"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

"Nope."

"No kidding!" Frix growled, fists clenched.

"You could have stopped this with me, Van Cleef! Look at him! How can this cooperation continue? We still have a planet to be recovered, and our original body has been sent to the ward by your instructors! ”

Van Cleef breathed softly, tilted his head and followed Fricks' words to glance at the surveillance footage presented in front of him.

The Iron Blood has no windows on it, including the infirmary. The order was given by Perturabo himself, and Van Cleef did not know why, but still felt comical and absurd by the situation.

Is it true that no one has raised any objections since the patient can only be observed through surveillance? The pharmacists and medics of the Iron Warriors acquiesced in this inconvenience to their work?

"Company Commander Frix." Van Cleef withdrew his gaze and looked at the Iron Warriors' company commander.

He stood straight, completely indifferent to the hostility of the rest of the Iron Warriors, and his expression was light.

"There's one thing I want to correct you about what you just said. There is no way we can stop this. Your primordial body is very stubborn, and I admire stubborn people, so I never try to convince them. ”

"What do you think would have happened if I had walked into the dueling cage with you? Did your protologist listen patiently to our advice? No, I guess he's just yelling at us to get out. ”

"But you can at least convince your instructor!" Frix yelled out of breath.

"Our instructor." Van Cleef emphasized coldly with an accent. "Besides, why do you think I can convince him?"

"Because—"

Frix's face twitched, very noticeably. The infirmary's monitoring room was silent, and the steels silently surrounded the only Nightblade here.

Some of them had obvious indignation, others with ill-intentioned expressions. Only a few people still kept their senses, and although they were dissatisfied, they also knew that it was definitely not a wise decision to do it at this time.

Fricks was one of them, and even though he looked like he was going crazy, Van Cleef knew he was still sane.

Even if it's just a little bit.

Van Cleef didn't blame him for that - seeing his own body being beaten, tortured, and humiliated was unbearable for any legion.

At this point, Van Cleef was grateful for Perturabo's order. If he had ordered all the Iron Warriors to be present, instead of just the high-ranking officers.

Then, the natives of Cordipo, which is located beneath the orbits of the Iron Blood and Nightfall, will probably wake up laughing in their sleep.

"Because of what, Company Commander Fricks?"

"Because, compared to our original body, your instructor is obviously more sensible." Fricks said through gritted teeth. "Even if he's a lunatic who is willing to hold a Primordial accountable for a derelict sergeant."

Van Cleef frowned.

"Dereliction of duty?" His calm voice finally changed slightly.

"Forty-three minutes into that duel, you have plenty of time to investigate the cause of the duel, the death of Sergeant Eltroth. But you simply called him 'dereliction of duty'? ”

"He didn't arrive at the attack site within the allotted time!" Frix replied with a low growl, his voice still high, but he lowered his head and didn't make eye contact with Van Cleef.

"The Emperor is above! What the hell are you talking about?! Who can get to that attack site on time without the cover of a heavy vehicle?! ”

After Van Cleef finished speaking, he pursed his lips and took a deep breath to calm his overly excited emotions. He was silent for a long time before he could say the next few words.

Sergeant Eltros and his team advanced four hundred meters from the ruined position against the barrage of artillery fire from the fortress. These 400 meters took them less than two minutes, but do you know how many lives they paid for it? Your primordial even says Sergeant Eltros has betrayed his trust."

His voice grew deeper and darker, until at last it almost became some kind of low roar that swept through the room—a sound that made Fricks almost identical to the skeleton's voice in the arena.

"Well, then let him lie in the ward! If you want to take care of him, do as you please. The Night's Blade will take over the planet and reclaim it! ”

Van Cleef angrily declared, and left without hesitation. He walked so simply that the Iron Warriors, who had not yet recovered from the rage he radiated, had not even had time to stop him.

Some people subconsciously wanted to chase out, but the two doors that had just closed were opened again at this moment, and a tall, pitch-black shadow stood there, staring inside.

He stood in the hallway, the white light flickering above him. However, in the eyes of the Iron Warriors, there was only darkness behind him.

This unconventional scene made many people subconsciously take a step back, and then the shadow stepped in, relaxed and natural, as if something had never happened.

This unconventional scene made many people subconsciously take a step back, and then the shadow stepped in, relaxed and natural, as if something had never happened.

"Good day, everyone." He greeted hoarsely. "I apologize for what our company commander just said, he was controlled by a moment of anger, which is rare that the Midnight Blade would not do, you can rest assured."

"What are you going to do?" In the black-pressed crowd of steel, an unfriendly voice asked.

Carlil glanced up and didn't say anything, still calm. But, combined with what he had just done, it turned his expression into a very provocative hint at the moment.

The man who spoke fell silent for unknown reasons. All his brothers could see was his trembling lips and the slowly twitching corners of his eyes, and his ugly face.

"I'm coming to your first company commander, Frix the City Breaker, one of the Trident Councils." Carlil said. "I have something I want to talk to him about."

"I am." Fricks stepped out of the crowd, he had forced himself back to his senses.

Steel does not accept rust, and steel does not corrode. He wouldn't allow irrational behavior to happen to him—at least not now, not in the face of this man.

"Hello, Lord Frix." Carlil nodded at him, and opened his mouth with a respectful salute. "Can you get your colleagues to leave for a while? I have some things that I have to talk to you about individually. ”

"And then another duel with one of our company commanders? Do you want to do it again? ”

There was another discordant sound from the crowd, and this time, Carlil didn't look back at the person who spoke. Because Frix had already raised a right hand, it was swift and resolute.

"Shut up." The City Breaker said coldly. "Dantiok, don't say anything out of place at this time."

"But—"

"—all leave." Fricks glared hard at him. "Everyone, all of them go, let me talk to Instructor Carlil alone."

“.”

Silent, the Iron Warriors left silently. At this moment, this completely unnecessary monitoring room has finally been empty for a long time. Calmly and intellectually, Frix wrapped his heart in steel, discarding all distractions and unnecessary preconceived notions in favor of mere reason. Then he spoke.

"What are you looking for me?" The City Breaker asked briefly. "If it's about military cooperation, I'm afraid I can't do anything. Without an order from Perturabo, any unauthorized action would be considered a betrayal of him. ”

"Well, I already know about it." Carlil bowed his head slightly. "Sergeant Eltros made this a complete statement from the first contact with us, and his original plan was to make a frontal feint to match our surprise strategy, but he himself abandoned this plan."

Fricks' throat rolled up and down: "What the hell are you trying to say? ”

"I want to say something very offensive." Carlil laughed slowly, softly, but for some reason it made Fricks feel a little weird in his heart.

"You can just say it." Fricks insisted.

Carlil looked at him for a moment, then finally relented.

"Okay." He spoke softly. "These words have been held in my heart for a while, although it is not at the level of not vomiting and unhappy, but it is not a good thing to hold it all the time."

"And since you're asking for it, I'll say it - I think your original Perturabo is very paranoid and extreme in character. But he's also very sensitive, and he seems to have a self-consistent logic that justifies himself, have you read books on spiritual issues? ”

The expression of the Iron Warrior Company Commander became more ugly than ever, and the steel that wrapped him was easily dismantled. The real sadness is that the person who did this to him happened to have done the same to their original body in the dueling arena not long ago.

Physically did it once.

He cut Perturabo out of the special Terminator armor, and to be fair, the blood shed by the original body after that was not really much, but every Iron Warrior who watched the duel in its entirety felt a shudder from the heart.

"Nope." Frix forced himself to answer the question, his voice becoming very dry, as if he had just swallowed a potent corrosive liquid. "I've never read anything about it."

"I've read it." Carlil said. "Read it on the Imperial Dream."

Frix's eyes widened slowly, and he saw the Nightblades' instructor slowly raise his right hand, and a glittering golden Aquila appeared in the palm of his hand.

"This little thing doesn't prove anything, but if I could, I'd like to ask me to meet your original body in the hospital room. We still have a war to go on, Company Commander Frix. ”

The City Breaker took a deep breath and fell into a dead silence.

There are two more chapters, ten thousand more today.

(End of chapter)