Comrades in Memory

“Rat-a-tat-tat—”

It seemed that intense gunfire rang in Ye Lan’s ears, mixed with the thunder of tank artillery and the whistling of aircraft overhead.

It was as if he were on some battlefield.

As Ye Lan’s blurry vision cleared, he saw endless yellow sand and swarming dark masses crawling across it.

He also noticed that the teammates beside him, though indistinct in features, were not wearing military uniforms but the Soul Severing Academy school uniform—they were students.

“What the hell are these things? Why are there so many?”

“Where the hell is the support? Where is the backup?”

“Our Class E was definitely left behind; the ship went to pick up Class A first.”

The students had never encountered these alien insects before.

Fear and panic filled their hearts.

Even the lowest-level alien insect had teeth and claws capable of tearing open tank armor, and its skin and bones were as hard as high-grade alloys.

Even the regular troops of the Human Alliance would gain little advantage when encountering these creatures for the first time, let alone a group of students who didn’t even know basic tactics.

Sending students to face the alien insects was essentially a death sentence; no commander would ever do that.

But Ye Lan knew this was an accident, an unforeseen tragedy.

In this battle, Ye Lan lost his roommate and only friend at Soul Severing Military Academy—Raymond Caniel.

“Rumble!”

A tunneling worm burst through the trench’s concrete structure, lunging directly at Ye Lan.

He tried to move, but his body did not obey, and his eyes closed.

He immediately realized that he was trapped within a memory.

“Ye Lan, don’t zone out, get out of the way!”

A familiar voice made “Ye Lan” open his eyes, but what followed became one of Ye Lan’s eternal nightmares.

In front of “Ye Lan” stood a large, burly man, and the tunneling worm’s sharp bone blade easily pierced his body.

“Pff~”

The sound of blood spurting. Life drained away with the flowing blood.

But the muscle density of a power-type psychic allowed him to hold on a little longer; death was only a matter of time.

“Raymond! You…”

Ye Lan knew what he wanted to say.

“What ‘I’… why did you save me?”

He didn’t think someone as useless as himself deserved another’s life to save him.

“What… what are you… still standing there?!”

Seeing “Ye Lan” frozen, the burly man slammed his rifle onto him and shouted, “What are you waiting for? Move!”

“Ye Lan” was hurt by the impact but also awakened by it.

Bearing the pain of losing his closest comrade and hatred for his own weakness, “Ye Lan” lowered his head and sprinted toward the evacuation point.

When the spaceship engines roared above, he was too exhausted to continue running.

The intense beams projected from the spaceship became the last image in this memory.

…

The sensation of eyes exposed to bright light was uncomfortable, especially when someone lifted his eyelids to check his pupils.

Suddenly shifting eyeballs could startle the observer.

Ye Lan could tell because the person checking his eyes had their hand shake slightly.

As the penlight moved away, Ye Lan saw the clean ceiling of the infirmary.

The Soul Severing Military Academy infirmary, though called an infirmary, could be considered a field hospital.

Its scale rivaled a normal hospital, staffed with highly skilled doctors and well-stocked with medical resources.

Ye Lan tilted his head toward the window—it was nighttime, though which night he couldn’t tell.

A young male doctor in a white coat stood beside his bed, typing something on his terminal—likely Ye Lan’s status report.

Judging by his age, he looked only in his twenties, but as the attending physician, his medical skills were extraordinary.

“Doctor! What time is it…”

Ye Lan struggled to sit up, but the doctor gestured for silence and pointed at the bedside.

Ye Lan glanced at the bed, then softened at the sight.

A slender, delicate girl lay atop the bed, sleeping peacefully with even breaths as if dreaming a pleasant dream.

Her eyelashes twitched slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.

For a moment, there was lingering confusion, but then she saw Ye Lan smiling at her.

“Lan! You’re awake!”

Su Lixiao, ignoring anyone nearby, threw herself onto him, crying, “Wuwu~”

‘Don’t worry about me.’

Ye Lan had intended to say something else, but feeling the dampness on his shoulder, he could only offer comfort: “It’s alright, don’t cry.”

“Cough cough!”

The forgotten doctor cleared his throat, announcing his presence.

Su Lixiao’s cheeks flushed crimson; she wanted to vanish into the floor but clearly couldn’t, unless she hid under Ye Lan’s blanket.

“All good, I’m fine.”

Ye Lan wiped the tears from her eyes.

He studied her outfit and smiled, “You’re representing the freshmen, you can’t mess up that sharp outfit for me.”

She wore a neat, professional female suit, giving her a strong and capable aura.

“You really can’t be fooled by anything.”

She stood, tidying her clothes, though her teary eyes spoiled the aura slightly.

Ye Lan got out of bed, testing his body.

Ribs that should have been broken were fine; all functions were intact as if uninjured.

This was the power of modern medicine—most injuries can be healed if death didn’t occur on the spot.

“Doctor, can I leave?”

“Of course, but you’d better wait until tomorrow—the classes are over today anyway.”

He reasoned that since it was already nighttime, Ye Lan might as well stay in the infirmary until morning.