"Sit down, Master Chief, we still have a lot to talk about!" As soon as he entered, Admiral Hood stopped the Master Chief from standing aside, and he struck directly like an elder, pressing the Master Chief who was half a head taller than him down on the chair opposite his desk.

When he had done this, he took off his military hat, revealing his gray hair, and walked to the wine cabinet to take out a bottle of his treasures. He then poured two glasses of wine and walked back and handed one of them to the Master Chief. It was also the first time that the Master Chief was called into the office by the fleet commander for a private chat, and he was not sure whether he should drink it or not.

In order to "protect" or assert its dominance over the Spartan soldiers, the ONI artificially limited the Spartan soldiers' access to the command of other departments for a long time, and even legendary soldiers such as Master Chief usually only met with high-ranking generals at the ceremony.

In addition to this, the Spartan warriors also had strict dietary standards to ensure that they were in the best physical condition. And naturally there won't be any alcoholic beverages on that list. Of course, that's not to say that Master Chief has never drank.

In fact, as early as his teenage years, the Spartan warriors who were still in their cadet period at the same time as him often stole military supplies from other nearby military camps during field training. The main thing is food to compensate for their large stomach characteristic of puberty.

There were naturally some alcoholic beverages in those military supplies, and the master chief at that time was as curious as all the cadets of the same age, so he tasted them early and agreed not to tell the instructor. So the question for a Spartan warrior like Master Chief is whether he should drink alcohol, not whether he can drink it.

But, like all teenagers, they eventually drank too much during training due to their lack of willpower, and their little secret was discovered by strict instructors and military doctors, after alcohol ingestion was detected. For violating discipline, he was punished along with his companions.

For several years after that, neither the Master Chief nor his companions had ever tasted alcohol. It wasn't until the outbreak of the war with the Covenant and the frequent battles of the Spartan warriors that some of them regained their addiction to alcohol, but the Master Chief, who was strict with himself, was not among them.

For these reasons, Master Chief was struggling with whether or not to drink this little glass of wine. Admiral Hood on the other side had never been so strict with the Master Chief. So he naturally drank his cup first without any pressure, and opened the conversation when he poured the wine again.

"I'll pour that glass of wine down, Master Chief." Because I'm going to ask you some questions soon, and none of them are easy questions! Admiral Hood said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Ask, sir, I'll do my best to answer." When the Master Chief saw him say this, he took a small sip of the wine in his hand, ready to hear what Admiral Hood had to say. Normally, Spartan II fighters like him were not under the direct command of the UNSC fleet command.

Only in an emergency situation. When he had no other orders at his disposal, he needed to care about the orders of a high-ranking general like Admiral Hood. At other times, ONI even restricts their private communication with senior generals in discipline.

"You and Cortana have met the men of the Plane Expedition and their leaders. Isn't that right? "Admiral Hood's first question was more troublesome, because the Master Chief didn't know if there were any traps in it. After all, this kind of contact and even cooperation with unfamiliar forces can be big or small, and if you insist on sticking to the article, the non-commissioned officer chief did not act in full accordance with military discipline at that time.

"Yes, I did meet their leaders. We couldn't say a few words, though......" replied the Master Chief cautiously, taking another sip of the wine in his hand.

: "In general. How are they? In your own opinion, can they be our allies? Admiral Hood would continue to ask, but his question almost caused Master Chief to squirt out the little wine he had just drunk.

Of course, the master chief thought about this problem, but according to the command system of the UNSC, such a matter at the level of strategic decision-making has nothing to do with him. Even if you don't consider that your level is not good enough to make such a strategic decision, it is out of suspicion. Nor should he have expressed too much opinion on the issue.

"It's hard to say, sir. I've met their leader, and their leader has offered to help us fight the Covenant, but I've always felt like they've asked us for something, and we're not sure what his ultimate goal is......" Master Chief carefully chose his words. Keep your stance as safe as possible. However, Admiral Hood continued to ask questions, as if he did not see his evasive gesture.

"That's right, Cortana mentioned earlier, they don't seem to be welcomed by Precursor security. That's why we need our help to explore the Precursor ruins. What do they say? The Ring Belt is just one of the many Precursor relics! I don't know how you interpret it, but it sounds to me that means they have plans to explore other ruins. Admiral Hood added a heavier tone to the latter sentence, emphasizing this important newfound message.

When the Master Chief heard this, he also roughly understood what Admiral Hood meant, he wanted to bypass the normal UNSC strategic command and decision-making chain and make a personal strategic decision, that is, to carry out comprehensive military cooperation with the space-time expedition of unknown origin!

The method he wanted to adopt was also very simple, it was nothing more than taking the special needs of the expedition as an opportunity, and on the condition of providing personnel to help the expedition team explore the Precursor ruins, he would find a possible channel to cooperate with the space-time expedition and obtain direct military assistance from the other party.

It is no wonder that the new Admiral Hood will make all sorts of hints in such a mysterious way, because this plan has absolutely not been agreed to by the other top management of the UNSC. Such a covert statement was enough to remove the newly appointed Admiral Hood from power.

"Sir, the risks involved ......! The Master Chief immediately tried to persuade Admiral Hood to give up this crazy idea, although he was not familiar with Admiral Hood at all, but the other party was his nominal commander after all, and it was a great taboo to have this kind of discussion in private, if it was eavesdropped, it would make both of them immediately removed from their posts and investigated.

"Risk? What are the risks? We are already on the verge of extinction, Master Chief! There's nothing more dangerous now than being tied back! Admiral Hood didn't make a fuss, called up an up-to-date hologram of the battle situation, and leaned back at his desk to tell the Master Chief the latest battle situation.

The defeat of the Reach Star is the latest defeat of the UNSC and is marked on the map with a red icon. But on this hologram, Zhiyuan is just one of thousands of red dots, each representing a lost planetary system.

The combination of these red icons is like a large net, covering the small half of the second spiral arm of the galaxy, the earth has been semi-surrounded by such a large net, although the remnants of the UNSC fleet are trying to pull the Covenant's encirclement fleet in other directions, but anyone with normal intelligence can see that it is only a matter of time before the earth is discovered.

"If we're lucky, we'll have two to three months to prepare. If not, the Covenant's fleet could be outside the solar system's defenses next week! Our main fleet has already been destroyed on Zhiyuan, and the remaining fleet is not capable of fighting against an invasion fleet of the same size! In other words, when the war horn of the solar system defense line is sounded, the end of our race will come! "Admiral Hood was like a complete defeatist, showing the harsh reality to the Master Chief.

"Sir! The non-commissioned officer wanted to say something to refute this view, but when it came to his lips, he found that he could not give any "bold words", such a bad battle situation was beyond his personal ability, no matter how brave and good he was personally, it was impossible to turn the tide of the battle in such a situation.

"Yes, I know what you mean, we haven't lost this war yet. But we need a possible aid to hope for survival, I don't care what the space-time expedition wants, as long as it can help us keep the Earth, then there is nothing that cannot be discussed. We cannot continue to wait for politicians to talk about it at this existential juncture, and action is the only way for us to survive. ”

As soon as Admiral Hood said this, the Master Chief fell into a mixture of admiration and regret. He admired Admiral Hood's courage to stand up for responsibility and future infamy at a critical juncture, and he completely agreed with the other party's point of view.

According to the usual procedure, it will take at least a few months of investigation, discussion, and tearing up before the UNSC can make contact with the space-time expedition. At that time, it is estimated that the earth will have been burned by the Star Alliance fleet! If you want to save the planet, you have to reach out now and try to cooperate with the expedition.

But the Master Chief also knew that Admiral Hood today made these words and made this strategic decision, regardless of the reason for it. In the future, he will be treated as a traitor by the UNSC and will most likely be court-martialed. I'm afraid it will be the same fate if I get involved.

"Even if cooperation is possible, how can we get in touch with them again?" They had mentioned blowing up the belt before we left it, and by this point they would have already done it and disappeared, only to reappear when they wanted to. Master Chief said with a frown.

"I know, that's why I'm going to send you with a squad of Spartan warriors to find them and negotiate with each other. You've said they're interested in recruiting Spartan warriors, so all they need to do is get them to find you! To the surprise of the Master Chief, Admiral Hood smiled when he heard his answer and gave this plan. (To be continued......)

PS: First of all, thank you for the reward of "valky, Tianxin ruthless", after the first chapter was updated last night, the code word status suddenly declined, so this chapter dragged on to today.

I'll try again tonight, but I can't guarantee a double shift