No Beast Girls on the Western Front

Page 25

Chapter 37 XXXVII. Poison Gas Attack

Seeing Payne turn and run away without a word, Ruby, sensing something was wrong, immediately gathered the beast girls together and asked Lacey, "What did you just say to him?!"

"I said I thought I smelled almonds, apples, and rotten hay..."

"This!...This can't be!..."

Ruby was still in shock when she saw Payne rush back. She immediately felt reassured and called out, "Payne! Lacey might have smelled it..."

"No way! It's poison gas!" Payne yelled as he crawled into the trench. "Come here! Help me find a gas mask!"

The man and his beasts quickly found the box containing the gas masks, and Payne immediately distributed one to each of the beasts.

Upon seeing the large, mask-like structure of the gas mask, Lacey immediately made a face and said, "Why is it another P1 gas mask... I feel like I'm going to suffocate as soon as I put this on..."

"Doesn't that just prove how effective the defense is?" Payne said as he walked towards Wangcai. "It not only protects against poison gas, but it even protects against oxygen!"

"It's good enough that it's useful. Let's see if we can capture a few of their gas masks when the French attack later..."

As he spoke, Payne had already swiftly put gas masks on the two new beasts, while loudly reminding them, "I've put them on for you, don't move around! And don't take them off to wipe the condensation off the lenses! Bite down on the valves to breathe!"

Seeing that both beasts nodded, Payne gathered all the beasts together again, personally confirming that each beast was wearing its gas mask, and then gave the order:

"Ruby, take Shawn to the flank; Lacey, take Grace to the rear to deliver the information about the poison gas! Don't linger! Wangcai and Little Pony II, you two follow me!"

"Understood!" ×6.

The beast girls sprang into action, and Payne put on a gas mask, immediately narrowing and blurring his vision.

To figure out the situation, he poked his head out of the trench and looked around in a 360-degree circle.

The surrounding area was still filled with thick, impenetrable gray smoke, but a splash of red appeared only at the rear of the position.

If there's nothing wrong with Lacey's nose, then the enemy's attack should have used phosphorescence—but phosphorescence is colorless.

Even though the technology of the Fasfulo Empire surpassed that of Earth at the same time, and even though the laws of physics and chemistry in this world might be different from those on Earth, allowing for the creation of entirely new poisonous gases, he had never heard of any poisonous gas being red in all the years he had lived in this world.

Damn it, what new thing have those Frenchmen come up with this time...?

Hopefully, the gas mask on my face will hold up.

Payne cursed inwardly, then turned around and saw Ruby and Shawn still standing there. He angrily shouted, "What are you two doing?! Why aren't you going?!"

Ruby quickly said, "I can't pull her!"

At this moment, Xiao En was curled up in the corner, her hands tightly covering her head, her body trembling uncontrollably. Despite Ruby's forceful pulling on her arm, she remained unmoved.

Payne immediately stepped forward, grabbed her horns, and shouted, "What's wrong with you?!"

"I!...I...I...I'm scared!" Xiao En let out a sheep-like bleating.

The enemy's shelling this time was incredibly fierce; the explosions of shells were incessant. Compared to that, the previous nighttime firefight seemed like child's play.

"Get up! What are you afraid of! Get up!!"

Payne grabbed her under the armpits and lifted her up, but then her legs gave way and she collapsed into Payne's arms.

"Waaaaah... I... I can't stand up... Waaaaah..."

Which idiot sent those sheep-like beastmen to the front lines...?

And it's a sheep...

Helpless, Payne could only yell at Ruby, "You! Take Wangcai and Little Pony 2nd generation with you!"

"understand!"

Watching the three beasts disappear into the maze-like trenches, Payne wanted to slap Xiao En twice to wake her up, but then realized they were all wearing gas masks, so he could only pin her to the ground. "You stay here, you're not going anywhere! Do you understand?!"

"Meow meow meow I understand... I understand meow meow meow..."

I was originally planning to take this opportunity to teach Wangcai and Little Horse No. 2, but it seems I can only take care of Xiao En for now.

Payne composed himself, immediately turned and ran towards the trench, intending to retrieve some more ammunition.

But while he was still working underground, he felt something covering his lenses. Thinking it was dust, he wiped it off, but found that he couldn't wipe it off. Then he suddenly realized that the thing was red.

He turned his head and saw red smoke pouring into the shelter trench from the entrance.

How could the poison gas spread so quickly? It was quite far away from here when I looked just now.

Payne didn't dare to delay; he immediately took the ammunition back to the trench.

At this moment, the poisonous gas was spreading rapidly across the ground, filling all the pits and hollows, like a soft and huge jellyfish swimming into the tunnel and stretching and lying down.

Poisonous gas is generally heavier than air, so staying in the trench is definitely not a good idea; we need to get to higher ground as soon as possible.

Almost purely by instinct, Payne found Xiao En amidst the red, and once again lifted her up by her armpits. "Get up! Get up!"

"No! Payne... my trainer told me to stay here!..."

"I am Payne!!"

"...Huh?! Oh, it's you!"

Wearing a gas mask also has this downside: you can never recognize who is who.

Animal girls are a bit better, as the non-human characteristics of animal girls from different species are completely different.

"Get up there quickly! Don't stay down here!"

"I...I understand..."

Like holding a small child, Payne grabbed her body and threw her upwards with all his might. She clung to the ground and pulled herself up with all her might, while her legs kicked wildly and she even kicked Payne hard in the chest.

Payne intended to grab her thigh and shove her up in one go, but unexpectedly, this lamb leg was quite plump, and he couldn't even grab it with one hand. To make matters worse, Xiao En also couldn't get a grip on the ground, slipped, and landed squarely on Payne's face...

In that instant, Payne unleashed the greatest strength he had ever shown since pulling the cannon, pushing her by the buttocks and throwing her directly onto it, while quickly checking his gas mask.

The valve wasn't ruptured, the leather wasn't torn, and the lens wasn't broken. Thank goodness! Whew!

Payne let out a long sigh of relief, then jumped up, bracing himself on the ground with both hands and then lifting his legs up. He easily flipped over and landed close to Xiao En.

Explosions could still be heard amidst a thick gray and red fog, as if the soldiers on both sides had become superhuman, able to survive and even continue fighting in the toxic fog.

As he watched the red mist, capable of taking a life in seconds, slowly flow past his eyes and beside him, Payne's heart pounded with tension.

Did I wear the gas mask correctly? Was its seal adequate? Did Xiao En really not suffer any damage from sitting on it?

He had witnessed such horrific scenes in field hospitals: wounded soldiers who had inhaled poison gas coughed for days on end, spitting out pieces of their burned lungs...

Soon, he felt his head buzzing, as if it was about to explode.

My chest felt tight, the air was always hot and thin, and the veins on my temples were bulging. I felt like I was about to suffocate.

At first, he thought it was because he was too nervous, but he soon breathed a sigh of relief—this at least proved that the filter canister did work, adsorbing a large amount of toxic substances, which narrowed the pores and blocked the air intake.

The concentration of toxic gas this time is high enough that the filter canister is about to fail after only a few minutes.

The spare filter canisters are in the same box as the gas masks; I need to get them quickly.

However, just as Payne was about to act, he saw Shawn trying to pull off the gas mask with his hands!

Chapter 38 XXXVIII. Blockade Battle

In that instant, Payne almost let out a sharp, explosive sound.

This guy!! He made this mistake right after I told him!! ...

Fortunately, Payne reacted quickly, grabbed Xiao En, twisted her hands behind her back, and pressed her firmly to the ground.

Although it might hurt a little, this would at least ensure that Xiao En, who was stronger than him, couldn't break free.

He knew very well why Xiao En wanted to remove her mask:

She had no concept of poison gas; all she knew was that wearing the mask made breathing increasingly difficult, and the lenses fogged up. The fear of not being able to breathe and not being able to see the outside world made her subconsciously want to take off the mask.

Because of the lack of oxygen, Xiao En, who was pinned to the ground, could no longer speak. She could only gasp for breath, and her gas mask rhythmically expanded and contracted.

After a while, the sound of the explosions seemed to be moving away, and the shells were no longer falling near them.

Payne finally realized he was about to die. With his last breath, he shouted, "Don't take off your gas mask! I'll go get the spare filter!"

Xiao En nodded almost imperceptibly. Payne gently released her arm and, seeing that she was just lying on the ground exhausted, he rolled down into the trench with relief.

By this time, the red toxic smoke had dissipated somewhat, but visibility in the trench was still very low. Payne, like a blind man, groped his way to the box containing the gas mask, took out two filter canisters, and flipped them back onto the ground.

But to his surprise, such a simple action caused his vision to go black, his eyeballs to almost bulge out, and a strange smell that he couldn't quite describe to enter his nostrils.

There was no time to hesitate. Paine forced himself to return to Xiao En's side despite his discomfort and said breathlessly, "Take a deep breath first, then hold it for ten seconds and slowly exhale. I'll change the filter canister for you. Nod if you understand!"

Xiao En nodded almost imperceptibly again, her little belly slightly bulging. Paine immediately and skillfully removed the old filter canister and replaced it with a new one.

After doing all that, he felt like he was about to lose consciousness, and he changed the filter almost entirely by muscle memory.

The air, as sweet as spring water, rushed into the gas mask. Payne gasped for breath greedily, but quickly forced himself to calm down to avoid depleting the filter too quickly.

Seeing that Xiao En had quickly returned to normal and was now crawling close to him, Payne instinctively gripped the clothes on her shoulders tightly, staring intently at the thick fog ahead.

The receding sound of the explosions did not mean the enemy had given up the attack; on the contrary, the French had gradually mastered the technique of advancing barrages in recent months, and their main force was approaching.

The shells should be landing on their artillery positions now. Hopefully, those artillerymen will be quick-witted and not let the enemy destroy the cannons they've worked so hard to get into position over the past few days.

Otherwise, Little Horse would have died in vain.

After lying on the ground for a while, although the lingering smoke had not yet dissipated, the sound of machine guns and grenade explosions could be heard from ahead—this must be the first trench putting up a defensive attack.

Payne glanced down and saw that the red fog in the trench had mostly dissipated. He then pulled Xiao En back into the trench and reminded her, "Don't rush to take off your gas mask. The gas is heavier than air and will accumulate in low-lying areas."

"If you can move after the fighting starts, deliver bullets and grenades to everyone, and help carry the wounded."

"If the enemy enters the trench, pull out your entrenching tool, but do not fight unless absolutely necessary, and come find me as soon as possible."

"I understand...I understand..." Xiao En's hands trembled. "I'm...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, it's okay, just get used to it as soon as possible."

Payne patted her tousled hair in encouragement, then set up his rifle and aimed at the thick fog.

Meanwhile, the positions that had suffered a double attack from artillery shells and poison gas were restored to life, like a boxer who had been hit by two heavy punches but calmly dusted himself off and stood up again.

As if they had been respawned, gas masks that had just disappeared to hide from artillery fire emerged from the trenches, embankments, and communication trenches extending to the rear, and returned to their combat positions with disciplined ease.

Soon, the fog gradually dissipated, and visibility returned to around 100 meters, revealing shadowy human-shaped objects ahead.