I Became A Mech Soldier After Waking Up in The Future. - Chapter 58

On the way back to Valhalla in the afternoon, the military jeep galloped on the road connecting Thrudheim to Valhalla. The distant silhouette of the military fortress quickly disappeared along the way.

Keiko frowned slightly, looking at the scene outside the window that gave her a strong sense of Deja Vu. It was familiar but unfamiliar at the same time, filling her heart with a sense of melancholy.

Jeanne, who was sitting right next to her, turned her head to look at her profile, then looked out of the window on her side of the car, and said softly, “Second Lieutenant Lee, are you feeling uncomfortable in your heart?”

Keiko tilted her head when she heard the words, glanced at Jeanne from the corner of her eye, and said, “It would be a lie to say I’m not uncomfortable, but I don’t really mind it too much.”

The corner of Jeanne’s lips curled as she said, “Don’t take Mrs. Donna’s words to heart. She has always been outspoken, and she didn’t mean to target anyone personally.”

“No, I’ve never had such a thought,” Keiko hurriedly said.

After leaving Sarah and Diana’s house, Jeanne and Keiko returned to Donna’s house to say goodbye. They chatted for another ten minutes about the mother and daughter. Donna’s emotions might be triggered somewhat, then she blurted out in indignation, “In everyone’s mind, perhaps, it was the monsters who destroyed our world, and the disgusting Zergs and Predators outside the city were our mortal enemies. But in my opinion, the human-eating people inside the city are more chilling.”

As she continued, her voice gradually hardened, “I was a soldier. In my heart, I always believed that soldiers were the sword used to defend mankind’s peace, but only later did I realize that if the sword didn’t have a handle, it would hurt the human instead… Look at what the military does nowadays: bullying, acting overbearing, committing crimes in the name of the law; even these unarmed and weak people are not spared. You guys…” Donna wanted to continue, but her words choked in her throat. The looks in her eyes while looking at Keiko and Jeanne reveal complicated emotions.

Keiko couldn’t understand exactly how Donna felt as she had never walked her life in her shoes, but that didn’t mean that her heart didn’t feel uncomfortable.

She used to be proud of her identity as a soldier, but after hearing what Donna said and seeing for herself what happened in the slum, she felt a little ashamed and couldn’t hold her head high like before.

“Does Lieutenant Lee have a mother?” Jeanne suddenly asked.

“No…” Keiko replied absentmindedly but soon realized what a blunder she had made because she suddenly remembered that the former Keiko actually had a mother who died young, so she hurriedly corrected her words, “I mean, my mother passed away when I was very young. I only have a vague memory of her now.”

“I’ve known the second lieutenant for many years, and you hardly ever mentioned your family to me. I know you grew up in an orphanage. Do you still know people in the orphanage?” Jeanne asked again.

“I don’t have anyone I know very well. It’s been so many years and I’ve lost contact with those people. Even if we meet again now, I’m afraid I won’t recognize them,” Keiko replied thoughtfully.

“Second Lieutenant Lee, have you seen my mother?”

Keiko was stunned for a moment before replying, “Uh… I did have a few encounters with Mrs. Armstrong.”

“Hehehe…” Jeanne laughed, “It seems that you’re unfamiliar with my mother. My mother, you see, really hates it when people call her Mrs. Armstrong. You have to call her Ms. Mo to make her happy. My brother and I also always call her Ms. Mo instead of addressing her as “Mother”. It’s so strange, isn’t it?”

“Well, the name is quite charming,” Keiko answered vaguely while sweating profusely inside. She nearly made a blunder again; it was really difficult to keep her guard up against this eldest lady.

Jeanne took another deep look at Keiko; her eyes suddenly softened, and she said softly.

“No matter how the world changes, “Mother” is always the greatest word…”

Keiko was dumbfounded. She didn’t know that Jeanne would actually say something so out of character. It was as if she had changed her personality.

Keiko suddenly felt a little sore in her nose when she recalled the scene of Sarah and Diana.

She only had an adoptive father and no mother, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t understand maternal love.

She also had someone who was like a mother to her, an aunt who lived in a large mansion next door. From the time she was five or six years old until she joined the army, this aunt took care of her and watched her grow up, treating Keiko like her own daughter. It was from her that Keiko learned about the warmth of a mother.

Thinking about it now, she suddenly felt that Sarah’s eyebrows and eyes looked really similar to her aunt’s in her memory. Maybe mothers all over the world have the same face when facing their children.

Tears threatened to burst out of her eyes, and Keiko was struggling to keep her emotions in check.

It had been more than half a month since she came to this world alone.

Since then, she always felt afraid, anxious, restless, nervous, angry, and suspicious. Never once did she feel really at ease these days, even in her own room. She missed her family and friends so dearly.

In order to adapt to this new world, she had buried her grievance deep inside her heart until this very moment when, even though she had tried her best to prevent it, it surged out uncontrollably, like an erupting volcano.

She raised her elbows on the edge of the car window, stifling her sobs with her palms, and looked out the window with her reddening eyes.

Can I still go back home? I’m afraid… I’ll never return…

Jeanne’s beautiful face reflected in the car window as she tilted her head.. She clasped her fingers slowly, placed them on her knees with her raised legs, and sighed silently.