On Mars, Life Is So-So (Part 1)

October 24, 1996, 4:00 p.m. Registration for the Azure Mars expedition veteran mobilization had officially closed. Yet at the Third Recruitment Office of Yuejiang Province in Huaxia, the young officer in charge of registration and review cradled a thick document folder in both arms, looking up somewhat helplessly at the elderly man still standing stubbornly before him. "The deadline has passed, Senior. All right, even if the deadline hadn't passed when you arrived, look at you—you aren't even willing to give your name or former unit..." The young officer had saluted and asked for the old man's name and former unit nearly ten times already. Pressed to submit his files, he was inevitably running short on patience. "Whatever the case, you have to tell me those things so I can look up your details and combat-power assessment to see if you meet the enlistment criteria." "I... don't remember." The old man slowly shook his head, brow furrowed as he looked at him, appearing profoundly sorrowful. Doesn't remember?! The young officer didn't notice the old man's expression, feeling entirely between laughter and tears upon hearing this. Hesitating for a moment, he looked up and said: "In all honesty, Grandpa, did you never actually serve in Azure? "Did you just see the mobilization order, get all fired up, and want to head to the battlefield? "That won't do. This is war—a source energy war, you understand? At your age, you won't be able to help even if you go. Look at you, you even brought an axe..." By this point, the young officer felt his assessment was basically sound. The old man might well have served as a Huaxia soldier in his youth, but he was definitely not an Azure soldier—not a source energy fighter. Just as he finished speaking and prepared to stand up—*whoosh!* A sudden sound broke out as the surrounding air violently surged. The young officer's cap blew away; a clearly featherweight object, yet its flight trajectory was as heavy and straight as a chunk of iron. At the same time, behind him, the oversized military tent temporarily erected for the recruitment office was torn away in its entirety with a deafening flap, billowing and hurtling more than two hundred meters away. "What happened?!" "What's going on?!" Instantly, all the Azure officers and soldiers on site sprang into action. Channeling their source energy into bursts, they drew their blades and rushed toward the assembly area where the returning veterans stood. The veterans hadn't even been issued equipment yet; if they were attacked... Yet there was no follow-up to the blast, nor did it cause any casualties. There was only the old man, still standing calmly with a bewildered gaze before the registration desk. "Him! He did it!" The young registration officer turned in a panic, pointing toward the old man before him to show his superior and the others. Having seen combat himself, the young officer could naturally tell that the epicenter of the energy outburst had been right on the old man. "He did it?" The head of the recruitment office, a captain, approached warily with blade in hand, asking in utter bewilderment. "Yes," the young officer nodded firmly. "That can't be! He..." The captain stopped in his tracks, squinting to inspect him closely for two seconds. "He's clearly not wearing a device." As the captain uttered those words woodenly, everyone present froze in unison. Whether the registration officers and soldiers or the veterans assembled to rejoin their ranks, all were struck dumb with shock. Because when someone could produce a source energy eruption without a device, there was only one possibility: he had already perceived and mastered life source energy. What was more, the old man's level seemed to go beyond even that. His life source energy had appeared to radiate outward just now—something few people in the entire human world were capable of doing at present. Moreover, that eruption had blown away a cap and a massive tent without harming a single person... "Are you kidding me? Going by what you're saying, what the hell kind of source energy control would that take?" someone in the crowd of veterans muttered dumbly. Then, pushing past the officers and soldiers "protecting" them, they all surged forward to look. "Out of the way, move aside." "No need for protection! Protect my ass! If this guy is really as terrifying as that young kid says and came here to take us out, every last one of us would be dead today." "What do you mean 'guy'? You old rascal, aren't you afraid of offending an Azure general?" "So what? Even Chen Buer is just that 'Never Hungry' fellow, isn't he? Besides, I don't buy that a general beyond the super level could suddenly pop up in our neck of the woods." The old rascals gossiped and bickered, largely skeptical in their hearts as they gathered around. The old man didn't mind. He simply stood there with a straight back, tilting his head to look at them woodenly. There seemed to be a touch of excitement and joy in his eyes, but far more of it remained blank confusion. "Wait, an axe... he uses an axe..." Suddenly, someone noticed the axe resting on the table, clapped a hand to the back of his head, and began to stammer, "He... he, he looks like that..." "He-he-he... who is he?" Before the bantering words even finished, *snap!* The veteran who had spoken suddenly snapped to attention where he stood, the hand at the back of his head transforming into a salute. "Reporting! Azure Huaxia, Sole Witness Legion, First Army, 8th Regiment, 23rd Squad, He Zhugen... gives his regards to General Jiang Longchi!" The old man turned his head to look at him. Everyone else looked first at He Zhugen, then turned toward the old man. *Boom!* After roughly two seconds of hesitation, every officer, soldier, and veteran present—whether convinced or still in doubt—snapped to attention as one, raising their hands in salute: "Greetings, General Jiang!" "...Oh. So my name is Jiang Longchi," the old man murmured, nodding slowly as he pondered it. Looking up, he added, "You aren't allowed to lie to me, okay?" He spoke with utter earnestness. Then, lowering his head, he began muttering softly to himself, "Why isn't my surname Han? I feel like I have someone very close to me named Han." *** Around the same time, somewhere in western Huaxia, the officers and soldiers at a recruitment post were already tearing down their tents, yet a self-proclaimed veteran still lingered on the scene, refusing to leave. "If I'm not mistaken, isn't he a lama?" "Yeah. Looking at his robes, he should be a master, too." As they dismantled the tents, the officers whispered among themselves. "Fine, then I'll just say it straight. I am Duosang Jiacuo, humanity's strongest defense—must be barehanded, omitted! Well? You haven't heard of me?!" The master fumed in annoyance. "I told you, I don't have a former unit. None at all! What can I do if I don't have one?" "But how could you not have one? That's impossible! Why don't you think again?" the female registration officer said earnestly with gentle patience. "How is it impossible? Those sons of bitches kicked me out! Back then, I'd just finished training and was getting ready to graduate recruit camp, and they kicked me right out..." "..." The female officer couldn't help a small laugh. "Look, you don't believe what I say, so why don't you just punch me? Turn on your device and strike. Then you'll know how formidable I am. Humanity's strongest defense—scary, isn't it?" Duosang Jiacuo yanked open his robe to reveal his belly, showing that nothing was stuffed beneath and that it was entirely genuine skin and flesh. "Mm, scary," the female officer said softly, tilting her head. "I don't dare hit you." "Why?" Duosang Jiacuo thrust out his belly. "Hit me! I'm telling you to hit me, what are you afraid of..." The young female officer tilted her head, giving him a hesitant look. "I'm afraid I'll punch you to death." "...Ho-ly shit!" Duosang Jiacuo paused, then stomped his feet in an absolute fit. "You?! Punch me to death?! Even that little brat Han Qingyu couldn't budge me, you hear me? Even that old bastard Chen Buer couldn't beat me to death, you know that?! *Huff, puff!*" With the mention of those two names, everyone present froze in their tracks and looked over. Yet no one recognized this lama. Not a single person, including the veterans assembled on the scene. "That's right, I was in the same batch as Chen Buer back in the day. Exactly, your 'Never-Hungry-in-the-Mortal-Realm' legion commander! That bastard used his own fighting skills to suggest to the instructors when we graduated recruit camp that they kick me out... "I'm telling you, go tell him that if he dares try to stop me this time, I'll fight him to the death!" *** Azure Huaxia, Sole Witness Legion Base. "Reporting to the Chief of Staff, there are two urgent telegrams here that require your personal decision," a signalman shouted from outside the courtyard gate. "Leave them there. I'll come out and get them." Xu Xiaohong got up and walked out. Behind him, Chen Buer quietly raised his head and opened his eyes for a moment. The news arriving this day held no anticipation for him; he simply couldn't help caring, couldn't help paying attention. Before long, footsteps returned. Holding the two telegrams in hand, Xu Xiaohong stood there, staring at them blankly for a while as if the messages were endlessly long... Then, with visible effort, he sat down and placed the telegrams wordlessly on the table. "Let me have a look too." This was the first time Chen Buer had spoken today. Xu Xiaohong turned his head to glance at him, picked up the telegrams, and placed them on the higher tier of the table. The two names written upon them did not need to be said aloud... "..." Chen Buer saw them, but did not speak either. He tried hard to move, but could not stir—save for his heavily wrinkled eyes, which stung with an aching soreness, irritated by the incense smoke rising from the table. "I have my edge, donning old robes to march once more..." The chief of staff's voice was low and somewhat raspy, his quiet singing desolate and simple. With chopsticks tapping rhythmically against a porcelain wine cup, he hummed the song word by word in a plain, steady cadence: "Striking the oars midstream, saving the great unified world..." Under the autumn sunset of Huaxia, the returning veterans began to set out from the recruitment assembly points—from the northwest, from beyond the northern frontier, from south of the Yangtze... Years later, their formations were just as ragged as before as they trampled across the yellow fallen leaves along the road. The grass withered; wild geese flew in formation. "Countless men through past and present, how many true heroes among them? Shattering their heads in yellow dust, carving their deeds upon the firmament, from death unto this day, their hot blood runs dark crimson still. "I have a red tassel, fit to bind the Azure Dragon..." The accompanying officers and soldiers listened. It was a song they too knew well, yet gradually, a different sensation crept into their ears. It seemed that this song truly needed to be sung by a group of people like this—sung together by a host of old veterans—for it to carry its true flavor. *** "Hey, are we still going with the Legion Commander, our dear nephew, to fight this time?" Some uninformed veterans might still not have grasped the situation even now, or perhaps they were stubborn fools who simply refused to believe the outside rumors about Chen Buer, still asking. "Probably not," someone in the ranks replied. "Oh..." The veteran sounded somewhat disappointed. "I heard that this time, it's Stream Vanguard—Major Qing and his bunch—who are leading us to go hit Mars. And I heard that once we get there, we'll all be aliens too... Aliens fighting aliens on an alien planet." The surrounding veterans chimed in, and when they finished, they all burst out laughing.