Caught Off Guard

"What’s going on? Where did this lot come from?"

Seeing that the suppression operation, which had nearly been completed, had become bogged down again, Cornelia furrowed her valiant brows.

It seemed this Zero truly was not as easy to handle as she had imagined. He had actually prepared contingencies?

But it did not matter. The difference in quality between their subordinates was an insurmountable gulf.

Yet at that moment, an ambush force she had stationed at a crucial position suddenly lost contact and stopped where it was!

"What happened?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it was a trap. The enemy used a large number of explosives to collapse the ground beneath us. We’re trapped underground and unable to move."

"Damn it, Third Squad, move in to support—"

Boom!

"Ambush! They have an ambush!"

"Ah!"

"Bzzzt—"

Slamming her fist hard against the table before her, Cornelia suddenly found the situation troublesome.

She had assumed they were merely a somewhat interesting resistance force, but she had not expected them to achieve this much!

Damn it!

"Very good. The intelligence was timely. We were able to confirm that some of their units had malfunctioned. Your insider did a fine job."

Lelouch had initially worried that Cornelia had seen through the insider’s identity and had arranged bait.

But after a simple probe, he discovered that it was real!

Since that was the case, he naturally showed no mercy in wiping out the two reinforcement squads, along with the squad that had stepped onto the collapsed ground and become trapped.

With three squads eliminated, even Cornelia would feel the pain!

Meanwhile, Xu Yue, who was staying not far from the three trapped Knightmares, sat atop the ruins and watched the future Black Knights finish off the trapped machines. Hearing the praise over the radio, his expression barely changed.

He had not been at the Governor-General’s Mansion, but creating a little trouble and steering things toward a rescue operation had not been difficult.

Don’t worry. I know this bunch of deadweights can’t take on regular troops head-on yet. I’ll give you some buffs…

In the end, under Xu Yue’s forceful interference, the entire Saitama battlefield underwent a major change from its original course.

Kallen’s Squad, led by Lelouch, dealt Cornelia a severe blow.

However, once her personal guard and Cornelia herself entered the battle, they were still completely driven back. Only through Xu Yue’s intervention did they manage to retreat unscathed.

This undoubtedly dealt Cornelia a resounding blow.

Likewise, after being utterly crushed while leading that rabble at the beginning, Lelouch came to understand the gap in troop quality. He began preparing to focus on cultivating this team with Kallen at its core…

Soon afterward, Xu Yue received word that Zero wanted to see him.

Naturally, Xu Yue had no objection.

What caught him somewhat off guard was that the very first time he met Zero, Lelouch lifted his eyepatch and activated Geass.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you: from this day forward, obey my orders."

This sudden "affection" truly caught Xu Yue off guard. Fortunately, he was used to wearing masks, and Geass would ultimately cause subconscious effects on him. His reaction was still extremely swift.

He immediately went with the flow and gave Lelouch a noble’s salute.

"I am at your service, Your Highness."

Seeing Xu Yue’s obedient demeanor, Lelouch appeared very satisfied. He then asked,

"Did you pull some strings during the battle in the Saitama Slums?"

"Yes, Your Highness. When I saw that the situation was unfavorable to us, I specifically selected several pieces of intelligence I believed would be most useful and reported them."

Xu Yue spoke with a mixture of truth and falsehood.

He guessed Lelouch had used Geass on him the moment they met because he suspected something about the battle in the Saitama Slums. Lelouch’s victory there had gone too smoothly, especially after receiving his "internal intelligence." It had been as though the gods themselves were helping him.

He had led a team where everyone besides Kallen, the ace, had been mere deadweight, yet they had gone head-to-head with regular troops.

"Very good. Keep it up in the future. It seems you are quite skilled at intelligence analysis."

"If I wish to reclaim my title, that is only inevitable."

Xu Yue maintained the same expression.

It even made Lelouch sigh faintly to himself. The man’s older brother had gone to help Nunnally find medicine, while he himself had…

No! That was not how he should think of it. That man had always wanted to seize the succession rights. He had actually done Doctor Xu a favor.

Otherwise, with that man’s scheming, Doctor Xu’s kind-hearted personality would surely have suffered terribly at his hands.

Lelouch comforted himself. Doctor Xu was one of the few people he genuinely acknowledged…

While Xu Yue and Lelouch carried out their "pleasant" secret discussion, the remaining six members of Sun Lin’s Squad, who had received their mission notification, were mostly growing anxious.

They had not possessed Knightmares during this mission, but as ground troops, they had still fulfilled their role as a special assault unit and performed well.

Thus, the mission rewards were quite good. They actually had a chance to learn skills from these people!

As for what skill they would learn, did that even need asking? Naturally, it would be Knightmare piloting!

However…

Even after completing the mission and receiving the discount, because they had not contributed much and had merely followed behind to clear the battlefield and provide support, they still had to pay an additional learning fee.

Before entering the Promotion Mission, they had surely spent every last Reincarnation Point to increase their strength. This immediately crushed them.

The skill was right before them, yet they had no money to learn it!

If they chose not to claim the mission reward directly, it would ultimately only be converted into ordinary rewards, turning into Reincarnation Points and Plot Points during settlement.

The reward was not bad, but compared to learning Knightmare piloting, there was simply no comparison!

Only Sun Lin, whose Sister Complex brother had deep pockets, successfully learned the skill. The others could only stare helplessly.

When Xu Yue’s Wood Clone came out from Lelouch’s side and saw the situation here, he found it rather amusing.

He went over to Kallen and requested instruction in Knightmare piloting as well.

Since Xu Yue had previously "risked" providing information while inside the hostile camp and signed a protection contract, the squad would compensate him in the end so long as he continued providing useful intelligence.

That compensation had automatically been counted toward this mission’s reward.

A little extra had been deducted from everyone else and piled onto Xu Yue’s share. This time, learning the skill was free!

Furthermore, by using these Reincarnators and the predecessors of the Black Knights to guide the entire battlefield victory from behind the scenes—and completely overturning the situation—the Space had separately awarded Xu Yue an additional achievement mission reward: Blackhand Cleans Up the Mess. It had already been included in the settlement.

Although he did not know the exact value of rewards included in the settlement this way, since he had altered the plot, it should be above B-rank but below A-rank!

During the previous assassination, trigger missions had been issued directly to all nearby Reincarnators. But this achievement mission was something only Xu Yue could enjoy alone. The others had merely followed his behind-the-scenes manipulation and completed the normal progression step by step.

That was why Xu Yue could so casually put the issue of obtaining free Knightmare training through the contract out in the open, using that somewhat "conspicuous" minor matter to conceal the major matter from which he had profited enormously.

As for basic Knightmare piloting, Xu Yue himself might not make much use of the skill, but having more skills never hurt. It would also make it easier for him to disguise certain identities in the future.

So he learned it with great enthusiasm.

Moreover, even as a Wood Clone, his physical capabilities far surpassed those of ordinary Reincarnators. Xu Yue directly piloted an RPI-13 Sunderland and quickly completed the basic operational demonstration.

This made everyone except Sun Lin burn with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

The others were somewhat better, but Wu Mo, who had always disliked Xu Yue, nearly had the veins in his eyes burst.

If he had never provoked Xu Yue in the first place, it would not have mattered. But he had kept subconsciously suppressing him, only for Xu Yue to grow stronger the more he was suppressed. Wu Mo had completely run out of room to back down. Other than admitting defeat, he could only grit his teeth and continue down this path to the bitter end.

As for admitting defeat?

Lowering his head to the boss lady was nothing, but why should he lower his head to this guy?

"Hmph. What use is knowing how to pilot a Knightmare if you don’t have one?"

Wu Mo’s mutter immediately drew Sun Lin’s icy gaze. She did not have a Knightmare either!

At once, he became like a silenced rooster and immediately shriveled up.

Yet at that moment, the news broadcast that had been covering their recent victories suddenly cut in with a breaking report.

A group of Britannians had been taken hostage by the Japanese Liberation Front, who demanded that Cornelia release several political prisoners!

Among the hostages were several students from Ashford Academy.

The student council president, Shirley, and the girl at the corner desk who would later develop a nuclear bomb were all among them.

Even Euphemia, who had concealed her identity, was being held there.

An odd expression appeared on Xu Yue’s Wood Clone’s face as well.

Now that they’ve confronted Cornelia head-on and made her fully realize how troublesome this group is, the next step should be building civilian prestige…

"We interrupt once more with an international bulletin. Having fully stabilized its domestic situation, it has begun making moves to expand outward, seemingly preparing to use a war to divert internal tensions…"

Hey, slow down a little. They were already starting to search everywhere for ruins?

Was the newly acquired Geass really that powerful? This was not something that could be quickly settled through brute force alone.

It seemed the Geass Order had already been found, and they had obtained information on the ruins’ locations. In that case, though, the conflict with Holy Brita would erupt much earlier.

The E.U., which was currently similar to the real-world European Union, had not yet completely fallen apart. If their military strength could be considered two against one, they should not be at a disadvantage.

The question was when they would launch a full-scale attack.

And whether the Geass Order had managed to capture V.V…

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First update. There will only be two updates again today, sob sob~ Please spare me.

My workplace scheduled two overlapping events, and they are both out in the countryside more than seventy kilometers away by mountain roads. It has already been confirmed that I will have to work overtime for two days next-next weekend. Whether I have to work overtime this weekend depends on whether I can finish everything during the workweek…