The Guide to the End of the World: Four Sentinels Compete for Favor

In the commander's lounge on the top floor of the Blue Crystal, Andy paced back and forth anxiously in front of the sofa.

Jon hesitated several times before finally saying, "It's okay Andy, don't worry."

Andy pointed to the bedroom with a shaking hand and said in a low voice, "How can I not worry? Jon, she deliberately sent you away. Do you know what kind of deal she reached with Schnatter?"

"In just a short while, do you think Schnatter would really trust her to let her handle something of such importance?"

"Let's say that she somehow deceived Schnatter, and the two of them conspired to take down the Earth Alliance government. This is a serious crime that must be brought to a military court. How could she tell you and me so lightly?"

Jon smiled bitterly and said, "Didn't she say that she was going to use me as the scapegoat?"

"So instead of doing it behind our backs, letting us discover Schnatter's plot, report him, and ruin his plans, it's better to drag us into the pirate ship from the beginning."

"She is clearly telling us that if this thing succeeds, forget it. If it fails, who will be the unlucky one? So we should be cautious and weigh the consequences if we want to harm Schnatter."

"Andy, you have to know that it was me who found her and brought her to the Marshal's flagship. It would be easy for Schnatter to pass the blame on to me."

Andy slammed his fist on the back of the sofa and said angrily, "Damn it! I saw her arguing with Wagner and thought she was a good person. You even wanted to trade your flagship for her, but she sold you out long ago!"

"...Not necessarily." Jon murmured softly.

Andy glared at him fiercely. "I think you have been bewitched by her and lost your mind. You are being sold and still helping her count the money. Jon, you must stop contacting Ludwig, otherwise she will know their identities and our position."

Andy put his right hand together and stroked his neck, and said in a breathy voice: "We are finished."

There was the sound of a door opening and closing behind him. Before he could turn around, Jon, who was standing opposite Andy, suddenly let out a scream.

"what--!"

Andy was so frightened that he almost jumped up from the floor.

"What are you doing - ah!" Andy turned around following John's gaze and screamed as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. This time he really jumped up from the floor.

"All... all... all..." Andy pointed at Ai Wanxin, who had changed into a former Galactic Expeditionary Force general's shirt and walked out of the bedroom. The major general adjutant, who had just been able to eloquently explain the pros and cons to Jon, suddenly couldn't even speak clearly.

Ai Wanxin turned up the collar of her shirt and showed the round metal chip that Qiao En had given her to the two of them. She tilted her head and smiled, "It's perfect high-tech, isn't it?"

"Jon, Jon!" Andy turned around suddenly, wanting to ask Jon if he was dreaming, if he was dead, wasn't this the commander? Wasn't this her? !

When I turned around, I saw Jon with his back turned and his face turned away, and his broad and tall shoulders were shaking uncontrollably.

Ai Wanxin walked to a purple crystal ball that was split in half near the wall, stared at a ball of light suspended in it, and asked curiously, "What is this?"

"It's Jon's mecha computer..." Andy answered subconsciously.

"No." He looked confused and said weakly, "Can you turn that off first?"

Ai Wan was puzzled and asked, "Why? Don't you want to see this face?"

Andy's handsome eyebrows drooped and he was about to cry.

What should he say about this?

Ai Wanxin stretched out her slender index finger and poked the ball of light. A mental wave so tiny that it was almost imperceptible passed through her fingertips.

"What's wrong with it?" Ai Wanxin asked.

Andy's expression changed several times, but in the end he couldn't say anything against this face, so he whispered, "The nerve center has been destroyed."

"Why?" Ai Wanxin frowned slightly and asked.

"All the remaining rune mechas and their optical brain nerve centers were forcibly destroyed." Jon turned around, his eyes red, and said in a hoarse voice.

Ai Wanxin hesitated for a moment: "Was it destroyed by the defecting commander?"

Jon was shocked, and clenched his fists tightly, trying to suppress the trembling in his body: "Who told you that the commander-in-chief defected?"

"The Blue Pearl and Ares." Ai Wanxin said calmly, "I have them."

Jon's tense shoulders visibly collapsed. He didn't ask why, but just shook his head and said, "Ares is still young."

The implication is that Ares doesn't know the truth.

"Commander..." Jon looked at Ai Wanxin's face and said with difficulty, "She didn't defect, but died in battle on a distant star. How could she destroy the remaining rune mechas in the Galaxy Expeditionary Force?"

"It's the Parliament—"

"Jon!" Andy growled, interrupting him.

Their eyes met in mid-air, and Andy gritted his teeth and shook his head at Jon. Her position is unclear now, and you tell her like this, what if she turns around and sells you to Schnatter?

Jon was torn between his conscience and his desires. He turned around and looked into Ai Wan's eyes, which were as cold as an icy spring. That look was so familiar, as if it had penetrated all those years of pain and suffering and looked straight into his heart.

Jon recalled the moment she tried to let him go first on the Conqueror, and decided to trust his intuition.

He took a deep breath and said, "Back then, the current Speaker had just been elected and a rebellion broke out in a distant star. The Speaker and the Parliament asked the Commander-in-Chief to lead the elite troops of the Galactic Expeditionary Force in person."

"Because there was no one left alive on the battlefield, and no starship survived, the exact course of the war remains a mystery to this day."

Jon's throat seemed to be choked. He took a long time to calm down before continuing, "Of course, that's not what the parliament says."

"After a 'meticulous investigation', the parliament announced to all citizens of the Interstellar Federation that the commander was not killed in battle, but defected into the higher dimension with the elite of the Galactic Expeditionary Force, betraying the trust of the Interstellar Federation and all the citizens who loved her."

"At the same time, in order to prevent the generals of the other Knight Orders of the Galactic Expeditionary Force from mutiny, the parliament sent people to forcefully destroy the nerve centers of all rune mechas before the investigation was announced."

Jon closed his eyes and suppressed the unspeakable bitterness.

At that time, the commander and the fleet were missing, the Nebula Well, the source of energy for the Rune Mecha, exploded, and everyone was in chaos. The people sent by the Parliament only said that the Rune Mecha would be temporarily under control. He had a moment's thought and failed to save his partner who had been through life and death with him day and night. How could he have the face to mention his pain and regret now?

"What happened next?" Ai Wanxin's voice was as cold as ice.

Jon recalled that nightmarish day and said mechanically, "The Parliament announced that the Commander-in-Chief had defected, and published the results of a secret investigation into her before she 'defected'..."