Super Mothership
“Lord Arthas? My lord?” Catherine had to call out to the officer who was absentmindedly staring into space.
For some reason, ever since their commander had been roused from hibernation, he had been zoning out more and more—could this also be some kind of training for psychic strength?
At the summons from the outside world, the clone’s eyes cleared in an instant.
Nie Yun, who had been pulling his consciousness back from the wormhole, clicked his tongue and murmured to himself in a savoring tone, “Tsk! What a tragic melodrama from an alien world…”
A melodrama? What on earth?
Catherine had long since grown used to Nie Yun’s occasional inexplicable behaviour, so she could only urge him again. “My lord, the meeting is about to start.”
“Mm! Connect to headquarters and enable the virtual scene!” Nie Yun nodded, then straightened his clothes a little.
“Yes!”
Catherine tapped a few controls on the desktop. In an instant, light and shadow flickered through the previously empty conference room, and a group of Gemini officers in uniform appeared—some fifty or so of them.
The projection was lifelike, indistinguishable from real people.
“Arthas, you’re here.” A familiar voice sounded nearby. Nie Yun turned his head and saw his superior, Isabel.
“Lord Isabel! Sorry—just handled an urgent matter and am late.” Nie Yun improvised a casual excuse.
Catherine’s mouth twitched behind him.
“Heh heh! Well, the meeting hasn’t started yet anyway—better late than unlucky!” An officer sitting beside Isabel chuckled.
Although the meeting hadn’t begun, some subordinates had arrived later than their commanders; with a petty sort, that could be misunderstood. This officer was clearly trying to help Nie Yun out of an awkward spot.
Nie Yun smiled and nodded his thanks.
This officer was the commander of Isabel’s First Fleet, something of a senior to Nie Yun.
Because of Nie Yun, Isabel’s fleet had not only avoided one crisis this time but had also scored several military achievements when repelling the enemy and rescuing allies afterward—one of the few lucky parties in a failed campaign.
All of that could be credited to Nie Yun, so it wasn’t hard to understand why this commander showed him goodwill.
Good teammates are always welcome, wherever you go. Even if it’s just dumb luck, they’re still popular mascots!
Isabel wasn’t petty; she didn’t bother with such small matters. Instead, she regarded Nie Yun with a peculiar look.
As the highest commander of the legion, Isabel had received detailed reports immediately after the battle.
When she learned that Nie Yun had personally piloted a Sea-Storm-class and achieved surprisingly good results, her appraisal of him had to be updated again.
She didn’t believe mech-combat skills could leap forward in such a short time; the only explanation was that this fellow had been playing dumb all along.
No wonder he could win against Gustav in that mech duel—maybe that match had been orchestrated by him as well.
Not only outstanding in mind, but also individually powerful in combat—the Cruze family had produced an extraordinary figure…
“Heh heh! I heard you got another Sea-Storm-class just now—you must be secretly grinning to yourself.” Isabel teased, her gaze casually flicking to the Peacock Man opposite, who was looking at Nie Yun with a resentful expression.
“Lucky, lucky, heh heh!” Nie Yun replied with a modest smile.
He said it aloud, but inwardly he had to marvel at the Gemini network’s gossip speed—he had only just extorted a mech and yet the news had spread so fast. The Gemini fleet LAN was apparently very chatty!
He had no intention of keeping it secret; on the contrary, he wanted people to know his fleet’s combat power had increased. He welcomed the spread of that news.
But if even that had leaked, then his scathing remarks about Gillard would probably have—
“Still, Arthas, you were too aggressive this time—too conspicuous. That’s not good for you.” Sure enough, Isabel hinted the next moment.
Isabel could also guess at some of the implications behind Nie Yun’s high-profile actions.
But to her, even with the backing of the Cruze family, at Nie Yun’s current rank and position, directly confronting Gillard here would be like a newborn calf daring a tiger.
“Thanks for your concern, Lord Isabel. I’ll watch my limits.” Nie Yun said little, offering only a faint smile.
At his present rank, of course he couldn’t directly confront Gillard—someone at the level of Chairman Cruze would be a peer.
But Arthas’s status meant any clash between them wouldn’t be a mere personal grudge; it would be a political struggle between two factions.
So no matter what Nie Yun did, Gillard would interpret his actions as moves by the Cruze clan.
If trouble starts, I cause it; if blame must be taken… well, it’s the Cruze family’s burden!
Nie Yun was happy to watch the show and stir things up—making both sides fight it out and, ideally, make fools of themselves was exactly what a proper spy should do!
While the two of them were exchanging riddling remarks, the other side of the conference room began to grow noisy.
“What’s the recon unit doing? The enemy prepared so many troops and we couldn’t detect a thing! That’s dereliction of duty! That’s a crime!”
“Half my officers are dead—someone must be held responsible for the failure of this operation!”
“……”
Before the post-battle meeting had even officially begun, several officers were already worked up, angrily voicing their dissatisfaction with the planners of the operation.
Most of the officers who had taken part in the assault looked grim and kept silent. The atmosphere in the room was heavy with tension.
A considerable portion of the troops involved in the attack had been freshly transferred from other sectors—but their very first mission had ended in devastating losses. To be defeated before even making a name for themselves was humiliating, and resentment ran high.
Though no one dared to openly point fingers, any sharp-minded officer could tell that all the complaints were faintly aimed at the supreme commander of the operation…
Swish!
A figure appeared at the head of the conference room—General Gillard, his hawk-like face cold and severe. His sharp gaze swept across the gathered officers.
Instantly, silence fell. More than half of those present were native officers of the Galent sector, and Gillard’s prestige among them was still immense. Even if they held their own opinions, no one dared show him open disrespect. Even the loudest complainers hurriedly avoided his knife-edged stare.
It was Nie Yun’s first time seeing this powerful warlord who commanded such vast forces. He openly studied Gillard, the corners of his mouth curling in a faint smile.
Gillard, initially quite pleased with his dramatic entrance, suddenly noticed a gaze unlike the others.
Their eyes met. For a moment, Gillard froze—then expressionlessly looked away from Nie Yun.
“I heard…” Gillard’s tone was calm, yet everyone felt a crushing pressure. “That some people were… dissatisfied with this operation?”
No one answered. The air grew even heavier.
“I also heard,” Gillard continued, “that someone said, ‘One incompetent general can exhaust an entire army.’”
The moment those words left his mouth, the room erupted in murmurs.
The officers looked at one another in shock. Who on earth had the guts to say something like that about Gillard?
Nie Yun’s eyebrows shot up, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Something’s off here…
Sure, he had intended for his earlier sarcasm to stir up tension between the two factions—but did it really have to work this fast?
From the moment he’d started his taunts until now, not even an hour had passed.
It made sense that Isabel might’ve caught wind of it quickly—she was close, and her fleet had plenty of informants. But Gillard? A man of his rank would never stoop to keeping someone like Nie Yun under constant surveillance, even if they were rivals. No matter how fast rumors spread, it shouldn’t have reached him this quickly.
Did someone… tattle on me?
Nie Yun instinctively turned to Isabel—only to meet her equally puzzled gaze.
Her forehead muscles tensed, eyebrows slightly raised, eyelids lifted, pupils widening just a little. According to Avian Micro-Expression Psychology, that meant genuine confusion. She wasn’t acting—she hadn’t known beforehand.
That made sense. When it came to the Sea Clan issue, Isabel’s stance was the same as his. Besides, Nie Yun was her subordinate—doing something like that would just drag herself into trouble.
If not Isabel… then who?
Nie Yun’s eyes drifted toward the Peacock Man sitting opposite, scanning his dazed face a few times.
No… couldn’t be him. The guy looked like a complete loser—no way he had the pull to cozy up to someone as high-ranking as Gillard.
Even if he wanted to snitch, he’d at best be a “teacher’s pet” type of tattler—not someone in the inner circle.
How mysterious…
Oh well. Didn’t matter anyway.
After all, hadn’t he started the mockery precisely to stir things up?
Nie Yun rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Maybe I should give that snitch a little red flower for enthusiasm?
TL Note- Red flower here is a symbol of good work like very good or simily given to children in kindergarten or primary school.
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