Chapter 1: The Peculiar Company

Northwest Theater Command, Border Defense Regiment, Company One Garrison.

“Look at that guy’s armband! Isn’t that the Sirius Special Forces Brigade?”
“I heard he got dismissed this time!”
“Keep your voice down, or he’ll beat you up if he hears you—he did come from Sirius, after all!”

The Sirius Special Forces Brigade was the ace unit of the Northwest Theater Command. The very name “Sirius” was a kind of faith; every soldier in the Northwest dreamed of joining its ranks, and those who did were the pride of the command.

Gu Jianfeng was the second soldier in the history of the Border Defense Regiment to be accepted into the Sirius Special Forces Brigade. The first had been his own squad leader, Wang Ping, formerly the platoon leader for Company One, Platoon One.

There had been notices about Gu Jianfeng plastered all over the regiment’s display cases. His name appeared in military newspapers every few days. Now, all those things had been quietly taken down.

The soldiers’ gossip seemed to fall on deaf ears. With his backpack and luggage in hand, Gu Jianfeng made his way to the gatehouse.

“Hello, Sergeant. I’m Gu Jianfeng, reporting for duty today. Can you tell me where my quarters are?”

The on-duty sergeant, momentarily stunned, looked at Gu Jianfeng with a peculiar expression before replying, “Oh, the barracks are the last building at the end. There aren’t many of us left in the company now, just two squads—everyone lives on the first floor. You can pick any empty bed you like.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Gu Jianfeng said coolly, then carried his bags toward the dormitory.

Though the building was large, only the first four dorm rooms had open doors. Gu Jianfeng glanced up at Room 101, then stepped inside with his luggage. Before he could set foot fully across the threshold, an unfriendly voice called out, “This room’s full. Go find another place!”

Gu Jianfeng surveyed the many empty bunks, said nothing, and quietly backed out.

“Pah, what a piece of work,” sneered a soldier whose face was plastered with sticky notes, eyeing Gu Jianfeng’s retreating figure with contempt.

This was Deputy Squad Leader Xue Meng—his name as imposing as his physique, with a burly frame and a face of rough-hewn muscle that left no doubt he was trouble.

“Mengzi, let it go. Why do you care? Let’s get back to our game,” said Su Weiguo, the squad leader, with a light laugh. His tone was hard to read, but his face made no effort to hide his disdain.

After facing three cold shoulders in a row, Gu Jianfeng finally arrived at the fourth dorm room, only to find a lean young man lying on his bunk, engrossed in a book.

“Heh heh, what a figure…”
“Tsk, tsk, those curves…”

At first, Gu Jianfeng thought this might be the only normal person around, but as he drew closer, he caught sight of the book’s cover—a voluptuous woman in a sultry pose, impossible to miss.

“Hey there, you must be new?” The young man set his book aside and smiled at Gu Jianfeng.

Gu Jianfeng looked him over—a handsome, sunny face, the kind that would make him a heartthrob outside these barracks. Those clear, honest eyes caught Gu Jianfeng off guard for a moment.

“Yes. I’m Gu Jianfeng, just arrived today,” he replied with a smile, relieved to have found a more normal roommate.

“I’m Wu Fugui. Wait a minute… Are you the first guy ever dismissed from the Sirius Special Forces Brigade?” Wu Fugui’s eyes widened in surprise.

“That’s me,” Gu Jianfeng answered, unfazed, as he continued unpacking his things.

“You’re famous now, brother—no, you already were! You know, joining Sirius has always been my dream. Can you tell me why you got dismissed?” Wu Fugui’s curiosity was insatiable, his questions pouring out in a stream.

“Do you live here alone?” Gu Jianfeng asked when Wu Fugui finally paused for breath.

“Yeah, I got here six months ago. It’s just me,” Wu Fugui replied, picking up his book again, content to lose himself in its pages and commentary.

Once his bed was made, Gu Jianfeng lay back with his hands behind his head. Though several days had passed, his mind was restless, far from calm.

The Gu Jianfeng of today was no longer the same man as before.

In truth, the original Gu Jianfeng had died in the last battle. The man here now was a top-tier king of soldiers from the future.

During that last operation, they were ambushed, the fighting unimaginably fierce. His team leader, Wang Ping, had sacrificed himself to cover Gu Jianfeng’s retreat, blown to pieces by an enemy grenade. Even now, Wang Ping’s final words echoed in Gu Jianfeng’s mind:

“Madman, if you make it back alive, take good care of Bailong’s mother for me. I, Wang Ping, owe her that much!”

Bailong was a decorated military dog, with three third-class merits and one second-class, the pride of the Sirius Special Forces Brigade, and the third such dog Wang Ping had trained. They were all offspring of another decorated dog, Bayi, but all had died in action.

When Gu Jianfeng was finally rescued, he was unconscious—the sole survivor of his team.

“Jianfeng, have you really decided?” The captain of the First Company of Sirius asked, his tone heavy, as he saw Gu Jianfeng off.

“Captain, thank you for all you’ve done for me, but Wang Ping entrusted Bayi to me, and I must see Bayi through his final days,” Gu Jianfeng replied gravely.

“The brigade was about to submit your application for officer training. If you leave now, you’ll lose everything. And because of the secrecy of the mission, there may be rumors about you in other units,” the captain said, full of regret.

“When I’ve seen Bayi through, I’ll come back and reapply for Sirius,” Gu Jianfeng said, his heart heavy but his resolve unchanged.

“Alright, then treat this time as a vacation. Rest and recharge—we’ll all be waiting for your return,” the captain said, watching Gu Jianfeng’s departing figure, eyes full of reluctance.

Gu Jianfeng was the youngest active member of the Sirius Special Forces Brigade—given time, he would surely have become a pillar of the unit. No one could have foreseen such a twist of fate.

“Brother, you and I are one now. Rest easy—I’ll finish the mission you left behind,” Gu Jianfeng promised silently in his heart.