No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 27

The French soldier pinning Payne down had to dodge, watching as Shawn stepped over Payne and then, with a thud, drove his horn into the wooden planks that served as a wall…

Cough cough... Anyway, at least it's a temporary lifesaver... cough cough...

Payne quickly rolled over, panting heavily. The red color in his eyes faded rapidly, and he pulled out the entrenching tool from his waist.

Although the French soldier was unarmed, looking at his physique, which resembled a double-door refrigerator, Payne felt uneasy.

This is definitely going to be a tough battle.

However, just as the two were preparing for a desperate fight, Payne saw a brown figure suddenly flash past behind the other.

Then the other person suddenly froze, their eyes widening as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, and blood flowed down their neck onto their clothes.

In less than two seconds, the burly figure slowly fell forward and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

Chapter 40 XL. Searching for People

With the immediate threat gone, Payne looked around and, finding no fighting nearby and the explosions coming from a distance, finally breathed a long sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

It must have been the intense artillery bombardment that suppressed the enemy's offensive momentum; all their hard work in helping to move the cannons over those few days was truly worthwhile.

Relieved, Payne turned to his savior and said, "Thanks, I still have to rely on you."

“Indeed, we still have to rely on me.” Ruby walked over, swaying her big, fluffy tail. “Take off your gas mask. It’s windy today, and the gas has dissipated.”

Payne looked up and saw that not only Ruby wasn't wearing a gas mask, but another German soldier without a gas mask was also running past them hurriedly.

He waited a few seconds to make sure that both the man and the beast were alive and well before taking off his gas mask. He immediately felt a sense of clarity and the air that filled his nostrils, though mixed with the smell of gunpowder, was also so sweet that it instantly cooled his mind.

After taking a few deep, comfortable breaths, he turned to Ruby and asked, "You've learned how to use a dagger?"

“You taught me before, so I know a little bit about it.”

Ruby glanced at the bloodstains on the dagger and tossed it aside. "At first, I also used an entrenching tool, but I'm weaker than you humans, and I was knocked away by a tall, thin Frenchman."

"The situation was urgent. After dodging the butt of his gun, I grabbed his dagger, slapped him on the waist, and then ran away."

"I was just thinking, now that we're allowed to use melee weapons, why don't I take advantage of my small size and agility and use short weapons to launch surprise attacks?"

“Hmm…” Payne thought for two seconds, “It is indeed an idea. You can use the dagger if you want, I have no objection.”

As the two were talking, they heard a weak plea for help coming from behind them: "Meow...please help me, meow..."

Payne turned his head and saw that Xiao En's ram horns were still stuck in the wooden board, and she herself seemed to have completely given up, just hanging her head and supporting herself on the ground with her hands.

Great opportunity! .jpg

To be fair, this guy is quite strong when he gets going. Payne grabbed her waist and tried to pull her out for a long time but couldn't. In the end, Ruby pulled out Payne's dagger and stuck it into the wooden board to help Xiao En open a gap, and only then was she able to pull it out successfully.

As soon as Payne removed Xiao En's gas mask, he saw that she had a teary-eyed look on her face, as if she was about to cry at any moment.

With a slightly helpless laugh, Payne pulled her into his arms, ruffling her woolly hair as he said, "Alright, alright, the battle is over, it's okay now."

"Thank you so much for today, you saved my life. If it weren't for you, my neck might be broken by now."

Xiao En hugged Payne tightly, pressing her face against his chest, getting mud all over her face, "Sob... I... I just didn't want you to die..."

"Yes, you were really brave today."

Payne comforted Shawn, while Ruby searched the ground for a newer dagger among the German and French corpses. Just then, a figure flashed around the corner of the trench and pounced on Payne.

"Master, waaaaah..."

"Okay, okay, just a couple of licks will do... Are you all alright?"

Payne was tackled to the ground, and Xiao En followed suit, falling on top of him. Lacey, who was on top of the two, licked them several times before raising her head, wagging her tail and saying, "Yeah! Grace and I are both fine!"

Payne breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sister Niu peek over and give him a gentle smile.

It seems everyone is alright.

But then he suddenly felt something was wrong—

"Ruby, Wangcai, and Little Pony No. 2 are here?"

"what?"

Just as she was rejoicing over the two daggers she had found, Squirrel Girl was suddenly stumped by Payne's question.

She looked around but didn't see the two new beast girls. "When I broke away from the battle and headed this way, I saw them following behind me with my own eyes..."

Upon hearing this, Payne became anxious. He shoved Lacey and Shawn aside and said urgently, "Where did you just come from? Take me there."

Ruby's face also showed a rare look of unease, as if she thought, "This is it, we're doomed." "This way, come with me."

Because the bottom of the trench was already piled high with corpses, it was difficult to find a foothold. The man and his four beasts had no choice but to climb up and crouch down to move forward on the uneven ground.

The battle was completely over, and soldiers and medics were busy transporting the wounded back to the rear, with stretcher teams coming and going in a constant stream.

After passing five craters of varying sizes, two burning planks, and asking people from three different companies for news of the beast girls without success, they discovered a collapsed section of a trench.

Based on Pine's experience, it was definitely not a landslide caused by rainfall, because the landslide point and a bomb crater were seamlessly connected.

It must have been a large-caliber shell that landed very close to the trench, and the explosion pushed a large amount of earth and rocks, causing the trench wall to collapse.

Perhaps they wanted to dig through the trench, or perhaps they thought there were still people buried underneath. At that moment, three or five soldiers were standing on the mound of earth at the landslide site, digging with shovels.

Payne immediately sensed something was wrong and said to Lacey, "You remember the smell of Wangcai and Little Pony 2.0, right? Go smell them!"

The dog-girl immediately pushed past the soldiers to the mound, circled around it, sniffed it, and then looked up and said, "There are indeed traces of their scent!"

"Then dig quickly!"

With the dog digging at incredible speed, dirt flew to the ground like a fountain, and the man and his three animals quickly joined the digging team.

Seemingly guessing from the conversation between the two that there were indeed people buried below, the soldiers became anxious and swung their shovels even more vigorously.

The first thing to pop out was a section of gun barrel. Payne pulled it out and saw that it was a French rifle. He immediately threw it aside and continued to frantically shovel dirt.

Then a foot wearing a French military boot was revealed, so people immediately changed direction and finally dug out a hand that was clearly smaller than an adult male's.

Payne immediately pulled Ruby over and asked, "Is this Wangcai's hand?! Or is it Little Pony 2.0's?!"

"How would I know! They've only been here for less than two hours!" Ruby pushed him away and eagerly began clearing the dirt from his arm.

Soon, they cleared a face wearing a gas mask from the mound of dirt, revealing the distinctive furry ears.

Seeing this, Ruby took a step back and leaned against the trench wall, remaining silent.

Payne paused for a moment, then stepped forward and removed her gas mask.

Distorted features, bluish-purple face and lips, and cold skin—this is what Wangcai's face looks like now.

Soon after, they dug out Little Horse No. 2 as well. Her condition was even worse than Wangcai's; her face was already swollen.

The matter is already very clear:

At that moment, the three beasts had just escaped a melee, with Ruby in front and the two new beasts behind, running towards Payne's location.

Just then, a French soldier suddenly darted out from the side, colliding head-on with the two beasts and interrupting their advance.

Since no wounds were found on either the man or the beast, it was estimated that they hadn't even had a chance to engage in combat when a shell landed directly in front of the trench, and the resulting collapse buried them instantly.

Although the two beasts were wearing gas masks, preventing their mouths and noses from being blocked by mud, they were buried under a large amount of heavy earth and rocks and could not even move their fingers. In the midst of the fierce battle, no one would notice this mound of earth.

Ultimately, after exhausting the meager amount of oxygen remaining in their gas masks, they suffocated to death.

Chapter 41 XLI. Mutual Help

A few days later.

Perhaps sensing the Germans' intention to attack, the French, after their preemptive attack a few days earlier, began to drastically increase their troops and build fortifications.

This successfully intimidated the German commanders, causing them to proceed with their attack plan.

The troops that had been fighting in the previous days were all withdrawn and moved to a small village next to the defense line, where they only had to do light work such as moving ammunition.

It seems that the higher-ups are playing a long game and have not given up their offensive plans easily.

However, this has nothing to do with the ordinary soldiers at the bottom; they have always been people who are happy as long as they can live one day at a time.

After dinner, the officer, unusually kind for once, announced that the day's work was over, and the soldiers, after cheering, immediately dispersed to find some fun.

Most people went to the village bar for drinks, while others chose to go straight back to sleep.

Since most of the villagers had already fled, the soldiers felt perfectly justified in occupying the houses and sleeping in the beds.

A soft bed covered with velvet! — For soldiers who could only sleep on tattered rags in the trenches, this was nothing short of paradise.

Unfortunately, due to the shortage of rooms in the village, Payne, who was a step too slow, was unable to secure a foothold.

But it didn't matter. He and the beast girls set up a tent next to the stable and moved into their own little world.

However, the atmosphere was rather somber for the past two days, even though people (and animals) should have been happily enjoying their rare holiday.

They haven't recovered from the loss of three beast girls in one day.

When Payne returned to the tent after finishing his meal, Lacey was lying obediently on the bed, while Ruby sat in the tent with her back to the two, seemingly lost in thought.

Grace and Shawn have not returned yet.

In the rear, the beast girls had more options than those on the front lines, so the two herbivores went to the stables to eat hay and oats.

The grooms here are quite nice; food is unlimited, and they'll definitely fill all four of their stomachs before coming back.

Lacey was fed a large piece of raw meat that Payne got from the kitchen.

As for Ruby, she was acting rather unusually today, eating human food with Payne.

This girl is usually very picky about food; she won't eat fruit that isn't sweet, vegetables that are rotten, or nuts that aren't plump. Luckily, she's good at finding food, otherwise she would have starved to death long ago.

As for the reason for her depression, Payne was fully aware of it.

He entrusted Wangcai and Little Horse No. 2 to her care, but she didn't even know when the two beasts died...

This can't go on forever; we need to find a way to talk to her.

"Lassie, go outside for a while, but don't go too far. Ruby and I have something to talk about."

"Hmm? Okay then."

Lacey moved out somewhat reluctantly, but she didn't go far; she just lay quietly at the tent entrance.

Payne pulled the tent flap back up, looking at Ruby's drooping little ears, and for a moment he didn't know how to start a conversation.