It was now June 1994.
In truth, Azure had begun preparing to reveal the truth as early as the beginning of 1993. Yet due to the Alliance Council's customary hesitation and debate, Contingency Plan No. 1 had never truly been set in motion.
Of course, with the war continuing in Antarctica and Great Spikes descending with ever-greater frequency, some things simply could not be kept completely hidden. No matter how much the authorities and the constrained, heavily censored media tried to cover it up, rumors, skepticism, and curiosity among the populace grew by the day, increasingly slipping beyond control.
Over the past two years, at virtually every university across the world, science fiction and astronomy clubs had become the most popular and sought-after organizations on campus.
In Huaxia, on the northeastern coast, lay Yuejiang University.
A senior journalism student named Yao Yue was among its students.
With graduation fast approaching, Yao Yue had recently stepped down from her club activities. Right now, class had just ended, and she was packing her backpack.
In all honesty, Yao Yue was rather ordinary. She was neither particularly tall nor short, and while pretty, she was not exceptionally so. Her best features were her glossy black hair and fair skin, giving her the look of a well-behaved, studious girl.
"Guan Mei, Li Tao..." the female class monitor called out, distributing letters among the desks.
Hearing this, Yao Yue looked up and asked, "Any for me, Monitor?"
"Um... no." Having handed out the last letter, the class monitor spread her hands, seemingly quite used to this exchange.
That was simply how it was. Over the past three years, Yao Yue had asked that same question countless times, yet most of the time the answer was no. On the rare occasions she did receive a letter, the spark of excitement in her eyes would quickly dim the moment she glanced at the signature on the envelope.
It seemed there was one specific person whose letter she was waiting for.
"Oh, that's fine. I was just asking." Yao Yue gave a bright smile, flashing white teeth and an endearing look.
She slung her backpack over her shoulder and left the classroom.
"By the way, there's a joint outing with the mechanical engineering department this weekend. Are you coming, Yao Yue?" the class monitor called after her.
At the classroom door, Yao Yue turned back, her long hair swishing softly, and said apologetically, "Thanks, Monitor, but I'll pass. I still haven't finished my thesis."
"All right... sure." The class monitor smiled, not minding in the least.
Over these past four years, Yao Yue had never taken part in any mixers or social gatherings, and she had never had a boyfriend.
Back in the classroom after Yao Yue had left, one of her roommates suddenly gave a sly smile and said in a low voice, "Well, we're all about to graduate anyway, so there's no harm in saying it. The truth is, our Yao Yue fell in love way back when."
"Huh? How early are we talking?!" chimed in a few curious onlookers, egging her on.
"A middle school classmate, apparently."
"Whoa!"
"Anyway, they were middle school classmates. When exactly it started, no one knows. Starting in their second year of high school, they weren't in the same place anymore, but they still saw each other and wrote letters. Oh, right, when freshman year first started, they wrote to each other all the time. Yao Yue only told us once after we badgered her relentlessly. She said the boy didn't pass the college entrance exam and went to join the military."
"Joining the military isn't bad either," the female class monitor noted.
"Yeah, but later on, he suddenly stopped writing back... right up until now," another of Yao Yue's roommates said, her tone tinged with indignation.
"Whoa!" The classroom erupted in exaggerated gasps and expressions. Some praised Yao Yue for her devotion, while others cursed the guy for being utterly out of line, deliberately stringing her along like that.
"Could he have... fallen in battle?" a girl suddenly ventured.
The entire classroom fell dead silent.
Meanwhile, Yao Yue walked down the campus path, kicking at roadside pebbles as she went. "Damned Plague Chicken, stinking Plague Chicken! You absolute bastard, I'm about to graduate..."
Of course Yao Yue knew Wen Jifei hadn't died.
During the winter break two years ago, having grown so terrified of waiting, the young woman had swallowed her pride and gone looking for Wen Jifei's father and mother, visiting both households.
In the end, it was Wen Jifei's mother who, unable to bear the sight of the girl's tear-rimmed eyes, had secretly confided in her. She said the military brass had informed the family that Wen Jifei was in the special forces, off on a classified mission.
So Yao Yue waited.
Who would have guessed his classified mission would last three full years—three years without a single letter or phone call. "You heartless jerk! Plague Chicken, if this keeps up, aren't you afraid I'll fall in love and get married to someone else?
"Or have you already moved on? You big firecracker! You were always the best at charming girls, making my teeth itch with fury every single time.
"Even if that's the case, you ought to at least tell me. I know I'm being naive, but from middle school, high school, cram school, and then freshman year, that's eight whole years... Now it's about to be eleven. Even if it was just an unspoken spark between us, shouldn't there be some kind of closure?"
She strolled along the tree-lined boulevard.
By the roadside, a boy was asking a girl out to the movies.
Yao Yue had heard of that movie. It was an import from Hollywood, and because it happened to tell a story about aliens invading Azure, tapping right into the current public obsession, it had recently become wildly famous.
Supposedly, it was also the very first film to premiere simultaneously across the globe, titled *No Retreat*.
"Aliens, wars... I don't care about that kind of stuff at all."
Yao Yue told herself she wasn't jealous.
"Still, it's so annoying. Why is it that all the recent news and newspapers are talking about discovering alien spaceships and spotting extraterrestrials? They make it sound so real it's on the verge of causing mass panic, yet the authorities aren't even doing anything about it."
***
A few days later, on June 12, 1994, in Mangu, the capital of a Southeast Asian nation.
Along a lively yet chaotic street where street vendors' hawking filled the air, a series of massive posters from the same promotional campaign were plastered outside a rundown little movie theater.
On one of the posters, a blurred silhouette holding a blue-glowing greatsword in both hands rocketed into the sky, clashing head-on against a blazing burst of red radiance.
The film's title was emblazoned across the bottom, accompanied by two slogans:
[The grandest, most shocking, most realistic action spectacle in history]
[For all that draws breath, there is no retreat—our bodies bar the boundless sky]
It was already the eleventh day of the film's run, yet the modest theater remained packed to capacity.
The very back row was originally set up as two-person couple seats. However, in this screening, rather annoyingly, two older men had separately purchased individual tickets at opposite ends.
"Excuse me, hello, could I please swap seats with you? I'm here with my boyfriend," a young woman politely asked in stiff, heavily accented English.
The older man in the seat wearing a hat looked up.
Western features.
*He's so handsome... no, he's gorgeous,* the girl thought, virtually freezing in place.
Yet the man cast her a cold glance and shook his head.
"...What's the big deal! Hmph!" Pouting, the girl pulled her boyfriend over to the other side and politely asked again in English.
This time, the older man had Eastern features. When he looked up, he offered a warm, charming smile... Unfortunately, the result was the same: he shook his head.
And so, the girl and her boyfriend were left with no choice but to sit separately beside the two older men, watching through the film *No Retreat*.
"To be honest, the plot was kind of a mess, but the battle scenes were truly incredible—so breathtaking, almost like they were real."
"Yeah, the cinematography felt like actual footage too."
Outside the theater entrance as the crowd dispersed, moviegoers chatted among themselves.
Ye Jian took out a cigarette and turned his head to look at Shu You with resignation.
"Big brother, you've been chasing me for over a month now. Aren't you tired?"
A bustling downtown area was no place to make a move. Shu You glanced at him and shook his head.
"Even if you're not tired, do you really think it's necessary? I'm genuinely not going to hurt those kids..." Ye Jian said.
"Doesn't matter. Alphonse is dead anyway; I've got plenty of time," Shu You replied.
"Like hell you have time! If you've got time, hurry back to your old nest and get ready to chop down Great Spikes!" Ye Jian pointed toward the poster. "Don't tell me you didn't recognize who that was. And those other grand set pieces—anyone can tell at a glance that's Antarctica..."
At this point, Ye Jian pointed up at the sky and continued, "Even after seeing all this, do you still not understand what Azure is preparing to do, or what kind of situation we're facing right now?"
Shu You hesitated in thought, then raised his head.
Right at that moment, the sky above Mangu abruptly darkened.
A pitch-black cloud suddenly materialized, like an unimaginably vast flock of birds, gradually blanketing the city overhead.
Then, the dark cloud began to descend.
...It could be seen clearly now!
The crowds packing the streets froze in disbelief.
Then, in an instant, sheer bedlam erupted.
Everyone began screaming and running in wild panic.
Only Ye Jian and Shu You remained standing amidst the surging torrent of fleeing people. Tilting their heads back, they stared blankly at the sky full of Great Spike flying craft, large and small.
On that very same day, more than twenty cities across the globe experienced the exact same phenomenon, including Dongjing, St. Petersburg, New York, London, Melbourne... Shenghai, and Yuzhou.
The main force of the Great Spikes had arrived. Before Azure could finish laying the groundwork and officially announce the truth to the world, they appeared directly before all of humankind.
Chapter 599