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Combat, relentless combat, without pause, with no end in sight.
Shi Lei felt a slight itch on his scalp. Without thinking, he removed his helmet and scratched it. Frustrated that it brought neither relief nor satisfied the itch, he decided to simply pick off a large scab, with hair stuck on it.
Blood immediately began trickling out. The itch was gone, replaced by a sharp sting.
A muffled boom resonated; the stone cave shuddered, dust from the ground starting to drift, but there were no more rocks to fall.
Shi Lei licked his lips, so parched it was unbearable. Even his tongue felt dry, and after running it over his cracked lips, it too began to hurt.
He didn't know where another blast had occurred, but judging from the magnitude of the explosion, it must have been one that sealed the entire passage. It meant that either the supply of ammunition or of living materials was cut off, but definitely not the route to the command post.