Chapter Thirteen: Promotion to Colonel

Chapter Thirteen: Promoted to Major

After surviving the ordeal, Liu Shaoyu felt a surge of joy upon seeing General Hu, though his eardrums still throbbed with pain.

“You really gave us a scare,” General Hu said, his tone noticeably softer this time, with genuine concern in his words. “Your squad has already been notified that you’re safely back. Once you leave here, head to your starship and let them know yourself—they’re even more anxious than I am.”

As Liu Shaoyu listened, his heart, which had remained unshaken even in the face of the broodmother, quivered for the first time. For an orphan, this semblance of familial warmth completely unsettled him. He remembered the underground city, where every holiday his classmates enjoyed reunion dinners with their families, while he spent those times alone in his room.

Strict household registration controls had made orphans a rarity in this era—so rare that orphanages no longer existed. Yet Liu Shaoyu had appeared as if from nowhere, found in the mountain forests near the Jinling Military District. Genetic comparison revealed no matches in the database; there was no trace of his parents, not even a distant relative. If not for his genetic sequence identifying him as human, they might have believed he was an alien.

For eighteen years, Liu Shaoyu had searched for clues to his origins, but every attempt ended in failure. Even the Federation’s computers declared there was nothing to find—so there truly was nothing.

General Hu’s voice broke his reverie: “You performed outstandingly in this mission. I’ll submit a report to request a commendation for you. It looks like your rank insignia will be changing again soon.” As he spoke, his gaze fell on Liu Shaoyu’s uniform. “The military is granting you three months’ leave—you can take your squad to Earth for some rest.”

“Leave”—since entering the Command Academy, that word had become foreign to Liu Shaoyu. Cadets at the Command Academy never had vacations; many went three or five years in the fleet without a break. The past decade of constant warfare had left little time for soldiers to rest.

“But don’t celebrate too soon,” General Hu continued. “Though it’s called leave, you still have a mission. Since you captured the prisoners, the military is assigning you to escort them to Earth’s Central Military District. You can recover there, and your promotion order should arrive in three months. Then you’ll return and report in.” General Hu’s explanation made sense—giving a vacation to a soldier who’d just seen battle sounded almost absurd otherwise.

At that moment, the Young Dragon was docked in the carrier’s spaceport. Following the guide lines, Liu Shaoyu returned to his ship, the Wandering Dragon. He glanced at his wrist—23:00. In space, there’s no day or night; everything is measured by the clock. Normally, this was already rest time, but upon reaching the starship, he found all eleven squad members awake.

Seeing Liu Shaoyu enter, the team—though already informed of his safe return—relaxed only now, at the sight of him in person.

“You’re back,” Li Tao said simply, revealing the gentle side of this strong-willed woman. Her eyes glistened with moisture.

“Yes, I’m back,” Liu Shaoyu replied. He struggled to suppress his emotions, but his eyes still grew misty.

“Ha! Told you the boss wouldn’t die,” laughed Luo Ping, only to receive a punch on the head from the person beside him—someone even bulkier.

“If you don’t speak, nobody will mistake you for a mute,” his twin brother Luo An, the squad’s number one gunner, said with calm restraint. Luo Ping, the number two gunner, was livelier and more talkative.

“Come on, tell us what happened after we left. You have no idea—after you went down, Taozi…” Monkey began, but was silenced by Taozi’s iron grip around his waist.

“Clerk, aren’t you going to stop her—ah! Taozi, enough already!” Monkey would have to consider how to deal with the bruises on his waist later.

“Enough, no more bickering. It’s late—time to rest. We’ll stay docked tonight, hand off the prisoners tomorrow, then head back to Earth,” Liu Shaoyu quickly put an end to the nth round of this squad’s gender war.

“Back to Earth?” The squad’s clerk, who had been silent, was clearly caught off guard.

“Yes. I’ll transmit the mission orders now. Accept them,” Liu Shaoyu said, activating the wrist device to send the instructions.

After reading the orders, the squad was elated. Since entering the Command Academy, they hadn’t returned to Earth even once. The prospect of leave thrilled the eighteen-year-old average-aged team, who started planning how to use their vacation as they moved toward the rest area. Watching their backs recede, Liu Shaoyu fell into a moment of silence. Unlike his teammates, he felt no anticipation for the leave, since for him, vacation meant being alone.

“What’s wrong? Something on your mind?” came a gentle female voice.

“Qingyi, you’re back?” Liu Shaoyu looked up to see Shen Qingyi, the other girl in the Young Dragon squad. Unlike Taozi, she appeared delicate, with long hair coiled atop her head and a pale complexion.

Yet this seemingly fragile young woman was the squad’s right-side gunner, holding the same advanced artillery officer certification as Liu Shaoyu—perhaps even possessing the abilities of a special-grade gunner. Few could imagine her commanding ten thousand drones in battle, unleashing devastation.

“Seeing you here alone, I came to check on you,” Shen Qingyi said softly, her face adorned with a habitual smile.

“It’s nothing. Just tired today. You should rest early, too—there’s still work tomorrow,” Liu Shaoyu replied, smiling back, his exhaustion evident.

He truly was tired after the day’s events; as he relaxed, fatigue swept over him.

“Alright, you get some rest as well.” With that, Shen Qingyi rose and walked to her room.

In the captain’s quarters, Liu Shaoyu tossed and turned, unable to sleep. On Earth, he’d only ever lived in the Jinling underground city and the Command Academy’s aerial base. Though he’d spent eighteen years there, he knew little of the rest of the planet. The Central Military District of Huaxia was located on the artificial island “Kyushu,” along the coast of the Kyushu continent—this was the capital of the Huaxia Republic. The island’s perimeter formed the new capital, New Yanqing City, connected to the continent. Kyushu Island sat at the center of the inland sea in New Yanqing, spanning about twenty thousand square kilometers—larger than Yanqing City had been before the population explosion. Eight members of the Young Dragon squad hailed from there. So, upon learning they were to deliver prisoners to the Central Military District, their excitement was understandable.

The military’s orders arrived swiftly. Because Liu Shaoyu had ventured alone and captured the pirates’ third highest target in the operation, his rank was promoted to at least major. An eighteen-year-old major—he had broken the record for youngest field officer in the Interstellar Fleet. Though wartime promotions were common, his advancement was still astonishing. Graduates of the Command Academy started as at least second lieutenant, but on the battlefield, every rank was earned through bullets and blood—the more enemies you killed, the higher your rank. Age was no barrier; in fact, the Seventh Army had plenty of majors around twenty years old. These youth commanders had become the backbone of all Federation fleets.

Yet few had Liu Shaoyu’s luck—a rookie capturing a major target wasn’t like winning a small lottery. Even General Hu was so excited he almost wanted to grant Liu Shaoyu a colonel’s rank outright, but considered that such rapid promotion could hinder future advancement, especially since this was Liu’s first official mission.

In a space-grade base of an unknown star system, a pale hand slammed heavily onto a table, accompanied by furious, unintelligible curses. If anyone had a translator device, they would have heard: “What you took today, I’ll repay double! Third Brother, Big Brother will avenge you!”

A conspiracy was quietly taking root beneath the calm.

The novel has entered the new book rankings! Extra chapter explosion! Friends, hurry and add to your favorites! Maybe tonight—off to write more!