Rationality

On the way back to the city center, Militia and soldiers crowded around Qin Mo. As he passed a Cathedral, the people sheltering inside came out.

Most were wounded, with only two exceptions.

A middle-aged man wearing the rank of Legion Commander on his shoulder, and a female officer in the Adeptus Arbites uniform of the hive.

"Legion Commander Laun of the logistics forces, and Lyle, an intelligence officer from the Hive Adeptus Arbites." The officer who had fought alongside Qin Mo stepped forward to introduce them.

Qin Mo wasn't surprised to see a Legion Commander here, since Laun was part of the Planetary Defense Force.

But how could an Adeptus Arbites intelligence officer like Lena be here? Was the Hive Terra's Adeptus Arbites so dedicated that they even had jurisdiction over the Underhive?

"You're the Marshal's guards?" Laun raised an eyebrow, sizing up the Power Armor on Qin Mo. "I've never seen this model of Power Armor before."

"We're not the Marshal's guards." Qin Mo shook his head.

"You're too late, soldier." Laun frowned in complaint. "By the Emperor, we've been fighting street battles here for almost a week. Why are you only showing up now?"

"By the Emperor, if you hadn't suddenly popped up, I'd have thought the highest-ranking officer here was just a regiment commander!" Grey said sarcastically.

While everyone else had been fighting the Rebels, Laun and Lyle had hidden in the Cathedral, taking shelter with the wounded.

They hadn't discussed battle plans or anything—from start to finish, not a single order had come down. Everyone was fighting on their own.

Laun frowned, but seeing the sour expressions on everyone's faces, he didn't dare scold them. Instead, he changed the subject: "Are there any higher-ranking officers still alive?"

"No, sir." Qin Mo shook his head calmly.

Hearing this, Grey looked at Qin Mo in surprise.

From the moment he'd met Laun, Qin Mo had acted completely natural, as if he were ready to hand over his command without a fight.

He'd even called Laun "sir" in his answer. That was really...

"Even if you were a bit late, I still have to commend you—you did well, soldier." Laun patted Qin Mo's arm approvingly, showing his praise.

And after seeing Qin Mo's submissive demeanor, Laun grew bolder: "From now on, you will follow my orders. Understood?"

"Yes." Qin Mo nodded.

"Now take me to a safe place. This lady from the Adeptus Arbites and I need shelter." Laun glanced at Lyle beside him.

Lyle smiled and nodded at Qin Mo.

"Alright." Qin Mo agreed again, then looked at Grey, signaling him to call over the unmanned transport.

Grey had a lot he wanted to say. He even wanted to rush over and slap Qin Mo, ask him if he knew what he was doing—handing over the army he'd worked so hard to unite!

But in the end, Grey held back. He chose to obey and immediately called for the unmanned transport.

Night.

47th Regiment encampment.

"Sir!"

"At ease."

Klein gestured for the soldiers lining the corridor not to salute, then walked straight into the room where Qin Mo was.

Qin Mo, who was sketching, heard the door open and turned to look at Klein.

Klein raised a hand to signal Qin Mo not to speak yet, then walked up to him urgently: "Do you know what the people you brought back are doing?"

"What are they doing?" Qin Mo knew Klein was talking about Laun.

"He's barking orders at my soldiers, telling them to clear out the biggest room and find him the best bed—or have one custom-made for him." Klein looked at Qin Mo with a wry smile. "What were you thinking when you brought them back?"

"That guy's that stupid? Demanding a custom-made bed from your soldiers?" Qin Mo laughed.

"He's a noble from the Upper Hive. None of those nobles are stupid. They can kill you with schemes without you even noticing. In their eyes, asking for a bed is just common sense." Klein was dead serious.

At any other time, Klein wouldn't have questioned Qin Mo, but this was different. He really couldn't stand it.

Seeing Qin Mo's grinning face, Klein warned him: "Do you know what's going to happen next? Your command will be taken away. Your identity as a soldier will be exposed. Then the defensive line you've painstakingly built by running all over the place will become someone else's. And you'll still be just a soldier—even lower rank than me."

"Why?" Qin Mo asked.

Klein was taken aback, not knowing how to answer.

"Why would the defensive line I built become his?" Qin Mo pressed on. "Can he unleash flames and lightning to wipe out a horde of enemies? Can he forge powerful weapons and equipment? Or does he have strategic brilliance beyond ordinary men, able to outmaneuver the Rebel commanders?"

This string of questions made Klein think deeply.

After all, this was wartime. Qin Mo had already built up prestige by consolidating the defensive line. Everyone on every position along that line had either seen him fight or heard of him.

And now, almost every soldier had one judgment in their hearts: they'd been betrayed by the high command, and the attack plan was a trap.

In this situation, even if Laun was a master schemer, it wouldn't matter—unless he could provide stronger firepower than Qin Mo, or find a way to lead everyone out of the Underhive.

Coming to this conclusion, Klein scratched the back of his head and frowned: "But... but if you're not afraid of him taking your command and you can't kill him, why didn't you just leave him in that city? Why bring him here?"

"I have a backup plan. I thought of it when I saw Laun." Qin Mo glanced at the door. Seeing that Klein had closed it when he came in, he felt safe enough to continue.

"I have a backup plan."

"That plan is to start digging through the collapsed tunnels from now on, to clear a path down to the Underhive as best we can."

"Then we use Laun, and everyone like him we can find, to strike a deal with the upper echelons and secure a chance to be allowed back into the Underhive."

After hearing the entire plan, Klein's pupils suddenly dilated. In his eyes, Qin Mo had become a stranger.

"You want to run away? I can't believe you'd think that way," Klein said.

"I'm not trying to run away. This is a contingency plan. I have to rationally consider every possible outcome, good or bad," Qin Mo said seriously. "I will do whatever it takes to find a way to defeat the Rebels, but if we truly can't, I have to think of another option instead of sitting around waiting to die."

"You're very rational." Klein understood Qin Mo's thinking and nodded in agreement. "Should I arrest Laun or something?"

"You can keep him close and pump him for information, like where his family is. When the tunnel is dug and we have to evacuate, that will come in handy," Qin Mo said.

"Alright." Klein left immediately.

Qin Mo turned around and began to think.

Everything he had told Klein was complete bullshit.

If the attack plan was a trap, then Laun, caught up in that conspiracy, wouldn't be allowed to withdraw from the Deephive just because of his noble status.

Qin Mo wanted to get rid of Laun, but he couldn't execute a Legion Commander in front of others.

"I need to think of a way..." Qin Mo muttered to himself.