Chapter 2: The Ashen Barracks

  The people on the bustling streets or vendors were all shocked, everyone was in a panic, terrified and uneasy, shouting non-stop, the street was chaotic.

  Lin Lei still maintained a fearless expression, clenching his fists in anger, the wound on his head bleeding incessantly, dripping down his forehead, cheek, and onto the ground. His stubborn gaze was fixed on Redmond, the captain of the Imperial Guard, who had once coveted Green Castle, staring tightly at him without regard for the danger that was about to befall him.

  Just as the soldiers' long swords were about to fall, Captain Redmond suddenly nodded, and the two soldiers stopped in their tracks. The others also let out a sigh of relief and continued on their way.

  "Renn, congratulations on passing the soldier test, you can stay in the camp for training, what do you think?" Captain Redmond's words confused Lin Lei, thinking: Test? Stay in the camp for training? It turned out that he (the original Renn Green) was still a probationary imperial soldier, and if he didn't pass, even his meager soldier's income would be gone. No wonder he (the original Renn Green) had been staying in the castle all day, actually waiting for death.

  "It's an honor, Captain Redmond!" Lin Lei said with a slight bow.

  Raines' castle has been sold, and Raines contributed most of the proceeds to 'kind-hearted' Captain Redmond, a down-on-his-luck noble who would have had a hard time surviving without his patron.

  Captain Redmond's promise has also been fulfilled and Rain is now a proud Imperial soldier, starting his military training career.

  A small town on the outskirts of Kadi City, far from the Imperial Capital.

  Cannon fodder (suicide squad) military camp.

  The ones who participate in the training here are all low-ranking soldiers, that is to say, the gathering place of the "small soldier dare-to-die squad" who charges forward and kills enemies on the battlefield. After three months of training, they will be sent to the front line and become a batch of cannon fodder materials, and the name is also derived from this. The original names of the military camps have all been forgotten.

  After a long and arduous journey, he arrived at the town of Cardy and became an honored Imperial soldier. Before parting ways, Rain (the protagonist's name) thanked Captain Redmond profusely, although the military camp was far away (only a few thousand miles). However, when he entered the camp, his mood plummeted to its lowest point.

  The lifeless military camp was gloomy and depressing, with every soldier's face expressionless, mechanically performing various training movements, as if they had all become numb.

  "What's with the sloppy formation? What's with the lack of morale? Can soldiers like this really fight?" Ren's mind was filled with doubts as he entered the military camp and saw the training scene of hundreds of people.

  With the loud shout of the leader, these new soldiers entered the military barracks in a file, and then the squad leaders gave a lengthy explanation of the camp's rules and discipline.

  The team leader's lengthy speech finally came to an end, and everyone let out a long sigh of relief as they began searching for their beds. As expected, the frail Ren was squeezed into a remote corner, with the stinky toilet not far from his bed.

  The new recruits in the dormitory, after a long journey, were physically and mentally exhausted, simply cleaned up and lay down on their beds to start snoring.

  Sitting in front of the bed, leaning against the wooden wall, Rayne was wide awake.

  "Friend, hello! I am Rus Mud from Ikatown, may I ask who you are..." Just as Rain was lost in thought, he was interrupted by his companion.

  He looked over thirty years old, with a short brown beard and thick eyebrows, staring intently at himself with extremely kind and friendly eyes.

  "You, hello! I am Rain Green from Lost City!" Rain introduced himself, his thin body still slightly trembling, whether it was excitement or...

  "Renn Green? Are you Renn Green, the lifelong imperial soldier?" Russ suddenly exclaimed, his incredulous eyes scanning him up and down. The other companions were also awakened by the shout on the road, all looked up and stared at the thin Renn Green in the corner of the wall, some even curiously ran over to stare tightly at him.

  "Uh-huh!" Lain nodded, with an extremely astonished expression (not expecting his name to be so famous), his hands crossed over his chest, tightly wrapped around his shoulders, looking a bit fearful, and trembling all over.

  "Are you the survivor of the rebel Glin family?"

  "Rain. Green? What are you doing here? Although you're a lifelong professional imperial soldier, even if you don't fight, you can still receive a meager soldier's salary. Why come to this cannon fodder camp and charge into battle? Have you gone mad?"

  "It's just..."

  “……”

  Everyone in the dormitory looked at Rain Green with curiosity and discussed it enthusiastically.

  At this time, Laine finally understood what was going on. It turned out that in the end he was still ruthlessly 'sold out' by Captain Redmond and even forced him to the edge of danger. He was furious, but at this moment he had no tears to cry, and there was nothing he could do, because he had already enlisted in the new recruit book. The fate of a deserter is just one word - death!

  These soldiers who joined the 'cannon fodder' army camp were all poor ordinary people, and in order to get that meager allowance for settling their families, they had no choice but to risk their lives to come here (or were forcibly conscripted), if they could survive on the battlefield, they would be promoted to become a regular soldier, no longer having to charge forward like cannon fodder.

  War is cruel, with hundreds of cannon fodder, how many can survive? To survive among the numerous cannon fodders is not easy at all. However, as long as there's a glimmer of hope, they will persevere, risking their lives, just to let their loved ones barely get by (how great is the human spirit?).

  These soldiers were mostly young, and even had white-haired old men. Rayn understood why they enlisted, and the doubts in his heart were also dispelled. The seeds of hatred were deeply buried in his heart, gradually taking root.

  Now Ren still understands one thing, that everyone for the Green family's rebellion did not have any complaints, but instead cared about the rebels' descendants, namely Rayn. Greene, and even expressed sympathy for his enlistment. The subsequent discussion made Ren understand what was going on.

  The Kastel Empire has been at war year after year, causing the people to suffer and be unable to live in peace. The citizens are displaced and have to risk being conscripted into the army. Behind the empire's prosperity lies a precarious situation, with widespread discontent among the population. The rebellion by the Green family is also deeply rooted in popular sentiment, but they face a powerful imperial force that outmatches them.

  "Emergency assembly!" Suddenly, a loud commotion came from outside, followed by the sound of footsteps, just chaotic and disorderly footsteps. The dormitory immediately fell silent, everyone holding their breath, some people even secretly opened the window, revealing a small gap, looking out and quietly reporting what they saw.

  "Can't you guys move any faster, xxx?"

  "Come on, come on, hurry up!"

  “……”

  The chaotic footsteps finally stopped, and then a thick voice sounded in the field, which could be heard clearly even through the thin wooden board.

  "Silence! Silence! Soldiers, three months of training have come to an end. We are about to rush to the border and prepare for battle. Do you all have confidence?" The instructor, fully armored and wearing a bright red cloak, rallied their spirits.

  "Yes!" A weak voice came from the queue, and then fell back into silence.

  "Alright! Let's go!"... followed by a sigh of resignation.

  The troops left the military camp in a majestic manner, leaving the training ground empty and desolate. At this moment, the fierce wind howled, extremely solemn and tragic, as if it was bidding farewell to these 'brave warriors'.

  "They're gone! Rushing into battle!" someone said with an especially sorrowful expression.

  The atmosphere in the dormitory was very depressing. Everyone looked at each other and sighed, because after three months, it would be their turn to rush onto the battlefield.

  Why is the atmosphere in the military camp so depressing, why are the soldiers being trained so perfunctorily, with dull expressions and a sense of hopelessness? It turns out that they are about to go into battle, these "dead men" will soon become cannon fodder, can they be happy? Can they be excited?

  The barracks are temporary, just three months of training, one batch comes and goes, if an emergency situation arises, they are ready to go out at any time, charge into battle, this is their fate, the fate of cannon fodder.

  The 'cannon fodder' army camp is indeed living up to its name.