Two-handed swords, flails, scythes... any melee weapon requiring both hands was a matter of technical skill, especially those that were both two-handed and incredibly heavy.
Lei Ting sat in the outer office of the Legion Commander, slowly and intently stroking the solid, powerful, yet unsharpened greatsword.
*New Sun.*
What a fine name.
Most users of the Star Net today didn’t pay much attention to military history, so naturally, most didn't know that the predecessor of the First Legion was the "Solar System United Army."
They were a comprehensive legion. In the early stages of the Second Total War, they fought the enemy in the Origin System for ten years, then participated in the remaining decades of the war after the front lines expanded to the New Solar System.
During the New Solar System era, it was reorganized into the "Solar System Human Federation First Legion." Later, it achieved illustrious military honors during the century-long Third Total War and executed numerous personnel transfer and protection missions when the Origin System was destroyed.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the primary and secondary AIs of the First Legion were the "Sun and Moon Gods."
This was a legendary collective that had once stood fast for the "Sun and Moon" of history and witnessed how they fell.
And now, a weapon that had participated in this great history until the present day was in Lei Ting’s hands. It possessed two forms—greatsword and heavy cannon—and was forged entirely from high-density alloy. The handle was connected to a psionic reactor core. When Lei Ting deactivated his psionic manipulation, its total weight was...
One thousand five hundred kilograms. One and a half tons.
There was no need to count the small fraction of weight he’d rounded off.
Consequently, when Lei Ting had cancelled his psionic effects and withdrawn his energy infusion earlier, it had crashed into the floor without surprise. Now, as he rested it sideways across his knees, he had to use his psionic power to buoy it slightly, keeping the exceptionally front-heavy tip exactly ten millimeters off the ground.
The center of gravity for this sword was extremely forward-leaning; from tip to pommel, it practically screamed: *Yes, I am meant for wide, sweeping whirlwinds—once I start swinging, either the enemy dies or you do.*
Incidentally, when it transformed into a heavy cannon, these heavy structures would shift around its core reactor to ensure energy concentration and the safety of the user.
So, aside from the two minor, harmless issues of "potentially dragging the user to death if their energy levels aren't high enough" and "easily causing a psionic nuclear explosion in the user's hands if mishandled," it was absolutely perfect. The beauty of raw strength was manifested to the limit in its form; it was truly a dual amplifier of combat power and confidence.
At this moment, Legion Commander Valianna was making some preliminary preparations, while Lei Ting was carrying out his current task: [Familiarize yourself with the new weapon, prepare for combat].
He knew a fierce battle was imminent.
Because that Legion Commander, who looked like she had nothing to do with leisure or elegance, had gifted him the magnificent "New Sun."
...
Valen withdrew his tear-filled gaze, no longer staring at that sun.
"...It really stings the eyes," he thought. A body deliberately suppressed to the level of an ordinary human was still too fragile.
He wiped his eyes somewhat unrefinedly with his shirt sleeve and turned to look at the Principal, who was smiling at the massive holographic projection beside him. She always had this habit: when the students departed for their internships and the rest of the staff either left or entered a busy maintenance state, she would play a scaled-down projection of the Origin System within the vast internal space of the Academy headquarters.
Then, she would watch those familiar stars, planets, and moons. She would watch the playback starting from the year 2020, watching humanity step into the stars and rapidly spread their territory from the planetary surface to the surrounding worlds, watching them take control of the entire Solar System, and watching them open the door to the future.
And from that door poured forth countless terrifying monsters.
That was the precursor to the Second Total War. Something had gone wrong when the Galactic Empire was conducting a large-scale purge of Starbeasts. Internal power struggles caused this technologically advanced but politically backward autocracy to demonstrate perfectly in every decision that they did not care about the lives of non-citizens...
Then, during the fighting, in order to more quickly seize the merit of "exterminating Starbeasts," many of their military commanders conducted decapitation strikes—killing the leaders but ignoring the aftermath.
The consequence was that those chaotic, hateful creatures, driven mad by the loss of their alphas, began to wander through the stars like headless flies, indiscriminately attacking and devouring every lifeform they detected.
Humanity thus began an almost hopeless war. But that war drew the attention of the Galactic Empire. After a period of power struggles, certain members of the Empire extended a limited hand of assistance to the Solar System.
A single ship brought some technical data and material resources that meant nothing to the Empire, and then the people on that ship went off to tour the galaxy.
But decades later, when they returned to the Empire’s capital on the Ringworld, they found a group of humans from Earth—who looked valiant yet couldn't appear more kind and gentle—staying in the same reception area, waiting for an opportunity to have an audience with the Emperor.
From that moment on, the "Earthlings of the Solar System," who had endured countless slaughters and the tempering of desperate survival, truly entered the vision of interstellar society.
And now, the Principal—an existence whose age no one truly knew—watched that past, which had long since dissipated into the years, alongside Valen.
After a moment, she suddenly said, "Back then, none of us knew if our civilization could last another hundred years."
"..." Valen listened in silence. He knew she didn't need him to chime in or answer.
"When we had the audience with the 'Emperor,' I was the deputy leader of the delegation," she said. "Because 'he' liked to collect representative items from different civilizations, we had to showcase the diversity of Earth's culture so the Empire would apply the 'Pluralistic Civilization Protection Policy' to us...
"After much discussion, the leader and I adopted the ancient diplomatic etiquette of Rome and the Xia Kingdom, respectively. At that time, my token of office was a mechanical staff inlaid with a white jade disc carved with auspicious beasts and draped with red silk tassels. The leader wore an ancient Roman-style gold ring and held a stone levitating globe in both hands, which incorporated our highest post-war craftsmanship.
"As for why we chose 'stone' as the material, the reason we gave on the surface was 'offering the beginning of our civilization to His Majesty'..."
"And the actual reason?" Valen asked, curious as he listened to these ancient secrets.
"The actual reason was that everyone really wanted this damn Empire to just hurry up and collapse," the Principal said with a chuckle. "In an era where even the iron ornaments on hair ties had to be pried off and smelted into weapons, who among the survivors would want to give him something made of any other material?"
"Weren't you afraid he'd be angry?" Valen asked casually. "If he was displeased, a single look could have made the future entirely different."
"Those who could feel fear were already dead, regardless of what they were afraid of." The Principal leaned back in her chair and shook her head gently. "Every one of those who survived was fighting with their last breath... Do you think we really knew, while we were fighting, that the future we hoped for would actually come to pass?"
"..." Valen fell silent. He could understand that sentiment.
"Later, the 'Emperor' indeed wasn't angry; he even kept our tokens in his treasury. A high-ranking figure like him didn't deign to stoop down and trouble the envoys of a weak civilization—especially when the delegation consisted of 'one of that civilization's strongest but actually very weak psionicists,' 'one of that civilization's strongest but actually technologically backward technicians,' and a bunch of groveling ordinary people used to make up the numbers..."
The Principal spoke softly, her gaze distant. "...But they didn't know that the psionicist wearing the gold ring and the technician holding the staff were actually just decoys."
As she spoke, she began to smile.
"—Those ordinary people," she said, "were the finest diplomats and communicators on Earth at that time. The good things they brought back were far more numerous than the rewards the two of us received."
Valen sighed softly. "It couldn't have been easy."
"Of course not. Every one of them was so worried their hair was falling out daily." The Principal shrugged. "Some of them were even prepared to stay in the Empire forever—whether by dying or by selling themselves to some eccentric Imperials in exchange for resources under conditions they were willing to accept."
"...Hm?" Valen blinked, startled.
"Speaking of which, it's time to wrap up the theme." The Principal laughed.
She reached out and patted Valen’s shoulder... well, his arm.
"—Humanity has been able to endure until now by being ruthless enough, daring to gamble, being able to bend and stretch, insisting on the impossible, and never letting go of what we want—and if we can't grab it, trying again. That’s what someone I used to know said." Legion Commander Valianna, carrying a massive black box as large as a coffin on her back, said softly. "So, when I say I’m going to find that fish, drag it out, and kill it, I will definitely drag it out and kill it. Otherwise, we’ll soon find more and more parasitized stars on the border, and you won't even know if it's a natural disaster or a man-made one."
Those keywords made Lei Ting, who was walking beside her, thoughtful. Indeed, humanity had developed to this point and gained such a vast territory not by being gentle, kind, or cute enough to be treated like a pet, but by fighting through war and despair with smiles on their faces, wearing necklaces made of their comrades' ashes while offering gifts and the most powerful explosives to the outside world... until the entire galaxy was shocked and terrified, left with no choice but to look at them with new respect.
"Alright, board the ship." Legion Commander Valianna walked toward her team of psionic mecha pilots and gestured casually to Lei Ting. "'Double S,' your new comrade. Two-month limited edition."
"There's only a little over a month left now," Lei Ting said as he followed. The greatsword floating behind his back hadn't been designed with a non-combat carrying method in mind, so it could only be displayed openly, drawing everyone's gaze.
"A month... a bit short. But it doesn't matter. For your next internship, you might have to come back to us," Valianna said easily. She placed her weapon on its corresponding rack and sat in her designated seat.
At her gesture, Lei Ting placed his weapon next to the seat beside her and sat in that enviable spot.
"Did you understand what I just said?" she asked sternly.
"Of course." Lei Ting nodded in response as his psionic mecha rapidly deployed to cover his body. "Please issue your combat instructions."
—He understood, of course. Valianna wasn't just telling him "old stories that retro-futurists would like"; she was asking if he identified with the philosophy inscribed in those stories.
And now, she had received a satisfying answer.
"Very well." She smiled, but her sharp-featured face didn't gain even a hint of softness. "There are only a few combat instructions."
Lei Ting looked solemn, listening to her next words—
"One: Approach the target location at high speed."
"Two: Conduct high-intensity strikes on the target or its kin, and lure it into following 'lifeforms with high-energy signatures'."
"Three: Lead it back to the fleet and kill it all."
"In every step above, 'Double S' and I will participate throughout as core personnel." Against the background noise of the ship sealing shut, Legion Commander Valianna said, "He and his 'New Sun,' I and my 'Champion'—our presence will make the first two steps flawless."
"Now, everyone to your stations. Begin the mission!"
The first two steps were mentioned... but what about the third? Was the third step equally flawless?
No one in the ship, which held over thirty people, asked that question. They only shouted in unison: "Yes, Ma'am!"
***
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