Tagging Along as Cannon Fodder

“Miss Yanlan, when do we set off?”

“Right now.”

As she spoke, the soldiers around us had already set up the tents, integrated their squads, and prepared to march down the main road toward the city center.

“Mhm…”

I nodded. I was ready to follow the soldiers. The faster we get this done, the better.

I still remembered the Leader’s words. In the heavy radiation zone, I had to take one anti-radiation pill every hour. This meant the side effects would be constantly ravaging my body…

Sigh…

With a heavy sigh, I prepared to fall in with the troops.

“Wait, Miss Qin Yue, are you sure you don’t want a gun? If I remember correctly, you have absolutely no combat ability.”

Although it hurt my pride a bit, there was no doubt Su Yanlan was stating a fact. I truly didn’t even have the ability to protect myself.

Seeing me stunned, Su Yanlan turned around, went into one of the newly pitched tents, and brought out a gun for me. Along with the gun, she handed me two full magazines, not counting the one already loaded.

That meant I had a total of three full magazines. These must have been scavenged from the dead soldiers earlier and gathered for central distribution.

“Thank you, Miss Yanlan.”

After thanking her, I slung the gun over my back, stuffed the magazines into my pockets, and looked at her quietly.

Perhaps, instead of following a large squad of soldiers, sticking close to a cyborg like Su Yanlan would be safer?

She was arranged to be here by Zhou Qiuqin anyway, so she must be heading out to collect things too, right?

My fever-addled brain finally realized: if I had left with the soldiers just now, would I have missed my chance with Su Yanlan?

Looking around, the squads of soldiers that had just assembled were already on the move. In a short time, they had advanced dozens of meters, leaving only a dozen or so soldiers behind to guard the camp.

“Hmm… Miss Qin Yue, aren’t you going with the soldiers? The places we cyborgs are heading are much more dangerous.”

Saying this, she pulled me into an embrace again. Scenting me once more…

I didn’t mind, though. Suffering from a fever, a warm embrace was actually quite nice.

When Su Yanlan goes crazy, she’s terrifying, but normally… she doesn’t seem like an avenger at all. She’s incredibly gentle.

“It’s fine… It’s exactly because it’s dangerous that I want to follow you, Miss Yanlan. If we run into real danger, I can even block a hit for you.”

I looked up at her with a smile.

An absolute lie, of course. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to take a bullet or a claw for anyone. Only an utter fool would do that.

I was just saying sweet things she might like to hear. Following the soldiers would be the most dangerous route. I didn’t know them; I felt they’d treat me as a burden and ditch me halfway. Then I’d die from some unknown creature’s attack.

“Well, alright then.”

For a split second, less than a second, Su Yanlan’s eyes seemed to freeze, but they quickly returned to normal.

She released me. I raised my hand to my nose and sniffed. Sure enough, I smelled like Su Yanlan again…

The familiar scent of lavender.

Behind us, slow footsteps approached. It was Qin Dai and two other cyborgs.

“Miss Su Yanlan, it’s time to go.”

Qin Dai spoke coldly. She crossed her arms, her silver mechanical arm as conspicuous as ever.

“Mhm.”

Su Yanlan nodded and joined their formation, silently bringing up the rear. I followed, sticking closely behind Su Yanlan.

“Wait, you’re bringing her?”

Qin Dai acted as if she had seen something unbelievable. She yanked me out from behind Su Yanlan and threw me to the ground.

A burst of pain. I shouldn’t have fallen so easily, but the fever made my legs weak.

“Yes, Miss Qin Yue will be joining us.”

Saying this, Su Yanlan reached out, pulled me up from the ground, and carefully brushed the snow off my padded coat.

“Qin Dai, is this person just an ordinary human?”

From the group, a dark-skinned man wearing a brown jacket and light blue jeans asked.

He had a buzz cut, and his small, dark eyes held a hint of annoyance. He also possessed a mechanical arm, but on his left side.

Beside him stood a woman.

She had a brown ponytail, wore a short-sleeved shirt and a short skirt, and had tanned skin. I didn’t see any visible signs of mechanical modification on her.

“Jack, no. She doesn’t even qualify as an ordinary human. She’s dead weight, worse than a normal person. Even with a gun, she’s just trash.”

In front of a man and woman I didn’t know, Qin Dai mercilessly degraded me.

I could only smile awkwardly, my fingers involuntarily twisting together. Anyone would feel somewhat uncomfortable being humiliated like that.

Uncomfortable as it was, I didn’t dare speak up.

By the way, “Jack”? That name felt a bit weird. I didn’t remember anyone by that name in our camp.

“This is Mr. Jack and Ms. Li Li. They are cyborgs from the neighboring ‘Spring’ camp. This trip to Tongda is a joint operation between the two camps.”

Su Yanlan seemed to notice my confusion. She brought her lips close to my ear and explained softly.

“Ahem.”

Qin Dai coughed twice, apparently disgusted by Su Yanlan being so close to me, and yanked me away from her again.

My muddled brain couldn’t quite keep up with the situation.

“If she’s as useless as you say, why is she part of this operation?”

Mr. Jack grew even more dissatisfied.

“Hmph, who knows? Anyway, this person is our Leader’s paramour. It wouldn’t be good if she died.”

Qin Dai still despised me as much as ever. Regardless, she didn’t want me following the cyborg team.

“Tch… Your Leader is certainly a strange one.”

Why would she send her own lover out to die? Jack couldn’t understand it.

“If that’s the case, it’s better if she stays here… wouldn’t want to upset your Leader later.”

The woman named Li Li finally spoke up.

“…”

Silence fell.

Did I want to follow Su Yanlan just to speed up the process of collecting guns?

Obviously not. Frankly, I didn’t know any of the soldiers; they couldn’t be trusted. The only person I could somewhat talk to was Su Yanlan.

Oh… and Qin Dai, although she couldn’t stand the sight of me.

Standing there, I squeezed my fingers, at a loss for what to do.

Three out of the four cyborgs didn’t want me to tag along. What should I do? Could I only stay here, staring blankly at a group of strangers, waiting to die?

“Let’s bring her. If we encounter danger, she can scout ahead…”

In the end, Su Yanlan stepped in to bail me out. She pulled me behind her again. Her words weren’t pretty, but it was the only argument that could convince these people.

Hearing Su Yanlan’s reasoning, Jack thought for a moment and readily agreed. Since the cyborgs from our camp didn’t care if Zhou Qiuqin would be angry, they naturally had no reason to worry either.

Qin Dai and Li Li gave Su Yanlan a deep look but didn’t say anything more.