Three years later, the "July 26th Incident," orchestrated by Vice Admiral Vincent as the mastermind, triggered a series of events that plunged the entire Commonwealth into turmoil, ultimately leading to the catastrophic downfall of the nation.
The reason that incident became so widespread was because Vice Admiral Vincent, during that period, displayed exceptional organizational skills, a talent for manipulation, and a knack for collecting damaging information, thereby tying a significant number of important figures to his cause.
However, as Yu Lian knew, General Schwartz was not one of these "important figures"; on the contrary, he was a victim in the incident.
At least for the Present, this Chief of Staff was a formidable character with strong tactics and ruthless execution; despite his outwardly refined demeanor, he possessed an "iron heart." When he was still the Provost Marshal General, he adopted a zero-tolerance stance towards all severe disciplinary violations and corruption cases within the military.
After becoming the Chief of Staff, he began to rigorously focus on military equipment and training. It's hard to say if combat effectiveness improved, but at least in the live-fire exercise the year before last, the Solar System Fleet, which he personally oversaw, fought the Commonwealth's strongest Outer Rim Fleet to a standstill, which was quite an achievement.
Additionally, during his tenure, a considerable number of high-ranking generals who were merely occupying their positions without contributing were punished.
...Of course, there was indeed a suspicion of overreaching to eliminate dissenters, but if one is to cut out rotten flesh to detoxify, accidentally cutting into healthy tissue is understandable.
Furthermore, General Schwartz frequently delivered passionate hawkish speeches in public. As a result, many hot-blooded young military officers thought they had found an excellent leader.
In comparison, what did some colorful rumors matter? The Knight Order and the Theban Sacred Band were also glorious military traditions of us Earthlings.
However, in the later "July 26th Incident," as the Chief of Staff, theoretically one of the most important military command officers in the entire army, he failed to make the necessary adjustments when the nation and the military needed him most. Instead, due to his own cowardice and hesitation, the situation deteriorated to an irreversible point.
This was also one of the reasons Yu Lian disliked this fellow. If he appeared brilliant on the surface but completely failed when it came to serious matters, didn't all his actions then just become office politics?
This country, and its people, have truly been terribly harmed by these endless superficial individuals.
But no matter what, purely in terms of personal outcome, General Schwartz was indeed a victim and truly cannot be considered an accomplice of Vice Admiral Vincent... So, was his presence here due to incorrect information in later generations, or was this guy genuinely just attending this charity gala?
Even if it was the latter, it wouldn't be strange. The reason General Schwartz had his current reputation was partly related to his concern for the welfare of ordinary soldiers. Ordinary soldiers and junior officers could not threaten his position of power, so he naturally wouldn't be stingy about showing a little compassion.
Yu Lian felt it was still necessary to investigate a little, so he quietly left the hotel.
He exited the hotel lobby directly through a side door, crossed a block, bypassed a building, and took an extra 500 meters to get back to the back alley. He casually pulled out the waiter hidden behind a trash can, stuffed his discarded uniform into his arms, and changed back into more practical attire.
Yu Lian pulled up his hood to cover his head and face, walked a few more steps along the shadows of the back alley, and kept tapping his hand on the wall. Soon, he stopped, reached out and pressed a smooth, unmarked section of the wall, and with a gentle push, a passageway wide enough for a person to pass through was revealed.
He didn't hesitate and directly slipped inside.
Since it was a five-star hotel, according to service industry standards, most service tasks had to be performed manually. The clause "guests should not see unsightly mechanical constructs at work, so as not to spoil their enjoyment" was also explicitly written in the five-star hotel's service terms.
Even the patrol routes of security robots were in dedicated hidden passages, unseen by guests, concealed within walls and ceilings.
Yet, even so, general floor cleaning, circuit and equipment maintenance, large waste recycling, and even evicting guests who couldn't pay still required machinery. Therefore, five-star hotels specifically designed robot passages, connecting the rooftop hangar directly to the outside of the hotel.
As expected of a five-star hotel, even the robot passages were wider than the corridors of a roadside motel. Aside from the entire pipeline being completely right-angled, there was nothing else to complain about.
Yu Lian looked at a security robot guarding the passage entrance, staring at him eye to eye, then lowered his head to fiddle with his terminal and put on his magnetic gloves.
The red light on this crab-like security robot, which had just flickered, immediately went out. Not only did it not sound an alarm, but it carried Yu Lian on its back and began to climb along the passage, like a loyal and pitiful old horse.
A few minutes later, the crab robot arrived at the machinery on the rooftop. There were over twenty various types of robots on standby here. Their working hours were generally after guests had completely rested, so they were mostly in hibernation during the day.
Yu Lian tiptoed to open the external passage door and confirmed his current floor.
Floor 47? Staff floor? And the hotel's luxury suites should be on the 45th floor, right? With a direct elevator to the rooftop garden and swimming pool.
Yu Lian casually grabbed a passing guide robot, slapped a button-sized listening device onto its forehead, and quickly took over its control.
In a five-star hotel, only guide robots, which have a more generally appealing appearance, like electronic pet dogs, could genuinely live in "broad daylight."
The guide robot went downstairs and began to slowly move around on the 45th floor, scanning the surrounding floor environment. The entire floor consisted of luxury suites with 6 main entrances, but it was impossible to determine which one was the target's location.
Yu Lian thought for a moment, then casually controlled another guide robot, instructing it to wait at the corridor corner to observe secretly. Then, through his terminal, he made the first robot enter an overvoltage state, and then BOOM, it emitted a loud bang.
The sound wasn't particularly loud, but it was too easy to misinterpret. Then, a commotion ensued, and one of the doors opened, with two burly men emerging in a half-crouch.
"Chuck! Don't report!" A voice came from inside the room, which was General Schwartz's voice.
"Don't worry, it must be some minor malfunction," another slightly older, unfamiliar voice replied. Yu Lian guessed this should be Vice Admiral Vincent.
The two burly men who came out were a uniformed sergeant, the same security personnel who had appeared with General Schwartz. The other was dressed in plain clothes and didn't look particularly conspicuous, but Yu Lian, observing secretly through the other robot hidden around the corridor corner, knew that this guy was actually a spiritual energy user.
The two bodyguards saw the trembling robot components on the ground and hesitated. The sergeant directly put on an alloy mechanical glove, carefully touched the pile of wreckage, confirmed there was no danger, and stood up to nod towards the room.
The plainclothes bodyguard then began to notify hotel staff to clean up the scene.
Room 4503?
Yu Lian opened his backpack and took out a hummingbird drone already equipped with a military miniature probe—this was a flying drone truly the size of a hummingbird, and modifying it required considerable manual dexterity. Of course, this was no challenge for Yu Lian, who had even cobbled together a light spear cannon.
The tiny hummingbird entered the ventilation system from the robot passage, finally slowly drifting out of a branching exhaust vent. At this moment, the conversation between General Schwartz and the old man, suspected to be Vice Admiral Vincent, gradually became clearer.
"See, I told you not to worry," the old man said.
"My apologies, old senior, you must have heard about what I've been doing lately, right? After all, I've offended quite a few people. It's never wrong to be careful," General Schwartz said.
"Indeed... It's better not to let outsiders know about what we're going to discuss later," the old man nodded.
General Schwartz didn't speak, clearly a bit stunned by the other party's directness.
At this moment, Yu Lian's hummingbird drone had cautiously approached the vent, carefully adjusting the probe's angle.
Then, the face of Minqi Vincent, the coward of the New Paris Incident, later proven to be a wrongly accused hero, now a retired Vice Admiral of the Navy, the future mastermind of the "July 26th Incident," who must die, thus fell into the probe's capture.
Damn, I suddenly realized I forgot to upload and forgot to set up automatic updates...