With her short hair tied behind her head, curls resting against her temples, and changed into a legion combat uniform, Milla looked sharp and capable, her expression cool and austere.
Only, she wasn't wearing a three-dimensional apparatus on her back; instead, she came carrying her Milla 11 heavy autocannon.
In the evening after regular training had ended, during extra training time, the wounded soldiers of Dormitory 11 stood waiting in a corner of the training ground. Seeing their Milla walk briskly forward with martial grace, not even turning her head as eyes followed her from across the entire field, an inexplicable sense of pride rose within them.
"So, Captain Milla, would you ever consider marrying a Huaxian man in the future?"
Yang Qingbai had been holding this question in all afternoon.
"Of course. I personally would love to stay in the Huaxia Front until I retire..." *Clack.* "...so I think I'll eventually marry a soldier of the Huaxia Front." Standing in the afterglow of the setting sun, pulling back the bolt, Milla answered directly and briskly. "Only, that would first require spending a long time together and getting to know each other, wouldn't it?"
With that, she casually raised her gun and walked forward, hiding the smile playing at the corners of her lips. And how do you spend a long time together? By becoming my squad members, of course. Haha.
"Did you guys hear that?"
Once Milla walked off, Yang Qingbai slowly turned his head toward his brothers, his gaze vacant with bliss.
"We heard it, but what the hell are you looking so blissful for?" Wen Jifei couldn't resist mocking him. "Our Milla said she'd be willing to marry a Huaxian man, not a Huaxian toad."
If someone unfamiliar made a joke like that, it would have been crossing the line, but the guys in Dormitory 11 were already very close. Everyone had gradually realized lately that aside from harboring an extreme revulsion toward the word "useless," Yang Qingbai could cheerfully laugh off almost any other kind of jab or joke.
That was simply how people were. Once they spent enough time together, they consciously or unconsciously formed assessments of one another and gradually got a feel for how far they could push their jokes.
In Dormitory 11, Han Qingyu was probably the only exception, the sole peculiar one.
They didn't really understand him. Most of the time, the other six in the dormitory felt there was always a bit of a mismatch between the person he seemed to be, his performance, and the things he did.
For instance, Han Qingyu had already earned a reputation and standing among the recruits, won and seized by his own strength.
Yet he didn't look like an imposing, fierce, or brawny person, nor was there any grimness or brutality in his demeanor or eyes. At times, he even seemed like someone who rarely felt strong emotions or impulses. People like that usually felt unreal, but Han Qingyu gave off a very authentic impression, even seeming somewhat honest and simple.
Even Lao Jian thought the kid was honest at heart, though he had also said that a bandit's nature lay hidden inside Han Qingyu.
Yet that was merely because Lao Jian had once witnessed this kid's tenacity when it came to something he recognized and desired... which, at the time, was money.
Back then, in order to leave a sum of money for his parents, he could ignore the threat of a blade that had just been pressed against his throat. He showed no fear, shamelessly stating over and over, "I just saved your life," and boldly pushing his luck to ask about salary and death benefits, even applying to get paid before handing himself over...
In short, whenever he desperately wanted something, his courage, his bottom line, and his sense of shame all became complete mysteries.
Perhaps Lao Jian was partly right. In reality, that was just how Han Qingyu was.
When he wanted money, he asked for it, using every possible means without hiding a thing. When he wanted to stay alive, he could hunker down in a ditch, swallow his pride, or decide in a split second to risk his life—and then actually carry it out immediately. When he wanted meat, he had the guts to create complete chaos...
He was a peaceful, law-abiding commoner when well-fed and untroubled, but a ruthless bandit when prey or survival was at stake.
***
"Over here," Milla called to her squad members, standing beside the wooden ring that had not been dismantled from the afternoon.
As the group hobbled and limped over, they were still debating what kind of man a woman as beautiful and powerful as Milla would end up marrying.
The discussion led nowhere, but it reminded Wen Jifei of another topic.
"Hey, Qingzi, what do you think of Zhang Dao'an?" He paused, waiting for Han Qingyu's gaze to turn toward him, and continued, "Today he told me that when he was young, he was very much like me..."
"In terms of being obnoxious, the two of you really are quite similar," Han Qingyu said with a smile.
"Get lost! Seriously."
"Seriously, I don't really know him."
"Fair enough. It's just, when he first told me all that today, that heartfelt sincerity didn't seem fake at all. As for later... forget it." Wen Jifei quickly gave up thinking about Zhang Dao'an and switched questions. "Then what about Lao Jian? What kind of person is Lao Jian?"
Lao Jian? He was the start of all the trouble and every absurd thing that had followed.
Yet Han Qingyu had never truly given the question serious thought.
"Hard to make sense of him," he said after a moment's consideration. "A university physics lecturer—supposedly an educated man, someone the country definitely needs, who could probably do research in Azure. Yet he happens to be a battle maniac... Lately, when he could have stayed at regimental headquarters on rotation, he still applied to go back."
Wen Jifei nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah."
"Sometimes you feel he's so open-minded it's as if nothing in the material world matters to him... but when he gets petty, he'd rather suffer to death than lose face." Han Qingyu gestured with his hands as he spoke. "You know what? I saw him get knocked flying by a Great Spike once. He really looked like a duck that had been kicked into the air, flailing wildly before tumbling down with a heavy crash...
"And yet, I've never seen anyone else spit blood as calmly as he did. At least the way he held himself while coughing up blood earned my respect."
As he said this, Han Qingyu had no idea that just ten-odd minutes earlier, a disheveled Lao Jian had scurried up to Milla with an odd look on his face, asking if she wanted to be his goddaughter...
It had been an intensely awkward scene, with an intensely sleazy feel.
Milla had frowned, looked at him, thought for a moment, and then raised the barrel of her heavy autocannon to aim straight at him.
Lao Jian had fled in utter panic.
Right now, the conversation continued. Wen Jifei chuckled and said, "Then what about Regimental Commander Li? You've been to the regimental commander's office. He..."
"He's a pretty good guy." Han Qingyu had a good impression of Regimental Commander Li, since he was clearly an officer who could be reasoned with and was very protective of his men.
"Oh, that's it? No imposing aura or anything?... But I heard that he once fought a Great Spike one-on-one for three minutes with his blade," Wen Jifei said, always full of grapevine rumors.
Han Qingyu's expression turned instantly to astonishment. "Three minutes? Alone?!"
In his mind, he recalled the speed and strength of a Great Spike, as well as the sight of that column sword sweeping through the air... It was unimaginable.
"Yeah, that's what I heard. Even though it ended badly for him, he really held out for three minutes... Hard to picture, isn't it?" Wen Jifei glanced at the massive training ground, suddenly sighing with emotion. "So I was wondering, with so many people in the Azure Coalition, does anyone actually exist who can take on a Great Spike alone? I feel like there might be..."
"What are you guys talking about?" Unbeknownst to them, they had already drawn close. Milla leaned against the wooden platform, asking with a smile.
"We were talking about... Captain, can the strongest warrior in our Azure Coalition fight a Great Spike alone?" Wen Jifei tossed the question directly to Milla, his eyes full of eager curiosity. "Is there anyone like that?"
The moment the topic came up, everyone looked on with anticipation and yearning.
"Of course there is." Milla smiled proudly, turning her gaze northward. "The old man currently heading our Sole Witness Legion was, in his youth, someone who could cut down a Great Spike all on his own."
She said that for over twenty years, that old man had been the collective leader of the Huaxia combat forces' six armies, and his code name in the Huaxia Front Council was Goat. She added that they shouldn't misunderstand anything just because of the name; wild goats were actually among the most combative animals around.
"Actually, it's not just the old man. There are others too. For instance, my father told me that our Ninth Army used to have one as well..." When speaking of this person, a gleam appeared in Milla's eyes, like a young girl talking about her idol, though it quickly faded. "I can't talk about it."
"Why can't you talk about it?" The group of Azure recruits, having just had a new world opened to them, pressed on, unsatisfied and bewildered.
"It's just... forbidden to mention, that's all," Milla said flusteredly, as if trying to evade the subject. She turned, slapped the wooden ring hard, and said loudly, "All right, focus. We're going to train seriously now."
Even as she told them to take it seriously, Han Qingyu was drifting off.
There really were people who could take on a Great Spike alone? And more than one. Milla's words were like pulling back another veil over the sky before Han Qingyu, revealing a new world that set his blood stirring.
It was unavoidable. When young men first grasped a blade, who among them wouldn't fantasize, who hadn't dreamed... of being invincible?
It was just that the question Han Qingyu had been quietly seeking information on and pondering all this time still had no answer: Just what kind of existence am I?
And what will happen to me when it comes to the source energy degree of fusion test?
Chapter 33