Chapter 662: Chapter 378, Star Language Phone
The so-called award ceremony was to commend Gu Hang for his outstanding performance as the commander in the Korolya battle.
The atmosphere of the award ceremony was very formal, but it wasn’t made too complex or grandiose.
Gu Hang, dressed in his military uniform, received the documents from the representative of the Star Realm Army and pinned the medal to his chest himself, and with that, the ceremony was concluded.
It was a bit irregular for one to award oneself a medal, but that’s how it was done on this occasion.
The representatives from the Star Domain and Cosmos Domain did not include any high-ranking officials. The Star Realm Army representative was just a civilian colonel, which made the awarding even stranger.
So Gu Hang decided to do it himself.
…
After exchanging a few pleasantries with the guests, they rested for a few days on Rage Owl Star under the hospitality of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before embarking on their return journey.
And Gu Hang thus became a Major General in the Star Realm Army and was awarded the Empire’s Glorious Medal.
As the second tier of the Empire’s five grades of medals, though only one level higher than the Warrior’s Medal, it’s actually a great honor.
In fact, as long as it’s an ‘Empire Medal’, regardless of the level, it’s of very high value.
This is not the same as some of the wild chicken medals handed out by some planets and other interstellar organizations. There are only five medals that are legitimately recognized across all domains of the empire. Even the lowest level, the Warrior’s Medal, if awarded to an Interstellar Warrior, would be worn on the shoulder and chest armor as a mark of honor.
However, if we are talking about actual value, there is none. Although there are instances where great contributions are awarded with medals and then rewarded with a star system or someone attains a very high political status, these are not benefits that come with the medal itself, but rather the intrinsic value of the achievements. The medal is purely a symbol of honor.
Gu Hang couldn’t help but make a snide remark, “The Alliance’s medals even come with money! Medals like the Rejuvenation Medal, Wind-Extinguishing Medal, and third-class combat merit award all come with a lifetime stipend, unless one commits an offense later and is stripped of the medal; then it’s another matter.”
Nevertheless, Gu Hang was still delighted to keep his Glorious Medal.
Wearing it on his chest when going out would still look quite prestigious.
Moreover, Gu Hang’s military rank had also been promoted.
The movement caused by the apostle of war Galaraldo had resulted in Gu Hang becoming the commander of the Rage Bear Legion with the rank of Brigadier General.
At that time, his rank was somewhat nominal. A Brigadier General in the Star Realm Army, who wasn’t in command of an Army Group? An Army Group’s size is at least a million people. When the Rage Bear Legion was first established, it had only about a hundred thousand people, which was the size of two or three Masters, and not even enough for the rank of Brigadier General.
Now the Rage Bear Legion is a proper force of over a million people, and the rank of Brigadier General as legion commander is well-deserved.
But Gu Hang’s status was more than that. Although the Korolya Battle Zone was a temporary setup, as the commander, at the height of his power, Gu Hang nominally commanded nearly half of the Tianma Fleet, an entire Army Group of the Dragonhawk Legion, in addition to the local Planetary Defense Force, and yet he was still only a Brigadier General. That was a bit too low—under him, Hans, who was to obey him, was already a Major General.
Therefore, Gu Hang’s rank was promoted to Major General—a rank within the Star Realm Army hierarchy.
Gu Hang continued to complain, “The battle is damn over, and now they think my rank isn’t suitable?”
The reaction speed of the Empire…
But regardless, a post-facto promotion is still a promotion.
In the future, when Gu Hang goes out, or when someone comes to Rage Owl Star, having the rank of Major General in the Star Realm Army along with the Empire’s Glorious Medal, these two things together will indeed make an impressive display.
However, Gu Hang was still pondering another situation: Did the Empire take the initiative to arrange all this for him?
He was somewhat skeptical.
Given the value of these things and understanding the ecology of the Empire’s political scene, the idea of rewarding achievement is just talk. Without taking initiative, without striving, and without backing, it’s questionable whether the credit was truly his own.
While Gu Hang’s achievements were undeniable, expecting the Empire to proactively reward him, and generously at that, seemed unlikely.
But speaking of backing, Gu Hang did think of two people.
One was Nell Lavis.
But he quickly dismissed this option.
Lavis held significant power, but the position was not high enough. Although able to secure some tangible benefits for Gu Hang, obtaining the rank of Major General and the Empire Medal probably wouldn’t have been within Lavis’s capabilities. The position of Minister of Internal Affairs of the Star Domain didn’t quite fit with the awards Gu Hang had received.
However, he seemed to have another backer.
Galaraldo.
After some thought, Gu Hang used the Star Language Tower on Rage Owl Star to make a very complicated interstellar call, directed toward Wuji Star in the Eastern Cosmos Domain’s capital.
His Star Language Tower could, at most, reach Flying Wing Star—already spanning two Star Systems and traversing two Star Realm Tunnels.
To contact Yunluo Star, where the Star Domain Government resides, one would need to transfer from the Star Language Tower system on Flying Wing Star.
And to get in touch with Wuji Star, the capital planet of the Eastern Cosmos Domain, it would require another transfer from Yunluo Star.
Just using the Star Language Tower to search for a Spiritual Energy channel, then applying for permission, getting approval, transferring and searching again, applying and getting approval… the entire process was cumbersome.
Especially when searching for a Spiritual Energy channel, the more transfers and the further the distance, the more complex the Spiritual Energy environments become, making the search more difficult, and posing a larger challenge for the work of the Star Speaker.