Earth, Rick finishes his job with Carmen and comes to Carmen's house.

Because of this incident, Rick is currently suspended for investigation. And Carl was also intrigued by John J. The A. Wharton was destroyed, and the fleet needed time to arrange warships for itself, so he simply gave himself a vacation.

After entering the door, Carmen asks Rick, "Have you known Alan for a long time?" ”

"Yes, we've known each other for almost fifteen years." Rick pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge and replied.

"No wonder, I said how did he know that you liked me, and few people seemed to know about it." Carmen glanced at Rick.

"Ahem...... Ahem...... "Rick, who was drinking water, choked on Carmen's words, and patted his chest vigorously to try to make himself comfortable.

"Huh...... What are you nervous about, are you okay? Carmen, amused by Rick's funny appearance of choking on water, walked up to Rick and patted him on the back and asked.

After seeing Rick wave his hand to signal that he was okay, Carmen continued: "Actually, I have always had a doubt, he is a major general of the Earth Defense Command, he should not have such a great right to take Carl. ”

"Earth Defense Command?" Rick, who was relieved, heard Carmen mention Ye Tian's identity, and looked at her suspiciously.

"yes, you and he are in the same department, don't you know?" Carmen saw Rick looking at her suspiciously.

"He is not from our headquarters, and I know all the people above the general level in the headquarters." Rick replied in the affirmative.

"What's going on, but the unit on his resume is the Earth Defense Command, unless the Federation has a second Earth Defense Command."

Hearing this, Rick's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of something.

"Did you think of something?" Carmen asked, seeing Rick's eyes.

"Do you remember the time I drove the Marauder to the OM-1 Zerg planet to save you?" Rick asked rhetorically.

"I remember, but does Eren have anything to do with this?"

"That was the first time I piloted the Marauders, and it was because of that record that I became the commander of the Marauder unit."

"You're saying that Alan was the last Marauder Force Commander."

"No, before I took over as Marauders, there was no Marauder force in the Federation, not even outside the establishment, and I was the first Marauder Force Commander, and Allen told me this, because the Marauder Mecha was delivered to me by him."

"You're saying he's in the Sanctuary. Carmen listened to Rick's words and guessed too.

"Yes."

"Then he has the ability to take Carl, and it makes sense." Carmen touched her chin and pondered for a while, then continued, "He said you saved them and owed you a life, and you said he saved you before, what's the matter?" ”

Rick looked at Carmen and muttered for a while, and said, "Actually, that was fifteen years ago, when I joined the mobile unit because you joined the army. Later, my parents were in the hands of the Zerg, and I participated in the landing battle on the big K star......"

Seeing that Rick mentioned that his parents were a little sad, Carmen stepped forward and put his arms around his shoulders from the side, and said mischievously, "You mean, that oolong death?" ”

"Yes, if he hadn't saved me, maybe it wouldn't have been an oolong incident. Since then, I've been wanting to thank him in person, but I haven't heard from him. Later, Floss found Alan, who was training recruits at the Mars base, and we agreed to meet Alan together after the war, and if he agreed, we would ask him to be our witness, but Floss ......"

Rick cleaned up his mood and continued: "As soon as the war was over, I went to the Martian base to look for him, I told him about Fromsh, and he didn't say a word at the time, took me to a bar, put a glass of wine in front of me and said, 'If you drink too much, it's good.'" I was so drunk that night that I didn't even know how to get back to the base. Yes, and Henry and Kate, we were fooling around together a lot, and it was a happy time. ”

Rick paused to take a sip of water: "Later, because of the war, Henry and Kate were transferred to the front line, and the two of us were left drinking. He doesn't talk much, but he's a good person to talk to, and he can always say it. But five years ago, he disappeared inexplicably, and at that time, I, Henry, Kate, and some of the soldiers he had trained were frantically looking for him. ”

Speaking of this, Rick's eyes showed that he had been fanatical: "You can't imagine how charismatic he is, a whole thousand young officers are crazy because of his disappearance, many of them are lieutenant-level officers, these are the potential of the Federation." Once I went to Kate for a drink and asked him if he was making a bit of a fuss by using so many people to find Alan, and he was drinking too much at the time and said casually, not even half of it, and then I asked him why so many people were looking for him when Eren disappeared, Kate looked at me and smiled and said that because they had a common faith. I realized at the time that Alan was not simple, he was only a lieutenant colonel at that time, and there were tens of thousands of officers with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Federation, who could have such appeal as him. It was only after I talked to Henry and Kate that I found out what their beliefs were, and you don't know how much I wanted to be part of their community, the desire to share a common faith and not be alone. ”

There was a faint sense of loss in Rick's eyes: "Two months after he disappeared, the young officers who were crazy about his disappearance suddenly quieted down, I went to Kate to ask him if Alan had found it, hoping that he could help me tell Alan that I wanted to join them, but he told me at the time that he didn't know where he was, and asked me not to look for him, saying that he would show up and ask in person when he appeared." Later, I asked Henry, and the same answer was given. ”

Carmen, who had been hugging Carmen, was also infected by Rick's fluctuating emotions, tilted his head on Rick's shoulder, and asked softly, "What happened later?" ”

Rick, who stopped, leaned his head on Carmen's hair and said, "Until four years ago, I was sentenced to be hanged because of the loss of Roku Mountain, and because he recommended me to be the commander of the Marauder Force, which is equivalent to saving me in disguise." I didn't expect to meet again after more than a year. When I met him in the Sanctuary that day, we talked for a long time, and I begged him to let me join their organization, but he said that they were just a group of comrades fighting against the Zerg. I told him that I was a member of an organization that shared the same beliefs and goals as they did, but he neither refused nor agreed, but just said something inexplicable......"

"What?"

"'Your fate is sealed, and as long as you hold on to your beliefs, we are comrades.' I still don't understand what he means. ”

"Perhaps, he has already approved of you?"

"No, he didn't approve of it, because the way he looked at me was full of embarrassment and confusion. I knew he wanted to accept me, but I don't know why he didn't accept me in the end. ”

"As he said, as long as you still hold on to your beliefs, you are comrades-in-arms. Maybe he's accepted you, but with a missing literal approval, isn't he? Seeing that Rick was sad about this, Carmen was relieved.

"Whew...... Perhaps......" Rick said with a sigh of relief.

Three days later, a base on Mars.

"General, you just woke up, do you want to wait until you recover for a while?" The blonde beauty Alice caught up with Ye Tian in a hospital gown and said.

"I'm fine, I'm almost rusty after lying all day, what about Henry, where did you put him." Ye Tian didn't stop

Keep walking.

"In the Block B quarters, General, General Ross requests a call." Answering Ye Tian, Alice saw a message pop up on the device in her hand.

Ye Tian stopped, looked at Alice standing beside him and said, "Arrange the nearest conference room for me." ”

"Yes, General, please come with me." After speaking, Alice led Ye Tian to a small meeting quickly.

I saw her turn on the display screen on the wall of the conference room, and after clicking on the tablet in her hand a few times, she said to Ye Tian: "General, the link has been established." ”

"Well, you go and get Henry for me." Ye Tian nodded to Alice and said.

"Yes, General." After speaking, he left the conference room.

Ye Tian waited in the conference room for a while, the display screen on the wall was originally dark, and the gray-haired General Ross appeared inside, still holding the ceramic cup that had never been replaced, Ye Tian also wondered how his cup was so durable.

"Sir......" Ye Tian saluted.

"Alan, there was something just now, and I was delayed for a while. This mission was well accomplished, I heard that you fainted, it's okay. General Ross waved his hand, and after explaining the reason for his tardiness, he asked with concern.

"It's fine, it's just exhaustion." Ye Tian replied.

"Young people should pay attention to their bodies, otherwise everything will come out when they are old." General Ross said.

"I'll take note, General."

"Well, you've done a thrilling job this time. We've decided to create a Martian Defense Force, with you as the commander, directly under the Sanctuary. It is claimed that the number is the Mars defense force of the Earth Defense Command, with five starship units and ten ground mobile units. The future of Mars will be eventful and a great opportunity for you to make a difference, so don't let our expectations of you turn into disappointment. General Ross said meaningfully to Ye Tian.

"Yes, General."

"It's up to you to choose the personnel, and the authority to serve is also given to you, and I'll send it to Alice later. And the armor that Professor Chris asked you to help detect, the data has come out, and I plan to equip your troops first. Several of us also agreed that there is a new type of equipment to equip your troops first, which can be regarded as a great convenience for you, and it is up to you whether you succeed or not. After speaking, he cast Ye Tian with a look you know, and turned off the communication.

It made Ye Tian inexplicable, but Ye Tian still tasted it the other way, it seems that these old guys still know about their small actions in private, but they didn't make trouble with this, it seems that they acquiesced.