Monument Day

Early the next morning, the recruits woke to solemn, sorrowful music playing across the camp. Murmuring in confusion, they threw on their clothes and stepped out of their tents. In the clearing between the military tents before them, Regimental Commander Li, the regimental chief of staff, and the accompanying instructors stood straight in pristine uniforms, saluting toward the direction of the music... It was the same across several nearby camps. The atmosphere was somber. The recruits did not dare speak, hurriedly falling in line and saluting. The music ceased. The salute ended. "Today is Monument Day," the regimental chief of staff announced, uttering an unfamiliar term to the recruits. They had only ever heard of monuments. What was Monument Day? "Here's the background: back in its early days—or rather, for a very long period—the Huaxia Front had no suitable place to build a monument for fallen Azure soldiers. "You understand why, right?" The regimental chief of staff paused, then continued, "Much like the Wall of Heroic Spirits at our Mount Nine Armies, the tradition persists to this day: no headstones, no names inscribed, no photographs mounted..." Because these sacrifices could never be explained to the public. The chief of staff did not state it outright, but the recruits all understood. They nodded with heavy hearts. There was no telling how long this secrecy would have to continue. And they were the ones who would be hidden away in the future. "And so, Azure designated a day, naming it Monument Day," the chief of staff finished. September twenty-ninth of every year was the Azure Alliance's Monument Day. "Then... why today?" a recruit asked. "Because this is the day of the greatest sacrifice in the history of the Huaxia Front." "Did the Great Spikes land in massive numbers?" the recruit pressed anxiously. This time, the chief of staff gave no answer. *** Regiment 7, directly under the First Army. People within the Coalition liked to joke that they were the Capital Guards, the Imperial Legion, owing to their long, glorious history and formidable strength. Also because their garrison area was relatively close to the headquarters of the Sole Witness Legion. "This is exceptionally rare luck." When the squad leader of Squad 164, Regiment 7 told this to his squad, his expression was like an excited child's. This morning, he had first received a mission sortie notification from the Fifth Army's Crow Legion. Soon after, he received a phone call from headquarters telling them... they did not need to sortie today. As a veteran of the Azure Coalition, he knew what that meant. That old man was coming! In the more than twenty years that the old man had helmed the Sole Witness Legion, whenever a shuttle craft landing alert coincided with Monument Day and the location was within reach, he would always come in person to slay one or two Great Spikes as an offering to the fallen. Yet such opportunities were exceedingly rare. This year, the stars had aligned. "Within our defensive sector, well within our duties... we get to watch." Finishing his words, the squad leader walked to the doorway and gave a little hop. Less than ten minutes after Squad 164 reached the designated perimeter, three helicopters touched down. Stepping off the helicopters was not just that tall, gaunt old man, but also a dozen young officers. Every one of them wore three-dimensional maneuver gear. The squad leader stepped forward to salute, then explained the terrain and ambush positions. The legion commander returned the salute. Next came the long, hidden wait typical of regular squad operations. Until the shuttle craft landed. Sole Witness Legion Commander Chen Buer emerged from the ambush pit. He wore combat fatigues beneath what looked like a tactical vest packed full of magazines—an apparatus that appeared ancient, heavy, and awkward. "What the commander's wearing..." a squad member whispered. "Sixth-generation three-dimensional apparatus," the squad leader said proudly. "I've worn one too." However, in the present situation, the dozen or so young officers who had arrived with the legion commander did not follow the old man out. They remained in the ambush trench, just like Squad 164. "Don't underestimate them. Those are individual combatants who've passed their probation period and are being groomed by the legion," the squad leader explained to his troops. "You think just anyone gets the chance to observe the legion commander in live combat?" So it was a solo duel... "I heard the legion commander could cut down a Great Spike all on his own back when he was young," one squad member said excitedly to his comrade after recovering from his shock. "When he was young?" a voice countered. The soldier looked up, scanning his surroundings in bewilderment, only to finally realize that not far ahead, the legion commander had turned his head to look back at him, brow furrowed as if displeased. "I..." "You think I'm old." As he spoke, the shuttle craft finished its ejection, and two black-armored Great Spikes hit the ground. At the same instant, blue light flashed across Chen Buer's body. With a black iron straight blade in each hand, he faced the two of them alone in a tense standoff. "What, are those guys with the red stripe on their shoulders never coming back? Or are they still on the way?" The next second, the soldiers watched in astonishment as the legion commander actually spoke to the Great Spikes. So the Great Spikes could actually... "They don't understand. I just felt like asking, so I asked," Chen Buer said without looking back. "..." Since they didn't understand, there was naturally nothing more to say. The battle erupted instantly. For his opening move, the legion commander stomped off the ground mid-sprint, launching himself into the air. Gripping his twin blades in a reverse hold, he slashed outward simultaneously at the necks of both Great Spikes. The soldiers: "..." On the first page of the Source Energy Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear Combat Manual, the very first sentence read: *Do not jump. Do not jump. Do not jump...* "If you jump fast enough, you can jump." The answer drifted from the battlefield. Amid the clang of clashing metal, Chen Buer's opening assault was blocked. He slipped between the two Great Spikes, planted both feet squarely against the trunk of a large tree on the other side, and— *Bang.* He turned and struck again. Simultaneously, one of the Great Spikes swept its column sword horizontally toward him. Blade met sword. *A direct block?* the soldiers wondered, bracing for the impact. Yet the anticipated violent collision never came. The moment Chen Buer's straight blade struck the column sword, it landed like a snowflake settling onto the blade. And along with the blade, the legion commander himself seemed to turn into a snowflake. Holding his weapon, his entire body drifted through the air along the path of the sweeping column sword. "This isn't kung fu... Source energy surges through your body. Control it... Stack the surge to its peak, and you can strike with power beyond your own imagination... And by precisely mastering the timing of the backsurge, you can do what I'm doing right now." As the words fell, the legion commander and his blades had spun more than two hundred and sixty degrees along the arc of the sweeping column sword. The column sword could not sweep past the Great Spike's own body. But the legion commander could. He arrived behind the Great Spike just as its swing reached the end of its momentum, exhausted of force. Dropping from behind its neck, both blades bit in together... slicing through from lower left to lower right. He touched down. In less than a single minute, amid the steam rising from inside its black armor, the first Great Spike collapsed with a heavy thud. "I care far less about A, B, or S than you think." These words were directed at the young officers. Even as he spoke, the legion commander stood calmly in place... as the second Great Spike charged frantically toward him. Chen Buer leveled his blade and pointed. "Hack it to death." "Huh?" "Hack it to death, go on... I'm old, didn't you know?" With that, the legion commander retreated at full speed. The dozen young officers hurriedly leaped from the pit and swarmed forward in unison. Fortunately, they were all top-tier combatants—or at least not far from it. The slaughter began anew... "A man like me... ought to have stayed a soldier on the sighting frontline forever." The legion commander lay prone in the ambush trench, suddenly voicing his thoughts to the members of Squad 164 beside him. He chuckled after speaking, carrying an emotion none of the others could decipher. Squad 164 had no idea how to react. The legion commander did not mind. Only after the fight concluded and the rain of shrapnel ended did he brush off the weeds and dirt, climbing out of the pit. He turned back, saluted, and added one final remark: "In truth, what truly sustains Azure has never been top-tier combatants. It's you... Thank you." "Quick, find the source energy blocks! Find the blocks!" The next second, the old man darted toward the brush like a rabbit. *** "The Sole Witness Legion has far too vast a defensive area, and the Great Spikes' landings are far too unpredictable, which is why... we had to travel so far." On the afternoon of Monument Day, on the journey back. The regimental chief of staff was explaining the situation to the recruits stuck at an intersection. They were heading back. The results of the recruits' fusion testing had not been announced, nor would they be revealed here; they would be sent directly to the regiments a few days later. Meanwhile, at the intersection not far ahead, Regimental Commander Li Wangqiang was arguing with Commander Yang Wudong of Regiment 439—also under the Ninth Army—squabbling over right of way. "Don't think it's embarrassing," the chief of staff murmured, rubbing his nose with his head down. "The commander's doing this for your sake too." "With so many regiments in each army, if we didn't split up the routes and all marched together, the locals would think a war broke out... If our commander secures this route, we'll avoid a massive detour. It took six days and five nights to get here, but going back will take less than four days and four nights." Everyone played along, chiming in, "Oh." Yet inwardly, they couldn't help thinking: even if it's over the route, these are two dignified regimental commanders. Just listen to them—this sounds completely undignified! "You bald bastard!" "You weak-kidneyed wreck!" "No wonder Xiao Nan dumped you!" "Heh, as if!" "..." What on earth was all this? Seeing the recruits' candid stares, the chief of staff had no choice but to clear his throat. "Uh, our commander and Commander Yang used to be romantic rivals..." "Whoa, so who won her over in the end?" Wen Jifei asked excitedly. "Neither," the chief of staff replied. "..." Wen Jifei wore a dazed expression for a second before turning to the others from Dormitory 11. "Can they even call themselves rivals then? That's really flattering themselves." The moment he finished, he noticed the strange looks on his roommates' faces... and quickly turned around. "..." *Could my luck really be this bad?* Commander Yang of Regiment 439 was stomping over with menacing momentum. Wen Jifei was just about to duck behind the chief of staff. Commander Yang was already right in front of them, kicking up gravel and stirring dust with heavy, resounding strides. "You're that Grade A recruit, aren't you?" In a rough, gravelly voice, he directed the question straight at Han Qingyu.