12dz Chapter 238 Flag-raising Ceremony
Chapter 238 Flag-raising Ceremony
Song Chen turned around and pointed to the five beast kings hanging under the spaceship: "Commander Lu, unload them and move them to the center of the square. The flag-raising ceremony will begin in an hour, so that the whole city can come and watch."
"They're already moving it." Lu Zhengbei pointed towards the square, where several heavy cranes were unloading the Ironclad Rhino from the psionic chains, the hydraulic arms emitting a low rumble.
As Song Chen was about to walk into the garrison commander's mansion, he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye.
Zhou Xiaoman stood behind Lin Qingxue, tiptoeing, craning her neck forward, her eyes fixed on him, as if she had a lot to say but dared not speak.
Lin Qingxue followed his gaze and quickly grabbed Zhou Xiaoman's wrist, saying to Song Chen, "This is my roommate, Zhou Xiaoman. We met before, and she's always wanted to get to know you."
Zhou Xiaoman swallowed hard, unusually nervous.
She was usually very eloquent at Nanjiang University, but now, facing a Daxia honorary councilor with a knife at his waist and covered in the blood of a strange beast, she hesitated for a long time before finally managing to stammer out, "Hello, Councilor Song, I... I am Zhou Xiaoman. Qingxue reads your news every day in the dormitory."
"Xiaoman!" Lin Qingxue's ears turned bright red.
Song Chen nodded: "Come in together."
Zhou Xiaoman grabbed Lin Qingxue's arm, her voice low but unable to contain her excitement: "Qingxue, the Garrison Commander's Mansion! I've never been inside a Garrison Commander's Mansion in my entire life!"
Lin Qingxue was pulled to the side by her.
Upon entering the garrison commander's operations room, Lu Zhengbei had already spread out documents across the entire long table.
The map shows the entire territory of Nanjiang Province, including a distribution map of secondary nests. The types of beast kings, their estimated health and mana, and the terrain features of each nest are all clearly marked.
Song Chen picked up the top document and flipped through a few pages. He said to Lu Zhengbei, "The documents are well prepared. Find me a few more guides who are familiar with the terrain. I'm not familiar with the mountains around Nanjiang."
Lu Zhengbei was taken aback: "Guide? Councilor, what do you need a guide for?"
Song Chen closed the document: "The Beast King is too good at hiding. It took me all night to catch five. With a guide who is familiar with the terrain, the efficiency can be doubled."
Lu Zhengbei coughed and said, "Guide has him. He is the captain of the hunting team in Nanjiang Province. He knows the entrance to every level-two nest in the province. He has been in the wild for thirty years and can draw a map with his eyes closed. I will send someone to call him right away."
"No rush, just arrive before we leave."
Song Chen sat down and began to read through the documents, page by page.
Lin Qingxue sat next to him, remaining quiet and silent.
Zhou Xiaoman stood in the corner of the operations room, her eyes wide open, looking from the sand table to the map wall and then to the folders marked "Top Secret," barely daring to breathe.
An hour later, Song Chen finished reading all three volumes of materials.
He stood up and hung the Heavenly Blade back on his waist.
"Let's go, let's perform the flag-raising ceremony."
There were even more people in the square of the garrison commander's residence than at noon.
After the news spread, half the city flocked to the square, which was so crowded that the crowd stretched all the way to the city gate.
The five-headed beast king was unloaded in the center of the square, still bound by psionic chains, lying motionless on the stone slab.
Their size far exceeds that of any strange beast that ordinary people have ever seen. The armored rhinoceros is thirty meters tall when it is lying down, and the fangs of the golden-maned blood-eyed wolf are thicker than a human arm.
The two heads of the two-headed venomous python faced different directions, and its four eyes reflected a ghostly green light in the setting sun.
The crowd of onlookers crowded outside the cordon. People in the front row looked up, people in the back stood on tiptoe, and people in the back climbed up trees and lampposts.
A child, perched on his father's shoulders, pointed at the dark-scaled pangolin and shouted, "Daddy, those scales glow!"
His father bounced him up a bit: "That's a fifth-tier beast king, captured alive by Councilor Song."
Song Chen walked to the center of the square and drew his Heavenly Blade.
He didn't speak again; he had already said everything he needed to say in the air.
The first armored rhinoceros lay down in front of him and tried to butt him with its horn, but its limbs were crippled and the tip of its horn could only leave a white mark on the stone slab.
Song Chen dodged to the side and slashed his knife into the cervical spine joint. The armored rhinoceros collapsed to the ground with a thud, and blood gushed from the cut.
Several children in the front row of the crowd shrank back in fright, but couldn't help peeking out from behind the adults' legs to watch.
Song Chen didn't stop. He had already severed the spine of the second Golden Mane Blood-Eyed Wolf on the spaceship. He chopped off the wolf's head with one stroke, and the Golden Mane Blood-Eyed Wolf's row of interlocking fangs gleamed coldly in the setting sun.
The third one, the fourth one, the fifth one...
The square grew quieter and quieter.
An old soldier stood ramrod straight in the front row. Next to him, a new recruit who had just signed up for conscription whispered, "Uncle, was a fifth-tier beast king just slashed like that?"
The veteran didn't turn around, his voice dry: "Yes, he was just chopped down like that. In the past, when we surrounded a beast king, thousands of people would die. Councilor Song has now chopped down five beasts without even breaking a sweat."
The last two-headed venomous python had both heads severed simultaneously, its blood spurting out for more than ten meters, creating a dark blue river on the stone slabs of the square.
The heads of the five beast kings were lined up in front of the steps of the garrison commander's mansion.
Song Chen sheathed the Tianjun Blade, took the torch handed to him by Han Duo, and lit the sacrificial flag brazier that had been set up in front of the steps.
Flames roared up, illuminating the entire Great Xia flag in the twilight.
After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in shouts.
Some people threw their hats into the air, some waved their conscription registration forms above their heads, and some turned and rushed towards the conscription registration office.
The military musician who had previously blown the bugle at the gate of the garrison commander's mansion brought out the entire military band this time, and the bugle was blown deafeningly.
In the evening, a continuous feast was set up inside and outside the garrison commander's mansion.
Dozens of large pots were set up in the square. The beast king meat was chopped into large chunks and thrown into the pots. Salt, chili peppers, and local Sichuan peppercorns from Nanjiang were added. The soup simmered and bubbled, and the aroma filled the entire street.
People from all over the city lined up to get meat. The hunters and newly recruited soldiers sat at the same long table gnawing on bones, while martial arts apprentices squatted on the steps drinking soup from enamel bowls.
The child who was held in his mother's arms that afternoon watching the Beast King is now holding a meaty bone bigger than his face in both hands, gnawing on it until his face is covered in oil.
His father was drinking beside him, his face flushed, repeatedly muttering the same sentence: "I've lived for forty years, and this is the first time I've eaten the meat of a beast king."
The backyard of the garrison commander's residence.
Two stone benches sit beneath the old locust tree, while outside the wall, the sounds of bustling people and crackling bonfires fill the air.
Song Chen sat down with a plate of meat, and Lin Qingxue sat next to him, wearing his spare coat over her light blue dress.
He pushed the plate in front of her: "Try it, the tenderest part from the armored rhinoceros's back."
Lin Qingxue picked up her chopsticks, took a small bite, chewed it, and her eyes lit up slightly.
"tasty."
She took another bite, her cheeks puffing out.
"How are you doing at school?" Song Chen asked.
"Fortunately, classes were suspended after the mobilization order was issued, and I was assigned to the supplies inventory team, so I'm quite safe."
Lin Qingxue looked down at the meat on the plate and gently poked the meat pieces twice with her chopsticks.
She chewed on the meat, watching the light from the campfire outside the wall reflected on the locust tree leaves. After a long while, she whispered, "How long are you staying in Nanjiang this time?"
Song Chen picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth: "Hard to say, we'll leave after we've cleared out all the level-two nests in the province."
"After clearing out the enemy, we still need to go to the border to kill the Beast King."
"And you?"
"Me? I'm at school. Classes are suspended right now, but they should resume once the mobilization order is lifted."
……
Under the moonlight, the two snuggled together, laughing as they ate meat.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.