My Partner was Assigned to me by the Country

The three-day holiday passed quickly, and the soldiers, who had recovered from the competition, made it to the Mecha training ground within the designated time to attend the concluding meeting for the competition. The training ground, which was the largest on the entire ship, could simultaneously accommodate up to 100,000 people after the contraction barriers were expanded. Thousands of ten-meter-tall steel behemoths gathered here for training.

All the Mechas had been parked in their cabins, and their majestic and formidable figures could not be seen today.

Ryan arrived a little late. When he entered the training ground, tens of thousands of people had already gathered. The soldiers stood tall and straight, with a sharp and resolute appearance. Their strides were strong and firm, and their eyes were brave and determined. This was a huge team with strong beliefs that could overcome anything even while drifting rootlessly in space and protect their homeland behind them.

“Hey, Ryan.”

“Ryan.”

“Hello, Ryan.”

“Ryan, you’re great. We should spar sometime.”

“Sorry, Ryan. I spoke badly of you online before.”

“Look, that’s Ryan over there. He’s neither short, nor small!”

“I knew you would win, Ryan. Haha, I bet five bucks on you and now I’ve won big.”

“……”

“……”

Ryan received a warm welcome all the way, whether he knew the people or not. Everyone who passed by him greeted him. He proved with his own strength that everything on the forum was slanderous. He had the ability and potential to go further, to do better, and to match anyone.

When he arrived at the Mecha engineering department, he received an unprecedented warm welcome. Colonel William stood on the command platform in front like a lion dominating a vast territory, showing off his luxuriant mane, applauding his subordinates, leading the way to applaud for Ryan.

From a distance, Colonel William gave Ryan a thumbs up, and Ryan politely raised his hat and nodded in acknowledgement. Colonel William looked around at his colleagues on the right and left, “You see that? That’s Ryan, from our department. Hahaha, he’s a badass, coming out of the Mecha engineering department and beating down many close combat soldiers. Hahaha, sorry about that, though. This kid is too heavy handed. I heard there were several fractures among the close combat team, so they’ll need some time to recover. It’s a pity.”

The leader of the close combat unit hesitated to speak and didn’t want to argue with William, this rough guy is very protective of his team. If he said something too harsh about Ryan, the gun would probably turn and fire back. He couldn’t argue with him, as the profanity that comes out of his mouth was endless.

William Colonel turned his head uninterestingly and looked ahead. He thought there would be a verbal battle, and he even exercised his cheeks and tongue to prepare for it. However, the melee soldiers suddenly fell silent, which made him feel lonely. In the past, the members of the Mecha engineering department were often mocked as the ‘baa-baa sheep’ who just ran along in the inter-departmental contests and provided badges to other departments. But now, who dares to bring up this topic? Hahaha!

There is a wolf in sheep’s clothing among the baa-baa sheep!

Team leader Su Ming punched Ryan’s shoulder and said, “I didn’t expect you to make our Mecha engineering department proud.”

Ryan said with a smile, “Everyone did well.” If he is too modest, he will appear insincere, after all, the results are there.

Su Ming nodded, “Yes, everyone performed better than in previous years, thanks to you.”

Ryan asked, “Huh?” How come he didn’t know his radiation function was that powerful?

Lilith, who stood aside and had been studying Ryan’s golden cross-arm badge on his shoulder for a while, looked up and said, “Legends about you abound on the grasslands. When people hear about you, they hold their breath, not wanting to be outdone by you.”

In the past, the baa-baa sheep were really just sacrificial lambs in the inter-departmental competitions. They would give up voluntarily after a short period of fighting due to various reasons. This year was different, Ryan Smith’s name echoed across the grasslands, and those who initially looked down on him didn’t want to appear incompetent, so they gritted their teeth and persevered. Those who were convinced by Ryan were even more inspired and ignited their small universes. With Ryan’s name in their minds, they felt accompanied and continued to move forward.

Although our final ranking was far behind the other departments, and only about ten people made it into Moon Bay, it was enough. It really was enough. Let’s not compare ourselves to those rough guys from other departments. Let’s compare ourselves to our past selves. It’s like a class with average grades at the bottom of the school suddenly collectively making an effort and gradually shortening the distance with the top-scoring class, which is impressive.

No wonder Colonel William was so happy.

The baa-baa sheep also learned to bare their teeth and compete with the wolves.

Colonel William shed tears of joy as a proud father.

Boom, boom, boom…

The bell rings and everyone in all teams lined up to gather.

A neat and uniform square formation appears in the field. On the command platform, led by General Auston, all officers salute to the soldiers, “Well done, soldiers!”

Snap!

The sound of arms being raised and hands clapping resonates at the same time. Tens of thousands of people sound as one, with crisp and sharp voices. They salute and look at the officers on the command platform, saying in unison, “Not difficult at all! To defend our country and protect our homes is our mission! Let’s sharpen our weapons and feed our horses, and strive to seize the day!”1

Their morale is high, their blood is boiling, and their passion is overwhelming!

After a brief introduction, Auston finally revealed the data that everyone was eagerly waiting for, the announcement of the data from the competition. Projections appeared on both sides of the command post, displaying various data clearly. The Xingtian ship and its affiliated frigates had nearly 120,000 soldiers, of which 76,562 participated in the competition. On the first day of the big melee in the Ice grasslands, one-third of the participants lost their badges and became ‘corpses’. The remaining 50,000-plus soldiers lost nearly 4,000 people each day, and only around 20,000 elite soldiers made it to the Moon Bay in the end. Of those, only 5,000 made it to the end and entered the central point.

In the Ice grasslands and Moon Bay, the soldiers not only faced the harsh and ever-changing climate, but also the unpredictable minds of their opponents. Fishing and anti-fishing behaviors inspired by Ryan and his team made this competition exciting and challenging, and several school officials were inspired by it to make further adjustments to their training for the future.

Soldiers, there will be even more days in the future where you will suffer and complain endlessly.

The bigwigs on the command center smirked and watched the young soldiers below, excitedly anticipating their future cries of pain.

Casualties were common in large-scale competitions like this, and this one was no exception. Some soldiers closed their eyes forever, sacrificing themselves in training as brave heroes who never feared hardship and went forward courageously. The Legion would award them the third-class merit medal, and everyone observed a moment of silence for them.

After the data was announced, it was time to award medals, badges, and prize money. The military was direct and straightforward, wasting no time in giving out the money. A list of winners appeared on the projection, with corresponding badges being awarded and a resounding clanging sound as those soldiers received their star coins.

Entering the center of Moon Bay rewards 50,000; achieving victories in four events rewards 70,000; achieving a complete victory rewards 100,000. Ryan’s personal terminal rang the most, and he also earned the most badges, totaling 230,000…

The huge sum of money made Ryan’s wallet instantly bulge, but he valued three badges more: the Soldier Badge with a golden fist, the five-pointed star with red gemstones embedded in its five concave corners, and the Golden Cross Rose Medal, which was unmatched in its dominance. Ryan had already decided to give these badges to Auston for safekeeping, and he would let him keep all the honors he earned in the future!

And the greatest honor of his life was obtaining Auston’s love.

After all the rewards had been distributed, Auston stepped forward on the command platform, and all the small voices below disappeared as everyone looked up ahead.

Auston said, “There were five winning events set up in this tournament. Four hundred and seventy-two people won four of them, and a total of one hundred and eighty people achieved a full victory. Among them, Derrick Hall, Harriet Lannister, Fan Lanting Francis, Jack Kipling, and…” A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes, and he sounded particularly gentle when he pronounced this name, “Ryan Smith. They were the first team to enter the center and achieved a full victory in all five events!”

There was a brief commotion among the audience, although they knew that Ryan was powerful, many did not expect that he and his team would be a grand slam winner.

Auston continued, “The winners of the four events will be included in the National Day parade and go to the imperial capital with me. Soldiers, you are excellent, and your excellence will be demonstrated in front of the whole country. Let’s give you a round of applause in advance.”

Clap clap clap!

The audience below erupted into excited applause, sending heartfelt congratulations to the victorious players.

Through the sea of people, Auston caught Ryan’s gaze and nodded imperceptibly. In the not-too-distant future, they would walk together on Imperial Avenue, under the gaze of millions of people.

Looking forward to that day coming soon.

Ryan thought likewise.

There is a good side, of course, there is also a disappointing side. Auston’s tone changed abruptly, and he looked sternly at everyone present, “Anything can be done in the competition as long as it does not endanger your comrades or yourself. However, I never expected that some of you would be incited to act on the orders of one person for a small auxiliary mecha and inflict harm on your own colleagues. If this were a real battlefield, my army would be unable to withstand a single blow. This is the fault of the person who started this, the fault of those who couldn’t hold onto their principles, and also my responsibility. After we return, all those involved in this incident will have three points deducted from their assessment, and everyone on the ship, including us, will retake military theory. If you fail, you will keep taking the exam until you pass.”

Those who were once bewitched by the small auxiliary mechas all lowered their heads, their positions not firm, and it was their mistake to follow Sierra’s orders for the sake of one small mecha. Many of them have learned their lesson, seeing Ryan’s various methods, and are grateful that they discovered this early and did not completely turn against this kind of person.

Finally, Auston said, “The Xingtian ship will depart from B612 asteroid in two days, pass through the way of Dawn and return home, ending this patrol mission. I hope that all of you have gained something useful during this patrol. You are dismissed.”

With one sentence, the team dispersed and the crowd slowly left.

The members of the team had not yet left, they discussed having a meal together in the main kitchen. After deciding on what to eat, and seeing that most of the crowd had dispersed, they prepared to leave. However, Su Ming saw that Ryan was still standing there and called out, “Ryan, let’s go.”

“Oh, I’m coming,” Ryan replied. Then, he changed his mind and said, “You guys go ahead, I’ll go to the main kitchen to find you later.”

“What are you going to do?” Su Ming was a little puzzled.

Ryan withdrew his gaze from the distance and smiled at Su Ming, “Nothing, you guys go ahead, I’ll be there soon.”

Su Ming was about to ask again, but Lilith impatiently pushed him, “He said he’ll come find us later, why are you asking so much? Let’s go.” Lilith turned around, her gaze brushing past Ryan’s shoulder. Her small feelings for him had been let go, just as she had said before. Ryan was her friend and also her opponent, and she wouldn’t stop, she would keep chasing… and she would eventually surpass him. “Su Ming, let’s go.”

“Okay.” With just one sentence from Lilith, Su Ming didn’t need to ask anything else, and he followed her happily.

The people remaining at the training field were getting fewer and fewer. Ryan stepped forward and headed towards the command post that had already landed on the ground. He walked over and saluted, “Good day, General. Good day, all the colonels.”

The general had not left yet, and some of the remaining people were talking to Auston. William saw, out of the corner of his eye, the familiar golden cross badge on Ryan’s arm. He believed that many people in the room had seen it too, but the old guys remained silent. It was better to pretend to be blind and deaf.

Auston nodded, “Soldier, do you have something to say?”

Ryan reached out his fist, opened the palm upwards, and inside were three badges with his palm temperature. He looked at Auston and said, “General, I have a small request.”

“Please say.”

Ryan said, “I still have a long way to go on my path of growth. Honors make me excited and vigilant, reminding me to always maintain a clear mind and rational thinking, and not to be immersed in the existing glory and stop progressing. I ask you to keep these three badges for me, General, and urge me not to stop moving forward.”

Auston chuckled, “Why don’t you want to stop?”

Ryan looked straight at Auston and said, “Because I want to walk alongside my beloved.”

Colonel William: “…” I’m getting old, getting old. The passion of young people makes me want to shed tears. He wanted to cross his arms, this is the soldier under him.

Others: “???”

Others: “!!!”

They shouldn’t be here now, General, please ignore their presence.

Looking at Ryan, the gazes of the others were filled with meaning, including scrutiny, appraisal, admiration, and deliberation. Those who could become Xingtian ship officers were all trustworthy people of Auston. Some of them had followed General Dalton to the battlefield when they were young, and had watched Auston grow up slowly. After so many years, the general’s lonely shoulders had carried too much, and they hoped he could find a caring and capable wife who could also help the general.

The general had previously revealed that he had gotten married, he was looking at the young man with a gentle temperament and a peaceful smile before their eyes, Ryan Smith, who had performed the best and most outstanding in the recent competition. Will he be the perfect match for the general?

Is this Ryan the person everyone has been hoping for?

Ryan knew his behavior was impulsive, but he wanted to walk up to the front and let others know that he, Ryan, was not a clinging vine trying to climb up to the general, but rather he wanted to grow up to be the person who could support Auston and help him achieve his goals. He loved him and was willing to change his life’s ideals and aspirations.

Auston felt overwhelmed, Was Ryan making a promise? His eyelashes trembled as he chose to speak from his heart, a faint blush on his face. Auston said, “Soldier, I believe you can succeed.” He reached out and carefully took the badges one by one, holding it solemnly in his palm. “Soldier, I will wait for the day you spread your wings and fly.”

“I won’t let the General wait long.”

Ryan took a deep look at Auston, gestured to the others, and left.

Auston watched Ryan’s figure disappear and said, “Everyone, please come to my office. Regarding this cruise, I have something to tell you all.”

··

Su Ming and the others decided to have a barbecue, but the staff in the kitchen said: “Not available.”

Su Ming suggested, “How about hot pot?”

The kitchen staff replied with a blank expression, “Not available.”

Su Ming’s face twisted in frustration, “How about fried chicken, French fries, hamburgers, steak, and cola?”

The kitchen staff still had a lackluster expression and replied, “Not available.”

He paused for a moment and offered a suggestion to Su Ming and his group, “If you’re willing to eat the meat of the Wolf poison beast, and use it for BBQ, hotpot, or fried meat, we’re willing to provide it.”

There were so many people on board the Xingtian ship, and the daily food consumption was astonishing. If they didn’t control their inventory well, the soldiers would lose their combat effectiveness due to lack of food before the supply ship arrived. If the Zerg attacked during that time, they could easily wipe out the elite soldiers of the Empire. Therefore, the kitchen didn’t have much food at the moment, and everyone had to tighten their belts and endure the tough times, as they would soon pass.

After Ryan arrived, he saw everyone staring intensely at a large pizza covered with small dried fish, as if they were hoping to magically transform it into beef, shrimp, chicken, and cheese… It was unclear how the kitchen managed to make it, but the dried fish were arranged in a circle around the edge of the pizza, with their heads and tails raised high. The shriveled fish eyes stared at the sky, and their mouths filled with tiny sharp teeth were slightly open, as if they were shouting or singing praises to the moon?

The chef who provided this pizza called it ‘Looking Up at the Moon’.

Ryan asked, “Just this to eat?” 

Su Ming looked at Ryan with despair, as if all the strength had been drained from his body. “Do you have any way to make it taste better?”

The crowd looked at Ryan expectantly.

After analyzing the structure of the pizza, Ryan said, “Sorry, I can’t do anything about it.”

Everyone slumped onto the table, defeated by reality, and didn’t want to say anything more.

As the team leader, Su Ming tried to boost morale. “Don’t lose heart. We will have milk and bread. We are only one flight away from delicious food. Now, we can’t waste food. We will eat up the ‘Looking at the Moon’ pizza, everyone gets a share, and no one can shirk their responsibility. This is something a soldier should least have.”

After coming to this height, who can still refuse eating? Of course, we should eat!  Leading the way was Ryan, who fearlessly grabbed a slice of pizza with lots of cheese, and when he pulled it out, the cheese stretched between the slices. It tasted smoky and heavy, with the flavor of dried fish, as well as the taste of black pepper and olives. He concluded, “The taste is not bad. Everyone, try it.”

Great! With an expert’s approval, everyone could eat with confidence.

Although the shape was bizarre, the taste of ‘Looking up to the Sky’ was acceptable.

‘Looking up to the Sky’ was paired with beer, and the more they drank, the better it tasted. They ate and drank until they were tipsy. By the end of the meal, even the usually calm Ryan was drunk and the smile on his face disappeared, making him look like a blood-soaked soldier who had crawled out of the abyss of a battlefield. Several people passing by hurriedly left, afraid to linger for a moment. When Ryan arrived at his dormitory, the alcohol had dissipated from his body, and his flattened lips slowly lifted up. He was once again that gentle and mild-mannered young man.

“Ryan.”

Hearing the call, Ryan looked over and saw Fan Lanting, whom he had not seen since the end of the match.

Fan Lanting held his hat under his arm and walked over. “I saw you from a distance just now and thought I was seeing things. I had to look several times to make sure it was really you. You look pretty scary when you’re not smiling.”

Ryan said, “I had a little too much to drink, and it went to my head.”

Fan Lanting said, “I understand. I like to sing when I’m drunk.”

Ryan smiled, he was usually very rational and rarely drank enough to get drunk. Getting slightly tipsy was already his bottom line.

Fan Lanting took off the hat from his arm and hesitated, not knowing how to start.

Ryan pushed open the door and said, “Come on in.”

Inside the room, besides three dominant planting pods displaying their presence, there was nothing special to be seen. Fan Lanting didn’t have the habit of prying into other people’s privacy and kept his gaze fixed in one place. At Ryan’s invitation, he sat down at the table, feeling both nervous and excited as he drank his water. He took out a letter from his pocket and pushed it solemnly towards Ryan.

Ryan: “?”

Fan Lanting said, “This is the letter I wrote to Connor. Could you please help me deliver it to him, Ryan?”

Ryan: “I invited you to come to my home as a guest, and I never break my promises. You can personally give it to him.”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean,” Fan Lanting scratched his head and said with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, “I hope to get Connor’s permission before I visit him. I hope he’s willing to see me, a small fan. I don’t want to rely on my identity as your friend to see him, which would be impolite and disrespectful in my opinion, and it would also show a lack of respect for Connor. I formally applied in the letter, and if he agrees, then I’ll go.”

Fan Lanting let out a barely perceptible sigh, as he had struggled with this decision for a long time. Sometimes he wanted to follow Ryan home without a care in the world, and sometimes he was afraid that his rash actions would make Connor dislike him. After much deliberation, he made the decision he did now, hoping that Connor would accept his arrival after reading the letter. Would he? Fan Lanting didn’t know, but he hoped he would.

Folded within the thin envelope were Fan Lanting’s hopes, which Ryan took seriously. “Don’t worry, I’ll deliver it to Connor, and I’ll let you know his response as soon as possible.”

Fan Lanting breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling much lighter in both body and mind, and started chatting with Ryan. “I came here a couple of days ago, but you were out.”

“I went to Yuemang Town.”

“Hmm, I ran into someone at your dormitory entrance, a blond man. He had probably been standing at your door for a while,” Fan Lanting described the person he saw, and then said, “I could tell he was mentally unstable. He was weeping alone, so I chatted with him for a while. He said he had done many wrong things, shouldn’t have hurt the person he once liked out of jealousy, shouldn’t have posted rumors online, shouldn’t have shamelessly kept coming to bother them, but he couldn’t control the demons in his heart, and kept making mistakes.”

Ryan knew that the person Fan Lanting was talking about was Amy.

“He said he had applied for retirement, and it had been approved. He would leave the Legion after this cruise ended,” Fan Lanting frowned, a little puzzled. “He also muttered something about a cup he had claimed as his own, and the coffee inside that he planned to drink when he got back.”

Ryan: “…” The coffee has been there for a long time and even if it were in a sealed container, it wouldn’t last very long. Ryan was aware of Amy’s actions. Since he had secretly claimed that cup as his own, Ryan had alienated this friend. He didn’t care for himself, but he couldn’t let a potential danger appear around Auston.

After talking for a while, Fan Lanting said goodbye and left. Ryan pondered for a moment in his dorm before pushing the door open and heading to the mechanical engineering department. He didn’t find Amy there and asked his former colleagues who told him that Amy wasn’t feeling well and had gone to the medical center. So he headed there and found a pale and emaciated Amy lying in bed with his face shrunk and barely the size of a palm, as white as paper. When he saw Ryan come to see him, he burst into tears and said apologetically, “I’m sorry.”

After finding out that the person he loves has become the lover of his idol, Amy was hit with a double blow and felt very depressed and wanted to retaliate against society. He found many excuses to see Ryan, hoping to use him as a way to meet the general. Out of ten attempts, he was only able to see the general one or two times, and every time, the general appeared with Ryan, their bond and warmth making Amy envious and jealous. He even went to confront Ryan with a knife in his pocket. Every night, lying in bed, Amy was afraid of his own changes, but could not suppress his inner feelings.

The team leader found him absent-minded and often distracted, so he chatted with him.

Amy then decided to retire. He felt so small, suddenly having the opportunity to get close to his idol, but unable to handle it and starting to twist and break down. He should have stayed like he used to, standing far away and being satisfied with just getting some information about the general.

“I’m sorry, I posted rumors about you online.” Amy lowered his head in shame. After anonymously posting the message, he didn’t expect so many people to respond, and various rumors began to spread. He was at a loss and wanted to delete the post to reduce the impact, but it was too late. Blackening Ryan became a frenzy on the internet.

Ryan didn’t say anything and just sat there for a while before leaving.

As Ryan left the medical center, he couldn’t get Amy’s last words out of his mind. “The coffee that the general made…I can’t honestly say it tasted good. I’m sorry.”

This is not something one can praise with closed eyes, it is like a deadly bomb. Amy saved the best moment of the coffee in a high-performance storage box (although it had expired, the taste was still there and safe to drink), but the explosive flavor made him gulp it down with his neck stretched. Less than fifteen minutes after drinking, he suffered from stomach ache and gastroenteritis, and has been vomiting and having diarrhea with a high fever for the past few days, almost saying goodbye to this world.

Ryan didn’t know what expression to respond with, so he could only pat Amy’s shoulder to show his comfort. On the way back, Ryan’s mouth slightly curved upwards, feeling good. He thought about scheduling the remaining third of the little strawberry and starting to work on it after implanting the AI. He could even bring the little strawberry to meet Code Zero.