At just twenty-six, Jaeger Soubeyk had become the commander of an Imperial squadron, effectively taking charge of a relatively independent strategic force. He could now openly be called an admiral, and could hire his own retainers and staff. If he had strong enough connections in the Celestial Domain, he might even have his own garrison headquarters.
In another timeline, it would have taken him at least another twenty years of effort to reach the position he held today.
Yu Lian watched the scene without joy or sorrow, feeling only a surreal absurdity.
So a person's fate really did depend on the course of the times! A pacifist like Jaeger Soubeyk could become a fleet commander in the most cutthroat military organization in the universe—the Empire—before he was even thirty, despite having neither family connections nor a powerful background. Wasn't that the very definition of protagonist treatment?
Still, that raised another question: was the man really suited to the job?
Heavens knew Yu Lian had no real grudge against Soubeyk. The man had indeed served as governor of Earth's occupied territory and commander of its garrison fleet in Yu Lian's previous life, but he hadn't committed any major crimes. Fairly speaking, apart from his rather inadequate skills at war, he could even be considered an open-minded, energetic administrator, and he had a generous side, too.
He certainly wasn't incorruptible, or Teacher Yang and Old Tan wouldn't have been able to manipulate him so easily.
Of course, as the creator of the "original," Yu Lian reminded himself to observe people and events with a developmental and dialectical perspective. Who could say that Soubeyk, an old friend of Earth's people in Yu Lian's previous life, couldn't become a renowned general in this one?
Even Yu Lian himself—the ordinary office worker he had been