CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158: DAY MEDAL

In Lu Zhao’s office, Lu Zhao was not alone; Zhang Shaoyu, the head of the Jin City headquarters and the Director of Jiang Province, was also present.

When Wang Lan and the other two entered the Director’s office, they immediately lined up and stood at attention.

"Suzhou City Tianjian Bureau, Intelligence Action Team Captain, Xu Shiyun, reporting to the Commanding Officer!"

"Suzhou City Tianjian Bureau, Action Department Squadron Leader, Lige, reporting to the Commanding Officer!"

"Suzhou City Tianjian Bureau, Intelligence... Wang Lan, reporting to the Commanding Officer!"

A light chuckle sounded. Upon hearing Wang Lan’s report, the middle-aged man opposite Lu Zhao looked over with a teasing smile. From that smile alone, Wang Lan instantly felt as if he were being eyed by a crafty old fox.

Wang Lan had heard Zhang Shaoyu’s name more than once. He was the Director of the Jin City Tianjian Bureau and also the Director of the entire Jiang Province Tianjian Bureau headquarters. He was not yet fifty years old.

Zhang Shaoyu possessed peak Star Sea strength and was one of Jade Country’s hundred titled Star Martial Warrior masters. His title was "Fierce Fox"—the "fox" not referring to an ordinary fox, but to a nine-tailed demon fox.

If Wang Lan were to search online at that moment, he would find many legends about Zhang Shaoyu. He had risen to fame as a young prodigy before the age of twenty, became more composed after thirty, and broke through to the Star Sea realm. More than a decade had passed since then.

"Is everyone here?" Zhang Shaoyu asked, standing up with a smile.

"Director, everyone is present," Lu Zhao replied.

Zhang Shaoyu reached out and opened the first box. He took out a pair of Senior Captain’s epaulets and slowly approached Xu Shiyun.

"Xu Shiyun, I know you. You were once a soldier in my Southeast Military Region Star Martial Army. You already held the rank of Captain at twenty-six. Later, you participated in overseas missions, enhanced our country’s prestige, and were awarded two second-class individual merits and twelve third-class individual merits. You completed every mission assigned to you by the motherland, defending the nation’s dignity and honor.

South Wing Country even considered trying to win you over with a royal princess. You didn’t consider it?"

"Reporting to the Commanding Officer! I was born a person of Jade Country, and in death, I shall be a spirit of Jade Country! My sincere heart can be judged by the heavens!"

"Well said." Zhang Shaoyu pinned the epaulets onto Xu Shiyun’s shoulders. "If you had stayed in the military, you would have been a field-grade officer by now."

"Reporting to the Commanding Officer, I only wish to fight on the front lines! When I learned that the Demon Clan was stirring and the Tianjian Bureau had already engaged them, I knew the military was no longer the place for me. Therefore, I joined the Tianjian Bureau."

"HA HA HA! That’s what I like to hear! Our Tianjian Bureau is the true vanguard on humanity’s battlefield! The Special Action Star Martial Army? Special Operations Squads? They’re all eating our dust! Excellent! I look forward to your performance." The two saluted each other solemnly.

Zhang Shaoyu took out another set of epaulets and approached Lige. His eyes fixed on hers. "Lige... I haven’t heard your name before. Tell me, when did you join the Tianjian Bureau?"

"Reporting, March 8th, 2017."

"2017... In less than two years, you’ve risen to Senior Captain... Tell me, how did you manage that?"

"Reporting to the Director! In nineteen months, I completed seventeen A-level missions, fifty-four B-level missions, and neutralized one hundred twenty-seven C-level targets. Record of uncompleted missions... one!"

"Why one? Since you have so few uncompleted missions, why isn’t it zero?"

"Reporting! It was because I underestimated the enemy..."

"Director, this is what happened," Lu Zhao quickly explained to Zhang Shaoyu. "At the time, Lige was ordered to surveil a spy group we had discovered. Half a month into the surveillance, the Demon Clan spies were tipped off and quickly retreated. Lige, who was responsible for the surveillance, immediately attempted to apprehend them.

However, she unexpectedly fell into a trap set by the Demon Clan. The spies self-destructed, leaving Lige severely injured and her entire team, apart from herself, killed in action. Actually, that mission wasn’t technically counted as uncompleted, as the Demon Clan member under surveillance didn’t escape. Furthermore, we later succeeded in dismantling the entire Demon Clan spy network."

"In less than two years, you’ve completed so many missions... Did you take on all the tasks from the Suzhou City Bureau? Everyone in the Tianjian Bureau is an iron-willed warrior, but that’s about willpower, not physical endurance. Even if you are a Gold Attribute Star Martial Warrior, you’re not truly made of iron.

You must take care of your body. Don’t wear yourself down with illness at such a young age. The country needs young people—not just for your present contributions, but for your future as well." Saying this, Zhang Shaoyu personally pinned the Senior Captain’s epaulets onto Lige’s shoulders.

The two saluted once again.

Zhang Shaoyu slowly approached Wang Lan. He looked up slightly, his gaze fixed directly on Wang Lan’s eyes.

"Commanding Officer..." Wang Lan began.

"Ordinarily, your Director Lu could have handled today’s award ceremony. Things are quite busy at the Jin City headquarters. But I rushed over to Suzhou City immediately after my meeting this morning. Do you know why?"

"Reporting, I do not."

"No other reason. I just wanted to come and see you!" Zhang Shaoyu took out the third box. From it, he retrieved a pair of Captain’s epaulets and slowly pinned them onto Wang Lan’s shoulders.

A system notification chimed: "Congratulations to the Host for being promoted to Captain. Reward: 1,000 Skill Points."

That sound in my mind... In that instant, I felt a profound sense of relief, like finally being able to urinate after holding it in for ages. The inability to chain my Star Martial Skills had been a constant, maddening itch—like a mosquito sucking blood from my heart that I couldn’t swat or scratch.

"You’re Wang Lan! Do you realize that because of you, many important figures at the Ministry of Defense didn’t have a peaceful New Year?"

"Reporting, this subordinate expresses his deepest apologies."

"Hmm, no need for deep apologies. We welcome more of such actions from you in the future; the more, the better. Do you know, when you first completely uncovered a Demon Clan spy group, the higher-ups immediately praised you on the spot as a ’young hero, a hero among youths’?

Then, on New Year’s Eve, you exposed human traitors; on New Year’s Day, you uncovered spies; and on the second day of the New Year, you busted a Demonic Transformation Potion production workshop. They were pounding their desks and repeatedly exclaiming, ’Incredible!’"

Wang Lan’s face showed no sign of the proud expression typical of a youth in his situation. Instead, he looked calm, his gaze distant.

Witnessing this, Zhang Shaoyu’s estimation of Wang Lan rose even higher. Such composure at such a young age. No wonder he can repeatedly inflict heavy losses on the Demon Clan.

In reality, Wang Lan was currently admiring his new epaulets in the system interface.

Captain’s epaulets... those three chevrons look really good. On the system page, all the rank insignias are sparkling.

But then, Zhang Shaoyu took another item from the box: a medal.

When Xu Shiyun and Lige saw this medal, their expressions changed instantly.

Is that... the Glory of the Sun Medal? they thought in unison.

Even Lu Zhao looked utterly shocked.

Zhang Shaoyu brought the Glory of the Sun Medal! Even I hadn’t anticipated this. I figured a First-Class Merit Medal would be the most he’d get. If any special medal were to be awarded, it should have been the Xuan Yue Medal. Sun-series medals were the highest military honors bestowed by the Ministry of Defense.

Each Sun-series medal represented an extremely high status of honor. They were only awarded to individuals recognized for making outstanding contributions to human civilization, specifically for military achievements.

For instance, only accomplishments like turning the tide during a critical crisis for human civilization, or deciding the fate of the world in a single battle, qualified one for a Sun-series medal. In the more than two hundred years since Jade Country’s imperial era ended, only eighty-eight Sun-series medals had been awarded, with most of those being in the last one hundred years.

Of these, sixty had been awarded posthumously. It was exceedingly rare for someone to receive a Sun-series medal while still alive.

"We always hope for capable individuals to emerge from our ranks, and for our soldiers to continuously achieve great merits, safeguarding the continuation of human civilization. But you, Wang Lan, are the only person I’ve ever seen or heard of whose rate of accumulating merits outpaces the speed of our award ceremonies.

No single accomplishment of yours, taken alone, would be enough to warrant this Glory of the Sun Medal. However, considering the sum of your many contributions, the higher-ups at the Ministry of Defense decided to make an exception and award you this Glory of the Sun Medal.

Do you know when the last Sun-series medal was awarded?"

"This subordinate does not know."

"Eight years ago! The recipient of the Azure Day Medal was your mother, Wang Ling. If your mother were to return, she would be incredibly proud of you." Zhang Shaoyu then pinned the medal onto Wang Lan’s chest.

A system notification chimed: "Congratulations, Host! You have obtained a Rare Medal. This item can be sacrificed!"

The sound came at just that moment.

But Wang Lan’s mind was no longer focused on the system’s prompts. He didn’t even spare a thought for why receiving a medal this time hadn’t granted him any skill points.

"’My mom... is coming back?’" Wang Lan lifted his head, looking at Zhang Shaoyu questioningly.

"Er..." Zhang Shaoyu smiled, patted Wang Lan’s shoulder, but said nothing more.

Instead, he turned to Lu Zhao with a faint smile. "Alright, my business here is concluded. I’ll leave the remaining rewards and commendations to you. I have a meeting tonight, so I’ll be heading back to Jin City now."

"Director, I’ll see you out." Lu Zhao then looked at Xu Shiyun, Lige, and Wang Lan. "The three of you are dismissed."

"Yes, Sir!" The trio saluted in unison, then turned, opened the door, and left.

"Wang Lan... the Glory of the Sun Medal, man!" Xu Shiyun exclaimed excitedly to Wang Lan once they were outside.

At that moment, however, Wang Lan’s head was bowed, his expression somber.

Xu Shiyun continued, puzzled, "’Hey... didn’t you just achieve great merit and receive an incredible honor? Why do you look like you’ve been reprimanded?’"

Lige quickly grabbed Xu Shiyun’s arm and said coolly, "’Wang Lan needs some time alone. Don’t disturb him.’"

"’But...’" Xu Shiyun began.

Wang Lan, seemingly deaf to their conversation, continued walking towards the elevator alone.

Once inside, a plaintive mutter echoed in the empty space, "’Why weren’t there any skill points, though?’"

On the system’s medal page, there were only two medals.

One was the Xuan Yue Medal, displayed in red. The other was the Glory of the Sun Medal, positioned ahead of the Xuan Yue Medal, shimmering a brilliant blue. Furthermore, there was a "1/1" indicator beneath the Glory of the Sun Medal’s icon.

What did that system notification say again? At the time, I was too preoccupied with the implications of Zhang Shaoyu’s words about Mom possibly coming back and didn’t listen carefully.

He focused his spiritual power on the medal. Thankfully, a description appeared.

System Description: "Rare Medal. Sacrificial-type item. By sacrificing this medal, one can transform the illusory into reality. Allows the Host to materialize one illusory item from their memories."

"’Materialize an illusory item from my memories? What in the world is that?’" Wang Lan muttered.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, Wang Lan suddenly realized something. Wait, I came here in Lige’s car... How am I supposed to get back? He looked around. Where are Lige and Xu Shiyun?

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late. Wang Lan walked to the edge of Star Sea Park and then called a Didi.

「By the time he walked through his front door, it was nearly ten o’clock.」

Wang Lan eagerly entered the underground Training Room. He now had 1,800 skill points. Naturally, he decided to immediately implement the Star Martial Skill chaining he’d been wanting.

He immersed himself in the system and, with a slight pang of reluctance at spending them, used the skill points to build a bridge between his Crescent Arrow and Flame Sword skills.

The moment the link between the two skills was established, BOOM! A violent storm of information exploded in Wang Lan’s mind.

BUZZ! Wang Lan felt as if his head had been struck hard with a wooden club. He felt top-heavy and muddled, completely disoriented.

After a long while, Wang Lan’s consciousness finally cleared. In that instant of returning clarity, he finally understood the transformation that had occurred within him during that daze.