Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

It seems he almost missed out on the biggest prize of the trip...

However, he was somewhat surprised that these hunters had given him this thing.

Out of curiosity, he asked, "This thing looks pretty rare, right? You're just going to hand it over to me like this?"

The hunter smiled: "This is your right as a 'hunter'. Since you killed the giant beast, you have the right to dispose of your spoils. You don't care about us vermin damaging your 'hunt,' so the most valuable thing in it naturally belongs to you."

"Well... I have delivered the goods properly. Let's meet again next time, Lord Hunter."

Luo Tianming: "..."

These guys, whom he had never met before, suddenly became unusually respectful to him, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

And... 'Hunter'?

Wait, when did he become one of them?

---

Just as he was about to take the strange egg-shaped trophy back to the submarine, the soldiers outside, who had finished their treatment, suddenly told him: the major now wanted to see the lieutenant, as he had woken up from carbon monoxide poisoning.

"..."

Chapter 91 Medals

When Luo Tianming arrived at the stationmaster's office, he saw the major, who had forcibly returned from the infirmary.

I heard that in order to maintain command, even when the smoke and dust reached the control tower, the major didn't evacuate...

Only after the control tower confirmed that the Nautilus had killed the Scarlet Queen did he, despite suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, be carried into the infirmary by his orderly.

"..."

Surprisingly, Major Soloviev didn't touch a drop of alcohol after Luo Tianming came in this time, which was a rare moment of sobriety for him.

Upon seeing Luo Tianming enter, the major's melancholy brows relaxed, and he said with great ease, "Sit down, Lieutenant. Come visit me often in the future, and don't always make me send soldiers to invite you."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Soloviev slumped onto the sofa in a very unladylike manner, a stark contrast to his usual military image, with his major's uniform left hanging on the chair.

Luo Tianming sensed something was wrong and cautiously asked, "What happened, Major?"

"..."

"You must be wondering why I called you here, Lieutenant."

Soloviev sighed dejectedly: "I just reported the battle situation to my superiors. Aren't you curious about what reward we'll get?"

Hearing no excitement in his tone, Luo Tianming realized how serious the situation was.

The major was silent for a moment before speaking:

"Our 'reward' is: we will not be stripped of our military posts for the time being, and we will submit a 20,000-word report on this incident. That's all."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Major: "Don't you find it ironic, Lieutenant?"

"..."

"We were clearly the heroes who saved the site, but instead of being rewarded, our superiors made us write a lengthy report for them."

"Heh~" Major Soloviev chuckled, a rare occurrence. "I wonder what kind of expressions they would have made if this station had lost contact without Lieutenant ...

"They actually have the nerve to condemn us now..."

It seems that this time, he is genuinely disheartened by the Europa alliance.

Despite the magnitude of killing the behemoth, the Alliance leadership seemed indifferent, offering no rewards or further questions... all they did was hold people accountable for this 'failed operation'.

That scapegoat should be scared to death in the Red Star Station prison by now.

Once he dies, it's likely that no one will pursue this matter—it will all be treated as if it never happened.

"Major," Luo Tianming suddenly said in a very cold voice, "this matter will not end like this."

"you……"

Soloviev seemed speechless, perhaps thinking of the wounded and dead soldiers, and that compassion made him unable to tolerate the superiors' casual remark, "It's all in the past," which allowed the dead to be completely buried at sea.

After hesitating for a long time, the major finally tried to persuade Luo Tianming:

“Lieutenant, don’t mess with the intelligence department. As long as you’re in the Alliance, they’ll come up with all sorts of ways to target you. Don’t go to their prison… Nobody ever comes out alive.”

Luo Tianming knew the major meant well, but he still insisted:

"Don't worry, Major."

"I will find that malfunctioning torpedo and use it as irrefutable evidence. No one connected to it will escape justice."

"..."

Seeing that Luo Tianming was determined, the major could not stop him. He could only tell him about a few high-ranking officials he had some connections with, and that if Luo Tianming were to run into trouble, he should seek help from them as soon as possible.

…………

"By the way, Lieutenant—do you know anything about my hometown?"

The major suddenly changed the subject.

"You're from Eastern Europe, aren't you?" Luo Tianming guessed.

The major shook his head and said, "That's not right."

"Eastern Europe is an old term. According to the later space exploration era, my home is in the North Caucasus region... My great-grandfather once served under that red flag."

"..."

"However, as the red flag fell to the ground, this was the only treasure he left us."

As he spoke, he took a small red velvet box from the safe under his desk.

Inside the box was a medal.

Its design is surprisingly simple: a red ribbon buckle at the top, a gold star hanging below, and the words 'CCCP' engraved on the back.

Luo Tianming recognized it at a glance: it was the 'Hero of the Soviet Union Badge'.

Despite its simple and unassuming appearance, this medal, just like its resounding name suggests, is among the most difficult to obtain.

The simple five-pointed star is more than 90% gold, which gives this medal, which weighs more than 30 grams, the title of "extremely high gold content" in a physical sense.

In addition, those who receive this medal are also awarded the title of 'Hero of the Soviet Union,' and are entitled to state benefits and support.

Historically, the Soviet Union has awarded more than 10,000 Hero Medals, the vast majority of which were awarded to heroes and martyrs of World War II.

Although this thing once dragged down the honor of a certain scoundrel (Xun Zong) (he got four of them), judging from the one the major took out, his ancestors must have been quite remarkable figures.

Luo Tianming had originally intended to take it and examine it closely, but he saw the major solemnly hold up the medal and say to him:

"Lieutenant Luo Tianming, stand still."

"...?"

Suddenly, Luo Tianming realized what the major was planning to do.

He was thinking—!

The major looked at Luo Tianming solemnly, then pinned the gold star medal above Luo Tianming's chest, smiling with great satisfaction.

"Indeed, a man's best jewelry is a medal."

"..."

Luo Tianming felt his body stiffen. The gold star medal on his chest was just a piece of gold, but it made him feel an unbearable heat and weight.

Just as he was about to reach out and take it off, the major said with great emotion:

“I’ve tried it myself several times… Every time I wanted to wear this medal, I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”

“It’s shameful to wear something like this without enough merit.”

"So I've always kept it in a collectible box."

"Now, this medal has finally found its owner."

Luo Tianming reacted as if he were being burned; this medal was a family heirloom of the Soloviev family. He tried to pull his hand away from the major's, saying:

"Major, I..."

Major Soloviev interrupted, "Lieutenant, no need to say more... This is just a little consolation for you who saved the station but didn't get a 'reward'."

"There should be someone to reward this kind of thing, otherwise the world would become too cold and heartless."

"Don't worry about the meaning behind this medal. It lost its significance long ago when the red flag fell to the ground. Just treat it as a simple medal."

"..."

Having said that, he saluted and said:

"Lieutenant, in recognition of your contributions to the defense of the post, you are hereby awarded the Medal of Honor."

Chapter 92 Traits

"cough,"

"..."

"Cough~ Hmm!" Luo Tianming inadvertently revealed the gold star medal on his chest.

"..."

"Cough cough cough..." (showing off vigorously)

Revy, clearly unable to bear Luo Tianming's 'come ask me' attitude, said:

"If you have a cough, go see a doctor and get some medicine."

"..."

Takemi Taeya added insult to injury without holding back: "Is your throat sore?"

Luo Tianming: "Sigh..."

He showed off his medals for a long time, but no one recognized them or took them seriously.

When Luo Tianming returned with the medal, the three women looked at him with a knowing look: the look of a wife scolding her useless husband for wasting money on unnecessary purchases.

"..."

Let's take a closer look at what we've gained this time.

Luo Tianming opened the log and saw a line of text:

[A special loot item has been detected: Crimson Egg, which can be exchanged for 15 Recruitment Tickets. Would you like to exchange it, dear?]

"..."

Luo Tianming wrote on it:

Since this thing is an egg, can I hatch it?

Log: [Well~ we don't really recommend it. After all, even if you manage to raise one, you won't have the ability to control it. At most, you'll just create another behemoth for the local area.]

Are you planning to destroy the humanity in this region...?

Well, Luo Tianming thought for a moment—this thing must be a rare and valuable item, but he doesn't have any way to get it right now, so he might as well exchange it for recruitment vouchers and quickly improve his strength.

Therefore, he wrote down "Exchange" without hesitation.

Suddenly, his inventory increased to 25 recruitment tickets.

【Hey~ :)】

The customer service representative sent a creepy emoji, followed by the message.

Do you plan to repay the loan now? We're giving you a special 'interest-free coupon' – you only need to repay the principal.

To get his money back, this guy is now resorting to any means necessary.

Just how afraid was it that Luo Tianming would renege on his promise...?

However, Luo Tianming wrote, as if deliberately keeping it hanging:

Let's take a look at the products first; I haven't checked out the new items yet...

He then opened the product page, only to find it was completely blank.