As he watched in horror, the woman, her face a mask of cold fury, ramd the leg bone straight into Jiang Tianming’s mouth.
...
In the front cabin, Mo Si leaned back quietly in his chair.
Jiang Tianming, in the rear cabin, was on the verge of a complete breakdown. There was nothing in front of him, yet his expression was one of pure terror. One mont he was crying, the next he was laughing, then he was begging for it to stop. He bit his own fist while slamming his head against the floor—a whole repertoire of madness.
Qiudao and Changbei watched silently from the side, exchanging ssages with extre caution via their ntal interface.
Changbei: What do you think is going on?
Qiudao: I don’t know, but the Admiral is furious.
Changbei: ...He’s never like this during the truce periods. The Admiral only gets a little short-tempered on the front lines.
Every year when he returned for the truce, Mo Si would beco a different person. He’d transform from a cold and irascible general into the picture of a disciplined, calm, self-possessed, and reliable leader of the Military Departnt.
Qiudao: He’s probably just too disappointed with the current state of things.
Qiudao: Look at these young people. They’re all nobles, and they’ll probably end up working for the Federation soday—
’People like this are going to work within the system?’
’The Federation’s downfall is just a matter of ti.’
Qiudao mused that Mo Si’s sudden move was likely intended to purge the rot from the nobles’ circles.
Changbei: It’s so complicated. Things would be better without an Emperor and nobles.
Qiudao: Take that back!!! Are you crazy? Watch what you say!
Mo Si had just launched a Spiritual Attack on Jiang Tianming. Seeing that his spiritual power was at its breaking point and he was about to collapse, Mo Si turned off the projection screen. "Kick it down, too."
"I’m on it." Changbei was nothing if not efficient. He imdiately kicked the man out.
Still lost in his hallucination, Jiang Tianming was now quite ’lively,’ swinging back and forth, grabbing and biting at anyone he could reach. The others hanging alongside him scrambled desperately to get away.
-
Only three people remained in the front cabin.
Qiudao and Changbei were adjutants who had followed Mo Si for many years.
Curiosity got the better of Qiudao, and he couldn’t help but ask, "Admiral, why did you make such a big production out of this arrest today?" The dress uniforms, the Hovercars, even making everyone wear the Military Departnt’s insignia.
If this was just about so minor nobles bullying their classmates, you could have just sent soldiers to arrest them without alerting anyone.
"It’s part of a plan."
This was a collaboration with soone in the Cabinet. On the surface, it looked like a simple arrest, but the real point was to issue a warning. A warning to the nobles to rein themselves in, and a chance for the Military Departnt to stand up and back the innocent victims.
It would give people a third place to send their complaints.
Mo Si had discussed this plan with his contact in the Cabinet long ago. The goal was to suppress the nobles’ arrogance and force them to recognize the authority of the law. But in the early years, Mo Si’s position in the Military Departnt wasn’t secure, nor was his ally’s in the Cabinet. Two half-asures combined were still not enough to challenge the establishnt.
But now, the timing was perfect. And with... other factors in play, Mo Si no longer held back.
Qiudao knew a little about this plan. "Ah," he said, realization dawning. "In that case, Admiral, that final move against Jiang Tianming... was it because he has the highest status in this group?"
The person with the highest status is the ringleader, and they’re the one you make an example of to intimidate the rest.
"No, it wasn’t."
Mo Si shot Qiudao a glance. "It’s because he crossed ."
Thanks to the Hovercar’s crawling pace, the group hung in the chilly mid-air for nearly an hour and a half before the vehicle finally landed at the Military Departnt.
The mont they landed, the young nobles were given no ti to catch their breath before being shoved directly into interrogation rooms.
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