Your Legion Commander

Even though he had inspected the Squad 1777 station and joined their combat mission in his official capacity as the legion commander of the Azure Huaxia Front's Sole Witness Legion, Chen Buer did not pay any special attention directly to Han Qingyu, Wu Xu, or the others. At least, not during the march from the station to their ambush position in the designated sector. Nor did he after they settled into position. This was true even though Han Qingyu and Wu Xu had both been forced by Lao Jian to put on those combat uniforms bearing the Legion Saber Insignia embroidered over the right chest—identifying them as candidates handpicked by the old man himself for a future peak strike formation. For that matter, everyone in the squad had spent the last few days passing those uniforms around, inspecting and studying every inch. Yet from start to finish, not a single person had ever suggested trying one on. That was likely a mark of respect for Chen Buer and the legion commander's insignia. The veterans said the emblem was truly hand-embroidered, rumored to be the work of a master inheritor of top-tier embroidery techniques kept within Azure. The stitching was so distinctive that it was virtually impossible to forge. The juxtaposition of advanced military force and traditional embroidery created a curious contrast. It seemed that the less something shifted with technological progress, the harder it was to replicate. At 3:43 in the afternoon, the June sun remained blistering hot. The squad members, having only recently arrived on site, were all concealed in the shadows beneath the trees, waiting for the shuttle craft to touch down so they could watch the legion commander take action with his own hands. Chen Buer lay prone in a grassy hollow just like everyone else. He declined an offered cigarette, then casually struck up conversations with the veterans beside him. With an easy warmth, he spoke of his own humble origins, his upbringing, and where his name came from, while asking the veterans about their hometowns and their pasts. Then he chatted about the famous figures and legends of the Eraser Ninth Army, occasionally sharing old anecdotes and embarrassing blunders about former Army Commander Shen Fengting, current Army Commander Lu Wuzheng, or Shao Xuan, making everyone chuckle. He seemed thoroughly approachable. "What about you, girl? How many years have you been in our legion?" "Report, Legion Commander... I'm a man." "...Ah?! Good. A splendid woman who puts men to shame, then!" "..." Everyone struggled to hold back their laughter. Only the old staff officer, tucked into the far side of the hollow, chuckled hoarsely. As Chen Buer's personal aide, his duty had already required him to investigate and thoroughly understand every single person in 1777. Finding a hollowed-out nook in the embankment wall, the staff officer smoothed down the tall grass with his hands to make a cushion, sat back, and rested his aching old waist. That march just now had nearly done him in. Taking advantage of the lull, his gaze drifted over Han Qingyu a couple more times from a moderate distance. The old staff officer simply couldn't fathom it. Looking at the lad, why would the regiment-level reports claim he was in desperate need of a blind date?! And those Qu and Xin families were just as ridiculous—flatly opposing the idea without ever explaining their intentions clearly to the young man. *** "Hey, Qingzi." Wen Jifei crawled a bit closer to Han Qingyu. Since he had agreed to be a spectator today, he hadn't joined the lookout group. After a quiet greeting, Wen Jifei glanced at the saber insignia on Han Qingyu's chest and grinned. "Well? How did you feel just now? Did your blood rush to your head for a second?" He was referring to earlier, when Chen Buer stood before the ranks and declared, *Stand with me, bar the vast sky!* Wen Jifei clearly remembered Han Qingyu insisting for days that if the time ever came to join a suicide squad, he would turn and run. "Hm?" Han Qingyu understood what he meant. He looked up toward the shuttle craft's projected landing zone and murmured sheepishly, "At most, just for that one split second. The moment my hand dropped from the salute, I was completely clearheaded again." "Really?" Wen Jifei chuckled. "Then what if there were thousands of Great Spikes in front of you? Thousands of them raining down, and the legion commander drew his blade at the front of the line, telling us to stand with him and bar the vast sky..." In truth, Wen Jifei's own blood had been boiling earlier. The scene he painted now rose vividly in Han Qingyu's mind, leaving him in a brief, conflicted daze. A voice that had only recently grown familiar spoke up not far away. "Young man, could you let me have a look at that sword of yours?" Chen Buer had shifted his position in the hollow at some point and was now lying beside He Tangtang. He Tangtang turned, startled to find the legion commander right there. Snapping back to his senses, he hurriedly drew the sword and handed it over. "Yes, sir! Go ahead, Legion Commander." It was one of the two heavy swords taken from Yu Yindou earlier. Because it wasn't standard Azure-issue equipment, it had been rather conspicuous on his back. Chen Buer weighed the blade in his hands, examining it closely before asking calmly, "Where did this sword come from?" "Picked it up," He Tangtang said with earnest sincerity. "...Oh, picked it up, did you." Chen Buer clearly didn't believe him, but nodded anyway. After a brief pause, he held up the sword and said, "How about I trade you some source energy blocks for it? Three—no, five. Five source energy blocks. Deal?" Five blocks! That was a massive amount! "No deal." He Tangtang thought to himself, *Qingzi gave me this sword.* He glanced up at the legion commander and added, "We've got plenty of source energy blocks. Just got rewarded a whole bunch." "..." Chen Buer gave him a helpless look, stared at him for a couple of seconds, and nodded. His gaze drifted past him—and suddenly froze. "You must be Wu Xu, right? Why do you have one too..." "No deal... Report, Legion Commander, I'm not trading either," Wu Xu said. "...Mm. I'm just taking a look, and borrowing it for a moment later on." Chen Buer asked for the heavy sword on Wu Xu's back as well. Holding both blades, he inspected them intently for a while. Then he caught sight of the Binggu spear in Wu Xu's hand, and froze once again. *Damn it all, why are every single one of these made from that batch of high-grade dead iron?!* Old Chen's eyes were green with envy. Back then, very few of those weapons had been allocated to the Huaxia Front to begin with. Fewer still had been recovered after being lost, almost always through sheer coincidence... "By the way, Wu Xu, the ancestor of the family you used to serve was named Yu Jinkui, right?" Chen Buer asked suddenly. "Yes." Wu Xu nodded, thinking that for a one-word answer, he probably didn't need to add 'Report, Legion Commander'... *Report, Legion Commander, yes.* *That explains it.* Hearing the confirmation, Chen Buer felt a flutter of excitement. Yu Jinkui had been a regional warlord back in the day. When the Azure Huaxia Front was first established, they had relied heavily on him for a time, investing immense resources and trust in him—including high-grade dead iron weapons. Yet one day, Yu Jinkui and several other families closely aligned with Azure had inexplicably vanished without a trace. "Do you know where Yu Jinkui's grave is?" Chen Buer asked again. Wu Xu gave it a puzzled thought, then shook his head. *What a pity.* Chen Buer was sorely tempted to dig up Yu Jinkui's grave to see if he could unearth another piece or two of high-grade dead iron weaponry. Such things genuinely happened. A little over three years ago, a sword forged from high-grade dead iron had been dug up at a construction site. Some blundering researcher at a local museum had declared it an ancient relic and put it on display. Back then, Chen Buer had gone to immense trouble working through official channels just to requisition that sword. Grumbling inwardly, Old Chen felt slightly better only when his eyes landed on the twin blades slung across Han Qingyu's back. While Han Qingyu's twin sabers featured more advanced craftsmanship, their material quality was actually inferior to the two swords and the spear. Sharing the same craftsmanship as those two sabers were the iron armor and blade on Shen Yixiu... Chen Buer studied that suit of iron armor, his brow furrowing with hesitation as if a thought had struck him, though he couldn't quite pin it down. He turned his head toward the old staff officer. "That's Army Commander Shen Fengting's granddaughter," the staff officer whispered. "The one you had me deliver source energy blocks to, Legion Commander." "So it is." *It really is that child,* Chen Buer murmured. In the end, Old Shen had let her take to the battlefield after all. Chen Buer turned back toward Shen Yixiu and said with gentle kindness, "Out on the battlefield, remember to stay safe, child." "Yes, sir," Shen Yixiu nodded. "Report, Legion Commander! It's coming," Lao Jian said, hurrying over to salute before turning to point diagonally up into the sky. A black, shuttle-shaped craft was swelling from a speck in the distance, descending toward the designated landing zone. "Very well." Chen Buer looked down at the twin swords in his hands, then raised his head toward Wu Xu and He Tangtang. "Borrowing them for a moment." The shuttle craft neared the treetops. Chen Buer stood up, stepping out of the grassy hollow with a heavy sword in each hand, waiting in the open. The craft sank below the canopy. Chen Buer began to walk forward with ordinary, measured strides. Behind him, all around him... throughout the hollow, every member of Squad 1777, from the frontline fighters to the logistics crew, watched with bated breath, their eyes glued to him. Yet today, there would be no instruction, nor any tactical demonstration. If this had been an elite young officers' training camp scouted for top combat power potential, Chen Buer might have demonstrated a basic form and offered a few pointers. But the overwhelming majority here were ordinary frontline soldiers. What they needed to master would never come from Chen Buer. As the legion commander of the Sole Witness Legion, Chen Buer had only one duty right now: to show these people, who pinned their belief in victory entirely on him, that their legion commander remained formidable, remained invincible. Even if he was over sixty years old, appearing as nothing more than a gaunt old man with a head of silver hair. Besides, the old man genuinely loved hacking down Great Spikes. He particularly relished the feeling of personally gathering the metal blocks and dead iron fragments after each kill. To this former peasant, it felt like an autumn harvest in the paddy fields, filling him with deep happiness and satisfaction. A faint hum of displaced air vibrated through the clearing. Underbrush bent and snapped with sharp cracks. From behind and to the flank, dozens of gazes locked the old man and the shuttle craft into a single frame. *Whir!* The source energy apparatus engaged, a flash of blue light flaring to life. Chen Buer strode forward, then broke into a run... running like lightning, like a tempest. The air surged and howled. In that instant, the silver hair ceased to matter, and his frail frame seemed nothing more than an illusion... In that instant, not a single person watching felt that the legion commander before their eyes was old. Not a trace of that feeling remained. *Boom!* The shuttle craft struck the ground. Mid-stride, Chen Buer stomped down, catapulting into the air like an arrow loosed from a bow. *Whoosh.* The ejection hatch atop the shuttle craft fired. The legion commander became a blurred afterimage streaking across midair. Two black-armored Great Spikes vaulted from the cabin, sweeping their column swords through the air. The massive blades sheared the wind, triggering a thunderous sonic boom. Chen Buer's body continued gliding rapidly forward. Gripping the heavy swords in a reverse hold, he swept both arms forward from behind his back, cleaving across. *Snick!* A single sound. Two massive heads shot skyward.