Chapter 872: Easy to Dodge an Open Attack, Hard to Guard Against a Hidden Arrow

Chapter 872: It Is Easy to Dodge a Spear in the Open, but Hard to Guard Against an Arrow in the Dark

The same battle report was not only updated on the official forum but also landed in Commander Absak’s hands.

The Presidential Palace.

Seated at his desk, Absak finished reading the report, rose energetically, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“Damn it… after playing the fool for so long, I’ve finally held my head high! That was a beautiful fight!”

Seeing the Grand Commander’s delighted expression, Internal Affairs Commissioner Vadia, standing nearby, also wore a joyful smile.

But out of a sense of duty, after his laughter subsided, he softly reminded him.

“Sir, the commander of the Eleventh Ten-Thousand-Man Cohort is Yokale—that man is Udonno’s person.”

Though the Internal Affairs Department of Bora and the Internal Affairs Office of the Academy shared similar names, their functions and objectives were entirely different.

The latter was an institution responsible for the internal management of the Academy, while the former was, in fact, the counterpart of the Mammoth State’s Stormtroopers—a domestic secret police agency tasked with monitoring whether officers and commissioners at all levels fulfilled their duties, and with creating confidential files on personnel requiring attention.

This included trusted subordinates like Anwo, whose wings had grown stiff, capable young officers like Isher, and even the Education Commissioner Kabaha, representing the literati political force, and the Agriculture Commissioner, representing the peasant political force.

It even extended to Zaid and the Family Association, who were “out of power”; he had instructed Internal Affairs to keep an eye on them. But later, his subordinates saw no potential for the Family Association to become a political force, nor even a chance to step onto the political stage of Tian Du, so they scaled back their investigation.

After all, there were too many matters requiring attention.

Compared to the Family Association, which had done nothing, more worthy of scrutiny were those in the military who were cozying up to the Vellandians.

After all, he himself had once flirted with the Legion, and with the war situation so urgent, there were bound to be those hedging their bets, ready to trip him up from behind.

A certain ruthless figure who had died on the throne was a shadow that Absak could never shake from his mind.

He always feared that one day a madman would burst in and shoot him, so he had been very careful in his preventive measures.

However, within Bora, multiple forces existed; several major commissioners held military power, and even he himself had secured the position of Grand Commander only with the help of multiple factions. Naturally, he could not follow Rasi’s example of openly forming a stormtrooper unit and pointing a submachine gun at anyone who opposed him.

Thus, this department mostly operated behind the scenes of Tian Du’s political stage, primarily conducting background investigations to provide references for the Grand Commander’s decisions.

Absak knew what Vadia meant by that remark. That commander Yokale had once been Udonno’s subordinate, which meant he was a remnant of Heavenly King Yanush.

Throughout the entire Bora Army, it was Yanush’s remnants that he guarded against most.

Those people were like time bombs.

Not only could they seek revenge at any moment, but they might also later rehabilitate Heavenly King Yanush and drag Bora into an abyss with no bottom in sight.

Though he had joined forces with other major commissioners to purge the most extreme elements, he knew well that such a purge, carried out under urgent circumstances, could never be thorough.

This was the dirty side of politics.

The best outcome for these people was to die tragically on the battlefield, taking with them the evils committed by the Heavenly King’s army, rather than becoming living heroes.

Absak hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he couldn’t harden his heart and let out a sigh.

“…We can’t always live in the past; we have to look forward.”

Vadia was momentarily taken aback, then said respectfully.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“We need to give him a chance to bear our mark… Besides, bringing in promising officers is good for us too.”

Absak pondered for a long time, his gaze falling on the battle report, and a sudden idea struck him as he spoke.

“Like this… Promote Isher to a two-star commander of ten thousand, appoint him as commander of the Northern Field Army, and have him lead the Third and Eleventh Ten-Thousand-Man Cohorts to the three northern provinces to support the Mammoth State’s operations!”

In the Akale Victory, the Third Ten-Thousand-Man Cohort and the Alliance’s Death Corps were the main defensive force, capturing an entire Legion cohort intact. Its commander, Isher, deserved the promotion.

This two-star commander rank was well-deserved!

Not only that, but this man was a former subordinate of his own Anwo, and Anwo was his man. With this arrangement, Yokale would also become one of his subordinates.

As long as that fellow wasn’t stupid, he should understand his good intentions.

As for Akale County, it would be left to other cohorts.

Moreover, since the Legion had suffered a loss there, they would surely seek revenge, and that would likely be a hard battle.

Now that Gou Province was in peril, Bora’s timely aid would strategically strengthen ties with the Mammoth State, tactically avoid casualties among his core troops in the coming tough fights, and incidentally win over a promising future general for his faction.

This could be called killing three birds with one stone!

Absak was quite pleased with his scheme, and Vadia, standing by, thought it over and found no fault, so he respectfully accepted the order.

“Yes.”

Vadia took the order, turned, and left the office.

Absak returned to his desk and sat down, but before his seat had even warmed, he received a call from the Alliance representative, learning the bad news that four airships had already arrived at Xifan Port.

The Alliance representative reassured him not to worry too much, since worrying was useless, but that was hardly comforting.

One airship had destroyed half of Lion City, and now four had come at once.

If this news got out, before the battle even began, most of Bora would fall into chaos.

Just as he was fretting, hurried footsteps sounded outside the office, followed by two loud knocks, and the door was rudely opened before he could respond.

“Absak, you son of a bitch, give me an explanation! What’s the meaning of this!”

Striding into the office, “Tiger King” Duwarta, his face full of rage, slammed the newspaper in his hand onto the desk.

Startled by the commotion, Absak thought someone was trying to assassinate him and reached into the desk drawer, only to relax when he saw it was Duwarta, then stood up and cursed angrily.

“What the hell’s wrong with you now?”

Duwarta’s eyes bulged as he roared.

“What’s wrong with me? I’m out there with my brothers setting up defenses and fighting the Vellandians, while you sit in this office enjoying yourself—what the hell’s wrong with me? I’ll ask you one thing: why isn’t my son on that list?”

Absak picked up the *Survivor Daily* and glanced at the examination rankings, immediately understanding what was going on.

That Kabaha was really stubborn—not only did he make a “ranking” list, but he also published it in the newspaper, leaving no room for a way out.

He might have felt satisfied, but others certainly didn’t.

Besides, among those five hundred names, the majority were families of former nobles. Even if you didn’t ask the residents of Tian Du what they thought, what about the soldiers?

Even if the five hundred selected through the exam were truly pillars of the state, this was no way to handle it.

The reason he had modeled this committee after the representative assemblies of the Alliance and the South Sea Alliance was to have everyone discuss matters at the table, so there would be no lack of a channel for discussion, and no one would silently pull a gun and go to extremes when a problem arose.

But this guy—

He wore the hat of a commissioner, enjoyed the benefit of being able to say anything in the committee, yet treated him, Absak, like an emperor whose word was law.

Absak felt both angry and amused, but more than that, helpless and headache-inducing.

Perhaps putting Kabaha in the position of Education Commissioner had indeed been a mistake.

Once Tian Du University was built, it would be better to let him become its president.

That fellow had some talent, but he was clearly not cut out for politics.

However, at this critical juncture, he had no mind for finer adjustments; he could only kick the ball back for now and deal with it after the war was over.

“This… the exam isn’t under my purview. If you have issues with the scores, go talk to our Education Commissioner.”

Duwarta’s eyes narrowed.

"None of your business? Wasn't Kabaha appointed by you? Fine, then I'll take some men to pay him a visit right now!"

With that, he turned to leave, but Abusek suddenly glared at the back of his head and bellowed.

"You stop right there!"

Duwata halted, turned around, and glared back at him, not a trace of fear in his eyes.

"Abusek, I call you Grand Commander and treat you as one of our own, so I'll speak plainly. The brothers follow you because they believe there's a better future with you than with Yanush."

"I don't object to you promoting the old empire's remnants—Bharata has use for them. But if you let them shit on the brothers' heads and try to play the absolute emperor, don't say I didn't warn you: the last man who tried that didn't come to a good end."

Abusek's heart clenched; Yanush's face flashed again in his mind.

His eyes widened, but he finally suppressed his anger, rose from his chair, walked over to his old friend, placed his hands on his shoulders, and said earnestly.

"Hey! You've misunderstood me, brother. How could I let the old empire's nobles ride on the brothers' necks? Those five hundred students are going to the Mammoth Kingdom to learn, not to enjoy themselves! And you, a Grand Commissioner—why are you fixated on a few student slots? If you want to secure a future for your son, it's easy enough—just tell me which unit you want him in!"

Duwata let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"I don't care about that—my son is definitely general material. But my men are watching closely. Don't play dumb with me. When this war is over and it's time for reconstruction, will you let only those students become professors? Even if they become professors themselves, won't their students end up as bureau chiefs or ministers?"

Before Abusek could answer, Duwata continued, enunciating each word.

"That's a clever move you've made... Nurturing the sons of the old empire's nobles, waiting until this war ends and we old farts are mostly dead, then using those new elites to check our children. Tsk, tsk, I knew you old fox weren't one to be trifled with, but don't think we're that stupid either."

"No... you're overthinking this. Do you know what time it is? The Legion's airships are practically in our faces!" Abusek's face was a mix of laughter and exasperation.

Hand on heart, he hadn't actually thought of that angle—though it did sound intriguing, and maybe he could indeed play it that way.

Come to think of it, this "Tiger King," with his burly, rough appearance, turned out to have as many tricks up his sleeve as he himself did.

How come everyone around him was like this?!

If these bastards had diverted even a fraction of this cunning to other pursuits—becoming scientists, engineers, or artists, even painters—the Alliance would never have gotten to build the space elevator, and the Legion would never have come to invade them.

Compared to the straightforward schemes the Verant people could cook up, they'd have them beaten and hanging!

"One thing at a time. My subordinates demand an explanation from me, so I demand one from you. If you don't give me one, I'll tell them exactly what you said, and don't blame me if something happens."

Seeing that this man was impervious to reason, Abusek's temper flared, and he glared at him in warning.

"I warn you, don't do anything rash! If Tian Du falls, both you and I—"

Duwata raised a hand to cut him off.

"Don't worry about that. On matters of principle, I certainly won't act rashly. But if someone abuses power for personal gain, the righteous men of the Reformists won't stand idly by."

"If there's nothing else, I'm heading back to camp."

With those words, Duwata walked out the door without looking back.

Abusek stared fixedly at his retreating back, furious but helpless.

Just then, the Internal Affairs Commissioner, Wadiya, who had gone to send a telegram to the front, returned.

Seeing the Grand Commander's gloomy expression, and recalling the Grand Commissioner Duwata he had passed in the corridor, he immediately guessed what had happened.

Closing the door behind him, he reminded in a very soft voice.

"My lord, perhaps this is not for me to say... but we must be ruthless when the time calls for it."

Abusek sighed.

"It's not that I can't be ruthless or that I cling to old ties—it's that the situation won't allow it. Outside, the Verant people are eyeing us hungrily; inside, that sly Sharuk is waiting in the south to profit from our strife. If we go too far, that fellow Sharuk will immediately raise another banner, and then it won't just be Tian Du that falls into chaos."

Seeing the troubled Grand Commander, Wadiya's heart stirred, and he promptly offered advice.

"What about the Alliance's stance?"

Abusek shook his head.

"On the battlefield we can rely on them, but the Alliance has made it clear they won't interfere in our internal affairs. Besides... they also advise against being too harsh on our own people, otherwise I wouldn't have set up this committee. Ah, it's time—too little time left for us. If only we had a few more years."

Perhaps it wasn't just Kabaha's issue—the entire committee had a fundamental problem.

Those people spoke of supporting reform, but in their hearts there still lived an omnipotent emperor, and they saw themselves as loyal ministers daring to remonstrate, not as part of the collective.

This emperor was sometimes the Alliance, sometimes him the Grand Commander, or someone else.

And the worst part was that this emperor appeared "selectively."

When their own slice of cake was touched, the commissioners would wave the banner of equality and warn him not to act rashly. But when they wanted to snatch cake from others, they suddenly hoped he would act rashly, preferably with no holds barred, cutting through everything without care.

The Education Commissioner was like that, and so were the Industry Commissioner, the Agriculture Commissioner, and a whole series of others.

Perhaps this committee was doomed from its inception—they were almost inevitably bound to become a union of outward harmony but inward discord.

And yet this was precisely the time when Bharata most needed unity.

After a moment's deliberation, Abusek looked at his Internal Affairs Commissioner and gave an order.

"Send some men to protect Commissioner Kabaha and his family... I'm worried some in the military might try to harm him."

The list for the major examination had already been published in the papers; there was no taking it back.

But that didn't mean there was no solution at all.

For instance, add a separate honor roll alongside the examination list, and arrange a special round for the families of military personnel.

Or promise to give extra points to the children of fallen soldiers in the next major examination.

But it wasn't enough for Bharata to decide alone—Mammoth University would have to agree.

Their educational resources weren't unlimited either; they faced similar distribution issues internally.

Moreover, as Abusek calmed down and carefully recalled Duwata's words, that fellow had mentioned his own son at first, but not a single word afterward was about his son—it was all about securing benefits for his subordinates.

Actually, when he thought about it, a Grand Commissioner of his stature would hardly covet a few study-abroad slots. If he coveted anything, it would be other things.

For instance, influence in areas like economy, industry, transportation, culture, and so on.

Bharata was currently destitute and ignorant of these matters—wouldn't they have to rely on those who went abroad to learn?

Those five hundred students were the first to dare; from now on, how Bharata's roads were built, telegraph poles erected, mines dug, and steel smelted would all be decided by these people.

He couldn't guarantee that his subordinate's son, a commander of ten thousand, would become one himself in the future, but as long as he grabbed a few slots, arranging a chief position was no problem.

People always let slip what they care about most, inadvertently.

It was only then that Abusek realized why Duwata had said those "inexplicable" words at the end.

Because that was exactly what he himself had been thinking!

That man was truly deep!

With that thought, Abusek added another instruction to the tasks he had already given Wadiya.

"Forget it, just invite Kabaha and his family to the Heavenly Palace... publicly announce that I've placed him under house arrest."

This way, it would appease the discontent within the military, and later, when a new plan acceptable to all sides was presented, the matter would be settled.

"Understood." Wadiya nodded earnestly, then suddenly remembered something and continued, "By the way... there's another matter I must report to you."

Abusek pressed his brow and said casually.

"What is it?"

Wadiya spoke cautiously.

"The Zayd you sent east has managed to win over the Gray Wolves."

Abu Sa'id looked up, his mouth falling open involuntarily, and he was silent for a long moment before speaking.

"...That fellow has such skill?"

The same one who, upon seeing him, would make as if to bow?

Wadiya nodded with a subtle expression, clearly finding it hard to believe as well.

They had never expected to incorporate the Gray Wolves, yet this unknown nobody, who seemed to have sprung from nowhere, had actually persuaded them to surrender.

But regardless, this was undoubtedly a good thing—at least they had no more worries on that front.

"We just received the telegram as well. Currently, they are following your orders and heading toward Snake Province..."

Snake Province...

That was now Shahrul's territory.

Abu Sa'id closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them and said,

"If this Zayd truly has the ability to win over the Gray Wolves, he might just give Shahrul a run for his money."

Wadiya smiled faintly.

"You intend to use the wolf to devour the tiger?"

Abu Sa'id chuckled.

"I don't think he has that kind of skill, but it would be good to knock that sly fox Shahrul down a peg."

Since he couldn't command either of these armies and had no time to deal with them, it was better to let them fight among themselves—at least it wouldn't affect the frontline deployment.

After all, he would settle the score with Shahrul for desertion sooner or later.

Thinking he could watch from the shore and reap the benefits?

He would show that fellow that there was no way in hell!

Hearing this clever scheme, Wadiya couldn't help but raise his thumb and praise, "The Commander is wise."

He truly admired this commander from the bottom of his heart.

Though this man was not as upright as the Alliance's administrators, when it came to cunning, the Alliance's administrators might not be his match.

This was nothing to be proud of, but it was still a kind of skill.

If someone like Yanush had taken the commander's seat, no matter how many times it happened, he would have ended up shot dead on the throne...

Just as the war in the Brahmin Province was raging, across the sea, the Baiyue Strait lay calm and peaceful.

French Fry Port and Doughnut Port faced each other across the strait.

These two ports had originally been the size of fishing villages, but now they had developed.

Whether it was the clean and tidy streets or the rows of well-arranged houses, everything was different from before.

Standing on the deck of the cargo ship, Yarman squinted toward the north and said to Henk, who was from the New Continent,

"The north shore is French Fry Port... See that beach?"

Henk followed the direction of Yarman's index finger.

There, at the edge of French Fry Port, near the westernmost jungle, the beautiful coastline was dotted with uniquely styled villas.

Those small Western-style houses seemed to blend into the environment, as if they hadn't been built brick by brick but had grown out of the ground.

Never having seen anything so peculiar, Henk's eyes widened.

"What is that?"

Yarman smiled.

"That's a kind of biomaterial the Alliance came up with... I don't know the specifics, but what I want to talk about isn't those houses—it's that beach."

Henk looked at him in confusion.

"What's so special about that beach?"

Yarman squinted and continued,

"More than a year ago, when the Empire was still around, a group of 'Gray Wolves' came ashore here, trying to launch a surprise attack on French Fry Port, but the Alliance drove them back into the sea."

He had heard there were many hidden details to that incident, even involving aquatic mutants.

But the most widely circulated version was the one he was telling now.

The spread of truth was not without loss.

Even for such trivial matters.

"The Alliance and the Empire... were once enemies?" Henk's face showed disbelief, which was completely different from the Western Legion's propaganda.

What he had heard was that the Empire had wavered between the Legion and the Alliance, taking the Legion's benefits while leaning toward the Alliance.

The cowardly civilian government had indulged those cunning rats, ultimately leading to the West Harbor Massacre, and thus the Southern Legion had launched a just war.

Seeing Henk's astonishment, Yarman grinned and said,

"They still are, but their enemies are only the Empire, not the survivors living there."

Henk cast a few more surprised glances at his compatriot.

He noticed that since leaving the Legion's sphere of influence, the smile on this man's face had grown more frequent.

He grew even more curious—what was so special about the Alliance that it could make a Vlandian yearn for it so?

"Will we dock there?"

He was full of interest in that prosperous port.

Not just because of the pleasant scenery and beauty, but because his intuition told him that there might be business opportunities hidden there that could help him make a comeback!

A brand-new shipping route!

That was far more appealing than the high-risk arms trade.

Looking at the harbor so close, Yarman smiled and said,

"Our destination isn't here. It's a place called Settlement No. 1."

Henk asked instinctively,

"Where is that?"

Yarman replied without hesitation,

"It used to be French Fry Port. It's also a place full of hope."