Counterfeit Hero

Tian Xing Jian concealed himself within the tank unmoving. The mud on his body allowed him to camouflage himself with the surrounding environment.

In this distant battlefield, the base of operations for the artillery team, other than him, no other organisms could be seen.

Not even a single mouse could be found.

In reality, there were no creatures like mice existing on Miracolo Planet.

This small hill was initially filled with lush thickets of trees and plants; however, due to the artillery warfare being conducted, the Federation’s artillery team hiding within and the greenery had been turned into ashes.

Around Tian Xing Jian were various types of wreckage; there were metal parts, blood, and flesh. The detonated ammunition had destroyed a 100 meters radius of area in the forest, causing an outbreak of fire that lasted for two whole days before it was extinguished.

Tian Xing Jian felt trapped. His eyelids did not obey his command, as they kept dropping down. Slapping his own face a few times, he tried his utmost to concentrate on observing the battlefield.

This was the Federation Aviation Squadron' Corporal Tian Xing Jian’s twenty-first battle.

From Galileo Galaxy to Newton Galaxy, the Federation had faced a consecutive number of defeats, losing 22 resources planets and 5 human-populated planets. Miracolo Planet was one of the two human-populated planets. The other planet, Miracolo No. 2 Planet, had long been fully conquered by the Imperial Army two months ago.

If this planet were to be conquered by the Imperial Army once again, then the Federation could only concede the remaining 30 resource-filled planets within the Newton Galaxy over to the opposition.

This did not concern Tian Xing Jian. What he cared about more was whether he could survive this war.

This was the the destined path he took – the philosophy of survival.

Hence, even after experiencing 21 battles, the Aviation Squadron, 5th Armored Division, 3rd Armored Battalion, Logistics Company, Platoon One, Mecha Engineer Tian Xing Jian remained as a lowly corporal.

The other comrades who had experienced 18 battles with him earlier on were all practically promoted long ago. However, the only one surviving after the transition of the war from Galileo Galaxy to Newton Galaxy was this engineer who did not get promoted at all. The country’s Aviation Squadron 5th Armored Division had lost a tremendous amount of military unit, with over 95 percent of the division dead. As for the remaining 5 percent of the division, they were currently located in the Miracolo No. 2 Planet.

Tian Xing Jian was almost certainly going to die. It was only due to some good fortune that he was able to catch the retreating battleship before being dispatched to the 9th Armored Division, Veteran section, retreating to this Miracolo Planet.

Tian Xing Jian sneakily moved to a big tree that had fallen from explosives before peeing while lying sideways. This was a very technical term which he was very familiar with. As long as the area he lay down on was higher than the other side, the pee he let out would not flow back to him. At least, his long exposure in war let Tian Xing Jian learn not to pee in his pants even after being frightened during battle.

He shivered from the cold; that woke him a little. Facing sideways, he spat out a spittle, cursing his dumb luck in his heart. The 9th Armored Division had initially sent down the orders to allow 40 percent of the division to return to the Darwin Galaxy for recuperation, yet because of reports of the Imperial Army appearing on the star route to Miracolo Planet, the Supreme Headquarters had no choice but to recall all divisions back to the Miracolo Planet, put up their resistance against the army, and allow for reinforcement to arrive from behind.

Even though this area of concealment was chosen after much consideration by him, it was also far away from the main battlefield. It was still not secure enough for Tian Xing Jian, who only had survival in his mind.

From his viewpoint, the distant battle was simply akin to wildfire. On his direction of 3, 9, and 12 o’clock, there were the Imperial Army’s 200-meters tall crucial Battle Mechas that were operated by a single man - "Divine Mecha 22".

This was the Imperial Army’s standardized mecha that was akin to an ostrich in terms of how flexible they were. The two wing-like missile launchers were shooting out homing missiles periodically. Piercing sounds could be heard every time those laser-controlled missiles were fired.

Those at his 6 o’clock were from the Milky Way Federation. There had been tens of those 3-meters tall, 5-man mecha known as the "Glory 15". The powerful defense of this large mecha was enough to make others tongue-tied. Tens of these mechas were being led by the central computer, allowing them to conduct several high-level evasive maneuvers. Even though they were outnumbered by the Imperial Army and were suppressed under the Imperial’s firepower, within this short period of time, the flexible Battle Mechas of the Imperial Army could not do anything significant to this team of highly defensive mechas from the Milky Way Galaxy.

The two opposing sides were attacking and defending passionately. The smoke released from the guided missiles were crossing each other, shrouding the entire battlefield. Occasionally, the resounding sound from Energy Cannons would reverberate around the battlefield. This piece of land that was being contested over was none other than the most industrialized northwestern sector of New Rome. Those defending this piece of land were comprised of a reinforced armored company and an artillery squad from the Federation. Their primary mission was to defend the logistics channel in the rear.

This battlefield had no structures and entrenchments that would impede the infantry. Instead, it was just a field ahead of where their very first defensive line was located – in a forest about 10 kilometers behind the first defensive line.

Past first defense line, there was a bridge built over the largest river of Miracolo Planet, River Su Peng Mang, known as Su River Bridge. On the other bank of the river was the second defense line of the Federation – a defense line which had been built haphazardly. This was the very last defense line of Romania. If this line was breached, the Federation could only continue their war on the sea.

On this battlefield, the only Mecha Engineer without a Battle Mecha of his own was Tian Xing Jian. He was dispatched to the front lines just a few days ago as the only Mecha Engineer.

Ever since the start of this battle, he had been looking on by his lonesome self for two days without any jobs, and neither were there any comrades to pass the difficult times with. Thinking up to this point, the unlucky Tian Xing Jian felt depressed. "Pei! It’s so hard to live through this period of time!" At this moment, the order for retreat reached his ears.

At about 37 kilometers away, the central defensive line had been breached by the Imperial Army. Large numbers of Battle Mechas belonging to the Imperial Army were pouring through the line. Amongst them, there was a team comprising of two heavy Battle Mecha and eight medium-sized Battle Mecha flanking the back. If they could not retreat by the time this team reached their position, then everyone would die.

As the team traveled on the hill, the land-based Battle Mecha could reach a speed of up to 150 km/h. If they were to travel on an expressway, their speed could be multiple times of that. Even if they were to travel in the forest or pass the several rivers meant to reduce the speed of the enemies, the enemies would still reach them within 20 minutes.

Finally, after receiving the order to retreat, Tian Xing Jian was so excited that he almost jumped for joy. However, thinking of the fact that on their route to retreat were still a team with two heavy Battle Mechas chasing after them, he felt foolish.

Activating the Battle Record Device on his left arm, he acknowledged the orders. Tian Xing Jian began his twenty first retreat. After checking that he had not lost any of the equipment he had on him, Tian Xing Jian leapt out like a cheetah at a speed that was really shocking. He continuously leapt over two fallen trees and five trenches before reaching the boundary of the small hill. Getting on all fours as if a lizard, he passed through 20 meters of grassland down the hill before entering the forest ahead.

At the same time when he received the retreat order, the Federation’s company of Battle Mecha also started to retreat. However, seeing what was happening, it felt as if the Imperial Army had received the same news, and they began fighting even more spiritedly.

Smoke continued shrouding the skies and violent explosions sent soil and dust particles upwards. The Federation’s team of mecha’s Glory 15 covered each other as they retreated. As for the Imperial Army, a company of single-operated Battle Mechas took a different road. It seemed that they wanted to get rid of the Federation’s remaining 12 medium-sized Battle Mecha.

The road that the Imperial Army took was precisely via the small hill which Tian Xing Jian had previously hidden himself at. The Federation’s section had also discovered this attempt by the Imperial Army. Even though this hill might not be tall, if the Imperial Army conquered it, they would still have the height advantage, adding on a nail in the road of retreat for that Federation’s section of Battle Mechas. Soon, two of the Glory 15 Battle Mechas went towards the direction of the small hill under the cover of the rest. They must rush over before the 30 Imperial Army’s single-operated Battle Mecha, the Divine Mecha 22, reached, so that their allies could retreat safely.

Tian Xing Jian was, in other words, like a panicking dog as he ran as fast as he could within the forest.

"Mn, this is a mysterious coward. From the outside, he might seem simple and straightforward, but he is absolutely an immoral person." That was the opinion given by everyone who knew Tian Xing Jian.

Tian Xing Jian’s personality was morally loose by birth.

He was ordinary looking, though kind of plump on the figure. When he was studying, he loved to revolve his life around girls. He always said that his ancestors were famous and bright, though nobody cared about him. Though, that did not stopped him from doing what he wanted.

This person did things very patiently. Whenever he solved a problem, he had the ability to find an alternative solution to it. The very fact that Tian Xing Jian joined the army was one of the reasons why nobody could really understand what he was thinking.

His sole reason for joining the army was actually to slim down.

However, deep down in Tian Xing Jian, there were also many other reasons. Firstly, he felt that he was an extremely lazy person, and thus he wanted to turn over a new leaf. The second reason was because he felt that he was too fat. Since he graduated from school, he had already gained over 20kg of weight. If he had already gained 20kg of weight in a single year, then 20 years later... Tian Xing Jian did not dare to imagine it. Thirdly, he knew that he was not a person with self-discipline. Without anybody monitoring him, he would never uphold his plans to slim down.

Thus, looking at how peaceful it had been, Tian Xing Jian decided to join the army. When he first joined the army, there was a beautiful female doctor who realized that this fatty could do things entirely different from what his body figure was. He could run extremely quickly, his movements were very flexible, and his endurance was extraordinarily great. Tian Xing Jian, of course, delightedly said, "Beauty, my family has a set of movement techniques — Ten Thousand Miles of Solitary, Rapid Hand Blade, and 365 other different techniques." The female army doctor nodded before writing something down and throwing this descendent of Tian Bo Guang into a team that required special training. "Tian Bo Guang, right? For your mockery, you must reflect by understanding what hardship is."

Of course, Tian Xing Jian was not the descendent of someone called Tian Bo Guang. Instead, he was someone who respected that traitor. However, judging from his talents, his speed and endurance were certainly excellent.

After joining the special forces, TIan Xing Jian finally understood the results of spurting the wrong words with his mouth; it was truly serious. These special forces was, of course, meant to train the elites for the Leray Federation, where only people with unique traits could join. Any new recruits with special abilities would be thrown into the training camp. They had to endure intense training before being dispatched to the divisions that were suitable for them.

Some people had an extremely powerful computational ability. As long as these people did not get eliminated from the training camp, they would certainly be able to join the warfare planning division or the logistics headquarter so that their exceptional computational ability could be utilized. Computers were not something that could compute everything. As for these matters that could not be computed, they were given to these people to do it instead. There were also some with unique abilities associated with their senses like smelling, hearing, sixth sense, or those with powerful physique, strength, flexibility, or anyone who had an exceptional result in specific subjects when they were in school. These geniuses would usually be sent to divisions where they could excel with their unique talents.

Tian Xing Jian had been assigned to the scout company for further training.

Present day, technology had reached a stage where they could monitor every single assigned target. Do note the word "assigned target". Without anyone assigning the targets or not knowing the location of the target, they would still be unable to monitor them. Thus, in order to utilize this, the scouts had to be the ones marking the targets. During warfare on land, scouts were extremely useful. Any drones, satellites, or scout battleships in space might be useful. but they could not discern the real from the fake. Right now, technology had given them the power to create illusions to trick any surveillance radars or cameras in the sky. All they needed was a radio transmitter. Adding to the fact that the airspace was the most important resource any army would want to conquer, if they were to lose their advantage of control in the airspace and they had no scouts, then the battle would be lost.

Scouts?

Such a job was just bringing Tian Xing Jian to hell. Was such a matter of throwing his life something he could do? Even if he had the knack for it, he would also not want to do it!

To Tian Xing Jian, life was the most precious thing he had. He would not put himself into a dangerous situation for any reasons at all. Greed, lust, cowardice, and being afraid of death were the sicknesses plagued everyone in Tian Xing Jian’s generation. However, compared to any ordinary people in his generation, Tian Xing Jian was much more direct and vile. Time after time, giving him jobs so that he would have time to think did not lead to a change in his decision. He was fearless and would never attend the training for scouts.

But such matters were not something Tian Xing Jian could control. How could a recruit have any say in the division he wanted to go to? The scout military instructor gave him a heavy beating and completely destroyed the firm decision he had in "rather die than become a scout".

Before beating him, the military instructor had asked, "Why do you not want to become a scout?"

"The job of a scout is too dangerous. I’m afraid of death."

"Very good. Either you die after becoming a scout, or I’ll kill you now."

"So, do you want to go or not?"

"I’ll go!"

A wise man submits to circumstances.

"Pei, such a cheap person who only gave in after taking the stick," that muscular military instructor said before leaving.

Tian Xing Jian crawled on the floor as he tried his best to allow himself to be happy. Thinking about it, "Damn this. We’re still in peacetime. It’s merely a scout training camp and not leaving for war. What am I afraid of?"

"Wait until I’ve completed the scout training. Military instructors? I’ll just beat ten of them with a single hand of mine!"

This was a typical case of trying to obtain vigor in the mind.

As such, he climbed up happily from the floor before reporting to the military instructor.

Just like that, Tian Xing Jian entered the scout training camp. The training was really tough, and the military instructor who was just like a black bear followed beside him every single day. As long as he dared to slack, he would be beaten.

Of course, Tian Xing Jian had quite a great talent in this field of scouting. Speaking about his temperament, he honestly had the gangster-like temperament of Tian Bo Guang. As such, after a year of training, his training results were extremely brilliant. On aspects like survival, disguise, concealment, and long distance marches, even the military instructors could not be better than him. When his unarmed fighting techniques reached a high enough standard, the black bear instructor began carrying a sword with him every day instead. Tian Xing Jian contemplated for a long period of time before deciding not to gamble on his life.

At the moment when Tian Xing Jian was about to graduate, he cunningly found a method to avoid getting assigned to the scout division. During training, Tian Xing Jian would run to the Mecha Engineering camp.

"As long as you have finished the training, whatever you want to do is for you to decide. As long as you don’t create trouble." Those were the scout military instructor’s original words. From the viewpoint of that military instructor, there were honestly not many others who could still remain so spirited that they could do other things after the rigorous training every day.

Anyone who could be selected to join the machinery maintenance camp had really skillful hands. They were no ordinary engineers. Instead, the things they had to learn were deeper than any ordinary engineers, regardless of whether it was the aircraft carrier, fighter aircraft, or the land Battle Mecha and electronic equipment. There was nothing they could not repair.

Tian Xing Jian had a pair of extremely quick hands. He could dismantle a rifle and reconstruct it within the shortest period of time. It was so fast that he broke the past record by 5 seconds. Every single second was really something amazing, and yet he had broken it by 5 seconds. Every day, Tian Xing Jian would just observe the recruits of the machinery maintenance camp in a silly manner as they dismantled the various battleships, Battle Mecha, and weapons. As for the lessons the instructors gave on mechanical theories, blueprint analysis, fault resolution subjects, battlefield instruments assembly, and electronics, they were subjects that he had listened to earnestly. Very soon, the entire training camp, regardless whether they were an instructor or a recruit, knew of this silly-looking scout student. A month before the special training ended, Tian Xing Jian went to find the instructor of the machinery maintenance camp, sending him a request letter to join the machinery maintenance camp.

This request caused the scout military instructor to become so angry like thunder, yet he was helpless.

After all, the military instructor in charge of the machinery maintenance camp was also the highest position officer of the entire special forces. Tian Xing Jian had merely used two hours of time to completely convince this white officer. He had ranked top after participating in the machinery maintenance exams with other students. Thereafter, the practical work he had done made this officer even more joyful. From how fast his hands were, the instructor believed that Tian Xing Jian was really a genius student in this area of Battle Mecha.

As the division on machinery maintenance had very much greater technology and army secrets, the machinery maintenance camp would have a higher grade of ranking when compared to the scout camp. Furthermore, many of the famous designers of Battle Mecha that came from the Federation had come from this machinery maintenance camp. Seeing as how a talent was about to be covered by the scout camp, a place where foolish old men stayed at, the higher-ranked officer did not hesitate to use his power to pull Tian Xing Jian over to the machinery maintenance camp. Tian Xing Jian was extremely elated from being able to escape from his previous predicament. Yet in reality, the conclusion made him green with regret.