However, Governor Yamadera, with a face full of fury and a menacing aura, came rushing over, his short, stout body encased in a black suit. He was like a stone projectile launched by a trebuchet, capable of rolling along and crushing dozens of people in its path.
This was the most "manly" Governor Yamadera had ever been in front of Elinore, causing her to freeze for a few seconds. By the time she reacted, he had already "rolled" to a stop in front of her.
After he stopped, he gasped for nearly ten seconds before loudly declaring, "Lieutenant Colonel Eleanor Bonaparte, in the name of the Governor of New Yumen, I hereby relieve you of your duties as acting Commander of the Security Force!"
"Oh? Governor, everything here is settled. You actually didn't get any rest!"
"Rest, my ass! You, you, you actually dared to put me under house arrest! Lawless! Undisciplined! I'm going to Earth, I'm going to report you to the Defense Committee, I'm going to expose you in the Parliament! I'm going to have you court-martialed!"
"Governor, you can't say that. I was just worried about your safety and asked volunteers to protect you, that's all."
"Nonsense! Protection? Is this how you protect someone? Disarming my guards, locking me in my office... Wait, where are those kidnappers? Where are those rude ruffians? I'm going to have them shot! Yes, if it's not Sang Jia, it must be Dorset's men! Tell Dorset and Sang Jia to run here to me."
The Governor still hadn't realized that it was actually the Marine Corps who had placed him under house arrest. Of course, he was a civilian, and he usually didn't think much of common soldiers, so it was understandable that he didn't know these things.
"Also, I still can't get in touch with Mr. Chuck Brown. Are your people messing around? I've already told you, he's from the Canaan Merchant Group! Are you trying to cause some diplomatic dispute?"
"It's a chaotic situation, so it's not surprising if something goes wrong, is it? Of course, the more chaotic it is, the easier it is to lose one's composure! That's why it's necessary to temporarily restrict the movements of foreign guests to provide the most effective protection!" Eleanor still spoke with conviction, and for a moment, the other party couldn't find anything to refute.
"Alright, alright! If you say it's protection, then it's protection. But where is he?"
"Well, yes? Where is he?" Elinore began to look up at the sky.
"You, you, you..." The Governor, exasperated, stretched out his finger, almost touching Elinore's face.
This scene made Yu Lian quite displeased, so he simply whistled softly, sending a beam of psychic energy, completely undetectable by spiritual energy integration, crashing into the Governor's stomach. The Governor immediately clutched his stomach and instinctively tried to squat, but with his large belly, he couldn't squat down at all, so he began to dry heave, "Cough, cough, cough."
Elinore showed a look of disgust, pulling out a scented silk handkerchief from somewhere to cover her mouth and stepping back two paces.
The others had never seen such a scene before, only thinking that the Governor had some serious illness, and the whole place immediately fell into chaos. His Guardians covered their noses and were about to lean back tactically, only then did they seem to wake up from a dream and quickly ran over to support him.
Elinore probably guessed what had happened, giving Yu Lian a sidelong glance, with a mix of anger and playfulness, a faint smile playing on her lips, like autumn water rippling.
She retracted her gaze, no longer hiding her schadenfreude: "You see, I told you that you should rest well."
The Governor, hunched over at less than a 20-degree angle—which was his maximum effort—pointed at Elinore, trembling slightly as he retreated a few steps: "Take, take her down!"
"What did you say?" Lieutenant Colonel Eleanor Bonaparte's smile faded, and her voice deepened.
"Eleanor Bonaparte, you will be tried for unilaterally starting a conflict, disobeying orders on the battlefield, undermining diplomacy, and imprisoning a superior! Yes, you don't even need to go to Earth; I can punish you here under colonial law."
"Imprisoning a superior... that sounds like a rather heavy-flavored charge!" Yu Lian clicked his tongue. He was truly thinking of a very unappetizing image because of the Governor's physique.
Elinore didn't know what was so "heavy-flavored" about it, but it didn't stop her from holding her stomach and laughing.
Two of the Governor's Guardians reached for their waists, but Yu Lian on the opposite side suddenly reached out, and the pistols in their holsters flew directly into his hand.
Governor Yamadera and his Guardians looked stunned, as if their worldview had been shattered. After nearly half a minute, they finally realized something, and someone shrieked, "spiritual energy user!"
Yu Lian looked directly into the Governor's eyes, and his spiritual energy, through his gaze, transformed into a seemingly tangible mental pressure. His will began to confront, battle, and annihilate that discordant invading consciousness within the Governor's mind. The mental combat seemed to be an epic, but in reality, it lasted only a few short seconds.
Elinore watched the Governor transition from anger to confusion, then to a daze, and finally, he was sweating profusely with his mouth twitching.
"He was affected by mind control, someone applied a mental suggestion to him," Yu Lian whispered to Eleanor. "I've helped him dispel it."
"So, it was that Chuck Brown who did it?"
"It should be..."
"No, it must be! Hah, what if they're Imperial nobles? With this leverage, let's see what they can say!" Eleanor was triumphant, speaking into the terminal on her wrist: "Uncle Louis... Major Dorset, lock Chuck Brown in the spiritual energy user's special cell. Also, investigate why a mental spiritual energy user could so easily approach the unprotected Governor. Who provided the convenience!"
At this moment, Governor Yamadera finally awoke from his previous daze and confusion, and his almost irrational rage completely subsided. Only then did he realize that he truly had no right to provoke a military powerhouse's daughter like Elinore. He really couldn't understand what had happened; just now, he had only thought of revenge, venting, going berserk, and fighting the other party to the death. This was truly against his usual pacifist stance.
"What, what happened to me?" The sad thing was, he was sober, but now he didn't know how to step down.
At this moment, footsteps came from behind them, followed by a voice he found extremely annoying.
"Your Excellency, Governor, your actions are crude, barbaric, and foolish! This is part of our great Republic, and there is justice here! It's not your independent kingdom, where you can act recklessly! We politicians are laymen in the field of battle; as long as we don't cause trouble, we've done our part. At this time, shouldn't we frankly express due respect to the Commander who led us to victory?"
This elegant and refined middle-aged man was clearly an important figure. At this moment, he had a stern face, carrying three parts duty, three parts indignation, and three parts heartfelt grief, giving him an air of unstated authority.
Who else could it be but Councilor Jiang Yudong?
How did this guy get here? Yu Lian was a little confused, but then he saw an airship that had just landed on the helipad and immediately understood. Since he was a well-known councilor in the colony, it was impossible for him to have no connections at all within the Security Force. Anyway, the battle was over now, so it was only natural for him to call an airship to pick him up.
Even so, Yu Lian couldn't help but once again feel respect for Councilor Jiang's initiative.
"Jiang, Jiang Yudong, you old dog..." Governor Yamadera almost ground his teeth, but when he turned around, he still forced out a hypocritical smile: "Oh, isn't this Councilor Jiang? I heard you've been taking merchants to investigate investments outside the city these days. I was actually worried about you."
"You certainly should be worried about me, because you cut two-thirds of the colony's probes and satellites, which is why we were caught off guard by the rebelling natives! If it weren't for our loyal and brave Commonwealth soldiers, you wouldn't even have to see my annoying face." Councilor Jiang Yudong sneered handsomely and dashingly, outclassing the Governor in terms of aura and demeanor by more than a mile.
Then, he once again used a flash ability similar to a spiritual energy jump, appearing in front of Elinore with a "whoosh" and gripping her hand: "Thank you so much, Ms. Bonaparte. On behalf of Tulon—no, on behalf of the entire 700,000 citizens of New Yumen, I thank you!"
Elinore responded with a tight, insincere smile a couple of times, then unceremoniously pulled her hand away.
The embarrassment and indignation on Councilor Jiang's face flashed and disappeared so quickly it was almost imperceptible. He immediately strode over to Yu Lian, shaking the latter's hand with a cordial smile: "Yes, with a military talent like Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, and a rising young hero like Warrant Officer Yu Lian, we will ultimately be victorious, and indeed, we have achieved victory!"
I'm twenty-one, I just look young. Yu Lian thought.
"We will go from one victory to another! Our nation will be indestructible! Long live the great Blue Star Commonwealth!" He began to chant slogans. When others chanted slogans, it seemed fake, but when he did, it seemed genuinely passionate.
At this moment, the photographer also appeared from nowhere, snapping away with a flurry of clicks.
Indeed, besides "talent," there was no other word to describe him.
And so, Yu Lian, with a face full of admiration, Elinore, with a tight, insincere smile, the elegant and passionate Councilor Jiang Yudong, and the sweating, grief-stricken Governor, were frozen in the same frame.
Governor Yamadera dejectedly prepared to leave, but at this moment, Councilor Jiang, who had just reviewed the photos and was smiling with satisfaction, suddenly said, "By the way, I just learned from my brave Commonwealth soldiers that you actually coerced their pilots into running personal errands for you, which prevented most of the soldiers from returning in time for reinforcements. Within three days, I will persuade most of the colonial councilors to initiate an inquiry against you and report it to the Central Government. Mr. Yamadera, please make sure to attend."
As soon as Councilor Jiang uttered these words, the Governor's remaining, precious bit of momentum completely deflated. Although his physique hadn't changed, most people felt that he had visibly shriveled at a noticeable speed, and his walking movements became more unsteady.
The seven or eight Governor's Office Guardians he brought with him watched their superior walk further and further away with sorrowful eyes, some even covering their eyes. An indescribable sadness seemed to condense into a lingering dark cloud in everyone's hearts... Speaking of which, if you're so sad, why don't you hurry up and go help him!
The Guardians wiped away their tears, awkwardly smiling at Elinore and Yu Lian, and looking at Councilor Jiang Yudong, who had already put on a warm and expectant smile, as if every wrinkle on his face was overflowing with flattery.
...These are also talented people!
Yu Lian looked sympathetically at Governor Yamadera, who was now walking shakily, as if he could drop dead at any moment. For the first time in two lifetimes, he felt a bit of sympathy for him.
Meanwhile, Councilor Jiang's performance continued.
"Cheer, citizens of the Commonwealth! Cheer, our motherland! Under the command of our Lieutenant Colonel Eleanor Bonaparte, we have achieved a glorious victory! Even the large Kaitai fleet, which wanted to fish in troubled waters, fled in disarray. Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte is simply like the Maid of Orleans from the era of Mother Earth! She is the Saintess of Tulon!"
At this point, Councilor Jiang darted in front of Elinore like a gibbon, raising one of her hands, as if announcing a victory in a boxing ring.
"Click, click!" The photographer held a camera in one hand and a portable video camera in the other, snapping away furiously.
Yu Lian believed that this speech, accompanied by various pictures and news videos, would soon appear in major news outlets back home. Eleanor would naturally become famous, but wouldn't Councilor Jiang also become famous?
This was truly a talent among talents!
Eleanor didn't pull her hand away this time, because even she was amazed.
Thanks to Lord Fanyuan Qiushui for the generous reward~~~~ Ah hahaha, actually, I also see and appreciate the rewards from other Lords. As always, everyone, please do what you can afford.
By the way, today I'm once again a happy two-update beast, full of integrity.