It was supposed to be a casual game, but the Long March dungeon brought tears to everyone's eye

No one answered the old squad leader's question.

In the wind and snow, everyone's visibility was greatly limited.

Old Li was the cook who always silently followed at the back of the group, responsible for carrying a large iron pot.

He was taciturn and didn't like to talk.

Old Li, who would only cook a pot of pungent, fishy leather soup for everyone every day when they camped, suddenly disappeared.

"Don't move! I'll go look in the back!"

The old squad leader yelled and turned to rush back.

"Squad leader, don't go!"

Hawkeye emerged from the ice crevice and grabbed him.

"The wind is so strong, all the footprints have disappeared!"

"Going back now is tantamount to suicide! You won't find it!"

Hawkeye's judgment was both rational and ruthless.

In such a blizzard, once a person falls behind, their chances of survival are almost zero.

"open!"

The old squad leader flung Hawkeye's hand away, his eyes turning red.

"That's a human life!"

"It's also partly their fault!"

Madman rushed over, pushed aside Eagle Eye who was blocking his way, and roared at him.

"You fucking know nothing! That's our pot!"

"Without that pot, we can't even melt the snow!"

"Everyone will die of thirst and starvation!"

Hawkeye was stunned, only then realizing the seriousness of the problem.

Yes, and a pot too.

That iron pot, which he always thought was clumsy and heavy, was the lifeblood of this team.

"I'll go with you!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Kuang Ge followed behind the old squad leader.

"I'm going too!"

Little Tiger and Little Bean followed.

Hawkeye gritted his teeth and silently followed.

Five people formed a human chain, holding hands, braving the wind and snow, and groping their way back step by step.

"Old Li—Old Li—speak up if you hear me—!"

Their shouts were torn to shreds by the gale as soon as they were uttered.

They found Old Li in a snowdrift.

Or rather, they found the pot.

The black cooking pot lay upside down on the snow, like a small grave mound.

Old Li was lying face down on the pot in an extremely contorted position.

His hands were gripping the edge of the pot tightly.

His body was completely frozen, fused with the ice and snow beneath him.

His face still held the expression from the last moment.

There was no pain, no fear, only an almost obstinate determination.

He shielded the pot with his own body, preventing it from being blown away by the strong wind.

"Old Li..."

The old squad leader's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

He knelt down in the snow, stretched out his one arm, and tried to pry open Old Li's hand that was holding the pot.

But those hands remained stubbornly still.

Kuang Ge also knelt down and helped break it open.

His hand touched the bottom of the pot.

A faint, lingering warmth emanated from the cold iron pot.

The pot was still warm.

But Kuang Ge's heart was ice-cold.

Old Li used his last bit of body heat to warm the pot.

Until...the very last moment of life.

The old squad leader stopped breaking things.

This tough guy, who sheds blood but not tears on the battlefield, was now silently weeping as he held Old Li's stiff body.

They endured a truly arduous journey to successfully reunite with their loved ones.

Hawkeye stood aside, staring blankly at the scene.

I still can't understand why someone would trade their life for a pot, a broken pot that could only be used to boil leather belts and snow water.

The pot is still there, and so are the people.

But he couldn't understand it.

……

Old Li is dead, but the pot is still there.

That heavy iron pot, weighing dozens of kilograms, lay quietly in the snow like a silent monument.

It's like a hot potato.

Who will carry it?

The old squad leader was already carrying a rifle and a backpack, and he also had to hold Ruan Ruan's hand.

Xiao Hu and Xiao Douzi are too young and frail to bear the weight.

The remaining soldiers had also reached their physical limits.

Everyone stared at the pot, their expressions complex.

It was both hope and a burden.

In the silence, Brother Kuang stepped forward.

He didn't say anything, but walked over, bent down, and scooped the heavy iron pot out of the snow.

He tried to swing it onto his back.

The pot was heavy, heavier than he had imagined.

With the backpack he was carrying, the weight made him stumble and almost fall to his knees.

"You can't do it."

Hawkeye stepped forward and reached out to take it.

"You're already overloaded."

"I can do it!"

Crazy Brother shoved Hawkeye aside, veins bulging on his neck.

His eyes were red as he growled.

"I'm thick-skinned and can withstand the cold!"

He gritted his teeth and used all his strength to finally hoist the pot, along with the ice and snow hanging from it, onto his back.

[System notification: You have equipped the "Marching Pot (Old Li's keepsake)".]

Status: Overloaded.

[Effect: Movement speed -30%, Stamina consumption rate +50%, Body heat loss rate +20%.]

[Special Aura (Passive): Hope for Hot Food. You will become a mobile campfire for your team, providing a slight "Morale +10" bonus to friendly units within a 5-meter radius.]

[Halo Description: As long as the pot is still there, we can still get a sip of hot water.]

A series of debuff notifications lit up on Crazy Bro's retina.

His health bar began to slowly decrease.

But he doesn't care.

He simply straightened up, adjusted the straps, and made the cold rim of the pot fit his back more tightly.

Kuang Ge turned around and yelled at the crowd who were still in a daze.

"What the hell are you all standing there for? Let's go!"

After saying that, he took heavy steps and was the first to walk forward.

Every step felt like walking on the seabed of the deep ocean.

The snow underfoot was above knee-deep.

The iron pot on his back felt like a mountain, making it hard for him to breathe.

My lungs are burning with pain.

But he didn't stop.

He remembered Xiao Hu's clear eyes when he fell into the ice crevice.

I remembered the old squad leader and the bowl of minced meat noodles he made up with lies.

I thought of Old Li, the silent cook who risked his life to protect this pot.

We can't stop, we can't stop.

As long as the pot is there, there is hope.

Hawkeye stared at Madman's swaying yet resolute back for a moment, then suddenly walked to Madman's left.

Ruan Ruan also groped her way to Kuang Ge's right side.

Although she couldn't see, she could hear the heavy footsteps.

The two men, one on each side, reached out and supported Kuang Ge's arm.

"Get out of my way!" Madman roared. "I don't need anyone's help!"

"Shut up," Hawkeye said succinctly. "Save your energy."

Ruan Ruan whispered, "We...we'll help you share a little bit..."

Kuang Ge didn't say anything more, he just gritted his teeth and continued walking forward.

The three of them supported each other like a clumsy, moving fortress, struggling forward in the wind and snow.

The chat room went completely wild.

"Crazy Bro is awesome! That's a real man! I take back what I said before about him being a blond troll!"

"From today onwards, you're not just Crazy Brother, you're my brother! My real brother!"

"Waaaaah, Hawkeye and Softie... they're starting to understand things..."

"I was watching a game stream, and it got so exciting! I wanted to jump in and help him out!"

Three "Supreme Tomato" effects exploded on the screens of the three Ruan Ruan characters.

The user with the ID "Ruanruan's Top Ranker" posted three identical comments.

"Softie, Hawkeye, you're great. Kuang-ge, you're not just taking the blame, you're showing real responsibility. Luo An Studio, please, just let them have a sip of hot water."

The viewers in the three live stream rooms finally realized what was happening, and more and more gifts started flooding the screen.

At this moment, they were all keeping Kuang Ge company, the streamer with blond hair.

She stayed with him, carrying the iron pot that bore witness to life and death.

Walking on this snow-covered road that seems to have no end.

……

The altitude has exceeded four thousand meters.

The air became thin and cold.

An invisible pressure enveloped everyone.

Altitude sickness has set in.

Hawkeye felt as if two steel needles were drilling into his temples at the same time, and the throbbing pain made him want to vomit.

The constant, sharp buzzing sound drowned out the wind.

Crazy Brother's situation is even worse.

The excessive workload, coupled with the lack of oxygen, made each of his breaths feel like pulling a broken bellows.

Kuang Ge's lips had turned bluish-purple.

Large black spots began to appear at the edges of my field of vision.

But the first to break down was Ruan Ruan.

The darkness of snow blindness, combined with the hallucinations caused by lack of oxygen, completely shattered her mental defenses.

"Marshmallow……"

Ruan Ruan suddenly fell to the ground, grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it into her mouth.

"It's sweet...it's sweet cotton candy..."