Chapter 73: Dust of Doomsday

Before the little Ka Tsui-li and her family woke up, Lynn carefully wiped down the MP44 left behind by the brave "night warrior," filled the two familiar curved magazines with bullets, and then took out the Mauser military pistol with a capacity of only six rounds, giving it a thorough wipe.

For the two firearms carried by Lynn, Private Karl, who was shouldering blame, gave an interesting evaluation: carrying the latest and sharpest infantry weapon on the battlefield, running out of bullets, and suddenly pulling out the oldest and most peculiar pistol on the battlefield, surprising the enemy with its astonishing power and range!

Anyone could crack a joke like that, but Lynn could sense a hint of disdain in Karl's eyes, prompting him to hand over the assault rifle. With his left hand fingers and palm almost unable to bend, he quickly disassembled it at a dazzling speed, then assembled all the parts with not one extra, not one missing, and fired three rounds in a row with a crisp sound.

Lynn picked up the three dropped bullets from the ground and gave Karl a thumbs-up, acknowledging his skill.

"Daddy!"

A sweet, candy-like voice tinged with weariness came from behind. Lynn turned around and saw that little Ka Tsui-li must have been awakened by the sound, rubbing her eyes with her small hand and calling out "Daddy."

Never prepared to be a father, but after these two days of getting along, he felt that having a well-behaved and lovely daughter should be a very happy thing. After picking up little Ka Tsui-li, Lynn thought about what Karl had just said. This family of three was definitely going to board the ship before him. Since parting was inevitable, he suddenly feared hearing Ka Tsui-li crying hysterically and was more worried that her newly recovered sanity would deteriorate due to grief.

Where to go, he was a bit confused for a while.

Hearing Ka Tsui-li's voice, the white-goateed man and the woman also sat up one after another. The former yawned expressionlessly, while the latter combed her hair with her fingers, looking at Lynn with a gentle, friendly, yet slightly melancholic gaze.

Thinking of last night's passion, Lynn's face suddenly felt hot – this was a feeling he hadn't blushed with in many years!

"Hurry up and get ready to go! If we can't reach Königsberg by noon, we'll all go hungry!" Karl lazily reminded.

After picking up little Ka Tsui-li and bringing her back to the woman, Lynn said, "Take her to wash her face, I'll pack up!"

The tone and meaning of this sentence were like a conversation between a long-married couple.

Having said that, Lynn felt a little guilty. Fortunately, the woman did not show any obvious signs of displeasure. She took out a towel, toothbrush, and comb from her bag, then called Ka Tsui-li's name softly, and the two women went to wash up with fluffy hair.

The white-goateed man didn't brush his teeth or wash his face after getting up, but took out a small wooden comb from his suitcase and carefully combed his beautiful beard, which had grown to three or four inches long.

Lynn was speechless as he quietly packed up the blankets. For the sake of portability, German soldiers were accustomed to rolling up their blankets and simple tents into rolls, which could be carried over the shoulders or tied to the waist. With two blankets, Lynn took one each, which looked a bit strange, but since it wasn't a parade, it didn't matter as long as it was convenient.

Because they were far from the combat zone, Lynn could confidently carry the MP44 with the barrel slanted downwards. When the family of three finished packing, he picked up the suitcase with one hand and the bag with the other. Except for little Ka Tsui-li, who seemed a little disappointed because Lynn couldn't free up a hand to hold her, everyone else naturally accepted his attentiveness.

With different roles, treatment indeed changed accordingly. This was good as it alleviated Lynn's guilty conscience to some extent.

The four adults and one child continued along the road towards Königsberg.

With the burden of the white-goateed man removed, he walked at the front, one hand in his pocket and the other leisurely stroking his beard. His relaxed posture was much easier than that of the younger ones.

The woman followed closely behind, leading little Ka Tsui-li. Whether it was to exercise her daughter's ability to live independently, or because of physical weakness and inability to hold her for a long time, or for some other reason, since their first meeting, Lynn had rarely seen her holding her daughter. The mother and daughter walked like this. When the little girl got tired, the woman would voluntarily turn back to take the bag from Lynn's hand. Naturally, the little girl would comfortably sit in the "cheap dad's" arms.

Things were different now, and treatment changed accordingly. This was good, as Lynn's guilty conscience was alleviated considerably.

As they walked, a small village built near the water appeared ahead on the road. From a distance, it had the natural tranquility of beauty. Smoke curled up from the chimneys of several houses, but when they got closer, Lynn and the others could easily see that it had become a temporary military garrison: simple defensive fortifications had been built at the edge of the village, soldiers in gray or camouflage uniforms were coming and going in the village, and some tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled guns undergoing repairs were parked near the woods.

A modern-looking cement bridge was built at the position of the river on the bypass road, estimated to be about 50 meters long. At first glance, Lynn guessed that explosives should have been installed on the bridge piers, the river was not narrow, and the water should not be shallow. Why didn't the German army choose to build a complete defense line here?

Thinking about this purely military question, a slight rumble came from ahead. At first, Lynn thought it was the tanks in repair testing their engines, but this buzzing sound soon showed a completely different tone from ordinary tanks or assault guns. After almost a minute, a large "mountain eagle" suddenly appeared above the woods to the north of the village. Unlike the natural curves that the Creator bestowed on all things, this eagle had straight but not rigid lines. The high-speed rotating propeller provided it with powerful thrust, the large wings gave it the ability to fly and maintain balance, and the vertically erected tail enabled it to perform enviable combat maneuvers.

"Wow! Daddy, look! It's a plane!"

Little Ka Tsui-li happily pointed at the "mountain eagle," and before this, Lynn had always thought that children who had been deeply affected by the war would be afraid when they saw planes or heard the roar. But seeing Ka Tsui-li's performance, this completely matched the normal reaction of a child.

Lynn put

 down the luggage in his left hand, took out the dictionary from his pocket, and explained to little Ka Tsui-li while flipping through the pages, "It's a plane, our plane! It's a Focke-Wulf-190, a fighter!"

Like an incredibly cute little parrot, Ka Tsui-li echoed, "Focke...fighter! Our fighter!"

"Yes, our fighter! Ka Tsui-li is really smart!" Although Lynn's first purpose was self-learning, unconsciously, his behavior was becoming more and more like that of a father.

For this kind of teaching behavior, Karl did not show any disdainful or contemptuous expression. As he passed by Lynn, he said, "That's the airport of Königsberg up ahead, the only large airport within the defense line. It seems to still be in use!"

"Oh!" Lynn looked towards the woods. Although he couldn't see through the obstacles with his naked eyes, he could imagine how tense and busy the large airport would be during the war.