CH 35

Assessing Meritorious Service (3)

A moment later, when Jiang Jianming walked out of the dormitory, his brows were full of satisfaction and joy.

Although the Little Highness almost jumped up on the spot after being touched by him, he still stared at him with astonished eyes. His face became tense like cold iron for a while, then immediately turned his head and left.

Despite that he was still very happy.

Rather, it was the Little Highness’s reaction that made him happy.

So far, Jiang Jianming was already 99% sure that Garcia was Ryann, and the remaining 1% was just his long-standing behavior, but he didn’t want to draw a conclusion, not until only death remains.

****

There seemed to be a lot more people walking around in the fortress than usual today. Jiang Jianming ran into Tang Zhen before walking a few steps out of the dormitory area.

The latter walked hurriedly while looking around, and he was relieved when he saw Jiang Jianming.

“Little Jiang! Why did you come out of the treatment cabin by yourself?”

Jiang Jianming: “Of course I came out when I woke up. Why, is there no training today?”

Tang Zhen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “You didn’t check your wrist device again? We have been granted a special vacation, and will be exempted from training for these few days!……I beg you, little immortal, this is for your body, honestly rest and recuperate for a while.”

Only then did Jiang Jianming realize later, as he lowered his head to check his wrist device, and sure enough there were two messages from Officer Huo Lin.

The first one, conveyed in a business-like tone, was an order to stay in the fortress for training this month, which was obviously sent to all the new officers in the group as well.

The second message was the special vacation permission for the third team. The vacation was for five days, which was considered a very extravagant long vacation here in Silver Big Dipper.

“I see, have you checked Maner’s situation?” Jiang Jianming turned off his wrist device, “How are the others?”

The incident was extraordinary. For the officers who had been in the adaptation period for only a few months in the far interstellar space, it was almost a huge blow.

Tang Zhen walked side by side with Jiang Jianming, and said as he walked, “Man’er just woke up, and I was going to see her when I found you. Others woke up too, but were in a bad mental state. Li Youfang and Ellie went to receive psychological counseling, Joe……”

Speaking of this, he snorted in disgust, “That guy, eight out of ten, he might likely be expelled from the army and be sent back to his country.”

Jiang Jianming shook his head and curled his lips, “This is also a good thing for him. Heh…..Silver Big Dipper seems to have eased a lot in recruiting troops in recent years, which was not the case when Little Highness and I came down.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Tang Zhen, and couldn’t help but to secretly think amusedly: Everyone else was beaten enough that they had to undergo psychological counseling, yet Young Master Tang, who had once collapsed at the beginning, was in perfectly good condition, and this person was also…..in a good mood!

Suddenly, Tang Zhen scratched his head and said, “By the way, I……”

Jiang Jianming blinked, “Hmm?”

Tang Zhen forced a bitter smile, and said dejectedly, “I still owe you an apology, I’m sorry, Little Jiang. When we were in the snowy mountain, I lost my temper…”

Jiang Jianming stared at him for two seconds, then his eyes became repulsed.

He touched his lips with his index finger, and thought to himself: Sure enough, people cannot be compared with each other.

Obviously, Young Master Tang was also a handsome and noble young master who had countless girls screaming at him in the Imperial Capital—so why am I not overwhelmed when he said similar things as the Little Highness?

When the Little Highness said “I’m sorry”, his heart would go numb, making him want to rub and knead it; but with Young Master Tang………….

Jiang Jianming shook his head and sighed, then compassionately said, “Forget it, everything is not forced.”

Tang Zhen: “??”

The two walked back to the treatment area while talking.

Passing through the white and clean corridor was the inner area that took care of the seriously wounded and sick. Different from the outer area, each patient here had a single ward, and all kinds of medical care facilities and security facilities were very complete.

After they explained their purpose to a nurse, the nurse led them to the ward where Bei Maner was. Tang Zhen opened the automatic door, and Jiang Jianming followed him in.

The inside of the ward was very bright. Bei Maner was wearing a white hospital gown, sitting on the hospital bed inside, with an IV drip hanging to her left hand.

Her cheeks were a little pale, and her short chestnut hair seemed to have lost its luster. At this time, she had her head turned and was looking outside the window absentmindedly. Today’s Alpha Alien Star had fine weather without snow.

Jiang Jianming walked to her bed, and saw a few documents on the bedside table at a glance, as well as delicate handwritten signatures.

In this era, there were very few opportunities to use paper documents, and only on some special occasions would it be used as a formality. And what was on the table at the moment was a return consent.

Bei Maner suddenly turned around and smiled, “Ah, Classmate Jiang, Young Master Tang, you are here.”

Tang Zhen’s Adam’s apple moved, and he said in a low voice, “…Maner.”

“Don’t stand there and talk, sit down, there are chairs over there.” Bei Maner prompted with her right hand that was not stuck with a needle, but then she suddenly stared into the ward, blinking, “Huh, is there only one?”

Thus the girl who lost a leg stretched her delicate eyebrows, smiled softly, and merely said faintly, “Then Young Master Tang, please don’t sit down. Classmate Jiang is not in good health. Young Master Tang must take good care of him in the future, therefore you can’t fight impulsively anymore.”

“……”

Tang Zhen’s eyes turned red, and he almost shed tears, but he quickly gritted his teeth and didn’t turn his head away.

Jiang Jianming sighed slightly, turned around and dragged the only chair in the room over, and sat down beside the bed. “Have you decided to return to the Empire?”

“..Mn.”

Bei Maner’s smile was a little sad, she lowered her eyelashes, and touched her right knee, “I can’t help it, my leg is already…..”

There was nothing under the white trousers.

“The fortress specially approved me to contact my family, and my parents…insisted on letting me go home, saying that they would contact me for a regeneration surgery.”

Bei Maner muttered a few words to herself, clenched her fists again, then suddenly said in an authentic and forceful tone, “But it’s nothing! The operation may take a year or two to prepare, but it’s so convenient to install a prosthesis now, and you can put it on when you go back!”

She had also raised her face at some point, with a very energetic smile on her face, “Classmate Jiang, do you know the news that was popular last year in Aslan, a person was born with long left leg and short right leg. Guess what, he finally chose to cut off his right leg, and replaced it with a prosthetic, hahaha……….ha.”

The girl’s dry laughter echoed awkwardly inside the ward.

“……”

Jiang Jianming and Tang Zhen remained silent.

” ——Sorry, I’m very sorry!”

Bei Maner covered her face with her hands in shame, “I know it’s not funny at all! Maybe I’m not in the right mentality….I still need to think about it!”

“After returning to the Empire,” Jiang Jianming said suddenly, “do you have any plans?”

Bei Maner smiled wryly, “Not yet.”

“It’s okay,” Tang Zhen grasped her shoulder tight, and said in a hoarse voice, “You can go back to recuperate and have the operation. Silver Big Dipper is not worthy of Miss Bei.”

“Maybe in three to five years, our young lady will have become an honorable high-ranking official by then, come to Silver Big Dipper to inspect—ah! But only to find that we are still struggling at the bottom……”

They talked for a while, and they chatted until noon, when a female nurse knocked on the door and came in.

It was time for Bei Maner to change her dressing. Jiang Jianming and Tang Zhen didn’t plan to be a bother anymore, told her to have a good rest, and got up to leave.

As they walked to the door, Bei Maner suddenly called out.

“Classmate Jiang!”

Jiang Jianming and Tang Zhen turned their heads in response, only to see Bei Maner leaning on the bedside, looking over fixedly.

Her eyes were no longer as bright as before, but they were still so clear. “Thank you…for bringing everyone back safely for me.”

The automatic door closed with a “buzz”, closing the girl’s figure on the other side.

Tang Zhen stood outside the door for a long time and let out a long sigh.

****

After leaving the treatment area, Tang Zhen accompanied Jiang Jianming back to the dormitory. Because of Bei Maner, neither of them spoke much.

In the afternoon, Tang Zhen suddenly received a call from Huo Lin and went out for a trip.

It took him a full two hours to come back. After he came back, the sun had already set in the western hills, and the clouds were flying outside the window.

Tang Zhen twisted his neck as soon as he entered the door, raised his eyebrows at Jiang Jianming and said, “Hey, I have met several officers, it seems that the fortress has begun to judge on how to reward your meritorious deeds.”

Jiang Jianming: “Have you praised me?”

Tang Zhen: “Nonsense! I’m patting your chest as guarantee in front of a group of officers. Hey, Little Jiang, let me tell you, it won’t be reasonable if they won’t promote you two or three ranks this time..……”

Thinking about the conversation with Huo Lin that day, Jiang Jianming merely smiled and said nothing.

That night, the moon was bright and stars were scarce.

In the evening, after dinner, Jiang Jianming took out a notebook from his bag and spread it out on the table.

Holding the pen, he pondered for a long time on the clean sheet.

Finally, he wrote down the first word carefully.

Just like what Huo Lin said, he would probably be summoned by the higher officials soon. This merit itself was extraordinary, thus he must make good use of this opportunity.

The Commanding officer of the fortress discriminated against him as a disabled human being, maybe this was not a bad thing, after all, his ultimate goal was not to earn military merits and ranks, but to get closer to the truth in the fog.

After careful consideration, Jiang Jianming finalized three directions.

The best strategy was for him to get in touch with Ryann’s mecha.

That was the Blade of the Nation handed down from the time of the founding emperor, the only Super S-class mecha in the Empire, and it was the hope in the hearts of countless people in the Empire. Crown Prince Ryann Kaios’ whereabouts were unknown, and it was not known whether he was alive or dead, but his mecha was successfully recovered by Silver Big Dipper, and was now sleeping underground in the First Fortress.

Jiang Jianming had a vague premonition that there might be some special clues inside that mecha.

But the difficulty was also great. After all, the Super S-class mecha was of great significance. It would be impossible for a small officer to touch the fortress casually. If one was not good, it might be seen as an attempt to commit crime.

The second best strategy was to rely on this military achievement and meet with Major General Xie Yuduo, the top commander of the fortress.

Major General Xie was also one of his old acquaintances. If he could get the help of Major General Xie, it would become much easier doing what he wanted to do.

In addition, if he could get past Xie Yuduo, he would not have to worry about being caught back by the old marshal for the time being.

But with his current position, it would not be easy to meet the major general. Furthermore, to what extent would Xie Yuduo help him was still a question.

After all, regarding Garcia’s matter, he didn’t know about the existence of this person until he came to the far interstellar space in person. It must have involved military secrets, and Xie Yuduo had the position—tsk……it’s really hard to say.

He didn’t know when the night had gotten darker. The lights in the dormitory had already turned off, and only Jiang Jianming’s own bedside lamp was left with a yellowish light.

The tip of the pen in his hand moved smoothly, and the spread notebook was gradually covered with handwriting.

As for the worst strategy, when the first two items were really difficult to achieve–stop making futile wild wishes, at the least, he could still keep his military merits and get the chance of promotion he deserved.

This was the safest path. As long as his military rank went up, what was needed would always be there but leisurely. The disadvantage was that it would take too much time, and he was a little impatient to wait.

…No.

Jiang Jianming frowned, picked up the pen and scratched out the three lines.

Wrong, his train of thought should not be like this.

Since there were three different kinds of remuneration that were all beneficial to him, then—

What he should do is…to take them all.

His train of thought should be…on how to win them all.

Jiang Jianming pondered for a long time, and tapped his brow with the pen cap.

There will be a way.

****

The next morning, a Corporal knocked on the door of the dormitory as expected to deliver orders.

“Which one is Sir Jiang Jianming, an officer in the adaptation period?”

At this time, Jiang Jianming had just finished his morning meal, and was lazily biting a fork and talking to Tang Zhen with a smile. When he heard the sound, he turned his head and answered, “It’s me.”

This Corporal wearing the Silver Big Dipper military uniform was still very young, not a few years older than Jiang Jianming and the others.

He was usually used to seeing rough, comrades-in-arms, but when he was looked at by a handsome little officer with black hair and fair skin, his ears turned red visibly to the naked eye.

“…….Co, Commanding officer summons you!” The young corporal saluted while stammering, “Sir Jiang Jianming, please come to the second floor of the fortress within fifteen minutes, and report to the 205 Military Aircraft Conference Room!”

“Okay.” Jiang Jianming put down the fork with his black-gloved right hand, and smiled at him, “Please wait a moment, I’ll rinse my mouth.”

Heavens!, and the corporal’s face turned red in an instant.

The corner of Tang Zhen’s mouth twitched next to him: Little Jiang, Little Jiang, you are laughing like that, you are deliberately teasing honest people……

It seems that last night’s tossing has finally yielded results, is this why you are in a good mood?