A Beautiful Picture

The old man's bombshell announcement first shocked everyone, then filled them with waves of grief.

More than 8,700 people had sacrificed their lives. What kind of number was that?

There had never been such massive military casualties in over seventy years.

"We have resolved to designate today, August 12, as a memorial day for our compatriots who died in the war against kaiju."

"To mourn the ordinary civilians who perished, and to honor and remember the souls of our martyrs."

"Every year on this day, we will mourn them and sound our horns."

Immediately afterward, everyone in attendance stood and observed three minutes of silence.

Then, the livestream ended.

Though the public was grief-stricken, there was no excessive or radical reaction.

Just as the old man had said, they now possessed sufficient strength to protect the Zhonghua Family, and the kaiju threat would be reduced to a minimum.

Because ahead of them stood giants of steel, one after another.

Yes, one after another.

Nation Z would not have only one "Mount Tai."

So while the public was deeply saddened for a time, they had not fallen into despair.

Nor would there be any violent riots or extreme unrest.

There would be no social turmoil.

At a summit cemetery in Dalian.

Rows upon rows of gravestones stood there.

It was a sealed cemetery for martyrs.

A resting place for some of the soldiers who had fallen in the Battle of Shanlan.

A middle-aged man sat alone before a row of gravestones, drinking.

His figure amid the cemetery full of tombstones added a sense of bleak desolation to the scene.

A piercing air raid siren sounded. It was not an enemy attack, but the mourning signal for this memorial day.

Only upon hearing the siren did the man raise his head, slowly lowering the bottle in his hand.

It revealed a handsome face with a hard, commanding air, one weathered by hardship and time. It was Lin Huixin.

Back when they had blocked Shanlan, it had been the Falcon Squadron under his command.

Of twenty-two fighter jets, only two had remained. Only he and another soldier had survived.

That soldier had suffered a severe psychological blow and chose to retire.

As for the rest of his brothers, they were all here.

Comrades-in-arms were those who lived and died beside you. To soldiers, that bond could be even closer than blood ties.

Even biological brothers could quarrel and become estranged.

Only a comrade-in-arms was the one who would silently shoulder his rifle and follow behind you.

Yet in a single battle, he had lost twenty brothers. The only one left had retired, and he did not know when they would meet again.

Li Yunxiao had been luckier than him. The living were the ones who suffered the most.

Listening to the air raid siren, tears filled Lin Huixin's eyes.

Who said men did not cry easily? They simply had not reached the point of heartbreak.

"Brothers, did you hear that? People all across the country are mourning for you!"

"Your sacrifices were not in vain. You were not unknown. Your names will be remembered forever."

"But what use is that? In the end, you can no longer hear it."

"I hate you. I hate that you left me behind alone. You're gone, Li is gone too. What meaning is there in leaving just me behind?"

That day, in that cemetery, there was a man sitting before the gravestones, drinking himself into tears.

After the livestream ended, all the guests rose to their feet. Of course, they were not simply leaving.

The martyrs' ashes and symbolic graves needed to be transferred to the Martyrs' Cemetery.

Naturally, they had to see them off along the way.

Empty formalities were an insult to the martyrs.

No one felt impatient. Today, there would be no celebrations in Dalian.

No one would dare defy public sentiment by holding a wedding, beating gongs and drums, and setting off firecrackers.

At the very least, not today.

The hearse carrying the martyrs' ashes moved slowly forward, and pedestrians along the way stopped in their tracks.

The vehicles on the road also gave way, then sounded their horns.

Everyone did their part to pay tribute to the martyrs and see them off.

The martyrs' ashes were laid to rest at that summit cemetery as well.

After the gravestones were erected, they saluted once more.

By the time they had gone there and back, evening had already fallen.

When Xiao Shou and the others had set out, it was already nearing noon.

They had watched the livestream, then come to the cemetery to erect the gravestones. The entire afternoon passed just like that.

Besides, it was already mid-August, and the days had grown shorter.

That was how it was in the north. The days kept getting shorter, meaning darkness came sooner.

By five or six o'clock, it was already dim.

With this final step complete, it was naturally time to return.

It was unprecedented for most officers of the Jaeger Combat Department to remain outside for half a day.

What holidays did soldiers have?

Especially for a department stationed on the front line of the Pan-Pacific Defense Line.

They did not even get rotating days off.

They had to remain prepared at all times.

Just as they were leaving, a suppressed sobbing sound caught Xie Yushan's attention.

A girl stood crying before Colonel Li Yunxiao's gravestone.

She was Colonel Li Yunxiao's daughter, Li Mengmeng.

She was in her final year of high school, facing the first major hurdle of her life.

Fearing that she would be unable to accept it for a while and that it would affect her mood and studies, her mother had kept the truth from her.

But how could it be hidden? The nationwide livestream had announced it today.

At school, they had naturally watched the livestream together.

How could she possibly sit still after learning the terrible news of her father's sacrifice? She immediately asked for leave and ran out.

Once the guards at the entrance learned who she was, they naturally let her in.

In fact, after the television broadcast revealed everything today, this cemetery was no longer sealed off.

It would not turn away members of the public who came each day to pay their respects to the martyrs.

Xie Yushan stepped forward and gently held the girl in her arms.

"Don't be sad. This was your father's duty as a soldier. He protected you, protected your mother, and he would be very comforted."

"If you grieve too much, you'll be going against your father's wishes. He would be heartbroken."

"After people die, they become stars, watching over you from the sky."

"He will always watch over you and bless you."

After hearing that, Li Mengmeng could not help raising her head toward the sky, hoping that one of the stars above was her father.

However, the sky was utterly gloomy, thick with dark clouds, as if it too mourned the departed heroes.

Just as Li Mengmeng was beginning to feel disappointed, a point of light shone upon her face.

It was a Kongming Lantern.

The Kongming Lantern's glow was so striking in the pitch-black night.

Yet its light did not last. A gust of wind extinguished it.

But before Li Mengmeng could grow disappointed again, a sudden expanse of light illuminated the entire cemetery.

It was a sea of Kongming Lanterns, stretching beyond sight, flying from the city toward the summit cemetery.

They drove away the cemetery's darkness, as well as its sorrow.

For a moment, Li Mengmeng stared blankly at those Kongming Lanterns, and the grief in her heart eased.

Kongming Lanterns symbolized blessings and also represented longing.

We remembered those martyrs who had sacrificed themselves for the Zhonghua Family and for the people's peace and well-being.

The soldiers who had been about to leave also stopped and watched the flying Kongming Lanterns.

Lin Huixin, still drinking before the gravestones, raised his bottle and saluted the distant lanterns.

Our sacrifices were never meaningless.

That day, that cemetery, that dark night, the soldiers saluting before the gravestones, the man slumped nearby drinking, and the Kongming Lanterns flying in from afar came together to form a picture.

A beautiful picture.