The royal palace was incredibly quiet as dozens of high ranking generals simply stood there, motionless.
Jean and Blink stood in front of them.
The blood of Leon was yet to be cleaned, but none of his “loyal” generals had any thought about avenging him. After all, Leon was the puppet from the very beginning. These generals were a part of the conspiracy to overthrow Emperor Benedictine. They would never have joined if they valued the crown.
The only difference was, last time, they were forced to come together by Demon and his brutal methods. To them, Jean was just an accomplice of Demon who had some strange soldiers under her command. Sure, she was a good fighter as well, but they trusted Demon over Jean.
When Jean tossed Demon’s severed head to their feet, they decided it was a good time to adjust who they were loyal to.
That was the good thing with turncoats. As long as you’re strong enough, they wouldn’t betray you. Of course, their long term loyalty was debatable, but Jean wasn’t expecting to deal with them for long.
“I am going to be straightforward.”
At this point, Jean no longer had any need to pretend like she was just a mercenary. She just walked into the royal dorm and shot the Emperor of the Moon dead. Things were as clear as things can be.
“I want an army of at least 20,000 assembled in three days to march into the Empire of the Sun.”
“Three days?” One of the generals couldn’t help but speak up. His professionalist took control. “We need months of preparation before we can mount an invasion...”
Jean nodded gently at Blink, who suddenly disappeared. The next second, she appeared next to Jean again holding that man’s head.
“As I said, 20,000 men. Three days.”
The rest of the men lowered their head. Demon was cruel, but even he wouldn’t kill one of them so quickly, so without warning. He would boast and toy with them before he delivers the kill, but Jean...she ordered the execution as casual as ordering something for lunch.
That level of coldness was what frightened them.
Suddenly, one of the man spoke up.
He was missing his right arm.
Commander Erik. Rather, General Erik, the Chief Military Officer of the Empire of the Moon.
“Miss Turner, as the Chief Military Officer, I will gladly carry out your orders.”
Jean smiled warmly. That was why she suggested Commander Erik to Leon even after he tried to seize her in the streets during the ambush that killed Emperor Benedictine. Erik was a man without honor. He’s sadistic and cruel, but at the same time, he’s willing to do anything for his own interest. Unlike Leon, Erik could sacrifice a thousand innocent men just so he himself could climb up the ranks.
Good.
Jean gave Erik a small nod of encouragement.
“I appreciate your loyalty commander.” She clapped her hands, and four G-1s appeared out of the shadows. The men were slightly taken back by these mechanical warriors.
“Commander Erik, my men will assist you in carrying out your task. Trust me, they are highly effective.”
Mobilizing an army this large in three days would be challenging, especially in a time like this. People would raise questions, and questions would slow things down. The best way to prevent that? Eliminate those asking the questions. Jean knew the moment Erik starts his mobilization, a lot of people will die. To ensure Erik wouldn’t be assassinated first, she left some of her G-1s with him.
Of course, they also acted as her spies in case Erik fell behind.
Erik nodded slowly with his head lowered in obedience as Jean and Blink walked out of the room. As soon as they were gone, Erik turned his gaze at the rest of the ranking men.
“Who should I start with first? General Kales.” He turned to one of the generals. “You rejected me when I asked for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
Kales face went pale. He was a general that dated back to the times of the old Emperor. He wasn’t the most influential or the most ambitious, which was precisely why he was still alive. Unfortunately, his luck seemed to have ran out...
----------------------------------------
Jean knew Erik was setting his personal grudges with her backing, but she didn't care. These personal affairs were trivial to her. As long as Erik’s contributions were greater than his arm, she would use him.
The two returned to Blink’s mansion before the subordinate Voyager raised a question.
“Three days?”
“Yes.” Jean nodded.
“20,000 men is around what the Empire of the Moon has left under its control. Erik, no matter how efficient he is, will require more time to prepare for an invasion of that scale. If we make a move in three days, our forces will be limited. The Empire of the Sun will crush the invasion. We will have lost everything we worked for in the Empire of the Moon.”
“Perhaps, but there is something you have to remember, Blink. The Empire of the Moon is merely a mean to an end, and right now, the end is at hand.” She tapped her watch. “Not long after I killed John, Violet sent me a message.”
“What does it say?”
“It tells me to do exactly what I’m doing right now. Take the full might of the Empire of the Moon and slam it against the Empire of the Sun.”
“But...Violet cannot be trusted.” Blink’s last memory of Violet was when Jean went to her and blackmailed three watches out of her with evidence that Violet murdered six other Voyagers. The chances of Violet meaning Jean well after that was close to none.
“There’s a reason why she just flat out told me what she wanted.” Jean smiled as she sat down with her legs crossed. She knew she had to explain her reasoning to Blink for her to stay with her plan. “I know what her plan is, and she knows that. Tell me, Blink, what do all Voyagers want to take from this mission?”
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Blink rose her eyebrows. She got down as well.
“Complete the mission? Reward?”
“Pretty much, and what is the best way to maximize the reward?”
Blink suddenly realized it. The final reward from the Protector would be fixed and equally divided between those who have survived the mission. The most profitable way? Kill off everyone else and claim the entire reward for yourself. Hey, on a side note, you can also loot the watches of other Voyagers!
“Violet wants to destroy both the locals and the Voyagers. By herself, she doesn’t have the forces to do that. Even with her small band of followers, murdering over seventy Voyagers and crushing both empires was too much. So she tried something else.”
“I first grew suspicious when I heard how Adam betrayed us and joined the Empire of the Sun. What was your first instinct when you heard that?”
Blink paused. She and most of the Voyagers heard the news about Adams's betrayal during the battle against the Sun Border Army.
“He’s a fool.”
“Adam is certainly not a fool.” Jean shook her head. “He has passed two missions. If he doesn’t have sufficient intelligence, he would never do that. Of course, there is a chance that he, due to some personal reason, truly defected. Fair enough. But what did he do next?”
“He served as the commander of the Sun army and crushed the Moon invasion.” Blink didn't think anything of it. “Since we were siding with the Moon forces, he stopped our assault.”
“That’s what really made me think.” Jean leaned forward. “Our plan is to wipe out the locals. That includes the Empire of the Sun and the Empire of the Moon. To be honest, if we really tried to take on both empires with 80 Voyagers, we would be overwhelmed. There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the two empires, plus the Shieldbearers and the horde of beasts in the mountains. A frontal attack was never going to work.”
“You see, Violet wanted to stir up conflict between the two local empires. She employed John and had him go to the Empire of the Moon and rally an invasion against the Empire of the Sun by assassinating the Crown Prince. This way, the Empire of the Moon went from being our enemies to our temporary allies.”
“But at the same time, she couldn’t allow the Empire of the Moon to just crush through all opposition. If that’s the case, then after victory, all the Voyagers can easily backstab the Empire of the Moon. Before long, we will be victorious and out of this world. Most Voyagers might be expecting that, but Violet...she’s a bit more greedy.”
“So she sent Adam to the Empire of the Sun...to keep the war going!”
“Exactly. Adam’s contribution to the Empire of the Sun turned a lightning war into a war of attrition. Over the course of multiple battles, tens of thousands of elite soldiers from both empires perished on the battlefield, fighting each other more than fighting Voyagers. With the help of the Sun calvary, Adam slaughtered the horde of beasts under Voyager Druid, eliminating both a powerful fighting force of the locals and another potential opposition to Violet.”
Voyager Druid had the ability to control animals. At the start of the war, he went into the mountains and came out with tens of thousands of powerful beasts. This made him one of the most powerful Voyagers in the field, threatening even Violet. But his attempt to unleash the beasts into the Empire of the Sun was stopped at the Immortal Fort. Just before he could break through, Adam led 5,000 calvaries down and wiped the horde off the surface of the planet. Druid was killed in action.
That was the battle that made Adam fully trusted by the Empress.
That was also the battle where Violet terminated one of the riskiest Voyagers on the trip.
“Violet’s plan requires the forces of both sides to be balanced.” Jean went on, deducing Violet’s scheme step by step. “If one side is more powerful, her plan fails. She will either be forced to stick with a mere portion of the reward, or she would fail the mission altogether. When I slaughtered the Shieldbearers, the balance became tipped, that must be why she sent John to pick us apart. One less Voyager and a scattered Empire of the Moon restores the balance slightly.”
“Right now, Violet is ready to spring the ultimate trap. As of the moment, I don’t know what her exact plans are to take out both the forces of both empires and the Voyagers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work with what we have.”
“That makes sense.” Blink was truly impressed as she slowly pieced things together. Now that Jean has laid everything out for her, Blink realized everything was matching up like pieces in a puzzle. “How did you deduce all this?”
Jean shrugged and didn't answer. In reality, she knew exactly why. When she first entered this world, this was one of the plans that went through her head. What Violet was doing now was exactly what Jean would’ve done if she had the resources and accomplices Violet had.
After all, the two were as similar as two people could be. Their objectives. Their emotions. The way they think. In fact, you can even say they’re of the same root...
But Blink wasn’t as satisfied with Jean’s response to the plan.
“We should notice the other Voyagers about this. Violet’s actions are breaking the rules.”
Whenever there were multiple Voyagers on a mission, there was always an unspoken rule. Random backstabbings were fine. Settling personal vendettas was fine. But systematically executing fellow Voyagers and even risking the mission itself to do so? That just went out of line.
Most Voyagers could sleep well after a systematic slaughter on the locals, but if it was the Voyagers that were the ones slaughtered, a lot of them would raise questions. It was the same as seeing cows get butchered compared to seeing fellow human beings get butchered.
Plus, if the Protectors know that their mission was at risk of compromise because of the greed of their underlings, they wouldn’t hesitate to make an example out of them and anyone that complied with their plans.
Jean glanced at Blink.
“If we survive this, we can become so much more powerful.”
“But it’s way too risky!” Blink knew Voyagers were supposed to be veterans at taking risks, but this plan was just too much. “We have to go against at least 50 Voyagers! They might be slightly weaker than us on average, but...if this plan fails...”
Jean suddenly stood up.
“I met a Protector after I returned to the City of the Voyagers after my recruit mission. Later, I evaluated his CAS. Do you know what his CAS is?”
“What?”
“One million.”
“Jean…”
“My CAS was 259. I tried fighting against that Protector in the Simulation Room. I unloaded everything in my watch. Fleets were behind my back. Hundreds of thousands of walkers were opening fire simultaneously.”
“One hit. All it took was one hit from the Protector to wipe out everything I had.”
“The Protector who I met, Protector Welch, was a corporal in the Fifth Legion. Corporal! He is a mere foot soldier in the Protector Corp and he could crush everything I have spent years on! You know what’s worse? He told me there are a million Protectors in every Protector legion, and a thousand legions under the Protector Corp. That is one billion Protectors who can crush me with the snap of a finger.”
She turned back to Blink. Her face red from anger. Blink turned away, but if she looked at Jean more closely, she could see that behind her mask of emotions, there was only infinite coldness.
“I am not going to lie to you, Blink. We have been through quite some battles, and you have proven to be trustworthy. I am ambitious. This is a beautiful world, and I will not just settle to be a nobody. Right now, the Protectors treat us as cannon fodders. As disposable. They look at us the same way we look at those pathetic locals. If we continue to do things by the book, then we will forever remain as disposable cannon fodders under the Protectors’ command. We will forever be enslaved.”
“Violet’s plan is risky, but it will come with a heavy reward, and if we play it well, it might just be our first step to being someone important in this world.”
“So, Blink, will you stand with me?”
Blink lowered her head. Even she had to admit she was touched by Jean’s words. Plus, she’s a Voyager. A Voyager! Her very survival was based on risking her life! Her memory suddenly went back to her first mission, where she killed her first victim.
She didn't hesitate to draw her blade and risk her life to strike down her foe when she barely knew how to wield a blade. Why is it that after becoming one of the deadliest people in the world, she suddenly became scared of failing?
She turned back to Jean.
“Of course.”