Happy Mid-Autumn Festival / How the New Reunion Movement Expands

Suika chuckled and took over the conversation, then looked inside.

One of the main reasons she came here was because she was worried about the Reunion Movement's food shortage in winter due to the pursuit by the Ursus Military. There are over a thousand people; even if no one survives on rice porridge every day, they still need to consume a considerable amount of food.

Moreover, the soldiers among them could not possibly eat only that little bit; otherwise, they probably wouldn't even have the strength to pick up a weapon if a battle were to break out.

That's why the Reunion Movement's executives seemed so relaxed upon seeing Suika's arrival and remembering her magic that could conjure food with a wave of her hand.

Night fell quickly, and just as the crowd was wondering why Talulah hadn't prepared to cook, Suika snapped her fingers.

One dish of food after another appeared in front of everyone.

For this banquet, Suika didn't choose anything too fancy, but rather a very simple Ursus farmhouse-style feast.

The food mainly consists of rye bread, broth, and stew, supplemented with some lettuce and purple cabbage.

In the case of normal people, although these foods are plentiful, they are not foods that no one has ever eaten before.

However, after becoming Infected, even this ordinary food became a luxury.

It's not that the Reunion Movement doesn't provide good food, but rather that the Reunion Movement only has so many resources available. Even Talulah, as the leader, only gets an extra piece of roasted meat on her birthday, let alone the others.

Suddenly, a mouthwatering aroma of delicious food appeared before everyone, and they all stared at the food in the distance with incredulous expressions.

Just as the crowd was about to react Talulah stepped forward, clapped her hands, and attracted everyone's attention.

"Everyone gets a share. Please line up, take your utensils, and take turns as needed. There's only one requirement: no waste."

Upon hearing Talulah's words, everyone cheered before lining up in a very orderly fashion.

Standing not far away, Suika noticed that although the people queuing up were doing so spontaneously, there was a certain order to it.

First to stand at the front were the soldiers. When lining up, everyone subconsciously put all combat personnel at the front, followed by pregnant women, then women and children, and finally the elderly.

No one was in charge of this squad, but everyone maintained a tacit understanding.

Suika looked at Alina beside her, and Alina reached out and rubbed her head.

"There's no other way. The Reunion Movement has limited food supplies, so we often have to implement planned rationing. But there's only so much food. We need to ensure the nutrition of those who need to fight first, then we can give priority to pregnant women who need nutrition, and as for the elderly..."

Alina didn't say it, but everyone understood what she meant. Even the elderly themselves knew that they would be the first to be abandoned when food shortages occurred.

But there's no other way; after all, if most people are to survive, some sacrifices often have to be made.

Even so, these elderly people did not cause trouble or resist, which Suika greatly admired.

While habit plays a part, it's more likely that those who dare to cause trouble are already doomed.

Just as Suika was calculating whether there was enough food and whether they needed to have another batch, everyone had already brought out their food one after another.

It was only then that Suika realized that although she hadn't calculated it, the final amount of food was just enough, and there was even extra broth for those who needed a second bowl.

Many people, while eating, reminisced about their peaceful past and began to sob quietly once again.

There was nothing Suika could do about this, so she could only look to Commissar Alina.

Alina shook her head.

"Let them vent. It's good for them to vent; at least they won't get sick from holding it in."

Suika shrugged, then walked back to the cave entrance with Hoshiguma.

"Want a sip?"

"Alright, I've been too tired these past few days..." Hoshiguma grabbed the sake gourd that Suika handed him without hesitation and poured it into his mouth without hesitation.

"Drink slowly, don't get drunk..." Seeing her like this, Suika helplessly reached out and snatched the Ibuki Gourd back from her.

Hoshiguma leaned against Suika's side and said, "I used to think that no matter how tough or tiring it was, the slum environment was almost the end of the road. But now, after coming to Ursus, I've realized that sometimes the bottom line in this world is lower than I imagined."

"But no one chose to give up, did they?"

"Yes, everyone is trying to live..." Hoshiguma cheered up after hearing Suika's words.

Seeing this, Suika patted her shoulder.

"Let's go. Instead of thinking about this and that here, why don't we go for a walk with the patrol team?"

Suika pointed to a spot not far away, where Red was leading several people, preparing to leave.

They planned to scout out the surrounding area before nightfall and to prepare for potential dangers.

Even if the snowstorm hindered the Ursus army's advance, what if the enemy got nearby?

If they are completely unaware of what's going on, and the other side catches them red-handed, then the people trapped in the cave will truly have no way out.

"Okay, let's go!"

Hoshiguma, hearing Suika's words, became eager to try, and the two of them went to Red's side to sign up and express their willingness to participate in the patrol together.

Chapter 343 Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

"Count me in!"

Just after Suika and Hoshiguma finished registering at Red, Ularov suddenly appeared to the side and spoke up.

"You?" Red looked hesitantly at Suika and Alina, who was not far away.

Alina nodded in agreement, because in terms of age, Ularov did meet the minimum age requirement for participating in the military training of the Reunion Movement, and from her conversation with him just now, she could tell that the boy was much more determined than his peers.

Participating in patrols, the simplest form of military operation, is also the best option for someone his age.

As for Suika, it was even simpler. Her job was simply to bring the person here, and once Talulah decided to accept him, everything the person did was no longer her concern.

After all, she wasn't related to the other person, so there was no need for her to interfere too much.

Finally, Red thought about it and figured it was just patrolling anyway, one more person wouldn't make a difference, and with so many people on his side, bringing along another burden wouldn't be a problem, so he agreed.

Soon the group set off and headed outside.

"Our patrol is just going around the mountain?" Suika asked Red excitedly after they went outside.

Red nodded and then shook his head.

"The patrol route does include the area around this mountain, but to be on the safe side, we need to extend the area further, that is, to circle all the hills within three kilometers of this mountain."

The total distance is estimated to be around 20 kilometers. In this weather, we need to complete the entire journey within two hours, otherwise it will be difficult to find our way back once it gets dark."

Suika nodded after hearing this.

To be fair, two hours and twenty kilometers is a pretty good result in long-distance running.

However, it's important to know that long-distance running usually involves choosing normal roads, and even if there are some undulations, they won't be too significant.

The patrol team can maintain this speed even in snowy weather and on mountain roads.

All I can say is that Terra's physical abilities would make any one of them a superhuman on Earth.

Half an hour later, just as the group had crossed a mountain stream, Red raised his hand to indicate that something was amiss, and the group instantly went from being extremely active to extremely quiet.

Suika was originally in the middle, stepped forward and jumped to the front.

"What happened?"

"There are footprints coming from here. Their path coincides with our patrol route. Judging from the clarity of these footprints, the people should be about ten to twenty minutes ahead of us."

"How many people are there?"

"Judging from the footprints, there were seven to ten people, a standard patrol squad."

Red examined the footprints again before speaking.

"Let's sneak over and check the situation. If it's just villagers from the surrounding villages, that's fine. But if it's a military patrol, we can warn Talulah in advance and find a way to escape."

Suika's words coincided with Red's thoughts, and the patrol quickened their pace, following the other party's footprints.

An hour later, they found traces of each other in a mountain hollow.

Upon seeing the other person's attire, everyone's expressions changed.

Because the other people were all wearing white cotton-padded jackets with black polka dots.

This type of clothing is currently mainly used by the Ursus Military.

"Did the Ursus army really get this far? Or were they just lucky to run into them?"

Suika asked Red in a low voice.

Red frowned and examined it for a long time before speaking in a low voice.

Something's not right.

"How so?"

"I've dealt with those army patrols many times, and I know their style and habits all too well."

Although these people were wearing patrol uniforms, they were completely different from the military patrols I remembered.

Red's words made Suika frown. Just as she was pondering what was going on, she suddenly saw Ularov and a flash of inspiration struck her.

She walked quickly to Red's side.

"Do you remember what I told you before about what happened in Golden Fir Tree Village when I came here?"

Red was taken aback at first, then realized that Suika had mentioned the New Reunion Movement in Golden Fir Tree Village on the way there, and those New Reunion Movement members were wearing Ursus military uniforms.

"You mean those guys up ahead are from the New Reunion Movement?" Red asked uncertainly.

"Whether we have a chance or not, we'll just take a shot; the other side hasn't spotted us anyway."

Let's follow them and see where they go; after all, their destination can't be too far off.

Then it will be very easy to tell whether the other party is the military or something else.

If it's really the military, we'll retreat. If it's those bastards from the New Reunion Movement, we won't lose out by collecting some interest along the way."

Suika said that she had the initiative now, so it would be a waste not to make a move.

Red initially thought it might be too dangerous, but then he reconsidered. Reporting back without verifying the other party's identity could easily lead to mistakes, and if he reported false information that caused a major error in decision-making, he would lose face big time.

And since the other party did seem rather unprofessional, he agreed with Suika's idea.

"But we've been out for so long without going back, won't something go wrong?"

After hearing their conversation, Hoshiguma approached Suika and asked.

"We're a patrol team, so when we encounter problems, we naturally need to find the root cause."

Besides, a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders. They're practically behaving like idiots; if we hesitate, we'll only suffer in the end."

At Suika's urging, everyone reached a consensus and continued tracking the small team.

Sure enough, after another ten minutes or so, they turned a corner and saw the small team walk into a village not far away.

"Give me five minutes!" Because they were worried about hidden sentries nearby, they didn't go over, but instead hid here to observe.

After speaking, Suika gently exhaled towards the village.

She opened her eyes five minutes later.

"There are no hidden sentries outside the village, but inside there are three visible sentries and three hidden sentries, each corresponding to one of the village's three intersections..."

As Suika spoke, she drew a map of the village in the snow and marked the locations of the visible and hidden sentry posts.

After visiting him Red shook his head.

"These people are definitely not from the military. Neither the selection nor the deployment of the sentry posts is very professional."

These sentry posts are less for observing the outside situation and more for monitoring the area inside.

After speaking, Red marked out the positions in a circle around the middle of the several sentry posts.

"I suspect this place suffered a similar situation to Golden Fir Tree Village, except that the heavy snow blocked the mountains, so these guys didn't leave and instead trapped all the locals here."

As soon as Suika spoke, Ularov's eyes reddened instantly. Ever since that day, he had been having nightmares every night, dreaming of those demons rushing into their village. Now that he heard that the same thing had happened here, how could he not sympathize?

Chapter 344 The Expansion Methods of the New Reunion Movement

Before Ularov could make a move, Suika grabbed him and pinned him down.

"Don't panic, I'm just guessing..."

After saying Suika winked at Red.

Red nodded and said, "Wait a few minutes!"

After saying that, one of them darted away like a cheetah.

A short while later, he dragged a semi-conscious person back.