Chapter 75-2: Reunion with Old Friends (2) |
Beside the round table at the center of the bar, an elderly man with white hair and a centipede-like scar on his face took a deep drag from his cigar, extinguished the tip in the ashtray, then turned to look at another old man sitting not far away.
“Old Dog, why isn’t the Boss here yet?”
“I’ve already contacted him, he should be arriving any minute.” As he spoke, the old man hidden in the shadows bent down and stood up, revealing a half-mechanized face. He raised his glass toward the man who had spoken.
Just then, the bar door was pushed open, and the bell hit the doorframe with a crisp ‘ding-a-ling’ sound.
A group of elderly men in the bar turned their heads to look. A figure over two meters tall stepped inside, combat boots clacking against the wooden floor.
The newcomer took off his rain-soaked coat, revealing his broad, muscular frame. Lifting his head to look at his old friends present, he grinned and said:
“Sorry I’m late.”
The briefly quiet bar instantly burst into chatter.
“Commander, walking on one leg really is slower than my two legs,” an elderly man who had lost both arms looked at Li Tie and laughed heartily.
“Boss, come have a drink, we’ve missed you.”
—
Taking a seat at the round table in the center of the bar, Li Tie’s gaze swept over everyone present.
“Where are Marble and Hornet?”
At his question, everyone suddenly fell silent, and the smiles on their faces faded.
“Marble and Hornet didn’t make it through this year. At the time, you were undergoing mental recovery treatment and your condition was unstable. We didn’t want to upset you, so we didn’t notify you to attend the funerals,” the old man sitting beside Li Tie said in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, a trace of sorrow flashed through Li Tie’s eyes.
But he quickly suppressed his emotions, picked up his wine glass, raised it high, and grinned.
“We old guys are lucky enough to have crawled back from hell. Every extra day we live is a bonus. To the veterans, and to old friends!”
“To the veterans, and to old friends!” The elderly men present all raised their glasses, then drank with Li Tie in unison.
As the reunion continued, listening to his old comrades recount their experiences from the past year, Li Tie’s mind drifted with the classic old song playing from an antique machine in the corner, stirring memories from deep within.
The deafening roar of artillery seemed to explode in his ears. Endless mechanical armies stretched across the battlefield ahead, extending beyond sight on both sides…
Everyone sitting here had once followed him through life-and-death battles.
During that brutal war, only 46 of his troops survived and returned. The rest remained forever buried on the battlefield.
By today, only 27 remained.
This painful memory was not only his nightmare but also a haunting grief shared by all the old friends present.
Every time he recalled those days, countless young faces would flash through his mind, only to be torn apart in the flying flames of war. As he reached out to save them, he found it was nothing but an illusion.
This was one of the main reasons for his mental health issues.
Every recurrence of these indelible memories weighed heavier on him, until eventually he could no longer distinguish reality from recollection, leading to complete breakdowns.
He took a deep drag from his cigar and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. The white mist spiraled upward along his fingers, veiling his slightly dazed eyes.
“Boss, tell us how you’ve been this past year. Has our granddaughter gotten married?”
“Nonsense. If she was getting married, would I not invite you all for a drink?” Blowing away the white mist in front of him, Li Tie raised his right arm, hooked the old man beside him under his armpit, and grinned.
“Are you trying to introduce your grandson to my granddaughter again?”
“That kid’s not that lucky. Lately he’s been obsessed with some ‘Black something Land’. My son says he often stays up late trying to grab access spots. His life’s basically ruined.”
Hearing this, a thought suddenly struck Li Tie.
“Dark Land?”
“Yeah, that’s it. Supposedly the scenes inside are incredibly realistic, way beyond the virtual games we played in our youth.”
His friend’s words instantly sparked an idea in Li Tie’s mind.
These old comrades, like him, all suffered from post-war PTSD. Why not bring these old friends into Dark Land and let them wage battles in-game?
Releasing their emotions could help ease their symptoms and also prevent the destructive consequences of emotional outbursts in real life.
With that thought, Li Tie stood up and clapped his hands sharply.
Pa!
The crisp sound cut through the noise, and the rowdy bar instantly fell silent. All the old comrades turned to look at Li Tie.
“Gather around, I’ve got something to talk to you about.”
The veterans stood up one after another, surrounding Li Tie with puzzled expressions.
The scar-faced elder took the lead and spoke before Li Tie could open his mouth.
“Boss, don’t tell me you want to pull us into another virtual game. I’m not interested. Too childish.”
Hearing the scar-faced elder, Li Tie was momentarily speechless.
In fact, he had previously invited these old friends to try virtual games.
But in the end, only he stuck with it. The others returned to real life after brief trials.
The only reason he had stayed was to accompany his granddaughter, Li Siyu; otherwise, he would’ve quit long ago.
“This time it’s different. Recently, on Siyu’s recommendation, I tried an incredibly realistic virtual game… so I want you all to experience it with me… Oh, and the game automatically compensates for our physical impairments. Inside, we can regain lost body parts.”
Li Tie swept his gaze across his friends, speaking seriously.
“I’m not joking with you this time. This game is nothing like the ones I previously recommended. Just try it and you’ll understand.”
After hearing Li Tie’s explanation, his old comrades exchanged glances.
The scar-faced man was again the first to speak.
“Boss, since you put it that way, we’ve got to give it a try. Send the purchase link to the group chat later, we’ll try it out once we get home.”
Upon hearing this, Li Tie immediately shook his head.
“You won’t get the chance to buy it yourselves. Right now, players have to rely on luck to get access. Even if you went through official channels, by the time you managed to buy it, you’d probably be in your coffins.”
“Commander, what do you mean? If we can’t get purchase access, how are we supposed to enter the game?”
Facing their questions, Li Tie grinned and said.
“I’ve got a cracked version link here. You can use it to directly get game access… but you need to keep it secret. If this gets exposed, we might all lose our game qualifications.”
As he spoke, Li Tie pulled out his phone and shared the Dark Land download link in the comrades’ group chat.