225 BC.
Qin used a water assault to flood Daliang, Wei's capital, successfully forcing the King of Wei to leave the city and surrender. Thus, after Zhao and Han, the third great state was destroyed by Qin, becoming a speck of dust amid the vast currents of history.
On the western plateau, the even more rugged Ji Chao sat on the ground, continuously adjusting the little object in his hands.
"What's that, sir?" Wen Ju had grown much sturdier as well. Harsh environments always forged people. Sitting beside Ji Chao, he looked at the little object in Ji Chao's hands and asked.
"The friendship between me and my close friend," Ji Chao answered casually, without pausing his hands for even a moment.
"That King of Qin?"
"Yes."
Type Zero and Type One were sparring in the distance, battering the ground into a pitted mess.
Wen Ju rested his chin in his hand. He had long since grown accustomed to this sort of life.
"Good thing you saved me by the river that day, sir. Otherwise, I never would've seen so much grandeur beyond the borders." He lay down as he spoke, gazing at the distant snowcapped mountains and murmuring.
"Mm." Ji Chao chuckled. "Don't feel like dying anymore?"
"No." Wen Ju stroked his neck and sighed. "The wars between the Seven States never end. What they consume is always everything belonging to ordinary folk like us."
"Driven from home, with no kin in sight."
"That is all war brings to common people like us."
"Even if we win, none of the benefits ever reach our hands."
"And even... if there are benefits, by the time we bring them back to our hometowns, there might not be anyone left to receive them."
He shifted his position, pillowing his head on his