Spirit, Will

The hall was packed with people who had come to pay their respects, yet despite the constant flow of visitors, it was neither noisy nor chaotic.

There were no guards maintaining order, either.

With more than half the room filled with soldiers in dark green uniforms, their imposing presence alone was enough to suppress the entire hall.

Who would dare make a scene here? This wasn't a marketplace...

Even some supposed underworld big shot would have to curl up like a cat here.

Several soldiers suddenly entered and spoke a few words to the camera crew in the corner.

The cameras were switched off one after another, and the reporters stopped their livestreams.

The soldiers in the hall also sat up straight.

This left the local mourners and the families of the fallen somewhat puzzled.

What kind of important figure was coming to warrant such pomp?

Even the city's highest administrative official shouldn't have received this sort of treatment.

After all, quite a few of the seated soldiers bore general's stars on their shoulders. In terms of rank, they had already reached heights from which all others looked small.

Yet now, every one of them was stern and attentive, as if they were carefully listening to a leader give a speech.

Even if they couldn't understand it, even if it dragged on and they were impatient inside, they still had to wear an enlightened expression while taking notes. Ahem...

Before long, a black tide surged into the hall.

Naturally, it was Xiao Shou and his group.

After all, only the Jaeger Combat Department wore black uniforms.

Mm, the same black as security uniforms...

Actually, that wasn't entirely wrong. Security guards protected the peace of residential complexes, while the Jaeger Combat Department protected the peace of Nation Z's entire Pan-Pacific Defense Line.

Security guards defended against thieves. Uh, these days, delivery workers probably had to be added to that list too...

The Jaeger Combat Department defended against monster invasions.

See? Their responsibilities were actually pretty similar...

This time, more than a hundred people from the Jaeger Combat Department had arrived, most of them senior officers.

That might not sound like many, but how many people did the Jaeger Combat Department have in total?

Its total establishment numbered fewer than eight thousand people.

Most of them were technical personnel, such as logistics engineers and scientists.

Its combat force consisted only of the escort fighter squadron led by Colonel Lin Huixin and a guard company needed for sentry duty and security.

Still, the Jaeger Combat Department did not need any other combat units. With Jaegers, wasn't that enough?

Who could say no in the face of steel giants nearly ninety meters tall?

Commander Mao Shucheng led the group. Although he had not previously belonged to the Eastern Theater Command's establishment, the Sky Breaker Squad had set out at his call, so it was only right that he came to pay his respects.

Deputy Commander Zhu Qian and Team Leader Jin Rong remained behind at the Shatterdome base.

Surprisingly, Colonel Lin Huixin had not come either, nor was he at the base.

He and Colonel Li Yunxiao had been extremely close. They were true comrades who had carried rifles and faced death together.

But they could not all leave at once. Though they were still in the same city, someone had to remain behind.

Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan were mixed in among the crowd, looking entirely unremarkable, and no one paid them much attention.

This had been specially arranged. For Jaeger pilots, safety was paramount, and their identities had to remain secret.

Under Mao Shucheng's lead, the more than one hundred members of the Jaeger Combat Department snapped into salute.

Mm, they couldn't lose when it came to presence. They had it completely under control.

Because everyone had been warned beforehand, no one took photos of them or anything else.

This caused some uninformed guests to whisper and discuss among themselves.

Black uniforms, military salutes, and an air of mystery in every word.

They looked like they belonged to some special department.

Only the soldiers present and some families of the fallen knew who they were.

After saluting, Mao Shucheng led everyone to their seats.

Of course, they were not waiting for a banquet. No matter how idle the Jaeger Combat Department was, it was not so idle that most of its officers would collectively leave base just to attend a feast...

They were waiting for a livestream.

A nationwide memorial service broadcast.

It was not only a memorial for all twenty-two members of the Sky Breaker Squad who had fallen in the battle against "Mad Ape" in Hawaii.

It also commemorated the 8,732 soldiers who had died in the earlier "Shanlan" battle.

Before long, a white screen was set up in the center of the hall for projection, and an image soon appeared.

What came into view was a massive conference room.

It was the People's Grand Hall in Kyoto, where the people gathered to be masters of their own country.

At the back of the conference room, rows upon rows of densely packed photographs had been placed on the wall.

Several flags stood in front of them.

They were the flags of the units that had been wiped out in the "Shanlan" battle.

In that war, they had truly lost far too much.

Below the podium, representatives from all walks of life had taken their seats.

Naturally, several cameras were also present for the live broadcast.

Before long, an elderly man in formal attire emerged from backstage and walked to the lectern on the podium.

His expression was sorrowful. Though his hair remained as black as ever, it could not conceal the grief and bitterness of an elder sending off the young.

"Today, I wish to confess a fact to the people."

"A fact that we once concealed."

"Just yesterday, I believe some of you learned that the monster 'Mad Ape,' which landed in Hawaii, had been put down. Our 'Mount Tai' and Side E's 'Cherno Alpha' joined forces to kill it."

"But before that, the Sky Breaker Squad, which had gone to carry out a delaying mission, was wiped out. Twenty-two heroic martyrs gave their lives for the nation."

"Today is a memorial for them, but not only for them."

"Half a year ago, the codename 'Shanlan' was eliminated by our military."

"We lost and injured nearly ten thousand ordinary civilians, and the entire nation grieved deeply."

"But we concealed the number of soldiers killed and wounded in that battle."

"In that battle, 8,732 of our soldiers gave their lives, while 3,654 were forced to retire because of severe injuries."

As the old man laid everything bare, the people watching the televised broadcast cried out in shock. Even the representatives at the scene were the same.

For a time, the venue fell into a slight uproar.

Most people turned to one another and whispered. Even though they were representatives, they had not known about this.

Because it had been classified information. Aside from some people in the Eastern Theater Command, only a few elderly officials had known. The news had been tightly sealed.

Only when the old man raised his hand did the disturbance gradually settle. The people wanted to know why.

"At the time, we had no better means or weapons to deal with the monsters. To preserve the stability of the people's lives, we concealed this number and ordered the families of the fallen not to reveal the secret."

"This was our mistake. But we had no choice, for the sake of ensuring that the society we had struggled so hard to build would not fall into turmoil again."

"To allow more people to live and work in peace, we could only resort to this."

"Not until today, when 'Mount Tai' emerged, capable of standing on its own and protecting our great family, did we have the confidence to confront monsters head-on! Only then could we say that our defenses were as solid as a fortress!"

"And now, we are announcing this number and revealing the information of those fallen martyrs, to give them the answer they deserve!"

"For their sacrifices, and for the grievances their families endured in silence, this answer has come too late!"

"Their names deserve to be remembered by us. Their achievements shall endure forever!"

The elderly man gazed ahead, looking into the distance.

That was where the memorial pillar stood.

It bore the names of everyone who had given their lives in the war more than seventy years ago, when the people rose up to become masters of their own country.

That dark era had been like a bottomless swamp.

But they had never sunk into it. Whenever danger threatened, there were always people who stepped forward.

Whenever survival hung in the balance and the times were turbulent, heroes emerged.

They gave their heads and spilled their blood!

They used their own lives and passion as fuel to light up that dark cage.

They shattered those dark shackles, the old ideas that had imprisoned them for thousands of years.

They allowed them to once again take steps forward from backwardness after standing still for far too long.

Of course, no reform could ever proceed smoothly. Bloodshed and sacrifice were inevitable.

But they had never been afraid, all for the flame and beam of light in their hearts.

They had used their very lives to fill it in!

Only then did their lives have hope, something to look forward to.

They made them independent, made them prosperous and strong, and made them unafraid of any threat.

Even so-called monsters, or the "things" behind them.

That memorial pillar represented the unyielding spirit of the Zhonghua Family and the will passed down like an eternal flame.

"Now, it is time to add new names to that pillar."

"The will passed down through generations will not be broken. Never."