Counterfeit Hero

The roaring sound of the engineering mecha outside the window made Cheng Zhixuan extremely irritable. He slammed the window shut, drew the curtains, and hid himself in the dimness of his office.

As a professional soldier, Cheng Zhixuan’s path seemed smooth in the eyes of others, but he knew himself how many hardships he had endured along the way!

His talent was not high, and back in the academy, in order to achieve good grades, he dedicated all his time to studying. While other gifted students were either dating, playing games, or singing and dancing, he was the only one in the dormitory, desperately reading books, repeatedly pulling his hair out in frustration at not being able to comprehend the theories, pacing around like a trapped beast. Sentences that others could understand and memorize at a glance, he had to read several times!

After much effort, he graduated with slightly above average grades, and upon joining the army, Cheng Zhixuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thought his hard work had paid off and he wouldn’t need to continue as before.

But unexpectedly, in his first three years in the military, he almost spent with his head hung low under the spittle of his officers!

Simulation assignments, plan making, data analysis, training troops, combat drills, none of it was satisfactory. He was moved to several locations, and his superiors went from being understanding, to tolerant, to impatient, and finally to yelling at him. At that time, he was almost despairing about his career prospects.

Fortunately, it was a time of peace, and fortunately, such things in the military could be mastered through practice.

After nearly fifteen years of grinding, Cheng Zhixuan finally rose from a lieutenant graduating from the military academy to a major. By that time, many of his classmates had already become colonels, and several exceptionally talented ones had amassed military merit and crossed the challenging barrier from major general to brigadier general!

Coming from a poor family and naturally somewhat self-abased, Cheng Zhixuan didn’t dare to envy others and could only bury his jealousy deep inside, watering it repeatedly with memories, allowing it to take root and sprout. He didn’t understand why he put in so much more sweat than others yet received so much less, and he couldn’t understand why he was stretching his money thin and painfully making his way to major, while others could revel their way smoothly to the top!

After several more years, Cheng Zhixuan finally seized an opportunity, relying on his superior’s impression of him being able to endure hardships to gradually advance, eventually being promoted to colonel.

However, his innate limitations were always present. The rapidly advancing military technology often made him feel strained over time.

In the end, he was transferred to Mars, becoming the chief of staff of Longxing Association, a quasi-military organization not even acknowledged by the Chuckna Military Department.

What was considered a barren land by others became a paradise in Cheng Zhixuan’s eyes.

Here, he was the chief of staff, no one was spitting on him, the sky was high and the earth was broad, and he no longer needed to be fearful and cautious. He even felt that this was his greatest opportunity, and if he could achieve something in this position, he might just soar to greater heights.

He dreamt of becoming a general!

Therefore, he devoted every bit of patience and sincerity to cooperating with Su Kezhou. For Longxing Association, he applied countless times for equipment and personnel from the Chuckna Military Department, working day and night to study the situation on Mars, attempting to win over those civilian sects with deep mecha fighting skills.

However, when that Fatty arrived, Cheng Zhixuan realized that all his efforts were in vain.

Just as he was barely touching the edges of the Mars situation, still observing and calculating, that Fatty disrupted the entire Mars, like a thunderbolt. While he was still troubled by civilian mechanical sects unwilling to submit, that Fatty overturned the Sect Federation and established the Sect Mutual Aid Alliance.

Everything that followed made Cheng Zhixuan even more envious.

When those sects, to his surprise, started entering Puluo Town one after another, he had already elevated the strategy of not contacting the Leray people and watching the tigers fight from a hill to the level of Chuckna’s interests in the strategic meeting. Other Longxing Association officers, including Su Kezhou, thought this was about preserving strength and waiting for opportunity, but Cheng Zhixuan knew his greatest wish was to swallow all the mechanical sects in one bite once Puluo Town’s bandit army was at its wits’ end. Using a battle of attrition between opponents, he planned to sweep Mars clean!

This was what he needed to rise above!

But it was all an illusion.

After waiting forever, that Fatty seduced Longxing Association with the sweet deal of the First Aviation Port.

At that time, Cheng Zhixuan actually felt very frustrated.

The bandit army, with everything it did in Central City, was leveraging the momentum of the Longxing Association, not even needing to greet, come to an understanding with, or care about Longxing Association’s consent! They only needed to exploit the Northern Alliance’s caution about Longxing Association, and that was plenty. And once they acquired the First Aviation Port, his excuse of waiting for an opportunity already seemed unspeakable.

Then came those flying bandit army mechas. Those forty-nine well-known civilian mech knights.

The jealousy suppressed in Cheng Zhixuan’s heart finally erupted when Fatty wiped out the Northern Alliance Command Center, blooming everywhere, seizing control of warehouses, factories, army units, and the space fleet.

He had been here for so many years and received less than that Fatty!

In his eyes, that Fatty had already become the embodiment of those he envied over the years.