At this moment, Ashleia had no idea that Major Qing was actually preparing to walk over to her, greet her politely, and say thank you. He was just about to do so.
However—
"Major Qing, are you really going on blind dates?"
An abrupt voice suddenly rang out from not far away. The fellow was holding a microphone.
In an instant, dead silence fell over the entire area.
Aside from Ashleia, who was still lost in her reverie, almost every remaining journalist on the scene was thinking: *Terrific, someone finally had the guts to ask. If we can get an answer, that would be wonderful. Even if there's no answer and it provokes Major Qing's wrath, well, it won't be directed at me anyway.*
Han Qingyu glanced in that direction. How was he supposed to answer this?
"No need to answer," Wen Jifei whispered behind him.
All right, then. Giving up on greeting Ashleia, Han Qingyu calmly turned away and continued walking forward with an impassive expression.
Outside the exit, the waiting convoy opened its doors in unison.
As Han Qingyu and the others reached the car doors, the press corps behind them, which had fallen quiet, suddenly erupted into clamor once more.
And this time, unlike their previous excited yet cautious demeanor, the reporters shouted questions at the top of their lungs while camera shutters clicked and flashes flared non-stop.
It seemed another group had exited behind them. Well, none of their business. Stream Vanguard dispersed their formation, preparing to get into the vehicles.
"Major Qing! Major Qing..."
A series of excited shouts chased after them from behind, drawing closer and closer. The person was calling out in the Huaxia language, but with an awkward accent, apparently a foreigner.
The person ran while shouting...
...only to be intercepted by soldiers.
At the car door, Han Qingyu looked back.
Roughly a dozen meters away, a pretty young woman stood at the very front of the subsequent entourage, held back by two soldiers as she stared at him, excited and nervous.
Seeing him look back, she hurriedly bowed at a ninety-degree angle. "Hello, Major Qing. It is a great honor to meet you."
An Asian face, but judging by her accent, she was likely not from Huaxia.
"Probably the delegation from the East Island Front here for the ceremony," Wen Jifei said.
At the same time, the girl looked up, tears shimmering in her eyes, though she did her best to pull a smile for him.
"Oh, a female warrior." She didn't look much like one, appearing more like a gentle young girl, though her gaze carried stubbornness and courage. Han Qingyu wondered if he should wave.
"No, she's a singer named Harada Niisa. An East Island star, not even twenty yet, I think," Yang Qingbai said.
Puzzled, Han Qingyu asked curiously, "Azure has singers and celebrities too?"
"Divisions like art and propaganda troupes have always existed, just like armies in the ordinary world. But Harada Niisa isn't from those. She was originally a rookie rock singer in the ordinary world. Later, because she composed and became the first to popularize songs about human resistance, she might now be the most popular pop star in the whole world. And look, she's pretty cute too."
Yang Qingbai probably knew the most about this sort of thing among the small Stream Vanguard crew; after all, he had an air combat pilots' channel, and when the pilots had nothing to do, they chatted about everything under the sun.
However, his information was actually incomplete. Azure's relevant departments were no fools. Right now, a wave of Azure mania swept the globe, humanity was united like never before, and every facet of the outside world was profoundly influenced. Civilians could do whatever they liked so long as it didn't cross the line, but Azure officialdom would never and could never proactively promote a mundane star who lacked any Azure background. Doing so would inevitably provoke pushback from within their ranks, even degrading something solemn into something frivolous.
And Harada Niisa's father—a man she had rarely seen since childhood—was a super combat power of the East Island Front.
On September 18, 1994—the very day Han Qingyu delivered that slash in the sky to bring an end to the Zenith War—the chaotic battle along the coast continued. Lieutenant General Harada Takeo of the East Island Front Source Energy Samurai Corps fell in battle on the Oceania battlefield.
...
This part of the background was later filled in by an accompanying Azure official at the reception hotel, leaving Han Qingyu feeling a twinge of regret for having offered no response at the time.
After arriving and settling into the hotel, Han Qingyu had not stepped outside once.
*What an extravagant standard,* Han Qingyu thought, gazing at the luxury suite he had never experienced before. The world now wished it could give everything of the highest caliber to the warriors protecting the planet, and wealthy magnates across the globe had donated vast fortunes.
"If you're bored, there's a mini cinema on our floor," Yang Qingbai said upon returning from outside, counting on his fingers. "After staying in that little mountain village for so long, coming out makes me truly feel how drastically the world has changed in just over three months."
In merely three-plus months, Azure and humanity's cause of resistance had become the world's singular theme.
News and music—mediums with relatively rapid creative turnarounds—had long since spread into full-blown crazes, and newly released blockbuster films were almost entirely tied to the subject as well.
Top screenwriters and directors worldwide had all joined the fray, capturing every dimension of this great resistance through diverse perspectives—from history to the present, from celebrated heroes to ordinary source energy warriors, from soldiers to regular civilians—both to praise and inspire, as well as to observe and reflect.
"A few are supposed to be pretty decent. Like the one screening over there right now, *Star Wars: Reality*. Supposedly, while filming, the Azure military even assigned high-tier combat forces to assist, probably with propaganda needs in mind," Yang Qingbai said. "Oh right, I just heard they're compiling a globally unified textbook series too."
In fact, educational departments in various nations had already begun popularizing science and facts regarding the resistance, but because most teachers had no real understanding of the truth, basic education had ended up bizarre and distorted, with a great deal of it veering into fantasy...
Therefore, Azure decided to provide the textbooks itself, helping countries establish relevant curricula for every educational stage.
As Yang Qingbai spoke, Han Qingyu listened intently, for he also desperately needed that knowledge—including a set of textbooks, and including a desire to go watch the movie currently screening...
*Knock, knock, knock.*
A knock sounded from outside the door.
"Come in," Yang Qingbai called out.
The one who pushed the door open was an Azure official. Standing by the doorway rubbing his hands together, he looked rather nervous and hesitated for quite a while before speaking:
"Major Qing, Headquarters Logistics sent me to seek your input... regarding that matter, does the administration need to step in and organize it for you?"
"What matter?" Han Qingyu asked.
"Blind dates," the official said. "We can first help organize voluntary applications, then set screening criteria based on your requirements, and finally arrange for a select group to meet with you..."
From the sound of it, the matter was spiraling into something even bigger. Low chuckles broke out beside him.
"Wait," Han Qingyu interrupted the official's pitch.
The description did not sit well with him at all. Even though the official insisted it was voluntary, Han Qingyu couldn't shake an uncomfortable sense of throwing his weight around, as if he were a villain.
And if he still failed even after all that, how pathetic would he look...
The fact that his brain was damaged had not been made known to the outside world, nor could it be allowed to leak, but in his own heart, he knew it all too well. With that in mind, Han Qingyu said:
"Thank you, but please do not do that."
This refusal was the first decision Han Qingyu had made entirely on his own since waking up. Though delivered politely, it was exceptionally firm.
He didn't even consult Wen Jifei, because he had always known just how shameless Plague Chicken could be. If he asked him, the guy would definitely support it enthusiastically just to sit back and watch the circus.
Chapter 717