The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 624 My family's armored vehicle is in a hurry to go to the battlefield, what should I do?
"The Tang Dynasty is gone."

"Yes, it has been dead for a very, very long time, more than 1,200 years."

"Not only did the Tang Dynasty perish, but the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty... and several other dynasties that followed also perished..."

"However, the Western Regions have returned, well, the way they've returned might be a little different from what you imagine... Anyway, the books and videos are here, you can take your time to look at them..."

Shen Le had barely finished explaining when the door was pounded loudly. After calming the Tang Dynasty armored man sitting opposite him for a moment, Shen Le quickly jumped up to open the door, and a wave of hot air immediately rushed out.

"It's fixed? Completely fixed?! Can I see it?!"

Professor Zhang, the bearded man, pressed one hand against the door frame and held a bag of unknown contents in the other. He stood on tiptoe, desperately trying to peer inside past Shen Le.

He leaned forward, looking like he wanted to rush into the room, but was too polite to enter before receiving an invitation from the host. Shen Le smiled, slightly stepped aside, and made way for him.
"Professor Zhang, please, please—this is Mr. Li Xingtang, and this is Professor Zhang, an expert in armor repair. He helped me a lot when I was repairing the armor before..."

Professor Zhang let out a gasp of excitement, frozen in the doorway, unable to move. His chest heaved rapidly, his hands trembled violently on the doorframe, and he swayed precariously.

As the sound came into view, a suit of armor looked up, stood up from the sofa, and tapped his helmet slightly, making a clicking sound.

"Professor Zhang, please rest for a moment! Please don't get agitated!" Shen Le quickly switched from offering to helping, half-dragging and half-carrying him, leading him into the room and pressing him down into a chair.

"Please sit tight! Take a deep breath... Be careful of altitude sickness! We rushed here so quickly, and landed directly by plane, please don't let anything happen to you!"

As he spoke, his palms shimmered with light, first gathering a vortex of wind around Professor Zhang to at least increase the oxygen content.

Another healing spell was cast, a green light flickering gently, to help him recover:
This guy arrived way too fast! Knowing that his armor was repaired, he immediately bought a ticket for the next available flight and rushed over without a second thought. He arrived even faster than the experts from the Special Affairs Bureau!
With a multi-pronged approach, Professor Zhang finally caught his breath, his lips regaining their color and his fingers trembling less. He then slowly stood up and greeted the armored vehicle.

“Li…Li…”

I just got started, and then I got stuck. The word "Li" rolled around in my mouth several times, but I still couldn't get it out:
李？
Li Xingtang?
Is this the armor's owner's real name?

The entire suit of armor was completely empty, with not a single person in sight. There was not even any connection between the helmet and the breastplate, or between the skirt armor and the greaves.

Calling this suit of armor by its name just didn't feel right; he genuinely couldn't bring himself to say it...

The armored arm guards swung forward diagonally, as if in a gesture of respect, before falling vertically. Shen Le translated from the side:

"He said he remembers you, and he's able to complete the restoration. He's very grateful for your help. He was very sorry for accidentally fighting you when he first developed his spirituality..."

"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing!" Professor Zhang suddenly came to life, his eyebrows dancing with excitement, waving his hands wildly:

"This is my major! I'm very happy to be able to help you!"
"By the way, may I ask what your relationship is with Li Chonghui, the Prefect of Xizhou? Are you from the same clan? Have you ever met him? What kind of person was he in life? A few months ago, we discovered his tomb..."

Shen Le silently covered her face. Hey Professor Zhang, can we not talk about digging up graves so openly?
Can we not say this in front of the spirit?

To put it another way, could we wait a bit longer, until it understands the history of more than a thousand years from the Tang Dynasty to the present, and understands the current situation, before we talk about this kind of thing?
Sure enough, the spirit became excited, stepped forward, and raised its right arm guard. If it had arms and hands, it might have already poked Professor Zhang's nose straight in.

Shen Le quickly spread her arms to stop him:

"Mr. Li, please calm down. It's not what you think. More than 1,200 years have passed since the Tang Dynasty—please sit down and let me explain..."

He flipped through books and played videos, quickly reviewing the history after the Tang Dynasty. Every now and then he would stop to listen attentively, offer a few explanations, and then continue.

Professor Zhang stood to one side, his hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly. To him, Shen Le's explanation of history was riddled with flaws, full of points for criticism.
Well, I guess even middle school history teachers could explain it a little better than him? Don't be upset, everyone has their own expertise. Shen Le isn't a history major, and he hasn't passed the teacher qualification exam, so his explanation is already quite good…

"Can I explain it to him?" he finally couldn't help but ask.
“I’m an archaeology professor, after all, and I’m quite proficient in this area—you have some free time now, so you can focus your energy on your profession, like this… Is there anything about the artifact spirit that needs improvement, or should it be maintained…”

"Ah, you can't hear him." Shen Le turned her head, smiled, and waved her hand.

"If it were another month or two, for example, when he could type and input, and we could find an electronic device to help output his voice, you two would be able to communicate without any problems. It's not possible now, I still have to do it—"

Before he could finish speaking, the knocking sounded again. Shen Le shrugged and quickly went to open the door. This time, it was two men and one woman, all dressed in crisp uniforms with Special Affairs Bureau badges pinned to their chests.

"Mr. Shen, I'm sorry to bother you. As is our usual practice, we're here to provide on-site service and register the identity information for your newly awakened spirit artifact—would it be convenient for us to come in now?"

Shen Le smiled and stepped aside. The three people, carrying their equipment cases, filed in and set up in front of the armored vehicle. Shen Le explained from the side:

"They're here to help you with your household registration..."

The armored vehicle nodded and stood up, extending its hand forward. The oldest of the three, a refined middle-aged man, stared intently at it. Seeing this, he chuckled and looked at Shen Le:

"This spirit is highly socialized! It knows what household registration is, no further explanation needed?"

"You can think of him as a Tang Dynasty Mo Dao soldier, a mid-level general who remained stationed in the Western Regions Protectorate until the very end," Shen Le replied solemnly. The group gasped slightly, stood at attention in unison, and saluted the armored man!
The armored figure stood straight, kowtowed, and returned the greeting. After this exchange, the Special Affairs Bureau members also put away their curious expressions and earnestly processed the procedures for the artifact spirit:
Ask for names, take photos, measure the characteristics and intensity of spiritual energy fluctuations...

While taking notes, I explained to him:
“Mr. Li Xingtang, based on your current level of spiritual power, you are eligible for Grade B treatment… As an unofficial member, you will receive 10,000 RMB per month, plus a stipend of 100 Special Affairs Bureau points… Ah! Wait a minute!”

The instrument scanned the armor's waist, emitting a long beep. The numbers on the LCD screen jumped wildly, finally settling on a row of "9999," motionless. The technician exclaimed in surprise:
"What is this?! It's off the charts!!!"

"Ah, this is a flying sword—" Shen Le quickly came over to explain, and casually drew half of the sword from the waist of the armored man to show them:
"I don't know why either, but the flying sword is part of the weapon spirit, controlled by him, not existing independently. When you calculate the allowance, you might have to take this into account?"

If you include that, then it's at least Grade A, and the allowance is multiplied by ten.

The armored vehicle clicked and clacked, indicating that it "understood," without asking any further questions—Shen Le guessed that it probably didn't have a direct understanding of the current price level.

However, Shen Le herself was somewhat dissatisfied:

"Hey, I was also an unofficial member back then! Why didn't I get such a high allowance?"

The female clerk explaining the policy paused, her face flushing red, momentarily at a loss for words. The refined-looking middle-aged man at the head of the group, however, remained unfazed, maintaining a calm smile.

"Mr. Shen, this Class B treatment is not universally applicable; it is an initial assistance program for newly joined non-human members of society."

For three years, in addition to the allowance, there were public rental housing, transportation subsidies, communication subsidies, education subsidies, etc., to help them integrate into society... I don't think you needed that in the first place?

That's really unnecessary. Shen Le thought about it for a moment, realizing that she had received a lot of explicit and implicit subsidies from the government since she was a child, such as education funding, and decisively nodded and retreated.

The refined middle-aged man continued to smile.

"If Mr. Li Xingtang lives here, you can also receive subsidies for public rental housing, education subsidies, and I remember you also have a tutor at your home?"

The jade sculpture of Mr. Lu, huh? Shen Le felt a little guilty.

Ever since he was able to take the pen holder and the old house with him, the little ones often followed him around in a lively manner, leaving only a few at home, and those left behind no longer needed to go to school.

Although Mr. Lu was willing to stay at his house and didn't have many classes to teach, it wasn't necessarily a particularly pleasant experience. The problem was that he would bring back a spirit every now and then, making the need to teach classes a definite reality…

"Um... Mr. Li Xingtang, regarding the supplementary information on basic social knowledge, when we get home, I'll ask Mr. Lu to give you a few lessons. He's a professional in this area..."

The armored creature nodded slightly and bowed in thanks. After the three Special Affairs Bureau members finished recording a batch of information and explaining the benefits the spirit could receive, they routinely asked:
"Mr. Li, the first three years of receiving your allowance are generally a transitional period for you to integrate into society, and we don't expect you to immediately enter the workforce. However, after that, if you have a preferred career path... Ah!!!"

All three people gasped and leaned back simultaneously. The female clerk, who reacted most violently, fell backward, chair and all, almost to the ground.

If Professor Zhang hadn't happened to be standing nearby and pulled her back, she probably would have really fallen. Professor Zhang himself was also startled, and took a step back, shielding the female clerk in front of him.
"you……"

The armored figure stood upright, gripping his longsword, the tip tilted forward. Although he didn't wield the sword with both hands or swing it, the sheer chill emanating from the blade's tip was enough to send shivers down one's spine.

"Wait! Wait! Don't take the knife!" Shen Le quickly jumped up to stop him. He spread his arms, blocking between the armored man and several special affairs bureau personnel, gripped the handle of the long-handled sword with both hands, pushed the blade upright, and then pressed the armored man back into his seat.

Then, he turned to the Special Affairs Bureau members and began to translate:
He said he was a soldier of the Tang Dynasty and hoped to continue fighting for the Tang Dynasty.

"..."

Um... the Tang Dynasty is gone...

Shen Lezhen couldn't bear to refute him like that. The few people from the Special Affairs Bureau exchanged glances, and the refined-looking middle-aged man stepped forward, forcing a smile, and said:
"We warmly welcome you to join us. Could you please tell us your main strengths?"

The armored man raised his longsword a second time. This time, Shen Le didn't stop him. Professor Zhang stepped forward, his eyes gleaming:

"Is it close combat ability? Is close combat your specialty? — Would I have the opportunity to spar with you and learn about the skills of a Tang Dynasty general with a long-handled sword?"

Of course, that's possible. With Shen Le as his guarantor, Professor Zhang was able to step into the Special Affairs Bureau's training ground, wielding a riot shield in one hand and a riot baton in the other, and had a good fight with the armored vehicle.

Or rather, he was unilaterally and thoroughly beaten. The first slash shattered the riot shield; the second slash cut the short stick; and the third slash, out of consideration for Shen Le, the armored man showed mercy, pressing the blade against Professor Zhang's neck and pinning him to the ground.

A group of Special Affairs agents watched with astonishment, their eyes shining. However, when it came to the specific roles the armored vehicle could play, they began to struggle:
"Currently, there are dedicated troops stationed along the border, and civilians are not accepted at this time... We also have no plans to start a war at the moment..."

With a clang, half of the flying sword at the armored man's waist was freed. Shen Le sighed as he sheathed the sword and continued translating:
"He said there was clearly a need to start a war, and that one sword strike struck the invading demons..."

The Secret Service members were even more embarrassed. The young man muttered under his breath:
"There's no way around it. The border is constantly being cut off, then stopped, then stopped again, then cut off again. And we still have to let their people come in to worship the sacred mountain... With so many people, it's hard to prevent them from smuggling anything in..."

Shen Le shrugged and remained silent. The refined middle-aged man, however, steeled himself and continued to explain:
"Going to war is a matter of national policy, not something we can decide... Right now, we still need to handle our international environment with caution..."

The armor clattered again. Shen Le listened intently to Li Xingtang's speech, and instantly his face darkened. He frantically tried to signal to the Special Affairs Bureau members with his eyes:
"He said that Suyab has not yet been reclaimed, and a large area along the Uyghur route his master traveled has not been recovered... roughly where the Mongolian Plateau is now located..."

Even without Shen Le's detailed explanation, the Special Affairs Bureau staff were already teetering on the brink of collapse. The location of Suyab City is now beyond the border!

Don't we want to take it back? This place used to be ours; this place is the birthplace of Li Bai!
But we can't take action now, what can we do...?

Shen Le: ...My newly awakened spirit wants to go to the battlefield, how do I persuade it?
Waiting online, very anxious!

(End of this chapter)