Counterfeit Hero

”Hmph!”

With a cold snort, Brody, his face livid, shredded the newspaper in his hands into pieces, crumpled it up, and hurled it against the luxury car’s lavish television wall.

The paper ball bounced back, rolling to rest beside a pair of shiny leather shoes on the right side of the car.

The owner of the shoes, Hansford, smiled slightly, using the toe of his shoe to kick the paper ball towards the pale, beautiful female secretary on the opposite seat, signaling the bewildered woman to quickly pick it up and throw it away.

The secretary complied. She bent down, picking up the paper ball and scattered pieces on the soft carpet. Because of her posture, her full breasts nearly spilled out of her tight suit’s neckline. Through the gap in her black lace bra, one could even glimpse the pink nipple.

Hansford’s face carried a hint of a teasing smile as he complacently swirled the whiskey and ice in his hand, letting the dark golden liquid envelop the clear ice cubes, creating a crisp clink against the glass.

”No need to get angry....” Hansford took a sip of his drink, his gaze drifting away from the woman’s pale chest to Brody. He said blandly, ”Flavio’s mouth is well-known. Why bother arguing with him? Besides, Jiepeng people running the newspapers are just exaggerating to stir up fuss. As long as we haven’t breached the Newton Jump Point, they’ll continue to agitate.”

Brody looked out the car window, his face as calm as water, his eyes half-closed, gray eyes like a wolf on the snowy plains.

The black luxury bulletproof flying car, under the escort of dozens of armed Mecha and armored vehicles, was speeding through the Central District of the Leray Capital City, Ludelitte. Towering buildings seemed to race backward past the car window, while wide streets had been cordoned off, with a policeman and two armed soldiers stationed every few meters. Other flying cars on the road had been ordered off the streets.

The crowds thronging either side of the streets, the police maintaining order, and the silent soldiers were like a frozen, soundless painting. Faces of apathy, anger, disdain swept past the car window one after another.

The convoy entered a wooded boulevard in the district. These forests, both ten kilometers long and wide, spread across entire Ludelit. It was already late autumn, the forest floor covered with fallen leaves, and countless tree trunks flickered past, making one dizzy.

Brody picked up the drink on the armrest and drained it in one go, then turned his head to stare at Hansford, hoarsely roaring, ”When will the Newton Jump Point finally be taken?!”

Hansford frowned slightly, a bit irritated by Brody’s discourteous tone. However, he wasn’t ready to fall out with Brody at this moment. He understood the current situation well. From this Flavio returning to the Atlantis Star Domain causing such widespread jubilations among the Leray Central Star Domain populace for various reasons, it was clear Brody was losing his grip on Leray.

Hansford didn’t speak, simply continued sipping his drink leisurely.

This silent contempt from Hansford caused Brody’s forehead veins to bulge, yet he continued to restrain himself forcibly.

The two men silently confronted each other in the quiet car. Only the pale-faced female secretary sitting to the side, stared stonily at the fleeting forest outside the window, wishing she could open the door and jump out.

In this world, there are no eternal enemies, nor eternal friends. Be it Brody or Hansford, they were all deeply shrewd individuals. When they first collaborated, they were on guard against each other. During the coup, they were grasshoppers on the same rope - one’s glory was the glory of all, one’s loss was the loss of all. But now, a subtle change had occurred between them.

Hansford came from a military background and was already the commander of the Free Star System Military District before the coup. If Hamilton hadn’t suddenly investigated the massive bribes he accepted from foreign arms dealers years ago and happened to let him know, he wouldn’t have participated in this coup at all.

However, Hansford’s character never regretted. He always believed that once something was done, he would not hesitate to follow through. Being indecisive and worried would never lead to great accomplishments. Therefore, after quickly reaching an understanding with Brody, he leveraged the anti-war demonstrations’ momentum to swiftly launch a coup, firmly controlling all military forces, including those in the Leray Central Star System.

This was a dance on the edge of a cliff, but... Hansford never considered the petite Progressive Society chairman before him as a dance partner. If necessary, he wouldn’t hesitate to push Brody off the cliff!

Brody’s ambition was too great. For a smart person, appropriate ambition makes a good partner. If a person is both foolish and uncontrolled in their ambition, only an idiot would collaborate with him unreservedly! Hansford didn’t want to be this idiot. The first time when the coup success was celebrated, he realized that Brody didn’t understand politics at all.

Compared with a mature politician like Hamilton, Brody was just an ambitious madman with an incomplete mindset. He governed with harsh suppression on one hand, while narcissistically attempting to fashion himself as the greatest President of Leray. The deeds he planned to engrave on his monument were leading Leray through this war to become a major power in the Western Alliance.

Even without Flavio lambasting him in that newspaper, he would still fervently wish to conquer the Atlantis Star Domain. For him, the current Leray was too incomplete.

Hansford glanced at Brody, then lowered his gaze back to his drink. He felt immense distaste for this gray-eyed idiot. What annoyed him most was that this fool, following someone’s advice, had enabled Mihailovich to restrain him!

No one understood Mihailovich better than Hansford. He would never believe Mihailovich would yield to and serve Brody even to his death.

But Brody believed it. Now, with Mihailovich forcibly appointed as Chief of Staff of the Military, signs of division appeared within the military. Hansford admitted he lost this round, but Brody wouldn’t realize, he hadn’t won either!

The day Mihailovich walked out of prison, Hansford had already reached a cooperative agreement with several political parties at his villa in the Free Star System.

Leray, in the end, belonged to the Leray people. In this war, what Leray should do was stay out of the way! Hansford dared to bet that even with military power in Mihailovich’s hands, he still wouldn’t heed this lunatic’s order to mobilize Leray Fleet fully to attack the Newton Jump Point.

Let Brody continue dreaming his daydream! Hansford’s leisurely gaze rested on the secretary’s prominent chest, pondering whether this woman had already been taken by Brody.

The convoy sped silently, arriving shortly at the destination of this journey — the Joint Military Base in the western suburb of Capital Lutered City.

Ignoring Brody, Hansford was about to set down his glass and disembark when suddenly, the secret communicator in Brody’s car rang. ”Beep Beep Beep!” The urgent electronic sound shattered the cabin’s silence.

With a gloomy glance at Hansford, Brody opened the communicator, and soon, his face resembling perpetual ice revealed a confused expression. His expression slowly changed, finally settling into a look of satisfied and sinister glee.

Hansford suddenly had a bad premonition. He stared at Brody, his knuckles on the glass he was holding turned white from gripping too tightly.

Brody put down the communicator, stretched languidly.

”I won’t tell you the specifics, but you’ll find out soon enough. I can only say that the issue of attacking the Newton Jump Point no longer requires our debate. Moreover, I think it necessary to remind you to hasten straightening out the military. I don’t want, when our Allied Fleet arrives, to see merely a rabble.”

Hansford got out of the car, opened the communicator, and connected to the Military Department. Soon, his face turned deathly pale.

Behind him, the black luxury flying car was tightly sealed. Under the guard of dozens of President Guard soldiers, the flying car shook violently, with sounds of heavy breathing and moans emanating from within.

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