Barbaros, Northern Mountains, cemetery outside the old stronghold.
Now.
.
The sky is always cloudy.
A poisonous fog enveloped the planet.
In the Death Guard cemetery, rows of wooden crosses stood in neat silence.
Next to the nine newly buried wooden crosses, the cool smell of the soil was faintly palpable.
Hades was standing in front of a wooden cross tombstone, and Lysa was standing beside him, sobbing softly.
Around him, next to other crosses, were other people standing in mourning.
There are three groups and nine people in total for this transportation mission.
The first group was completely wiped out under the high-saturation bombardment of artillery and the intelligence was lost.
The last melee fighter of the second group crawled back to the headquarters after his teammates died and his legs were blown off, and the intelligence was delivered safely.
Finally, he died in the Death Guard's medical department due to infection in his legs.
The third group, two people sacrificed their lives, escorting the shooter to deliver intelligence. The shooter was eventually found by Hades who was patrolling at night in the farmland farthest from the command center, and the intelligence was delivered safely.
The shooter died from loss of blood.
At this point, everyone was dead and the intelligence was delivered safely.
The low sobs of others could be heard by Hades from time to time, but Hades seemed to be oblivious to the people around him, staring blankly at the cross in front of him.
The Death Guard believe in silent death and reincarnation, and these wooden crosses will soon disappear in the corrosion of Barbarus's poison gas and acid rain.
When the last cross corpse disappears from this vast land, when the sorrow begins to be forgotten,
The land will be replanted, and the wheat that sustains the lives of the people of Barbaros will silently replace these crosses that symbolize unyielding perseverance.
Those wheats will grow vigorously and silently until they are cut by the sickle, ending their silent life.
Just like the Barbaros.
Death is common in Babarus.
Death is not worth grieving.
It's just a daily routine for the people of Babarus.
Every Barbarus knows this in his heart.
.
An elderly couple came over and stopped in front of a cross. The mother cried and the father smiled. They did not regret that their child sacrificed himself for justice.
Even though they are standing here at this moment, in front of their son's tombstone, their hearts are buried in pain.
.
A young boy stood beside another cross, holding a crude sickle issued by the Death Guard in his hand, and swore in a low voice.
He has vowed to avenge his brother, and he is about to enter the official operations department of the Death Guard.
The spark of revenge burned in the boy's dim eyes.
.
A tall warrior stood silently in front of a cross.
Speechless.
.
An exhausted woman hugged her two children tightly and cried in restraint.
A family still needs support, she cannot fall down.
Your fathers fought for a future for you free of oppression.
Children, remember, remember all this.
.
A young girl burst into tears, cursing the aliens and her lover who was determined to go to the front line.
"Why did you abandon me?!"
"We agreed to leave together! In three days, my order to go to the front line will be issued. Why did you run away first?!"
she yelled, covering her head with her hands in despair, falling to her knees, her wild hair exploding from between her fingers.
.
There are still a few tombs with no living people in front of them.
The person lying here is the last one in a family.
.
The dull sound of footsteps was heard, and even on the soft black soil, the footsteps were clearly audible.
"Please accept my condolences."
The tall figure of the Primarch appeared in people's sight.
Mortarion was wearing a grey half-cloak, underneath which was his ordinary simple combat uniform, without any decoration, all in plain colour.
Behind him followed Calastyphon and two other Death Guard guards.
Whenever a Death Guard member died, Mortarion would take the time to comfort the family.
If he was too busy to spare time, he would ask his guards to do it.
The people at the cemetery were all attracted by the tall and solemn Primarch. The aura of the Primarch added a bit of solemnity to the originally sad scene.
The charisma of the Primarch was indescribable, and the people on the tomb spontaneously came to Mortarion, waiting to be comforted with heavy hearts.
They need to be told that it all makes sense.
"The soldiers performed their mission heroically."
"Even when faced with the cunning sneak attacks of the aliens, they remained calm and completed their mission to the best of their ability."
"For this, I offer my deepest condolences and respect to the soldiers lying here."
Mortarion closed his eyes, faced the tombstones standing on the vast land, placed one hand on his chest, and mourned silently.
The three guards behind him also closed their eyes and saluted.
The families of the deceased suppressed their overflowing grief and began to mourn.
A sad and ignorant child, a grief-stricken and hysterical girl, a desperate and tough woman, an angry and strong boy, an indifferent but dedicated soldier, a sad and self-aware couple.
Be silent, people of Barbaros.
As a tiny member of this vast universe, as a dot in this grand romantic story,
As small as an ant and as lowly as mud.
You lower your heads due to hard work all day, but you are tenacious warriors who are moving forward.
No sacrifice is too small to be despised, no effort too insignificant to be scorned.
After all, the fighting spirit of resistance burns in your humble but unyielding chests!
The living remain silent, paying the utmost respect to the dead who fearlessly face death.
The silence ended, and Mortarion squatted down and talked carefully with the families of the deceased.
He comforted crying children, encouraged the warriors on the march, and promised the weary women.
The hope was small, but it was like tiny ripples, spreading outward layer by layer with Mortarion as the center.
Sad, but still hopeful.
Because they know that all of this is meaningful and worthwhile.
Mortarion promised them the future they hoped for.
After hope comes fighting spirit.
In order not to disappoint the deceased, and to move towards the tomorrow we hope for together.
Hades stood there, stunned.
The image of Herrera's death struggle still echoed before his eyes.
There is no unwillingness as imagined, only the tenacity as a soldier to complete the mission.
Hades knew about Herrera's feelings for him.
He obviously knew it.
However, the girl's gratitude to her savior did not develop into a romantic relationship, but instead became the driving force that supported her in fighting.
"Thank you, I can take one last look at you"
"Please do your best. I believe Hades can lead everyone to liberate this land."
The warriors of Barbarus believed so much in the bright future.
Herrera is an inconspicuous microcosm among the thousands of them.
She has her own love affairs, but she is still not afraid of sacrifice for the liberation of this land.
Hades felt bitter in his mouth.
Alienity must be destroyed and oppression overthrown.
With the delivery of the strategic map, the Death Guard's full-scale preparations for war are about to begin.
The final battle with the alien lord Nakre is approaching.
Time is running out.
.
Herrera's last words echoed in my ears
Herrera.
But this world is always so cold and ruthless
The dead are gone, and the living take over the dead's wishes for the future and continue to struggle in the world.
Hatred, anger, and the desire to change the future are mixed together.
Time is running out.
Hades knew that he should make final preparations.
I have revised the article to the extreme, but my writing skills are still not good enough, so I apologize here (;Д｀)
In fact, the interaction between Herrera and Hades was originally 9k words long, but at the suggestion of readers, I urgently revised the original manuscript, deleted 5k words, and completely changed the outline of this part.
After being suggested by readers, the author realized that this is a big poison point (;Д｀)
Getting up in the middle of the night to edit the article (_)
The following 10,000-word manuscript is completely wasted (;Д｀)
Your comments are also welcome.
Happy reading everyone.
(End of this chapter)