143: Chapter 143 Oath-taking Ceremony and Command of Generals: The Power of Life and Death (1)

The Sin Battalion's phalanx was on the far left of the drill ground, the position of the left flank—the lowest-ranked battalion.

The spot where they stood was the furthest from the Generals Review Platform—so far that the faces of the people on the platform could only be seen as outlines.

However, the phalanx stood very straight—Commander Cai stood on the far right of the first row, the old scar on his face looking longer in the morning light than it did inside the tent.

Behind him were two thousand seven hundred men who had an extra stain on their military records.

Lu Changyuan stood in a position slightly to the right of the front of the drill ground—the position of the Logistics Supervision Department.

This spot was nearly twice as close to the Generals Review Platform as the left flank.

Standing next to him was Lu Hu—Lu Hu had returned from the Pier and was standing one step behind and to the left of him.

As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Lu Hu's feet pressed more heavily into the hard iron-sand ground than they had yesterday—the pale blue crystal in his Dantian, in its repulsion with the spiritual energy of the ground, made his entire being appear a notch steadier than yesterday.

Commander Tie Zhan sat on an iron chair in the very center of the Generals Review Platform.

Commander Tie Zhan was wearing a suit of battle armor today—heavy armor of dark gold.

The plates were nearly twice as thick as standard cavalry armor, and the density of the Array Patterns on the surface of the armor was three times that of ordinary armor.

There was no reflection on the surface of the plates—the dark gold did not reflect in the morning light; instead, it absorbed the surrounding light.

A sword hung at his waist—the hilt was wrapped in a layer of old leather cord that had been polished until it shone.

The sword was not drawn. His hand rested on the hilt.

Sitting to Commander Tie Zhan's left were the fortress's other two Vice Commanders—one was Vice Commander Zhou in charge of logistics, and the other was Vice Commander Zheng in charge of military law.

Sitting to Commander Tie Zhan's right was the fortress's Right Commander, Li Feng.

Li Feng was wearing a dark cyan battle robe—the collar and cuffs of the robe each had a trim of dark silver.

His face was long and thin—his cheekbones were not high, but his jawline was very hard.

His posture while sitting on the iron chair showed nothing unusual—his back was straight, and his hands rested on his knees.

But his fingers were tapping lightly on his knees—the rhythm of the tapping was different from the lingering echoes of the war drums.

The war drums paused every three beats—he was tapping in fours.

Commander Tie Zhan stood up. The moment he rose, his armor plates emitted a very brief metallic clash—the dark gold Array Patterns between the plates lit up simultaneously as he stood.

He walked to the front of the iron desk—standing at the very edge of the Generals Review Platform, he moved his hand from the hilt and pressed it onto the surface of the iron desk.

"Before the army sets out, this general intends to settle an account."

All sound on the drill ground ceased after this sentence.

The soldiers in the Vanguard Battalion in the front row, who had been secretly grinding the iron sand with their toes, stopped moving their feet.

The noisy chatter of the Logistics Battalion in the back, which had originally been like a layer of irrepressible buzzing background noise, was cut off the moment Commander Tie Zhan spoke.

Everyone's gaze converged simultaneously on the center of the Generals Review Platform. In the drill ground of over a hundred thousand people, all that remained was the faint whimpering sound of the sea breeze passing through the Array Pattern flagpoles.

Commander Tie Zhan picked up a Storage Pouch from the iron desk. He opened the mouth of the pouch and took out a Jade Slip.

A faint, dark red spiritual glow floated on the surface of the Jade Slip—it was a sealed secret order Jade Slip; when unsealed again, the sealing Array Pattern would leave a fleeting circle of red residual light on the surface of the Jade Slip.

He raised the Jade Slip to a height where everyone could see it.

"Vice Commander of the Military Supplies Coordination Department—Vice Commander Han Yi. Wartime material transfer order."

Commander Tie Zhan turned the Jade Slip over—a very clear seal was revealed on the back of the Jade Slip.

The character "Han" on the seal glowed with a dark red hue in the morning light.

"This transfer order was issued eight times for release without inspection. Each time, the materials released without inspection did not enter the military warehouse.

Seven batches of military supplies—grain, armor plates, spirit cannon parts, and Array Pattern consumables—all flowed into the private warehouses of East District 3."

The other two Vice Commanders on either side of the iron desk turned their heads simultaneously, looking in the direction of Vice Commander Han Yi.

Vice Commander Han Yi stood at the very front of the Unified Coordination Department's phalanx on the right side of the drill ground.

He was wearing a dark cyan official robe of the Logistics Department—a dark red badge was pinned to his collar.

The Unified Coordination Department emblem on the badge dimmed in the morning light—the light was blocked by a cloud, and the color of the badge changed from dark red to nearly black.

Vice Commander Han Yi's mouth opened. The corners of his mouth pulled outward slightly the moment he opened his mouth—the other muscles on his face pulled the corners of his mouth open the instant they froze.

He wanted to take a step forward—but his heel had just lifted before it dropped back down.

The two black-armored soldiers standing on his left and right behind him simultaneously pushed their sword hilts outward by half an inch.

They were Commander Tie Zhan's men—they had been standing behind Vice Commander Han Yi since the Mao hour this morning.

"Vice Commander Han Yi—your secret order only bears your own seal. The value of those seven batches of military supplies is enough for you to die seven times over."

Commander Tie Zhan placed the Jade Slip on the iron desk. The Jade Slip hit the iron desk with a very crisp sound—the bluestone bricks reinforced with Array Patterns caused the crisp sound of the Jade Slip's impact to spread out from the Generals Review Platform in several waves.

"Take him."

The two black-armored soldiers twisted Vice Commander Han Yi's two arms from behind—the moment they twisted, they released a very short burst of Spiritual Pressure.

The Spiritual Pressure of a Golden Core Early Stage cultivator—Vice Commander Han Yi's body was squeezed from both sides by the Spiritual Pressure, and his spine bent two inches the moment it was compressed by the pressure.

His head lowered—he did not struggle. The expression on his face changed from stiff to empty the moment his arms were twisted—an emptiness that came from letting go of all facial muscle tension after knowing what would happen next.

Over a hundred thousand people on the drill ground gasped simultaneously.

Commander Tie Zhan moved his hand away from the iron desk. He picked up a second item from the iron desk—Warehouse Chief Cui's confession Jade Slip.

The confession Jade Slip was new—there was no sealing Array Pattern on the surface of the Jade Slip, but a dark red military seal was pressed at the bottom of the Jade Slip. The military seal belonged to the Military Law Department—bearing the Military Law Department's seal meant the confession had already been filed with the Military Law Department.

"Warehouse Chief Cui—warehouse manager at the Unified Coordination Department Pier. He personally handled all eight shipments. The Military Law Department recorded his confession—seven pages in total. Every page mentions the same name."

Commander Tie Zhan placed the confession Jade Slip next to the first Jade Slip. "Vice Commander Han Yi has already confessed. The seven batches of military supplies—the contact persons were three trusted aides under Right Commander Li Feng: Vanguard Grain Officer Li Chuan of the Vanguard Battalion, Right Flank Troop Dispatcher He Zhengyuan, and Left Flank Warehouse Chief Zheng Bo of the Military Supplies Coordination Department."

In the Vanguard Battalion phalanx in the front row of the drill ground—Vanguard Grain Officer Li Chuan's face turned an extremely unnatural grayish-white in the daylight.

He stood in the fourth position from the left in the first row of the Vanguard Battalion—the people next to him each took half a step back the moment his face changed color.

He reached out to touch the sword at his waist—just as his hand touched the hilt, two hands behind him simultaneously clamped onto his wrists.

They were Commander Tie Zhan's Central Army guards—the guards in black armor had been standing behind Vanguard Grain Officer Li Chuan since the Zi hour last night. They had put on the Vanguard Battalion's armor—but the spiritual patterns beneath the plates were black.