War Beyond the Obelisk

Chapter 4: Smiling Gas — 01

After Yu Feichen spoke those final words, the voice abruptly fell silent.

Often, sudden silence existed only to prepare the way for something worse. Yu Feichen, however, felt no fear. Most residents of Paradise were devout believers willing to walk through fire for the High God, but no law explicitly prohibited disrespect toward divinity.

At last, the voice returned, no longer deafening.

“Beyond the Gate of Eternal Night is no place to fight alone,” it said, its somber tones coming from every direction. “Those who follow you with all their hearts should be brought back. One journey, one companion.”

“Must I bring someone back?” Yu Feichen asked.

After a pause, he added, “What lies beyond the Gate?”

The owner of the voice answered neither question.

Only a detached farewell sounded through the black, lifeless void.

“Good luck.”

The darkness deepened in an instant.

An invisible force struck Yu Feichen from behind and hurled him forward.

It felt like leaping from a cliff, except the cold darkness followed him down. Rather than falling through the air, it was more like plunging into deep water.

When he finally managed to draw breath, damp, frigid air flooded his lungs.

Yu Feichen opened his eyes.

He was sitting in a cramped space that rocked continuously beneath him. People crowded every side, and quiet sobbing came from somewhere nearby.

He sat on the floor with his back against a corner. The metal beneath him was stained black, and a steady clatter sounded from below.

He quickly reached a conclusion.

He was inside a railroad car.

Yu Feichen raised his head.

People filled the dim compartment, some sitting, others lying down wherever they could find room. A single narrow window had been cut into the far-right wall.

He rubbed some of the black residue on the floor between his fingers.

Coal dust.

This was a train built to transport coal.

Instead, it was carrying a carload of people.

A sob came from a short distance in front of him. A well-dressed gentleman was holding a woman wrapped in an overcoat. The sound came from her.

“Where are they taking us?” she whispered, both hands pressed tightly over her abdomen.

The gentleman—presumably her husband—did nothing but kiss her cheeks and hair again and again.

“I’m here. I’ll always be with you. Don’t be afraid, Liana. Please don’t be afraid.”

“We’ve been traveling north the entire time,” said a young man to Yu Feichen’s right. “After this long, we can’t possibly still be in Korosha.”

The woman’s sobs grew louder.

Murmurs spread through the car.

“Where are they taking us?”

“May the gods protect us.”

Yu Feichen turned toward the young man.

“What happened?”

Only after speaking did he realize how terribly hoarse his voice had become.

In the corner of his vision, the married couple were attempting to push a thermos back and forth, each insisting that the other drink. Everyone in the car had evidently been without water for a long time.

“You’re awake,” the young man said. “You were unconscious for so long that we thought you were dead.”

“Not yet,” Yu Feichen replied.

Everyone else in the compartment seemed consumed by despair. This young man alone retained a trace of optimism.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

Yu Feichen ran his fingers over the cuff of his right sleeve. Several raised letters had been embroidered into the fabric.

“Jens Adams.”

“I’ve heard of you,” the young man said. “The famous attorney.”

So he was a lawyer.

Yu Feichen accepted that explanation. His coat and shirt were made from expensive materials and had been meticulously maintained.

He leaned back against the wall and stretched. Several joints cracked. This body was broad-shouldered and long-legged, with a respectable build.

That was good news.

“And you?” he asked.

“Bai Song. I served at the harbor for a year and made corporal. Right before everything happened, I’d been called back into service and was preparing to leave for the front. The next day, the Black Crest Army occupied Korosha.”

The front.

Occupation.

The Black Crest Army.

Those three phrases told Yu Feichen that he had undoubtedly arrived in a world at war.

And in wartime, there was only one kind of person transported in crowded coal cars.

Prisoners.

The Black Crest Army had seized a city, driven its former residents onto trains, and sent them somewhere else.

The clattering beneath them suddenly slowed.

A piercing whistle tore through the car.

Bai Song seized Yu Feichen’s forearm. His hand was trembling.

So he was afraid after all.

Metal shrieked overhead. Pale daylight spilled into the compartment as the roof hatch was dragged open.

“Get out! Form a line!” someone barked from outside.

Three seconds passed.

No one moved.

A soldier in a black uniform fired into the air.

Only then did the prisoners begin climbing down. A woman who moved too slowly cried out when one of the soldiers shoved her forward.

People were unloading from more than a dozen nearby cars. At a glance, Yu Feichen estimated their number at no fewer than six hundred.

Two armed soldiers stood before each car. Once most of the prisoners had disembarked, the soldiers began marching forward, forcing everyone into one long column behind them.

The married couple stood directly ahead of Yu Feichen. The woman still kept her right hand over her abdomen.

Bai Song stood behind him.

Before them loomed a gray complex surrounded by electrified fencing.

Its entrance was a black iron gate guarded by more soldiers. To the right hung a crooked, weathered sign.

OAK VALLEY CHEMICAL WORKS

A newer iron plaque had been mounted above it.

OAK VALLEY INTERNMENT CAMP

Yu Feichen surveyed the surroundings.

The complex stood on a plain enclosed on three sides by high mountains. The sky was the color of lead, and the air carried the bitter cold of winter.

Every escort and guard was heavily armed.

Whatever Oak Valley was, it was not a safe place.

After being thrown through the Gate of Eternal Night, every trace of the power Paradise had granted him had disappeared. It was as though he truly were an ordinary man born and raised in this world.

It had been a long time since he had experienced such complete freedom.

There was another obvious difference.

Every world he had entered before came with a clearly defined mission. The instant that objective was achieved, Paradise recalled him.

But the being behind the Gate had sent him here without giving him any objective at all.

Still, if he had arrived at this place, then whatever he was supposed to accomplish must be connected to the internment camp.

Beyond the gate, a newly constructed wall blocked the prisoners’ view, preventing them from seeing the complex in full.

Several dark tables had been arranged along the wall. Officers sat behind them, accompanied by two doctors in white coats.

The wind howled.

The prisoners hunched their shoulders against the cold and shuffled forward.

There were ordinary civilians in the line, along with finely dressed gentlemen and ladies.

Yet every person who reached the tables received the same command.

“Remove your clothes.”

At the front stood an elderly man wearing round spectacles and a khaki suit. His hair was snow-white and perfectly groomed.

He looked directly at the officer before him and did not move.

The officer had slightly bulging eyes and a tightly drawn mouth. His expression was unreadable.

“Remove your clothes,” he repeated.

“You have no authority to demand that of me,” the old man said.

The officer raised one hand.

A gunshot cracked through the yard.

The crowd screamed.

The old man collapsed, and a dark stain spread across the frozen ground.

The next prisoner began unbuttoning his shirt with trembling fingers. Under the officer’s gaze, he continued until only a thin pair of pants remained.

A soldier seized his clothes.

Money and a wristwatch were removed from the pockets and dropped into a metal box. The garments themselves were thrown into a larger cardboard container.

The prisoner was then given a gray, long-sleeved work uniform.

“Not a single shipment of supplies on the whole train,” remarked a black-uniformed guard standing near Yu Feichen.

His companion snorted.

“Plenty of garbage, though. They keep sending us carloads of that.”

“At least you can sometimes sift gold out of garbage.”

The woman ahead of Yu Feichen flinched and pressed closer to her husband.

Her hand had not left her abdomen once.

The winter wind flattened her clothing against her body, revealing the slight curve of her waist.

She was pregnant.

The line advanced slowly.

Young and middle-aged men, along with several physically strong women, were separated into one group. Elderly prisoners, children, and the remaining women were sent to another.

A limping man and a person with albinism were placed in a third group.

A short time later, another pregnant woman joined them.

The rest of the yard was open and unobstructed.

The only other object of interest was a black military vehicle parked beside the line.

Yu Feichen initially assumed it contained another squad of armed soldiers.

As the prisoners moved forward and his viewing angle shifted, however, he realized that it did not.

The rear seats were empty.

Only one figure occupied the front passenger seat, sitting with his head slightly lowered.

Yu Feichen could not tell what the man was doing.

Perhaps nothing at all.

He wore a black military uniform. Beneath the short-brimmed cap was a glimpse of white.

On closer inspection, it was long platinum-blond hair spilling over his shoulders.

“Where did that pretty little thing in the car come from?” one soldier asked. “He wasn’t here yesterday.”

“That’s not a woman,” the other replied mockingly. “He graduated from Xiyun Military Academy this month and was immediately commissioned as a captain in the Black Crest Army. No idea who sent him here.”

The soldier glanced toward the motionless figure in the vehicle.

“The colonel intends to put him in his place. That’s why they’ve left him sitting out there.”