could not admit the truth.
This damaged his dignity as a father.
Therefore, he let out a series of deep laughter.
“Go back? Why?” He asked.
The Autobot was stunned by the question. “Didn’t Father say that you wanted to rob the Empire’s city? Now that you have accidentally walked past and arrived in Goethe, you naturally have to return.”
Kang De snorted and smiled, “Naive, too naive. Do you think I accidentally walked over? No, I did it on purpose. Think about it, a few days have passed. That Eldest Prince will definitely have to deal with it. Perhaps all the cities on the western border of the Empire are covered in warrants now. Or rather, the officials have all received a secret order to pay attention to the Cathayans who entered the city. If I go now, won’t I be walking into a trap?”
The Autobot said in confusion, “Then Father, when you said that you wanted to do something…”
Kang De’s expression did not change as he said, “Of course, we have to do something, but we have to do it no matter what we do. We’ll temporarily spare the Empire. It’s fine to snatch the elves. These elves are the hegemons of the world and are willful. They do what they do to suck blood from the entire world. It’s even more natural to snatch the elves. Just like how we’ll borrow things from the American military base in the future, we’ll also borrow them for the vast working people of the world…”
The Autobot was still puzzled. “But Father clearly said to go to that city to rob it…”
Kang De did not answer. After a moment of silence, he said kindly, “Child, have you been very free these past two days? If you have mastered the old knowledge, do you want to learn some new skills and knowledge?”
The Autobot seemed to understand something and immediately said, “…Father, let’s continue on our way.”
“Uh-huh.”
After getting into the car, with the rumbling engine, the exhaust smoke and dust flew together. After crossing the mountain and entering the territory of Goethe, the terrain gradually flattened, but it seemed to be a little desolate.
Tina and Knight Cleveland had once told Kang De about the situation in Goethe. The terrain was extremely complicated: forest, red soil, Gobi, mountains, grassland, and coast.
Although the territory was vast, there were also many lands that were not suitable for farming.
Kang De opened the car window and felt the roughness that assaulted his face. This land could nurture a beautiful girl like Tina, as well as good people like the knight who adhered to their duty and had extremely strong morals. Apart from that, it had also given birth to heroic and fearless people like Captain Oswald and Head Maid Bedolla.
He muttered, “Goethe…”
He was curious about this land and had a good impression of it.
This was because his initial understanding of the other world was that these people of Goethe had experienced the initial misunderstanding and conflict. Then, they turned enemies into friends and fought side by side. Then, he personally saw the fearlessness and sacrifice these people displayed in a dangerous situation… and that man’s request.
Now, this land was wreaked havoc by the elves.
He had to do something.
It was not only his promise to the knight.
Kang De said softly, “Entering Goethe is entering the domain of war… There’s going to be a war. Are you afraid?”
The Hummer did not slow down. The speaker sounded. The Autobot’s voice was deep and powerful, magnetic, and pleasant. One could not help but trust it.
It said, “Father, what do you mean by afraid?”
Kang De said softly, “I’m just afraid that something will happen… For example, I won’t be able to return to a place again. For example, my close friend died but I’m helpless. For example, I’ll be betrayed by others.”
“I don’t understand.” The Autobot said, “But if this emotion is fear… I’m only afraid of Father.”
Kang De glared at him and said, “I’m so kind and gentle. What’s there to be afraid of?”
The Autobot was silent for a moment before saying, “…It’s nothing. I’m saying that Father is very dignified.”
These words were a little untrue, but Kang De did not pursue the matter. Although he appeared to be wise in front of the Autobot, the current Kang De… was indeed a little nervous.
After all, it was war.
Even if he knew how cruel war was, even if he had never underestimated it,
However, personal experience and imagination were always two different things.
It was just like the first time he had fired a live bullet in his life. Even if he knew that the recoil of the gun was very strong, even if he was mentally prepared, when he really pulled the trigger and felt the violent and tyrannical recoil rumble, he would still be shocked and involuntarily shout the word “f*ck”.
Those who had not experienced war would never imagine the true appearance of war.
He slowly said, “War… Although I’ve never experienced war, I know that it’s the most terrifying thing in the world. You have to be mentally prepared…”
The Autobot did not understand what war was about. It had only seen a few Transformer movies. The war scenes in them were not so much war, but the US military showing off their muscles.
He did not understand.
However, the Autobot still said, “I understand… With Father around, there’s no problem.”
Kang De only smiled.
He said, “In short, let’s hurry on. We can relax a little here in Goethe. After all, it’s half a home ground. I’m still Goethe’s son-in-law. Haha… I don’t think anyone will believe me.”
After entering the territory of Goethe, the marching strategy changed. He wanted to find the nearest city and meet the Goethe bureaucrats in it to prove his identity and think of a way to convince them to use the national information transmission network of Goethe to send his news to Tina, who was far in the north, to let her know the good news.
“Therefore, let’s find the way… If we walk along the road, we can see the settlement.”
They traveled on the calm plain for an hour or two. The sun was setting and the evening light shone. The flat and wide dirt road came into view. With a road, it meant traces of civilization.
“Very good.”
Kang De said, “Walk along the main road and see if you can encounter pedestrians. Ask around.”
However, after driving for a long time, the scenery on both sides changed, but he did not see a single pedestrian—farmer, knight, noble, or merchant.
Kang De was puzzled.
After more than ten minutes, he perked up because he saw continuous farmland on the left of the road.
“There must be a village nearby!”
Kang De said, “If there’s a village, there must be a town or even a city supported by the village. Then…”
At this moment, the Autobot said, “Father, look, two o’clock!!”
Kang De was stunned. Then, he stuck his head out and his heart skipped a beat.
In the distance, rolling black smoke soared into the sky. The pillar of smoke was very thick and black. It was not smoke.
He said in a low voice, “Stay vigilant and go take a look!”
“Yes.”
The Autobot said, “To be safe… please wear armor, Father.”
Kang De nodded and crossed to the back seat. After the Hummer was enchanted, the body of the car became larger and the space was much larger. In the back seat, the mechanical arm took out the armor and put it on one by one.
The Hummer accelerated and rushed toward the black smoke. When it approached, Kang De saw the original appearance clearly. It was the… ruins of a village.
The carrion-eating vultures circled in the sky. When they saw the uninvited guest approaching, they cried out threateningly. Smoke billowed in the village, and many houses were burned to the ground, leaving only dark ruins.
Fruit trees, residences, taverns… He could vaguely recognize that a fire had ravaged this place and burned almost everything that could be burned, including living beings, corpses, buildings, and everything.
Kang De approached with his sword and gun. The Hummer did not change shape. Instead, it followed behind him in the form of a vehicle—a robot form could be used to launch a sudden attack.
Stepping on the black dust, Kang De walked into the village and saw the thing he was most unwilling to see.
Corpses, many corpses, were piled together and fell to the ground. The flames burned their corpses without restraint, looking miserable and sad. Did they burn after being killed or were they burned alive? Kang De did not want to take a closer look. There were still a few corpses hanging but not burned. Their bodies were exposed and their chests were engraved with bloody words. Although Kang De did not know the words of the other world, he could recognize them.
It was in the Elven language.
Such a scene was a punishment and a warning.
It was also… purgatory forged by war.
…
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