Medal-Wearing Day

Lieutenant Liang Ge of the White Eraser was down. He must have been terribly dizzy, as he couldn't get back up immediately, yet he hadn't passed out either... That was just right. Han Qingyu stood sideways on the right side of the combat ring's center. With no blade in hand, he felt neither intense excitement nor anxiety. Just as he had said before, since they had officially fallen out and offended both the White Eraser and Qi Shantong, his only option was to carry this matter through to the end. The more people who knew about it, the better; the more people who knew, the safer he would be. In short, he could not keep a low profile. Keeping a low profile meant dying without a sound when someone plotted against him. With his actions now, if Qi Shantong ever tried to send him on any "special" assignment in the army's name in the future, it would become an extremely suspicious, unsettling matter that demanded deep scrutiny. Eyes from top to bottom would be watching with great vigilance, forcing Qi Shantong and his circle to exercise caution. Meanwhile. After a beat of silence, murmurs began to rise from the spectator stands, growing from rustles into a clamorous uproar. The sight of the two figures in the ring—the fallen and the standing—was simply too unexpected. Everyone had come to watch a veteran of the Golden Eraser assess a newcomer in an instructional bout... yet the teacher had suddenly switched, and an instructional spar had abruptly become a lesson... Then, even more abruptly, it had flipped into a reverse demonstration. At the closest spot beside the ring, the muscles on Golden Eraser Captain Qin Guowen's face shifted from rigid to loose, twitching involuntarily a few times. Wanting to laugh, he felt far more lingering dread: *Mother of god, thank heavens it wasn't me up there right now, or I'd have no face left to show... Thank you, brother from the White Eraser.* In a back corner by the wall, Regimental Commander Li excitedly looked around for high fives and fist bumps. He found Lao Jian—*smack*. He found a guard—*smack*. He found the Regimental Chief of Staff... The Regimental Chief of Staff rolled his eyes at him. "What are you so happy about?" Regimental Commander Li froze. His hand slowly lowered, his expression turning bitter... deflated. A moment later, unable to hold back his worry, he muttered, "What did this silly boy have to offend the White Eraser and Qi Shantong like this for? He's clearly such a steady, honest kid normally." "Need you even ask? He was definitely framed and bullied beyond his limit... Four of them were lying in the medical station for over ten days... Even the most honest person would lose their temper." Having some inkling of the truth, Lao Jian had drawn his own conclusions. Since he couldn't say it aloud, he could only hint at it with bitter indignation. Around the same time, everyone snapped out of their daze. The numerous veterans, frontline captains, and vice captains on the stands couldn't help sighing with emotion: "The waves behind truly surge ahead in the mighty river..." One had to realize that the man sprawled flat in the ring right now was no ordinary veteran; he was a White Eraser, a Grade B+ lieutenant, while the one standing still had a youthful, somewhat tender face. Even if it was unequipped hand-to-hand combat, he had genuinely won—and won so cleanly and decisively that it commanded admiration. "Still, if they were in their apparatuses, he probably wouldn't stand a chance." "Yeah, there's bound to be a gap in practical combat experience and source energy control." "Mm, and it seems he really did turn down the White Eraser... But whoever leaked the news didn't have good intentions either; they deliberately pushed him to deeply offend them." The veterans were right. In contrast to the veterans' pragmatic realism, the recruits didn't grasp as much. Young people responded to things with far simpler, direct excitement, behaving much more wildly. "Didn't he just say no one has the right to reject the White Eraser?" A recruit who couldn't get into a color Eraser anyway remembered Liang Ge's earlier words and felt a surge of satisfaction. "So, was the White Eraser really not rejected? Was it truly that they didn't want him?" "What do you think?" someone beside him retorted with a question. The answer was taken for granted—*The day before recruits leave camp, I've already knocked you down. Why would I still want to join you?!* "Haha, the strongest recruit in a decade, he really is... So it's not that we brothers are too weak; it's just that Qingzi's light is too dazzling, so we haven't had a chance to show our shine yet..." another recruit said cheerfully. "Right, right, right! That's exactly how Azure's history books should write it later!" The person next to him chimed in, having apparently studied the style, immediately adopting the narration tone of a CCTV history documentary: "Looking back today, the 1990 batch of Eraser recruits was, in fact, filled with emerging talents and shining stars. Yet at the time, this was not directly recognized... because back then, one among them shone with a light far too brilliant and blinding..." The recruit period was coming to an end. Among the recruits of the same class, there were naturally still those who felt discontented and were secretly striving to surpass Han Qingyu in the future. That was a good thing. But as for jealousy... after that battle with Squad 1123, almost no jealousy remained... When someone staked their life for something and had, in a sense, saved everyone, you couldn't be jealous. Amidst the laughter, Wen Jifei joined in, laughing and scoffing, "Gross me to death, haha! You guys have no idea what screws he's missing in his head..." Another wave of chuckles rippled through. Meanwhile, "Thank you for the match." Han Qingyu didn't quite know the etiquette for ending an arena bout, so he mimicked what he had seen in TV dramas. Before Liang Ge could scramble up, he turned and walked down the ring. With this gesture, he declared the assessment over. He was very satisfied with the outcome: he had avoided taking a beating and had achieved his goal of maximizing the impact. "What should we do, Captain Qi?" In an observation room on the facility's second floor reserved for senior officers, a member of the White Eraser gestured toward the scene below, still accustomed to calling Qi Shantong "Captain Qi." The situation right now was already humiliating enough. Once news spread further... It was clearly just a trivial matter to begin with, yet after all this tossing and turning, the White Eraser's dignity and prestige had been dragged through the mud... Qi Shantong propped his arm on the armrest, pressing a hand to his temple with a furrowed brow. "That idiot Liang Ge..." The result was too unexpected. Even he hadn't foreseen things turning out like this. And as things stood, ignoring it seemed impossible. No matter how lofty his ambitions or how enigmatic his schemes, he still had to balance substance and face in front of him. For the White Eraser, substance was strength, while face was reputation and status. Both substance and face for the White Eraser were far too important to him and his faction. "Liang Ge is up," the person beside him suddenly said, looking back down. In the ring, Liang Ge had stood up. "Halt," he called out at Han Qingyu's retreating back. The entire arena fell silent once more. At this moment, even Qi Shantong grew a little tense. He sat up straight and leaned forward, watching intently... terrified that Liang Ge might say something even more humiliating. "Wait a moment... Your unequipped combat performance was quite good. Next, let me see your strength under the three-dimensional apparatus," Liang Ge said with a warm smile. He had forcibly split the assessment into two parts... A veteran soldier after all, Liang Ge's words under these circumstances, though a bit forced, were still practically airtight. Qi Shantong let out a breath of relief. That would do. As long as Liang Ge thoroughly beat Han Qingyu under the apparatus, this matter could still be salvaged to some extent. However, Han Qingyu didn't even turn his head, pretending not to hear as he continued walking... "Private Han Qingyu!" Liang Ge had no choice but to raise his voice, shouting loudly. "...Here." An army had army rules, and they had to be followed. Han Qingyu couldn't pretend to be deaf anymore. He was forced to halt, turn around, and stand at attention. "Come on, let's continue," Liang Ge said, his lips curved in a gentle, affable smile. Yet the sinister, venomous glint in his eyes was crystal clear to Han Qingyu... If he went back up, an underhanded, ruthless retaliation was guaranteed. *Damn it.* At this moment below the ring, Wen Jifei, Milla, Regimental Commander Li, Lao Jian, and the others all grew tense at once. *Had we known earlier, he should've added two kicks just now to knock him clean out.* Under the three-dimensional apparatus, Han Qingyu was definitely no match for Liang Ge. *Hum.* Liang Ge directly activated the three-dimensional apparatus on his body right then and there. Han Qingyu remained standing below the ring. "Better not. The White Eraser's assessment should be considered complete. I still have to undergo the Golden Eraser's assessment in a bit, and I'm afraid fighting back-to-back will affect my performance." He spoke with utmost earnestness and innocence... *Go back up? I'd have to be an idiot to go back up.* At this, Liang Ge finally snapped a little. "This is an order!" he said, his face sinking. "Members of a color Eraser have the authority and duty to conduct comprehensive assessments and instruction on the practical combat abilities of subordinate soldiers and officers across the entire army!" As the words fell, the atmosphere in the venue instantly grew strained. The regulation Liang Ge cited genuinely existed. The military had originally established it with good intentions, aiming to provide lower-ranking soldiers and junior officers an opportunity to seek advice and learn from color Eraser members. Now, Liang Ge was using it in reverse, forcing an "instruction" upon him... While technically legitimate, it was entirely unreasonable, instantly making many veterans present feel deeply uncomfortable. Yet it was still legitimate. Worried gazes converged on Han Qingyu. "He can't dodge it. The kid is in for it." "Qingzi..." "What now?" As murmurs rippled across the stands, Han Qingyu, standing there, suddenly let out a brief chuckle and said clearly, "However..." He stopped after just that single "however." Then, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he lowered his head and began rummaging through his chest pocket. "What is he doing?" asked a recruit whose squad placement had already been settled, sitting beside a veteran. "...Looks like he's pinning a medal," the veteran vice captain replied after a moment's thought, then... slowly broke into a grin. At the same time, below the ring, Han Qingyu fished around in his chest pocket for a brief moment and retrieved a Silver Azure Guardian Medal. He carefully pinned it to his left breast, straightened it, then looked up with a smile at Liang Ge. "What's that...?" The recruit was still confused. "Medal-Wearing Day... medals of merit outrank military rank," the veteran explained. "Because the recruitment briefing doesn't start until nine o'clock, I almost forgot... Today is a Medal-Wearing Day." As the veteran spoke, he also retrieved a Bronze Azure Guard from his pocket and solemnly, proudly pinned it to his left breast. Azure had a specific system of Medal-Wearing Days, intentionally established to highlight the coalition army's reverence for the honored status of sighting frontline warriors. Strictly speaking, Medal-Wearing Days were few in number, including only occasions such as Monument Day, Decoration Day... and the current Briefing Day. It was precisely because on Briefing Day, many frontline squad captains, vice captains, and veterans would return to the base. To give them grand status and to showcase the glory of frontline combat achievements to the recruits, the coalition army had intentionally designated this day as a Medal-Wearing Day as well. At this moment, an entire section of frontline veterans was reminded. Reflecting that the briefing would begin soon, they began pinning their medals one after another on the spot. At this moment, base officers saluted their frontline subordinates. At this moment, in the center of the venue, Han Qingyu wore the Silver Azure Guardian Medal—the highest grade the Huaxia Front could independently bestow—upon his chest. He looked at Liang Ge with a smile. "If I say I'm not fighting, is that alright, Lieutenant Liang?"