Counterfeit Hero

Fatty stood honestly in front of Hastings, his eyes sweeping back and forth between Hastings’ darkened face and the few officers standing behind him.

The ones who arrived at Hanjing Second Airport today were not just the Gazalin troops. Hidden on the A2 runway behind the A1 runway, silently leaving the airport and boarding the Transport Mecha, was precisely the Hastings family’s military force that so many people dreamed of understanding. And now, Hastings was handing this force over to him.

The officers behind Hastings were three men and one woman.

The Tony who had just been introduced was clearly the one with the highest status in this little group. Although he had a baby face, Fatty could feel the calm that seeped from his very bones. This was the bearing that could only be cultivated after countless battles, enough failures, and enough victories.

Steady as stone.

The other young officer standing beside Tony, by contrast, carried a hint of arrogance. Judging from his age, he was a bit younger than Tony, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. When he looked at people, his head was always slightly raised, exuding a sense of condescension. His thin lips drooped a little, and the lines of his face were very hard.

Like a blade.

Isaac, division commander of the Phantom Corps 3rd Armored Division.

Fatty’s gaze shifted to the other male officer.

This officer’s appearance was ordinary; among the four, he should be the oldest, probably around forty. He was of medium build, with a slightly chubby face. Although he wasn’t smiling, he looked gentle. His eyes were calm, without any particular expression. The whole person belonged to the type that, when placed in a crowd, would not draw any attention.

He gave the impression of being thick, weighty, and inconspicuous soil.

Garfield, division commander of the Phantom Corps 4th Armored Division.

The last one was a female officer.

Big eyes, a pointed chin, a typical oval face. When Fatty’s gaze met her curious one, she gave him a charming smile, her brows lifting slightly, her eyes rippling with a hint of something that could be called either flirtation or provocation.

The specially tailored uniform wrapped her figure tightly. Her full, soft chest and slender yet powerful waist radiated a scorching sensuality.

Like a searing flame.

Diana, division commander of the Phantom Corps 5th Armored Division.

Hastings introduced the remaining three to Fatty one by one, then said flatly, "The fleet and three Armored Divisions I promised you, I’m handing them over to you now. From today on, they are members of the bandit army, your subordinates. They have nothing to do with Feiyang, with me, or with the Hastings family."

When Hastings said this, Tony with the baby face and the oldest, Garfield, showed no expression at all. Isaac frowned, his gaze at Fatty carrying a kind of appraising look. Diana, on the other hand, smiled lightly; the slightly ambiguous, teasing look in her eyes completely turned into provocation.

"Whether you can command them or not depends on your own ability," Hastings turned his wheelchair and headed toward Gordon and Hailig, tossing Fatty a clearly deliberate problem. "Whatever trouble they stir up, you’ll be the only one carrying it."

Fatty blinked dumbly, his mouth gaping wide enough to swallow a ball.

Tony’s gaze tilted slightly downward. Behind his trouser leg, the honest-looking Fatty’s hand was hiding a single middle finger, secretive yet brazen.

The corners of Tony’s mouth lifted faintly. He glanced at Isaac beside him, whose eyes were growing sharper, then at Diana who was sizing Fatty up from head to toe, and then at Bonnie, who sat quietly off to the side reviewing electronic documents. Tony lowered his eyes and kept his mouth even more tightly shut.

Isaac was a military genius, always proud and aloof. As for Diana... both of them had more than enough reason to cross horns with this Fatty, who had inexplicably become the leader of the Hastings family’s core military force. Besides, Hastings’ tone and attitude seemed to carry a certain indulgence.

Yet for some reason, he vaguely felt... that the one Hastings indulged more was this Fatty in front of them.

Tony remained silent, Garfield’s expression was wooden, Isaac’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Diana arched her willow-like brows. The four of them, each in their own way, were sizing up this Fatty who would soon become their superior officer.

As early as a month ago, when they’d received Hastings’ orders, they already knew the purpose of this trip.

It was hard to put into words how they had felt—those emotions pushed to the extreme—after reading that information and learning, through the family’s various channels, some utterly unbelievable intelligence.

Phantom Corps—this was a rather vulgar name. It originated from an offhand comment made by the seven-year-old little girl Margaret while she was watching a cartoon.

But the name itself wasn’t important. To the enemy, and to their own people, it was the same.

Even if this unit carried names like "Little Chick Cadet Troop," "Teen Thunder Squad," or "Sunflower Little Class," it would do nothing to diminish its terror and power.

How many people had racked their brains trying to catch a glimpse of this unit’s true nature, only to find no way in? How many people died without ever learning this unit’s name? And how many lay awake at night, anxious and sleepless, just because of this nameless, size-unknown unit lodged in their minds?!

The Phantom Corps had a total organization of two Group Fleets and six special-class Armored Divisions. All of its members came from retired officers and soldiers of the Feiyang Double-headed Eagle Force!