Seeing Xu Lin suddenly turn so solemn, General Shane was startled, his brow instantly furrowing from the relaxed expression it had worn just moments before. He hurriedly spoke up: "Xu Lin, you mustn't think like that! Your mission this time was nothing short of perfection; how can you possibly blame yourself for poor command? War is brutal by nature—deaths are inevitable. If every commander shared your mindset, Prussia wouldn't have a single general left by now. If I thought the way you do, I'd probably have died of self-reproach long ago, for I am the ultimate executioner here, beyond any redemption." A trace of self-deprecation laced his words, but beneath them lay a profound and heavy helplessness. As one of Prussia's two senior commanders, he had helped direct half of all its wars. Across those smoke-shrouded battlefields, the lives snuffed out under his orders likely numbered in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. Every decision he made was like placing a heavy weight on the scales of destiny, paid for time and again in the blood and lives of countless soldiers. From his perspective, therefore, Xu Lin bore no fault; this was simply the unavoidable agony of war.
Yet Xu Lin maintained a stubborn expression as he replied, "Others are others, and I am myself. I cannot simply cross this threshold in my heart. I truly don't wish to see another soul fall because of a miscalculation on my part—please understand me! Besides, the time I agreed upon with you is nearly up. In t…
Chapter 92