The transport ship descended down on a military airport within Cato City. As the door opened, Tian Xing Jian jumped out of it. He was the only passenger on the ship. This transport ship was used mainly to transport supply, bringing with it several Battle Mecha parts, weapons, and ammunition. Tian Xing Jin’s Battle Mecha and his luggage had similarly been sent here via the ship.
In the sky above the airport, there were hundreds of different types of flying ships. With the bulk of them being transport ships,the remaining were fighter planes that stood guard in the air. In the distant sky, there were also several space warships under maintenance in the dock. The dock had four banks with densely built I-beams clustered together. Currently, four of the gigantic warships were silently floating in suspension on the banks as they were being repaired. The thousands of employees were akin to ants as they hurriedly repaired the ships glowing in ferrous metals.
On the ground, there were many transport vehicles and Battle Mechas responsible for transporting supply, moving to and fro as they unloaded the huge piles of supply from the transport ship. These supplies would then be processed through the Federation’s huge but efficient logistic department and sorted out carefully before sending them to the individual groups who needed them the most.
Whistling sounds could be heard. Upwards of hundreds of signallers clothed in white were currently dancing with the red and green triangular flags in their hands, signalling the descending and rising of flying ships as well as the traffic of transport vehicles.
This enormous scene amazed Tian Xing Jian. Once a nation that had at least three Starfields fully reorganized its troops, the nation’s power would explode out greatly. This sort of power did not, in fact, deteriorate because of peace. As it was being threatened, this type of superpower would just be like a volcano, uncontrollably spurting out lava that was unblockable. Even if the opposing power that contended against the nation was much stronger, the end result would only be mutual destruction.
This type of strength came from every single citizen of the Federation. Even if a single person might be just a speck of dust in the vast cosmos, when thousands upon thousands or millions upon millions of people gather together to fight for the sake of a single goal, this type of power would qualitatively change, making it truly hard to assess. And time would also bring the passion and lifework of these people together as if it was a Dutchman’s pipe, accumulating before finally turning into a civilization that conquered the universe.
As for him, he was similarly just an existence within this entire population. He would definitely be forgotten by everyone in the future, becoming just a drop in the ocean of human civilization. When death truly came, would being terrified of it be of use?
Since he could not return, then surging forward in his life with great momentum would indeed be a good decision.
Tian Xing Jian did not know how many people would have similar thoughts as they fought the war while facing death. He wondered what decision they would make. For him, reality had clearly shown that these people would be duty-bound to not surrender, sacrificing their lives for the sake of their nation. Each and every one of them were heroes to him.
Maybe, they were just as afraid of dying as himself. Afraid of becoming just a speck of dust floating in the cosmos, afraid of becoming the ash on the ground. But in the end, they would continue to hold onto their positions and not care about all else.
He himself had no route of retreat. The Federation was the nation that gave birth to him and nurtured him to who he was today. Since that was the case, would there be anything not worth defending?
What kind of thing would this be? Was it that beautiful girl in his memory whom he was secretly in love with, giving him a smile? Or was it the swing that was already corroding from his childhood — the swing that caused him to cry a river of tears when he fell off? Or maybe, it could be the poor mother who was agonizing in pain after seeing her brave and young soldier die on the television... It was time for him to stop running. Having escaped 21 times within half a year, that sort of despair was not something he would want to taste again. It was time for him to forget the decision between life and death. This question would never have an answer. In the end, destiny would reveal itself, and before it revealed itself, what he needed to do was to integrate into this great era.
Three hours later, Fatty drove that damaged Battle Mecha termed as [Logic] towards the 16th Division of the ground-based Aviation Squadron.
This was a military base southwest from Cato City. There were anti-radar and interference waves pervading the entire base. Should a satellite take a picture of this location, all they would gain was a pitch-black photograph.
Tian Xing Jian passed his electronic soldier identity tag to the guards at the gates. After a minute, he was granted access to the base.
After passing by the barracks of the guard that had various types of Battle Mechas stored within them, this seemingly crumbling Battle Mecha attracted the attention of everyone who passed by. Many female soldiers could not help but cover their mouth in giggles after seeing this.
Fatty’s expression did not change. He deliberately moved his Battle Mecha on, making it seem as if it was really hard for the mecha to move its legs. But in reality, after seeing the beautiful female soldiers, this chap had long jumped down with a smile before faking that he did not know his directions.
When he was about a hundred meters away from the scout battalion, Fatty suddenly saw a beautiful female soldier with a wonderful figure. He went up to her with a silly smile and continued with his technique of asking for directions while, in reality, hitting on her. Yet, this beautiful woman was not as polite as the others who he had passed by earlier on; she gave him a cold like of apathy.
Fatty thought, “Alright, you are trying to ignore me is it? This father will continue to play with you.”
This chap had an innate gangster temperament when he was born. He was the paragon that embodied wretchedness, vulgarness, despicableness, and shamelessness. What he loved to do all day long would be to pick quarrels with someone precisely because he had nothing to do. His face was so thick-skinned that he did not hate such trouble at all, unless it was the violent female wolf Milan of course. There had still been no woman in this world who could leave without having been taken advantaged of by Fatty.
Adding on, Fatty hated people who found it disdainful to talk to others as if they were above everyone. In his eyes, regardless of who it was, if they acted like a b****, he would definitely beat them down.
The cold, apathetic female soldier had been pestered endlessly by this chap to the point that she could no longer avoid him. Gritting her teeth, she drew a picture of the map in detail, explaining the location for half a day before letting out a breath of relief after seeing the spiteful fatty have an expression of understanding. Yet, she then heard the fatty ask the question, “I still don’t understand. How can I reach that place? Is what you drew even a map?”
Several surrounding soldiers laughed so hard that they swayed to and fro. In their hearts, they were laughing and scolding this fatty, for he was truly not human enough.
Only after seeing the female soldier’s anger soar into the sky did Fatty nonchalantly pour cold water on her, “Second lieutenant, remember that next time you see a senior officer, you must greet him. I’ll not look into this this time round.”
Saying that, he jumped back into the broken Battle Mecha before swaggering off with his engine, releasing blackish smoke akin to the smoke from antique engines powered by diesel oil. The smoke was so black and dense that they continued to circulate around the place for a long period of time without dissipating.
This female soldier called Alice had been pampered and spoiled since childhood and had never placed anyone on her level. Never had she imagined that she would experience this sort of bullying by a wretched and shameless fatty. Adding on the fact that her current position was lower than his, she could not beat and neither could she scold him. That vigorous feeling of grievance shot up to her nasal cavity, causing her to almost scream out in tears. She felt angry and spiteful. “Damned fatty, the two of us can’t exist together!”
Fatty had yet to reach his own company before offending the most proud and the third most beautiful woman in the entire division. This news had long circulated throughout the entire camp. Everyone was now guessing what the fatty’s origin was. Some soldiers who had been ridiculed by Alice before and the soldiers who disliked her were currently discussing amongst themselves, feeling schadenfreude from what had happened. As for the fans of Alice, they had become indignant at the injustice, swearing to let this fatty, who had shamed the female goddess in their heart, know the ramifications of what he had done.
Finally reaching the living quarters of the scouts battalion, Fatty, who had jumped down from the Battle Mecha, was told that the current Battalion Commander, Nadal, was in a wartime intelligence meeting.
After waiting for a moment, the meeting had finally concluded. A person who was tall with a slim face, Nadal, frowned as he walked out. He was prepared to see who exactly was the first lieutenant that had been forcibly assigned to his battalion by the forward command department as the vice company commander, and what his morality and conduct looked like.
“Federation Aviation Squadron, 16th Armored Division, direct subordinate Scout Battalion, first company vice commander Tian Xian Jian has followed the orders to come here to report. Please give me your instructions,” Fatty’s salute was accurate and vigorous.
“Damn, a fatty is actually here to become a scout. And furthermore, it’s a fatty who is afraid of death,” Nadal had long understood the circumstances behind this fatty from his good friend in the forward command department. At this moment, he was trying to control his disgust towards him.
“Stand at ease, first lieutenant. Follow me,” Nadal turned around before bringing Fatty into his office.
“Please have a seat, first lieutenant. There are some chairs over there,” Nadal pointed out.
“Thank you, commanding officer,” Fatty continued to portray a standard good soldier’s attitude. After sitting down, his back was ramrod straight, his hands were placed on his kneecaps, and he did not glance sideways at all.
Nadal went around his table before getting seated on his own chair. Taking a cigarette from the box on his table, he placed it into his mouth before lighting it and deeply breathed a mouthful of it. He started with a question that felt more like him questioning himself, “I’ve heard that you were a Battle Mecha Engineer in the past?”
“That’s right, commanding officer,” Fatty felt like he lacked confidence at this moment. His well-trained sensitive sixth sense was currently signalling to him that this direct superior of his did not have a friendly tone in his words.
“I’ve heard that you’ve underwent training with the special forces? And the primary vocation you had was scout?” Nadal glanced at him through the fog of smoke, giving Fatty an interrogative look.
“That’s right, commanding officer,” Fatty was currently cursing him in his heart, “Your granny. Everything has been written clearly in my file, yet this chap is saying something here and there so mystifyingly.”
Nadal smirked, before slowly continuing his questioning, “Since you have undergone the special training and your results are seemingly quite good, then why did you become a Battle Mecha Engineer?”
“Fuck you. I can’t tell you that it’s because I’m afraid of death, that I did not want to enter a scouts company, right?” Fatty was whining about it in his heart, yet he did not stop himself from saying something else, “That’s completely my hobby, commanding officer.”
“Your hobby?” Nadal ferociously snuffed out the cigarette that was only half-smoked in his hand before shouting out, “First lieutenant, war does not give a damn about what everyone’s hobby is. If I chose based on my own interests, then I would be a wood carpenter right now.”
“He finally erupted,” Fatty howled in grief within his heart. He jumped up from his chair as if he was shocked, raising his head up while standing at attention before shouting, “That’s right, commanding officer. I apologize, commanding officer.”
The current mood of Nadal was so aggravated that he jumped up as well, “I don’t know why the forward commanding department assigned you, this fatty, into my battalion. What I do know is that all the weird merits within your file are just bullshit. Other than knowing how to wedge your tail in between your legs and run for your life, I personally do not agree that, judging on that fat piece of meat on your body, you have the qualifications to lead a company! Fatty, I don’t care what you have done in the past. Maybe you might have achieved something great when playing with those children in the special forces, but let me tell you this. My place here has no need for people who eat freely and do nothing everyday. I’ll only say this once, so remember this — This is not some bullshit scouts battalion. This is the Aviation Squadron 16th Armored Division, direct subordinate special Scouts Battalion.”
“And it is the only special Scouts Battalion in the entire Federation! Have you memorize that? Scram!”
Fatty immediately fled.