"Report to the Marshal!" The officer snapped his legs together and saluted sharply before he began his statement, "In this battle, Captain Bai E, leader of the mech combat squad, acted independently in the face of combat, disregarding military orders. He not only ignored his superior’s commands but even twisted the orders to deceive his squad members, causing the overall tactical situation to fall into the most perilous state!"
"You’re full of shit!" An irate officer immediately stood up, glaring furiously at the reporting officer, "What does the danger of the situation have to do with Bai E’s independent action?! Without his daring move, we would’ve been embarrassingly defeated in this battle, and you wouldn’t have the chance to spew your bullshit here!"
The officer making the statement stared back at the outraged officer, a strange look in his eyes, "Gladstone, if I’m not mistaken, he directly disobeyed your orders... Are you alright?"
"Am I alright? You’re the one with the problem! Without Captain Bai’s crucial intervention, how would we have killed those newly emerged beasts? When Helen spoke up earlier, where were you to answer? Tell me, who in the entire camp could take down the ’Thunderbeast’ before the arrival of the ’Guardians’? With the Thunderbeast constantly bombarding us from long range, how were we supposed to win this battle? Find me another pair of mech pilots like him!"
He was hot-headed and lacked the big-picture perspective.
But what of it?
Initially, he indeed got carried away because his men didn’t follow orders, but on the way back, after getting pointers from the commander-in-chief, he also saw clearly the key to the success or failure of the battle—
It was precisely because of Captain Bai’s stellar performance that they managed to win this battle that should have been lost.
Having such men under his command, although a bit unruly, was so commendable! Should he let outsiders prattle on?
"..." The rebutted officer was at a loss for words and clung stubbornly to his point, "No matter what, disobeying orders on the battlefield is something he can’t wash away."
"This is called making a tactical decision on the spot based on the situation!" Suddenly, a voice jumped out from a little farther away, "If you can take down a Thunderbeast on the front line, I will join your personal guard afterward, and I won’t disobey any of your commands."
"Carlos!" The officer being argued against glared at the corner where the voice had come from, and finding that his gaze had no effect, turned towards another direction clearly allied with Carlos, "Hamilton, what do you think?"
As long as Carlos supported something, Hamilton would surely oppose it.
It was necessary to pull over a strong ally for himself...
Hamilton, looking like he was about to doze off, raised an eyebrow, "If I’m not mistaken, shouldn’t the Mech Armor Camp be under my jurisdiction? If I haven’t said anything, what business is it of an outsider like you?"
The challenged officer wasn’t phased, knowing that was just Hamilton’s character, being ungrateful and persistent, he pressed on, "Fine! Tell me, isn’t this a grave military offense? He is, after all, the leader of an important mech combat squad; this is a matter for military court!"
Hamilton rolled his eyes, "Disobedience is a fault, but achieving a beheading is a merit. Faults should be punished, and merits rewarded. Later, I’ll punish him by not allowing training in the morning, reward him with an extra meal in the evening, then offset the merit against the fault, and the matter will be considered settled."
"..."
The officer was taken aback, what kind of punishment and reward was this?
HIs gaze swept over the room, noticing a silent "force" present, so he reached out to what seemed like a lifesaver.
"Dewa..."
"He fought well..."
"..."
Thus, the officer could only look towards the marshal who held enough authority to definitively characterize this incident, "Marshal Weslin..."
"Enough, enough..." Weslin couldn’t stop yawning, having been woken up from bed late at night. Wasn’t it hard enough to handle the folks from the Scientific Research Institute without losing more sleep?
"Just do as Hamilton said. He’s one of his people, what’s it to you?"
"He even publicly questioned the Tactical Department’s naming of new species!"
"The final call on that will be made by the Science Department; what we say doesn’t count." Weslin didn’t seem to care, as the blow wasn’t landing on him.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
"But our commander-in-chief seems intent on concealing and protecting..."
"The merits and faults have been offset, what more is there to say... Yawn~"
"Smack!" The door closed after Helen left with Bai E was suddenly pushed open again, and Helen’s assistant, wearing a white lab coat, hurried in, "The scholar has said, Captain Bai has made a great contribution this time! There is no fault."
"..."
Why is everyone against me?
Was it so wrong to want to reference the commander-in-chief?
The officer felt the room spinning, sensing the world’s deep malice towards him.
"No!" the dazed officer found an opportunity.
The winds have changed, adjust the sails to face them.
Your adventure continues at freewebnovel
"Yes, yes, yes! Great achievement! The commander-in-chief is deliberately suppressing it!"
"..."
Where are the people?
Off-kilter? Where are you going? Don’t leave!
...
In a private room, Helen stared at the soldier in front of her, a cryptic smile playing at the corner of her mouth, "Do you think ’Guardians’ are more important?"
"They are rarer by comparison, and in contrast, Thunder Beasts are more critical, as those are the adversaries our army needs to confront more directly. Guardians only appear to protect certain important units, and we shouldn’t see them on a common battlefield," Bai E expressed some of his opinions more willingly in private to Helen. It was one of his few chances to make contact with the city’s upper class without much risk.
"Then why did you encounter them?" Helen narrowed her eyes, wanting to hear what this soldier thought, "If Thunder Beasts aren’t rare, why would there be Guardians protecting them?"
"Perhaps... they’re just for us to see?" Bai E cautiously offered his viewpoint.
The last time he faced Helen, he had already shed the image of a completely rigid figure, and now it seemed a bit self-deceptive to continue pretending to be that.
Moreover, he genuinely wanted to know if humanity had any understanding of this.
Whether it was the Sandworms or the newly emerged Thunder Beasts and Guardians, Bai E always sensed more strange information from the Bugs’ abnormal exposure behaviors.
Their exposure timings were too odd. It would have strategic value to appear on more decisive battlefields, but they always showed up in insignificant situations within human sight.
Is human reconnaissance omnipresent?
Then why was there no preparation for the existence of the "Overlord"?
Or perhaps this was information the Bugs deliberately revealed to humans.
"Think about it... what would we do?"
Helen casually flipped through the printed materials in her hands, musing, "Whether it’s Thunder Beasts or Guardians, they could easily crush the armor of our current mechas. Osmium alloys are no longer sufficient for the highest intensity of combat nowadays; finding a way to stably produce more advanced hexadecimium alloys is crucial. If high-end Bugs all possess such defenses, then what about the Overlord? Our current weapons are inadequate to defeat the Bug Race."
The response is simple—escalate technologically.
’Is this what the Bugs want?’
A straightforward thought arose in his mind.
’What exactly are they trying to do?’
"We’ve had this speculation for a while..." Helen said, her eyelids lowered, "In fact, over the past many years, there have been more than one opportunity for the Bugs to completely overrun us, but they always failed for various strange reasons. It’s inconclusive whether it was a deliberate reprieve or a lack of ability, but the recent few times... the intent has become much clearer."
"So..."
"So, what else can we do?" Helen smiled somewhat helplessly, "Just because the Bugs want us to climb the tech ladder, we stop climbing?"
"..."
"That’s why our research has always dismissed that possibility, it’s enough to be aware of it in our minds. You... The spoils you brought back this time are very useful; I’m going to analyze them right away. Do you want to have a look?"
"Yes."
Of course, he wanted to look.
The detailed data from his own Beast Compendium hadn’t been utilized yet.
There were too many people earlier, and he couldn’t show it.
When alone, there’s always a chance to demonstrate his worth.
And also... did Helen just mention hexadecimium alloys? That’s the core technology needed for his own mecha modification plan!