Chapter 1235: Chapter 31: Bobett
The light from the virtual screen flickered and flashed in the room, colors shifting.
In the low sound system was the continuous sound of explosions and cannon fire, the intermittent voice of a Jiepeng Mechanic capturing the footage, and the communication sounds with sharp noise from the channels.
The battle was intense, countless mechas swarming into a mass, slaughtering each other.
The camera kept changing directions, continuously shaking.
What filled the screen were the trembling ground, running mechas, clumps of dirt like splashes of water being lifted, and amidst the uneven ground and burning mechas, the shattered, charred bodies of the soldiers.
This footage captured from the combat recorder of a Jiepeng Mecha, after playing for an unknown length of time, finally froze on a chaotic scene.
The broken legs of a mecha, burning flames, billowing black smoke, all solidified in the frame. Yet the anguished cries in the sound system seemed to echo in the room.
The room with the lights off was very dim. The deep coffee-colored wooden wainscoting and dark patterned wallpaper deliberately created a solemnity, which in this dimness, turned into the cold silence of an ice cellar.
Over a dozen Jiepeng officers sat quietly. The eerie light from the frozen screen images reflected on their faces, as if illuminating lifeless statues.
"Pa"......
At the far end of the rectangular room, beside the sofa, an antique table lamp emitted a soft glow with a gentle pull of the switch.
"Pa"......
The light went out.
"Pa"......
The light flickered back on again.
Amidst the fluctuating light, a voice, like a cold wind sweeping across the Pamas Plateau, rolled through the meeting room.
"Who can give me an explanation?"
Silence continued, the light flickered..... Although the voice’s question had only passed for a second or two, for all the officers, those one or two seconds felt as long as a century.
Magi, pale-faced, stood up.
He used almost all his strength to support himself with arms on the armrest and lift his empty, almost bloodless body.
Parent, the overall commander of the Army on Canglang Star, sat beside Magi.
The Jiepeng Admiral, who led a total of forty armored divisions and sixty infantry divisions on Canglang Star and commanded two army groups of the Allies Suss Army hadn’t even dared to lift his head when Magi stood up.
He sat with his head down in the chair, his complexion no better than Magi’s. The fine beads of sweat on his forehead and the twitching corners of his eyes made this usually unflappable power figure appear somewhat pitiful.
"Prince Bobett," Magi’s voice, like a cracked bamboo flute, hoarse with a hint of trembling sharpness: "I take full responsibility for this defeat. Underestimating the opponent, causing such disgrace to the Imperial Army, I am willing to accept any punishment."
Magi mechanically spoke, like a clumsy actor delivering lines for the first time on stage.
The surrounding officers all stared directly at the table in front of them, as if the flickering lacquer surface on the meeting table concealed some secret worth exploring.
No one dared to look at the sofa, nor did anyone dare to glance at Magi with sympathy. Everyone knew Magi’s entire body had already stepped into hell. Only a heel remained outside.
Actually, this night by the Karachi River wasn’t considered a major defeat. The total loss of four armored camps amounted to just the size of an armored group. For this war that swept through the entire human world, with the Empire throwing everything into it, an armored group was practically negligible.
But, who would have thought the one who annihilated these four armored camps was a remnant army from underground 347?
Who let these damned infantrymen raid a fully organized armored camp, steal mechas, then launch a long-distance pursuit, successively annihilate two armored camps, finally outmaneuver the foolish Zhongshan Yi, rescued two thousand POWs, broke through the blockade, and swaggered into the Chuckna people’s defense line?!
Recalling the news after the battle and the entire procedure deduction of the SkyNet System, the officers only felt layers of cold sweat on their backs.
This wasn’t a major defeat, but it was a major humiliation.
And all this happened during the visit of Prince Bobett, the younger brother of Jiepeng Emperor Nicholas V! Just this reason was enough to pronounce Magi’s death sentence.
Not only Magi, perhaps also including the entire command system of the Jiepeng Northern Expedition Army on Canglang Star with Parent.
The table lamp flickered rhythmically with the pa-pa sound. Finally, after a pa sound, the nerve-wracking switch game ended.
The light filtered through the cream-colored fabric lampshade, emitting a gentle glow. The face of Prince Bobett, deeply sunk in the wide leather sofa, partly revealed in the light, the other half continuing to hide in the darkness.
This was a young man with light brown hair. Clear-featured, slender. His pale skin and slightly thin shoulders made him look without the slightest danger.
However, all the officers present knew that if the Jiepeng Empire hosted a vote to select the three most terrifying people, this thirty-one-year-old prince would absolutely be one of them.
He was the Prince of the Empire, Nicholas V’s closest and most trusted brother. At the same time, he was also the highest authority at the Imperial Supervision Bureau.