"The bravest among the braves," Bi Naga, the priest of the Knights in white, stretched out his hands as if praying, "and died on the battlefield."
He saw his own funeral.
At first, the funerals of all Platonic people were the same - they were sent for cremation. For a person without a family organization, a funeral would have been superfluous.
For the fallen frontline soldiers, the simplest way to deal with it is the shipboard cremation room. Just press the button and it can turn thousands of corpses into ashes in a few seconds. Just like everything in Plato, it is efficient and neat.
Even death is no exception.
But as the war with the Gaians deepens, more and more high-ranking commanders are killed. Then, for the fighting groups they belong to, a grand funeral becomes of great significance. According to Yuanjiao teachings
, dying in battle is martyrdom, and martyrs need to ascend to heaven in flames, not to mention that Platos were very obsessed with highly ritualized occasions.
The White Tiger Knights have their own crematorium, which is located in the outermost layer of the Kinki "Nikat Circle", very close to the Jorvatat Sea[1], and is surrounded by cedars, oriental cypresses, elder trees and white roses.
Among the flowers, everything is quiet and beautiful, with a sense of sadness.
A row of white stone pillars tens of meters high stand eerily against the sea breeze. This is the final resting place of Plato's white military nobles who died in battle.
Surrounded by pines and cypresses, there is a circular platform with a very large diameter, surrounded by a circle of tall, straight, Persian-style white marble columns on both sides. The cremation platform is placed in the middle, and the Grand Chief of Kalki lies on it.
, the body is covered with various gorgeous and fragrant garlands.
Plato has a working group of girls who specialize in weaving wreaths for fallen soldiers. They use their skillful hands to weave fresh wreaths of various colors and styles every day. The flowers at the Grand Master’s funeral are even more spectacular and beautiful—gardenia, jasmine, gold
Chandeliers, roses, chrysanthemums, and flowers of various colors exude fragrance on the bodies of the fallen.
Kalki, who was lying quietly, was wearing a costume similar to the ancient Roman toga, which was the wedding dress of Plato's White Tiger Knights. It was also the burial dress. The robe was tied with a knot in front of his waist, and there was a bright string on the chest.
A purple garland of Udumbara flowers, usually worn by the widow as a last legacy of love.
The grand leader closed his eyes tightly, as peaceful as a deep sleep. He looked young and pale, like an ice sculpture, but his hair was not tied into a bun according to etiquette, but was hanging loose. His bright blond hair was very long, almost
The cremation platform should be lowered.
His friends in the fighting group stood at the far end and looked at him with extremely sad expressions.
At Plato's funeral, there was also a strict distinction between unmarried and married men. Standing on the left are his three loyal friends - the military retinue Luohou, the chief of staff Shankara and the attendant Siddha, as well as three unmarried men.
The head of the regiment, as well as many young deacons, knights and retinues, are wearing traditional left-hand robes, and they are all plain white; on the right are the married subordinates, led by Ila, all wearing black robes
.
"Grand Commander Kalki bravely championed the three armies, won 48 battles for Plato, killed many enemies, and received the honor of an oak leaf crown. He is the pride of our White Tiger Knights." Binaga lowered his head.
, seems to be immersed in the memory of the deceased’s past achievements.
"May his soul be purified in the flames, get rid of his sins, and ascend to heaven."
“May his soul be one with ‘Tai Yi’, return to the light of the universe, and be with the Supreme God forever.”
After the priest finished reciting the prayer for the deceased, everyone recited the religious closing words in a sad voice.
"Ami."
The flame suddenly jumped out from under the stage, and the flames that shot up high engulfed the youthful body and beauty.
Witnessing all this, the young and kind-hearted Sita hugged Rahou's shoulders, with tears shining in his eyes, and many young followers were silently crying. Everyone was in silence, witnessing Kalki's body being burned by the flames.
Ashes.
And he looked at everything in the darkness further away.
Is this his funeral?
The unusually bright red-orange flames shot higher and higher, burning the whole world in front of him, and everything was distorted before his eyes——
The soul is erratic and light, but the body is so heavy, just like the sky and the earth, they are never compatible.
A slow and weak heartbeat was recorded on the life monitoring equipment, and everything was unusually quiet.
A strong-looking hand covered with veins on the white medical sheet began to move a few times. Kalki slowly opened his blue eyes, and his brown pupils were rotating, feeling this that made him feel extremely heavy and heavy.
A weak world. He couldn't move and could only barely breathe. This feeling was really terrible.
His eyes were distorted due to the effects of the drug, and the ceiling was white. He tried hard to open his eyes and no longer be pulled into the dark hallucination.
"Ubi sum?..." (Where am I) he said softly in Plato.
There was silence, and no one seemed to understand this strange language in this world.
The members of the medical team who had been monitoring him arrived immediately. He heard the sound of the automatic door opening and the footsteps of a group of people. This ward was very large, and the footsteps of the group of people walked chaotically for a distance.
Only then did we arrive at his medical bedside.
"Ubi sum?...Quis es?" (Where am I, who are you)
The group of people were busy checking and communicating with each other, and no one paid attention to his alien babble. So, he used the strength gradually gathered in his limbs to struggle to support his body.
A man who looked like an attending doctor saw the patient moving on the bed and stood in front of him.
Kalki looked vaguely at a man wearing a blue medical uniform. He had short hair and glasses, and he didn't look like a Platonic man at all.
The other party looked at him condescendingly, with a look of scrutiny and evaluation.
"Kalki, welcome to Gaia."(Kalki, welcome to Gaia)
"Gulf Military Hospital" is the highest-level military hospital with the most advanced equipment in Mangxing City. It is shaped like a fountain and is located on the bank of the blue Apsu Bay. It also has a green palm tree specially planted. The environment is very pleasant and beautiful.
It is a medical condition that can only be enjoyed by senior generals above Brigadier General Gaia. It is completely different from the environment of the 047 Military Hospital where Xuanji was treated.
"Unlucky! Wang Xiaoming managed to sneak in this morning, but was discovered... Now we need bail, where can we get money?" A young man with brown hair and freckles sat in the driver's seat of a suspended RV and spoke in an old-fashioned way.
Looking at the exit of the hospital with a military telescope, he looked very restless.
"Johnny, don't worry, Boss Ma promised us that as long as we take a photo of our club with the leader, he can give us 8,000 Luna. If we take a frontal photo, we can get it!"
His mixed-race girlfriend cooed to comfort him. Both wore ill-fitting sheva robes for which they had been waiting for days.
"Has the grand leader of the White Tiger Knights really been captured?" Johnny licked his lips, trying to remain patient.
"Of course, this is hearsay, but it is already known to everyone. You see, many people are waiting for it."
"Our idiot fleet can also capture Grand Commander Plato, how cool!"
"But there are so many people...the competition is so fierce!" Although the girl is young, she looks very smart.
The shocking news of Kalki's capture caused an explosive sensation among the societies in Star City that were keen on Plato's knight culture. Although the coalition government did not make an official announcement, civil society groups from various subcultures have gathered in the "Gulf"
Around "Military Hospital".
For these idle young people in Star City, in addition to catching a glimpse of the leader and satisfying their star-chasing desires, Gaia's developed private media industry also gives them the opportunity to make money. Perhaps with the help of the hype company,
It is impossible to become famous overnight on the Internet.
"Ah! People from Tiger Club are here too!" the brown-skinned girl shouted.
After finishing speaking, a group of young people riding on small toy-type White Tiger fighter jets flew over. They jumped down, looking very proud.
These teenagers are all white boys. The Sheva robes they wear are well-tailored and they look very professional at first glance.
"Get out of here! You bastards! We want this place!" the blond boy in the lead cursed.
"Why? We've been waiting for so long. You Tiger Club people are too overbearing. I'm warning you, I have recorded what you just said and I will call the police!"
The mixed-race girl has a very strong personality. Her aura that is not to be trifled with has swayed the young people of Tiger Club.
In the city of Mangxing, where people are mixed and believe in multiculturalism and political correctness, it is taboo to say "bastard". They could only say a few words to each other and left angrily.
The people from the Tiger Society could only move to another place with great fanfare. Because they arrived too late, they had another conflict with the people from another society. This time the other party was more hard-core. After a disagreement, several people actually
He took out his plastic laser sword and started fighting.
"Hit him!"
"Hit!"
A hormonal explosion of adolescent boys.
"What's wrong with today's young people?" A ragged old man looked at the messy fighting scene in the distance, "Why are they so keen on dressing up as Platos? People are really unpopular now. We were more patriotic than they were when we were young.
At that time, if you even said a nice word about Plato, you would be monitored..."
"Times have changed, you should stop worrying about young people." Another friend of his was much more open-minded than him, "The harvest today is good..."
They were going through the trash cans in the kitchen of the restaurant of the "Gulf Military Hospital". This top-level military hospital with a large staff naturally produces a large amount of surplus food. The conscience of the Gaians is not bad, and surplus food will
They were thrown into a special trash can and allowed to be taken away by low-income people.
"Price has been rising, and pensions are always not enough." The old man sighed, "The Plato people seem to be good at this. They have nursing homes for all people, which are called 'islands of happiness'."
"That's all hearsay, who knows what's going on. And they have no freedom in their lives, but we enjoyed a lot of freedom when we were young."
"Haha, what kind of freedom? Chaotic freedom! In Star City, there is no freedom without money."
The two old friends just chatted and then said goodbye to each other slowly.
"His physical recovery ability is more than a hundred times stronger than that of normal people. If Θ-27 had not been detected in the blood this time, he might not have gone into shock at all."
"I'll be discharged from the hospital tomorrow."
The doctors looked at the information on the various physical conditions of the grand leader on the screen and were talking about it. Since there was really no need for treatment, the group of people felt relaxed and even joked.
"Ordinary routine treatment is superfluous to them. Their military doctors must be very leisurely."
"How to kill a Platonic knight?"
"Piercing the heart and cutting off the head? Is it the same as dealing with vampires?"
"You don't have to work so hard, a quack doctor is enough."
"Hahaha, we doctors kill more people than soldiers!"
The short-haired Grand Captain Kalki sat quietly on the medical bed. His condition was different from three days ago. When he was first sent to Gaia, he was still in a semi-conscious state, but now he can move around freely. p>
"Mr. Kalki, you can be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. We will arrange for you to have a discharge examination in the afternoon."
Arendt, the attending doctor wearing glasses, is one of the best doctors in the "Gulf Military Hospital" and has a clean and neat temperament. He has a translator plugged into his ear, and he has been relying on this for the past few days.
Communicating with Plato people.
"But before that, there is one little thing."
A beautiful female nurse and a weird-looking medical robot walked in and motioned to Kalki to stretch out his arm.
"What is this?"
"According to the prisoner of war management regulations, you need to wear a prisoner of war tracking management label when you are discharged from the hospital." Arendt explained mechanically, "I believe you should be clear about this procedure."
Kalki was stunned. In fact, Plato's all-encompassing training course would of course include the "Code of Conduct after Capture" course, but he never thought that one day he would also be marked with this shame mark.
"Don't touch me, if you dare to do this, I will kill myself!" He said very seriously, looking at Arendt with threatening blue eyes, "I have a thousand ways to kill myself." "Oh, I know you Platons are not afraid of death, but suicide cannot solve the problem." Arendt smiled, "This is the best hospital in Gaia. You have a thousand ways to commit suicide, and we also have a thousand ways to save you.
You are inflicting unnecessary pain on yourself."
This smart and very Jewish doctor had a calm and slightly apologetic smile, and Kalki could see that he had a hint of ridicule towards him.
The grand commander suddenly stood up, so that the doctor could only look up at him, while he could look down at Arendt.
"Listen, if you wanted me to die, I wouldn't be alive until now, right." He analyzed in a very calm voice, "I believe that you don't kill me not because you are kind, but because you are kind.
Think that I am useful. If I am useful, then I am your guest, and also your honored guest. This kind of hospitality may not satisfy the guest. Since he is not satisfied, then he cannot be satisfied.
That’s your purpose.”
"Then all your hard work...isn't it in vain?"
Arendt's smile gradually disappeared. The tall blond man in front of her also had first-class intelligence.
"Okay... Mr. Kalki, I will convey your meaning."
He quickly left with the female nurse and the medical robot.
[1] "Haurvatāt" from Avestan (Old Persian) means "perfection" and is the goddess of water in ancient Persia.