Chapter Ninety: Eastern Alliance Command Headquarters

At 11:26:59 p.m. on December 26, 2237, Eastern Alliance time, at an undisclosed location within the Eastern Alliance, a tense report crackled through the command channel. The medicine had appeared at the border. The hospital acknowledged it and asked where the doctor was. The reply came at once: the doctor had already approached the medicine and was now inspecting it and guiding its handling.

In the Eastern Alliance’s central command chamber, the war council, centered on three marshals, was working through the night at full speed. For them, this was the day the dismantling machines purchased from the Northern Coalition would arrive. The Eastern Alliance, which lacked large-scale siege machinery and instead prized rapid mobile breakthroughs, was least suited to urban assault operations. Faced, in particular, with cities packed with Satanic forces, the generals of the Eastern Alliance had even fewer solutions.

“Have the doctor take the medicine to West Hospital. The academicians will help unload it.”

“Understood, doctor. Please bring the medicine to West Hospital. I repeat, please bring the medicine to West Hospital!”

“Understood, doctor! Understood!”

High above Eastern Alliance territory, four J-33 fighters entered the radar range of the U-47. As third-generation fighters of the twenty-third century, the J-33s were already comparable to the pinnacle of the newest generation in both stealth and maneuverability. Even so, the people of the Eastern Alliance still did not know that these four aircraft had been under Hirakawa’s surveillance since the moment they took off.

“Hey, old man. Tell me, why has the United Kingdom been so eager this time? Not only did they want to move the operation up, they were also willing to provide so much military materiel for the Kistan campaign.”

Slumped wearily in the commander’s chair at the core command station, Marshal Zhu Dekun, one of the three pillars, wore a dark green uniform. As the supreme commander of the army, the marshal from Red Soviet bore responsibilities far greater than the other two marshals. And yet, even so, he was not the one with the greatest authority.

“Ha. How should I know? The Kistan battlefield is practically a world away from the United Kingdom. Neither Europe nor Israel has committed much force. They can’t possibly be trying to take a share for themselves, can they?”

The answer came from Marshal Jiang Yuanqin, dressed in a deep blue uniform and hailing from Azure Democracy. He oversaw the navy and the naval marines. Since the Ceylon Accord, formerly the Southern Coalition, had allied itself with the United Kingdom and the Oceanic Commonwealth, and with the Indian front gradually being reclaimed, the Ceylon Accord had also begun to harbor resistance toward the Eastern Alliance.

“Ha. You lot really don’t know, do you?”

At that moment, the third marshal, Okita Saizo, suddenly burst into laughter. As the air force marshal, the man from White International possessed far more intelligence than the other two. Even so, the Eastern Alliance had always governed itself through a three-way balance of power. So while competition existed beneath the surface, their actual authority was more or less equal.

“In a couple of days, the United Kingdom holds its military and political election. The force responsible for our sector is the most powerful Welsh Party. Even though the main holders of military and political power are still the so-called Kwei Party, I doubt the crown prince of the United Kingdom is stupid enough to keep letting the supporters of his younger brother run things. The people in this batch are real elites, especially the one called Hirakawa... heh. That one is the Welsh Party’s secret weapon.”

He seemed unusually familiar with United Kingdom intelligence, as if he had known all this long ago. But even so, his words failed to draw much reaction from the other two marshals.

“A bunch of special operators, that’s all. Tell me, are you using that ‘Shadow’ fellow again? I’m really curious why you care so much about this group...”

Compared with the others, Jiang Yuanqin was perhaps the least concerned with the Kistan campaign. After all, the Kistan battlefield lay far too distant from the seas, and as a naval marshal, he had no real reason to care.

“Oh? You mean what happened? When I had Shadow investigate that boy named Hirakawa, the Welsh had already issued us a warning. They told me that if we kept probing their special forces, they would immediately carry out a ‘symbolic’ strike against our command system. I thought they were just talking, and then our network collapsed right away. That was the Double Eleven Incident.”

The Double Eleven Incident was a recent hacking intrusion. No data had been stolen or destroyed, but it had still caused a degree of disruption to the Eastern Alliance’s command systems.

“Oh? The United Kingdom cares that much about its special forces?”

Hearing the truth behind the Double Eleven Incident, even Marshal Zhu Dekun could not help feeling a little curious. If his own mobile forces were being investigated, he would certainly be furious. But invading an ally’s network and command system was indeed going too far.

“No. What the Welsh care about, I suspect, is only that one called Hirakawa. And more than that, that boy’s reputation is actually not small. I think you have all heard something about him, at least to some extent: that sharpshooter who held a section of the Euphrates Line nearly two kilometers long, the part most heavily infested by Satan. If I’m not mistaken, the mysterious fellow of Eastern Alliance nationality is none other than Lei Mingchuan.”

As he spoke, a photograph appeared before the three marshals. It showed a person wearing half-body armor, holding aloft a Welsh RP-6 rifle. It was this very weapon, equivalent to the United Kingdom’s SQS series, that had set the current record for the longest confirmed kill.

“Oh? The younger generation surpasses the old after all. I never expected one of our Eastern Alliance’s own to achieve such a thing. Put me through to the director of West Hospital, Lu Yishi!”

“Yes!”

At the marshal’s order, no one below dared delay. The call was immediately connected to Colonel Lu Yishi, the front-line commander of the Kistan campaign.

“Marshal! Colonel Lu Yishi reporting to you!”

On the other end of the line, a sturdy man with four silver stars on his shoulder straps rose from his chair and saluted toward Marshal Zhu Dekun through the phone.

“Colonel Lu Yishi, there is an additional assignment. During this operation, please give extra attention to a young man named Hirakawa. Do your best to make sure nothing happens to him.”

“Yes, sir. But—”

“No why. Execute the order!”

“Yes, sir!”

Before returning to school, this was finally taken care of.