The moon, Great Xia's Guanghan Palace Base.
The air circulation system gave off a faint, raspy hum.
The sealed command cabin was filled with the pungent smell of medical alcohol mixed with rust, and cold white light tubes flickered overhead.
Deputy Commander Zhang Tao's eyes were bloodshot as he slammed a palm down hard on the alloy console.
"Old Han! They just carried another two out of the medical cabin!" Zhang Tao's voice was hoarse, veins bulging on his forehead.
"We ran out of painkillers yesterday. Our brothers with severe radiation complications can only suffer until they die!"
Commander-in-Chief Han Shujia sat at the head of the room, staring at the flashing red supply thresholds on the screen and firmly kneading the space between his eyebrows.
When nuclear war broke out, brutal clashes had erupted on the moon as well.
Although Great Xia had prepared well in advance and struck first to destroy the hostile nations' bases, it had paid a bloody price itself.
Thousands of battered people were trapped on the isolated island that was the Lunar Base.
Zhang Tao braced both hands on the table and said heatedly:
"Half a month ago, the Command Center said there would be a supply rocket. Then they suddenly canceled it the day before yesterday, leaving us with nothing but 'other arrangements have been made'!"
"We only have enough whole-wheat nutritional paste in stock for three days!"
"After that, we'll have nothing to chew on but lunar soil!"
Zhang Tao's eyes grew wet, his voice thick with despair:
"Old Han, the nuclear winter on Blue Star must be worse than the intelligence reports say. The country's Underground City can barely fend for itself... Have we been abandoned by our country?"
"Bullshit!" Han Shujia shot to his feet, his chair scraping shrilly across