Chapter 119 - Fragments of History and a Dangerous Game

Shen Fengting had dithered over this all night. There were raw metal cores to be had, and at the very best, they could walk away with four!

It had to do with a man from Franss named Alphonse.

He was the first recipient of the Starlight Azure Guardian Medal in the history of the Azure Coalition. In 1914, he had worked at the Coalition’s research headquarters as... a chef.

The Azure Coalition’s headquarters were in Europa, in the city of Busser.[1]

Humanity’s first confirmed contact with the Sharpie civilization also took place on the Eurasian landmass. Anything that lay outside that record simply could not be known for sure.

The history of the Coalition ran back to the start of the twentieth century.

In 1908, in an event later covered up as the Tunguska explosion, humanity killed the first group of Sharpies to land, though at a terrible price and with horrific losses.

Exactly as would happen every time afterward, the Sharpies had self-destructed upon death, and so did their aircraft. All humanity recovered was a heap of fragments and two dull metal chunks nobody yet understood.

So, the research began.

That landing wasn’t only the typical spindle-shaped aircraft that most soldiers encountered. After all, a spindle-shaped aircraft wasn’t much bigger than a jeep. Something much larger had landed back then.

Humanity pieced the fragments together and made hypotheses based on their existing knowledge and weapon technology. From that, humans later concluded that the larger object was on the scale of a small frigate or destroyer.

Research split into two directions: interstellar ships and super weaponry.

The research into interstellar ships could be concluded with one simple example: The Tenth Army of the Air Combat Reserve in the Oriental Republic Army Group had existed for close to forty years, but not a single vessel had ever left the ground.

Generation after generation of research experts pressed forward, yet none could solve the fundamental problem of running machinery on source energy.

Ships running on ordinary power stood no chance against Sharpie aircraft midair in terms of speed, at least with existing technologies.

Thankfully, the super weaponry line of research had produced a breakthrough.

Three great researchers had worked together to create the first-generation of source energy maneuvering devices and dead iron weapons, using the body itself to excite source energy and opening the age of super armaments.

They had been the gods of the Coalition in that generation. Back then, the Coalition actually had close ties with Europan governments, and wasn’t strong enough to stand on its own yet.

It didn’t take long for the Azure Coalition’s three leaders to realize that if certain governments of the day got hold of their work, the world would very likely destroy itself long before it ever had to face an invading civilization.

Thus began the slow process toward isolation. Despite facing temptation or threat alike, they held to the Azure Coalition’s independence and direction, firm in their resolve that their work would only be used against an invading alien civilization.

In the end, several Europan governments, driven mad by their hunger for power and long out of patience, launched an armed operation against the Azure Coalition in 1914.

Back then, the Coalition didn’t yet know about source energy integration levels. They simply picked the strongest soldiers and put them in the few second-generation devices they had. Alphonse underwent the implantation surgery, but the operation went awry and was advised to withdraw. He was a superb French chef, however, so he was kept on at the Coalition’s research headquarters in that capacity.

One night, the research headquarters fell to a surprise attack coordinated from within. Most soldiers assigned to the headquarters either died in their sleep or while suiting up. Traitorous comrades and an enemy force hundreds of times their number killed or severely injured the few on duty and the few who had managed to armor up.

A badly wounded soldier was carried into the kitchen and laid down there. He died soon after.

Alphonse had been in the back preparing the next day’s ingredients when this all happened. When he put on that device, he was still wearing his chef’s uniform underneath.

He was likely the first identified S-rank super combatant in human history.

That night, Alphonse cut his way through the enemy encirclement almost entirely alone.

Among those saved were the three researchers responsible for the maneuvering device, the gods of that era.

The Coalition’s retaliation swiftly followed, and assassins’ blades soon came to rest against the throats of several heads of state.

That was the moment the Azure Coalition declared eternal isolation.

“The Coalition still accepts money, though. Protection money,” Flying Plague Chicken cut in, interrupting Shen Fengting’s tale.

Shen Fengting coughed and shot him a helpless look.

Alphonse was the first recipient of the Starlight Azure Guardian Medal in the Azure Coalition’s history. It was because of this gratitude that the rights and benefits attached to the medal were established at an astonishing level from the start.

One energy core a day, all 365 days of the year. Along with that, they had the right to make one request of the Coalition, so long as it didn’t violate the principle of humanity’s survival.

Alphonse went on to guard the Coalition’s research headquarters for twenty years, though still in the capacity of a chef.

Twenty years later, he used that right from his medal to ask for personal isolation.

He wanted to become a painter.

After repeated attempts to keep him, and a lot of back-and-forth discussion, Alphonse and his family left the Coalition’s headquarters to become the garrison—or rather the guardians—of the Third Fixed Exploration Site.

“As far as you know, spindle-shaped aircraft land with no pattern at all, right?” Shen Fengting asked.

Evidently, an army commander could clearly learn a great deal more in his day than they could now.

“Don’t the Refusers stop and guide them to some extent?” Han Qingyu asked a little uncertainly. His information came from Tu Zi, so it was rather hazy to him. “Through source energy?”

“Yes, though that stopping and guiding is only a temporary measure,” Shen Fengting explained. “The truth is that the Sharpies have several fixed exploration points, and they come to them at around the same time every year without fail.”

The group was taken aback.

“Those places are also considered the likeliest spots on Azure to hold source energy or dead iron, and they’ve been priority research areas across the generations. They were each numbered and given the uniform name of the Fixed Exploration Sites.”

The Third Fixed Exploration Site that Alphonse and his family guarded was in Nepor.[2]

As the source energy maneuvering device developed and the Azure Coalition grew, the low-grade Sharpies that landed became treated as supplies that could be bought with lives.

Later came the Wipers. At roughly the same time, possibly a little earlier, another group also appeared: the Preservers.

These factions attacked the exploration sites.

“Alphonse...” Shen Fengting trailed off.

“Grandpa, are you saying Alphonse is still alive?!” Shen Yixiu asked.

“Yes.”

“He’d have to be over a hundred by now.”

“Over a hundred and twenty.”

The group was shocked.

“He also became a painter under another name—no, three names. Across his long life, he became a well-known painter under three different names?,” Shen Fengting said. “He’s from Franss, after all. A romantic old man.”

“What an interesting life,” Wen Jifei remarked.

“That’s right, interesting enough that he later turned the Third Fixed Exploration Site into a proving ground for hunting Sharpies. A playing field, of sorts. Once every three years, around the time the Sharpies are due, he invites a selection of outstanding young people from all over the world to compete in the trial. Whoever kills the Sharpie wins.

“At first, the prize was the raw metal core that comes with the spindle-shaped aircraft. Then, Alphonse raised the stakes and gave the winner one extra metal core. Later still, to make it more of an exploration, he airdropped two more metal cores at random points inside the site during the trial.”

Four cores!

By this point, Han Qingyu and the others had mostly caught on.

“This is a good thing, isn’t it?” Shen Yixiu’s confusion was shared by everyone at the table.

If this trial is so great, why didn’t Shen Fengting ever tell Shen Yixiu, and why did he hesitate all night about it?

Shen Fengting tilted his head toward his granddaughter and explained, “Every year there are deaths and injuries.”

“Do Wipers slip in?” Han Qingyu asked, on alert.

After all, the place held more than prizes. It was one of the likeliest spots to turn up source energy and dead iron.

“That’s probably impossible to avoid,” Shen Fengting said. “On top of that, Alphonse also allows the Preservers into his game.”

1. Novel’s version of Europe and Brussels ☜

2. Novel’s version of Nepal ☜