Zhe Shouzhao

That was right—they had an aircraft now, but nobody in Squad 1777 knew how to fly it! Nor had the Legion Commander left a pilot behind. What were they supposed to do? Wait for an official document to come down from Legion Headquarters, or just call the army directly to demand personnel? Lao Jian was getting anxious. His mind raced as though a rescue mission might pop up tomorrow. Yet right as he was brooding over it, Wen Jifei had already climbed up onto the helicopter. Leaning out from the cockpit, he asked, "How about I give it a try, Captain Lao?" "Try... Get the hell down here!" Lao Jian roared, looking up with a shout so abrupt that upstairs, Shang Nianhua and her daughter—who had just been brought up from the basement and locked in their room again—were startled awake. The room where the mother and daughter were held happened to be in direct line of sight with the helicopter. *Is Teacher telling me to come down?* *But I can't even get down there.* "Get your ass down here, damn it! Don't touch my precious darling!" Lao Jian bellowed again. *Could someone be coming upstairs to cause trouble for us, and Teacher got anxious...? Wait... did Teacher just say I was his precious darling?!* Shang Nianhua's thoughts spun into chaos. Only when she pulled back the curtain and saw the helicopter did she sit back on the edge of the bed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She felt thoroughly embarrassed, and still a little flustered. The present Teacher truly bore no resemblance at all to the refined, gentle schoolmaster who used to wear white shirts in the classroom all those years ago. She had no idea what he had been through to make him choose to join Azure—and not even to do scientific research, but to fight on the front lines. Wen Jifei was dragged down. Lao Jian arranged for soldiers to stand guard over the helicopter in shifts. "Also, tomorrow's training is canceled. We need to hurry up and build a shelter—right over here on the side, build a hangar. Otherwise, with all this sun and rain..." Finding a spot by the wall, Lao Jian gestured and gave instructions. "Wait, that's not right, Captain Lao. You can't build a shelter over this thing." He Tangtang sidled up, making a rooftop gesture with both hands. "It's a helicopter! It goes chug-chug-chug straight up into the air... If there's a roof over it, how's it supposed to take off?!" When he said that, quite a few people on the spot nodded in deep agreement. As someone who had been a university physics professor after all, Lao Jian gave him a helpless look. "Get lost! Can't it just taxi out a bit before taking off?" "Well, it doesn't have wheels either," He Tangtang said, pointing at the landing skids. "We can put wheels on it, and then pull it out with a vehicle. But if you keep talking nonsense, we won't even use a vehicle—I'll assign you to personally push the aircraft. With your gear on, you ought to be able to push it anyway." "Oh." He Tangtang finally dared not raise any more objections. The next day, Squad 1777 conducted a full mobilization to build the hangar. Once again, the Binggu spear served as a crowbar, and the dead iron straight sword served as a trowel. As for their efficiency—put it this way: if they ever stopped fighting Great Spikes and were taken out to contract construction sites and erect buildings, they could probably make a fortune. That same day, the document regarding Squad 1777's operational tier promotion, forwarded from Sole Witness Legion Headquarters to the Ninth Army, was officially issued. The leap Squad 1777 had achieved in barely half a year since its founding shocked the entire army. Two days later. The squad received a phone call instructing them to dispatch someone to the train station to pick up an arrival. Lao Jian had a veteran accompany Liu Shiheng to drive over. It was night by the time they returned. The newcomer got out of the car, walked into the house, and saluted: "Formerly a recruit of the Ninth Army, Regiment 425 of the Sole Witness Legion; later a driver in the Order Legion; Fledgling Eagle pilot; and now... rescue helicopter pilot of Squad 1777, Regiment 425, Ninth Army—Yang Qingbai, reporting for duty!" Before he could finish, Yang Qingbai's voice had already begun to choke up. He was finally back. "Welcome." Lao Jian returned the salute with a smile. There hadn't actually been much interaction between him and Yang Qingbai; after the degree-of-fusion test ended the previous year, Yang Qingbai had departed without taking part in the subsequent armor-equipping training, so naturally he hadn't experienced the period when Lao Jian served as acting head instructor. Yet the boy was Regiment 425's own soldier, which carried an inherent warmth. What was more, several people were currently waiting for him by the doorway. "Go on. We'll talk details tomorrow. Go see your old friends first." "Yes, sir! Thank you, Captain Lao!" Yang Qingbai snapped to attention, saluting again, and without lowering his hand, turned halfway and straightened up. "Captain Milla, I'm back." Another child from Dormitory 11 had returned. Milla nodded happily. Yang Qingbai lowered his arm and turned around, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "Qingzi, Plague Chicken... Didn't expect it to be me, did you?! I'm an F-grade! F-grade, and yet I still clawed my way back to stand with you guys!" Having said that, he pressed his lips tight to keep from making an ugly face that Wen Jifei would mock forever. "So can you actually fly this thing or what?" Wen Jifei asked with a loud laugh. "Don't worry, I took first place in the recruit assessment before coming here," Yang Qingbai chuckled through a sniffle, saying with confidence, "Otherwise I wouldn't have dared come back to fly a chopper for you guys." ………… That same day, at night. Entering from the northern mountainous region of Burma, a convoy of nearly fifty people was driving with some difficulty along a special transit corridor arranged through Azure's request. They came from Voyage. "We should be close to the rendezvous point by now, right?" The convoy halted, and a handsome young man in his twenties stood looking into the distance before asking. He appeared to be of mixed descent, with deep-set eyes of an unusual color that lent him an inexplicable touch of delicate grace. "Yes, Young Master Zhe. About twenty more kilometers and we'll be there," a burly man in his forties responded cautiously, feeling somewhat unsettled in his heart. He was the escort captain for this mission, surnamed Tan. Azure had explicitly offered a full escort for the entire journey, yet this Young Master Zhe—Zhe Shouzhao—in front of him had actually refused. The consequence of that refusal was that they had traveled in constant dread, terrified their movements would be exposed and they would be intercepted by Snow Lotus. "However, our technicians..." Seeing that they were about to meet with Azure, Captain Tan could finally hold back no longer and voiced the question that had plagued him the entire journey. Because over the course of the journey, he had realized that every single person in the convoy was combat personnel—there was not a single technician among them. They were going to conduct a technological exchange with Azure. How could they exchange anything without bringing technicians?! "Technicians?" Zhe Shouzhao turned his head with a smile and pointed at himself. "I am one." "But you..." But you're just one man! How can you conduct such a comprehensive technological exchange?! Spacecraft technology was so intricate that a universal genius was fundamentally impossible. Captain Tan did not originally serve under this Young Master Zhe and felt no genuine obedience or awe toward him; having pent up his frustration for so long on the road, he could hardly keep from sounding sharp now. "Oh, you mean the others?" Zhe Shouzhao maintained his warm, gentle smile. "They entered Huaxia five months ago." "They... five?!" Captain Tan was stunned. Five months ago? As far as he knew, Azure hadn't even contacted Voyage regarding a technological exchange five months ago! Which meant... "Because I knew Azure was bound to seek us out. Arranging for the technicians to enter the country before things began was the safest move." As if guessing his thoughts, Zhe Shouzhao smiled after explaining and sat back down in the car. Captain Tan couldn't help feeling a measure of begrudging respect. After a moment's thought, he also returned to his own vehicle and prepared to set off... "You?!" He found that his men were no longer in the vehicle, replaced by two of Zhe Shouzhao's men. "What are you doing?!" From left and right, two dead iron war blades were pressed against his neck. Only after his weapons and gear had been stripped were the blades lowered. One of them bowed slightly and said, "Apologies, Captain Tan. Young Master Zhe had a few last-minute thoughts he wishes to discuss with Azure, and he didn't want to put you in an awkward position." With that, one of them pressed the communicator on the vehicle, setting it to one-way monitoring. From the communicator came Zhe Shouzhao's voice, speaking to Azure: "Yes, I am Zhe Shouzhao, representative of Voyage. No need for a warm welcome, because I wish to add two conditions now—otherwise, the technological exchange is off. "First, I want every syllable and byte of the Great Spike civilization's language that has been deciphered so far. "Second, I am taking my sister home this time. Yes, her name is Zhe Qiuhong—a very exceptional doctor who has been detained by Azure for five years now. Escort her across the border and hand her over to my people. "Impossible, you say? That's fine too. It just means we will vanish right here, and every elite Voyage technician accompanying us will die. Afterwards, Voyage Headquarters will discover through various clues that Azure perpetrated this bloodbath... Do not bother trying to record this, and do not think you will be able to explain yourselves after the fact. This is not Zhe Shouzhao's voice, and this transmission is on an improvised frequency, a cross-regional intrusion call. If you don't believe me, you can have your technicians verify it. "In one hour, I will contact you again. If there is no answer by then, there will be no room left to salvage this." The call ended. Captain Tan was permitted to step out of the car. He rushed toward Zhe Shouzhao like a madman—because in his eyes, Zhe Shouzhao was the one who had truly gone mad. "You! You dared to add conditions on your own authority?! You're out of your mind! Don't you fucking know headquarters' stance? If this technological exchange falls through..." Captain Tan tried his best to speak clearly, but his tone was inevitably bordering on hysteria. "Rest assured, it will go through. Azure will agree to my terms," Zhe Shouzhao interrupted gently, without the slightest hint of anger. "Because Azure cares about far more. Who in the world cares about all of humanity? ...They do."