Having donned his glasses once more, his words and gaze seemed to sharpen considerably.
“You’ve surely heard about the large-scale offensive dozens of kilometers away, haven’t you? Our forces tore a gaping hole in the Lanforthian defenses, even deploying the general reserves to that front.”
Having swiftly finished slicing the vegetables, he deftly shifted the conversation from personal feelings to the ongoing war.
“I recall someone already relaying this news to you…”
“It was Liang Yu,” Lin Yu added.
“Ah, yes, that was a few days ago; the news had already spread across the front lines. But the truth is—after our forces breached the enemy’s first line of defense, they became re-entrenched in a stalemate with the enemy forty kilometers northwest of Tuo City.”
Commander Yang then fully apprised Lin Yu of the latest war developments: The Fourth Assault initiated by the Emperor had regrettably failed to achieve a strategic breakthrough.
The Diacla forces encountered fierce resistance from the Lanforthian army during their maneuver warfare; all units that had breached the defenses found themselves in the predicament of fighting an internal battle.
As the Lanforthians abandoned portions of their front-line trenches and retreated, any further attempts at encirclement operations became unfeasible.
The front lines would once again stabilize along the extended defensive perimeter, much like during the first year of the conflict.
This large-scale offensive, personally led by His Majesty the Emperor, would yield nothing more than dozens of square kilometers of shell-cratered red earth as its spoils of war, all at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties.
For the Diacla Army, with its quarter-million strong front-line force, this outcome was utterly unacceptable.
“Therefore, to break this deadlock and force the Lanforthians to redeploy their troops, tomorrow night, the General Staff will issue orders for a full-scale offensive. A full-scale offensive. Even ragtag units like ours must cooperate and launch an attack on the opposing trenches.”
“As for that… ‘First Special Assault Team’ you’ve been assigned to, the General Staff has issued explicit orders for them to spearhead the attack in this defensive sector.”
In other words, after two months, Lin Yu was once again to return to that hell.
“I… I have to go with the attack too!”
All weariness, exhaustion, and confusion vanished instantly.
Facing a future where she might have to charge into no-man’s-land, any thoughts of love or acceptance were completely cast aside.
Being harassed and pestered by Commander Yang, enduring his flirtatious glances every other day, was merely annoying and disgusting.
But charging into the Lanforthian trenches with a rifle… that would mean death.
Dying of disgust was merely a death of the heart.
But if a bullet tore through her chest, it would be her entire body that perished, taking her heart along with it.
She had died once before.
That sensation had been excruciating, seared into her very soul.
Thus, enduring the disgust was preferable to facing death again.
“What do you think?”
This simple rhetorical question seemed laden with myriad implications.
Analyzing those four words alone revealed no profound meaning; only when considered within the context could the terror lurking behind them be truly felt.
As a commanding officer, Commander Yang held the authority to decide who would become the brave soul leading the charge.
Should he simply lift a benevolent hand, Lin Yu could be granted special permission to remain in the trenches, spared from leaping out of the ditch to her death before Lanforthian muzzles.
“I think…”
“You can either remain in the bunker, awaiting their return from the assault, or you can bravely charge with your rifle, conquering three lines of trenches for His Majesty. It’s entirely up to you.”
Commander Yang’s implication was clear: if she did not agree to his terms, she would be sent to attack the Lanforthian trenches.
Lin Yu faced a choice between death and dishonor, a dilemma often termed ‘jade broken, tile whole’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘yù suì wǎ quán,’ meaning to die gloriously rather than live in disgrace): either preserve her dignity and die a glorious martyr, or abandon her integrity and submit to Commander Yang to survive. That was the question.
‘How despicable. Her earlier conclusion that he was a “good person” had definitely been premature.’
“It depends on… me?”
“Indeed, it depends on you. Whether you wish to join the battle and slay the enemy, or remain in the trenches, clinging to a precarious existence, that will be your own decision.”
‘How utterly base. To take advantage of someone in such a vulnerable position—how could such a vile person exist in this world? He was a married man, already had four mistresses, yet still intended to pursue her as well.’
‘Men were not simple creatures who could be made happy with a cigarette and a drink. Someone like Commander Yang, to satisfy his pathological, childish possessiveness, dared to employ even such contemptible tactics.’
‘To trap a weak, pathetic, and helpless medic like her in such an impossible bind was the lowest of the low. He deserved to be barren in the future.’
Helplessly, she railed against him in her mind.
Lin Yu lowered her head, drawing her hands from behind her back and clasping them over her lower abdomen.
“I choose to remain in the trenches.”
‘After all, she would be expected to marry someday; this could just be considered early practice for adaptation. What did a little humiliation matter? It was certainly better than being sent to no-man’s-land, shot dead, and left hanging on barbed wire.’
Lin Yu decided to resign herself to fate, hoping that when the time came, his actions would be gentle.
At the same time, she gritted her teeth and forcefully banished all the untimely, suggestive images that had once surfaced in her mind long ago.
Suddenly, she recalled the last time she faced a similar crisis.
She had been huddled, knees to chest, in a small, dark room, when a sentence had abruptly popped into her mind.
‘Some stories were destined to be tragedies from the very beginning. As for her story, its ending had been sealed that winter.’
‘A foolish young man, who had joined as a mercenary, was blown up by an FPV drone and reincarnated as a clumsy young female medic. Such a niche experience destined her for an equally niche outcome. Had she not become a girl in the first place, she would never be facing this current predicament.’
‘The events of the past were beyond alteration. Thus, tragedy would relentlessly continue to befall her.’
“Very well…” Commander Yang nodded, sweeping all the chopped vegetables on the cutting board to one side and pouring a generous amount of water into the cooking pot.
“Do you, perhaps, believe I would use this as leverage, forcing you to accept my affections?”
Just as she was teetering on the brink of collapse, Commander Yang, who had been cooking, suddenly uttered something utterly bewildering.
“What?”
“‘If I don’t accept his advances, I’ll surely be sent to my death in no-man’s-land,’—was it with such a thought that you made your decision, feeling profoundly humiliated?”
Lin Yu responded with silence.
She had indeed been thinking precisely that.
“Then you are overthinking things. I would never take advantage of someone’s predicament, nor would I abuse my authority in such a manner.”
A smile, one that could only be described as ‘warm and brilliant,’ bloomed on Commander Yang’s face.
Using his cleaver, he scooped all the vegetables into the pot and activated the magic stove to begin simmering.
“Should you ever see me violate military discipline, do not even ponder it; know that I would only act that way for your own good.”
Searching through the pantry for the necessary cooking spices, he continued:
“When the time comes, I will inform that corporal that you need not participate in the assault; you will simply remain in the bunker, awaiting orders.”
“See how good I am to you? I didn’t even exploit an opportunity that was right within my grasp.”
That smile, which had initially seemed so repulsive, now, surprisingly, appeared far more agreeable.
“You wouldn’t… force me to accept?”
“Just think for yourself: from beginning to end, where have I ever forced you?”
‘He… he truly… wouldn’t seize this chance…’
“Rather, one could say that from start to finish, I have been the one who treated you best.”
‘Upon reflection, it seemed… it truly seemed to be the case.’
Commander Yang’s dual nature, oscillating between devil and saint, now seemed to have settled on the ‘saintly’ side.
From the very beginning, he had adhered to one principle: voluntarism.
His help for Lin Yu was always voluntary; he never forced her to repay him in any way.
Considering the tangible things he had done for her, objectively, Lin Yu should have given him a positive appraisal.
‘Oh my god, could this be the legendary PUA (TL Note: Stands for ‘Pick-Up Artist,’ referring to manipulative seduction tactics.)?!’
‘What? Did this kind of tactic actually circulate in another world too?’
Lin Yu suddenly came to a stark realization.
She recoiled half a step and immediately pulled herself out of her previous line of thought.
She began to scrutinize the entire process of her meeting, acquaintance, and interaction with Commander Yang, from start to finish.
The more she thought, the more her expression darkened.
‘This dead man, this dead man even more wicked than the previous idiot—he was absolutely, entirely targeting her.’
‘What to do? How could she break free from this situation? How could she stop this guy from pursuing his improper intentions towards her?’
“Knock, knock, knock.”
A series of knocks echoed from outside the kitchen; they were continuous and very urgent.
Commander Yang glanced at the time again, frowning.
“It’s not yet time for them to return… Go see who’s at the door.”
Lin Yu parted her lips.
“I don’t have a key.”
A moment later, Commander Yang tossed a key from a distance, which Lin Yu caught mid-air.
She immediately hurried through the living room, unlatching the lock and then the bolt with utmost speed, and pulling the door back just enough to create a sliver of an opening.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Standing outside the door was another dead man—’Mr. Idiot’.