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

Grassland Chapter, Day Six, Early Morning.

Last night's beautiful dream about "braised pork" and "fried chicken" shattered like a bubble as the sun rose.

The hunger is even more intense than yesterday.

Kuang Ge struggled to open his eyes, his vision somewhat blurry.

So far, they are the only ones who have gone the furthest in this grassland chapter.

Other player teams often couldn't hold on until around the fourth day.

At that moment, Crazy Brother subconsciously turned his head to look at the big black pot next to him.

The bottom of the pot was cleaner than my face; not even the air I used to "look at meat to stave off hunger" from last night remained.

However, something was still tied to the handle of the pot.

It was a half-worn leather belt.

It was covered in black ash, the edges were badly worn, and there were several deep teeth marks.

Crazy Brother stared at the belt, his throat dry.

The system's last notes reappeared on his retina.

—Take it and cook it; it might save a life.

"It could save a life..."

"Does the madman really want to eat it?" he muttered.

Nearby, Hawkeye was cleaning his gun, his movements so slow they looked like he was embroidering.

Ruan Ruan curled up in the corner, her face as white as paper, her breathing barely perceptible.

Xiao Hu and Xiao Douzi had sunken eyes and were so hungry that they didn't even have the strength to speak.

The thought of meat can stop hunger, but it will never truly stop hunger.

Apart from the small amount of horse meat and some grass roots they received as a supply yesterday, they haven't eaten anything else.

"What are you looking at?"

The old squad leader's voice rang out above Kuang Ge's head.

He had his one arm behind his back, but his back was still ramrod straight.

But his visibly thinner physique over the past few days made his military uniform look empty.

Kuang Ge didn't say anything, he just pointed to the belt.

The old squad leader's gaze fell on that piece of leather belt, and his eyes remained fixed for a long time.

A breeze blew by, and the belt swayed gently against the side of the pot, making a soft "snap" sound.

That was a memento left behind by Old Li.

If I eat it, the thought of it will be gone.

In the live stream, the comments were sparse and mostly sighs.

"No way, do you really want to eat Old Li's belt?"

"That was Old Li's only keepsake..."

The old squad leader suddenly moved.

With his good hand, he suddenly drew the broken knife from his waist, and with a "whoosh," a flash of cold light appeared in the mist.

He actually said something that made Kuang Ge and the others' pupils shrink in shock.

"Cook it, it might save a life."

However, the words "take it" are missing.

The tacit understanding between the old squad leader and Lao Li was fully demonstrated at this moment.

The three men exchanged glances. Although they had been prepared to use this last supply, they were still extremely upset.

Unlike snow-capped mountains, where they could simply grit their teeth and unleash their willpower to get the old squad leader to the top, this place is different.

They had been gritting their teeth and persevering day after day, but the grassland seemed endless.

Finally, looking at the old squad leader's expressionless face, Kuang Ge nodded and took off his belt.

Since there was no cutting board, I found a piece of bluestone.

Without strength, Crazy Bro can't cut it.

The leather belt, after being exposed to wind and sun, was as hard as iron.

The old squad leader pushed Crazy Brother away.

He knelt on one knee in the mud, one leg pressing down on one end of the belt, and using his knee to brace the other end, while forcefully slicing down with the broken knife in his hand.

"Squeak—squeak—"

Difficult and arduous.

The old squad leader cut very slowly and very finely.

With each cut, he had to gasp for breath.

As he was chopping, his voice suddenly rang out, as if he wanted to shatter the deathly silence.

"Old Li made this belt himself."

All the soldiers looked at the old squad leader.

"Back then, Old Li was still working as a blacksmith in his hometown."

The old squad leader lowered his head, the blade leaving a white mark on the cowhide.

"He has a son who just turned eighteen; he's Old Li's lifeblood."

"Old Li saved up cowhide for half a year and made this belt, saying it was one of the betrothal gifts for his son when he got married."

"Back then, people were particular about their appearance; wearing a real leather belt was a sign of respectability."

"Click."

The blade cut through a small piece of cowhide.

"Later, the Japanese invaders entered the village."

The old squad leader's voice was flat, yet it instantly made the surrounding air feel several degrees colder.

"When the Japanese devils tried to seize our grain, Old Li's son couldn't stand it and went to fight them with a hoe."

"That's a Japanese bayonet! What good is a hoe?"

"Right in front of Lao Li, that bayonet ripped open his son's stomach."

Ruan Ruan suddenly covered her mouth, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.

The old squad leader didn't stop what he was doing, but he used a little more force when cutting the hide.

"Old Li went mad and tried to fight to the death, but the Japanese soldier knocked him unconscious with a rifle butt and dragged him away."

When I woke up, I was already in the mine.

"The Japanese didn't like this belt; they thought it was too rustic, so they threw it in the coal pile."

"Old Li picked it up and tied it to the tattered clothes that had been used to store cement bags."

"That mine is no place for humans; if you're slow, you'll be whipped."

"Old Li wanted to die at that time, but when he looked at the belt around his waist, he thought of his son."

He said, "My son is gone, but I must remember this grudge."

"This belt is stained with his blood from the mine, coal dust, and his hatred for the Japanese devils."

"You know what happened next..."

At this point, with the help of Crazy Brother, the old squad leader finally cut the entire belt into small pieces the size of a fingernail.

He raised his head, and two flames burned in his cloudy eyes.

"You think we're eating belts?"

The old sergeant grabbed a handful of leather belt buckles and threw them hard into the boiling marching pot.

"This is Old Li's life! It's a blood debt the Japanese devils owe us!"

"Glug glug..."

The water in the pot boiled, and a burnt, musty smell of old leather hit my nose.

Not a single person present covered their nose.

Xiao Hu and Xiao Douzi stared intently at the pot, their eyes filled with deep-seated hatred.

As Kuang Ge stared at the bubbling black soup, his mind was filled with the scene described by the old squad leader—Old Li's son had his stomach ripped open with a bayonet, and Old Li was being whipped like an animal in the mine.

"Grass!"

Madman let out a low growl, his fists clenching so tightly they cracked.

"alright."

It boiled for a full half hour, and half of the water had evaporated.

The old squad leader was the first to serve himself a bowl.

The soup was as black as ink, and the leather snacks were still rock hard.

He picked up the bowl, and without the slightest hesitation, tilted his head back and poured it down.

"Click, click."

That was the sound of teeth chewing cowhide.

It didn't sound like they were eating; it sounded like they were chewing up the enemy's bones.

"Eat!" The old squad leader slammed the bowl down.

"Only after eating this will we have the strength to walk out of the grasslands! Only then will we have the strength to avenge Old Li!"

Kuang Ge picked up the bowl.

It was hot; that was the first sensation.

The stench is a secondary sensation.

Taking a sip felt like drinking a mouthful of scalding hot rubber.

The leather strap was bitter and astringent when I put it in my mouth. Chewing it felt like chewing a car tire; it was impossible to break it apart.

The veins on Kuang Ge's neck bulged as he swallowed the tough piece of cowhide.

At that moment, it felt like my stomach was on fire.

But this fire doesn't hurt.

Instead, in the midst of extreme hunger, a strange power rose up.

[Ding! You have triggered a special buff: Unyielding hatred, swallowed fire. Your souls refuse to fall until revenge is complete.]

"call……"

Kuang Ge let out a long sigh of relief.

Even though there were only a few pieces of hard-to-digest cowhide in my stomach, the feeling of weakness and trembling I had just experienced actually disappeared.

Beside her, Ruan Ruan was crying as she desperately stuffed the leather belt buckle into her mouth.

Hawkeye, on the other hand, remained expressionless, chewing mechanically, his eyes sharp as daggers.

"Walk."

The old squad leader wiped the black soup from the corner of his mouth, grabbed his stick, and was the first to stand up.

His back was more upright than ever before.

"Once we get over this ridge, our path to survival lies ahead!"

At the same time, Red Expedition suddenly issued an announcement.

[Server-wide Announcement: Large-scale multiplayer campaign instance is now open!]

[Instance Title: Prequel to "The Capture of Luding Bridge": "Crossing the Dadu River"]

[Player limit: 1000 players/game (10 game zones available initially)]

[Eligibility: All players who have downloaded the "Red Expedition" client (no need to have completed the Snow Mountain or Grassland chapters)]

[Instance Description: Before the desolate grasslands, there once lay a life-or-death river crossing. There were treacherous natural barriers, formidable enemies, and also... the people.]

"Holy crap? A thousand-player raid? That old bastard Luo actually had a killer move up his sleeve?"

"What's this about forcibly crossing the Dadu River? Isn't the Luding Bridge a prequel? Is this a prequel to a prequel? That old scoundrel Luo is really good at nested dolls!"

In the live stream, the screen was instantly flooded with comments.

Kuang Ge is currently struggling with a mud pit in the game and can't see what's happening outside, but the viewers in the live stream have a god's-eye view.

"Brothers, quickly unfold the description and take a look! It turns out we're going to have to force our way across the Dadu River at Anshunchang!"

"Anshunchang? I remember now! Didn't the old squad leader mention it before? He lost his arm on the way from Anshunchang to Luding Bridge!"

"Holy crap! So this is where the dream began!"

"Damn it, I have to go! To save the old sergeant's arm, I'm going to beat this dungeon!"

……

Light and shadow shift and change.

The matchmaking for the 1,000-player instance was completed quickly.

Player "BaBaDaShun" is a retired amateur boxer and a die-hard fan of KuangGe.

He usually enjoys head-to-head games, and he finally managed to snag a spot in the first batch of tests.

He can't endure the hardships of climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands, but surely he can fight a war?

"Is this Anshunchang?"

When Ba Ba Da Shun opened his eyes, he found himself not standing on a battlefield, but at the entrance of a dilapidated village.

He was surrounded by players, all wearing the title of "Red Legion Recruit," excitedly looking around.

"They're starting to fight already?"

"Where's the gun? Why is it still that old, beat-up rifle?"

"Don't rush, let's see if there are any mission instructions first."

Ba Ba Da Shun squeezed through the crowd and walked into the village.

Based on past gaming experience, this "entering the village" step involves finding an NPC with an exclamation mark above their head to accept a quest.

But the NPCs here... are different.

An old man with a wrinkled face was hunched over, sunbathing against the wall.

Upon seeing the group of soldiers in gray uniforms, carrying guns, enter the village, the old man trembled. "Is...is it the Red Legion?"

The old man dropped his pipe, stumbled over, and grabbed Ba Ba Da Shun's hand.

Those hands were as rough as tree bark, yet burning hot.

"Baby, are you hungry? Come on, come inside!"

The person who said "88 is so lucky" was stunned.

"Sir, I...I'm not hungry. Do you have a mission?"

"What nonsense! Everyone gets hungry while marching and fighting!"

The old man wouldn't listen at all and insisted on dragging him into the house.

Once inside, the room was dimly lit.

The old man shakily moved aside the broken cabinet in the corner and dug a dirty cloth bag out from under the floor tiles.

As you peel back the layers, you find that there's actually a small half-bag of white rice inside.

"This is a little bit of seed grain that I secretly kept after I finished delivering the grain to those warlords."

The old man started a fire while muttering to himself.

"I originally saved it for my coffin, but these past few days I heard you were going to cross the river, so I thought, I can't let my troops fight on an empty stomach."

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Thank you everyone for the little gifts! This bonus chapter is a 3,000-word long chapter, which took me quite a while to write o(╥﹏╥)o

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