Chapter 981: Chapter 981

Sitting under the photo of Scott hanging on the wall, the lean officer swept his gaze over all the officers seated in the war council room in response to the question from the person beside him.

This was what remained of the officers after Scott’s departure, and the seating in the entire war council room distinctly split in two, with about one-third of the officers sitting to his right—the officer who had just made the inquiry came from his right.

While about two-thirds of the officers sat expressionlessly to his left, led by a strong man of slightly shorter stature with scars on his face.

This strong man sat with his arms crossed, in the first seat to the left of the lean officer, silent as well, his gaze coldly fixed on the officers to the right of the lean officer.

"What are you saying?"

The lean officer took in everyone’s expressions and slammed his hand on the table, angrily staring at the young officer who spoke up, shouting,

"General Scott instructed us, and so has everyone who is working on it, we must protect the North Gate at all costs, and not let it fall into the hands of the Consortium’s Mercenary Corps. Scott just left, and now you want to betray him?!"

He glared sharply at everyone present, raising his voice, "We are the army of justice, here to set Yilan City back on the right path! What do you think we are? The Consortium’s lapdogs?!"

"But the enemy forces opposite us are clearly much greater in number, isn’t holding the city tantamount to suicide?"

The young officer who asked the question spoke up, "Plus, didn’t General Scott already communicate with the Consortium? If we open the city gates and allow the Consortium to come in directly, wouldn’t that be a happy resolution to everything?"

"Do you want to defy General Scott’s orders?"

The lean officer raised his voice a notch, looking at the young officer,

"The Consortium has already agreed with General Scott beforehand not to attack the city! Once General Scott breaches the Mayor’s Mansion and captures that Old Geezer, this war will be over, and the Mercenary Corps outside will naturally withdraw!

"Our mission as the City Defense Army is to protect the city, do you understand? Based on what you just said, I could have you executed right now!"

The young officer’s face flashed with a trace of resentment and he responded in a low voice, "Yes."

"Okay, as previously arranged, everyone return to your respective garrisons,"

The lean officer withdrew his gaze, looking at the people in the council room, "Even though the Consortium has promised not to attack, we don’t know if they will keep their word. Everyone, stay alert and be extra cautious!"

The officers to the right of the lean officer immediately responded loudly.

The officers to his left, however, under the lead of the strong man, said nothing and stood up, heading straight for the door.

The lean officer watched these officers and said nothing more, gesturing for the officers on his right to leave the council room as well.

The crowd quickly dispersed, and the entire war council room quickly became silent.

The lean officer stared at the screen filled with dense mechanized forces, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

At that moment, the door to the council room was gently knocked.

The lean officer looked up at the door and quickly said.

The metal door was slowly pushed open, and the young officer who had just been reprimanded by the lean officer for suggesting to open the gates appeared at the door; he placed his hand over his chest and gave the lean officer a military salute, "Commander!"

Then he walked into the room and closed the door, quickly approaching the lean officer.

"I had no choice about what happened just now, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot."

The lean officer pulled out the drawer under the table, revealing the Gauss Pistol and a bottle of grape wine with a label that had yellowed with age.

He opened the wine bottle and took out two glasses, first pouring one for the young officer and then for himself.

The young officer looked at the glass of wine before him in delighted surprise and quickly said, "The Commander’s orders are my will!"

Then he lowered his head and asked in a low voice, "But Commander, do we really have to do that?"

"Do you know why Scott insists that we must not open the doors to let the Consortium in?"

The gaunt officer shifted his gaze from the rippling red liquid in his glass and glanced at the young officer’s perplexed face, scoffing,

"From his perspective, the South City’s City Defense Army is entirely tied down by Evis Space System Mercenary Corps to the south, and they simply can’t intervene in the White Jasmine Palace. With his forces, taking over the White Jasmine Palace would be a piece of cake at this time."

He gently raised his glass, took a sip, and said with a smile,

"No matter how much Corvey dislikes his actions, as long as he has control of the White Jasmine Palace, he wouldn’t really risk the city being broken by the Evis Space System Mercenary Corps and start a civil war with him.

"And at this time, he can use the old Mayor as chips to sit down and negotiate with the Consortium, demanding that they stop the siege and instead support him to become the Mayor of Yilan City."

He turned his head to look at the young officer beside him, "A perfect plan, isn’t it?"

"But what does this have to do with opening or not opening the city gates?"

The young officer was somewhat confused.

"Because everything I just said is based on the gates not being opened," the gaunt officer set down his glass and said with a slowed chuckle,

"As long as the city gates remain closed, he is still the North City’s City Defense Army Commander, the Minister of City Defense of Yilan City, and the person with the legal right of succession to Mayor,

"As long as he ensures that those ranked above him—Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Speaker, and so on—resign or ’disappear,’ then according to the succession order, he can, legally and properly, inherit the position of Mayor of Yilan City.

"Even if Corvey despises him, as long as his process is as legal as possible, to maintain the stability of the city, he would likely tolerate it,

"And these are also his negotiation capital with the Consortium,

"As long as he doesn’t open the city gates, the matter remains an internal affair of Yilan City. When facing the Consortium, the local forces of Yilan City would choose to support him. North City Defense Forces are in his hands, and the South City Defense Army would remain silent,

"And with these supports, he could negotiate with the Consortium. Thus he could claim the ’achievement’ of ’negotiations’ with the Consortium, maneuvering between both sides to swiftly stabilize the situation and secure his position as Mayor.

"This outcome would maintain the strength of Yilan City, with complete control in his hands, allowing him to maneuver in multiple directions to secure the greatest benefit for himself,

"But if the Consortium’s mercenary corps enter the city,"

The gaunt officer glanced at the densely packed mechanized forces in the projection and then at the young officer, saying with a smile,

"The situation would be completely different.

"Without the massive barrier of the high walls, once the Kopace Mining’s mercenary corps enter the city, with an attack from both inside and outside, South City would quickly fall, and then the Consortium’s mercenary corps would take complete control of the entire city.

"Not only that, but Scott would suddenly become a ’traitor,’ losing the trust of all local forces in Yilan City. Even within the North City Defense Forces, those who already disagreed with him, like Mid’s faction, would no longer support him,

"At that point, he would suddenly lose all his chips and would have to rely on the Consortium’s support to barely hold the Mayor’s position, subject to their whims. They could replace him with whoever they wanted, and he would no longer hold the power."

"So General Scott is actually one of the people who least wants the doors open to let the Consortium in?"

The young officer looked at the gaunt officer and slowly said, "But why did he give the city gates to Mid, who has always been against him?"

"Power games and checks and balances," the gaunt officer said with a smile,

"Mid, in some respects, is just like Corvey, a typical traditional military officer whose mind is solely occupied with defending the city. Although Scott dislikes him and he doesn’t support Scott’s actions, when it comes to guarding the city gates, he’s actually the most reliable.

"Mid will surely assign his elite soldiers to guard and control the gate’s nucleus.

"Granting command to me but leaving the gates to Mid is to prevent any one party from becoming too dominant. Scott loves playing such tricks."

He looked at the young officer, "But now, with us staying behind, indeed, Mid’s influence is great. So you must be careful. Take the elite troops, catch them unawares, solve all the people quickly, and take control of the gate’s nucleus before Mid has a chance to respond,"

the young officer replied, then he hesitated a moment and said softly, "But if we do as you just said and open the city gates, won’t that be letting Yilan City fall entirely under the consortium’s rule?"

Hearing this, the gaunt officer’s eyebrows furrowed imperceptibly, then he looked at the young officer and smiled, "Yes, that’s true, but what does that have to do with us? We are Yilan people today, and tomorrow we can be Chenxi people, Vitland people.

"The consortium is offering us a price that’s enough for us and our families to live happily anywhere. With this deal, we’ll have no ties to this city anymore. We can simply move to another city, or take a well-paying job with the consortium’s Mercenary Corps and start a new life,"

He gently patted the young officer on the shoulder, straightened the young officer’s collar, "And what’s so bad about the consortium controlling the city? Hasn’t it been like that for the past several hundred years?"

Then he paused and smiled, "Or are you saying that you’ve been brainwashed by that nonsense about defending the city within the City Defense Army? Feeling some sense of city honor now?"

He turned away, his body blocking the young officer’s view, reached out for a wine glass on a nearby table, and glanced at the drawer beneath the glass, "How about this, if you want to back out now, it’s not too late. You’ve followed me for so many years after all; I can give you some money. You could scrape by in a small city."

"Of course not, you promoted me yourself,"

the young officer immediately shook his head, stood up straight, and gave a military salute, "Your command is my will!"

"Good, truly my protégé,"

the gaunt officer took a sip of his wine, then glanced at the projection next to him, and looked toward the young officer with a smile, "Kid, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Let me tell you something. How many people do you think Kopace Mining brought this time?"

"A whole Mercenary Corps?"

the young officer asked, confused.

"How long do you think the rest of us can hold against an entire mechanized Mercenary Corps?"

the gaunt officer pressed on.

"I don’t know, General Scott took most of the elite troops away,"

the young officer shook his head as he looked at the projection, "An hour or two?"

"What if I tell you,"

the gaunt officer turned his head around, his gaze mockingly affectionate, "that this time Kopace Mining has brought two fully mechanized Mercenary Corps?"

The young officer’s eyes widened momentarily. He looked at the armed forces on the projection screen, swallowed hard, and said with a tremble, "Then we have no chance at all."

"Yeah, in the face of absolute strength, everything is futile,"

the gaunt officer took another sip of his drink, "Scott received the intelligence early but deliberately suppressed the information to prevent morale from faltering. So, you shouldn’t feel any guilt. Kopace Mining would break through the gates sooner or later. By opening the gates yourself, you also prevent unnecessary casualties."

The young officer stared at the dense military forces, swallowed again, and looking at the gaunt officer, he saluted once more, "I assure you, I will complete the mission!"

"Good lad, I’ll be waiting for your good news,"

the gaunt officer picked up his wine glass, toasting the young officer with a slight lift, "To our cause."

The young officer also picked up a wine glass from the table and drained it in one gulp.

Then he smacked his lips and without looking back, he opened the door and walked out.

The gaunt officer leisurely sat back down, gazing at the constantly emerging mechanized forces in the projection, poured himself another glass of wine, then he turned to look at a picture of Scott on the wall, slowly raising his glass,

"The last one to laugh is the true winner, Old Geezer."

North City Gate Control Center

Within the spacious corridor, a soldier wearing a military cap passed a cigarette to another tall and burly soldier next to him, and took one for himself as well.

"I’m just thinking about some stuff,"

The tall soldier accepted the cigarette, placed it between his lips, and pulled out an electronic lighter. He lit the cigarette for his comrade before lighting his own.

As the whirling smoke slowly rose, he removed the cigarette from his mouth, "Do you think this Mayor Linen will be any different from the previous mayors?"

"All these damn politicians are cut from the same cloth, what could possibly be different?"

The soldier with the cap took a drag of his cigarette, a plume of smoke escaping the corner of his mouth as he looked at the tall soldier with a smirk, "What’s up, has the refugee from the Southern District started to understand the noble lords of Saint Yilan?"

"Do you still remember my brother?"

The tall soldier spoke softly.

"Remember him, working his ass off at the Evis Space System’s factory,"

The soldier with the cap paused mid-motion with his cigarette, his expression turning slightly somber as he looked up at the tall soldier, "What’s wrong? Something happened?"

The tall soldier took a puff, "He’s recently switched jobs, now working at the City Police Station."

The soldier with the cap took a puff and laughed, "That’s a better gig than working for the Evis Space System. If you drop dead in the streets, at least the high and mighty will cough up some compensation."

The tall soldier glared at the one with the cap, "Can’t you ever say something pleasant?"

"What the hell’s wrong with what I said?"

The soldier with the cap removed his cigarette, continuing to laugh, "Brothers joint the City Defense Army for the higher pay and the possibility of compensation after death, so their wives and children can survive. If they die in the factories or mines, they’d get jack all."

Then he put his cigarette back in his mouth, "Keep talking about your brother. So, he joins the City Police Station and then what? Does wearing a uniform make him empathetic towards the nobles?"

The tall soldier shook his head, "He’s met Mayor Linen. He says Linen seems different from the previous mayors. Linen even went down to our old neighborhood in the Southern District and personally conducted a free clinic all night."

"Typical politician’s grandstanding for face, how normal,"

The soldier with the cap shook his head, laughing, "How old is your little brother? How many mayors has he seen? A smile on their face and a few kind words, and suddenly they’re the messiah? I’ve received expired bread from a former mayor, and my firstborn died from diarrhea because of that bread."

He took a deep breath, cleared the air with his hand holding the cigarette, and walked back towards his original post, "Stop overthinking it, brother. I hear the Consortium’s Mercenary Corps has already arrived outside. We do our duty by guarding the gates well, we earn our uniforms and the paycheck we get each month."

The wisps of smoke blurred the soldier’s retreating figure, "I also watched that Mayor Linen’s speech. He talked well, made a good show of it, definitely more palatable than the bullshit from the ones before. But who can’t flap their gums, right?

"If he truly is as different as your brother says, then he should be standing on the walls with us, facing the Consortium’s Mecha artillery."

"Just make a fucking wish!"

Listening to his comrade’s fading words, the tall soldier cursed with a laugh.

Then he lifted his cigarette, took a drag, and gazing at the cold empty space in front of him, exhaled a breath of smoke.

North City Command Center·South Gate

Fully armed soldiers stood in the guardhouse under the automatic defense cannon, keeping watch over the still, silent darkness of the road ahead.

At the end of that road, an old-fashioned sedan, silver and blue, cut through the thick darkness, slowly coming to a halt in front of the tightly shut gate.