Daie's Corpse

Huaxia Front, Sole Witness Legion Headquarters. Xu Xiaohong drew his gaze back from the television on the right side of the conference room and continued flipping through the documents in his hand for a moment. Every young staff officer present held a copy of the exact same material. Compared to the general public, who could only see the battlefield's surface, the documents in their hands contained extensive records and data. From the tactical movements and regional density of the Great Spikes (including the probability of Red Shoulder appearances) to Stream Vanguard's casualties, breakthrough progress, and more, everything was thorough and reliable. "Report!" A soldier appeared at the conference room doorway, presenting a document with both hands. "Latest intelligence: the moment the Rejectors' communications established a link to the Eastern Front, Stream Vanguard's Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei and Zhu Jiaming bypassed the chain of command to directly contact our transport airships still in the sky. They tric—our pilots just airdropped the entire cargo of source energy blocks from four Qing Spear-class airships to them." "...That can't be called tricking," Xu Xiaohong said after thinking hard about it, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "That should be called a direct request under emergency conditions." "...Yes, sir." *Yet the rations Azure gave them were already three times the standard amount,* the soldier thought to himself, not daring to say it out loud. "Besides, that little bit is something they should have received extra of anyway. Didn't you see that because of a certain Chen's shameless schemes, they came away practically empty-handed during those days on the peninsula?" Chief of Staff Xu felt a headache coming on, like watching two adults fooling around like unruly children. He paused and added, "Consider it tit for tat." "..." "Furthermore, the peninsula has refineries processing on-site, so there won't be any shortage of source energy blocks. Giving the supplies to them is likely a greater necessity and will accomplish more. All right, answer the Council just like that: tell them Chen Buer personally granted special approval because he was so worried about them." Xu Xiaohong waved a hand as he finished speaking. "...Yes, sir." The soldier took his leave as ordered. His "headquarters survival experience" was still lacking, leaving his heart somewhat uneasy. He didn't know if he would soon be hauled before the Legion Commander for a vicious scolding, or if, when yelled at, he could push the blame right back onto the Chief of Staff. Inside the conference room, Xu Xiaohong turned his gaze back, sweeping his eyes over the young officers present. Tossing the files onto the table, he said, "Let's hear your thoughts. Say whatever comes to mind..." "Report! I don't think it was tricking either. And that 'certain Chen' really is a bit..." The impetuous young staff officer trailed off, losing his nerve mid-sentence and freezing in place. Xu Xiaohong gave him a helpless look, caught between tears and laughter. "I didn't ask you to speak about that. Stick to the battlefield deduction." "Uh, right, the deduction. In that case, I also believe giving them extra supplies was the right call, because according to the current battlefield disposition, I think there is a high probability that Stream Vanguard will be the first to fight their way to the South Pole and the Great Spikes' attraction field." A stir immediately ran through the room at his words, sparking heated discussion and debate. Although Stream Vanguard's average combat power was immense, and although Mount Erebus, where they were currently located, didn't appear too far from the pole on the map, they only had a little over six thousand people after all. On the other hand, there were the more than three hundred thousand Azure vanguard troops about to converge at their designated positions, as well as the army of over 1.2 million on the peninsula ready to launch a general offensive at any moment. With such a vast disparity, how could they arrive first? And why would they want to? Judging by their usual character, Stream Vanguard probably had no interest whatsoever in claiming such a first place. "Continue," Xu Xiaohong said, suppressing the chatter across the room with just two words. He gestured for the young officer to go on. "Speak freely. Whatever we discuss here won't affect the Antarctic Command's decisions anyway." "Yes, sir." The officer straightened up and pointed at the map hanging on the conference room wall. "Based on the current battlefield deployment, I believe Azure Command will definitely have the converged forces on the Western Front launch the initial assault toward the pole. Once their offensive pulls apart a portion of the Great Spikes' frontal defenses... the true strike against the attraction field will be launched head-on from the top of the peninsula. "When the 1.2-million-strong army charges directly at the attraction field, the Great Spikes on the Eastern Front will inevitably be drawn away—the vast majority of them, in fact. Then, Stream Vanguard can make their move. Given their average combat prowess and advance speed, as long as they can carve their way through the dense perimeter surrounding the attraction field, they can be the first to reach the pole..." "The problem is, they can't break through. Do you know how many Great Spikes are in the dense perimeter around the attraction field? High-altitude aerial reconnaissance shows it's packed like an anthill, and we have no way of knowing how many Red Shoulders are in there—we can only assume the ratio is higher than on the outside... Yet they have only six thousand people," someone in the room couldn't help countering. "No! No matter how dense it is, they only need one path forward! I believe in Lieutenant Wu Xu. His source energy gravity field is a natural breakthrough weapon—they can steamroll their way straight through." "...Fine, combat strength is something none of us understand well enough. But even if they really do punch through, what then? With three thousand or two thousand men left, will they just wait to get enveloped beneath the attraction field? The Great Spikes' primary defense priority will definitely be the attraction field. When the time comes, every single Great Spike will pull back to reinforce it." "Yes, that's unavoidable. Whichever unit enters first will definitely be surrounded. What follows will depend on how quickly our main Azure force approaches, and the ferocity of their assault and rescue efforts..." "In that case, I can tell you unequivocally right now: Stream Vanguard will never volunteer to be that first." "Exactly! If you and I can see it clearly, how could Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei fail to understand?!" "Besides, do you really not understand Stream Vanguard's style and character?" The debate gradually spread, an edge of friction creeping into the air. Xu Xiaohong waited a few more minutes until they had thoroughly argued it out before raising a hand for quiet. Then, he spoke: "Putting aside how the decisive battle unfolds—have any of you noticed something? All the deductions you just made were built on a single premise..." The young staff officers all turned to look at him. "That premise is that we are all presuming the Great Spikes in Antarctica have no strategic command, and will merely react reflexively around the attraction field." Xu Xiaohong stopped there without saying more, because based on the current battlefield conditions, that was indeed how the Great Spikes were behaving. The conclusions from Azure's repeated prior reconnaissance also aligned completely with the current state of affairs. "Yeah! Good thing Daie is already dead, otherwise..." Zhang Ziyue spoke up with deep apprehension. Daie was dead, killed in the Zenith War the previous year. Before its death, its rapid learning ability and increasingly human-like command capabilities would probably make all these deduced strategies seem naive and blind today. It had felt as though that creature had specifically studied military treatises. *** Azure Alliance Headquarters, Starlight Research Institute, Classified Laboratory No. 0. Zhe Qiuhong was summoned in the dead of night. Walking behind a group of fully suited researchers, she felt a slight sense of surprise as she stepped for the first time into this highly classified sanctuary—a place that, by all rights, should never have been opened to her. Heavy dead iron gates opened layer after layer. "What is kept here?" Zhe Qiuhong finally couldn't resist asking before the final gate. The elderly scientist ahead glanced back at her. "Daie's corpse." "..." Daie's corpse had been preserved! Before this, humanity had never known what a Great Spike actually looked like beneath its iron armor. In the past, it was because they self-destructed, making it impossible to know. Later, when the Great Spikes stopped self-destructing, humanity still lacked specific knowledge, because whenever humans pried open any suit of iron armor—including those of Red Shoulder corpses—all that remained inside was a pile of pulverized, mangled flesh. *So, Daie's corpse is intact?* Zhe Qiuhong felt excitement surge in her heart. As a scientist who had yearned for cosmic civilizations since childhood, and a supreme physician to boot, nothing could excite her more than laying eyes upon the physical form of another civilization's species and peering into the truth behind the Great Spikes—short of leading a fleet into deep space herself. "Do you intend to dissect it?" "Yes. The external research on the corpse has been completed." "Am I the lead surgeon?" "Yes."