Yan Xueshan found his classroom.

When he found a classmate, he asked about the seating arrangements and found there were none, so he sat down in the middle seat with the best view of the blackboard and the podium. Then he took out his light computer and electronic pen, and sat upright.

Yan Xueshan thought he was a good student. When he was in the Imperial Military University, even in his worst subject, Tactical Analysis Exercises, he had perfect attendance. He also took careful notes in every class.

He still couldn’t figure out why he failed the exam.

The teacher hadn’t come yet, but the students were in an uproar.

They all seemed to be discussing the same thing:

“Did you see that? Did you see that? Today’s Federal News headlines!”

“Admiral Arthur admitted that he is in a relationship! It seems to be an interview from our school.”

“Where, where? What? When? Why don’t I remember this question?”

“I heard it was from an interview after the meeting.”

Yan Xueshan glanced at the article. The accompanying picture was a 4D picture. In that picture, Arthur was kindly signing autographs for the children around him.

“Ah, my heart is about to break.”

“What kind of person would be a good match for Admiral Arthur? It has to be a beauty that is as talented as him. Otherwise I won’t be convinced.”

“What’s the point of being convinced? Hahahahaha!”

“Besides, with a family like his…his family must have arranged a political marriage for him.”

“Maybe he met the omega with whom he fell in love at first sight?”

Yan Xueshan was confused for a moment.

Love object?  Was he referring to him? But he was just a marriage partner, or a marriage agreed to through matchmaking. Love wasn’t the same as a blind date. At least he thought so.

In Arthur’s opinion, were they in love?

Was there love?

Well, they made love…

The group of students continued to gossip.

“I know! I know! I’m an old fan. Admiral Arthur has an ideal type. He gave an interview before, and the reporter asked him about the type he liked.”

“What type?”

  “Wait for me to look for it, I have a video. I remember it was in this folder… Ah! I found it!”

In the video Arthur sat casually on a single sofa, the corners of his mouth curled in a polite smile. He smiled shyly after hearing the question, deliberately answering, “My ideal type? I like black hair and black eyes. The body shouldn’t be too thin. As for their character, they should be a bit cold at a glance, but actually very attentive and gentle. No matter how difficult and terrible things get, his heart would remain firm and would never be defeated.”

Yan Xueshan: “?”

It was the first time he saw this video. It sounded a bit familiar, as if it was talking about him but also not…

The black hair and eyes were the same, but he wasn’t gentle at all.

The girl named Polly interjected again. “What’s so good about this kind of likable, honey-mouthed alpha? Don’t you think the Blue Reaper is better? He’s so powerful but always kept a low-profile.”

“If the Red Knight wasn’t partnered with the Blue Reaper, there’s no way he would have been upgraded to S-rank Master Sergeant. Just look at the Blue Reaper’s record. His Melee Master Sergeants died several times because they were all not worthy of him. I think he might be even better than the Sniper God Xun Ying…”

Yan Xueshan couldn’t listen anymore. “They’re still no match.”

Polly turned her head and found that it was him again! Old and new grudges welled up in her heart as she spoke. “Why is it you again? Don’t always pretend to understand, and think you are qualified because you are older.”

Yan Xueshan said diplomatically, “I am a retired soldier so I indeed know more than you.”

Polly blushed. “You are a retired soldier huh? I guess you were just a low rank soldier, but the Blue Reaper was the greatest Sniper Master Sergeant! Do you know how many S-class Master Sergeants and A-class Master Sergeants he sniped? How many battleships he shot down?”

Yan Xueshan: “I don’t know.” 

He never counted but the Ministry of Military Affairs should have his statistics. How many there could be?  After more than ten years, that number was probably pretty big.

Her good friend, the chubby girl Nana, smilingly intervened and said to Yan Xueshan, “Wow, so you’re a retired soldier, huh? Then have you met the Blue Death himself? He is so low-key that one has seen him.”

Yan Xueshan didn’t deny it. “He’s a very ordinary person.”

Polly, still puffed up, said, “Don’t talk to him! The Ministry of War said that there will be discharges after the war, but it hasn’t started yet. This means he was the first to be cut, right? It means he was just some insignificant pawn, what does he even know?”

Yan Xueshan was still not angry. Theoretically, he didn’t have the psychological ability to have the emotion of anger.

His eyes were still serene as he looked at the girl and said flatly, “I just think that it’s one thing to participate in a war to protect the country, but it is another thing to kill people just to kill. Killing many people should never be something to be used to brag about your greatness.”

Polly hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to refute him. Yan Xueshan’s cold and accommodating stance quietly melted her anxiety.

 It also reminded Yan Xueshan of some old things.

When he was still in the army…

Actually, Arthur wasn’t always so sunny.

Once.

It was about a year, almost two years after Arthur was partnered with him. If he remembered correctly it was during a battle on Tianshu Star.

That battle was extraordinarily tragic.

At that time, the place where they garrisoned troops was located at the border between the Empire and the Federation. The regimes overlapped several times, so there were many refugees on the nearby planet. Arthur, who himself was almost a child at the time, would usually play with the local children on vacation. The children flocked to him like fledglings, chattering and calling him “Big Brother,” as he would spend his salary to buy toys for the children. He would buy toys and candy for them.

Wherever he went, there was the bright laughter of children.

Halfway through the year, they were transferred away due to a mission. When they finally returned, all the children who used to gather around Arthur were dead.

The Imperial Army, after taking over that place, didn’t comply with the terms for Human Rights and carried out a massacre.

Among them was a dead child named Eugene, who was the best friend of Arthur. Yan Xueshan still remembered this child’s smile with dimples that was very cute.

His temper was very lively and he was just like a little monkey, jumping up and down all day long. Eugene was an orphan wandering among the stars, who was caught by Arthur when he tried to steal from him. Then somehow the two of them became close friends, and Arthur treated him as his brother.

After meeting Arthur, Eugene washed his hands of thievery and Arthur funded his schooling. Yan Xueshan remembered that every time he saw the boy, he would yell that he also wanted to learn at the Imperial Military University in the future, and wanted to become mecha Master Sergeant just like Arthur.

However, he didn’t even manage to grow up safely, and died quietly at the age of nine.

He also died a horrible death, probably because of his relationship with them. Eugene had been horribly abused before his death.

Arthur just froze when he found out about his death, saying he expected it.

This was very abnormal.

Then he didn’t speak for three days arranging tactics.

When encountering the army that slaughtered the city, Arthur went mad.

In fact, at first glance Arthur still was very calm.

Their superior instructed them to defend, but the strategy Arthur set was annihilation. He methodically laid out his fire spots, distributing his forces as he lined up his troops.

Then he led a charge to kill the enemy.

This was when Yan Xueshan discovered that he wasn’t quite alright. In the past, Arthur’s style was very clean, but this time his departure was out of norm.  If he could torture and kill, he wouldn’t kill the enemy with just one blow. He destroyed them one by one.

 Yan Xueshan found it strange because Arthur didn’t have this type of personality.

Arthur’s performance gave Yan Xueshan the feeling that Arthur didn’t know which of the enemy was the murderer of the children, and since he didn’t have time to investigate them one by one, he treated them like every one of them was. They were all only worthy to be smashed into pieces.

It felt like Arthur was going crazy. Since Yan Xueshan was a person who was always a little crazy, he didn’t judge him.

That battle was a great victory.

There were also no prisoners since all of them died on the battlefield. This was also not normal, but Arthur arranged it so carefully that no one picked up on it.

Generally speaking, Yan Xueshan wouldn’t bother with his partner’s personal affairs.

But it was the first time that he felt that he needed to take care of it.

Otherwise it would be a pity.

After returning, at the celebration, everyone went wild, lifting Arthur up and cheering for him. Arthur received countless compliments and got so drunk that his face stiffened with laughter.

No one mentioned little Eugene, who was more insignificant than dust in the war between the Federation and the Empire.

But Yan Xueshan knew that Arthur had taken revenge for Eugene. For that boy who had no mother or father and was always bickered with him and used to steal, he quietly committed a massacre.

Sometimes he thought Arthur couldn’t be more honest, but Arthur dared to do such a violent thing without even changing his expression.

He went back to the lounge smelling of alcohol, with a smile on his face, and chatted endlessly with Yan Xueshan. “I’m so happy. I am really happy today. Why don’t you go to the banquet? So happy! Hahahahaha!”

Yan Xueshan was cleaning his sniper rifle, and moved to the side to avoid the alcoholic smell. He said, “Don’t come near me, you stink of alcohol.”

Arthur said randomly, “I just want to talk with you, can you not be so cold to me today? Today is such a happy day…”

Yan Xueshan raised his head and said to him, “No, you’re not happy at all.”

The smile froze on Arthur’s face. His expression changed in an instant. His fake smile gradually disappeared as he calmed down.

Yan Xueshan said, “Eugene said that he wanted to find his parents. You can help him find them. If they’re already dead, bury him next to them.”

This one sentence made Arthur sober up.

There was a long silence.

Finally Arthur sat down beside him and asked, “Can I get a hug?”

Yan Xueshan thought for a moment and hugged him. Then he felt his shoulder becoming wet with tears.

For the first time, Yan Xueshan, who had always been a cold person, allowed another person to hug him. He hugged him all night, without pushing the other person away.

Three years later, Arthur finally found that child’s parents. Not surprisingly, they were both already dead. Spending his own money, Arthur finally buried them together in one grave.

 

……

 

Yan Xueshan suddenly remembered it now.

It seems that since then, Arthur’s attitude towards him has been subtly different.

His class was over.

The students in front were still spreading gossip. “Shit, they summed up Admiral Arthur’s top 10 rumored partners!!!”

“Who’s Number One?”

“Who else could it be? The ‘Blue Reaper’! I don’t know if he’s a man or a woman, dead or alive, but some people even suspect that he’s actually an intelligent AI made by the Federation. Even so, he has been voted Number One. Outrageous! These people are kowtowing to their CP!”

“Is probably some ugly bitch, that’s why she is afraid to show her face in public. Hahahahaha.”

Polly said angrily, “You guys are the ugly ones, your mind is ugly! No matter what the Blue Reaper looks like, he must be the most beautiful and gentle person in the world.”

Yan Xueshan: “…”

At this time, the book-shaped tablet he was studying with received a new message.

Yan Xueshan opened it to see.

It was from Arthur.

[Master, are you angry?]

Yan Xueshan replied dryly.

[No.]

Arthur’s status showed that he was typing, then stopped. Then he was typing again, then stopped again.

He didn’t know how it happened, maybe because the group of children were gossiping all day long next to him which confused Yan Xueshan to type:

[Are we in love now?]

 

Edited by: Antiope1

 

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