ABST Chapter 3

On the other side.

 

On the Federation First Army’s withdrawal route back to base, they ‘coincidentally’ encountered Lieutenant General Wright’s patrol warship.

 

When both sides met, Lieutenant General Wright respectfully requested an audience with Admiral Elansno.

 

Adjutant Kang Quan received the request and soon knocked on the command ship’s control room door. The door slowly opened, but he didn’t enter, only lowering his head to request instructions from outside.

 

“Admiral, Lieutenant General Wright wishes to see you.”

 

After a long while, a casual laugh came from inside the control room: “Adjutant, what did I tell you before?”

 

This laughter contained a barely perceptible hoarseness, and a kind of weakness like someone who had just woken from deep sleep.

 

Kang Quan’s heart stirred slightly as he lifted his eyelids.

 

He could only see a cold chair and the hard black military boots beneath it. The owner of the voice sat in the chair with his back to him, silver hair flowing like water, revealing a few strands.

 

Not a trace of human warmth.

 

Everything was cold.

 

Kang Quan composed his expression: “You said to have him wait.”

 

No more sound came from the control room, so Kang Quan lowered his head and closed the control room door again.

 

…

 

Gong Du’s voice was hoarse from laughing.

 

Having been in this world for so long, this was his first real contact with the protagonist group, and he hadn’t expected it to be so interesting.

 

The protagonists in their growth phase were too pure and too amusing.

 

Lan Xia hadn’t even done much—just gotten slightly injured—and it had already drawn their concern.

 

If the later script unfolded completely according to his plan, wouldn’t there be even more fun to be had?

 

The small light orb in his consciousness pushed him: “Stop laughing, your laughter shakes your stomach.”

 

Splitting one’s soul wasn’t a trivial matter. He should be more careful with himself, yet here he was laughing!

 

Gong Du rubbed his abdomen: “It’s fine.”

 

The small light orb worried: “I advise you to do less of this kind of thing, or you’ll collapse on the makeup exam road and affect my performance.”

 

Gong Du: “…”

 

Small light orb: “…”

 

It corrected itself: “Affect your health and makeup exam results.”

 

Gong Du: “This world has only just begun, we can’t rush.”

 

Lan Xia had successfully reached the protagonist group’s side. Next, he just needed to naturally follow along and gradually gain their trust and dependence.

 

This world had four protagonists in total.

 

Besides leader Algiers and his sister Jin Daike, the remaining two would soon join the world’s main storyline.

 

With everything proceeding smoothly on Lan Xia’s side and the main plot officially beginning, it was time for him to start planning properly on this end too.

 

Gong Du: “Let’s go meet that Wright fellow.”

 

He straightened his military uniform collar and stepped out of the control room.

 

…

 

Everyone in the Federation knew that Admiral Elansno and Lieutenant General Wright had a poor relationship.

 

The Federation had two major armies.

 

Elansno controlled the Federation’s First Army. Wright was the leader of the Federation’s Second Army, holding the rank of Lieutenant General, putting him a rank below Elansno.

 

However, his reputation was far better than Elansno’s, earning much more recognition from Federation citizens.

 

In recent years, friction between the two armies had been constant, with the rift deepening daily.

 

After Lieutenant General Wright was invited aboard the command ship, he had already been waiting in the lounge for over an hour.

 

His personal guards were already showing anger at this blatant disrespect, but Wright himself, the one being ignored, remained remarkably calm and even asked quite politely: “Excuse me, Adjutant Kang Quan, when might the Admiral be available?”

 

He appeared to be in his thirties, with a very upright, square face.

 

Kang Quan had been silently standing guard here. Before he could speak, he heard the lounge door automatically slide open, and a mocking, sarcastic chuckle brazenly drifted over.

 

“—Well, here I am.”

 

Gong Du wore his mask securely, leaning against the doorway, his dark purple eyes lifting to look Wright up and down.

 

“If you have something to say, just say it directly.”

 

Kang Quan: “Admiral.”

 

Gong Du nodded.

 

Wright: “In that case, I’ll speak directly.”

 

He took a deep breath, his anger heavy: “Why did you issue the order to bombard B6 sector?! Do you know how many innocent people died because of you?!”

 

Wright stepped forward, his eyes full of anguish: “Elansno, your hands are stained with sin, you… you’re simply…”

 

The young Admiral listened, silently curling the corner of his lips.

 

Carelessly, his gloved fingers came to rest lightly on the holster at his waist.

 

The news of the bombardment had spread as soon as he arrived at B6 sector, yet this guy had deliberately come only after everything was settled.

 

Tsk…

 

His dark purple pupils reflected Wright’s righteously indignant face.

 

Without warning.

 

“Bang!”

 

Wright’s voice cut off abruptly, cold sweat suddenly breaking out on his back.

 

A deep bullet crater had appeared in the wall behind him, the fired bullet still spinning at high speed, creating sparks as it ground against the crater.

 

The lounge’s alarm was instantly triggered.

 

In less than ten seconds, a squad of soldiers rushed over, but after seeing the scene in the lounge, they all looked at each other uncertainly, not knowing what to do.

 

Kang Quan took a deep look at Elansno, exhaled, turned to the arriving soldiers and said: “Nothing’s wrong here, you can all leave.”

 

Elansno wiped the beautiful, smooth silver gun body, as if he hadn’t been the one to fire that shot.

 

He seemed to favor silver—his hair was silver, that mask no one had ever been able to remove was silver, and his most beloved gun was also silver. That cold metallic color sometimes matched perfectly with the pride he carried.

 

The gun barrel pressed against Wright’s jaw, forcing him to lift his head.

 

Elansno smiled: “Go on, keep talking.”

 

Wright: “…Elansno, you’re too tyrannical. Aren’t you afraid of being punished by His Majesty Rosh?”

 

The four words “His Majesty Rosh” were like a switch—Elansno’s finger paused slightly on the trigger.

 

After a moment, he spoke: “…Right, you’re still of some use to His Majesty.”

 

In the tense atmosphere, he casually holstered his gun.

 

As if he had completely lost interest, Elansno turned to leave. Before walking away, he heard Wright’s low, hoarse roar: “You kill indiscriminately—aren’t you afraid of nightmares?!”

 

The ice-cold black military boots suddenly stopped. Elansno tilted his head slightly, speaking methodically: “It’s all for His Majesty. They may be dead, but shouldn’t they feel honored by that?”

 

Only after he left did Kang Quan nod to Wright: “Is there anything else? If not, I’ll have someone escort you out.”

 

Wright grabbed his hand.

 

Kang Quan frowned and stepped back to avoid him.

 

“Lieutenant General.”

 

Wright waved his hand, signaling his guards to close the lounge door.

 

The angry yet helplessly sorrowful expression from earlier had disappeared from his face, replaced by steady, gentle eyes: “Adjutant Kang Quan, with your abilities and ambitions, you shouldn’t be following such a tyrannical person.”

 

“I’ve read your enlistment application from years ago. You also hope for Federation peace and stability, don’t you? But Elansno is clearly one of the sources of chaos himself,” Wright spoke earnestly. “I’ve extended my hand to you more than once, hoping you’d seriously consider leaving Elansno and joining the Second Army to truly fulfill your aspirations.”

 

Kang Quan’s expression remained unchanged: “Lieutenant General Wright, I am a soldier under the Admiral. Unless he dismisses me, I will not leave.”

 

He nodded slightly and glanced at the time on his light brain: “Please excuse me. The Admiral’s mealtime has arrived, so I must leave.”

 

Click.

 

The lounge door closed.

 

Only Wright and his guard remained inside.

 

After a long while.

 

Wright straightened his disheveled uniform and said expressionlessly: “You recorded everything Elansno said?”

 

The guard didn’t dare say much: “Yes!”

 

Wright: “Just now, if I hadn’t mentioned His Majesty Rosh, he really would have killed me.”

 

Nothing but an aberrant who had never even removed his mask, relying solely on being an S-level evolver.

 

First Army Admiral.

 

Hmph.

 

Wright sneered: “Keep that recording safe.”

 

Having dutifully completed his role in the script, Gong Du returned with his face already pale beneath the mask.

 

He lay sprawled in his chair, right hand clenched, pressing hard against his stomach area, which made him feel slightly better.

 

The physical shock from splitting his soul, combined with laughing too much, meant he should have been resting properly. Instead, he had professionally gone to provoke Wright and even gotten physical, thoroughly aggravating his stomach.

 

Even with his lips drained of color, Gong Du was still in the mood to joke with the small light orb in his consciousness: “How was that? Was I handsome just now?”

 

The small light orb pouted: “It’s not like I haven’t seen Elansno’s identity go crazy before. Today was just a small scene. Your body’s vital readings aren’t looking good. I advise you to rest properly and stop causing trouble.”

 

Gong Du: “But I’m hungry.”

 

Small light orb: “…”

 

It went frantic: “You can’t eat anything right now!”

 

Knock knock knock—

 

Kang Quan: “Admiral, your breakfast.”

 

Gong Du sat up properly: “Come in.”

 

Kang Quan pushed open the door and entered, bringing the breakfast on a serving tray.

 

The Admiral’s meals were naturally the First Army’s finest. Even a simple bowl of clear porridge and side dishes contained countless elaborate preparation steps.

 

Gong Du’s lips curved slightly upward. Ignoring the small light orb’s chatter in his consciousness, he picked up the spoon—

 

The next instant.

 

Clack.

 

Kang Quan suddenly pressed down on the tray.

 

He frowned, looking at Gong Du’s overly pale lips: “Admiral, is your stomach condition acting up?”

 

Gong Du: …

 

His wrist froze in mid-air.

 

He had very successfully scooped up a spoonful of air.

 

**

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