Chapter 81
Rhea struggled violently, looking truly desperate.
Drake’s breath hitched
A surge of fury coursed through him, but facing the supreme commander of the Vyrdenian military, he couldn’t lash out.
He took a deep breath, glanced at Raven, and asked Lorne, “General, may I ask who this is?”
Raven’s rapid deployment abroad shortly after joining the military, and her recent return, coupled with the need to protect her from domestic and foreign threats, meant her file was almost as classified as Lorne’s.
Even a lieutenant general like Drake was unaware of her legendary status.
Lorne immediately sensed that Drake believed Rhea’s distorted version of events.
Disappointment flickered in his eyes.
“As a high–ranking officer, you’ve grown complacent, believing your own flesh and blood so readily, Drake.”
+13
Drake was taken aback. Suspicion crept into his gaze as he looked at Rhea. Lorne wouldn’t lie about something like this. Could his daughter actually be lying?
Rhea quickly chimed in, “Dad, the instructors in charge of Regalhold’s basic training are all retired lower–ranking officers. Caleb is already a colonel, he wouldn’t volunteer for this. She’s after him, she forced me to kneel and kowtow to her, and only then did I say I wouldn’t let her get away with it.”
“Dad, I was just talking. I wouldn’t dare do anything! Please, talk to the General, ask him to let me go, please?”
She knew she was practically slapping Lorne in the face, but she was desperate to avoid prison. Her only hope was to pit her father against Raven and have him fiercely protect her in front of Lorne. Her father’s protection was her only escape.
Drake saw Lorne’s darkening expression, hesitated, then spoke, “General, Rhea is still young and naive. This officer has already punished her. Perhaps we can leave it at that, for today?”
Lorne chuckled, “Young? Young enough to use her status as your daughter to humiliate an officer of equal rank and even threaten me?”
He’d had enough. He ordered the two soldiers holding Rhea, “Take her away.”
Drake instinctively blocked their path. He stared at Lorne, stunned. “General, you said she’s an officer of my rank?”
Lorne nodded, “Is there a problem?”
Drake’s deference faded. He stared directly at Lorne and asked, “General, how did she become a lieutenant general?”
Drake had spent twenty years in bloody combat, nearly dying five times, enduring countless injuries. His severe wounds had even left him unable to have more children shortly after Rhea was born.
Yet, he only became a lieutenant general after twenty–two years in the military, at the age of forty–two. And now, Lorne was telling him that someone who looked younger than his daughter held the same rank.
Was the Vyrdenian military rotting from the inside?
“How she became a lieutenant general is none of your concern. What you need to know is that her contribution to Vyrdenia is something a hundred of you combined could never achieve!”
Drake was dumbfounded.
1/3
16:51 Mon, 14 Apr.
Chapter 81
Everyone else was equally shocked.
A hundred Drakes couldn’t compare? General, wasn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?
57%
+13
Drake, sensing that Lorne, perhaps due to his age, was starting to talk nonsense, felt a deeper disappointment. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his
turbulent emotions.
Then, he looked at Lorne with a serious expression and asked, “General, let’s put aside whether her contribution can compare to a hundred of me. If she’s truly so remarkable, she could have any man she wants. Why would she fight with my daughter over a man?”
A scoffing laugh escaped Raven’s lips the moment Drake finished speaking.
“Boyfriend? Your daughter’s blind enough to think I’d go for a loser like him, fine. But you, a lieutenant general, lacking even basic judgment? You’re a disgrace to that uniform.”
Her voice grew colder as she glanced at Drake, his face flushed with anger. “Listen up. First, he’s not my type. Second, his grandfather is my grandfather. No matter how desperate I am, I wouldn’t go after my own blood.”
Drake’s anger deflated like a pricked balloon. He quickly turned to Caleb. “Caleb, is this true?”
Caleb, still reeling from being called a loser, snapped back to reality. “Yes, she’s my aunt’s daughter. Rhea was too worked up to believe my explanation,
so I didn’t tell her.”
Rhea’s eyes widened uncontrollably, muttering, “How… is that possible?”
If Raven hadn’t called Caleb over to steal him from her, then what was the point of all the torment she had endured?
Lorne shot Rhea a cold glance and ordered the soldiers holding her, “Take her away!”
But Drake didn’t budge, blocking the soldiers‘ path.
He looked at Raven, then at Lorne, his face a mask of frustration and resentment. “General, I, Drake Jennings, have served the Vyrdenian military for nearly thirty years. I’ve completed one S–Rank mission, three A–Rank missions, and countless B–Rank missions.”
“What has this little girl, who hasn’t even grown up, done for the military?”
“Even if my daughter was disrespectful, so what? She’s a woman who somehow schemed her way into a lieutenant general position. She doesn’t deserve respect from anyone in the military!”
The moment Drake finished, Caleb and the nine soldiers gasped.‘
At the same time, all ten of them looked at Drake with profound respect.
As members of the military, they knew how terrifyingly difficult S–Rank missions were.
it was no exaggeration to say that anyone who completed an S–Rank mission was a hero worthy of being recorded in the history of the Vyrdenian military.
And General Jennings, standing before them, was one such hero!
How fortunate were they to meet such a legendary figure?
Soon, the ten snapped out of their shock and turned their attention to Lorne.
Drake had completed an S–Rank mission for the Vyrdenian military.
And Raven, a girl who looked barely twenty, what contribution could she have possibly made?
As for her strength.
2/3
16:51 Mon, 14 Apr
Chapter 81
4 Apr 9
A
There were many strong individuals in the military, but not all of them could become lieutenant generals or higher.
Why should she share the same rank as Drake, who had completed an S–Rank mission?
As the resentment in their eyes grew stronger, Rhea, having composed herself, sneered, “Exactly! What can a girl younger than me possibly compare to my father?”
“My father completed an S–Rank mission.”
“There are very few people in the entire military who have accomplished that.”
“They’re both lieutenant generals, but she’s not even fit to polish my father’s boots!”
Lorne glanced at Rhea, then slowly scanned the room.
Finally, his gaze landed on Drake’s questioning and resentful face. He chuckled, “Since you’re so eager to know, fine, I’ll tell you.”
With that, Lorne turned slightly and took a golden Promotion Order from a soldier behind him.
He opened the order, and his posture straightened even more.
Then, a solemn and dignified voice boomed from him-
“Soldier Raven Valor, for the safety and security of the nation, fought on the foreign battlefield for five years. During this time, she completed five top- secret SSS–Rank missions, eighteen SS–Rank missions, and nearly a hundred S–Rank missions, making immense contributions to the military and the
entire nation of Vyrdenia.”
“By the decision of the Vyrdenian Military Council, Lieutenant General Raven Valor is promoted to the fourth General of the Vyrdenian military, with authority equal to the other three Generals, and holds supreme decision–making power within the Vyrdenian military!”
3/3
