Counterfeit Hero

Barbara’s lips revealed a slight smile. The unexpected encounter a dozen hours ago silently initiated this war.

An outwardly embarrassing conflict wasn’t a serious setback for her. Even if the stares from those shoppers in the mall were enough to make someone feel ashamed and want to crawl into a hole, she didn’t mind. It wasn’t a calm indifference as if carefree with the clouds drifting by, nor was it a tough exterior that made one invincible. Purely because none of those gazes were worth her attention.

No matter how mocking an ant’s gaze might be, they’re just a bunch of ants. If someone wants to die of shame because of a group of ants’ ridicule, they might as well truly die.

However, Barbara admitted that she suffered a complete defeat in this unexpected skirmish. What concerned her wasn’t that butler Edward and dozens of bodyguards were wiped out by the bandit army, but instead her prior failure to identify the true nature of the Fatty causing a scene at the store entrance.

Having been accustomed to intrigues, open and covert struggles in Feiyang, conflict had already become instinctual in her life. Facing numerous traps and crises countless times, and managing to navigate through to reach this point, she relied on her innate sense of danger.

However, at the mall entrance, her sense completely failed her. That stubborn Fatty was a genuine angry small-town citizen. Relying on his combat skills, he refused to lose face in front of his beautiful female companion.

Discovering an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses only after a war has ended, this sense of defeat is far harder to accept than losing hands down to the opponent.

When Barbara left the mall, she had already marked the danger level of this Fatty to the highest.

She believed that since Edward and others had fallen into enemy hands, they would inevitably disclose something. She knew human nature’s weaknesses better than anyone. No matter how loyal and steadfast, there comes a time when they would spill the beans.

Yet she always knew when to hold on and when to let go, and had no intention of going after them to demand their return. Regular bodyguards aside, even Edward couldn’t possibly know her core secrets. What the bandit army might obtain was merely information on where she went and whom she met in Chuckna. She didn’t think there was anything to be worried about if this news was revealed.

War always moves forward ceaselessly, and she never wasted manpower on already lost trenches.

All she needed to do was indulge with two panting twins in the bathroom for a bit, then spend an hour at the bedside reassessing the technological capabilities of the bandit army and make a few phone calls.

The intelligence gathered indicated that the bandit army indeed had its own technological strengths.

At least, during the Longbow Star System campaign, the bandit army warship that appeared suddenly at the center of Hanfrey Fleet’s command cluster, and their self-produced Fatty Mechas were indeed impressive.

However, having performed a thorough investigation, Barbara didn’t think the bandit army posed any threat in this regard.

Setting their warships aside, according to evaluations, the bandit army’s Fatty Mechas, referred to as Rangers, might surpass the Tenth Generation Divine Gift in certain aspects, but the data clearly did not exceed the Eleventh Generation Long Sword, let alone the Twelfth Generation Thunderbolt!

Their control techniques were the primary factor that could elevate their Mecha’s combat capability by a level.

Barbara didn’t believe that a Vice Admiral from the fragmented Leray Federation, which barely had any warships, could contend with the Mars Free World and the Feiyang tycoons who controlled Feiyang’s economic lifeline and infinite resources. Any one of these tycoons could make a small country’s head bow. As formidable as the bandit army may be, they were still just a group of country bumpkins equipped with unique skills. Fatty dared to speak such words merely because he had Hastings backing him.

What did Hastings provide the bandit army with? Barbara casually glanced at the several furious scientists beside her.

Upon receiving Barbara’s cue, a middle-aged man in his forties finally couldn’t hold back, snorted coldly, quickly addressing Fatty: "General Tian, should we interpret your words as an insult to us?!"

The middle-aged man speaking had a long face, closely-set eyebrows, deep eye sockets, and a high-pointed nose, coupled with an arrogant and protruding chin, making his entire face resemble the personified moon in cartoons. He was very tall, a full head above Fatty who stood at 178 cm. As he slightly tilted his chin up, Fatty couldn’t help but step back, avoiding the coarse breaths from his nostrils or his chin poking him.

Fatty gazed at the middle-aged man’s chin with a fearful look, eliciting low laughter from the surrounding international scientists.

"Who are you?" Fatty asked, looking at the middle-aged man’s knife-shaped chin, his expression blank.

Trickster, Helen laughed silently in her heart. With such a distinctive face, how could Fatty, who had already memorized the data thoroughly, not know? This guy was pretending not to know.

"Bobby Coton," the middle-aged man, extremely sensitive about his chin, said, eyes blazing and teeth gritted word by word, "Chief technical advisor of the Mecha division at Feiyang Republic’s Vaughn Company!"

"What do you research?" Fatty blinked, curiously asking.

"Engines!" Coton replied proudly, "Four-circuit extreme A21 engines. Currently the most advanced engines in the universe!"