In people's minds, the collective singing of soldiers was usually supposed to be stirring and impassioned—especially when singing a military anthem, and even more so on a battlefield.
Yet it was not.
Perhaps because of the height and distance, the singing drifting through the night over the Xilang Peak battlefield felt distant and ethereal, sounding more like an intimate recounting, a subdued outpouring of feeling.
Across the battlefield stretching thousands of meters below the ring position, the fighting had finally come to an end. The first phase of human civilization's first large-scale war against the Great Spike invasion had drawn its curtain.
In the preceding hours down there, those without super elite talent had used their blood and battle to leave over a thousand Great Spike corpses sprawled below the ring position.
Now, amidst towering peaks and plunging ravines, people were scattered far and wide. In the sparse light and shadows, comrades-in-arms and old friends perhaps had farewells that needed to be said.
"Who knows how Qingzi and the other two are doing right now... That little brat fought like hell to that point—why hasn't he come down yet? Just who does he think he is?"
Lao Jian tore open a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, and lit it. He turned his head to glance toward the mountain summit, then toward that snow-swept cliff, tossing the rest of the pack to Wen Jifei and the others.
It was clearly Lao Jian himself who had told Han Qingyu earlier today to go ahead, to carve his name onto the summit of Xilang Peak... but now, Captain Lao was beginning to regret it.
The cigarette pack was passed around, going from full to empty. Squad 1777 waited at the rendezvous point agreed upon before the battle, waiting for the last few members scattered across the battlefield to rejoin the ranks.
At the same time, on the steep slope between the ring position and the Great Spike mothership.
Han Qingyu shoved a boulder Wu Xu had chiseled free with Binggu out of the hole. The light was dim, but sounds drifted in from outside. He paused in surprise for a moment, then backed into the tunnel and asked, "Did you two hear singing down the mountain?"
"Yeah." Rusty Sister was working quite cheerfully, nodding as she shoveled dirt with her combat blade, humming a couple of lines along with the melody: "I have a red tassel, fit to bind the azure dragon..."
The cadence rose and fell, evoking the feeling of a young girl with twin pigtails, sitting straight-backed and singing earnestly in a choir.
"Yeah," Wu Xu grunted, nodding once before returning his head to chiseling forward.
Under the combined power of source energy and dead iron, their digging progressed swiftly.
"Sounds like they're singing on the battlefield below. Maybe our folks from 1777 are singing too. The worst part is... I actually know this song," Han Qingyu muttered with a wry smile, murmuring that last sentence under his breath.
He had always felt a little wary of being swayed by collective emotion. He had never been a hero, nor did he want to sacrifice himself. Yet certain things inevitably took root over time—such as a sense of belonging.
Within a collective, one gradually came to identify with those standing on the same ground. Then, because of their presence, one began to accept certain ideals more and more, and in turn embrace one's new stance and identity.
Take the bunch who had just cleared out outside, the ones who had suddenly rushed up and snatched more than two hundred of his metal blocks: Han Qingyu's heart had ached, and he had cursed them internally as bandit bastards for ages. Yet in the end, he still couldn't help a knowing smile.
*If I really took all three hundred-plus blocks, I'd probably be agonizing over it anyway. Keeping them would be indefensible, but turning them in would break my heart,* he thought. *So it's better this way. Taking just enough to maintain combat capability lets me keep a clear conscience...*
*Thump, thump...* The surging thrum of metal source energy grew increasingly distinct.
"Hold up, Wu Xu." Han Qingyu reached out and tugged at Wu Xu, leaning close against the rock wall to listen. "That's close enough."
"Then...?"
"Let's head out first." Han Qingyu nudged Rusty Sister to crawl backward, motioning for Wu Xu to follow. "In a bit, neither of you come with me."
The ring position.
Liu Yiwu stood atop a slab of glacial rock, preparing to deliver the pre-battle rallying speech for the final offensive. Looking out over the soldiers' heads, he spotted three figures running up from below.
"Reporting!" Han Qingyu led Wu Xu and Rusty Sister in a salute.
Liu Yiwu inspected him carefully. "You're all right?"
"Fairly well," Han Qingyu replied. "Reporting, Commander Liu: we dug a tunnel beneath the Great Spike mothership."
"So it was dug out! If you hadn't said so, I would've thought you blasted it with explosives—seeing as you blasted yourself flying so many times." Nearby, Liang Ge of White Eraser chuckled teasingly, only for Captain Wei Jiang to grab him by the nape of the neck and shove him down.
The Long Blade squad members behind them snickered at the sight.
"I just heard the others mention that you were digging," Liu Yiwu murmured thoughtfully. He looked up with a touch of apology. "But honestly, we've studied and discussed this tactic before. It holds little practical value, and it's far too risky."
"We've already sent people to test the mothership's hull plating; breaching it is nearly impossible. If only a few go in, it won't accomplish much. But if too many go, a single misstep could bury everyone underneath."
Liu Yiwu gestured toward the peak, patiently explaining the reasoning.
"So you really thought you were the only genius who could come up with a tactic straight out of TV shows that even little kids know?" Liang Ge sneered, chiming in again. Before he could finish, Wei Jiang kicked him flat onto the ground.
Subdued laughter rippled through the ranks again.
"Piss off... No, I mean, Lieutenant Liang, show your savior some respect," Han Qingyu shot back. Then he couldn't help laughing himself. Turning back to Liu Yiwu, he said with a grin, "Commander Liu, I understand. The situation there is indeed complicated. Therefore, I request permission to go alone. I want to give it a try—by myself."
"You?" Liu Yiwu's initial instinct was to refuse. But on second thought, the person standing before him making this request seemed to make a habit of producing miracles and unexpected turns. Was stopping him truly the right decision?
Azure existed in a world of martial prowess and battlefields that defied common sense, and its combat operations naturally differed in many ways from those of conventional militaries.
In a large-scale war like this, for instance, outside of the overarching strategic framework, there were no excessively rigid micromanagements or constraints.
Because once an individual's personal combat capability or unique trait reached a certain threshold, the impact that their subjective initiative or instinctual actions could exert on the battlefield was something that should not be stifled.
"All right," Liu Yiwu nodded. He raised his hand in a return salute. "Be careful out there."
"Yes, sir."
Han Qingyu snapped around to attention, saluting and nodding to the Huaxia Front elites gathered around him.
"Stay safe," Long Blade Squad captain Lu Chengzhong said first as he returned the salute. Then his squad members, including Cao Min, chimed in as well.
"Stay safe," Wei Jiang added, and the members of White Eraser saluted in unison.
"Thanks, you too."
With that, Han Qingyu turned away and walked past the crowd.
A deep breath.
He checked his device and gear.
*Wait, where did Wu Xu and Rusty Sister go?*
After searching around to no avail, he returned to the tunnel, only to find the two of them waiting inside. He looked at them, and they stared right back, radiating righteous defiance. Han Qingyu was just feeling helpless—
*Clang!*
The crisp, resonant sound of blades being drawn echoed from outside the tunnel.
*Boom!*
Han Qingyu unsheathed his blade and blasted through the final layer of earth and stone before him.
Chapter 271