S-19

The solitary four-story building on the edge of the Eraser Ninth Army war training base's training grounds was built in the Xiongzhanli architectural style. It was quite old, said to have always been the residence of retired army commanders, subject to strict logistics and security. Its windows faced straight toward the training ground, and the recruits' morning drill chants had an unwritten rule that they had to wake the old commanders—likely an amusing tradition. Rumor had it that at most, three retired commanders had lived together in this building at the same time. To imagine three old commanders being jolted awake together each morning, standing at three windows on different floors in their pajamas with bird's-nest hair, shouting scoldings or hurling curses, would indeed be quite a sight. Whoever was bald would be the embarrassed one. As the only retired Eraser army commander currently living in the building, Shen Fengting was not bald, but his head of hair was already sparse and graying. Standing at the window looking out, he felt a bit of a chill from the November night breeze past nine o'clock. Behind him, the lock gave a click. The door opened. Feeling a touch of joy, Shen Fengting turned around in a hurry, only to immediately stiffen his face... With the child returning so late, he thought he ought to look stern and give a scolding. "Grandpa," a sweet voice called out amid footsteps coming through the door. "Grandpa," another voice said, muffled with slight unnaturalness. At this moment, if Han Qingyu and the other recruits had been here to witness what was happening in this little building, their jaws would have dropped. The one calling Shen Fengting her maternal grandfather was Wan Xiujing—surprising, perhaps, but still within reason. Yet the one calling the old commander her paternal grandfather was S-19... was that sparring robot. Which meant: the two were cousins. "Grandpa, look! This is what Big Sister and I earned." Noticing that the old man's expression had soured, Wan Xiujing hurried forward, holding out the blue crystal source energy block she had just collected from Han Qingyu to coax him and show off her achievement. "Hmph, we thought that stinky Qingyu was going to renege on his debt! It made me so mad... He wasn't around after training today, so we had to hide beneath his dorm building and wait for him, and we waited for so long." Having explained, Wan Xiujing set down the source energy block and attentively bustled behind the sofa to massage her grandfather's shoulders. "I'm sorry for making you worry, Grandpa," S-19, standing there, also spoke up, her tone tinged with a hint of unease. Shen Fengting said nothing. Turning his head, he first looked at the blue crystal block on the small coffee table beside him, yet didn't pick it up. By the time he turned away, the rims of his eyes were already somewhat red. Just like during this past period, when he had hidden behind the window every day, watching his own granddaughter clad in sheet iron, remaining dead silent, pretending to be a real robot while serving as a sparring partner on the training grounds. "That's one block here. Then once the sparring sessions are over, the army will pay two more blocks in wages, so that'll make three." Behind the old man, Wan Xiujing didn't notice his emotion. Perhaps because she was young and naturally optimistic, or perhaps because she was truly thrilled to have earned source energy blocks for the first time, the little girl was still calculating as intently as a miniature merchant. "Plus, during this time while sparring, we've been using the army's source energy blocks. Adding it all up, we've earned a whole lot." "Hmm, three blocks..." Tilting her head in thought, she added, "That's enough for Big Sister to use for a month." Beside her, S-19 said, "Actually, now that I'm trying to control it, two blocks a month is enough too." Three blocks a month, two blocks... Calculations like this would be hard for an outsider to grasp at first glance... It was the quantity of source energy blocks essential for S-19 to sustain the life beneath that iron skin. If the coalition soldiers' absorption of source energy blocks outside of combat was called "nourishment," used to enhance physical constitution and source energy perception, then S-19's "nourishment" had to continue uninterrupted. Otherwise, she would die. *** In that year, Shen Fengting was still the commander of the Ninth Army. His wife had passed away early, leaving behind a son and a daughter, both of whom had grown up, married, and had children of their own. His daughter worked in Azure's medical system, married into another distant military district, and gave birth to a daughter—Shen Fengting's maternal granddaughter—named Wan Xiujing. His son could not wear armor, but stayed by his side, working as an Azure cultural studies teacher. He married a fellow teacher and had a daughter—Shen Fengting's paternal granddaughter—named Shen Yixiu. Shen Yixiu was born three years before Wan Xiujing; the "Xiu" in Xiujing was taken from her older cousin's name. During Tomb Sweeping Day that year, his daughter could not make it back due to work, so Shen Fengting took his son, daughter-in-law, and his granddaughter, who had just turned twelve, back to their ancestral home not far away to pay respects to their ancestors and enjoy a spring outing. For an Azure army commander traveling, security and secrecy were naturally tight. Yet gunshots came not only from the mountains, but also from behind—from the deputy squad leader of the local regional squad responsible for their reception and security. The battle ended quickly. Possessing a Grade B degree of fusion himself, Commander Shen Fengting fought alongside the soldiers and eliminated all the assassin enemies within a dozen seconds. However, he permanently lost his son and daughter-in-law. Twelve-year-old Shen Yixiu had also fallen in a pool of blood: one shot to the side of her crown, the bullet lodged in her skull; three shots to her back... one of which had even ruptured a side of her heart. Yet unbelievably, she was still alive, still breathing. Had only ordinary medical means been used, a Shen Yixiu in this condition would certainly have died. And so, Shen Fengting, selfless for his entire life, abused his authority and did the only selfish thing he ever did in Azure. Dead iron, alloy, a dismantled and modified eighth-generation three-dimensional apparatus, and strip after strip of metal bands were combined to construct a life-support circulation system powered entirely by source energy, forcibly clinging to his granddaughter's life. It was a blind, desperate attempt that exceeded Azure's technological capabilities at the time. Yet Shen Yixiu survived; after more than twenty days, she awoke. Only, from then on, she could not leave this circulation system for even a single second. Azure's research division placed Shen Yixiu's condition under high-level classification. Later, they attempted many times to simulate this system to create source energy mechanized soldiers, but all ended in failure. Therefore, this was the sole miracle. Therefore, no one dared dismantle it; even when the alloy became damaged or rusty, no one dared replace it. That same year, Shen Fengting himself was "advised to step down" because of this affair, removed from his post as commander of the Ninth Army. Azure's rules were fair, but they were also cruel... Even the life of an army commander's granddaughter was no more precious than that of an ordinary soldier. In strict adherence to regulations, the coalition did not provide the source energy blocks necessary to sustain Shen Yixiu's life. From then on, the remainder of Shen Fengting's life had only one purpose left: to keep his granddaughter alive. Yet he was retired. While he still received a cash pension, his source energy allowances were terminated—those were earned by soldiers with their lives and meant for risking their lives, not for providing old-age support to retirees. The old man tried to find some "symbolic" duties in the army, like coming forward to present Han Qingyu with a medal, barely securing a meager source energy allowance. It was far from enough. He tried to buy blocks with money, but people willing to sell source energy blocks privately were rare, and even when found, the prices were exorbitantly high. Driven to wit's end, Shen Fengting began asking to borrow from his former officer subordinates... And thus, the once highly respected, deeply beloved old commander gradually became the number-one deadbeat in the Ninth Army, avoided by everyone who saw him coming. Nobody understood him. The vast majority did not even know that his granddaughter, Shen Yixiu, was actually still alive. This persistence had lasted five years, nearly six. Perhaps earlier this year, Shen Yixiu had mentioned that she no longer felt empty inside the iron plating—that she felt her scalp was almost touching the metal above her. That meant his granddaughter had grown up. Shen Fengting so desperately wanted to see her. She ought to be around one meter seventy by now, so tall. At last, one day, Shen Yixiu said she wanted to earn source energy blocks herself. Shen Fengting pondered for several days before agreeing... He was old; eventually, a day would come when he would pass away. Only then did that sparring robot come to be—S-19. S-19 was Shen Yixiu. "Grandpa." "Mm?" "I want to go to the sighting frontline once this training cycle ends."