For Andrew, who from start to finish had never even considered sitting at the same poker table as the Defense Force, these things were nothing more than meaningless, hollow titles.
To Andrew, the so-called credit and military rank were less useful than the discounts on parts and materials given by Uncle Enzo at the shop diagonally across the street.
And as for Soldier 11...
Those things weren't even as useful as having Wise lift the restrictions on her diet, allowing her to eat Hell-Spicy Ramen for all three meals a day.
After all, the only reason Soldier 11 didn't eat the same food every day back in Silver City was purely because she didn't like the burgers they ordered, and ordering ramen from such a distance would only result in the noodles getting soggy.
Ever since her station was transferred to the Video Store, she had been discovered by Wise.
Every day, whether it was morning, noon, or night, and no matter how busy her training was that day, as long as it was time to eat, she would invariably appear at the Waterfall Noodle Shop to buy Hell-Spicy Ramen.
Then, out of concern that eating only one thing every day would lead to malnutrition, she was placed under restrictions.
With Lorenz thoroughly knocked out by Andrew's two punches, the only people left awake in this vast camp were Andrew and Isolde.
Noticing that Andrew was looking at her, Isolde subconsciously began to explain away the final accusation Lorenz had made just moments ago.
"Andrew, Soldier 11 joining the Obols Squad in this operation was merely a whim of Orpheus. It was not a result of my guidance."
Facing Isolde's somewhat urgent explanation, Andrew simply waved his hand with a lack of concern.
"Acting together with the Obols Squad was Soldier 11's own idea. Besides, before it ended, no one knew this interception battle would end with such a result, did they?"
In the few months since coming to New Eridu, and especially after the Umbrella Corporation incident, Andrew had gained a very clear understanding of the nature of the Defense Force. He knew exactly how that bunch thought.
Before Meow-Da and Andrew displayed their godlike might—one protecting all the soldiers, and the other forcibly slaying Nineveh and even protecting the Shiyu Tower that was destined to detonate, thereby achieving a total victory—everyone in the Defense Force had assumed that this interception battle was destined to be a grueling struggle.
Whether it was the high command or the soldiers, they all knew it in their hearts.
Even with the support of Hoshimi Miyabi guaranteeing final victory, no one could say for sure how much of a price would have to be paid before that, just to keep the Ethereal tide from breaking through the defense line.
Ordinary soldiers could rely on their performance during combat to earn credit and commendations. But commanders were different.
If the price paid for this inevitably victorious battle exceeded expectations, the commander of this 'guaranteed win' campaign would instead be held accountable by the higher-ups.
Do well, and there's no reward; have an accident or just do an average job, and there's punishment.
Most importantly, for such a large-scale military operation, those with low rank or average command skills weren't even qualified to take it. It required at least a Colonel.
Any officer with even a few connections wouldn't think of taking this kind of trouble into their own arms. And almost all Colonels had some connections of their own.
That was why this thankless hot potato was tossed to Isolde by Lorenz, who had accepted benefits from other frontline commanders.
This was actually something Isolde, who knew the inside details, was happy to see.
But no one expected—absolutely no one expected—that just a few dozen minutes after the search began, this hot potato that everyone despised would suddenly transform into a super merit that everyone drooled over.
The speed was so fast that many with slower intel networks didn't even realize it was over before it had ended.
What they expected even less was that Lorenz, who thought he had Isolde eating out of his hand, would actually kick an iron plate this time.
Looking at Lorenz on the ground, Andrew knew very well that even if he killed him right now, there wouldn't be any issues. But he still chose not to act immediately.
Turning his head to look at Isolde beside him, Andrew asked with a smile:
"How about you wait until you become a Major General and then personally take care of your enemy yourself? After all, no matter what, I shouldn't overstep my bounds and do your job for you, right?"
Hearing this, Isolde couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
She subconsciously turned to look at Andrew, then whispered with some surprise:
"So you noticed?"
Regarding Isolde's words, Andrew just shrugged and spoke as if it were a matter of course.
"After all, you didn't hide it at all in the end, did you? That look of deep-seated bitterness when you were looking at Lorenz..."
"When I smashed him into the ground earlier, the look in your eyes—filled with fury and the desire to forcibly kill him—even scorched me."
That unparalleled hatred had startled even Andrew, who was merely caught in the crossfire. If looks could kill, Lorenz would probably have died countless times already.
Isolde lowered her gaze upon hearing this, subconsciously avoiding the line of sight that might see through her eyes clearly. But soon, she shifted her gaze back and spoke:
"Aren't you going to ask me about the reason for harboring such hatred?"
However, hearing this, Andrew simply smiled and shook his head.
During the previous interception battle against Nineveh, Isolde's various performances had already led Andrew to recognize her as a companion.
For those he recognized as companions, Andrew held immense trust.
So, in response to Isolde's question, he looked down at the pile of mud that was Lorenz on the ground and said with utter disgust:
"With a piece of trash like this, I wouldn't be surprised by anything he's done."
Then, he turned his head to look straight into Isolde's eyes and said with great seriousness:
"Besides, the most important thing is that you are already a companion I acknowledge. I trust you."
"If you are willing to tell me, I would be very happy to listen. But if you aren't willing, it doesn't matter at all. I have no interest in watching people rip open their own scars and put them on display."
From beginning to end, Andrew had no intention of stopping Isolde from taking revenge on Lorenz.
He wasn't some saint who couldn't bear to see people die, especially when it came to a pure, thoroughbred piece of trash like Lorenz. In Andrew's view, this thing wasn't even human anymore.
So for this kind of person, even if they died, Andrew's evaluation would only be 'good riddance', with the only downside being a waste of burial soil.
Andrew himself didn't feel there was anything wrong with his words. After all, giving trust to companions was an incredibly normal thing for him.
If one isn't willing to offer trust first, how can they obtain the trust of others?
But for Isolde, who had been searching for a way to revenge alone for many years without ever being truly understood or trusted, this unconditional trust given by a companion—even after understanding the true her—was something incredibly distant and incredibly precious.
After all, ever since the Fall of the Old Capital and the near-total annihilation of the squad under her command, the only person left who could understand her hatred was Orpheus.
But with the appearance of the clone Orpheus, and then the subsequent formation of the Obols Squad, Isolde had realized something.
As time passed, the fellow traveler who had once been on the road of vengeance with her had already drifted further and further away.
Orpheus, who was once her companion on this path, was now more accustomed to her current identity: 'Ghostfire', the captain of the Obols Squad.
Isolde didn't blame Orpheus. On the contrary, she was actually very relieved after discovering this.
She knew very well that pain and revenge were never the entirety of life.
But it was a pity. Although Isolde understood the principles, it was easier said than done. She herself could not let go.
So, after discovering this, Isolde never spoke to Orpheus—that is, Ghostfire—about her investigation results and revenge plans again.
Even after discovering the truth of that year through the Exaltists, Isolde had no intention of telling her. Instead, she tailored a plan within her revenge scheme for the current Obols Squad that would allow them to completely draw a line from her and clear them of suspicion.
But because of this, she hadn't had anyone she could call a 'companion' for a long time.
"A companion, huh..."
Isolde chewed over this long-lost word repeatedly, then murmured in a low voice:
"It feels... actually not bad?"
Looking at Andrew in front of her, just as Isolde was considering whether to reveal everything right then and there, the noisy sounds coming from outside the camp interrupted their conversation.
Pulling open the tent door, Andrew and Isolde discovered that the arrivals were none other than the original Commander-in-Chief of Scott Outpost, Roland, and Ray.
And following behind them, without exception, were the soldiers who had just participated in the Nineveh interception battle inside Hollow Zero.
Normally, seeing everyone in a Major General's camp knocked out should have instantly raised their vigilance to the maximum. Yet, there was no surprise on their faces.
In fact, when they saw Andrew and Isolde coming out through the lifted curtain, the two of them even raised their hands in a friendly and proactive greeting.
Clearly, they were already well aware of everything happening in front of them.
Even the fact that they only arrived now was actually because they had calculated that Andrew would be just about finished by this time, pacing their speed to arrive 'just right'.
As for what to do if they miscalculated the time and arrived too early?
Then they would just 'accidentally' lead the support troops to get a little lost around the outpost for a while.
As for why they would get lost at home, don't worry about it.
After all, they didn't bring navigation when they went out, so isn't it normal to get lost?
No matter what, this was the core area of Scott Outpost. Gunshots had been fired inside. How could the main person in charge of Scott Outpost not notice?
Rather, it was because they knew too clearly, and understood that the person who went in was Andrew.
After exchanging greetings, the two of them directed the soldiers to lift Lorenz's personal guards—who had been beaten into paralysis by Andrew—one by one and carry them toward the medical station.
Of course, this wasn't because they had any affection for these personal guards who had been arrogant and treated other soldiers like dirt ever since entering the outpost.
It was to prevent anyone from actually dying here, which would give Lorenz a chance to make a big fuss after he woke up.
From the extremely perfunctory 'accidental slips of the hand' performed by those soldiers, one could see just how much they despised this group.
Just pretending to slip while carrying them, causing them to roll off the stretchers a few times and adding injury to insult, was already the lightest treatment.
The squad leaders, while scolding their own team members for making so many mistakes over such small matters, 'accidentally' stepped on the wounded's hands.
At the same time, they used syringes pulled from who-knows-where to inject a mixture of Surströmming, black garlic, stinky tofu juice, and other ultimate foul liquids into the oxygen tubes of the wounded in their hands.
Guaranteed that once a drop goes in, the stench will last forever. Even after being discharged from the hospital, it might not be completely eliminated.
After finishing the job, they would 'accidentally' drop the syringe into their own team member's hands.
Very quickly, all the personal guards, who were clearly in a coma, unconsciously scrunched their entire faces together, as if they had fallen thoroughly into a nightmare from that moment on.
However, when everyone passed by Andrew and Isolde, every single face would immediately reveal an incomparably warm and enthusiastic smile, showing the greatest kindness to the two people who had allowed them to survive that interception battle.
At the same time, Roland and Ray walked up to Andrew and Isolde.
Before Andrew could speak, Roland took the initiative to say:
"Mr. Andrew, I must trouble you to give a reasonable explanation for assaulting a Major General of our army within Scott Outpost. Otherwise, we will have to take mandatory measures."
Although his tone sounded like strictly official business, looking at the attitude displayed on Roland's face...
It was completely a look of: 'Just give any reason that sounds passable, and we'll decide for ourselves if it's reasonable.'
But having said that, Andrew, knowing what the other party was thinking, wouldn't truly make things difficult for them.
So when Roland and Ray heard Andrew's incomparably 'reasonable' explanation, supported by the recording Isolde presented as evidence, the two were actually incredibly pleasantly surprised.
In fact, before coming here, the two had already prepared to make something up directly if there was no reason or excuse.
But now, having confirmed that Andrew and Isolde were the ones in the right, it was even easier to handle.
Seeing their attitude of completely disregarding Lorenz, the Major General, Andrew couldn't help but ask with some curiosity:
"Is it really okay for you guys to directly target a Major General like this?"
Hearing this, the incomparably serious face that Roland always wore involuntarily took on a smile when he looked at Andrew.
At the same time, he said with immense calm:
"We have long heard about Major General Lorenz stealing the credit of his subordinates in the Defense Force; we just never had concrete evidence. Furthermore, everyone knows whether he climbed the ranks through military merit or through bribery. Only he himself thinks it's a secret."
Speaking of this, Roland, who could be said to love his soldiers like his own children, couldn't help but reveal a look of obvious disgust on his face.
He continued:
"Besides, he's just a Major General with no real power. He can't bypass my superiors and extend his hand over my head."
If it weren't for the military rank relationship making it impossible to directly disobey him openly, the supreme command authority of Scott Outpost on the surface wouldn't have changed at all.
Ray, on the other hand, said with a beaming smile:
"Don't look at me. My main identity is a scholar of the Wistar Academy. In the end, my position in the Defense Force is just a nominal hanging title."
After a simple explanation, Roland concluded:
"In short, in the report following this incident, both Ray and I will stand up for the two of you."
"As for Lorenz, I think the higher-ups will give Isolde a satisfactory answer later."
____
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