The guard squad was stationed deep in the mountains, and the second half of their return journey was entirely mountain paths.
"If a situation like today ever happens again, none of you—no, none of us!—will stay on duty. We might as well all wait for punishment together."
As they walked along the mountain path, Zhao Heshan suddenly halted, his tone sinking.
After four peaceful years without incident, they had grown far too careless! Today, they had actually allowed people suspected of belonging to Pure Purgatory into the village.
Even if General Jiang himself were exposed, he likely wouldn't face much danger, but the fallout would inevitably bring immense trouble—and in all likelihood, drag the villagers into harm's way.
And one of the households in that village, the very family sheltering General Jiang... belonged to the parents of Major Han Qingyu.
"Do I even need to say how serious today's incident really is? What if, at the time..." Zhao Heshan broke off, not daring to let his mind dwell on the specifics.
The soldiers immediately grew solemn. They halted and fell into formation, not daring to utter a sound, their hearts heavy with shame: *Major Qing is out there hacking down Great Spikes and slaying red-shoulders... yet we let members of a doomsday cult get close to his parents.*
"From now on, this village is our life! It is a mission far greater than before! Understood?!" Zhao Heshan continued sternly.
"Sir!"
The soldiers responded in forceful unison.
"Good. As soon as we get back, draw up a new duty roster. Add more men to every shift, and keep your eyes glued to that village. If anyone slacks off again, I'll make an example of them."
Having delivered his harsh warning, Zhao Heshan turned away, his expression relaxing slightly in spite of himself.
After all, alarming though the close call had been, the outcome was good. And thanks to that accidental discovery, it was still thrilling to contemplate.
*Major Qing's family really is wonderful. It feels like having parents like that gave him his kind and warmhearted side...*
Zhao Heshan waved his hand, signaling the men to break formation and quicken their pace, murmuring under his breath, "Seeing how worried sick they were... sigh, as soon as I get back, I have to hurry and contact the Chief of Staff to ask."
...
"How did it go?" At the squad station, the deputy squad leader saw Zhao Heshan emerge from the communications room and hurried over to ask.
Zhao Heshan shook his head.
"They won't let you talk?" the deputy squad leader asked.
"No, I couldn't reach the Chief of Staff," Zhao Heshan said.
"Uh, why? What happened?" The deputy squad leader was puzzled; they had originally been granted authorization for direct contact.
"The staff officers asked me for the urgency rating. I thought about it, and since this can't exactly be called critical, I said Grade B. They told me that under the circumstances, it wasn't convenient to reach the Chief of Staff for anything below that."
"Oh... I think I understand," the deputy squad leader whispered.
He was a smart man. Although he had his own suspicions, he kept them to himself. After a moment, he changed the subject: "Speaking of which, even though he heard us talking about Great Spikes and saw our uniforms today, General Jiang didn't mention Azure once... His condition seems to have worsened."
"Yeah." Zhao Heshan gave a sorrowful nod, then said, "Maybe it's for the best. We should hurry and send men out to run down leads, and clear out any doomsday cult elements that might be lurking around first."
It was nearly ten o'clock at night.
In a city in southeastern Azure Huaxia, inside an Azure logistics production base hidden among the mountains:
Several college-aged girls in work uniforms walked out of the garment workshop.
Yao Yue and her roommates had come here ever since they were evacuated from Linzhou.
They had been staying here for quite some time now. To make themselves useful, the students and teachers had volunteered for whatever work they could manage at the logistics base.
Yao Yue and her roommates had been assigned to help in the combat uniform manufacturing workshop. Due to the conscription drive, Azure's uniform production had been stretched to the limit lately.
By now, they had become proficient at the work and expected to continue for some time yet. There was no going back to school for the moment anyway, and with the dangers and disruption on the transport routes, returning home was out of the question for the near future.
Fortunately, Yao Yue had already called home to report that she was safe and knew that her family was currently fine.
"Yao Yue, Yao Yue?" a roommate called on their way back to the dorms.
Yao Yue, who had just taken off her work cap, looked back, her long hair swaying. "Hm?"
"Will that Second Lieutenant Wen of yours go kill that Daie?" her roommate asked suddenly, her tone earnest.
Being inside an Azure base, the students were privy to more information. They all knew what state the world had been thrown into by the presence of that Daie, and feelings ran high between resentment and panic.
"He..." Yao Yue had spoken to Wen Jifei over the phone once. Because communication lines were tightly controlled, they had mostly just confirmed they were safe without discussing much else. "His gun doesn't seem capable of hurting the most powerful Great Spikes."
"Oh. But he'll still go, right?" Lin Ya said. "Because Major Qing will probably go."
*But Major Qing is injured,* Yao Yue thought privately. When she spoke with Wen Jifei last time, he had let it slip in passing, without giving any specific warning.
Yet afterwards, Yao Yue realized that this was something she couldn't share.
Because he was Major The Qing.
During their time at the Azure logistics base, the students had heard many tales about Azure, which naturally included the exploits of Major The Qing, Lieutenant Wu Xu, Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei, and Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu.
So by now, they had all come to understand just what kind of figure Yao Yue's Second Lieutenant Wen was in this world behind the veil that was gradually revealing itself.
Not to mention Major Qing and the others.
"It's such a pity we didn't get to see Major Qing last time," Lin Ya muttered. Then she added abruptly, "Oh, right, there's something I want to tell you guys."
"What is it?" the roommates asked.
"I've decided to sign up for Azure." Lin Ya puffed out her chest, looking up at the night sky. "If my degree of fusion test turns out well, I'm going to the battlefield."
The roommates stopped in their tracks.
In fact, quite a few students had been inquiring about Azure and preparing to sign up lately, but those aiming for the front lines were mostly male students; very few female students considered it.
"What? I've asked around! Under source energy martial force, as long as your degree of fusion is high, girls can be just as powerful!" Lin Ya said.
"And what if your degree of fusion isn't high?" one roommate asked.
"Uh, I've already thought about that too. If the results are average, I'm still heading to the battlefield... I'll become a war correspondent!" Lin Ya said resolutely. "I want to film those warriors with no retreat who block the vast sky! I want to film the Commander, film Major Qing, film that Daie dropping dead..."
"Oh, and I'll take pictures of your Second Lieutenant Wen for you, Yao Yue!" She turned toward Yao Yue.
"...I," Yao Yue paused, thought about it, and shook her head. "I want to take them myself."
With that, Yao Yue clenched both fists tightly and turned to walk ahead.
Two hours later.
Yuejiang Province, Azure Huaxia No. 15 Field Hospital.
The night had grown deep.
Suddenly, hurried, heavy footsteps rang out along the mountain path.
At the mouth of the cave, Wu Xu and He Tangtang stood up, unhurried and calm.
Because the sound went like this: *Clang, clank, clang, clank...*
Rusty Sister sprinted up leading the way, carrying a long wooden crate on her shoulder, shouting as she ran:
"Qingzi! Qingzi! Your armor!"
Han Qingyu's high-tier full-body armor had finally been forged. Crafted to extraordinarily high specifications, it was capable of containing the outward emission of the magma energy to a certain degree while under active suppression.
"Whew! You can finally come out!"
As Rusty Sister spoke, she tossed the entire wooden crate into the cave.
Mid-flight, the wood spontaneously burst into flame, its ashes crumbling away.
*Clatter-clang!* An exquisite suit of modified Western knight armor, complete with helmet and visor, landed beside the still-burning Han Qingyu.
Chapter 661