The lingering heat of the late summer sun still held its power, scorching the soles of one's feet on the brick-paved road.

"Hurry up, hurry up, I'll go get the bread, you go get the condiments. Let's split up, you don't have to wait for me, just head home directly. It'll definitely take me quite a while here."

"Okay! Be careful!"

Su Yao saw a young couple sprinting down the road, talking to each other as they ran.

This was the fifth time Su Yao had seen this scene today, mainly because today was the day for distributing supplies.

Since the war entered a white-hot stage, the major powers in the north have become more stringent in managing the people and resources within their territories. First, they uniformly confiscated all the food from the households, then prioritized supplying the front lines, and only after that distributed the remaining supplies evenly among those who could not go to the front lines.

Today happens to be the day when supplies are distributed in Zhaixing City. Each household sends out two people: one to collect food, usually bread and vegetables; the other to collect oil, salt, and other seasonings. The amount distributed is based on the number of people, ensuring that the populace won't starve, but they won't be full either.

The shrunken Zhan Xing, lying on Su Yao's shoulder, felt uncomfortable just looking at it: "That kid just now was as thin as a stick."

A mother holding her child went to line up for food. Perhaps due to a lack of nutrition after giving birth, both the mother and the swaddled baby were thin and frail.

Following the direction in which the crowd was heading, Su Yao saw more of life's various states, but not a single person was smiling. Even those who had received food wore expressions of distress, for they knew that this time there was even less food, and their families would go even hungrier.

"War truly brings great harm," Su Yao, who lived in a time of peace, had witnessed many different kinds of suffering after coming to this other world. "I hope the war in the north ends soon."

No one can achieve complete victory from war; the people suffer too much.

"Please! Give me some more bread! Just half a piece will do! Why doesn't my child count as a person? She should get a piece of bread too!"

Su Yao and Zhan Xing were in the midst of their reflections when they suddenly heard intermittent cries and wails coming from the queue.

It was the mother who was just holding the child.

"What a sin!" Su Yao heard an elderly lady with graying hair speaking nearby. Seeing Su Yao listening to her, the old lady couldn't help but say a few more words, "Life is really unbearable. Children under three aren't even considered people; they can't receive food. How is this different from sentencing children under three to death?"

"That's so disgusting!" Su Yao couldn't believe it was actually like this. "Is it true that children under three really can't survive? Those officials are so well-fed, how can they not spare a bite of food for the children?"

The guards and soldiers distributing supplies were all broad and burly, and one of them could carve out three times this mother's weight in meat!

Is there really no food? Is it truly insufficient? Looking at the guard's physique, it doesn't seem like it's lacking!

The old lady nodded heavily, very much agreeing with Su Yao's words.

A middle-aged man who had just finished collecting his bread happened to walk up to the two of them. Hearing the conversation, he joined in, "I think this Count Brook really intends to wipe out the children, and he wants to get rid of us too. He doesn't want to keep anyone useless."

"How so?" The old lady's heart was lifted, her face showing great panic and resentment.

When faced with children not having enough to eat, she would scold, she would sympathize, but if the situation happened to her, her emotions would undergo a more profound change.

The man shook his head and lowered his voice to speak to Su Yao and the old lady: "We're relatively better off here. I've heard that in more remote places, children under ten who can't work on the front lines don't receive any food. Children over ten and people like us can currently get food because we can occasionally do some farming, clean up, and serve the count above. But as resources become increasingly scarce later on, we might also be phased out."

The man pulled up his pant leg, showing Su Yao and the old lady his prosthetic leg. "People like me, who are not whole, and elderly like you, ma'am, are definitely the next to be eliminated. So, you should be careful too, ma'am."

The man's words struck hard at the hearts of the old lady and Su Yao.

"This can't be possible..."

The old lady didn't want to believe it, but as she watched the wailing mother in the crowd being dragged aside and thrown down, and the child in her arms also being heavily thrown to the ground, both too weak to even cry, the scene was so cruel that although the old lady kept saying it was impossible, she was already convinced in her heart.

"I have always looked down on the South. Even if war broke out in the North, I had no intention of fleeing south with my neighbors. I despise the poverty of the South..."

However, now it was too late to escape, and the old lady felt a bit of regret.

"Forget it, let's not talk about it. You all hurry to get the bread, I'm afraid if too many people cause trouble, the guards will end the distribution early." The man felt just as uncomfortable, sighed, and turned to leave. Although his leg was a prosthetic, he had never limped, but ever since he learned of Count Brook's cruel plan, his previously straight back had begun to hunch.

The old lady stopped talking to Su Yao and hurried forward to get the bread.

The noisy crowd fell into an unusual silence as the mother and daughter were thrown out. Some clenched their fists, some mumbled timidly, but in the end, no one went to help the mother and daughter up.

"Absurd!" Zhan Xing was filled with anger and wanted to vent, but was afraid of disrupting Su Yao's plan.

Su Yao also wanted to lose her temper, but after hesitating for a long time, she decided to help the person up first.

Stolen novel; please report.

Su Yao gently lifted them both, mother and daughter, into her arms. She could clearly see the mother's face, pale with pain, and her hands, weakly trying to hold her child. She could also see the little girl's unconscious face and her extremely faint breathing.

"Don't speak for now, let me take you away from here first." Su Yao knew the woman was anxious to say something, but it was better not to waste any more energy.

Su Yao turned around to leave with the two of them, but the guard behind her, who was as fat as a pig, was displeased and directly called out to stop her: "What are you doing? If you leave now, you won't get any food!"

Su Yao glanced back at the guard. To be honest, if she really lived here or was one of the people accidentally trapped here, she certainly wouldn't dare to move after hearing those words.

It's just a pity that she wasn't; she merely gave the guard a glance and then continued walking, not saying another word to the fool!

The attendant was furious, as no one had ever dared to ignore him like this before. "If you leave now, you won't be able to come back!"

The words were filled with anger, but they still couldn't make Su Yao stop in her tracks.

Silent for a second, the people around clearly saw the guard's face turn red with anger.

"Stop right there!" Seeing Su Yao about to turn the corner with someone in her arms, the guard finally couldn't hold back any longer. He immediately pushed through the crowd, intending to rush over and teach Su Yao a lesson.

However, he did not succeed, not because Su Yao intervened, but because two young men from the crowd stood in front of the guards.

The relationship between the two young people seemed to be that of siblings. In contrast to the chubby, big-eared guard, the two stood side by side in front of him but couldn't block his figure. However, size and presence are unrelated; the two were young and slender, yet Su Yao saw them and could only think of "the strength to lift mountains and a spirit that dominates the world."

Taking advantage of the fact that someone's attention was diverted by them, Su Yao and Zhan Xing quickly worked together to feed the mother and daughter some medicine to replenish their energy and nourish their blood.

"Drink this, it's a potion. Don't make a fuss, hurry up and drink it!"

The child was given the medicine by Zhan Xing, a bit forcefully, but it didn't affect the efficacy of the potion. As soon as the little child drank a bit, the potion quickly circulated through her body, and her complexion immediately improved.

The adult was fed by Su Yao, but she didn't dare to feed too much, fearing that someone who couldn't speak just now might stand up with a rosy complexion, which would make them notice something was amiss.

However, after a few bites, this mother clearly felt much better than before.

Her first words were, "Thank you."

"It's okay, I'll put you down here first. Hold the child and wait here for a moment, I need to check the situation behind us."

In just this short amount of time, the two young men behind had already drawn their weapons and were confronting the guards.

The guard distributing supplies was not the only one; the other guards had remained silent, perhaps also dissatisfied with this fat man and disapproving of his actions. If someone pointed a weapon at him, that would change the situation entirely.

The guards behind also drew their weapons one after another, ready to fight with the two young men.

The two young people didn't have particularly high magic levels, but they had quite a few small weapons at hand. After a few rounds of moves, they didn't suffer any losses at the hands of these guards.

Su Yao didn't know them, but she knew these two people were helping her, so now that she had the ability, she naturally wanted to come back and help them.

After Su Yao joined the battle, the situation instantly turned around. A few guards also sensed something was wrong, "What level of mage are you? Why aren't you on the front lines?"

High-level mages have generally gone to the front lines to fight!

Su Yao killed the fat guard with a single strike and said, "You don't need to find out who I am, because with the way your earl rules, you'll soon bring about your own downfall. There's no need to know who I am."

The blood of the fat guard splattered onto the guards beside him. They were terrified and fled in panic, leaving the food behind.

Su Yao thanked the two young people, but they shook their heads: "No need to thank us, it's us who should thank you!"

"Yes! A hero! Today I saw a real hero!"

"Thank you! Really, thank you!"

"Can I have another piece of bread? My wife was insulted by that fat man, and I want to trade the bread for a potion to treat my wife... But he just recognized me and wouldn't even give me a single piece of bread!" This man had been standing in the corner, and at first, people didn't know what he wanted to do. Now they finally understood the plight of this poor soul.

Su Yao, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, walked over to the bread. "I'll divide the bread. Everyone, take it quickly and leave. Don't let the returning soldiers catch you!"

Everyone understood and acted very quickly, grabbing the needed bread and running off. Su Yao watched as someone, even though injured, still offered their own medicine for free, and even the man who wanted to treat his wife received two bottles. The mother and daughter also got the bread they deserved.

……

"Aren't you leaving?"

"We..." The little girl looked at her brother, and after he nodded, she continued, "If we're not mistaken, you probably aren't from this city. We want to offer money and weapons to ask you to take us away from here. We want to go to Weapon Town!"

"Weapons Town?"

This was indeed on the way. Su Yao also wanted to go to the Weapon Town, but couldn't enter directly, so she planned to go through the neighboring Star-Picking City to get there. Unexpectedly, this brother and sister had the same plan.

Moreover, at this time, they still had to go to the Weapon Town. Could it be... Su Yao thought of Sharp's two children.