Chapter 425.1: Pangolin's Super Credit

From the moment she boarded the airship, Teresa's palms were sweating. She tried to make herself less noticeable.

However, despite her efforts to appear smaller, his gaze still fell on her.

"Teresa."

When her name was called, Teresa instinctively straightened her back, trying to squeeze a composed smile on her face. However, her stutter betrayed her feigned composure.

"Sir... Sir Administrator, is something the matter?"

"It's been two weeks. I'd like to hear your thoughts about the work."

Watching the queen struggling to speak, Chu Guang patiently continued, "Don't worry, it's okay if you don't have any opinions, just simply go over what you do every day."

"Well, in the morning I start by..."

"Regarding work."

Her panicked response was interrupted and Teresa blushed and quickly corrected herself. "Yes! Mr. Ma assigned me to assist the warehouse keeper of Warehouse No.3. I have to check the inventory books, mainly to verify that the stock in and out matches..."

Although she was initially unfamiliar with the tasks, she quickly became adept at it. She detailed, succinctly but not excessively, the problems she encountered at work, the friends she made, and some ideas for improvement.

Chu Guang shot her a look of approval.

It seemed Ma Ban trained her well. Managing the warehouse was one of the most challenging places, as the position required interaction with nearly all frontline positions.

From a broom to a bag of bricks and a truckload of cement, managing those minute details would lay the foundation for managing larger organizations later.

Of course, what he looked forward to most was her interaction with the masses during her labor. As he had said before, the knowledge and experience would be useful sooner or later.

Chu Guang then looked at Prince Somer. "You should have received the outcome you expected. After the cleanup starts, I will provide a place of rest for you and your subordinates. If you're interested, you can participate in the work at the refugee camps. If not, there's no pressure."

Somer immediately responded respectfully, "Thank you for giving me this opportunity, I am willing to do it. I want to understand how you rebuild homes."

Whether it was to understand the New Alliance better or to curry favor, he felt it necessary to agree. Watching the young prince, Chu Guang nodded to himself.

Good, the young man has potential.

In fact, since the New Alliance had accepted the Honey Badger Kingdom’s royal family as refugees, they were technically guest. He should provide them with basic living supplies.

However... Not using them as free labor was too wasteful.

Ma Ban always complained to him about the difficulty of recruiting culturally literate workers for the refugee camps. Now, he had a ready-made candidate. Besides, it was also a good training opportunity for the young man.

"Teresa, you take him with you," Chu Guang looked at her and spoke suddenly.

"Yes, sir."

Teresa obediently bowed her head, but Somer standing beside her furrowed his brow slightly. "Sir, I would like to know under what status the Queen of the Falcon Kingdom is staying here."

"I am his captive..." Teresa started to speak instinctively but was interrupted.

"She is a person liberated by the New Alliance." Chu Guang revealed.

Hearing his voice, expressions of surprise appeared on their faces. Including Somer, who looked at Chu Guang in astonishment. He instinctively asked, "Liberated as in..."

"Just as it sounds, in the eyes of the New Alliance, whether it's the residents of Oasis No.3 or those of Oasis No.2... All are victims of this chaos." Chu Guang glanced out the floor-to-ceiling window, the yellow sand floating on the skyline like raging flames. "We will liberate them."

...

Deep in the River Valley Province, the sweeping sands across the horizon rolled like lava from hell, blocking all light.

McClennan couldn't remember how many times he had encountered the ghastly weather. He only knew his unlucky days were finally coming to an end.

It was the western frontier of Oasis No.9, and the headquarters of the Army's frontline command just ahead. He and his subordinates were just a step away...

"Stop right there!" A commanding voice came from afar. A soldier holding a rifle faced the sandstorm as he walked out of the camp’s gate and straight into the group.

"Idiot, put your gun down! Open your eyes and look clearly at who I am!” Watching the bewildered guard, McClennan cursed as he pushed away the rifle and grabbed the guard’s collar. "Call Griffin out here right now!”

"I'm right here." A voice came from nearby.

McClennan let go of the guard’s collar, squinting at the man standing at the camp gate.

Clad in black boots and a navy blue military coat, along with the three-star epaulet, the person who spoke was none other than General Griffin, the Army's commander in the River Valley Province.

That sagging cheekbone and hawkish nose made him look less like a veteran of the battlefield and more like a cunning fox.

McClennan didn't like that face. Especially since that motherfucker sent him...

"You still have the nerve to come back?" Griffin looked surprised at the disheveled man before him, his raised eyebrows showing either astonishment or scorn.

Before McClennan could say anything, Griffin snapped, "To lose the Heart of Steel to a bunch of barbarians... A bunch of savages from the woods, I thought you'd be ashamed enough to kill yourself."

A flash of anger passed through McClennan’s eyes, but he still bit his tongue and spoke calmly, "They were not just any random wastelanders! We encountered reinforcements from the Enterprise! I know what you're going to say, but that's the truth. It wasn't just a single wave of reinforcement from the Enterprise, but a second one! Don't think you can escape responsibility, sending me to the south of the River Valley was your order!"

"Yes, it was my order. I sent you to intercept that wounded employee, not to clash head-on with forces of the Enterprise. Now great, the cowards on the East Coast have been provoked. I've heard from informants in Bugra Free State that they've built an air base on the southern banks of Heavenly Water Tributary, and planes land there every few days."

Griffin glared at McClennan, his eyes narrowed into slits, his nose almost poking into the general’s. "... And I've spent two nights thinking... Even if you did encounter reinforcements of the Enterprise, how did you let them take down our airship, especially one with a directional shield?"

McClennan’s expression froze, but he wasn't crushed by Griffin’s aura. His eyes also narrowed and he retorted without politeness, "Stop pushing the blame to me. We've already taken down the Pioneer. Do we have even a shred of peaceful coexistence with the Enterprise? Save it, the war has already started! My strategy in the River Valley Province has nothing to do with it, if anything, it's your superfluous orders!"

"You still haven't answered me! How did you lose that airship?!”

"I’ll naturally report it to the Air Force command. I have no obligation to submit a combat report to someone from the ground forces."

The two argued heatedly, although only one person was flushed with anger.

Those following General McClennan, be it his attendants or the other military officials all stood awkwardly at the side. And a few military officers behind General Griffin were also silent, as if they had heard nothing.

"... Enough, stop blaming me, what about Oasis No.9? Haven't you taken it down yet?" Unable to withstand the interrogation, McClennan forcibly changed the subject, trying to justify his own failure with the other's incompetence.

However, Griffin just smiled lightly, mocking him with a sarcastic voice, "If you had moved your airship as I said, we'd already be attending a victory parade in the Lion Kingdom.”

Before McClennan could react, Griffin decided to leave a little dignity for this poor clown and changed the topic. "The frontline situation here is tense, our military presence in the River Valley Province is a bit weak, giving not much support to the Falcon Kingdom. Even though our Reserve Army is pretty strong, but we need to station them in Oasis No.3”

McClennan scoffed, "We don't need those scum from Oasis No.3, I suggest we lock them up and deal with them, then migrate more obedient slaves from the west to fill the manpower gap. This way we can muster more troops to take down Oasis No.9!"

"The ground troops doesn't need your command. Just go back to commanding airships." Griffin looked at him sarcastically and sneered, "We really don't need those scum, but we need the food they produce. With food, we can support more troops, and more support can come from the western desert.”

Clearing them out?

It wasn’t that easy.

There was no need to mention a million people. Even if it were a million pigs, it would take them a year to slaughter them all!

As for migrating some slaves from the west... Of course, it was feasible, but large-scale population migration was time-consuming. Although both McClennan and Griffin were activists lobbying for war, there were internal disagreements within the Army's hawkish faction about how to deal with the population in the occupied areas.

Some supported killing those who resist and enslaving those who didn’t. Others supported using local forces for indirect control, and setting up vassal states.

Under the same educational conditions, a slave maintaining the minimum standard of living typically generated value only 0.1 to 0.3 times that of a free person, often requiring a dozen people to support a member of the forces.

But having a vassal was different.

It maximized exploitation and could guarantee a productivity of over 0.5 times.

That was not based on scientific evidence but on the Army's practical experience in various occupied areas. Griffin genuinely despised those aristocratic factions that supported the slavery system.

His territory implemented a mix of employment and slavery systems. Those poor people who earned wages worked much harder than the servants in his manor.

But... He had the authority to command the troops, and he could kill any junior officers who refused to follow his order. However, he couldn’t deal with the stupid fool who followed his order and lost the airship.

And as McClennan said, as the issuer of the commands, the Marshal or the military court would also hold him accountable.

The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

"Tomorrow I'll arrange a car for you. You and your subordinates can stay in Oasis No.2 for now."

Oasis No. 2 was the territory of the Lion Kingdom, also the Army's backyard in the River Valley Province.

There, they had endless wine and fruits, and servants offered by the Lion Kingdom’s royal family.

Griffin didn't want to see this guy anymore. All he wanted was for McClennan to leave his sight.

However, what he didn't expect was that the man who had fled back with his tail between his legs didn't agree. "This war isn't over yet, don't think about driving me away." Staring unblinkingly at Griffin, McClennan growled, "Don't think about driving me away, I'm not going anywhere.

Once sent to the rear, he would no longer have a chance to rectify his mistakes. All he would be able to do was to wait for the Internal Affairs Department to slap a transfer order on his face.

Moreover, he had sworn he would personally reclaim the battlefield.

He would use the blood of all the wastelanders of the River Valley Province to comfort the souls of the fallen soldiers.