sbdcsierra Chapter 488 Amazing! (Page 12)
Chapter 488 Amazing! (Page 12)
The entire underground space had been transformed into a massive open-air barbecue party! Loud music filled the air, the aroma of meat wafted through the air, the smell of alcohol permeated the atmosphere, and laughter echoed everywhere! It created an absurd yet perfectly harmonious contrast to the previous cold and somber atmosphere!
"Eating alone is no fun! Let's play a drinking game! Whoever loses drinks!" After a few drinks, Baili Pangpang was even more excited and rolled up his sleeves to shout.
"Fist-guessing? I, Old Sun, am an expert!" Sun Wukong immediately perked up, slamming the wine jar on the ground. "Come on! Who goes first?!"
"I'll go first! I'm the King of Wine in Cangnan!" Baili Pangpang retorted defiantly.
"Five champions! Six six six!"
"Eight horses! You two are really good buddies!"
"Hahaha! You lost! Drink!"
"Come again!"
In an instant, the shouts of drinking games, the crisp sound of clinking glasses, laughter, and music all blended together, creating a lively and festive atmosphere!
Lin Qiye looked at the scene before him,
A slight smile involuntarily crept onto his lips. Having experienced the devastation of Asgard...
In this oppressive, war-torn land filled with betrayal and death, this pure and passionate relaxation feels like a healing balm, quietly soothing the weariness and wounds in everyone's hearts.
He picked up a skewer of roasted corn that Jialan handed him, took a bite, and the sweet, fragrant juice burst in his mouth. He then picked up the warm yellow wine that Zhang Yun offered and sipped it gently.
A warm current flowed into my stomach, dispelling the chill from the ground.
An Qingyu even manipulated the robotic arm to hand Lin Qiye a virtual glow stick: "Captain, the atmosphere team needs you."
Lin Qiye: "..." He silently took it and waved it twice without expression.
Cao Yuan watched Lin Qiye waving a glow stick, his lips twitched slightly, and he silently turned his head away, his shoulders shrugging slightly.
"Hey! Old Cao! Don't just watch! Come and play a couple of rounds!" Baili Pangpang, his face red and neck thick from drinking, pulled Cao Yuan over.
Cao Yuan looked resistant: "I don't know how..."
"If you don't know, I'll teach you! It's simple! It's just... Oh! You play this! I play this! See! You lost! Drink!" Baili Pangpang forced a lesson, then forced Cao Yuan to drink a cup.
Cao Yuan coughed a few times from the choking, and a rare hint of embarrassment appeared on his usually stern face.
Upon seeing this, everyone burst into even louder laughter.
Even Zhang Yun, who was usually taciturn, couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Cao Yuan's embarrassed state. He picked up the wine pot and filled his cup again: "Calm down."
Cao Yuan: "..." He silently picked up his cup.
The atmosphere grew increasingly lively, increasingly...unrestrained.
However, just as the party was in full swing, and everyone was almost forgetting where they were—
Buzz…!
A very slight, yet seemingly direct, cold and majestic fluctuation of thought swept across the entire underground space like an invisible ripple!
This fluctuation was extremely subtle; if not for the exceptional perception of everyone present, it would have been almost impossible to detect!
The music seemed to pause for a moment.
Baili Pangpang and Sun Wukong, who were playing rock-paper-scissors, both paused at the same time.
Lin Qiye's hand, which was holding up the cup, paused slightly, and the Eternal Night Domain instinctively contracted a little.
Cao Yuan, An Qingyu, Zhang Yun, and Jialan also instantly became alert, their sharp gazes sweeping across the cold metal walls around them.
The feeling... was like having one or many pairs of... ancient, majestic pairs of...
Yet, a hint of helplessness and... a touch of envy lingered in their eyes as they silently watched their barbecue party at the sacred training base.
Baili Pangpang blinked and lowered his voice to Sun Wukong beside him, "Brother Monkey... can you feel it? It seems like... someone is spying on us?"
Sun Wukong blinked his fiery eyes, picked at his ear, and waved his hand dismissively: "Hey! It must be that kid Li Kengqiang who said it, and those other 'old guys'! Let them watch! Let them be envious! Who told them not to come out and join in the fun!"
He deliberately raised his voice and shouted to the open space around him, "Hey! You guys hiding in the shadows! Come out and grab a couple of drinks! This monkey liquor is really strong! You won't find it again!"
All around was silent, except for the music that stubbornly continued to play.
The chilling fluctuations of thought seemed... to have intensified, carrying a silent condemnation of "What an indecent act!"
Lin Qiye sighed and gave An Qingyu a wink.
An Qingyu understood and quietly turned down the music volume.
Baili Pangpang shrank back and muttered under his breath, "Well, I've angered the old leaders... I'd better keep a low profile..."
After the brief interlude, the party atmosphere subsided slightly, but the joy remained.
Delicious food, fine wine, good friends, relaxation... all of this was so precious to the Nightfall Squad, who had just crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
They temporarily set aside their worries about the future and the heavy burdens on their shoulders, and fully enjoyed this rare, stolen leisure time.
As for those heroic spirits who might be glaring and berating each other in the shadows?
Hmm... let's just consider them special guests at the party!
After all, before the real hellish training begins, this unexpected and quirky barbecue party might just be the recharge and healing they need most.
I just wonder what kind of expression "Brother Qiang" Li Kengqiang will have when he sees this training ground littered with cups and plates and reeking of alcohol tomorrow morning...
Thinking of this, even Lin Qiye's lips curled into a very faint, mischievous smile.
Let's revel tonight.
...
On the edge of a deserted island, atop a steep, black reef.
The night wind howled, whipping up icy seawater that crashed against the jagged rocks.
It shattered into countless white bubbles.
Thick fog rolled and surged on the distant sea, swallowing up the starlight and moonlight from the sky.
Only boundless darkness and deathly silence remained.
Compared to the lively and fragrant barbecue party in the underground space, this place seemed like another world—lonely, cold, and oppressive.
A figure was lazily leaning against a boulder smoothed by the waves.
Still wearing that flashy pinkish-purple floral shirt,
Her neckline was wide open, but she had changed into a pair of brightly colored beach shorts.
She was wearing a pair of flip-flops.
He was wearing sunglasses that covered half his face, and he even had a cigar with sparks dangling from his mouth... I don't know where he got it from.
It was none other than the head instructor, Li Kengqiang.
He tilted his head, his sunglasses slipping slightly down.
Only one eye was visible.
He gazed with great interest into the depths of the island... at the lively party scene, which he could still clearly "perceive" despite being separated by thick layers of rock and metal barriers.
"Tsk tsk tsk... These little brats... they really know how to have fun!" He clicked his tongue, his tone unreadable, neither critical nor envious.
"Roasted whole lamb? Ice-cold beer? Century-old monkey wine? And karaoke? Damn... this is way more luxurious than when I was leading my brothers on the border, eating compressed biscuits and drinking rainwater!"
He could almost "see" Baili Pangpang dancing and playing drinking games, and "hear" Sun Wukong howling at the top of his lungs.
You can "smell" the tempting aroma of roasted meat and the rich fragrance of wine... and even "feel" the long-lost, pure and passionate joy emanating from those young people.
It was something...something he had lost for far too long.
Just then, the space around him rippled slightly, like water rippling.
A figure appeared silently beside him.
The person who came was wearing clothes that had been washed until they were faded.
The old-fashioned night watchman uniform, however, was ironed extremely flat.
His posture was as upright as a pine tree, his face resolute, and his eyes as sharp as an eagle's.
His brows were etched with the marks of time and hardship, and he exuded an aura of quiet authority and ruthless power.
It was Nie Jinshan, another member of the [Heroic Spirit] squad.
Nie Jinshan remained silent, simply observing the revelry unfolding on the island, much like Li Kengqiang.
His resolute face was expressionless, except for a barely perceptible ripple in the depths of his deep eyes.
After a long silence, Nie Jinshan finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse, like two rough rocks rubbing against each other:
"Why don't you... join them?"
Upon hearing this, Li Kengqiang chuckled, exaggeratedly shrugged, and pointed to his semi-transparent body, which appeared somewhat ethereal in the moonlight:
"Old Nie, what kind of international joke are you talking about? Me, joining them? What would I, an old ghost who's been dead for decades, do? I'll just stay here and enjoy the atmosphere!"
He patted his chest self-deprecatingly: "Besides, with our heroic spirit bodies, drinking is like drinking water, we don't feel a thing! We don't even blush when we lose at rock-paper-scissors! What's the point? Wouldn't going there just spoil their fun?"
Nie Jinshan remained silent for a moment, his gaze still fixed on the depths of the island, and slowly said, "They... are very similar to the soldiers you led back then."
A very simple sentence.
But it was like an invisible, rusty key that suddenly... pierced into the deepest part of Li Kengqiang's heart, into that rusty box that he himself had locked tightly with layers of cynicism and banter!
The smile on Li Kengqiang's face froze instantly.
The look in his eyes behind the sunglasses suddenly became incredibly complex. There was reminiscence, pain, deep longing, and... an indelible sadness etched into his soul.
The cigar in his mouth disappeared silently.
He slowly lowered his head, looking at his illusory hands that could not truly touch the waves, and remained silent for a long, long time.
The sea breeze howled as it passed through his body, unable to lift even a wisp of his clothing.
"...Does it look similar?" His voice became hoarse, carrying an indescribable weariness. "Yes...the same youth, the same fearlessness, the same... entrusting their backs to their comrades, the same... finding joy in hardship in dire straits..."
Before his eyes, those vivid and radiant smiling faces, long since blurred in the river of time, seemed to reappear... those brothers who had followed him through life and death, but ultimately remained forever in a foreign land, their remains never to be found...
“But Lao Nie…” Li Kengqiang’s voice lowered, with a barely perceptible tremor, “What’s the use of looking like him…?”
"Back then... I couldn't protect them..."
"Right now... I just hope... that these little brats in front of me... can really grow up... grow strong and sturdy... stronger, tougher, and more resilient than us old guys!"
His fist clenched silently, then clenched weakly.
"Sometimes... I really want... I really want to get drunk again..." He raised his head, looking at the pitch-black sky without a single star, his voice as soft as a dream, "Drunk to the point of unconsciousness...drunk to the point of...being able to see them again...even just...one more glance..."
Nie Jinshan slowly turned his head, looking at the person beside him who was usually unruly, but now seemed to have all his energy drained away.
The old comrade, left with only endless desolation and loneliness, moved his resolute lips slightly, but in the end... he couldn't say anything.
He simply reached out his hand, that equally illusory palm, and patted Li Kengqiang's shoulder with extreme heaviness and gentleness.