Countless Panaqua Consortium troops were already garrisoned on the front lines at Mt. Pitaloka and Mt. Balaerung, and black tents could be seen scattered throughout the clearings in the valley. This place had become the internal transportation hub of this entire mountain range.
The roads in the mountains were no longer dirt roads but concrete surfaces that the Panaqua Consortium had constructed beforehand. Just by looking at the structure of the roads, it was clear that the Panaqua Consortium had been operating here for a long time.
This was the only path to reach the Skyfort Consortium in the south. If they wanted to attack the Skyfort Consortium, they would definitely have to pass through here.
The conflict between the three organizations in the southwestern region was not something new at all. The Panaqua Consortium was extraordinarily well-prepared as they had constructed a forward operating base and defensive fortifications in the mountains way in advance.
***
Two off-road vehicles were driving over from northeast of the mountains. Julius and Daniel sat in one of the vehicles and looked at the scenery outside.
Julius said with a smile, ‘This place has to be defended well. If we lose our position here, the roads will have been built for nothing. Our enemies can simply drive straight in without any obstacles.”
“Rest easy, we won’t lose this place.” Secretary Rourkey sat in the front passenger seat and said coldly, “Julius, you can say we’re letting you atone for your crimes by having you act as a military advisor. I hope that you will carefully consider the Board’s decision and stop acting recklessly.”
Julius said calmly with a smile, “Atone for my crimes? What crimes have I committed?”
The soldier driving the vehicle acted as though favonovel.com were deaf. He only focused on driving and did not dare to react unusually. Meanwhile, Secretary Rourkey frowned, thinking about something.
After the off-road vehicle traveled for dozens of kilometers in the mountains, it finally arrived at a huge base. When they came to the sentry post, Secretary Rourkey flashed his ID, and they were allowed to pass through.
Julius looked at the layout of the surrounding barracks and commented, “The security here is a little lax…”
“We’ve arrived. Get out.” Secretary Rourkey looked at Julius and said, “You probably know the combat commander here. I think favonovel.com can be considered a younger brother of yours? His name is Garth Fischer.”
“Oh…” Julius nodded. “That snotty brat? He cried a lot when we were young…”
Garth was the person who discovered the Experimentals had disappeared from Stronghold 113.
After getting out of the vehicle, Julius started walking towards the command post tent. “Since I’m here as a military advisor, what happens if Garth does not heed my advice? Have you ever considered this problem? If favonovel.com insists on doing things his way, am I supposed to take the fall along with him?”
Secretary Rourkey’s frown grew deeper as favonovel.com said, “Don’t try anything, Julius. Since he’s the commanding officer of the troops, he’ll definitely bear the main responsibility if something goes wrong. But as the military advisor, would you dare say that you won’t be liable if any battles are lost? Both of you are working for the Panaqua Consortium, so I hope you can be more serious and not deliberately play a passive role.”
Actually, this was the most worrisome matter for the Panaqua Consortium Board of Directors. They felt uneasy in letting Garth face the other two organizations by himself. After all, Garth’s combat experience was far less than Julius’. Moreover, no one in the entire Panaqua Consortium could match Julius when it came to wisdom in warfare.
For an organization that large and filled with so many people, it was natural to think that powerful leadership figures abounded. But even throughout history, only a handful of famous leaders had ever existed in this world. And sometimes, some people were really just that exceptionally talented. But what they were more worried about was that they had been suppressing Julius too much recently. If Julius just showed up at the front lines and did not put in any effort for the war, that would also affect the overall situation.
It was not that the Board was being stupid by insisting on suppressing skilled people, but that they had long been accustomed to skilled people yielding to the huge machine that was the organization. An arrogant Shadow had wanted to place himself above the organization.
But what happened to favonovel.com in the end?
Didn’t favonovel.com also become a tool for the Board after admitting defeat?
But the Panaqua Consortium Board could never have expected Julius to be so unyielding!
Julius walked into the tent with a smile. Officers were trotting back and forth within the command post tent. They were all either holding intel of the latest military updates in their hands or about to carry out orders issued by Garth.
Everyone in the tent was stunned for a moment when they saw Julius walk in. It was like the air in the command post solidified the instant favonovel.com went in.
Julius greeted everyone, “There’s no need to get nervous. Just get back to whatever you were doing. Daniel and I are just here to see all of you.”
When Garth, who was standing next to the sand table in the command post, saw Julius, his expression darkened.
He looked at Secretary Rourkey. “Why did you bring favonovel.com here?”
Secretary Rourkey said calmly, “Your Second Uncle wanted favonovel.com to come and assist you.”
“Assist me?” Garth sneered, “I don’t need a prisoner to assist me.”
Daniel smiled and said, “Garth, do you still remember the days when you used to stick to our behinds and play in the dirt? When I was out on campaign, you were probably still wetting the bed.”
Secretary Rourkey said angrily, “That’s enough! A great change will be sweeping over the southwestern region soon, and you’re still in the mood to quarrel like children here? Garth, the two of them will serve as your military advisors. Brief them first, then hold a military meeting.”
Garth gave them a look and said to his second-in-command next to him, “Inform all the commanders of the fighting forces to attend the meeting!”
Ultimately, Garth still did not dare to disobey the Board’s order. Since the Board sent Julius here as the military advisor, favonovel.com would have to somehow cooperate with favonovel.com on the surface. This way, no one could point their fingers at favonovel.com even if something went wrong.
During the meeting, Julius sat at the table with his eyes closed throughout. No one knew whether favonovel.com was listening to the updates given by the commanders of the fighting forces. Meanwhile, Daniel sprawled out on the table and openly slept.
An officer said, “We’re currently garrisoned on the front lines at Mt. Pitaloka and Mt. Balaerung. The Skyfort Consortium and the Radianz Consortium won’t be so reckless to come and attack us since this war is still mainly a conflict between their two organizations-“.
“How stupid!” interrupted Julius as his eyes shot open.
The command post fell silent.
Then, Julius bluntly said, “The philosophy on this battlefield is that anyone involved in the war is an enemy, other than our own. Why do you think the Skyfort Consortium and the Radianz Consortium won’t take the initiative and attack us just because their grudge is with each other?”
Garth said coldly, “Because the Radianz Consortium stole the Skyfort Consortium’s…”
Julius was guffawed. “That was not stolen by the Radianz Consortium. It was I who stole it and gave it to the Radianz Consortium. Mark my words, since we’ve already come all the way out here, we’ll certainly be targeted by the Skyfort Consortium. If our defenses slip up, we could very well end up becoming the priority target of the other two organizations. When that happens, they might even be willing to put aside their feud temporarily. The possibility of gaining the Panaqua Consortium’s interests for themselves would be more than enough to tempt them.”
Garth glared at Julius as favonovel.com had been living in Julius’ shadow for more than 20 years now.
When favonovel.com was in preschool, everyone said there was a person better than him, and that person was called Julius. When favonovel.com got to elementary school, high school, or university, it was still the same. Even after entering the military, everyone was still saying that Julius was better at waging war than anyone else in the organization.
But even if favonovel.com hated Julius to the core, favonovel.com would still sit at the same table with Julius to discuss the war as favonovel.com wanted to let the Board know that favonovel.com was more obedient than Julius.
