Chapter 133 First-Class Merit

"This is tasty."

"This is even tastier."

"This really is delicious, but I don't want to eat anymore."

Xinghe enjoyed his food with gusto, and as he did, the atmosphere of the banquet also changed.

Other diners had all but stopped eating while Xinghe stopped after having six braised lion's head meatballs, then abruptly halted his eating and loudly said something in an alien language.

Then Xinghe's Mecha walked on its own into the banquet hall.

When the waiters stared in amazement at a Mecha walking in by itself, they were greatly surprised, but Xinghe turned to Gao Yuan and said, "I need to ensure I am aware of my body condition, and this requires the Mecha to be close."

After saying that, Xinghe's Mecha began to emit a series of sounds, and then Xinghe appeared hesitant, but he soon happily started eating again.

There were some questions Li Wen was reluctant to ask, but it was not a problem for Gao Yuan, so he immediately asked, "What did it say?"

"Oh, it said that I've already exceeded the necessary nutritional intake, but it's far from the danger level, so I've decided to continue eating. I hope it's not rude?"

Gao Yuan hurriedly said with a sincere smile, "Not rude at all, not at all. You see, we are all very happy."

Indeed, everyone was indeed very happy, even though no one else was eating anymore.

We have to make sure the guest eats well.

At this moment, Li Wen smiled at Gao Yuan and said, "Xiao Gao, I heard you can eat a lot now. Is there anything in particular you want to eat? As long as we have it, we will definitely satisfy you."

Gao Yuan's eyes flickered, then he looked at the others. Li Wen laughed and said, "Can't think of anything? Just ask."

Gao Yuan whispered, "I dream of eating donkey meat sandwiches..."

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment. Li Wen looked back at the waiters standing behind him and asked, "Donkey meat sandwiches... Can you provide them?"

"We truly cannot..."

The comrade in charge of the state banquet looked troubled but quickly said, "However, I can try to find a way. It's just that this time it won't work; we don't have enough time."

Just then, Xinghe suddenly frowned and said, "My mind tells me I still want to eat, but I feel like the taste isn't as good anymore. Why is that?"

"Because you are full."

Xinghe frowned, then abruptly said, "Then please give me some sweetened white fungus and lotus seed soup."

While tasting the white fungus and lotus seed soup slowly with a spoon, Xinghe sighed deeply and said, "As a civilized race, we really shouldn't give up the pleasure of eating. The sodium intake in your food is a bit high for me, and there are other components that are not beneficial to health, but I think the pleasure and satisfaction of the spirit far outweigh its harm."

Actually, everyone had finished eating, but seeing Xinghe looking so satisfied and happy, of course, everyone had to wait for him to finish before they could talk about leaving.

Li Wen smiled and said, "That's true, we have a saying that goes 'Food is the god of the people.' For the Shenzhou people, and for all humanity, food is definitely the most important thing, bar none."

Xinghe nodded, then he took a sip of the lotus seed soup and after thinking for a while, he suddenly said, "So, now is the time for casual conversation, right? That is, in an informal setting, anything can be said."

Li Wen smiled and said, "Yes, anything can be said."

"You've all been asking me; now I have a question for you. What is a first-class merit?"

Xinghe looked at Gao Yuan and then at Li Wen and said, "I don't quite understand this term. The Earth literature you provided me does not have an accurate description of first-class merit. I wish to know, is first-class merit important?"

Gao Yuan curiously asked, "Why do you ask that?"

Xinghe thought for a moment and said, "After I arrived on this planet, I saw the efforts and sacrifices you made to defeat the Serpent People. Please believe me, the more advanced the civilization, the rarer the act of giving up one's life easily becomes. Humans are already an advanced civilization, yet your soldiers readily make the choice to relinquish their lives. I know you call this 'sacrifice.'

At the mention of sacrifice, everyone's expression suddenly became grave.

Li Wen suddenly sat up straight.

Xinghe looked at Li Wen and asked, "So what is first-class merit? Is it something so precious that people can exchange their lives for it?"

Li Wen took a breath and said, "First-class merit is not an object to trade for. It's an honor, an honor not worth exchanging for life, and no one sacrifices their life for the sake of first-class merit. Their sacrifice is for something more important than merit."

Xinghe thought about it and said, "I don't quite understand. Do you have any materials I can look at?"

Li Wen said in a low voice, "May I ask why you are inquiring about this?"

"Because I heard it, some very interesting conversations. When General Wang Hu decided to face the attack of the Serpent People, I wondered what drove him to do that."

Gao Yuan said in surprise, "You heard that?"

Xinghe nodded and said, "Of course my Mecha has that ability. I can hear whatever sounds I want to within a certain range. Hmm, perhaps you would also like to listen. Where shall we start? Let's start from here..."

Xinghe didn't look back, he just uttered a phrase in the alien language, and then his Mecha began to play a sound, just like a recorder.

Wang Hu's voice came through, he shouted, "From now on don't stop! Run as far as you can, hold on for as long as you can, lead the zombies in circles for me, whoever holds out for ten minutes, I'll put in for first-class merit for them!"

"Brigade Commander, you've promised dozens of second-class merits and over a dozen first-class merits, haven't you? But not a single one has been awarded."

"As long as you know you earned the merit, that's enough. Don't worry, someone will put in the merit for us."

"Who, Gao Yuan? Our superior officer?"

"No, as long as Xinghe survives, I guarantee our brigade will be awarded a collective first-class merit, believe it or not, believe it?"

"Let's hope so..."

"Stop talking, it wastes too much energy. Now, I want you to run faster, Liu Siming, I order you to run to the front. Whoever has the stamina, sprint to the front, run as far as you can, it's an order!"

"Brigade Commander, I'm moving ahead, don't forget, eh, first-class merit."

"Brigade Commander, first-class merit!"

"Brigade Commander, first-class merit."

"First-class merit."

"Brigade Commander... goodbye."

When Wang Hu's voice was heard, Li Wen was utterly astonished. After hearing the dialogue between Wang Hu and the soldiers, he only listened to a few sentences before he stood up.

Then everyone stood up, and those generals took off their own caps, holding them in their hands.

Gao Yuan's breathing grew rapid; he didn't know what Wang Hu had said in the last moments of his life, but now he knew.

There were some gunshots, but the shots were very faint, probably because Xinghe's Mecha had reduced the background noise, mainly extracting Wang Hu's voice.

"I'm telling you to move forward!"

"Brigade Commander, I'm the head of the guard unit, I can't let you die in front of me, please, don't make me fail my duty again."

"You... Alright, I agree."

"Thank you, Brigade Commander, Brigade Commander, the zombies are coming."

"No more running, engage the enemy!"

"Yes!"

"And there's a monster, Liu Siming, follow me, our brigade won't be missing a single person, off to the Underworld to summon old troops, a hundred thousand banners to slay... the Serpent!"

"Move aside, are you the brigade commander or am I? If we die together, that'll be it, no need to distinguish who goes first, we won't have anything left."

"Oh."

"Flashlight!"

Listening to the familiar two voices, Gao Yuan couldn't help but tears stream down his face; those were the voices of Wang Hu and Liu Siming, the commander at Shimen Shelter No.2 and the head of his guard unit.

It was the last conversation of a brigade commander. He didn't flinch.

"I am Wang Hu!"

"I am... Changshan Wang Hu!"

"I am Armored Tiger!"

Gunshots, explosions, and roars.

Amid the much noisier background noise, Wang Hu's roar came through.

"I am General Wang Hu!"

Explosions, and then all sounds ceased.

Seeing everyone standing up, Xinghe stood up as well, then he said softly, "Because Wang Hu mentioned first-class merit, and he mentioned me, he said with me around they would have first-class merit, so I felt it necessary to ask, and let you know what happened."

Li Wen's voice trembled as he spoke softly, "Is there more?"

Xinghe shook his head and said, "That's it, he's dead at this point."

Li Wen's lips quivered as he said with a shaking voice, "Thank you for putting in for their merit, yes, first-class merit, all first-class merit! Definitely first-class merit, it must be first-class merit!"