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The Era Corridor is a corridor that gathers the honor of the empire and occupies an absolute central position in the Imperial Memorial Hall, shining like the stars of humanity.
Anyone who has made outstanding contributions to various aspects of the empire, every decade, is jointly nominated by the upper and lower houses, submitted to the Privy Council, approved by the Emperor personally, and must be crowned and honored on a chosen day, awarded the Golden Honor Medal.
The Golden Honor Medal is the highest-level medal in the empire, and the number of people successfully awarded it in a hundred years can be counted on one hand, representing the supreme honor.
Having this medal grants the qualification to be selected for the Era Corridor, to have a statue erected, and to establish a glorious family heritage.
However, this is just a qualification.
To truly be selected for the Era Corridor, it requires a public vote from all citizens of the empire, with at least a 70% approval rate, to be able to display the honor medal with one’s name on it in the corridor.
Someone exclaimed, “I saw Principal Feng’s honor medal!”
The military academy students immediately rushed over in a commotion upon hearing this.
Inside the display case was a golden medal with the characters “Feng Yuanming” engraved on top, and a line below that read, “One of the Heroes of the Apocalypse Insect Tide.”
And beside the medal, the holographic projection of a person was none other than the honorary principal who indulged in playing with cats and birds at the Imperial Military Academy every day.
Wu Haoxuan noticed a blind spot, “Wait a minute, something’s not right. Nearly ten golden honor medals have been awarded just for the Apocalypse Insect Tide. Why does it seem like they’re distributing them wholesale? Wasn’t it said that this medal is very rare?”
Standing just behind the guide, he spoke up, startling the guide, “Oh my! Ghost!”
“What ghost? I’ve been standing here the whole time,” Wu Haoxuan innocently replied.
The guide, however, remembered clearly that there was no one behind him.
Ignoring the questioning voices in his earpiece, the guide, still somewhat startled, continued, “Uh, the question raised by this student is quite interesting.”
“Why were so many honor medals issued for just the Apocalypse Insect Tide? Because, regardless of whether Hai Dongqing orchestrated it or not, the Apocalypse Insect Tide was indeed the greatest crisis the empire faced in nearly a thousand years. It broke out rapidly, catching both the empire and the federation off guard.”
The guide explained, “As everyone knows, the military frontiers divided between humans and Insectoids have three major checkpoints: Scorching Sun, Morning Star, and Bright Moon. To this day, these three frontlines are still filled with smoke and continuous warfare.”
“The Scorching Sun checkpoint is the first line of defense, and the Bright Moon checkpoint is humanity’s ultimate frontline and last line of defense. In the year of the Apocalypse Insect Tide, the continuously surging insect tide broke through the Bright Moon checkpoint for the first time, directly targeting the central star system.”
Even after more than thirty years, recalling the scenes of that day, the guide still felt a lingering fear.
“The entire central star system was on the brink of peril. The sky curtain synchronized the frontline battle situation, and everyone could look up to see their homelands gradually being invaded by the Insectoids. The entire imperial family was sent to the frontline, sacrificing half of their members. The Privy Council even issued a letter to humanity about life and death, initiating the Flame Seed Plan, sending a batch of citizens with qualified physical conditions to a place full of unknown deep space, preserving the last spark of humanity.”
The guide continued, “Students, can you imagine? In such a desperate and smoky apocalypse, there was someone who stood up. He was only at the Saint-level primary, not comparable to any veteran Saint-level talent. But such a young hero, like a god descending to earth, saved the empire from the fire and water.”
It was evident that the guide had once been a fanatical fan of the hero Hai Dongqing. This emotional narrative stirred up the blood of the students from the two academies, making them feel as if they were back thirty years ago, eager to charge into the Insectoid nest to defend the safety of the people.
“Because of this, after the Apocalypse Insect Tide, Hai Dongqing became the acclaimed hero of humanity, the future star of the empire.”
“Perhaps you are not very clear about Hai Dongqing’s position in the hearts of interstellar people at that time. I can use a simple example to illustrate. The national referendum that supported Hai Dongqing’s entry into the Era Corridor reached an astonishing 96%, a number that has not been surpassed to this day.”
Following the guide’s explanation, they gradually reached the center of the Era Corridor.
On the walls of this section of the corridor, holographic images emerged, projecting the real scenes of the empire during the Apocalypse Insect Tide.
The urgent voice of the news anchor, the despair on the faces of the people, the exhausted frontline soldiers, teammates falling like a suicide squad, the despondent eyes of the Grand Minister of the Privy Council, and the resolute Emperor who rushed to the frontline much younger than this year.
So many ordinary heroes, so many shining moments, yet one person’s figure was deliberately omitted.
Yuan Hanshuang looked up at the flickering images on the wall.
Different from other students who either passionately or solemnly watched, her expression was quite peculiar.
“Is this expression… curiosity?”
Unbeknownst to her, on the other side, the entire old squad was paying close attention through the camera.
This was on the military ship of the Third Legion, hundreds of kilometers away.
This behemoth was docked at the central star system’s military star port. In the encrypted conference room, all members of the old squad were present, ready for action.
On the central foggy silver conference table, usually used to simulate frontline war arrangements and military deployments, the holographic projection table was unexpectedly connected to the situation in the memorial hall.
Through hidden surveillance cameras, every nuance of Yuan Hanshuang’s expression was on full display.
A group of military figures who usually commanded the winds on the frontline were all seated, starting to analyze the situation from the expressions, trying to extract more information from the footage.
“Curiosity? Shouldn’t there be a sense of shame or indignation after hearing that her father is wanted throughout the interstellar? Or at least a righteous indignation, feeling wronged?”
The frontline analyst sitting in the front row was on the verge of throwing his pen. “At a time like this, shouldn’t there be a clenched fist?”
The large screen timely shifted to the hands of the black-haired girl.
Not only did she not clench her fists, but she was also leisurely doing finger exercises.
“Could it be that the guide’s explanation wasn’t stimulating enough? Should we ask him to spice it up?”
“No.” A female officer spoke up. “Her expression seems to be purely watching without any emotional fluctuations, just observing others…
“Is it possible that she simply doesn’t know what happened to her father during his escape, unaware that her father was wrongly accused, hence the lack of a corresponding expression?”
Someone interjected, “She might not even know that her father is Hai Dongqing.”
“Absolutely impossible.” This time, it was Feng Bai who spoke, “If our speculation is correct, then she managed to change her hair color and identity documents. If she didn’t know her father was a Class 3S wanted criminal, why go through all this preparation? Moreover, haven’t you forgotten the Third Princess? Maybe the Third Princess taught her all this?”
“Vice Admiral, everything you’re saying needs to be based on her being Captain Hai’s daughter.”
The battlefield analyst sighed, “If not, all these speculations fall apart.”
The question of whether Yuan Hanshuang was Hai Dongqing’s daughter and the Third Princess had been discussed among the old squad for a long time.
The only clue was from five years ago when, on the night of the operation to capture Hai Dongqing, Feng Bai, standing outside the command room, overheard a conversation between the Legion Commander and Captain Wei Wenwei, and saw a photo through the door crack.
With billions of people in the interstellar space and advanced plastic surgery technology, resembling the first beauty and Third Princess of the interstellar, many people could achieve it. A slight resemblance doesn’t mean anything.
“To be honest, I don’t think the possibility of her being the Captain’s daughter is high.”
The female officer also put down her pen, “Not to mention the death certificate issued years ago, even if the little princess managed to escape from the Class SSS ancient civilization relic, can an eleven-year-old child really achieve this level?”
“Yeah. Moreover, her Manifestation is still a weird red fish. If she really is the little princess, regardless of the mimicry level, the form should either inherit the eagle-type manifestation of her father or the golden manifestation of the Xuanyuan royal family. How could she awaken into an unconnected big fish?”
Listening to the heated discussion through the earpiece, Feng Bai pursed his lips.
He didn’t speak again but focused on observing the black-haired girl in the crowd not far away.
“Of course, after Hai Dongqing’s collusion with the Insectoids was proven, the public collectively petitioned to remove his honorary medal and personal statue from the Era Corridor.”
Following the guide’s words, the freshmen looked towards the medal display in the corridor.
Sure enough, the display cabinet with Hai Dongqing’s name in the center was empty. There were some sticky yellow and white substances on the counter, and the nameplate showed signs of malicious damage.
The guide sighed, “Alas, almost every day, someone comes here to throw rotten eggs.”
The elderly caretaker at the memorial hall added, “Well, it was a spectacle a decade ago when Hai Dongqing’s treason was first revealed. The memorial hall couldn’t even be entered at that time. After closing, the front door was smashed by angry people.”
“Although the Apocalypse Insect Tide granted many honorary medals, many heroes succumbed to hidden injuries on the battlefield and passed away in these thirty years. Of the eight medal awardees, only three are still alive today. The person you mentioned, Deputy Principal, also served in the Third Legion and is a respected medal holder.”
At these words, ，Hanshuang’s expression finally showed some changes.
However, to the disappointment of the old squad members, this change was still not what they had hoped to see.
She looked puzzled, “Is the principal of the Imperial Military Academy also surnamed Feng? Is Principal Feng related to our chief instructor?”
“Tell her.”
Through the earpiece, Feng Bai remotely controlled the guide, “You can release some friendly signals appropriately.”
Maybe this kid is just too guarded.
“Exactly.” The guide, receiving the signal from above, immediately said, “Principal Feng served as the deputy of the Third Legion during the Apocalypse Insect Tide, and the current deputy of the Third Legion is the son of Principal Feng.”
“During the Apocalypse Insect Tide, Principal Feng and the Legion Commander Hai Dongqing fought side by side, good enough as close combat buddies who entrusted their backs and lives to each other. After Hai Dongqing’s defection, Principal Feng even faced tremendous pressure, risking damage to his own reputation, and publicly defended Hai Dongqing. Unfortunately, with irrefutable evidence later, he had no choice but to give up.”
“Oh.”
In front of everyone, Yuan Hanshuang made a sound, with no further explanation.
This was her last words before leaving the Era Corridor.
“Is that it?” The secret meeting room exploded.
The author has something to say:
Our smart Hanshuang has long sensed that something’s off!
Hanshuang: Just acting, what’s there to be afraid of?!
By the way, I made some corrections to the previous text. In Chapter 16, there was a small bug, as the entire interstellar community did not know about the Third Princess’s demise at that time. This information will be revealed later. Another small bug was related to the underground bounty for the female protagonist’s another Manifestation released by Black Market. When I wrote it, I accidentally copied and pasted the old draft, and only later did I realize the mistake. Reminding everyone to pay attention!
Today’s basic update is delivered!