234: You are the future

The opening ceremony was planned by the generals of the Legion; Xi Hai did not participate—

After all, in his eyes, professional matters should be left to professional people.

Lacking relevant experience himself, he only needed to review the final results to ensure there were no incorrect values.

Although no one in the Legion had ever seen a large-scale opening ceremony for over a hundred thousand people, perhaps all large-scale events are more or less the same.

To the point that after seeing the proposed plan, Xi Hai was momentarily reminded of certain familiar memories—

The robot-like host, the school leaders who would 'say a few words'—

In short, everything was within a reasonable range, so Xi Hai approved it directly—except he didn't use the speech the Legion had prepared for him.

It wasn't for any other reason; Xi Hai felt that a speech which clearly looked like it would take one or two hours to read couldn't really be considered a 'speech.' It was more like a long-winded 'sermon,'

And he believed no one liked listening to sermons.

“Now, everyone, please welcome our principal—the Lord of Tianjin Seat V89.05, Supreme Director of the Imperial Navy, Archduke of the Empire—Xi Hai Chusiro,”

“To deliver a brief speech and officially name our school.”

Just then, the host on the field stepped down from the podium after briefly introducing the meeting agenda and greeting the freshmen—

It was time for him to take the stage.

Thinking this, Xi Hai straightened his collar and walked onto the high podium under the lights.

The view from up there was excellent, good enough to see every corner of the venue.

He walked up and raised his hand to signal downward; the applause from below gradually died down.

And he stood there quietly, just looking at the surging heads below, feeling a surge of emotion in his heart—

He had delivered many speeches, such as injecting ideas into a group of newly revolted slaves, or explaining order to a group of warriors whose sanity was nearly erased by hatred.

But those speeches were all for the 'now,' for the 'present'—or rather, for survival.

In the end, back then, he was just being pushed along by 'things that had already happened.'

But now, he finally felt that he was proactively doing something for the future.

The students below who could pass the exams during the first recruitment were undoubtedly the best of the best.

Especially those academic students from various planets—don't be fooled by the tens of thousands; when spread across over five hundred planets, the ratio is diluted to an incredibly startling degree.

He looked at those people, his heart momentarily filled with mixed emotions.

He felt he had so much, so much to say.

For instance, something about the future of humanity, about the revival of humanity,

Or encouraging them to study hard so they could join the construction and shine bright in the future... but he didn't know how to start.

A thousand words came to his lips, but they were all swallowed back down.

They churned in Xi Hai's gut, melting together, until finally, when his gaze became firm again, those thousand words condensed into just one sentence—

“Fellow students here today,”

“Human civilization, and even the entire starry sky,”

“Is ours, and it is yours, but in the end, it is yours.”

“You are the future here.”

“And because of this—after careful consideration, I believe the name here should be Weiyang Academy, and it can only be Weiyang Academy.”

Then, he stopped and gave a slight nod to the people below—

“That is all I have to say. I hope that when you take the baton from us, you can say similar words to your next generation.”

Afterward, Xi Hai turned and walked straight down.

Naming this place 'Wei Yang,' Xi Hai admitted, was indeed a whim when he first thought of it, and it was also influenced by the 'Wei Yang Covenant' from the Lagrange background.

But after thinking more deeply about it later, he found the name increasingly appropriate—

Wei Yang, Wei Yang; 'Wei' originally means a state where matters have not yet occurred, while 'Yang' means exhaustion or completion.

From a literal sense, it symbolizes a state that is ongoing and where one hopes matters will continue forever—full of the vigor of 'life.'

Looking deeper, it means 'Never Ending.'

Regardless of the aspect, it fits a place like an academy perfectly.

Following that was a series of activities where he pinned School Badges on student representatives.

The heavy and tedious process won't be detailed further.

After about two hours, the ceremony was declared over, and the over one hundred thousand people slowly filed out under the guidance of the security personnel on the field—

That's right, these security personnel were Marines who had transitioned to civilian roles.

Compared to those transitioning to the primary or secondary industries, most of the positions here were 'welfare positions' arranged for war-wounded veterans.

The crowd slowly flowed out. The students had already completed their dormitory arrangements and class assignments when they arrived a day ago.

Now, after returning to their classes for a small class meeting, they would enter a 3-day free activity period—these three days were for these newly arrived students to familiarize themselves with the school.

As Xi Hai watched the crowd, he also walked over to Keith and Speer, patted them on the shoulders, and said:

“Alright, the ceremony is finished now. Which of you two has time to take me to see some of the important facilities here?”

Almost immediately, Keith replied:

“Chief... Principal, I have time,”

“And besides, I have a few things I'd like to report to you.”

Xi Hai looked at Speer again; that fellow gave a quiet bow and said:

“Apologies, I have a scheduled meeting with Odo, the Chief of Staff of the First Mobile Fleet, in twenty minutes.”

Xi Hai nodded, gesturing for the fellow to go ahead, then he walked to Keith's side and said:

“Let's go, you take me to see them,”

“Tell me whatever it is on the way.”

“Yes.”

After responding, Keith casually pressed a few times somewhere on the wall. Within five seconds, a small Shuttle flew in from overhead and stopped in front of the two of them.

Xi Hai took a look. Oh, a rare gadget?

“Let's go, Lord Supreme Director,”

“Shall we go to the Archives here first, or the Cafeteria?”

“The Archives,” Xi Hai replied after a moment's thought.

“Also, the things you just mentioned that you wanted to report, just tell me directly on the Shuttle.”

After speaking, Xi Hai stepped directly onto the steps lowered by the Shuttle in front of him.

“Let's go!”

...