Chapter 139 135. Only
when climbing the dark mountain road, the rich poisonous gas surrounded them, and these small wet droplets adhered to their hair, clothes, and breathing hoses.
An Tai raised his hand and numbly wiped his breathing hose again. The originally flexible pipe had become brittle and soft under the corrosion of poisonous gas.
Barbarus's experience told him that his gas mask was about to lose its hold.
There may not be much left for him to retreat.
If we go forward, there will be no retreat.
As early as the beginning, the flow of people going up the mountain continued to shrink.
They were not knocked down by the gas, and at lower altitudes, gas masks would not corrode as easily.
But the respiratory mask that becomes fragile every moment, the respiratory mask that creaks with every breath, strikes everyone's heart.
Some wise people had realized that sooner or later the gas mask would not hold up and returned early.
But most people didn't realize this, or they were just lucky, or they really wanted to become a Death Guard, so the vast crowd began to climb towards the top of the mountain.
But by now, most of the crowd realized they had reached a point.
Death was staring at them, silent and merciless.
Returning here will just make it back to the bottom of the mountain before the gas mask breaks.
If they go up, the gas masks will be damaged before they reach the top, and then they will face the strong poisonous gas at high altitudes.
Antaei breathed as steadily as he could, and his respirator let out a whine.
However, the child in front of him suddenly stopped, and An Tai almost ran into it.
The child glanced at An Tai gloomily, then started to move downwards tremblingly.
They passed each other side by side and almost bumped into each other.
It was like a call to arms, and more and more people began to turn around.
Many children who rushed ahead at the beginning, those who were obviously stronger than An Tai and rushed ahead, also began to turn around.
An Tai was stunned for a moment. He turned his head and looked at the small dots going down the mountain.
Their gray figures quickly disappeared among the dim and flowing poisonous gas.
The originally huge crowd was suddenly reduced by two-thirds, and the remaining children continued to climb staggeringly.
The sense of security that had previously enveloped Antai and followed the crowd disappeared.
An Tai also stopped, hesitating whether to continue going up or to return the same way.
The food they had received earlier was enough for their family to survive for a week
. If he continued to go up, he might really die.
A thin and slender boy passed from behind An Tai, interrupting An Tai's thinking.
An Tai was surprised to see tears on the boy's face.
But the boy's footsteps did not stop for a moment.
The boy glanced at him and smiled.
An Tai paused.
I want to go up, Antai thought.
You have to go up, Antai said to himself, go up and become a death guard. Then his younger brothers and sisters don't have to work as hard as their parents. They can do other things, as long as Antai becomes a death guard.
You want to climb for your younger brothers and sisters.
But does An Tai really think so?
Is he using the name of his family to hide his true desires and impulses?
Is he ashamed to admit that in a hidden corner of his heart, he wishes to become a Death Guard?
Even though Antaeus knew nothing about the Death Guard, the majestic figures of those giants from before were deeply imprinted in his mind.
They awakened another spark in An Tai's heart.
That was a completely different path from his previous life. An Tai knew that he despised his previous life.
It would be unwise to move up now, he would most likely die and then the burden of life would fall on his younger siblings.
But he had had enough, had enough of all the darkness.
He is actually not that selfless, on the contrary, he is selfish.
He just wanted to get up there for his own life.
Even death is more attractive to him than the rest of his bleak life.
He didn't want to just live anymore.
An Tai wants to make a choice for his life, he wants to prove himself, and he wants to leave here.
I hope I am strong enough.
he thinks.
So he started climbing again.
A sneer sounded in Hades' ears, and then a hoarse voice, accompanied by the sound of electricity, sounded from the communication channel, "I knew
this would happen, you don't have to set up a pharmacist at all."
Hades stared helplessly . The scene from the helmet showed a huge crowd coming down the mountain.
He knew that Mortarion was definitely mocking him.
Hades sighed softly, making sure that the sigh was not transmitted to Mortarion through the communication channel.
"But... at the beginning, the purpose of screening will be weakened, right?"
The channel said nothing.
So Hades blinked and refocused on the crowd going up the mountain.
Mortarion merely told these men that the summit was the final destination.
But in fact, as long as they reach a sufficient height, they will automatically be judged qualified.
Hades didn't think anyone could actually reach the top of the mountain. He talked to the legion's pharmacist and found out that this was physiologically impossible.
The concentration of poison gas at the top of the mountain is enough to suffocate a Space Marine.
Mortarion didn't think so. As soon as the selection began, the Primarch happily climbed to the top of the mountain to wait for his champion.
Hades did not follow the original body to the top of the mountain. He went to the place where the black stone obelisk was placed to prevent any accidents.
He stared at the crowd going up the mountain. Compared to the beginning, the crowd was much thinner.
Another voice came from the channel,
"Which one do you like more?"
Don't change the subject, Mortarion.
But Mortarion is most likely very idle now and in a good mood.
The original body stayed up late to finish today's approval task, just so that he could focus on selecting new people today.
Hades briefly thought about it. In his imagination, Mortarion was standing on the top of the mountain in a daze, bored.
I hope someone can still climb to the top of the mountain, otherwise Hades can guess that in the next few days, Mortarion will look like he has eaten Naklay again.
Hades naturally ignored Mortarion's jumping topic and adjusted the picture in his helmet.
"Let me see, this kid looks good."
A thin figure appeared on the screen.
The child walked slowly at first, but when he reached a place with strong poison gas, he immediately started to speed up without any hesitation.
His goal is very clear.
Hades sighed.
He started to accumulate strength, and when he reached a place with strong poisonous gas, he started to accelerate to reduce the damage caused by the high-altitude poisonous gas to him.
While Mortarion's goal is to select for the toughest individuals, wisdom and strategy are essential.
He may not be the toughest, but he can clearly reach the highest point he can.
"Fleming, you are from the northern village."
Mortarion's voice came. The original body who was responsible for the recruitment had memorized the information of all the children.
"You do tend to favor such people, Hades."
"If it were you, I think you would do the same."
Mortarion said half-jokingly.
Hades laughed dumbly, it was really like this.
So clever.
"You should expect him to meet the passing standards. This boy's data is average."
"You can definitely see it."
Hades nodded.
"Which one do you like?"
He asked back.
Mortarion ordered a few people. Hades took a brief look and found that they were indeed good prospects who could sprint to the top of the mountain.
It was probably still a long time before the children reached the top, so the two started chatting.
Up, up, up
despair, regret, and fear clung to him.
An Tai's vision began to blur, the poisonous gas stung him, and the exposed skin began to become soft and could fall off with a gentle rub.
He covered his gas mask in vain. The tattered gas mask could no longer provide any effective defense.
His hand holding the gas mask had already been scratched and peeled, and blood flowed from there, and soon changed color and solidified under the influence of the poisonous gas.
His lungs were convulsing violently, and an unbearable sting came from there.
He is dying.
The sickle of death was cutting his throat again and again.
The brain that was tired and paralyzed by poisonous gas could no longer think too much.
Only the obsession remains.
Change his life upwards,
leave here, and stop farming.
"Bang!"
The person in front of An Tai fell to the ground.
An Tai ignored him and continued to move forward numbly.
There were not as many "corpses" lying in front of him as Antai imagined. It seemed that they were all continuing upwards.
Antai continued to climb, and he was almost there. As he was almost there, there was
no one in front of him, and the strong poisonous gas even made him unable to Resolve distant ground.
Not yet. Up, up.
The pain in his lungs that was once so painful has subsided. He is just very tired.
"Bang!"
An Tai's knees softened and he lay down on the cold ground.
His eyes went dark -
No! Can't die!
An Tai bit the tip of his tongue directly, and the weak pain from his mouth made him wake up a little.
The strips binding the gas mask had long been broken by the poisonous gas. This fall directly exposed An Tai's mouth and nose to the poisonous gas.
His mouth and nose were warm. Is that blood?
Subconsciously, An Tai buried his face into the earth, sticking close to the ground, which made him feel better.
So he stretched out his hand and dragged his body slowly upward.
He was lying on his hands and knees.
Upward Upward
An Tai's nails were broken apart, some were broken in half, and soil was mixed in.
But he kept going up,
specks of red trailing behind him, and his ears began to bleed.
A big hand lifted him up
gently, and the cold cloth fell on his mouth and nose.
An Tai tried hard to see the person in front of him with his bleeding eyes.
Those eyes shining like stars were looking at him.
"My child, you are tough enough."
So An Tai finally passed out.
Mortarion looked at the selector who was the first to reach the top of the mountain, and started to give emergency treatment to Antaeus in a good mood.
Similar things had been done thousands of times when he founded the resistance army.
Now, he can wait patiently for the second brave man to reach the top of the mountain.
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(End of chapter)