Not Elite

During the day, snow continued to fall, showing every sign of coming down even harder. As Lü Moyi walked alone up the earthen ridge from the foot of the mountain, members of the Venezuelan Mérida Squad happened to be coming down. The moment they saw him, they halted in their tracks, snapped into a crisp formation, and saluted. They offered their highest respect to this Azure lieutenant general, Huaxia Front super combat power, and hero who had gone toe-to-toe with a Red Shoulder the previous day. Truth be told, coming away undefeated from a single-handed duel with a Red Shoulder ought to have propelled God Lü's fame and glory to its absolute zenith. Except that Red Shoulder hadn't had a weapon... No one ever forgot to add that caveat. The recurring footnote left God Lü feeling more than a little bitter. *Mérida? Looks like they went to thank that boy. I've always heard Venezuelan girls win every beauty pageant they enter, and she really is gorgeous... Lucky bastard.* Making a mental note to mention this to his student Xin Yaoqiao later, God Lü came to a stop and raised his hand in return. Then he continued up the hill. After saluting, his hand didn't drop straight back down. Instead, it unconsciously swept back along his forehead, brushing over the crown of his head before falling away... His hairline had receded overnight. *** When God Lü came up the slope, Lao Jian was folding a squad flag presented by the Mérida Squad, preparing to put it away. "To think they actually have their own custom squad flag. Pretty neat," Captain Lao mused, wondering whether Squad 1777 should get one made once they earned their own color and title. "By the way, what was the name of that gorgeous Venezuelan S-grade girl again?" "Oh, Stefania, followed by a whole bunch of names I forgot... She really is stunning, though she probably won't come back. That prick Han Qingyu—she tried to give him a hug to show her gratitude, and he actually used an explosive burst of source energy to dodge backward..." A flurry of hurried footsteps nearby snapped Captain Lao out of his thoughts. "What's— Lieutenant General! Greetings, God Lü!" Lao Jian snapped to attention and saluted while urgently calling out, "Quick, fall in—" A super combat power! It was only because 1777 carried so much prestige lately, having even met the legion commander not long ago, that Lao Jian didn't lose his head in excitement on the spot. "No, no, no, no, there's no need to be so formal." Lü Moyi quickly waved a hand with an easy smile. "I'm just taking a walk. By the way, is Han Qingyu here?" Word had always been that among the Huaxia Front's four super combat powers, God Lü had the most normal temperament and approachable demeanor. Seeing him now, it truly seemed to be the case. "He is, he was right here a moment ago..." The soldiers turned their heads one after another, looking for Han Qingyu. *Bang!* A gunshot cracked from behind the tents. Everyone hurried over. Down the reverse slope in the back, brother was turning on brother. Wen Jifei had just shot Han Qingyu. The custom Milla 9 sniper rifle fired massive rounds with a caliber of 18 millimeters. Make it just over two millimeters thicker, and it would count as an artillery shell. Right now, that hefty bullet was in Han Qingyu's palm, flattening out layer by layer. "Stop testing it. The way you are now, I reckon you could take an artillery shell," God Lü greeted him with a smile. Without bothering to send the others away, he offered his apologies and thanks right in front of everyone. He said he felt deeply guilty that he had ultimately failed to safeguard the blue-light craft Han Qingyu had risked his life to haul back, and he was immensely grateful to him for risking life and limb to snatch away the Red Shoulder's weapon. Han Qingyu stood there stunned. *So yesterday, I didn't just save White Eraser and the Mérida Squad? I did that many heroic deeds...?* *Wait, everyone thought I hauled that craft back for the research division to study?* *I suppose that makes sense. Azure has always wanted two things above all else: a live Great Spike, and an intact Great Spike craft.* Because of his promise to Xin Yaoqiao, Han Qingyu had indeed thought about catching a live Great Spike to give her if the opportunity arose, though the chance had never come. As for an intact craft, he had never even considered it. Even while carrying it on his shoulder yesterday, the thought hadn't crossed his mind at all. Back then, all he cared about was grumbling over how hard it was to pry open—and thankfully, the Red Shoulder had lent a hand in the end. *Still, since that's what they all think, and God Lü feels so guilty and grateful, should I seize the chance to ask him for a couple of metal blocks? A super combat power shouldn't be short on resources.* Han Qingyu looked up, just about to speak, when his eyes caught God Lü's hairline. Though it wasn't terrible yet, it had definitely receded... Terrifying! If he fought a Red Shoulder a few more times, wouldn't he go bald? Red Shoulders truly were frightful! Unable to bring himself to do it, Han Qingyu swallowed the request for metal blocks. Stepping away from the crowd, he pulled God Lü aside and asked, "God Lü, this hairline of yours... is it the same situation as Legion Commander Chen's slash?" "What?" God Lü asked back. "Your hairline! Does it make you age?!" *So it's already that noticeable?! Ugh, Azure really ought to issue service caps.* After a moment of silent lamentation, God Lü looked up and offered an awkward explanation. "It's fine. Nowhere near as bad as the legion commander..." *That's going too far. The legion commander might be old, but his hairline is perfectly fine,* Han Qingyu retorted silently, not daring to say it out loud. "The window for a kill didn't open yesterday, so I didn't push into an extreme burst... It can be stabilized with slow nourishment later on," Lü Moyi continued explaining, his hand unconsciously drifting back up to sweep along his forehead and over his hair once more. "Oh," Han Qingyu acknowledged without following up. Falling silent, he thought to himself: *People always talk about putting their lives on the line, but a super combat power's full burst literally trades away their life... Vitalized source energy? It has to be.* "Don't worry. Most of the time, we actually have the advantage. As long as we aren't fighting for our lives, we age slower than ordinary people." Having unconsciously come to view Han Qingyu as one of their kind—someone with a foot already in the door of the super combat powers—Lü Moyi spoke up to reassure him when he saw his silence, then added with a sly wink, "If you're really worried about having to go all out in the future, hurry up and find yourself a wife first." Han Qingyu didn't take the bait. He merely gave a wry smile, thinking, *If only it were that easy. I'm still waiting to win this war so I can go home for blind dates.* *** God Lü didn't stay long that morning before heading back to prepare for battle. Yet by afternoon, Han Qingyu saw him again. They met in the command post's conference room, where Han Qingyu had been summoned. Before coming, terrified that the generals would ask him to hand things over, he had dug a hole under his cot to bury the column sword, tasking Wu Xu and Rusty Sister with keeping watch over it. Yet the moment he stepped inside, before he could even salute... every general, super combat power, and elite squad captain in the room rose to their feet and applauded him. "Are they giving me an award?" Han Qingyu whispered to God Lü after taking a seat in the outer ring of chairs away from the long table as ordered. "What are you dreaming about? That kind of thing has to wait until after the battle," Lü Moyi said. "You're here today because your situation is special, so the generals felt you should sit in and listen." "Listen to what?" "The assignments for the super combat powers and elite squads in this battle." "..." *Wait, they aren't planning to use 1777 as an elite squad, are they?!* Han Qingyu's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't that he was unwilling despite having the ability—Squad 1777 was simply nowhere near ready. If they were thrown into a frontline charge or made to hold a perimeter position under these circumstances, barely anyone would survive, and there was no way they could complete the mission. The generals had already laid out the plan in clear detail. The super combat powers and elite squads would spearhead the assault, pushing straight to the upper third of the snowy mountain. Using the terrain, they would establish positions, plant their flags, and hold to the death, severing the path for the Great Spikes below to retreat to the dreadnought. This really left them with zero retreat. "What if the Great Spikes up top mass together and charge down?" Han Qingyu pondered for a moment before speaking up. "Some squads would be caught in a pincer attack from front and back..." "That would actually be the ideal outcome. If that happens, all of us super combat powers and the elite squads in other sectors will abandon the original plan and launch an immediate, fight-to-the-death... assault on the dreadnought." God Lü's reply was devoid of emotion. "..." This was war. At the end of the meeting, the frontline supreme commander, Legion Commander Nitesh, called the roll. He did not place Squad 1777 into the elite squad order of battle. In other words, they would still enter the fray as an ordinary squad. Han Qingyu let out a long breath. Yet there was no joy in it, only a complicated swell of emotions. "What, disappointed? You really shouldn't be. The decisive battlefield in this fight is down below with the ordinary squads." Captain Lu Chengzhong of the Sixth Army's Long Blade Squad walked over with a smile, misunderstanding his expression. "How many Great Spikes you can pin down and destroy beneath the perimeter positions will decide the victory or defeat of this battle. Of course, even if you're a bit slow, our flags will always be standing up there, so there's no need to worry." Han Qingyu looked at him and gave a firm nod. Then White Eraser's Captain Wei Jiang came over as well. Walking out the door beside them, he said, "Maybe before long it will be your turn. But for now, this life-and-death grind still belongs to us." His gaze was calm and resolute. Long Blade. White Eraser. This was what elites looked like.