The Officer Academy was located in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. Carrying his backpack, Zhan Jun left home and arrived in this slightly chilly city. He started shivering the moment he stepped off the plane.
The war was completely over. The orbital knights' base on the Moon had also been destroyed during the Moon's restoration. They had nowhere left to go. If they wanted to survive, the only option was to become terrorists on the surface—but the United Government would teach them a lesson.
Zhan Jun had witnessed Liu A'dou repair the Moon. He now understood how vast the world was and how anything was possible. He also came to grasp the infinite potential of humankind. Because of that, he deeply cherished the Zero Domain he had learned. He made up his mind to train this skill to the limit and use it for the benefit of all humanity. Enrolling in the Officer Academy was his first step.
Meanwhile, Inaho, who'd performed outstandingly on the Japanese front, was also sent to the academy and joined in the same intake as Zhan Jun.
Inaho, the first Earthling to destroy a Martian mech, had become immensely famous—just like Liu A'dou, he was hailed as a war hero. During the battle against Niroklas, Inaho had used his extraordinary perception to spot a gap in the enemy's shield. By using seawater, he pinpointed and destroyed the absorption shield that collected matter and electromagnetic waves, drawing first blood. Later, during the fight against the mech "Greece," he noticed its weak point: a long acceleration distance before each punch. By exploiting that flaw, he managed to buy precious time.
Compared to Inaho, Zhan Jun had no battlefield achievements. He was only recommended for the academy because of his slight talent in piloting.
Since the United Government's headquarters was in the Soviet Union, Russian had become the world's primary common language, even more widespread than English. Clearly, each world had its own rules, and some were drastically different. Maybe somewhere in this universe, there was a Krypton too—just with a different twist of fate.
"Inaho…" Zhan Jun heard that name as soon as he entered the school and quickly learned about his feats. He had to admit Inaho was indeed strong. Right away, Zhan Jun marked him as a rival. He couldn't afford to embarrass China. He wasn't about to be outdone by a Japanese guy.
Their dorms were shared. Zhan Jun met his roommate, a chubby guy from Sweden. He couldn't figure out how someone so fat had gotten into a military academy. 'Maybe fat guys have special skills,' Zhan Jun thought to himself.
The fat guy, Stremor, was very polite when he met Zhan Jun. His personality matched his appearance—kind and easygoing. Zhan Jun quickly grew to like him, and the two hit it off almost instantly.
While unpacking, Zhan Jun noticed Stremor rapidly typing on a tablet. Curious, he asked, "Stremor, what are you doing?" Their Russian wasn't great, but good enough for conversation.
"I'm watching the Moon restoration video on OilTube². I couldn't help commenting a bit," the fat guy said. "This is the most mysterious event of the new century. Some say it's a miracle from God, others say it's nature's divine craftsmanship. Scientists still haven't come up with an answer."
Zhan Jun thought to himself, 'It may be a miracle, but not divine.' He had been right there beside Liu A'dou the entire time. He'd personally witnessed every step from beginning to end. But even now, when he thought back on it, it all felt like a blur. What he remembered most clearly was Liu A'dou's entrance. The start didn't even look that impressive. Once the meteorites started moving, Zhan Jun's brain couldn't process anything anymore. His eyes mechanically absorbed the images, but nothing stuck.
When the Moon was finally restored, his mind was completely blank. It felt like a dream he'd never wake up from. Maybe... maybe the Moon had never been broken in the first place.
It was so unbelievable that even Zhan Jun's brain tried to convince itself not to believe in the miracle.
"No matter what happened, the ones who got screwed were the Martians. Once the Moon was repaired, their last fortress was gone. Earthlings really are the chosen ones. Those Martian scumbags were nothing more than nouveau riche. Now they've been smacked back to reality."
"Didn't expect you to be such a hardliner," Zhan Jun said, glancing at the chubby guy. He looked all friendly, but when he talked about Martians, he exploded like a bomb.
"Yeah, I'm hardcore. My grandparents, my older brother, and my older sister all died during the Heaven's Fall incident. One nuke wasn't nearly enough, if you ask me," the fat guy growled.
Zhan Jun immediately found common ground. "My parents died during Heaven's Fall too."
Their eyes met. That one sentence brought them a lot closer.
"By the way, Zhan Jun, what do you think suddenly fixed the Moon?"
"No idea. Maybe someone from another world couldn't stand the sight of a broken Moon and decided to fix it," he replied. Not like anyone would believe the truth anyway.
"You've got quite the imagination. No one's mentioned that theory before. I'm putting that in the comments." The fat guy typed it out and posted it, but unsurprisingly, no one agreed. The leading theory was still divine intervention.
Scientists had already gone to the Moon, but chances were they wouldn't find a single clue.
The fat guy had finished rewatching the final scene—when the meteorites accelerated and pulled together in that magnificent display—again. He'd watched it dozens of times, even nonstop on the flight here. Now he closed the video and opened the school's website. "The hottest topic is still Inaho. Makes sense, though. The guy's been to war, even beat a Martian mech. That's impressive. Bet every girl in this batch is gonna fall for him."
So he's a perv too. Zhan Jun chuckled. "Stop dreaming about girls. I heard all the female cadets here are built like tanks."
"Pfft, you don't get it. To make it into the Officer Academy, you not only need talent—you've gotta have good looks too. So the girls won't be that bad. I promised my mom I'd find my true love here," the fat guy said, already fantasizing.
The next day was the official start of the semester. In the morning, they had the opening ceremony.
Zhan Jun wasn't lucky enough to be in the same class as the fat guy. Instead, he ended up in the same class as the school's star: Inaho.
'Knew it. Rivals always find each other,' he thought the moment he saw Inaho's poker face. 'Trying to look cool?' He already had a bad impression of the guy.
Sure enough, Inaho immediately became the center of attention. Zhan Jun stayed quiet and watched coldly from the side. He would bide his time. When the chance came, he'd see who was better—his Zero Domain or Inaho's hacks.
The opening ceremony was held in the gym. Rows of students stood at attention. The principal and other officials came on stage and gave speeches. Like every school speech, it was boring as hell. Most students were practically falling asleep.
Then they heard the principal say, "Students, please welcome our hero, the mastermind behind many of the strategies used to fight the Vers Empire, Major General Liu A'dou!"
Zhan Jun snapped to attention. He hadn't seen this coming. No one told him Liu A'dou was coming to give a speech. The rest of the students perked up too. Liu A'dou was an even bigger hero than Inaho. His tactics were bold but classic. The most famous one was nuking the Vers Empire using the Trojan Horse plan—smuggling Deucalion into Mars inside Yanglu City.
Wearing his military uniform, Liu A'dou stepped up to the podium with a smile. He swept his gaze across the crowd of young, vibrant students. These would be the future officers of the United Government Army, gathered here from around the world to learn how to protect Earth.