Chapter 355 - 245: Special-Class Merit, Major
Chapter 355: Chapter 245: Special-Class Merit, Major
At that moment, Li Xiang and his group were on a ten-thousand-ton-class destroyer, riding the wind and cleaving the azure waves of the Pacific Ocean.
They were each assigned a room to rest for a while. Afterward, they headed to the warship’s mess hall to enjoy a sumptuous dinner.
The food was quite abundant, with an incredible variety. There was Shandong-style braised sea bass, Cantonese-style poached shrimp, Sichuan-style maoxuewang drizzled with bright red chili oil, Yangzhou fried rice, Shan Province roujiamo, and Northeast di san xian... It was safe to say they catered to all sorts of tastes from both the north and south.
The soldiers ate there as well and were quite curious about them.
After all, Luo Feifei was one of them.
They had already dropped their disguises during their retreat using the Earth Escape, and now that they were on the ship, there was even less of a need for them. Here, they could show their true faces.
It was the first time Lei Jiaming and the others had ever been on a warship—and one of the world’s most advanced destroyers, no less—so they were all quite excited.
Because their "Level" was relatively high, the higher-ups gave the order that they could be given a tour.
To be honest, the security classification of this warship probably wasn’t even as high as that of Li Xiang and his group.
However, there were some restrictions. For instance, taking photos was limited to non-classified areas like the deck.
But even just the deck was incredible.
On the deck, Lei Jiaming had his sister, Lei Xiaohui, snap photos of him from every angle, having the time of his life.
It had to be said, the ship was massive.
The naval gun—he’d always thought it was some little thing, but in reality, it was over three meters tall. A person standing beneath it couldn’t even reach the barrel.
The soldiers were all very curious as to who these people were.
’How did they suddenly appear on a deserted island in the Pacific, and why did the higher-ups dispatch a special mission just to welcome them?’
And on top of it all, Luo Feifei was actually there.
’My God, she’s a megastar, the nation’s goddess! And she’s so young—not even an adult yet.’
The soldiers were thrilled. It wasn’t every day they got to see such a stunning beauty.
There were young, beautiful, and dashing female soldiers on the warship, but they just couldn’t compare to Luo Feifei.
Forget Luo Feifei; even the looks and figures of the other three girls—Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui—were beyond what the average female soldier could compare to.
Even Zhang Youyou possessed first-class looks and a stunning figure.
Before meeting Li Xiang, the female soldiers on this warship, especially the ones on the bridge, would have made Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui die with envy.
’Look at them. They’re so young, not much older than us, and they’re already operating a ten-thousand-ton-class destroyer. Then look at me, slaving away at some private company, miserable, with no job security, and no sense of purpose.’
But things were different now. Although they were still technically working for someone—well, for Li Xiang—they couldn’t have asked for a better boss. He was taking them to new heights, and had even turned them into Extraordinary Beings.
Now, it was the female soldiers who envied these three women.
They had to salute and address them as "Ma’am" on sight.
Granted, Li Xiang and his group didn’t actually have military ranks or belong to the official hierarchy, but the captain was personally escorting them with a respectful attitude, a clear sign of their extraordinary status.
The dashing female helmsmen on the bridge were mostly Sergeants or Staff Sergeants in the technical NCO track. Although their rank was higher than that of an ordinary soldier and they had bright futures ahead, they really couldn’t compare to Yao Yao and the others.
Because soon enough, Yao Yao and the others would be Second Lieutenants or Lieutenants.
But for a Sergeant or Staff Sergeant, who were on the NCO track, to become a Second Lieutenant (on the officer track) was an incredibly difficult leap to make.
After night fell, everyone returned to their cabins to rest. The private cabins, at roughly six square meters, were quite nice.
The only drawback was that this was a warship, not a cruise ship where one could lie in bed and look out at the sea through a porthole.
The journey was a novel experience. Ultimately, Li Xiang and his group were dropped off at a port in Guangdong Province, from where they took a high-speed train in business class to Rongcheng.
After arriving in Rongcheng, Xu Xuan took everyone to one of his hotels, treating it as a post-mission vacation. On another note, he had to write a report.
Li Xiang also had to hand over the Exotic Beast carcass.
As before, it was placed in a very sturdy, electromagnetically shielded alloy case, which was then collected by specialized personnel.
Xu Xuan was a master at writing reports, especially official documents of this kind, having been immersed in that world since childhood. Zhang Youyou was also very skilled, but the others were a bit weaker when it came to this type of writing.
So, Li Xiang handed the task over to Xu Xuan.
After Xu Xuan finished a draft, he had Zhang Youyou help him revise it before bringing the final version to Li Xiang for review.
"It’s fair, accurately reflects the situation, the language is concise, and it’s clearly organized. Impressive," Li Xiang said, giving a thumbs-up. He then called everyone else over to look at it. They all signed their names and dated it, and with that, the report was submitted.
Luo Feifei was naturally there as well. She was supposed to have returned to Shanghai to continue her career, but having finally managed to "escape" for a break, she wanted to have fun for a few more days.
Mainly, she wanted to spend a few more days having fun with Li Xiang.
After finishing their business in Rongcheng, Luo Feifei went home with Li Xiang. She didn’t stay in a hotel, but moved directly into his house—into the same room she had rented while filming the movie version of The Return of the Condor Heroes.
Last time, she had stayed with her mother, but this time, she was staying alone.
The two of them often stayed up late, going out to play with the cat, walk the dog, and have fun with Tuantuan, all while exchanging cultivation insights.
Li Xiang gave the Tier Twenty-sixth Electric Light Illusion Armor to Luo Feifei.
Since Luo Feifei’s superpowers were of the Water and Ice Elements, combining them with the "Thunderbolt" attribute of the Electric Light Illusion Armor resulted in a synergistic effect that was often miraculous.
Besides the "Thunderbolt" Electric Energy attribute, this Armor also had two other Extraordinary Attributes: "Phantom" and "Extreme Speed."
"Phantom" could create nine illusory clones, making it impossible for an enemy to tell real from fake—what seemed illusory could be real, and what seemed real could be illusory. As for "Extreme Speed," it meant that by wearing this Armor, one could reach speeds of 10 Mach, equivalent to the speed of that adult Exotic Beast.
However, this was a Saint Tier Spirit Armor, and its full power could only be unleashed after the user reached the Saint Tier. With Luo Feifei’s current strength, she could barely manage to create three clones, and her speed only reached about 3 Mach.
Even so, that was already incredibly formidable.
An ordinary Saint Tier being could already boast to their peers if they could reach a speed of one Mach. In classic Xianxia lore, this was known as "Sword Qi Thunder Sound."
Powerful Saint Tier beings might only reach three or four Mach.
A speed of ten Mach could dominate 99% of Saint Tier beings, placing one among the absolute elite of that realm.
Of course, combat power wasn’t just about speed; there were many other factors involved.
These past few days, Li Xiang had been consolidating his Tier Eight realm while also familiarizing himself with the various skills of his Great Lifebound Rune, the "Earth Pivot World Record." However, limited by his cultivation, his Spiritual Power was still shallow. Aside from a few superpowers like the Earth Escape Technique, Earth Wall Technique, Earth Spike Technique, and Quicksand Technique, he was unable to use the others.
Even if he could, they wouldn’t have much of an effect.
Take the Quicksand Technique, for example. Li Xiang considered himself quite proficient with it, but his Spiritual Power was too shallow. He could only create a patch of quicksand three to four meters wide. It was enough to trap some wild animals, but for large-scale warfare, it was practically useless—like child’s play. He still had a long road ahead of him.
As for the System’s Otherworldly Warehouse, it had naturally been upgraded again, its side length doubling.
Previously, the warehouse’s side length was 128 meters; now it was 256 meters. Being a cube, its spatial volume had expanded to 256m x 256m x 256m, for a total of 16,777,216 cubic meters.
Using ship displacement as an analogy, this was equivalent to 16.777 million tons. The warehouse once again felt vast and empty, capable of holding an enormous amount of things.
Furthermore, the 32,000 Achievement Points for advancing to Tier Eight had also been credited to his account.
In addition, with the advancement of his realm, his existing superpowers had all improved to varying degrees. For example, his strength of 100,000 jin had increased to around 110,000 jin, and his Extreme Speed of 5 Mach had increased to about 5.5 Mach, with a cruising speed of around 2.8 Mach.
As for abilities like Cold Ice Sword Qi, Golden Light Shield, and Night Vision Technique, their "base stats" were low to begin with, so the increase in their power was negligible compared to that of Giant Power and the Divine Movement Technique.
Li Xiang’s future goal, naturally, was to focus on improving Giant Power, the Divine Movement Technique, and the Earth Pivot World Record. This was especially true for the Earth Pivot World Record. After the Apocalypse arrived, the surface would become uninhabitable, and humanity would be forced to retreat into Underground Cities. This Great Lifebound Superpower Rune seemed practically "tailor-made" for such a future.
But for a "Chosen One," a "Child of Fortune" like him, having such a perfectly suited ability wasn’t surprising.
Not long after, the official mission rewards came down. There were not only merits but also military ranks.
Special-Class Merit: Li Xiang (Major).
First-Class Merit: Luo Feifei (Captain), Yao Yao (Lieutenant).
Second-Class Merit: Zhao Xueqing (Second Lieutenant), Lei Xiaohui (Second Lieutenant), Lei Jiaming (Second Lieutenant), Xu Xuan (Lieutenant), Zhang Youyou (Second Lieutenant).
Oh, and besides these, there was also a corresponding "salary." They didn’t have to show up for work; the money would be automatically deposited each month.
Although Li Xiang didn’t need the money now, this was the nation’s goodwill—no, a reward that they had risked their lives for, so they accepted it without any qualms.
Back then, if Li Xiang hadn’t broken through mid-battle and awakened the Earth Pivot World Record, they would have likely faced a brutal fight. Perhaps some of them might not have made it back.
It went without saying that there were other benefits and a rise in status as well.
The public was in an uproar. No one knew what on earth Li Xiang had done to earn a Special-Class Merit.
How many years had it been since a Special-Class Merit was last awarded?
An insider revealed that in peacetime, it was incredibly difficult for an individual or a group to earn a First-Class Merit, let alone a Special-Class one.
Outside of wartime, Special-Class Merits were typically not awarded to individuals or groups at all.
Then, some blurry videos began circulating on the international web, showing mysterious figures fighting an alien-like Exotic Beast and battling the US Military.
Because the videos were so blurry and indistinct, some people speculated, ’Could that be Li Xiang and his group?’
But there was no proof.
Besides, with all sorts of fake news flying around every day, it was dizzying. Since there was no official source for these videos, many people naturally refused to believe them.
For example, netizens from various countries were falling over themselves to claim the figures as their own, speaking with great authority about how they were Divine Envoys of the Indian Shiva God, warriors serving some Ancient Greek goddess, or even Marvel Heroes.
Others claimed it was all fake. "This is just Hollywood shooting a movie. A blockbuster, a total blockbuster! They blew up five real Apaches. See? Americans really spare no expense when they make films."
Someone else said, "Those people are CIA agents. There’s one video where the Mysterious Man even says so himself."
Someone then asked, "If they’re from the CIA, why would they be fighting the US Military?"
To which someone else retorted, "Isn’t that totally normal in the United States? Look at all those spy movies, like Mission: Impossible or the Bourne series. It’s always about agents having a falling out with their superiors, rebelling in pursuit of freedom! Then the agency tries to silence them, probably because they know too much."
"What about the Exotic Beast, then?"
"Cheap special effects, dude. You actually believe that?"
"WTF, someone just said it was a blockbuster and that Americans spare no expense, and now you’re calling it cheap special effects?"
"What does spending money have to do with the quality of the effects? Haven’t you heard about the US military-industrial complex? They’ll quote over a thousand US Dollars for a coffee cup and ninety thousand for a small bag of bolts. If you don’t take a cut, and I don’t take a cut, how is Specialist Smith supposed to get his?"
...
The Lei and Zhao Families were ecstatic. They had just thrown a celebratory banquet not long ago, and now they had a reason to throw another one.
The Yao Family was, of course, overjoyed as well. The last time, when Yao Yao’s parents wanted to throw a celebratory banquet, an embarrassed Yao Yao had stopped them. This time, however, she had earned an illustrious First-Class Merit and the rank of Lieutenant. Not celebrating would be simply unjustifiable.