Demanding answers

According to the U.S. Army Regulation R600-25, except in special circumstances, enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers must salute officers. Although there are no penalties for violating this regulation, the consequences of non-compliance are more severe.

Because officers make up about one-sixth of the total personnel in the United States. military, and even fewer in frontline units, they place great emphasis on the authority of officers, and saluting superiors is the simplest way to maintain that authority.

If a soldier refuses to salute, it's tantamount to provoking the entire officer corps. Without clearly defined penalties, it's unimaginable what kind of treatment such a soldier would receive.

At this time, the U.S. military had a critical overseas deployment mission: the troop deployment in Iraq. Officers didn't need to rig things; high-risk missions were frequently assigned to certain individuals, and this arrogant guy ultimately ended up returning home in his coffin.

So when a four-star general came before them, no soldier dared to keep their gun raised without saluting, even if they weren't part of the U.S. Army and were just National Guard.

Even disregarding the presence of those four stars, the patrols beside the rooftop are now comprised of six of the most advanced attack helicopters. The original two -1s have been ordered to land, and two R-66s are watching them as they land.

Moses Kane immediately stood at attention and saluted. "General."

Thaddeus Ross, as if on purpose, delayed returning the greeting, letting the other person hold up their hand. He stared at the other person with a serious expression, as if he could see right through them with his eyes.

The X-Men also felt this heavy sense of oppression. The good news, however, was that it seemed to be internal strife within the U.S. military, and had nothing to do with them. So, they all tacitly remained silent and watched the show.

After Thaddeus Ross raised his hand in return, he asked directly, "Your unit, soldiers?"

"General, we are the 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, Colorado National Guard. I am Major Moses Major Cain commander." "What mission are you on here?"

"We're here on orders to requisition civilian supplies and equipment for biological warfare, and we require the X-Men, this Mutants organization, to cooperate." "Hmm, interesting. On whose orders? Steven Bloom? Or Richard Miles? In North America, only those two can mobilize troops without my knowledge as the commander of the Northern Command."

The former is Lieutenant General Steven Bloom of the U.S. Army, currently the Director of the National Guard Bureau, responsible for National Guard. The latter is General Richard Miles of the U.S. Air Force, currently the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking military officer in the United States.

Even the former, upon seeing Thaddeus Ross, would first have to stand at attention and salute.

Although the National Guard National Guard is a separate system from the U.S. military, it was authorized by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks and was effectively incorporated into the command responsible for integrated operations in North America.

Although the latter is of a higher rank, the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not actually have the power to issue direct orders to the military; the command of the military still needs to be exercised through the commanders of the respective theater commands.

Today, Moses Kane would be suspected of overstepping his authority and breaking the law by uttering any name. Therefore, he dared not say anything at this moment, and instead, his face turned red with suppressed rage.

Thaddeus Ross had no intention of stopping the conversation, and continued, "This morning, I found an application report on my desk."

The content concerns a severe biological and chemical disaster in Raccoon City Colorado, requiring the use of nuclear weapons to completely eliminate the virus and prevent its spread.

"I don't know what the person who submitted this application was thinking. Did they think I was some kind of stupid old man who would just drop a nuclear bomb on the United States. mainland whenever someone told him to? Although I did drop a nuclear bomb on the mainland."

"Moreover, there are troops in this city whom I directly ordered to conduct investigations and assessments, but I've lost contact with them. Instead, I've been replaced by a National Guard major with no formal military experience, and I don't even know where you came from."

"Do you know what worries me the most? This morning, I received an anonymous email in my official email inbox. It was about Umbrella Corporation illegally conducting biological experiments and manufacturing bioweapons."

"Not only are humans used as experimental subjects, but there are also illegal projects involving human cloning. As for the virus leak caused by this illegal research base, the extent of economic losses and human casualties is currently impossible to assess." The letter also contained some bizarre plans, including Cleansing Plan to recreate God's cleansing of the world, with only the creatures on Noah's Ark escaping. I'm very curious: who is this God? And who is on the Ark?

"As far as I know, this letter has been received by a great many, many people. I have received more than one request to verify it, from the White House, from the Pentagon, and even Langley called me."

"And then one last question, where is my subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Spaar? Even if she's dead, I want to see her body, her identification tag."

"Can you answer these questions for me, Major? Or do you have another order from your superior? Then tell me who your superior is, and I'll go ask him myself."

Reaching Thaddeus Ross's level means a daily life filled with danger and intrigue. After all, there aren't many rank-four generals left to fight for if they want to climb higher.

With numerous competitors and newcomers waiting to make mistakes, this situation is like someone handing out a knife handle. Anyone who gets stabbed will be seriously injured and forced to retire.

In this situation, would Moses Kane dare to speak up? If he were to bring up his backer, and that backer believed he had no chance of winning in an arm wrestling match, then to protect himself, the backer would definitely try every means to kill him, leaving no way to prove anything.

If I say nothing, I might become a bargaining chip on the table, but at least I'll still have a chance to live. As long as I'm still of value to that powerful figure, he'll find a way to rescue me.

Unfortunately, today's incident involves various illegal operations and related illegal projects. Exposing any one of them would get him into serious trouble, let alone all of them. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he's facing utter ruin.

So Moses Kane dared not say a word, biting his lip and holding it in.

"Dad, you just said you received an email about Umbrella Corporation's illegal activities, including the manufacture of biological weapons and virus research. Is that true? How many people know about it?" Betty Thaddeus Ross stepped out from the crowd.

"Betty, I don't know what that anonymous person wants, or who he is." General Ross Thaddeus Ross looked at the strange-looking people present. "But he has certainly attracted a lot of attention and caused panic." The brief conversation between father and daughter finally made Moses Kane realize where the problem lay. The four-star general's own daughter was right here! If only he had known this earlier, he wouldn't have chosen such a radical approach. He had suffered from insufficient intelligence, but now it was too late...