Chapter 1848: Under the Monument

Bathed in the light and waves of the starships, what appeared in the eyes of the audience and moved before the parliament building of the federation slowly was a special team made of countless soldiers in military uniform. They walked at the same pace and wore the same solemn and grieved expression, with a small metal box covered in the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag in their hands.

The warriors who had sacrificed everything for the Star Glory Federation in the space battle a month ago slept inside the boxes quietly. Accompanied by the low but soul-stirring march song ‘Motherland Remembers’, they moved forward in silence.

Every street, alley, and square was soundless. The only thing that could be heard was the heavy breath. Many of them had shed too many tears in the past month. At this moment, they stopped crying and simply held each other’s hands. Staring at the metal boxes that were as red as fire, they sang together with the tune of ‘Motherland Remembers’.

After the deceased passed, it was the group of disabled soldiers.

Many of them had just recovered from the medical cabins in the hospitals. Every one of them had lost part of their limbs and organs, which were replaced by cold, shining prosthetics. Some of them had even replaced their entire body with an artificial one.

They had not gotten used to the brand-new limbs and organs. Also, having no time to rehearse the pace and march, they were naturally not as unified as the guard of honor at the beginning.

But the intense smell of blood from the space battle a month ago still enshrouded them tightly and leaked into their muscles, veins, nerves, and bones, endowing them with the almost concrete killing intent that was entirely different from the vibe of the guard of honor.

Their surging killing intent completely tore apart the slightly heavy atmosphere and turned into the invincible dominance. Their disobedient eyes seemed to be declaring, “Look, even the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings from the center of the cosmos are no match for us. We are the strongest human army in the three thousand Sectors!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Closely following the team of disabled soldiers was the iron army comprising tens of thousands of crystal suits. Before they appeared in the people’s eyes, footsteps rumbled first like thunder. Not just the entire street, even every glass windows of the skyscrapers on both sides of the road were uttering weird noises because of the blast.

From the floating auditorium in midair, in the children’s perspective, they saw that a glittering iron dragon was striding forward one step after another unhurriedly.

“Wow…”

The children opened their mouths wide again after all the trouble to close it. It seemed big enough to stuff a duck egg if not a small watermelon inside.

A lot of the indecisive children were caught in a dilemma.

They had just made up their minds to become space shuttle pilots that would roam the universe.

After watching the magnificence of the starships, they changed their mind and decided to become part of the iron beasts.

But when the army of crystal suits showed, they were attracted by the charisma and awesomeness of the ‘king of magical equipment’ again.

Space shuttles, starships, and crystal suits… Which should they choose?

The kids looked at each other in bewilderment and failed to come to a decision.

However, when the few magnificent shadows that they mistook for skyscrapers at the beginning moved over slowly and leaned toward them, allowing the kids to get a closer look of their whole appearance, the kids forgot all about the space shuttles, starships, and crystal suits. They were all too stunned to think about anything.

When the iron giants walked past them, because they were on the floating auditorium, the heads and enormous eyes of the giants happened to be parallel to them. Some of the giants even turned around and looked at them gently.

“C—Colossi!”

“Such huge giants!”

“Isn’t that the most awesome Colossus, Tartarean Skeleton, that our teacher mentioned? I’m told that it destroyed the space gate of the Imperium in the battle and even blew up the enemy’s commander by itself. So impressive and splendid!”

“It should be the real super great hero Li Yao inside but not the clumsy uncle who visited our kindergarten last time, right?”

“I’ve decided. After I grow up, I’ll pilot a Colossus like Li Yao!”

The kids jumped up and down and shouted.

Had it not been for the blockage of the web, the bolder kids would have jumped onto the shoulders of the Colossi from the floating auditorium.

After Li Yao led the super heavy legion made of twenty Colossi past the parliament building of the federation slowly, the children were still drooling at the back of the mountains with stars of hope in their eyes.

The deceased soldiers covered in flags, the square of the disabled soldiers, the crystal suit legion, and the troop of Colossi passed by the parliament building in turn and gathered in the Federal Square.

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It was exactly the spot where Lu Zui, the former director of the Secret Sword Bureau, had shockingly attempted to assassinate Jiang Hailiu, the Speaker at that time.

After a hundred years of expansion and modification, square had been enlarged by three times, and the underground part had been established into an enormous war museum, recording the major events in the six hundred years from the Star Glory Federation’s birth to its rise.

Today, a new statue was erected at the center of the square.

The enormous statue was almost fifty meters tall. The main part of the statue was a highly abstract, peaceful, and quiet planet, with countless high mountains and zigzagging shorelines. It could be seen as the capital planet or any habitable planet in the Star Glory Federation.

The glittering planet was carried on the shoulder by a giant with brawny arms who was on one knee.

Judging from the muscles where veins were protruding, the teeth that were being gritted hard, and the knee that had deeply smashed into the ground, the planet was much too heavy for the giant.

But still, supported by some invisible strength, he held the heavy planet.

If one observed carefully, they would discover that the vivid giant was actually full of cracks.

It was made of countless metal pieces the size of fingernails, or more exactly, the debris of the crystal suits, starships, space shuttles, and even Colossi of the federal army in the space battle!

There was more to the glittering, revolving ‘planet’ above, too.

Inside the ‘planet’ was an information base of an unprecedented scale. Every spot of light the size of the tip of a needle that constituted the brilliance of the planet on the surface represented the name of a martyr.

The federal government and the families of the martyrs were still adding their personal information into the base, including photos, videos, and texts.

Gradually, the Federal Monument of Martyrs would include the whole life of the hundreds of thousands of deceased.

They would not be just cold names on the monument, or just ‘heroes’ or ‘idealists’ in the abstract sense. Instead, they would be fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands made of flesh and blood who could talk and smile.

The monument would be open to the whole federation. People could both read their information in the war museum and visit the place remotely via the Spiritual Nexus to pay tributes to the deceased.

Today, the first national memorial ceremony regarding the space battle was hosted by Speaker Wan Guqing.

After a solemn, hour-long memorial ceremony, Ding Lingdang, in a white suit and carrying a ribbon with the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars pattern, walked to the front of the Federal Monument of Martyrs.

On her left and right sides were the ‘Constitution of the Star Glory Federation’ and ‘Constitution of Cultivators’. The two fundamental laws of the country were both tied by the bands that were branded with the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblem. She put her hands on the two books and stared at the billions of people in the whole federation, beginning her inaugural speech.

“Thank you, Speaker Wan Guqing, representatives of the federal parliament, citizens of the Star Glory Federation, compatriots of the seven Sectors, and friends from Firefly and the Ancient Sages Sector. Thank you.

“I believe that there can’t be a better place to make the most solemn vow than under the Federal Monument of Martyrs and the gazes of billions of compatriots.”

The warriors on the federal square—the living and the deceased, the healthy and the disabled, those protected in iron armor and those who stood like pine trees with their hot blood—listened quietly.

“In the past month, or rather, in the last hundred years, our young nation that has just been established at the edge of the cosmos has experienced an unprecedented crisis and challenge.

“Had it not been for the people before me now, the cataclysm would’ve been unavoidable. Our home, our families, and our future would’ve all been destroyed.

“The crisis is over for now, but the future of peace, happiness, and wonders is far from here. At the center of the cosmos, countless ordinary people are suffering in agony and losing their lives in mines, jungles, and the cold space as slaves. Too many talents are exterminated before they are awakened, and too much hope has died out before it is ignited. The most beautiful feelings of mankind are manipulated, trampled on, and twisted.

“This is a massacre against all human beings, and it must stop immediately!

“Either at the center of the cosmos or at the edge of it, we are compatriots illuminated by the brilliance of the same civilization. The sea of stars is vast and boundless, but nobody can be an island entirely of itself. Our hearts are connected. We share the same history, culture, destiny, and glory. Their suffering is our suffering, their dream is our dream, their success is our success, and their oppression is our oppression!”

“I know that many of our compatriots are tired of war. I’m not sure how much slaughter and suffering we will face on the journey to the center of the cosmos. If there is the tiniest possibility, nobody would want to be involved in incessant war.

“But I have to tell you that what is on our shoulders is not just a glorious mission but also the cruel reality.

“The behemoth at the center of the cosmos is still preparing its warriors and whetting its blades. If we do not stop the enemy but dwell in some illusionary peace, the day will come when the miserable and desperate fate of our compatriots at the center of the cosmos becomes our fate.

“If we don’t fight for them at this moment, nobody will fight for us when our eventual destruction comes!”

In the Nether World Sector, the Uranian Ring Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, the deserts of the Water Crystal Sector, the space of the Flying Star Sector, the harsh resource planets, the bottom level of the zigzagging mines… Countless people held their breath and listened to the solemn promise.

“Therefore, I hereby pledge my loyalty to the Star Glory Federation, the Supreme Parliament, and all the people of the federation. With my loyalty, I plead for all my compatriots to summon your courage, grab your weapons, and fight side by side until the end of the war.

“I swear that I will lead the Star Glory Federation, which will lead the entire civilization of mankind, forward in the dark and boundless sea of stars and create a land of light and hope that has never been seen before!”