Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1416: Chapter 112: Melee_4

The person who trained them was that General Tian. Back when he was still a Lieutenant Colonel, he trained with them every day; when he wasn’t around, a bunch of Leray officers with formal military training took over. The training materials they used every day were also personally compiled by General Tian. Rumor had it they came from the experience he gained when he was in Gazalin, training a bunch of terrorists in behind‑enemy‑lines operations.

Every time their bandit army leader was mentioned, this bunch of bandits suddenly became all humble about their shameless tricks. It really made people wonder what kind of bird that Lieutenant Colonel of theirs actually was.

”These damn bandits!”

The officers looked at the raging Lieutenant Colonel from the Ake Federation and finally couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

”Rampage’s performance is even stronger than the prototype Thunderbolt.” A Tatania Lieutenant Colonel chuckled, waved at the Ake Federation Lieutenant Colonel, and changed the subject: ”Heard about what happened at the Mecha finalization conference? This time a few major arms dealers from Feiyang and Ryan really lost their shirts. Put up the money and the effort, and in the end, the bandit army snatched the peach.”

”That General Tian is wicked as hell too.” A Major shook his head with a grin. ”If it were someone with a weaker psyche, he’d probably be sick from rage by now. This monkey‑steals‑the‑peach trick looks awfully familiar to me.”

For a while, there was another round of laughter.

The short officer turned his head and looked around. ”How come none of that bunch showed up today? It’s almost four o’clock and their training still isn’t over?”

”From the sound of it, probably not.” A Major craned his neck and glanced out the window. ”Speaking of which, last time I went to the bandit army base on business, I watched one of their training sessions. After coming back and watching our own training, it looked like we were just playing around... They’re real bandits, that bandit streak runs right down to the bone, they train like they’re betting their lives.”

As he spoke, the Major glanced at some officers from other countries in the hall and lowered his voice: ”Ridiculous that some people still treat them like Militia. If the Fei Alliance’s troops all had the same level as these ’militia’, this war would’ve been fucking over already.”

”Tell me, what the hell is the Alliance Command Center thinking,” an officer bared his teeth and said, ”the front lines are this tight, so how come the bandit army isn’t included in the third wave of reinforcements? I heard that just in these two divisions based here, there are no fewer than a hundred Level 9 Mecha Warriors.”

”Over a hundred Level 9 Mecha Warriors?” The brown‑haired officer next to him snorted. ”Let me tell you, in those two bandit army divisions, if there aren’t five thousand Level 9 Mecha Warriors, then there are at least four thousand!”

Hiss... all around came the sound of people sharply inhaling.

”You really think the 31st Army was that easy to bully?” The brown‑haired officer rolled his eyes. ”Back then, the bandit army only sent in a single division! And they’d taken off their long‑range weapons too!”

Even though everyone knew about that battle the bandit army fought, and many officers had used their positions to find a chance to watch the footage that had been shot back then, after all, in a chaotic brawl, the camera only ever caught those bandit army War Gods. And since they hadn’t faced them personally, you couldn’t see much just from the footage; all they knew was that the 31st Army didn’t take a beating very well.

Now, with the brown‑haired officer putting it that way, everyone only felt their hearts pounding wildly.

They’d all guessed the bandit army had plenty of Advanced Mecha Warriors, but this many was way beyond their psychological limits—”unfathomable” was the only way to describe it. And that was just two divisions; if you counted the bandit army main force on Mars... God help them.

Seeing the disbelief in his companions’ eyes, the brown‑haired officer went on: ”Don’t think I’m bullshitting you. You know the Special Forces Camp in those two bandit army divisions? They’re all Level 10 Mecha Warriors. Each camp is fully staffed at four hundred and fifty men, and among them there are at least thirty Mechanical Gods!”

The officers all raised their glasses, and in unison there was another uproar.

Whether it was true or not, even if it was bragging, it seemed like only the bandit army had the right to brag like that. If you slapped those numbers onto any other unit, they’d have been drowned to death in spit long ago.

The commotion drew sideways glances from the crowd led by several Ryan officers at the next table, many of their looks full of disdain and scorn.

Lately, everyone had heard one thing or another about the Twelfth Generation Mecha. Since it involved every country’s interests, people took it very seriously.

The pro–bandit army lot had cashed in, so of course they were feeling smug. Those countries that had originally held all kinds of priority rights over the Twelfth Generation Mecha, though, had been kicked from heaven straight down to hell; you could imagine how foul their mood was.

Among them, the Ryan people were the worst off.

The Leefer Legion was fighting right now on the Ryan Battlefield. After the battle in the Catalonia Star System, the Ryan Military and their top government brass practically worshiped Leefer. As the two sides cooperated more and more closely on all fronts, there was no way they’d side with the bandit army at a time like this. Which was why they took the biggest hit on the Twelfth Generation Mecha.

On top of that, over the past few days the situation at the front had kept getting worse. All Allied units were on high alert, ready to be thrown into the Resk Battle at any moment, while the bandit army sat tight like fishermen, leisurely watching the show. With that contrast, rumors naturally spread like wildfire. That, in turn, made the tensions inside the base grow more and more intense.

Seeing the hostile look in the Ryan people’s eyes, the officers by the window responded with equally icy glares.

The temperature in the bar suddenly seemed to drop to freezing. The noisy chatter shrank away; the waitresses flitting about like butterflies had their silver‑bell laughter fade into nothing; the singer on stage, about to perform, just stood there blankly, the band members exchanging looks, fingers frozen on their instruments, all a bit at a loss.

”If you’re going to kiss ass, at least pick a decent target...”