Warrant Officer Yu Lian stood in place, gasping for breath for a long time before his emotions calmed down. He could see that the bright white nebula in his consciousness sea was getting brighter, which was clearly a sign of further advancement in spiritual energy. As expected, keeping his spirit and spiritual energy Star Ring under long-term tension through combat could indeed greatly promote his own progress, as long as he didn't accidentally overdo it. This was also why so many masters emerged from the battlefield during the later tumultuous great era.
Of course, this was a good thing, but it also meant that Yu Lian had once again taken a solid step towards the "Balance" path of being good at everything but excelling at nothing. Thinking of this, he sighed deeply once more.
"...Don't be sad, our Moon People boy, you've done your best!" Lieutenant Mondeson, lying on the soft mat, was somewhat moved and comforted Yu Lian with an open heart.
You might have misunderstood something… Yu Lian felt that it was better not to expose a dying person.
Yes, Lieutenant Mondeson, the Commander of the 12th Garrison Station, had already been sentenced to death by a grief-stricken Doctor Banks. More than half of his skin was severely burned, and he had multiple broken or bruised bones, but these were not the true fatal injuries. The real fatal injury was a penetrating wound to his lower abdomen, which tore half of his spleen and liver, left by the hook claws of a Gravel Dragon.
If they were in Tulon, he might have been saved by being immediately sent to a large hospital's culture dish, but here, the only thing Doctor Banks could do was inject the Lieutenant with a painkiller to alleviate his suffering as much as possible before his life ended.
Yu Lian looked at Mr. Lieutenant, who possessed both the attributes of a swordsman and a greasy old hand, and felt a little choked up. Even with his face somewhat disfigured by burns, he still managed to force out a smile that could scare children, and slowly said in a tone of one who had seen through the world and attained great enlightenment: "If it weren't for you, none of us here might have survived. This is the fate of us grunts! Crossing a universe from so far away, far from the Galaxy Native Land, isn't it just for a bit of profit? Cough, cough, since we took it, don't complain about getting hit."
Why are you suddenly reviewing your life? This doesn't fit your character! And I'm not anyone to you!
Although the security forces were cannon fodder, at the very bottom of the military's pecking order, serving in the Andromeda Galaxy colonies indeed offered a lot of perks.
Being far from the Galaxy Native Land, the Governor's Office had semi-autonomous rights, and there weren't as many military police and courts-martial. The management of the security forces, especially garrison stations far from urban areas, was not as strict. Embezzling military funds, illicitly mining precious minerals, poaching animals, collecting tributes from plantations and mines, looting Sand People natives, and so on, were all sources for their private coffers.
Do you know about the blockhouses on the North China Plain during the Anti-Japanese War? A garrison station is of that nature. What good conduct can you expect from soldiers guarding a blockhouse?
"But, I originally thought I would be killed by a Sand People's blowdart, and my body would be dragged away to feed their big lizards. How could I die at the hands of a Gravel Dragon? This is unreasonable! And these monsters, I've never seen them before, it's too strange…"
As a grassroots Commander, Mr. Lieutenant was not outstanding, but as an old hand, he at least had a basic level of sensitivity.
No matter how powerful, how much of a planetary overlord, how much of a Phantom Beast, or how much at the top of the food chain a Gravel Dragon was, it was still a wild animal. It would only attack a well-defended barracks if it had lost its mind, and after being injured, it not only didn't flee but fought to the very end.
That group of Xenomorphs also completely lacked the self-awareness of wild animals, behaving more bravely and Dreadnought than any historically renowned army in civilized history, fighting to the last one, their morale practically locked in.
However, the Lieutenant probably couldn't guess that a puppet bug was actually stuffed inside the Gravel Dragon's belly, and its body had completely become a weapon. This was the Bug Swarm's consistent modus operandi: captured creatures, after their genetic data was analyzed, if not played to death, were either eaten or injected with a puppet bug to be used as suicide squads. After all, some Phantom Beast's spiritual energy-like abilities could not be replicated by the Bug Swarm, and using them as suicide squads could even enrich the Bug Swarm's tactics.
It must be said that this Gravel Dragon was truly tragic. The moment Yu Lian dug into its belly and crushed the puppet bug, he could still feel a trace of relief and gratitude from the other party.
Yu Lian truly sympathized with this unlucky big fellow, so he immediately took out its Dragon Crystal to give it a complete release.
Mr. Mondeson would never have guessed that the Bug Swarm's morale was not locked, but rather, they had no concept of morale at all. Except for the Queen and a small number of Lord Bugs, the rest of the Bug Swarm were merely biological weapons; they would not feel pain, would not feel fear, and would certainly not flee, only fight to the end.
Yu Lian, reborn from the future, knew that the Queen's background was pitiful and the Bug Swarm's fate was also pitiful, but he really didn't want to sympathize with them.
"Even if it's reported, the higher-ups won't believe it, right? Everyone will have died for nothing, I, I…" He looked at Yu Lian with hopeful, piercing eyes, the plea in his gaze seemingly solidifying into a tangible sense of pressure, making even Yu Lian, a transmigrator, a reborn person, and a newly advanced spiritual energy user, feel a bit of pressure.
"I will report the situation here truthfully and argue for it! You will receive the evaluation you deserve. Your family will definitely receive the officer's pension and medals. All the spoils of war we've obtained during this period, I will find an excellent channel to sell them, and your family will also receive their rightful share. Eleanor… Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte will not know about Lieutenant Russo and Kruse, I guarantee you!"
Of course, if she discovers it herself, I won't be responsible, but even then, I will definitely exclude you. This is a man's promise, Yu Lian thought.
Lieutenant Mondeson revealed a relieved smile. The other party was a Moon People, a top student, an elite among elites, and now confirmed to be a spiritual energy user; his future prospects were imaginable. The weight of his testimony was naturally vastly different from that of himself, a "security force grunt" from a common soldier background.
"I wasn't a good Commander…"
"Commander." Yu Lian wanted to comfort him, treating it as hospice care. But the other party directly interrupted him, saying loudly: "I really wasn't a good Commander, because I didn't listen to you, and that's why I've ended up in this situation now. But, I'm just an unemployed swordsman who came to the colony just to make a living! I was promoted to officer because I had some brute strength… But, I really don't know how to fight! How to train, how to deploy firepower, how to make decisions, I really don't understand! My own life is a mess, so how can I be responsible for the lives of others?"
Unemployed and trying to make a living… Yu Lian sighed silently. Whether it was security force officers like Mondeson or immigrants who left their homes, they all shared similar backgrounds.
"But you're different. Moon People… No, Warrant Officer Yu Lian! You can lead them! You are the only officer here! Don't abandon them, lead them to survive!"
This guy probably thought that since Yu Lian was now a spiritual energy user, he could completely abandon everyone and run back to Tulon by himself. It must be said that the Lieutenant was a bit narrow-minded, but it also had to be admitted that with such a prevailing atmosphere, one couldn't really blame him.
"Don't worry, I will lead everyone to survive! I still promise you!"
"Good, good, mm, excellent… Hehe, Moon People, you should know… If you had this kind of spirit when you first arrived, I would have handed over command to you a long time ago. Hehehe…"
Lieutenant Mondeson passed away with a mixed dry laugh. Although his final laughter was a bit stiff, he at least died smiling.
And so, Yu Lian, who was strictly speaking still a student, became the only officer at the 12th Garrison Station.
Everyone stood in place, silently mourning around Lieutenant Mondeson's body for a while. Yu Lian heard Miss Belinda's quiet sobs, and could also feel the sorrow lingering in the silent atmosphere.
Lieutenant Mondeson was truly not a good officer, but precisely because of that, everyone actually liked him very much.
After a while, Ina whispered, "…Commander, what do we do next?"
"Collect the remains of all the fallen and burn them…" Yu Lian turned around and spoke under everyone's expectant gaze: "Take me to the garage and start those armored vehicles!"
"This place is not safe to stay!" he added.