Chapter 128. Shocking realisation.
Aiden eventually arrived at the northern district of the base. Currently, he was standing in front of his door. Aiden had already scanned the building and the vicinity. There were no threats.
[Facial recognition verified.
Welcome, Private Aiden Vhorn]
The door suddenly opened after he was verified to be the owner of the apartment.
The apartment was quite normal—a kitchen, a bedroom, a washroom, and a living room. Aiden located his military uniforms placed somewhere in the living room. According to the miscellaneous rules he had read from the military watch, the uniforms were to be put on when one left their rooms. But indoors, anyone could wear whatever they wanted.
Also, the Eldorath Empire military bases had dining halls for meals. But one could use contribution points to purchase foodstuffs and have them delivered to you. This was why there was a kitchen. The military was a community. It was not like the usual cliché military settings Aiden had read about in web novels where everyone had to eat at a canteen like a couple of middle schoolers.
Aiden went to the washroom to wash down. After that, he changed into some shorts and shirts and decided to organize his thoughts.
"As I theorized, they didn’t assign me to a unit. A meeting could be happening concerning my next mission at the moment. I should scan the base immediately for intel," Aiden thought.
His eyes turned crimson. He tuned up his enhanced hearing, too. Aiden’s gaze spread across the base. Very soon, his eyes narrowed towards a particular direction—an office in the western district of the base. A captain’s office. Aiden listened and observed the conversation from his room.
The captain was standing before a hologram of a man.
"Captain... make sure to assign operative Vhorn high and hell difficulty missions. His abilities need to be maximized to their full capabilities," the man in the hologram, presumably a higher-up in the base, said.
"Yes, sir!" the captain replied. He proceeded to ask hesitantly, "But if I may ask, sir... he’s a new recruit. Are high and hell difficulty level missions not too much for him?"
The higher-up smiled. "They are. He’s the only one with the abilities to execute them. Captain, are you questioning the judgment of an admiral? Usually, I would follow the chain of command and have the generals, colonels, and majors beneath me decide which missions operatives with great potential deserve and pass them on to captains in charge of the operative. But operative Vhorn is someone who has earned my interest and attention. I have higher prospects for him. Or... do you think because I’m connected to the DeepSea Conglomerate, whose offer Aiden Vhorn rejected, I want to get him killed?"
The captain was scared shitless. "I wouldn’t dare think so, sir! I wouldn’t!"
Shit... why didn’t he just mind his own business? From now on, he wouldn’t question the decision of the higher-ups again.
"Good," the admiral nodded. The projection disappeared.
"Seriously... I almost lost everything because of a single question. Fortunately, he was not too offended," the captain sighed.
***
"I see," Aiden thought. "That man is the captain I’m being assigned to. The admiral he was on the video call with is connected to the DeepSea Conglomerate. I rejected the offer of that organization. They have several branches across the empire. They own a lot of guilds and department stores. According to the background check I did on the DeepSea Conglomerate, the owner has a cousin in a high position in the military. It must be this Admiral. As for whether or not he’s a member of the Paranormal Liberation Order, I can’t tell. But if he’s a member of the Paranormal Liberation Order, then he’s the same person who is behind the death of admiral Rio Marcus, uncle Chromium’s grand-uncle. For now, I can’t assume he’s a member of the syndicate unless I study him better."
Aiden continued to scan the base. He wanted to find the residence or the office of the Admiral who had just communicated with the captain in charge of him. Very soon, he saw something that left him extremely shocked.
The admiral was in some sort of secret chamber with another person on a hologram—the emperor of the Eldorath Empire. Everything made sense now.
"So this is why he was able to kill Admiral Rio Chromium. If it’s the emperor, pulling off something like that is easy... does that mean the emperor is a member of... let me listen to what they are saying first before coming to a conclusion."
Aiden listened to the conversation between the emperor and the Admiral.
"Admiral Vanum DeepSea, I really owe you one," Emperor Leonis smiled.
"Anything for a fellow brother of the Order," Vanum replied. "No one will suspect anything."
"Indeed," Leonis replied. "I will also ensure that the other admirals with you at the base are replaced with members of the Order. There’s a reason why Aiden Vhorn is labeled a catastrophic threat to the Order by The Analyzer. It means it won’t be easy to kill him. We need a backup plan. I will instruct them to ask him to be their disciples. Considering his desire to pursue autonomy, he will definitely politely turn them down."
A glint flashed through Vanum’s eyes. He knew where the emperor was going with this. "Rejecting the offer to become the disciple of three admirals will mean he has earned the ire of three admirals. This will isolate him completely. No one will be willing to befriend someone who has offended three admirals. Not even majors and generals will be willing to have his back. This will make it easy to kill him in case he fails to die on missions."
"Exactly," Leonis said. "As sharp as always, Vanum."
"But what about the industries that want him dead?" Vanum asked.
"If they manage to put an end to him, it serves our purpose. If they are unable to, we will put an end to him anyway," Leonis said. "No one can stand in the salvation the order will bring to the world." He tapped his chest twice. A fanatic glint flashed through his eyes. "For the Order and for Humanity!"
Vanum tapped his chest twice. "For the Order and for Humanity!"
After that, the hologram of the emperor disappeared, leaving the admiral to his devices.
***
"So this is their plan. This emperor is very dangerous. He’s a very scheming person. But to think the Paranormal Liberation Order will have so much power. Who is this Analyser? Just how powerful is this organization? Well, that’s something to discover in the future. For now, I should focus on becoming stronger. They think their plan will work in their favor. They don’t know I prefer isolation and solitude more than anything," Aiden smiled.
Suddenly, his watch buzzed.
[Report for Briefing, Private Vhorn...
Cc: Captain Peterson]
"About time," Aiden thought.