Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“What?” James was dumbfounded. He did not remember that he had such a super soldier under him.
“Hold on a second! The 2nd Company?” James suddenly thought of the 2nd Company under Ralph, who had volunteered to mark the behemoth’s coordinates three days ago. According to the intel recorded by the battlefield cameras, the 2nd Company had been completely annihilated except for one, who was missing. Could this guy be that missing soldier?
Damn it! Those guys in Human Resources are a bunch of worms! How could they send a super soldier to become a cook? I’m going to file a complaint against them after the mission! James cursed those people in Human Resources.
At that moment, James wanted to retrieve Qin Hao’s battlefield record as that would be direct proof of his identity. But, he found that he could not connect to Qin Hao’s battlefield recorder.
“My body cam was destroyed during combat, Sir!” Qin Hao replied.
Only then did James notice the body cam on Qin Hao’s shoulder. There was a hole in the device.
“I can prove Qin Hao’s identity, Sir!” Nicole switched on her battlefield cam and showed James the recording.
James nodded. It was not like he was suspicious of Qin Hao. Plus, it was not a war between humans. Their enemy was the insectoids. It was too easy to identify their enemy, so he was not concerned about enemy spy infiltration.
Therefore, after Nicole provided proof of Qin Hao’s identity, James used his discretion to make Qin Hao his personal bodyguard. After all, it was only a matter of formality—more so because the daughter of a lieutenant general was giving her guarantee here.
“Private Qin Hao, I will make you a platoon commander directly under my division.”
James thought such a powerful fighter had to be a trained special forces soldier and Qin Hao must have offended someone and gotten himself banished to the mess in the 106th Division. Otherwise, how did an extraordinary soldier end up becoming cannon fodder in his small division?
James would not pass up this opportunity. With this powerful soldier as his bodyguard, he would have a higher survival rate on the battlefield. That had been proven when Qin Hao brought Nicole and Lucia out of the insectoid’s occupied territory.
“Thank you, Sir!” Qin Hao replied. Someone from the material command quickly brought a new battlefield recorder to him.
As the division commander, James could assign tasks to Qin Hao, but he did not have the authority to carry out promotions. So although Qin Hao was made a platoon commander, he was still officially a private. He would have to wait until after the mission was over and the army retrieved the data from the body cam to be considered for a promotion.
“Go meet your men!” James sent Qin Hao away, then spun around to look at Nicole. “I’ve called for air support. They will make sure that it is safe before they send a landing craft to pick you guys up.”
“Finally, we can return to the battleship!” Lucia could not be happier. After she received medical treatment, the bruises on her arm had mostly healed.
Nicole nodded in acknowledgment. She knew that she would not make a difference there now, and because of who she was, James would have to send men to protect her. She would only be a burden there.
While Nicole agreed with James, she glanced at Qin Hao. She was deeply impressed by this man, who had single-handedly fought and killed a giant commander beetle.
She had decided that once she was back on the battleship, she would pester her father, asking him to transfer Qin Hao out of the 106th Division. It was a waste of talent for Qin Hao to stay in the division; the equipment of the mechanized infantry did not do him justice.
…
“Holy moly! Are you from the special forces, Commander?”
“Did you offend someone last time, Commander? If not, how did someone like you end up here as a private?”
The soldiers under his command thought the same as James. With Qin Hao’s capabilities, he should not have belonged there as a private. Someone must have deliberately stymied his promotion.
None of them knew that Qin Hao had only gained his extraordinary abilities a few days ago. Before he was wounded on Isis Beach, he was only a run-of-the-mill private.
Qin Hao could only smile at hearing what his men said. He knew the more he talked, the easier he would expose himself. The best thing to do was to keep his mouth shut. He was not ready to become a lab rat yet.
However, his silence had further reinforced the misunderstanding. They became even more convinced that Qin Hao must have offended someone powerful. That was why he dared not even mention it.
Nevertheless, the soldiers respected him. While Qin Hao was made a platoon commander when he was still a private, none of his men, which consisted of corporals and sergeants, argued against it. He had proven himself on the battlefield.
In the Federation Army’s bureaucratic structure, the higher the position, the more respect. However, when it came to the frontline soldiers, they respected those who showed their capabilities on the battlefield. They trusted him instead of a fat-a**, high-ranking officer because they knew he would watch their back.
Qin Hao had proven himself as trustworthy on the battlefield. His soldiers might have higher-ranked positions than him, but they willingly obeyed his command.
Half an hour later, the roar of a fighter aircraft rumbled in the air as the carrier arrived to clear out an area for the landing craft. Since they were coming to retrieve the lieutenant general’s daughter, they could not afford to make mistakes.
A carpet-bombing had begun. It gave the entire High Ground Z3 and the 106th Division a momentary respite. After the bombing, the attack from the insectoids had apparently relented.
The engine roared as the landing craft descended.
“See you around, Qin Hao!” Nicole went up to Qin Hao. Meanwhile, Lucia had gone onboard; she could not wait to leave the battlefield and go back to the safe haven of the battleship.
“Take care and be safe!” Qin Hao returned a smile. He had just learned about who Nicole was, and her departure was understandable. Privilege had been a fact of life for some since the existence of humankind.