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

"Snapped!"

The lid was lifted, and an extremely powerful aroma exploded out.

That's not some vague or ethereal adjective.

That was the real, piping hot flavor of chili oil.

It has a rich and mellow pork sauce aroma, the tangy and refreshing flavor of aged vinegar after being heated, and the spicy aroma of raw garlic and scallions mixed together.

The aroma instantly overwhelmed the wind and snow, forcefully penetrating everyone's nostrils and awakening their long-numbed taste buds and stomachs.

In this stark, black-and-white snow-capped mountain landscape, that bowl of noodles was an explosion of color.

The hand-pulled noodles, as white as jade, were piled high, with bright red chili oil flowing down them. The emerald green scallions looked like jade, and the large chunks of meat looked like agate.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Little Bean's eyes widened, and Little Tiger's mouth gaped open.

Even the usually composed sergeant seemed to be frozen in place, completely still.

Is this a dream?

If this is a dream, it feels too real.

"What are you still standing there for?"

Crazy Brother forcefully shoved the chopsticks into the old squad leader's frozen hand.

"Eat it while it's hot! It won't taste good if it clumps together!"

The old squad leader's hands were trembling.

It was shaking so badly I couldn't even hold the chopsticks.

He stared at Kuang Ge in disbelief, then at the bowl of noodles, as if it were a bubble that could burst at any moment.

Until that wisp of heat hit his face and turned into tiny water droplets.

Hot.

It's really hot.

"Eat!" Crazy Brother roared, his eyes reddening. "This isn't a dream!"

"Squad leader, this is for you!"

In story mode, the system will optimize players' resource sources and understanding.

The old squad leader then carefully picked up a noodle and put it in his mouth.

"Slurp—"

The piping hot noodles slid down my throat and into my stomach, which was already frozen solid.

In that instant, it felt as if a fire exploded inside my body.

The old squad leader's sallow, stiff face instantly came to life, and even an unnatural flush rose to his cheeks.

"Meat...it's meat..."

The old squad leader mumbled incoherently, tears streaming down his face without warning, dripping into the bowl that Kuang Ge was holding for him.

But he didn't bother wiping away his tears, or even chewing; he just swallowed mouthful after mouthful.

There were no unnecessary sentimental lines.

In this icy and snowy landscape, the only sounds were the slurping and the satisfied slurping of meat.

Little Bean buried his entire face in a bowl bigger than his face, his face covered in oil from eating.

Little Tiger ate and cried at the same time, and snot bubbles came out of his nose.

Even the usually honest and taciturn Old Li was now holding a bowl, and the cooking pot on his back seemed less heavy.

Beside Old Li, Ruan Ruan was quietly taking down his army pot and then draping his thick new overcoat over his shoulders.

"Uncle Li, this coat is warm, please wear it."

As Ruan Ruan spoke, her hands trembled slightly as she helped Old Li button up his clothes.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye found the little bean in the corner.

He took away Xiaodouzi's badly worn rifle and stuffed the brand-new Hanyang rifle into Xiaodouzi's arms.

Then, as I was doing, I also slipped in a fine repair tool kit.

"Don't use a rag to clean your gun anymore."

Hawkeye patted Little Bean's head gently.

"Use this; this gun will be with you until the very end."

This is the story experience mode.

This is what a few minutes of points can buy.

Kuang Ge watched this scene, seeing the old squad leader eating with his mouth full of oil, and seeing the blissful expressions on the faces of the young soldiers as if they were in paradise.

He smiled.

As I laughed, tears started to fall.

He was very clear-headed.

More clear-headed than ever.

He knew this was just a story experience mode.

Once he left this place and returned to the real timeline, the old squad leader did not get to eat that bowl of noodles.

They would still drink snow water, gnaw on their belts, and even turn into an ice sculpture in the wind and snow.

This bowl of noodles may not change history, but it is not without significance.

For Kuang Ge and his gang, this bowl of noodles didn't actually cure their old squad leader.

Instead, they always want to do something, even though it seems meaningless to them.

But, just as the old squad leader said in the Heroic Spirit Space before.

"Now that I've breathed a sigh of relief, my heart is wild, my bones are melting, but who will walk the road ahead?"

Kuang Ge suddenly understood how the old squad leader felt back then.

Some dreams are so real that they can be dazzling, like sunlight, even blinding.

"Squad leader," Kuang Ge sighed inwardly, silently saying, "I'll treat you to noodles."

"We make your dreams come true in the virtual world so that your suffering can be remembered in real history."

As Kuang Ge stared at the one-armed old man wolfing down his food, his gaze gradually sharpened to the point of being razor-sharp.

"This bowl of noodles has filled me up and warmed me up."

"No matter how difficult the Luding Bridge project becomes, no matter how many lives are lost..."

"I'm protecting your arm!"

The snowstorm seemed to have subsided a bit.

The old squad leader finally raised his head and put down the bowl, which he had licked clean, soup and all.

He let out a burp.

That was the loudest and most extravagant burp that Kuang Ge and the others had ever heard in their lives, the one the old squad leader had ever given.

The old squad leader had a ruddy complexion and was full of energy. He was about to ask where these three kids, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, came from when suddenly everything went blurry.

Crazy Brother, Eagle Eye, and Softie disappeared into the snowstorm as suddenly as they had arrived.

All that was left was a pile of supplies and the team wearing brand-new coats, carrying new guns, and with warm bellies inside.

The old squad leader paused for a moment, then reached out and touched his stomach.

It's hot and humid there.

"Good child..."

The old squad leader muttered to himself as he faced the wind and snow.

Then, he straightened his military cap, and with a powerful swing of his one arm, the sound pierced through the wind and snow.

"Everyone has it!"

"Stand up! Let's go!"

……

Two days later, the official website of "Red Expedition" released an announcement.

The game "Seizing Luding Bridge" will be available today at 18:00.

[Prerequisites: Complete the historical difficulty of "Red Expedition: Grasslands" or "Crossing the Dadu River"].

[Note: This instance involves intense, continuous marching combat. All players are advised to prepare both physically and mentally. Here, time is of the essence.]

The announcement sparked a wave of complaints on gaming forums.

"Damn it! Luo, you old scoundrel, have some decency! This threshold is way too high!"

"Yeah, is the Grassland chapter even for humans? 20,000 Crimson Legion soldiers went in and 13,000 came out, not to mention us ordinary players—aside from Madman, Eagle Eye, and Softie, I've never seen any other player team survive past day six!"

"The 'Crossing the Dadu River' program is outrageous! There are only a thousand slots in each war zone, and everyone's fighting tooth and nail for them! Even if that old scoundrel Luo expands the ten war zones to one hundred these past two days, it still won't be enough..."

"Exactly! And what's most infuriating is that even if we successfully match for 'Crossing the Dadu River,' there are always some idiots who disturb the peace! One person disturbs the peace, and the whole team suffers! Kuang Ge and the others gave us the answer in the first clear, and we can't even copy it..."

Players were wailing in despair.

There are probably only about a thousand people across the entire server who managed to qualify for the first run of "Crossing the Dadu River" under such hellish difficulty.

"Alright, let's just stick to watching Kuang Ge's live stream."

"Actually, it wasn't entirely led by expert players..."

Suddenly, a post was pushed to the top of the trending list.

Breaking news! Besides the "willpower-based" teams like Crazy Bro's, there's another "weird" team that cleared the Grassland arc and earned their tickets!