386: Three medals

“Go, call more people over!”

Xiao Ran keenly noticed this situation and immediately said to the person beside him, “It looks like everyone is about to wake up. This is no small number; we need to ensure everyone receives proper care.”

Hearing Xiao Ran’s command, the person beside him immediately acknowledged and hurried off to gather more personnel.

At this moment, Li Yang’s gaze inadvertently fell on Xiao Ran’s shoulder, and he realized that Xiao Ran was no longer a sergeant.

The prominent insignia on his epaulets indicated that he was now a Seventh-Grade Second Lieutenant.

Three years seemed to have left a different mark on Xiao Ran; the promotion in his military rank seemed to tell many stories of what had happened over these three years.

Li Yang looked at the spirited Xiao Ran before him, his eyes filled with both relief and a hint of regret, and slowly said, “Xiao Ran, I never thought that three years would pass in a flash, and you’ve already been promoted to Second Lieutenant. Alas, it’s a pity. I promised to send you to the academy for training, but it seems I can’t fulfill that promise now.”

As he spoke, he gently shook his head, a look of regret on his face.

Li Yang knew that the Reserve Officer Branch of the highest military academy had strict enrollment restrictions, only accepting non-officer personnel.

Now that Xiao Ran had entered the ranks of officers, becoming a Second Lieutenant, he naturally lost the qualification to study at that branch.

Xiao Ran, however, looked calm, his expression firm and righteous as he said, “It’s alright, Captain Li Yang. If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t even have had the chance to live. Your life-saving grace and your recognition of my talent far outweigh any training opportunity. Moreover, I firmly believe that with my own efforts and abilities, I can still do my best in my military career.”

Confidence gleamed in Xiao Ran’s eyes, as if he was proclaiming his resolve to the world.

“Hmm, well done!”

Li Yang nodded approvingly, his eyes full of admiration.

“From you, I see resilience and confidence; you’re truly a promising talent!”

Li Yang increasingly felt that Xiao Ran was a promising talent, and he secretly pondered, preparing to find a suitable opportunity to see if he could secure a spot for Xiao Ran in the Officer Cadre Advanced Studies Branch.

Although the path to the Reserve Officer Branch was no longer viable, the Officer Cadre Advanced Studies Branch might offer Xiao Ran broader development space, allowing his talents to be better utilized.

“Let’s go. I’ve been lying down for so long; it feels like all my bones are rusted, and my body is terribly stiff.”

Li Yang said, trying to get up.

He frowned slightly, moved his somewhat numb limbs, and tried to shake off the stiffness caused by prolonged bed rest.

“You can tell me what happened over the past three years.”

Seeing this, a Soldier nearby quickly stepped forward, carefully assisting Li Yang, his movements gentle and steady, for fear of hurting the newly awakened Captain.

Li Yang nodded slightly, indicating his thanks, and then, supported by the Soldier, slowly took his first steps.

Thus, the group walked leisurely through the Space Station’s spacious corridor, beginning their conversation.

Xiao Ran cleared his throat and began to recount, “Captain Li Yang, many major events have occurred in these three years. Do you know, the Empire’s previous crackdown operation has been successfully concluded. For three whole years, the Empire acted swiftly and decisively, thoroughly investigating and severely punishing corrupt officials. The number of officials executed was simply unimaginable, almost equivalent to the total population of an entire This Galaxy Cluster.”

In three years, Xiao Ran had thoroughly integrated into the Empire, and he naturally understood these situations.

Li Yang was slightly stunned, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He knew that This Galaxy Cluster was vast; just one Milky Way Galaxy within This Galaxy Cluster had hundreds of billions of planets. Although not every planet was transformed into a habitable planet by the Empire, the population of the entire Milky Way Galaxy alone was uncountable, let alone the entire This Galaxy Cluster.

The sheer number of officials executed indicated the intensity of this crackdown operation.

Hearing this number, Li Yang’s heart was truly stirred by a storm; he could hardly imagine how colossal this number would be.

It should be noted that this was merely the number of officials executed. In these three years, there were also citizens who were similarly executed, as well as many officials and citizens who, though not sentenced to death, were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment.

Carefully calculated, the number of lives lost due to various crimes in these three years was equivalent to the total number of normal executions in the Empire over the previous millennium.

Such a large-scale punitive action undoubtedly had a huge impact.

However, even after experiencing such a 'storm-like' cleansing, for the vast and populous Empire, it seemed like merely a ripple on a lake, causing no fundamental harm.

The reason for this, in the final analysis, was that the Empire was simply too vast.

It was boundless, so immense that even after countless years, to this day, the Empire has never been able to accurately determine its specific territorial scope and total population.

It was like an endless game of chase; as soon as statisticians finished counting the specific situation of a part of the region, new developments and changes would immediately follow, with various new habitable planets being born and the population rapidly increasing.

As soon as the new data was added here, more changes would appear there, and so on, making it impossible to achieve comprehensive, accurate, and fixed statistics.

The Empire was like a vibrant, colossal living organism, constantly developing and changing, its immense size inspiring both awe and reverence.

“The crackdown, it’s a good crackdown!”

Li Yang was filled with emotion, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

“These parasites of the Empire have long corroded its foundations. Now that so many have been cleared out, the Empire is bound to become even more prosperous.”

He tilted his head slightly, as if he could already see a brighter future for the Empire.

After speaking, Li Yang changed the subject and asked curiously, “Speaking of which, Xiao Ran, where are you serving now?”

He knew that since Xiao Ran, as a human, had entered the ranks of officers, he must have made his own choices in his career development.

Xiao Ran puffed out his chest, his eyes full of pride, and firmly replied, “I chose to become a fleet Captain, just like you. Now I command an independent fleet, carrying out various tasks assigned by the Empire.”

Hearing this answer, Li Yang nodded in satisfaction.

In his opinion, compared to serving in some regular units or holding leadership positions in the military, having his own fleet undoubtedly offered broader scope for action and made it easier to achieve great things in the military field.

Of course, Li Yang also knew that everyone’s choices should be based on their own interests and aspirations.

No matter what decision Xiao Ran made, he would respect it, because only a path one truly believes in can lead to the most brilliant life.

Just as Li Yang and Xiao Ran were deep in conversation, a figure slowly approached from a distance.

A female officer, dressed in a crisp military uniform, walked with elegant and steady steps directly towards Li Yang.

She stood tall, her face resolute, exuding a unique military demeanor.

Upon reaching Li Yang, she stopped and rendered a crisp, standard military salute, her every movement displaying the bearing of a Soldier.

Li Yang saw this and his gaze fell on the female officer, his brows furrowing slightly.

A strange sense of familiarity welled up in his heart. He quickly searched his memory for information about the person before him, feeling as if he had seen her at some important moment, but for a moment, it was blurry and difficult to recall immediately.

“comrade Lan An?”

After some thought, Li Yang finally seemed to have dug out the answer from the depths of his memory, blurting it out.

A trace of surprise and realization flashed in his eyes; he finally remembered who the woman before him was.

Wasn't this Lan An, who had brought him military merit medals when he was an instructor?

The scene was still vivid in his mind: she, with eyes full of reverence and congratulations, handed him the military merit medal, a symbol of honor.

“It seems our Comrade Li Yang still remembers me.”

Seeing that Li Yang recognized her, Lan An’s face broke into a relieved smile, her eyes full of joy.

She then turned and took three exquisitely crafted boxes from a Soldier standing quietly nearby.

The surfaces of the boxes gleamed with a soft luster, inlaid with countless tiny starlight, indicating at a glance that their contents must be extraordinary.

“These are… medals?”

Li Yang’s gaze was drawn to the three boxes, and a surge of curiosity rose in his heart as he couldn’t help but ask.

Looking at this familiar scene, a flash of insight instantly crossed Li Yang’s mind, and he immediately understood why Lan An was here.

Undoubtedly, she had come to present him with military merit medals, just as before.

Sure enough, Lan An, with a solemn and serious expression, gently held up the three boxes with both hands, slowly and carefully opening them one by one.

In an instant, three exquisite military merit medals appeared before everyone.

The military merit medals, illuminated by the light, shimmered with dazzling brilliance, speaking of the supreme honor they represented.

“Comrade Li Yang.”

Lan An’s voice was clear and resonant, carrying a hint of authority and respect.

“After in-depth discussion and careful decision by the Imperial Military Department, in recognition of your extraordinary courage, outstanding wisdom, and self-sacrificing heroism demonstrated during the mission, we hereby award you one ‘Third-Class Group Merit’ to commend your crucial leading role in teamwork; one ‘First-Class Individual Merit,’ which is a high acknowledgment of your outstanding contributions in extremely dangerous environments; and one ‘Hero Model Medal,’ which symbolizes the Empire’s highest praise for your noble spirit and great deeds.”

Listening to Lan An’s clear and organized introduction, Li Yang’s heart swelled with an indescribable excitement.

He slowly took the three significant medals with slightly trembling hands.

The moment his fingers touched the medals, he seemed to feel the heavy responsibility and mission they carried.

Lan An paused briefly, scanned the surroundings, and then continued, “Besides you, all awakened officers have been awarded ‘Third-Class Group Merit’ to commend everyone’s teamwork and heroic efforts in this mission. And comrades like Lin Bi, Researcher Hua Xi, and Hua Dong, thanks to their outstanding performance in their respective positions, have also additionally received ‘Second-Class Individual Merit.’ They too have earned glory for the Empire.”

Hearing Lan An’s words, Li Yang’s heart was immediately filled with an uncontrollable joy.

He secretly calculated that although three years of unconsciousness seemed like a lot of wasted time for him, now, in exchange for so many weighty medals, each representing the Empire’s high recognition of him, it was absolutely worth it. It was like a super-value deal, and he had undoubtedly made a huge profit.

“Has my mission been completed?”

Li Yang suddenly remembered something extremely important, his expression tightening, and he eagerly asked Lan An.

His eyes revealed a hint of urgency, as the completion of the mission directly related to a series of subsequent arrangements.

“Yes, it has.”

Lan An nodded gently, giving an affirmative reply.

Her voice was calm and steady, yet it stirred ripples in Li Yang’s heart.

“What about those rewards?”

Li Yang’s brows furrowed slightly, a hint of worry on his face.

Especially when he thought of that extremely tempting reward, his expression grew even more serious.

“Especially that complete fleet replacement thing; I don’t even have a fleet now.”

Li Yang knew deeply that for a Captain, a fleet was like a warrior’s sharp blade, the key to fulfilling his mission and ambitions.

Now that the mission was completed, but he no longer had a fleet, it made him worry about the fleet replacement reward.

He urgently hoped to get a clear answer from Lan An, so that his anxious heart could finally rest a little.

“Oh, that, you needn’t worry at all.”

Lan An smiled, her tone gentle and reassuring, trying to calm Li Yang’s slightly anxious mood.

“The higher-ups have already made thorough arrangements for your situation. After you awaken, I will personally accompany you to the Imperial Military Department’s military port closest to here to select your starship. According to the Imperial Military Department’s relevant regulations, given your outstanding performance in this mission, you have the right to select one star river class starship and eight super star-class starships to form your new fleet.”

Hearing this answer, Li Yang’s eyes instantly lit up, like brilliant stars suddenly blooming in the night sky.

He knew in his heart that although the new fleet was indeed a few starships fewer than before, the improvement in quality was incomparable.

He recalled that his previous fleet mostly consisted of planetary-class starships, which were relatively limited in performance and combat power.

But now, he could suddenly have eight super star-class starships, and an even more powerful star river class starship.