Commendation meeting
The front lines were winning battles one after another, the troops were advancing continuously, the soldiers all had smiles on their faces, and the troops were full of joy, as if it was a holiday.
This would have been a good thing, but experienced veterans who had gone through many wars felt that this was not a good sign.
Lessons from ancient times have taught them that underestimating the enemy is a precursor to a military's failure. However, no matter how much they warn and advise, the impact only affects their familiar comrades around them. For the entire legion or even the interstellar coalition, it is really a drop in the bucket.
Under such circumstances, the superiors actually released the news that the interstellar general was going to hold a commendation meeting on the planet Days, which had just been recaptured by the interstellar coalition. It would be broadcast live during lunch the day after tomorrow, and officers and soldiers at all levels were required to watch it while eating.
"Has the general lost his mind?" an old soldier was stunned upon hearing the news. "The military atmosphere is so impetuous, and not only does he not curb it, he even holds a ridiculous commendation meeting to cheer them on?"
"Alas, our general is still too young. He's got plenty of strategy, but not enough composure." Another veteran sighed. "Holding a commendation meeting just as the war is starting to show progress! I hope the Zerg won't take advantage of this moment of morale swings to launch a counterattack."
The two men looked up with a vicissitudes of life. It turned out that except for the two of them sitting on the steps worried, the other soldiers were happily discussing the commendation meeting. There was also a young soldier smiling brightly, "Finally, we can relax for a few days!"
The old soldier frowned and sighed deeply.
Two days later, the Interstellar Alliance Commendation Conference was held as scheduled. Not only was the entire army watching, but there were also hundreds of millions of users on the Interstellar Internet waiting in the live broadcast hall. The number of users kept soaring. The technicians of the Interstellar Internet worked overtime during lunch time and finally managed to stabilize the data in the live broadcast hall.
In fact, it was not just the veterans. Before the commendation ceremony, online military commentators were more critical than praising. Some of the harsh words directly criticized Yu Sheng, saying that he was "brainwashed", "high-minded" and "all his achievements were ruined by the commendation ceremony".
Regardless of outside comments, the commendation ceremony went on as planned. The war correspondent, a woman in her early twenties, was reporting from the scene. She stood next to the podium, her camera focused on the podium, presenting a panoramic view of the commendation ceremony.
[Huh, it's quite rudimentary. Didn't they build a proper platform?]
[It seems that although the general is a bit stupid, he still knows how to save money during wartime.]
[Hey! General Ikuo is here! So handsome! My idol!]
[Haha, you are stupid and only care about appearance, so superficial]
Yu Sheng was wearing a military uniform, standing in front of a small wooden table with a solemn expression. He was holding a pile of items that looked like medals in his hands. The people watching the live broadcast were discussing it enthusiastically. Yu Sheng stood facing the camera and saluted solemnly.
Everyone in the discussion couldn't help but stop and stare at Yu Sheng, wanting to hear what Yu Sheng would say next.
"We will now convene a commendation meeting for the Interstellar Alliance," Yu Sheng said, his voice slow, "In the first round, we will present the Martyr Awards to the 130 million soldiers who sacrificed their lives."
There was no music, no flowers, no applause, only vast silence. In this silence, Yu Sheng solemnly buried a bright medal in the soil at his feet and saluted again.
"The short-lived victory came at the cost of the lives of 130 million soldiers." Yu Sheng's voice was indifferent, as if without a trace of personal emotion. He was merely stating a fact, but everyone watching the live broadcast was heartbroken. They had never faced such a huge and cruel number, such a bloody reality, as they did now.
It is not just the lives of 130 million people, it may mean more - 130 million parents have lost their children, 130 million children have lost their father or mother, and 130 million people have been waiting for the return of their loved ones, but all they get is a cold medal of honor.
One hundred and thirty million families were broken up.
Perhaps the officials forgot to check the weather forecast for the planet Dais, but the sky suddenly became overcast and a drizzle began to fall. The rain unexpectedly hit the camera lens, and the three-dimensional live broadcast on the interstellar network was blurry for a moment. The next moment, the rain triggered the camera's self-protection system, and the live broadcast became clear again.
The cold rain fell on Yu Sheng's hair, face, and shoulders, wetting a large area of dark shadows.
Yu Sheng's Adam's apple rolled, as if he had forced some emotions to be suppressed. He glanced at the camera and left the simple podium. The camera moved with Yu Sheng's figure, revealing the scenery around the podium, which belonged to the planet Dais.
Perhaps the word "scenery" should not be used, because the once prosperous and bustling city of Days, full of flowers and laughter, is now only left with dilapidated buildings and tall weeds. The rain has blurred all the buildings, and the prosperous scene has disappeared like a passing cloud, dissipating in the cold rain.
Gray shrouds the planet, which has become a dead star.
Yu Sheng declined the reporter's offered raincoat, smiled gently, and said, "Since you're already soaked, there's no need to bother." He looked at the camera and continued, "In the second round, we'll award prizes to every soldier who bravely fought on the battlefield. Because of you, we were able to reclaim this once-occupied planet, but..."
Yu Sheng didn’t say the rest of the words, but everyone’s soul seemed to have suffered a heavy blow.
What would it matter if we recovered it? Houses destroyed could be rebuilt, and broken flowers and trees could be replanted. But those living people, those lives that once lived happily here like them, could never come back.
The cruelty of war lies not only in how many buildings and fields it destroys, but also in how many warm homes it tears apart.
"My comrades." Yu Sheng's eyes were dark, without a trace of impurities. As he stared intently at the camera, almost everyone held their breath. "My alma mater taught me that fighting for home is eternal, even in death. Yes, countless lives were forged into bloody swords, finally driving the Zerg back step by step. But what do we want? To drive them back to the Zerg Planet, where they'll recuperate for a while before returning to invade our homeland?"
"no."
A low voice passed through the rain and fell into Yu Sheng's ears. Yu Sheng opened his eyes wide in surprise and followed the voice to see the tall figure in simple clothes.
Frey also did not wear a raincoat or hold an umbrella. He let the rain soak his face, walked straight to Yu Sheng, and reached out to hold Yu Sheng's hand.
"The Zerg should pay the price of genocide." A race that only knows how to invade, a cruel and cold race, can only comfort those lives that have passed away if it completely disappears in the interstellar space.
When he returned to the cabin, Yu Sheng was soaked all over and shivered in the wind. A pair of hands reached out to his chest to unbutton his clothes. Yu Sheng wanted to do it himself, but the other party refused.
"We're an old married couple, why are you still being so awkward?" Frey's slightly smiling voice filled Yu Sheng's ears, "I'll take it off for you."
Yu Sheng simply stood there and watched Frey unbutton his shirt. Frey's serious and loving expression was very charming, and his lake-like eyes reflected Yu Sheng. Yu Sheng felt that the longing he had suppressed for months burst out, turning into the words "I miss you so much" that he couldn't say out loud.
"Go take a hot bath quickly. It's not good to catch a cold." Frey said as he walked towards the bathroom. He turned back and took the hand of Yu Sheng, who was still standing there in a daze. "What are you daydreaming about?"
"Oh..." Yu Sheng's brain was a little slow for once. He looked down at his hands connected to Frey's. The warmth of each other's bodies was transmitted to his soul, making Frey's arrival feel real. Yu Sheng blinked and said, "Why are you here?"
Frey laughed. He didn't remember that Yu Sheng was a fool with such a long reaction time. Why did he only react now?
Maybe it was too much of a surprise.
"I miss you." Frey simply used three words to express his boiling longing for you day and night.
Stepping into the warm water, the steaming heat enveloped Yu Sheng's body, driving away the last trace of coldness. Yu Sheng couldn't help but sigh, leaning against the edge of the bathtub and sitting down in the water, closing his eyes and taking a nap.
After a while, the sound of splashing water woke Yu Sheng up. He opened his eyes and found Frey sitting opposite him. He reached out and put his feet on his thighs, gently massaging the soles of his feet.
Yu Sheng felt more relaxed and comfortable than ever before. The taut string finally found a safe place. He closed his eyes again and soon fell asleep.
When he woke up, he was already lying in bed, with the warm aroma of food filling his nose. Without needing to look carefully, Yu Sheng knew that it was his Majesty Frey who had cooked again.
Sure enough, not long after, Frey came over with an exquisite meal tray. Seeing that Yu Sheng was awake, he reached out and ruffled Yu Sheng's messy hair, jokingly saying, "You are a dignified interstellar general, and you fell asleep in the bathtub. Not only did you not wake up even after I washed you and held you in my arms? You are too low on guard."
Yu Sheng lazily clung to Frey, as if he had no bones. If his subordinate officers and the countless soldiers who admired him saw him, they would definitely be shocked. "As long as I'm by your side, I'm not a general..."
Frey put his arms around Yu Sheng. Although he was teasing, he felt more distressed for his lover. He rolled up his sleeves, picked up the silver fork, and brought the food piece by piece to Yu Sheng's lips. Yu Sheng opened his mouth, swallowed it in one gulp, and squinted his eyes happily.
The couple was enjoying a rare warm moment when Yu Sheng's phone suddenly rang. Yu Sheng turned on the video call and saw that it was his orderly holding a small box containing an unknown object. He said to Yu Sheng, "General, we just intercepted another group of mutant Zerg and got this small box from the only pocket worm."
Another team of mutant Zerg was intercepted?
Yu Sheng frowned. Olewell was not a fool. The Interstellar Alliance could intercept it once by surprise, but it would be very difficult to intercept it twice in a short period of time, unless... this Zerg team was intercepted on purpose just to let Yu Sheng see the small box.
Frey had obviously thought of this as well. He whispered to Yu Sheng, "Could there be something wrong with the box? What if it's a bomb or something..."
Although Frey's voice was low, it was still heard by the orderly on the other end of the line. The orderly saluted and said, "Your Majesty! Don't worry, I've taken the box to the lab for scanning. It contains a memory chip. Although I don't know the contents, it's not dangerous. May I have it delivered to the general's room?"
Yu Sheng nodded, "Okay, thank you for your help."
After the chip was delivered, Yu Sheng couldn't wait to insert it into the light screen. He thought it still needed to be cracked, but he didn't expect that the chip had no password at all and had nothing unique about it. It was really just a simple storage chip with a lonely video file in it.
"Video?" Yu Sheng frowned, puzzled, "What the hell is Oleville doing?"
"Look." Frey reached out and clicked on the video.
A sea of fire immediately occupied the entire screen. Yu Sheng held his breath and saw the camera slowly move back, gradually revealing the full picture of the "sea of fire": it turned out to be a terrifying meteorite belt!
"The Star End Meteor Belt, one of the few in the entire interstellar system with a five-star danger rating, is located near the Insect Star." Frey explained calmly, "Hilton, the greatest general in history, perished in this meteor belt."
As soon as he finished speaking, a pure black mecha suddenly appeared on the screen. Although it had scars of varying sizes on its body, it still bravely rushed to the front of the fleet, and with one strike, it could kill countless Zergs.
"It's General Hilton!" Yu Sheng recognized Hilton's mecha at a glance. To this day, the mecha sculpture of this female general is still placed in the Mousse Military Academy for all teachers and students to admire.
"It seems that this is a real video of the Zerg War back then." Frey said.
Not only is it a real video, but judging from the angle and direction of the shooting, the person shooting it is clearly an enemy from the Zerg camp!
Suddenly, a high-pitched long tune sounded in the video, and Yu Sheng and Frey felt nervous. The Zergs that were originally fighting with the fleet began to target Hilton's mecha like crazy. No matter how other warships attacked or blocked them, they would never retreat or fight back. It seemed that they had only one target: Hilton!
Hilton controlled the mecha to retreat, and the other warships and mechas reacted promptly, trying to stand in front of Hilton's mecha to disperse her fighting power. Hilton's pressure was finally relieved, but Yu Sheng and Frey, who were in the third perspective, could see it clearly.
"Hilton is about to be pushed into the asteroid belt."
The next moment, the camera zoomed in again. In the sea of fire, countless flame stones were colliding rapidly inside. Some burned out, while others collided with other meteorites and exploded. The broken meteorite fragments continued to burn and fly, as if it was a purgatory with no end in sight.
The invincible black mecha was severely hit and wrapped by the suicide-attacking Zergs, and finally disappeared in this purgatory. The flames disappeared, and the mecha could no longer be found.
What Olewell showed them was actually the real footage of General Hilton’s sacrifice!
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