In the pitch-black environment, Elena couldn't see what Roan was doing at all; she could only hear each other’s steady breathing.

  The air-raid shelter wasn't so much a cave as it was a downward-sloping tunnel. Its height didn't allow Elena to stand upright, and the narrow, steep stairs gave her no room to lie down.

  Elena could only sit on the steps, her forehead resting on her hands, quietly leaning over her knees.

  Another group of people arrived outside the shelter, all looking for Roan.

  No, they were here to capture Roan.

  Roan remained focused on the sounds outside. Whether he was tilting his head to listen or making some other movement, Elena couldn't tell.

  This lasted for two or three hours until Elena began to feel a bit hungry.

  Seeing that Leo’s room had fallen silent again, Elena decided to try pushing the wooden board.

  "You won't be able to move it. It’s a full six centimeters thick, and there’s a pile of books and canisters on top—smells like they’re filled with peanut oil."

  The silent blockhead finally spoke?

  Elena was annoyed. She had tried talking to Roan before, but the dullard only responded with "mm-hmm, mm-hmm," as if that was the only phrase he knew.

  "Why would anyone hide peanut oil under a bed?" Elena couldn't quite figure it out. Then, her hand brushed against a cold, cylindrical object. She felt the top—it was wide. "Oh? A flashlight!"

  Leo had actually strapped a flashlight to the underside of the door panel. Elena gave it a gentle tug, and it slid right out.

  Click!

  The tunnel was illuminated. Blue brick walls, and a visible end to the hole.

  Elena playfully swept the beam of light onto Roan’s nose. But then she saw that the gauze on his forehead was still seeping blood.

  "Does it still hurt?" she asked with a hint of concern.

  "Ugh, don't shine it in my eyes." Roan turned his head, shielding his face with his hand.

  Then, he shook his head. "It doesn't... it does..."

  Suddenly, as if realizing something, he grabbed the flashlight from Elena and scrambled toward the bottom of the hole.

  "I’ve got it. Follow me."

  Elena, of course, followed him; she didn't want to be left alone in the dark. "What did you realize? Hey—"

  "Any air-raid shelter usually has another exit. Keep up."

  "Yeah?"

  True enough, Elena had clearly felt a cold draft coming from the bottom of the hole earlier. The chill felt like moving air, but they had been so focused on the situation outside—and without a light source—they had completely ignored the depths of the hole.

  They crawled down abouttwo or three stories before reaching the bottom. The ceiling suddenly vaulted higher, allowing them to stand straight.

  Even more surprising was an underground river at the bottom, the water gurgling silently as it flowed into the distant reaches of the dark tunnel.

  There was a small path along the river; it looked like there really was an exit.

  "Follow me." Roan waved to Elena.

  Though the blockhead wasn't talkative, he was quite considerate. Walking in front, he actually warned Elena: "There’s a rock here that’s very slippery, don't fall."

  As he spoke, he reached out his hand to support Elena.

  Elena stepped across and found the rock was both slippery and soft. It turned out to be covered in moss, soaked by the mist, making it incredibly slick.

  They walked hand-in-hand like this for a long stretch. In a dry, flat section of the path, Roan seemed to finally realize what he was doing and abruptly snapped his hand back.

  Hmm?

  Blushing over just holding hands?

  Elena’s mindset was actually that of an "old soul," and she couldn't help but be amused by Roan’s innocent reaction.

  "Hehe!"

  "What are you laughing at?" Roan turned back, seemingly a bit annoyed.

  "Nothing. I just figured out that Leo hiding peanut oil under the bed was actually a backup plan—in case the flashlight died, he could use it for torches."

  "Ah? That... makes sense."

  Roan scratched his head and continued forward.

  They walked for about half an hour before finally seeing a light source in the distance and hearing the sound of rushing water.

  After another ten minutes, they rounded a corner, and the view opened up spectacularly.

  It turned out to be the river valley south of the county town.

  The stream flowing out from underground dropped over a small cliff—not even the height of a man—forming a tiny natural waterfall.

  Roan pushed aside the thick bushes and brambles. He jumped down first, then stood before the small cliff and let Elena climb onto his back.

  With Elena on his back, he took two agile leaps and landed on a deserted path in front of the waterfall.

  "Thanks, you’re pretty amazing." Elena hopped off Roan’s back and patted her hands.

  Looking from the path, most people would never guess that this stream contained a natural tunnel leading directly to a room in the psychiatric hospital.

  The two grabbed some mud from the creek bank and smeared it on Roan’s face. They found a bundle of dry firewood by the road, which Roan shouldered—it was perfect for obscuring his face at any time.

  They agreed that if they met anyone on the road, they would call each other brother and sister. Roan even gave himself a fake name: Kane.

  ……

  The atmosphere of panic in Solana was growing more severe.

  The old man who herded cattle took a few young men out specifically to gather intelligence, sending one person back every hour to report.

  "The border troops in Beldora have abandoned their defense of the riverbank; they are advancing toward the county town."

  "I heard the military district headquarters was surrounded, but the outer troops have counter-surrounded those people."

  "I heard the two armies are less than 100 meters apart, aiming at each other."

  "A lot of villagers took their grain and fled into the mountains."

  Sienna didn't care about any of that. Like many others, she had received a gun from Tomas, who managed the air-raid shelter. She was currently searching everywhere for Elena.

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  In times of chaos, if she secretly shot Elena at night, no one would ever know.

  She had been looking forward to some tonight's chaos, but she had scanned through the hundreds of people gathered in small groups three or four times and simply couldn't find where Elena was.

  She couldn't even find that bitch Lucy!

  Sienna figured Elena must have fled into the mountains, but she didn't dare go in there alone to find her.

  To be honest, even if Elena stood right in front of her tonight with no one around, she might not actually dare to pull the trigger.

  But if she could truly press a gun to Elena’s forehead... just the thought gave Sienna a massive sense of satisfaction.

  Humans are such complex animals.

  Bob suddenly walked out of the air-raid shelter, with Tomas standing beside him.

  Tomas shouted loudly: "Emergency situation! Everyone, gather round!"

  The only person in the camp who could still be considered a leader—the accountant—was pregnant and didn't handle affairs.

  So right now, everyone was a disorganized mess.

  Seeing someone calling, they slowly drifted over.

  However, because Tomas lacked authority, a gathering that usually took three minutes ended up taking ten.

  Fortunately, everyone ultimately gave Bob face.

  Bob was the old village head from before the military control area was established.

  “Children, now that I’ve had Tomas hand out guns to you, you should know just how serious the situation is.”

  As soon as Bob spoke, everyone went quiet.

  Because he used the tone of "children," he treated everyone as his family, his children. He was now the patriarch.

  "There is a rebellion at the military headquarters, but your families are all in the provincial capital. We believe you don't want the rebels to win. If they do, and we are absorbed by the other side of the river, you will never see your parents and siblings again for the rest of your lives."

  When Bob said this, many people were nodding.

  But someone raised a doubt: "So, are we going to fight the rebels?"

  "No!" Bob took the small megaphone Tomas handed him, and his voice grew louder: "We are just the reserve force. There are elderly and children in the village. We aren't fighting a war. We only guard our village. We are loyal only to the Government of the People's Republic of the West Bank. I gave you guns so you can take turns on sentry duty. Any stranger wanting to enter the village must lay down their weapons. We only accept orders from the Central Government and the Provincial Government."

  As soon as he finished, people started discussing.

  "This is good, this is good."

  "Support Bob!"

  "We have to support him; I still want to go home, after all."

  Under Bob’s arrangement, the 200-plus reserve force members of Solana were divided into five units.

  Four units rotated eight-hour shifts standing guard with guns on the high ground at the village entrance. One unit worked the fields—it wasn't the busy farming season anyway, so 40 people working was enough.

  Others who were free either carried grain deeper into the air-raid shelter or used sacks of mud to build fortifications outside the hole.

  Some used basins and buckets to store water in the cave, ensuring the whole village could survive for at least two or three days if war broke out.

  The old village head really knew what he was doing. Although it was a bit exhausting, everyone now felt a secret sense of relief.

  ……

  Sofia felt everything in the mountains was very fresh. She wasn't completely blind; she could see a little bit of blurry light and shadow.

  The leaves were small and hard; some branches had thorns.

  The vines were long, and the "big trees" her second brother mentioned were thicker than a person.

  And that mountain path—it was very steep, but with Sister Lucy’s support, Sofia still climbed to a mid-mountain slope.

  They were now living in a cave.

  Sofia couldn't imagine what a cave actually looked like; she could only feel the rocks, which were cold and wet.

  Her second brother said the cave was safe, and Sofia believed him. With her hearing, she couldn't hear the villagers' voices at all now.

  The only thing that worried her was her eldest brother’s safety.

  Where was her eldest brother now?

  Although the weather was hot, Lucy still started a fire. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to light one at night, and with everything pitch black, it would scare the child.

  While Marco was out picking wild fruit and vegetables and fetching water, Lucy now had time to teach Sofia how to comb her hair.

  Sofia was very happy; no one had ever taught her how to braid her hair before.

  Sister Lucy said she looked great with braids, and Sofia believed her, because many people also said her eldest brother was very handsome.

  She had even heard the elders say that her father was also very handsome.

  Father... thinking of her father, Sofia immediately thought of her mother. she was almost forgetting their voices.

  Where were Mom and Dad now?

  Her nose felt a little stingy.

  Her father, Antonio, had just finished lunch at the officers' canteen. He then picked up a boxed meal and bid farewell to Commander Bernardo.

  Antonio seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; he knew Jax was staring at him as he left.

  He could even guess that Jax would definitely report his actions to Bernardo in a moment.

  This was exactly what he wanted.

  He strode to the door of his room and handed the boxed meal to Dante, who was standing straight outside.

  Dante had now learned the essence of Tom’s style: take the thing and eat; don't talk.

  "Stand a bit further away. Don't go eavesdropping on what’s happening in the room." Antonio laughed mysteriously.

  Pfft. Dante had just stuffed a mouthful of rice in and almost spat it out laughing.

  When Antonio opened the door, it was his turn to almost spit out a laugh.

  "Garrison, you..."