Chapter 177: Chapter 164: You Must Return Her to Us
Seeing Leo lingering, Andrew didn’t tell him to leave.
He picked up his cup and leisurely stood, walking over to get hot water for his tea. "Why is no one leaving? Do you have something to say?"
Upon hearing this, Leo immediately turned his gaze to Vine and the others.
He, personally, had no business here. All that mattered now was that he and his team were well-fed and housed.
But these three obviously had something to discuss.
’The King Seed has been dealt with, so the cleanup mission is more or less over. What could be so important that they can’t say it out in the open? Why do they have to talk to the old lion in private, all gathered together like this? Don’t tell me they’re plotting something against me?’
The teams he, Vine, and Philinos were leading this time were all vanguard units. They hadn’t gotten along since the teams were first formed, and there was constant friction between them, both major and minor. It was just that everyone was busy clearing out Mutant Species, so they usually limited themselves to trading a few barbs.
Leo’s gaze darted between the three of them. ’I’ll just see what they’re plotting.’
’My Dog Team worked its ass off on this mission. No one is stealing my credit, and they’d better not even think about causing trouble for us while we’re on leave.’
After Andrew posed his question, Vine and Philinos spoke at the same time:
"Let me see her."
"Let me see it."
Alex frowned, and Leo looked utterly bewildered.
’See who?’
Andrew took an unhurried sip of his tea. He glanced at Philinos first, then at Vine. "It isn’t one of your wolf pack. What do you plan to do when you see it?"
His words seemed pointed, and Alex’s frown deepened.
Vine said, "He *is* one of our pack. Cook’s brother entrusted him to our care."
At the mention of Cook’s name, both Alex and Philinos relaxed slightly.
His face taut, Vine shot a glare at Alex. "I don’t know what tricks *someone* used to lure it away, but I know they were up to no good."
Andrew blew on his hot tea, raising a single eyebrow.
Alex said, "I didn’t trick it."
Vine snorted. "I don’t care what you say. You have to give him back to us."
Alex said flatly, "Whatever. It can go with whomever it wants. I have no right to decide for it, even if it is a Mixed Breed."
"You certainly don’t," Philinos said.
Leo asked, bewildered, "Who are you all talking about?" He couldn’t understand a thing.
"None of your damn business."
Vine and Philinos said in unison.
Leo: "..."
Alex didn’t want to waste time discussing anything related to *her* with them. He looked at Andrew and said, "My mission is complete. I’m requesting a pass, General."
Andrew said, "Complete? According to the plan, your mission is not yet complete."
As soon as he finished, Vine jumped in. "You abandoned your post and unilaterally changed the plan. According to Military Department regulations, you must face disciplinary action. Don’t think you can just gloss over this."
Alex said, "The King Seed is eliminated. The mission is a success."
Vine said, "Merits are merits, and demerits are demerits! How can you conflate the two?"
Alex took a slow breath and said to Andrew, "I don’t want any of the credit. I just want the pass."
Vine shot back, "Trying to run? Once you accept a mission from the military, you’re under its jurisdiction. You have to take responsibility for your actions."
"He’s got a point there. Don’t think you can get out of taking responsibility for your mistakes just because you’ve got some accomplishments under your belt," Leo chimed in, delighted to see the two wolf pack leaders at each other’s throats.
’At first, I thought they were plotting against me, but it’s just a grudge between these two wolves. Now *this* is interesting.’
’I can’t stand either of these guys. It’d be great if they started a real fight.’
Andrew was silent for a moment before speaking. "Alex contributed a great deal to this year’s Mutant Species mission. If not for him, we likely wouldn’t have been able to kill the King Seed and end the mission so easily. Vine, don’t let your personal feelings get in the way."
Though displeasure was written all over his face, Vine still answered, "Yes, sir."
Andrew then turned to Leo. "And you, stop stirring the pot. If you’ve got nothing better to do, go pick out your house. Otherwise, you can go back to living in your kennel."
Leo crossed his arms and shut his mouth.
’Picking out a house can wait. I’m not missing out on a show this good.’
Just then, Philinos dropped a bombshell.
"He used a female to kill the King Seed, putting her in grave danger. According to the laws of the Beast Alliance, he should be court-martialed."
Andrew raised a hand as if to stop Philinos, but he was too late.
Alex froze, his back muscles tensing involuntarily.
Then, as if he realized something, his gaze shifted between Andrew and Philinos, and his expression turned cold.
Vine said with astonishment, "A female? Wasn’t that a Mimic Mixed Species?"
The memory of Alex shoving that Mimic Mixed Species into his hands still made him feel sick.
Hearing how serious Philinos sounded, Leo said, "Since when do we have to protect a Mimic Mixed Species that’s just disguised as a female?"
’Even though I don’t like Alex, right is right. You can’t just trump up charges against someone to take them down. I wouldn’t pull a low-class move like that.’
Philinos shot Leo a look but said nothing more.
He had made himself perfectly clear. Alex’s biggest crime wasn’t deviating from the plan or acting on his own; it was using a real female to lure the King Seed. That was an extremely serious violation of Beast Alliance law.
Andrew looked at Alex. "Regarding this matter, I expect Alex will provide me with a reasonable explanation."
Philinos cut in, "No matter how reasonable it is, he still violated the laws of the Beast Alliance."
It dawned on Vine, who said in disbelief, "Don’t tell me it’s a real..."
"That’s enough for today." Seeing that the stage was set, Andrew cut Vine off. "All of you go back and get some proper rest. We’ll deal with everything else later."
After a pause, he added to Alex, "I’ll give you your pass, but you’ll have to wait until things are wrapped up at the southern wall."
Alex shot to his feet and left the conference room without a backward glance.
Andrew calmly took a sip of his tea.
After a few moments of silence in the conference room, Philinos spoke up. "General, may I..."
"Keep an eye on him," Andrew said.
Philinos’s eyes flickered. He instantly understood Andrew’s meaning, nodded, and turned to leave.
Vine glanced from Andrew to the departing Philinos, then lowered his gaze in thought for a moment before getting up and leaving as well.
That left only a completely bewildered Leo in the conference room.
’They’re just leaving?’ he thought, disappointed. He had been hoping to see them fight.
"Old lion, what’s with all the riddles?" Leo lowered his leg, leaning over the table toward Andrew. "You didn’t give them some kind of secret mission, did you?"
Andrew chuckled. "As a matter of fact, there is a secret mission."
Leo’s ears perked up. He slammed a hand on the table. "You’re holding out on me, old lion! Giving them a secret mission and not including me? I knew it! You just give me all the dirty work."
Andrew said, "So you think I treat you poorly? In that case, forget about picking a house. You can go on living in your kennel."
"No way. I earned that," Leo ’tsked’. "Come on, spill it. What’s the mission? Why all the mystery?"
Seeing the little pup getting so antsy he was practically wagging his tail, Andrew deliberately dangled the bait. "You want in on this mission too?"
Leo didn’t take the bait immediately. "If they’re in on it, then so am I."
