It took a full three minutes before Gustav recovered from his stunned incomprehension.
He looked blankly at the bewildered, anxious staff officer before him. Then his expression suddenly changed. His face twisted in fury as he stepped forward, seized the officer by the collar, and lifted him clean off the ground.
"You! Tell me why there was another leak! How exactly did it happen?!" Gustav roared, spraying spit all over the officer's face.
"Cough! Wh-what leak? I... I don't know! I don't know anything!" Held up by his collar, the unfortunate staff officer felt a grip powerful enough to strangle him. His face flushed red as he struggled to speak in utter terror.
An ordinary person would have had trouble actually strangling someone by grabbing their collar, but Gustav was using a steel prosthetic limb that could squeeze handprints into steel pipes as easily as child's play. That grip could quite literally "strangle someone to death."
Gustav froze for a moment. Only then did he realize that he had never told another soul his entire plan. How was he supposed to explain this utterly baffling leak?
He could hardly tell everyone around him, "A couple of days ago, I came up with a plan in my head and told absolutely no one. And guess what? The plan leaked!"
That would definitely be the Twin Stars' best deadpan joke of the year!
As he stood there in a daze, his grip loosened. The staff officer fell to the floor in a fit of coughing.
Once Gustav understood this, he felt unbearably frustrated and aggrieved. It was like certain government officials having their homes burgled. Could they call the police? If the police asked what had been stolen, how were they supposed to answer? They couldn't say a word!
But no one