The chairs and sofas here have been whitened by the years.
At the round table in the center of the bar, an old man with white hair and a centipede scar fiercely drew on his cigar, crushed the butt in the ashtray, then turned to look at the elder sitting not far away.
"Old Dog, why hasn’t the boss arrived yet."
"He’s been contacted, should be here any minute." said the elder hidden in the shadows, as he stood up, revealing a half-cyborg face, and raised his glass to the inquiring old man.
Just then, the bar door was pushed open, and the bell tinkled crisply against the door frame.
A group of elderly men in the bar turned their heads, only to see a figure over two meters tall stride in, his combat boots resonating on the wooden floor.
The newcomer took off his coat drenched with rainwater, revealing broad and solid muscles, looked up at his old friends gathered there, and grinned:
The bar, quiet for a moment, immediately became boisterous.
"Captain, missing one leg really does make you slower than my two." An old man who had lost both arms looked at Li Tie and laughed heartily.
"Brother Tie, your granddaughter must have clung to you again, huh? Interested in introducing her to my grandson?"
"Boss, come have a drink quickly, I’ve missed you."
Sitting down at the round table in the center of the bar, Li Tie’s gaze swept over everyone present.
"Where are Bao Qiu and Huang Feng?"
Faced with the question, everyone suddenly fell silent, and the smiles on their faces dissipated.
"Bao Qiu and Huang Feng didn’t make it through this year. You were undergoing mental recovery treatment at the time, and your situation wasn’t very stable, so to avoid stimulating you, we didn’t notify you to attend the funeral." the old man sitting next to Li Tie spoke gravely.
Hearing this, a flash of sadness crossed Li Tie’s eyes.
But he quickly suppressed his emotions, reached out for his glass, and raised it up high, grinning:
"We old timers, lucky to have crawled out from hell, each day alive is a bonus, to the veteran soldiers, to the old friends."
"To the veteran soldiers, to the old friends." The other elders raised their glasses, and then followed Li Tie in downing them in one gulp.
In the reminiscing session, while listening to his old comrades talking about their experiences over the year, Li Tie’s thoughts drifted with an old classic song playing from a corner, stirring the deepest memories at the bottom of his heart.
Deafening artillery fire seemed to explode next to his ear, endless mechanical armies lay across the battlefield, stretching endlessly on both sides...
Those sitting here were all brothers who had been through life and death with him on the battlefield.
The brutal war, his troops that ultimately returned alive only numbered 46, the rest of his brothers were buried on the battlefield.
Only 27 were left today.
This painful memory was not only his nightmare but also an ineradicable grief in the hearts of the old friends present.
Whenever he thought of this past, countless young faces would flash through his mind, and these figures would be torn apart in the flying flames of war, he would try to reach out to retain them, only to find they were nothing but illusions.
This was also one of the main reasons for his mental issues.
With each replay of these indelible memories, the suppressed emotions would intensify once more, until a complete breakdown where reality and memories could no longer be distinguished.
He took a deep drag of his cigar, exhaled a thick puff of smoke, which curled up along his fingers, veiling his slightly lost eyes.
"Boss, tell us about your year, has your granddaughter married?"
"Nonsense, would I not ask you guys over for a drink if she got married?" Blowing away the swirling white smoke before him, Li Tie lifted his right arm and hooked the elder sitting beside him under his arm, grinned and said:
"Do you want to introduce my granddaughter to your grandson again?"
"That kid isn’t lucky enough, recently got hooked on something called Dark Land or whatever, my son told me he stays up late to grab spots, his life is basically wasted."
Hearing this, Li Tie’s heart stirred.
"Yes, that’s the one, supposedly the scenes inside are very realistic, much more advanced than the virtual games we played when we were young."
His old friend’s words sparked an idea in Li Tie.
These old comrades were in a similar situation to his, all having post-war stress disorder, why not take these old friends to Dark Land, let them conquer in the game.
The emotional release could alleviate their symptoms and also avoid the destructive risks that come with emotional breakdowns in reality.
With this thought, Li Tie stood up and clapped his hands sharply.
The crisp sound of clapping arose, and the noisy bar suddenly quietened down, the old comrades all looked at Li Tie.
"Come over here, I have something to discuss with you."
Hearing this, the veteran soldiers all stood up and gathered around Li Tie, looking puzzled.
The scar-faced leader spoke before Li Tie could:
"Boss, you must be pulling us to play a virtual game again, I’m not interested, it’s too childish."
Hearing the scar-faced elder’s words, Li Tie suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
In fact, he had previously invited these old friends to experience virtual games.
But only he persisted, the others chose to return to real life after a brief experience.
And the reason he persisted was to accompany his granddaughter Li Siyu, or he would have given up long ago.
"This time it’s different, recently under Siyu’s recommendation I came across a virtual game that’s incredibly realistic... so I want you all to experience this game with me... Oh right, the game can automatically compensate for our physical deficiencies, in there we can regain the body parts we’ve lost."