Beyond the Zenith

“Well? What do you think?” asked the platoon leader of the Gold Erasers, a self-satisfied expression on his face after his on-the-spot lesson in wooing girls.

Quiet laughter rippled across the bleachers. The female soldiers, platoon leaders, and deputy platoon leaders were the worst, whispering and giggling in little groups.

“Shameless. Completely shameless,” Captain Lei Guan muttered under his breath, deeply contemptuous. It was outrageous that the Erasers’ top fighter would stoop to teaching a recruit how to flirt with girls just to win him over.

Regiment Commander Li was also somewhat annoyed. Like we couldn’t teach him that ourselves... we really should’ve taught him sooner. If we had, maybe he’d already have someone tying him here, and he wouldn’t be leaving.

Regiment Commander Li sighed and shot Lao Jian a contemptuous look, irrationally directing his frustration at him. “Why didn’t you have a daughter?!”

After saying that, the regiment commander then turned to the regiment lead advisor.

“What are you looking at me for?” the regiment lead advisor asked, rolling his eyes. “You think you could teach him? All you know is how to have one fling after another. You’d teach him straight into lifelong singlehood.”

“Or maybe he’d end up with descendants all across the Coalition,” Li Wangqiang joked with a conciliatory smile. “Besides, isn’t that what I’ve got you for?”

“Me?” The regiment lead advisor’s voice suddenly weakened. “I couldn’t teach anyone a damn thing. If I could, then me and my senior sister... I wouldn’t need you coming around this year trying to talk me into picking that back up.”

The dejection in his voice had Li Wangqiang going quiet.

“Speaking of which,” the regiment lead advisor continued after a moment, “someone in the army did a survey last year for fun and found out that our 425th has the most bachelors and the fewest children of any regiment in the entire Ninth Army. You, as regiment commander, along with the rest of us in leadership, are basically all to blame.”

“Really?” Li Wangqiang frowned.

From a quality-of-life standpoint for the soldiers, this was actually a serious issue. It was worth thinking about. Li Wangqiang mulled it over, but couldn’t come up with a solution.

“The thing is, I don’t think our regiment has anyone who’s particularly good at this sort of thing,” he finally said.

“Actually, we do.” Lao Jian gestured toward the back of Wen Jifei’s head a short distance ahead. “That kid’s practically running a harem in the equipment hall.”

“Is that so?! Then how come he hasn’t taught Little Qing a thing or two? Those two are so close.” The regiment lead advisor was curious.

“Uh...” Lao Jian thought carefully. “Probably because that particular case is just beyond saving.”

Meanwhile, Han Qingyu had just spent a full two minutes in silent deliberation on stage. Finally, glancing up at Shao Xuan, he asked sincerely, “What’s a pear dimple?”

Shao Xuan was at a loss for words.

Every female platoon leader in the hall fell silent.

“It’s fine.” Shao Xuan shook his head with a resigned smile, walked over, and clapped Han Qingyu on the shoulder. “Just focus on training. Rely on your strength first and your face after. Also, if the army ever organizes a matchmaking event, remember to keep your mouth shut.”

With that, he pulled Han Qingyu down from the stage, draped an arm over his shoulder, and walked with him toward the auditorium, chatting along the way.

The audience in the combat arena filed out after them. The main event of the day, the recruitment briefing assembly, was about to begin.

***

Meanwhile, in the second-floor observation room, Qi Shantong turned around and asked, “What do you think?”

“For a recruit, he’s certainly impressive,” the White Eraser member admitted.

“Compared to Bai Ji?”

“Bai Ji’s still stronger, for now,” the member said with full certainty. “Bai Ji has the edge in source energy intensity, precision of control, and combat experience.”

“Good.” Qi Shantong rose and headed for the door. “Then have Bai Ji come over in a personal capacity. He missed last year’s recruit graduation because of his injury and was never officially enlisted. We can slot him into this year’s class. It’s within regulations.”

The White Eraser member stopped behind him, then nodded in understanding. They had lost face, and that needed to be remedied, no matter what. Qi Shantong simply couldn’t accept being one step below the Gold Erasers.

“Understood, Platoon Leader Qi,” the member said before going on to ask about how they would prove Bai Ji’s ability without it seeming forced.

Qi Shantong’s hand briefly hovered over the door handle. “Announce that the White Erasers are willing to put up five energy cores for the reopened recruit combat assessment event. All recruits B-rank and above are welcome to participate.”

With that, he left.

***

The auditorium of the Ninth Army’s combat training base was enormous. Several thousand recruits, plus the leaders from every regiment and the returning veterans from the various district platoons, barely managed to fill it.

The first segment of the recruitment briefing assembly was a memorial ceremony, for which the entire hall of several thousand stood at attention.

Standing beside Acting Army Commander Lu Wuzheng on the main stage was a thin and tall old man. This was Chen Bu’e, the legion commander of the Only Witness Legion.

He had rushed over, though not specifically for the recruit graduation.

“A little over a month ago, a battle occurred at District 1123,” Army Commander Lu Wuzheng began. “It was the most devastating engagement our Oriental Republic Army Group has seen in nearly six years. In that battle, the Ninth Army suffered a tremendous blow. Fourteen instructors from two regiments were killed in action, along with 141 newly enlisted recruits, as well as all forty-six members of Platoon 1123. However, we held District 1123 in the end. We stopped the crisis from becoming a catastrophe...”

Lu Wuzheng’s address eventually drew to a close.

The three regiments receiving the collective First-Class Merit Award and the Starry Splendor Commemorative Medal stood on stage. Regiments 425, 491, and 453, to which Platoon 1123 had belonged, had their commanders and relevant personnel ready in position.

Chen Bu’e stepped forward to present the medals.

“Regiment 425,” he called.

“Here!” Li Wangqiang stood at attention. Beside him were Mira and two other surviving instructors from District 1123.

“I still remember the glory of the Red Erasers. I remember Wang Liuzheng. That boy was good at everything. He just didn’t like to talk,” Chen Bu’e murmured to himself as he presented the medals.

Li Wangqiang didn’t say a word, but his eyes were rimmed red. Over a decade after their disbandment, the Red Erasers’ honor room was finally receiving a new medal from their former second formation, left wing. The recipient’s name was Zhang Dao’an.

“Regiment 491,” Chen Bu’e continued.

“Here!” Beside the 491st’s commander stood three instructors who had survived District 1123.

Chen Bu’e also briefly spoke to them while presenting the medals.

The old man then took one more step forward and paused, voice briefly faltering. “Regiment 453. Platoon 1123.”

“Here!”

A single voice responded. The 453rd regiment commander stood there alone, back straight and head high.

As loudly as he could, he called out, “Former leader of Platoon 1123, Qiu Youchuan... here!”

The lone man shouted out his name and old title as if his former subordinates were still around to hear it—as if Platoon 1123 still existed.

Regiment Commander Qiu stood tall.

There were no tears or unnecessary words. He simply stood there with red eyes, tears silently streaming down his cheeks.

Chen Bu’e’s hands trembled around the medals before he finally tilted his head back and closed his eyes.