“Impossible, how could we be commanded by the Qilang people?” an officer protested.

“It’s already this time, do you still want to pick?”

Hallilali’s voice suddenly became very cold, and Edward immediately felt a strong sense of solemnity, which made him subconsciously alert.

The officers were so frightened that they took two steps back with fear on their faces.

Obviously, at the critical moment, Hallilali would not allow other people’s wrong ideas to ruin the overall situation.

The brilliance of her idealism is not used to condone mistakes.

However, there is definitely no way to solve the problem if this continues. The most important thing at the moment is that the commander’s position is indeed vacant, and it requires someone who can convince the federal people to sit in this position.

If a Qilang person were really allowed to be the commander of the front-line base…not to mention whether the federal soldiers would be willing, even if they reluctantly accepted it, the efficiency would probably be much lower than before.

So Edward came up with a compromise:

“I’m going to call my father. The Federation’s airship has not yet set off, so let him take command.”

When the word “father” was mentioned, everyone present fell silent.

Obviously, no one had any objection to Laplace von Valantia taking command personally.

“Is this okay?” Hallilali turned to look at Edward, a little worried.

“No problem,” Edward nodded, “He is the only one who can replace Hermes, and…”

“…He loved Hermes very much.”

……

Interlude) Odin (Part 4) -4k chapter-

“[Inverted Sword] has been calibrated and is performing positioning calculations…”

“Senior Hassanka, can you confirm the target characteristics for us again?”

“send it.”

“…”

In the dark night, Hasanka Hafurgaard stood on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the Kuroshio land.

This was an action he had repeated countless times, gazing from above at the eroded land beyond recognition, and listening to every roar of the twisted life on it.

[Creation] If not controlled, distorted creations will surely proliferate.

This is true of any level of creation, let alone the creation of life.

A tiny bit of authority from God ultimately caused irreparable consequences to the world.

However, there is still hope.

Once the [Inverted Sword] in the sky locks onto Coles’ position, everything will come to an end.

Thinking of this, the conversation in the flower pavilion floated past Hassanka’s ears:

“Your score is broken, Hassanka, and that means you will fall.”

Hassanka knew that if anything could cause his death, it must be that blood relative.

The sword of the Lord of the Black Tide could very well kill Hassanka.

But now that we are here, seeking an ending is the only way to feel at ease.

The continuation of civilization is the hymn of Hafgard.

“Calibration completed.”

Hassanka said calmly, transforming the data into a factor energy wave and sending it to the nearest base station.

The base station will convert the information and send it toward the sky, directly reaching the satellite in low-Earth orbit.

With the help of Hafgard, the satellite has acquired the positioning function. It only needs a few more guarding steps, and its space-based weapon system will also be completed.

The Qilang people, inspired by the daughter of the Mother Goddess, built the sword hanging above the statue’s head.

And Hafgard is the strong shield that defends against the statue from the front.

“…”

“… Location information… Confirming! We found it! We found the Lord of the Black Tide!”

The observer’s joyful voice came from the radio channel. He was very happy. It was the war cry of a creature that was about to seize a chance of survival when it discovered its prey.

But for Hassanka, this meant another round of fratricide.

He didn’t say anything, but drew out the black knife and tore open the crack:

“Hali Lali, let’s begin.”

……

Edward sat in the small conference room, staring at the table in front of him without saying a word.

Hallilali was sitting next to him, her expression calm but slightly uneasy.

The two of them didn’t say a word, just waited in silence.

After a long time, the door was pushed open, and an old man walked in and lay down on the sofa opposite Edward.

He glanced at Edward, then at Halle and Lali, then pulled out a box of pills from his pocket, carefully poured out three pills into his hand, and swallowed them.

“Do you want water?” Edward wanted to get up, but the old man stopped him with his hand.

“No need,” Laplace’s voice was a little hoarse, “…cough…”

He lowered his head and coughed, then took a deep breath, and the expression on his face became much calmer.

Then he asked Hallilali:

“My son, Hermes, can there be any hope?”

Hallilali hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke in a low voice:

“I hate to lie to you, but there’s no way he could have survived that.”

Hearing this, the veins on Laplace’s forehead bulged, and Edward subconsciously raised his guard to prevent him from suddenly doing anything drastic.

However, Laplace just rubbed his face gently with his hands and lowered his head. When he raised it again, he had regained his calm look:

“I will take his place and everything will proceed as planned.”

This sentence sounds simple, but Edward knows its weight.

As the commander-in-chief of the Academy, Laplace was responsible for high-level coordination and calculations, and rarely commanded a specific war.

But everyone knows how strong he is – Hermes’ command ability was inherited from Laplace, and he is just a small wave in the ocean of Laplace’s strength.

And this wave made Hermes a feared commander even on the continent of Admir.

Now, Laplace himself came.

“I must admit that the Hafurgard are a powerful species,” Laplace nodded to Harilalli, “You warned us with foresight, but my son could not resist the temptation. I apologize to you for him.”

Then, without waiting for Hallilali’s answer, Laplace stood up and left the meeting room.

His steps were a little old. When he went out, he held the door frame with his wrinkled hands and leaned forward slightly.

He didn’t say a word to Edward, or even look at him, until he closed the door.

“…”

“Let’s go.”

Edward didn’t care at all. He turned to look at Hallilali, only to find that the latter’s eyes were full of worry.

“what happened?”

“He’s…in pain…” Harilalee whispered, “Although he doesn’t show it, I can feel it.”

“Yes,” Edward nodded, “He loves Hermes very much.”

“But he doesn’t even want to talk to you?” Hallilali was incredulous. “You are also his son, and…”

“It’s a pawn on the front line that can be discarded at any time.”

Edward smiled softly. He rarely smiled, and this time his smile was more like irony than happiness.

“He loves Hermes, but not me.”

“Why?” Hallilali couldn’t understand.

“No one can understand him, and no one will try to understand him,” Edward said, “That’s not important. I just know that with his help, our mission will be much smoother.”

“…Nevertheless.”

Halle Lali sighed, and suddenly realized to some extent the main reason why Edward became like this.

But now, there is really no time to dwell on these.

“Grandpa Hasanka has already set out. The Qilang army will soon join us. It’s time for us to go as well.”

“Let’s go,” Edward said, “and say goodbye to Ivar and Aleph.”

……

According to data provided by the low-Earth orbit satellite [Inverted Sword], the location of [Lord of the Black Tide] is at the end of the Far East Plain, a high-risk area corroded by darkness.

This area is separated from the plain where the front-line base is located by a whole range of mountains, with only a canyon called “Huangquan Pass” for the army to march.

After passing through Huangquan Pass, you can reach the Far East Plain directly and have a decisive battle with the [Lord of the Black Tide].

According to the identification signal provided by Hassanka, the Lord of the Black Tide had no intention of moving westward. He just waited silently, sitting on the throne made of twisted black water, waiting for challengers.

Therefore, the battle plan of the coalition forces was naturally clear: the Qilang Army was responsible for breaking through the “Yellow Spring Pass” and opening a road to the Far East Plain. The Federation’s skyships crossed the mountains and attacked the Black Tide Army from the rear.

The followers of the Black Tide, lacking anti-air power, had almost no chance of winning under such a strategy, so the focus of the battle came to the encirclement and suppression of the [Lord of the Black Tide].

Therefore, Halilali will join the ground forces of “Huangquan Pass” and raid together with the Qilang Army.

And Hassanka will join the Federation’s air fleet and raid with the Federation Air Force.

“…”

Laplace’s arrival quickly stabilized the situation at the front-line base. Everyone temporarily forgot about the accident at Hermes and focused on the upcoming war.

Edward and Hallilali were assigned to the first group heading to Huangquan Pass. In the blink of an eye, it was time for them to set off.

“…”

“Fight hard, brother. We’ll be watching your back.”

Before the farewell team, Aleph patted Edward on the shoulder with a heroic smile on his face.

“Just remember to keep your eyes away from her during the battle, and don’t let her suck your soul away.”

“My soul wasn’t sucked away,” Edward frowned, “We were just having a meal together.”

“Okay, okay, let’s eat together, fight together, and I hope you can live together in the future.”

Aleph said, holding out a fist towards Edward:

“See you on the other side.”

Edward looked at the fist in front of him and the golden eyes behind the fist – there was a rock-hard light in them.

Although the two men tried to cover up the tense atmosphere with frivolity and casualness, they knew that it was time to prepare to die.

“See you on the other side.”

Edward stretched out his fist and bumped it with Aleph’s, their silver eyes meeting their golden eyes.

At the same time, Halle Lali was looking for Edward along the farewell procession. She soon saw him and was about to speed up her pace when she suddenly felt a gaze on her.

The girl turned around and found that the gaze came from Ivar who was hiding in the farewell procession.

His gaze shifted elsewhere when Hallilali turned her head, like a teenager looking out from the crack in the door of a small dark room, longing for something and fearing the glare of the light at the same time.

Hallilali smiled softly and walked to Ivar.

“Are you here to say goodbye?”

She looked at Ivar, then reached out and straightened his collar:

“Your collar isn’t straightened. This won’t do.”