Half a month after the Battle of Lia Sand Dunes...

The legend of the Empire Alliance's Dark Hero instantly spread throughout the world.

A new imperial mech, at the time of the imperial army's retreat, leaped across the battlefield, instantly destroying tens of thousands of "Red-eyed Executioners" from the Country of Mecha with a single strike of the Thunder Dragon. With one move, it annihilated millions of enemy forces, becoming a hero among heroes.

Yet, in the end of the legend, the Dark Hero eradicated the invaders but retreated from the battlefield, not advancing an inch, and disappeared into the night sky.

This battle forced the Country of Mecha to cease fire and prepare to sign an indefinite truce treaty with the Empire Alliance, as well as a large-scale limitation in the manufacturing of war weapons.

In May of the same year, the countries signed the 278th Human Peace Treaty.

From then on, the two strongest countries in the continent officially declared a ceasefire...

Moreover, with both major powers ceasing hostilities, the smaller countries on the continent either allied with the Country of Mecha or united with the Empire Alliance. Therefore, the peace treaties of the two great powers brought a halt to the fighting, and the whole world saw a temporary state of peace.

At the same time, the Empire of Mecha's ambitions of militarism were also declared defeated, and the slogan of unifying the world became an empty talk.

What's more, due to the years of warfare in the Country of Mecha, the people were exhausted, and a large amount of money from the national treasury was used for military spending, with extremely high taxes and growing resentment among the people.

Ordinary people couldn't bear the high taxes, and people were starving to death every day.

Now, with the news of the end of the war, the people of the Empire of Mecha cheered loudly, and the ceasefire agreement made them happy. No one felt the slightest pain regarding the information about the destruction of the national army.

This was because a force called "Peace" had already seeped into the Country of Mecha from the outside, and the calls for a ceasefire had already emerged, only being suppressed by the power of the state.

But now, following the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Lia Sand Dunes and the global popularity of the Dark Hero's legend, this peace-promoting force swept across the whole country of Mecha like a wildfire, deeply touching people's hearts.

The people began to protest, taking part in various activities to suppress militarism and advocate for freedom and human rights, just like their neighbors in the Empire Alliance.

The invasion of pacifism brought about a distaste for militarism and war among the population.

In August of the same year...

Under pressure, the political situation in the Country of Mecha became unstable, and the faction supporting freedom and human rights emerged.

This new liberal party, backed by the people, was quite capable and immediately seized part of the government's power from the military, gradually infiltrating and controlling the political landscape.

From then on, the Country of Mecha was no longer a militarist state, and the country was undergoing a transformation, becoming a chaotic situation where the old militarism and emerging liberalism struggled for a long time.

After the first anniversary of the ceasefire agreement, the Country of Mecha, under pressure, finally withdrew all the remaining military personnel from the border, leaving behind only a small number of essential troops to guard the border.

...

Today was the second day since Arnold Ray had been sent back from the border to Ailo Capital.

Under a certain stone bridge, a dirty little boy with long black hair lay huddled under the bottom of the bridge, beside him was a sack, appearing to be asleep.

"Captain? Brother Merchant? Private second class?? Covering the retreat? I'm coming! No! Let me do it...You... Save... Ah!" The black-haired boy's body trembled, speaking in his sleep and shaking his head, then suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

"He...he...he...hu..."

He gasped, sweat flowing down his back, his body trembling, his eyes wide open, his face pale, feeling extremely unwell.

Arnold Ray leaned against the wall, his eyes filled with fatigue.

Also, he was very hungry, as he hadn't eaten anything for two days.

He opened the worn-out sack next to him to find some old clothes... No, not clothes, just some tattered rags with a semblance of clothing.

In addition, there were two long biscuit tin boxes, with the patterns on them already blurred and deformed due to their age."......" To Arnold Ray, they were as precious as treasures.

Because these were the only personal belongings he had when he was sent back to his country.

He opened one of the boxes, which was filled with some yellowed letters, all of which were correspondence between him and his family while he was serving. In that bloody and iron battlefield, these were the only things that could put his mind at ease.

"Mother, Sasha... I've finally come back."

Arnold Ray's eyes moistened, flipping through these letters, every word and sentence he had read thousands of times, all carefully engraved in his heart.

Finally, he took out the photo at the bottom, the only item he brought to the battlefield. To be precise, it was a family photo that his mother had stuffed into his arms when he was leaving.

Although the photo was yellowed and blurred, one could clearly see that it was a picture of a dignified and elegant noblewoman with two children, a boy and a girl who looked eight parts alike except for their hair color.

This was his mother and sister...

Arnold Ray's father passed away early, and he had never seen him. He and his sister Sasha were raised single-handedly by their mother. Thanks to the fortune left by their father, they were a very wealthy family.

However, that was a time of war between the Country of Mecha and the Empire. When he was four years old, he was found to have the talent of being a pilot and was forcibly conscripted.

Since then, his life had changed. He became an Iron Blood pilot and started to fight.

After a full seven years, he returned to his hometown once again...

But everything had changed, and the peaceful city of this civilized world made him feel out of place. This did not give him the feeling of returning to his hometown, but rather, it felt like he was thrown into an unknown world.

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A certain undisclosed piece of confidential information: