Upon hearing this, both the media present and the online audience were stunned.

Awarding medals to heroes?

Now?

Zhao Qingcang lowered his eyes, his tone tinged with regret: "Please forgive us, everyone, but due to some special reasons, this hero cannot appear here in person. We... also cannot reveal his real name to the outside world."

“But I, Zhao Qingcang, must be here, in front of the whole world, to mention him.”

Zhao Qingcang suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing: "Because he is the most deserving and greatest contributor in ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) our Great Xia Army's battle against the Sakura Kingdom, a battle that will determine the fate of our nation!"

"To put it bluntly..."

"Without him, our Great Xia would never have been able to achieve this victory! I, Zhao Qingcang, would not have had the chance to stand here alive and accept this letter of surrender!"

Whoosh—!

The entire internet was instantly in an uproar. The exclamation marks that filled the screen instantly turned into a dense array of question marks.

"Holy crap? The Supreme Commander himself acknowledged him as the greatest contributor?"

"An unsung hero whose name cannot even be revealed? That's incredibly mysterious!"

"Even Marshal Zhao said that we can't win without him? Who is this guy? Could it be that the governor of Sichuan made a move?"

"Impossible! I bet it's General Wang Zhenbei from the Northwest!"

"Quiet down, quiet down, let Marshal Zhao continue!"

Amidst countless speculations and differing opinions, Zhao Qingcang stood ramrod straight in the shot.

"The achievements of heroes must never be buried by time."

"Here, on behalf of the Great Xia Military Headquarters, I will read aloud, in front of everyone, the outstanding achievements of this hero in this battle!"

In the square, hundreds of loudspeakers carried Zhao Qingcang's voice far and wide.

The entire online audience held their breath and pricked up their ears.

Even the high-ranking generals, such as Chen Huaishuo, standing behind Zhao Qingcang, straightened their chests.

Of course they knew who this hero was—Zhou Huai, codenamed "The Ever-Changing Star Lord"!

Even they only knew the general details of Zhou Huai's battles in Tokyo, not the whole picture.

"First!"

"In order to thwart Kujo Hiroharu's conspiracy, he risked his life to infiltrate the deepest part of the capital of the Sakura Kingdom to gather top-secret information! This allowed our Great Xia military to discover Kujo Hiroharu's insane intentions in advance!"

"Not only that, he also single-handedly launched several swift and decisive attacks, interfering with the Kujo family's actions, creating countless troubles for them, and completely disrupting the enemy's plans!"

The generals of the Great Xia Dynasty below the stage, such as Chen Huaishuo, nodded in agreement. They, as commanders of troops, knew all too well the dangers of infiltrating behind enemy lines.

But this is just the beginning.

Zhao Qingcang's voice grew even more impassioned: "Second place!"

"After the two countries declared war, Kujo Hiroharu went mad and activated a sacrificial array covering Tokyo! In this hellish moment, he went against the tide of death and tore open a bloody path to escape for countless innocent people trapped in the city!"

"And in the process of covering the evacuation of the civilians, they encountered powerful enemies one after another!"

Zhao Qingcang paused, took a deep breath, as if his next words would carry immense weight.

"He single-handedly defeated Wada Hirayama, an SS-level powerhouse from the Sakura Kingdom!"

"SS-rank King of a Hundred Demons - Kujo Masakage!"

boom!!!

If what happened before was merely astonishment, now, the entire live stream room felt as if a nuclear bomb had been dropped on it.

"What?!"

"Did I hear that right? He took down two SS-rank enemies in a row?!"

"My God! Aren't SS-level powerhouses supposed to be walking nuclear weapons? You rarely see one die in decades, and he killed two of them all by himself?!"

"This must be a deity descended to earth! No wonder the marshal called him the greatest contributor!"

It's not just netizens who've gone crazy.

Sitting in the audience, Tang Qi was equally excited when he heard Marshal Zhao say that.

Because he knew who Marshal Zhao was talking about—the Hundred Transformations Star Lord. It was because of his presence that the arriving reinforcements completely turned the tide of the battle in Tokyo.

It was just something that puzzled him.

Why did Marshal Zhao refer to the hero as "he" instead of "them"?

After all, besides the ever-changing star, the benefits shared by others are equally enormous.

And he even sacrificed himself for it.

However, what Zhao Qingcang read next was even more shocking.

"Finally, in order to thwart Kujo Hiroharu's conspiracy, he ventured alone into the deepest ancient ruins of the Ise Grand Shrine!"

"Give it your all, and slay the newly resurrected... SSS-rank Amaterasu, Kujou Naruya!!!"

Click.

It was as if the world had lost power at that moment.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

The entire Tokyo Square was completely silent. The generals of the Great Xia below the stage had their eyes bulging out of their sockets, their mouths agape as if someone had choked them, unable to utter a sound.

The comments section exploded.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!!!!!"

"What?!?!"

"Is there something wrong with my ears? Or am I hallucinating?!"

"SSS-class?!?! Slaying an SSS-class?!?!"

"Holy crap! Did I hear that right?! Killing two SS-rank wasn't enough, they even managed to slaughter an SSS-rank in the end?!"

"This is impossible!! This is absolutely impossible! How could anyone in this world possibly kill an SSS-level powerhouse single-handedly?!"

In an instant, countless doubts, exclamations, and rebuttals flooded the screen!

After all, SSS-class is a mythical existence! It's synonymous with invincibility!

To say that someone can kill an SSS-level enemy is more absurd than saying that an ant tripped up an elephant!

It's not just ordinary people who don't believe it.

The generals of Great Xia on the surrender platform had their eyes practically popping out of their sockets!

Lieutenant General Chen Huaishuo stared wide-eyed, his jaw nearly dropping to his chest. General Ma even took a half-step back, his face filled with disbelief as he stared intently at Zhao Qingcang's retreating figure as if he were looking at a monster.

Clearly, they had just heard this news, which was enough to overturn the world's understanding, from Marshal Zhao for the first time!

Although he knew that the man named "Ever-Changing Star Lord" was incredibly powerful, highly trusted by the marshal, and had successfully seized the pendulum of life.

But they simply couldn't believe it—that man... had actually killed an SSS-rank?!

That is an unparalleled deity who possesses the divine form of Amaterasu!

Seeing the intense reactions from the generals and netizens on the scene.

Zhao Qingcang was not surprised.

In fact, even Zhao Qingcang himself didn't believe it was true at first.

Until he personally entered the ruins within the Ise Grand Shrine.

I saw the snow-capped mountains that were now ruins.

I saw the mangled corpse and head of Kujo Naruya.