The matter Shen Fengting had hesitated all night before bringing up offered a chance to obtain metal blocks. Achieved to its fullest, it could yield as many as four!
This matter was tied to a certain individual: a Frenchman named Alphonse.
He was the recipient of the first Starlight Azure Medal in the Azure Alliance's history. Back in 1914, he had been... a cook at Alliance Scientific Research Headquarters.
The Azure Alliance was headquartered in Bucell City, on the continent of Europa.
Humanity's first confirmed contact with the civilization of the Great Spikes in recorded history had also taken place on the Eurasian continent—though whatever unconfirmed encounters might have preceded it remained unknowable.
Tracing history back brought one to the dawn of the twentieth century.
In 1908, during an incident later concealed from posterity under the name of the "Tunguska Event," humanity had slain the first batch of landing Great Spikes at the cost of immense sacrifice and horrific casualties.
Just as would happen in later years, the Great Spikes initiated self-destruction, and so did their crafts... In the end, humanity retrieved only a pile of wreckage alongside two dull, dark metal blocks whose nature remained completely unknown at the time, and set to work studying them.
"What touched down back then wasn't just the shuttle crafts we've become familiar with later—those are barely larger than a jeep... There was something far bigger back then."
Humanity later reconstructed fragments of that larger vessel Shen Fengting spoke of, inferring through their own military knowledge that it was on the scale of a small frigate or a destroyer.
Scientific research split into two directions:
Interstellar starships;
Super armaments.
As for the starship research direction—one simple example illustrated its plight: the Huaxia Front's 10th Air Combat Reserve Army had been established nearly forty years ago, yet to this day not a single skyship had ever taken flight.
Generations of elite researchers had thrown themselves into the effort one after another, yet none could resolve the fundamental issue plaguing skyships: how to harness source energy as mechanical propulsion.
Meanwhile, with humanity's current level of technology and understanding, vessels powered by conventional means stood zero chance of competing against the crafts of the Great Spikes in aerial combat.
Fortunately, humanity had quickly achieved breakthroughs and fruitful results in the direction of super armaments.
Three great scientists worked together to create the "first-generation source energy three-dimensional apparatus" and "dead iron weapons," using the human body to stimulate source energy and ushering in the era of Azure super armaments.
"They were the gods of Azure in that era."
"Back then, Azure was actually in very close contact with the various governments across Europa. Azure itself wasn't strong enough yet at the time."
"Later on..."
Azure's three leaders keenly realized that if their achievements were seized first by certain governments of the day, the world would very likely descend into civilizational self-destruction before it could ever unite to resist alien invasion.
And so they began a gradual self-isolation. Regardless of temptations or threats, they unswervingly defended the Azure Alliance's independence and core directive: to exist solely to confront the invasion of an extraterrestrial civilization.
In the end, driven mad by an insatiable hunger for military might and having completely lost their patience, several European governments launched a military operation against the Azure Alliance in 1914.
"In that era, Azure was not yet aware that degrees of source energy fusion existed. They typically only selected the strongest warriors to don the relatively scarce second-generation apparatuses available back then."
"Alphonse underwent the implantation surgery, but he suffered injuries during the procedure and was advised to withdraw... He happened to be a wonderful French chef. In that capacity, he remained behind at Alliance Scientific Research Headquarters."
On the night Scientific Research Headquarters was breached in a surprise assault aided by traitors from within, most of the defending Azure warriors perished in their sleep or while attempting to don their gear. The few soldiers on active watch or who managed to suit up in time were either slain or crippled under the onslaught of "turncoat comrades" and enemy troops outnumbering them several hundred to one.
"A critically wounded warrior was carried into the kitchen to be temporarily sheltered, but he quickly died. Alphonse, who was prepping ingredients for the next day in the back kitchen... put on that apparatus. He was still wearing his chef's whites underneath."
"He was likely the first person in human history who was later confirmed to be an S-Grade super warrior."
That night, practically on his own, Alphonse butchered a bloody path straight through the enemy's encirclement.
Among the people who successfully broke out under his lead were those very three Azure scientists who had created the three-dimensional apparatus—the gods of that era.
Azure's retaliatory campaign commenced shortly thereafter.
When the blades of assassination came to rest against the throats of heads of state from several implicated nations simultaneously, Azure declared: Eternal Isolation.
"Except they still charge fees—protection fees," Plague-Chicken Fei interjected.
"*Cough, cough*..." Shen Fengting cast him a helpless glance.
In the end, Alphonse was awarded the first Starlight Azure Medal in the history of Azure. Driven by that profound gratitude, the rights and privileges granted by the Starlight Medal reached an astonishing level right from the outset:
A guaranteed supply of one source energy block every single day for 365 days a year; the right to make one request of Azure that did not violate the principles of human survival; and more...
Alphonse went on to guard Alliance Scientific Research Headquarters for twenty years... in his capacity as a cook.
Twenty years later, he exercised his medal privilege to request: personal isolation.
He wanted to become a painter.
After repeated entreaties to stay and extensive negotiations, Alphonse and his family departed Azure Headquarters to become the garrison—or rather, the guardians—of the "Third Fixed Exploration Site."
"In your understanding, shuttle crafts have always landed without any discernible pattern, correct?" Shen Fengting asked. In his day, a legion commander naturally had access to far more knowledge than soldiers did now.
"Aren't the Rejecters capable of stopping them and guiding them to a certain degree?" Han Qingyu's knowledge came from Tu Zi and was somewhat vague. "Using source energy?"
"Yes, but that kind of interception and guidance is only a reactive measure," Shen Fengting said. "In truth, the Great Spikes have several fixed exploration points. At roughly the same time every year, they are guaranteed to arrive."
"..." The group was stunned.
"Those locations are considered the most likely places on Azure to harbor source energy or dead iron, making them the primary zones of scientific exploration for generations of Azure researchers... Consequently, each location was assigned a number and uniformly designated as a 'Fixed Exploration Site.'"
The Third Fixed Exploration Site guarded by Alphonse and his family was located in Nepal.
In truth, alongside the iterative advancement of the source energy three-dimensional apparatus and the expansion of the Azure Alliance, lower-grade Great Spikes touching down were treated for a very long time as "resupplies" that could be secured through sacrifice.
Then came the Cleansing Faction... Around that same time—perhaps even slightly earlier than the Cleansing Faction—another faction had emerged from within humanity: the Self-Preservation Faction.
They would launch attacks on the exploration sites.
"Alphonse..." Shen Fengting said.
"Grandpa, are you saying Alphonse is still alive?!" Shen Yixiu asked.
"Yes."
"Then wouldn't he have to be over a hundred years old?"
"Over one hundred and twenty."
"..."
"Furthermore, he adopted an alias and became a painter. No, three aliases. Over the course of his long life, he became a renowned painter under three successive names," Shen Fengting said. "A Frenchman, after all—a romantic old fellow."
"An interesting life," Wen Jifei chipped in.
"Indeed. He found it so interesting that he later turned the Third Exploration Site into a trial ground for hunting Great Spikes... a playground. Once every three years, around the time the Great Spikes are expected to arrive, he invites a select group of outstanding youths from all over the world to participate in a trial competition.
"Whoever strikes the final killing blow on the Great Spike is the victor.
"At first, the reward was simply the metal block that came with the shuttle craft itself. As time went on, Alphonse began sweetening the pot himself, offering the winner an additional metal block... Later still, to make the exploration more engaging, he began randomly airdropping two metal blocks within the designated area during the trial."
Four blocks!
As Shen Fengting reached this point, Han Qingyu and the others understood almost entirely. The purpose behind Shen Fengting sharing this matter had become crystal clear.
"Then... that's a good thing, isn't it?" Shen Yixiu's confusion mirrored that of everyone present. If it was a good thing, why hadn't Shen Fengting ever mentioned it to her before, and why had he hesitated a whole night before telling them now?
Shen Fengting turned his head to look at his granddaughter and explained, "However, there are casualties every single time."
"Does the Cleansing Faction sneak in?" Han Qingyu asked alertly. After all, not only were there rewards to be claimed, but the site itself was one of the prime locations for discovering source energy and dead iron.
"That's almost impossible to prevent," Shen Fengting said. "Moreover, Alphonse also permits the Self-Preservation Faction to join his game."
Chapter 118