I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 51 He is a real monster!

The Hardman family betrayed the Allies!

No wonder John Maslow didn't go to Bahamut, but instead came to this godforsaken village.

If the Hardman family secretly sent someone to tip them off, then everything can be explained!
The Hardman family has a history of over a hundred years in the Golden Rose Kingdom, and their ancestors even served as the Grand Seal Keeper of the Golden Rose Kingdom, making them worthy of being called descendants of loyal and virtuous officials.

But even the loyal Hardman family chose to surrender when faced with the Empire?

What benefits has the empire given you that you would even abandon the honor of your ancestors?

Does your Hardman family have no sense of honor at all?

Looking at Dick Hardman, who was bowing and scraping to John like a loyal dog, Will felt his eyes widen in fury, and intense anger surged within him.

Driven by his emotions, he subconsciously forgot his current situation.

He then uncontrollably roared at Dick in front of him:
"You scum of the Hartman family, how dare you collude with the Empire? Aren't you afraid of being burned at the stake in the future?"

"!"

Upon hearing this, Dick immediately shuddered uncontrollably.

He instinctively looked in the direction of the sound, and only then did he notice that in the center of the group of Imperial magic soldiers, an Allied major with a missing arm was kneeling on the ground.

The other person was staring at him intently, their eyes filled with resentment.

If killing intent could be transformed into arrows, Dick had no doubt that he would be riddled with arrows by Will right now.

But what unsettled him even more than the Allied major was the sight of Warrant Officer John, who was looking at him with a forced smile.

Feeling the other person's 'cold' gaze, Dick instantly realized something.

This time, I'm afraid I've fallen into the trap of this terrifying imperial demon once again!
The other party is trying to force me to take a stand!

"!"

Realizing this, Dick's clothes, which he had just changed into, were instantly soaked with cold sweat, and an unprecedented sense of despair welled up in his heart.

Yes, why didn't that devil John Maslow call himself that sooner or later?

Why did they choose to have him summoned when they were interrogating Allied prisoners?
He was clearly just a businessman on the surface, so how could he be qualified to participate in this kind of interrogation?
Isn't this clearly a deliberate attempt to reveal their hand?
Moreover, and most importantly, this Major Will was one of the baits in the assassination plan arranged by his father and Lieutenant General Roxie.

The other party had also met him before and knew his true background better.

This is compounded by John Maslow's inexplicable arrival in Stone Village.

Then, in less than two hours, the enemy swiftly annihilated the decoy force led by Major Will and captured the elite Allied army major alive.

All of this has already silently proven it.

John Maslow, did he actually know about this assassination plan all along, which is why he took these actions?

Otherwise, how could he inexplicably capture him on his inevitable path?

It can't be a coincidence, can it?

Moreover, ever since they met, the other party had been constantly probing them, and later even interrogated them about the Allied forces in the car.

Doesn't this already show that the other side was already aware of this assassination plan?
He was even somewhat smug about having survived the interrogation.

Now it seems that, given the other party's cunning, they must have already seen through the loopholes I exposed during the conversation and determined my true identity.
The reason they relented at the crucial moment and let me leave was...

Perhaps it's just because the other party enjoys manipulating their prey, wanting to fill the prey with hope, foolishly believing that they can escape.

Then, at the crucial moment, he completely extinguishes the opponent's hope so that he can enjoy the prey's desperate expression and thus satisfy his twisted desire for torture!
Otherwise, how can we explain the current situation?

How cruel, how despicable!

John Maslow, that guy.

He is simply, simply the reincarnation of Satan, the king of demons!
How could I possibly defeat such a monster among monsters?!
At that moment, Dick finally realized what was happening, and his gaze toward John was filled with unprecedented fear.

Although the other person was looking at him with 'calm' eyes at this moment.

But Dick, who had already seen through the monster's true nature, knew that this was just a facade deliberately put on by the other party.

What was truly hidden in the other person's calm eyes was a malice that wanted to drag him completely into hell.

But ironically, due to the other party's scheming, even though he knew that doing so would lead to the hellish fate of killing his own father, he was ultimately manipulated.

Dick had no choice but to agree.

Because he knew that if he didn't do it...

The demon before me will surely send all members of the Hardman family to hell out of dissatisfaction!

"Father, we were all wrong, we were all wrong! We really shouldn't have provoked this monster! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, Father!"

Dick was filled with sorrow, but feeling John's 'cold' gaze, he dared not show any of this emotion, and instead forced a smile on his face.

Faced with this intense contradiction, his expression began to falter uncontrollably, eventually transforming into an unsettling smile.

But soon, Dick, understanding the meaning from John's increasingly cold and piercing gaze, immediately knelt down before the devil without hesitation and then respectfully said:

"Respected Warrant Officer John, I, Dick Hardman, on behalf of the entire Hardman family, hereby solemnly apologize to you for the former head of the Hardman family, Micah Hardman, who secretly colluded with Roxie Sancaster, Chief of Staff of the Fifth Army of the Allied Forces, in an attempt to assassinate you."

"In return, once you have eliminated the allied forces lying in ambush in the other three villages and officially march into Bahamut, I will personally hang Micah Hardman on the walls of Bahamut to prove the Hardman family's loyalty to the Empire!"

"I dare not ask for your forgiveness, I only beg you to have mercy on me, since I have realized my mistake and turned back to the right path, and spare the young man of the Hardman family a way out. I beg you, esteemed Lord John!"

After saying this, Dick, seemingly unable to suppress the fear and sorrow in his heart any longer, immediately kowtowed to John with all his might.

For a moment, the only sound in the tent was the dull thud of Dick banging his head against the ground.

"..."

At that moment, the atmosphere inside the tent suddenly fell silent.

Seeing Dick humbly pleading and kowtowing repeatedly, Will, kneeling on the ground, instinctively widened his eyes.

Clearly, he hadn't anticipated that Dick would make such a decision.

After all, the heinous act of patricide is despicable in any country and would be condemned by countless people.

However, under pressure from John Maslow, the other party still made this choice!

Could it be that John Maslow was someone even more terrifying than the devil in his eyes? If Dick didn't prove, through patricide, that the rest of the Hardman family were misled by Baron Micah and completely unaware of this assassination plot...

So John Maslow would then take action against the entire Hardman family.
This is just too absurd...

No, that's not right. If it's this guy, the other party would probably do that!

After all, hadn't the other side just ignored the prisoner's treaty and forced the soldiers to smash their own teeth?

Clearly, John Maslow is a monster who doesn't play by the rules!

Trying to analyze someone else's self using normal methods is probably the mark of a complete idiot!

Thinking of this, Will suddenly felt an unprecedented chill.

Watching Dick openly declare his patricide and then kowtow repeatedly for forgiveness like a stray dog.

At that moment, Will realized something profound.

I underestimated this rookie commander of the Empire, who was so deigned to set up an assassination plan to kill him by the renowned Lieutenant General Roxie!

The other party is not only exceptionally cunning, but also incredibly ruthless in their actions!
Even Dormammu, the white-haired demon general of the Empire known for his cruelty, was nothing more than a greenhorn in front of John Maslow, this monster.

After all, Dormammu's cruelty was limited to his treatment of war.

The other side would never dare to so blatantly trample on the laws of war!
Because once he did that, even the empire couldn't save his life!

But John Maslow was a complete madman who didn't care about anything!

If I continue to hold my tongue and refuse to reveal the information, just like before...

Then, I'm afraid my head will roll in less than three minutes, right?

Even their own families might be affected!
After all, since the Empire's agents had already infiltrated the Allied forces, even the Hardman family, who had been loyal to the Golden Rose Kingdom for nearly five hundred years, could be turned against them under their manipulation.

If John Maslow really wanted revenge, it probably wouldn't take more than a few minutes for that mysterious agent to find out all his family information and then send out a professional assassin to carry out the assassination.
No, no, that must not happen!
Everything else is fine, but I absolutely do not want my family to be killed by Imperial agents because of this!
Surrender, yes, I must surrender as soon as possible!

And it cannot be just a verbal surrender; I must personally lead these demons to capture the other three forces!
Only in this way can I satisfy this demon and completely dispel this monster's desire for revenge!
At that moment, Will suddenly understood everything.

Even though this was the behavior he found most despicable as a former soldier of the Kingdom of Victoria.

He once firmly believed that even if he were subjected to countless tortures by the enemy, he would not utter a single word of information related to his own side.

But it wasn't until this moment that he realized he was standing before the terrifying gates of hell.

Will realized that he, who had always considered himself a tough guy, was actually...

When faced with a price more terrifying than death, one can uncontrollably become a coward.

But he knew it wasn't his fault.

This was because he was facing a monster who combined wisdom and cruelty to the extreme, far exceeding the limits of what humans could handle. Even Lieutenant General Roxie, who was known for his perfect strategy, might not have a chance of winning.

Will sighed in despair, then his eyes gradually softened with relief.

……

No, what the hell is going on?
John was completely bewildered when he saw Dick suddenly utter a declaration of patricide and then bow down to him.

He was initially bewildered, then astonished, and finally filled with disbelief.

Because he had by then figured out the ins and outs and roughly understood the situation:

So, this guy's real name is Dick Hardman, not some so-called Reddick.

Furthermore, he himself was not an Allied military funding transport officer, but a genuine local.

The reason he disguised himself as a merchant when he went out and carried so much gold was because...

The reason was simply to escape this town that had been occupied by the empire?
Meanwhile, he himself had inadvertently captured the other party.

And unintentionally, he disrupted the plan secretly agreed upon by Roxie, who was known as the Morning Star, and Baron Micah, to assassinate him.
"No way, this is too much of a coincidence! It's like a dream come true!"

Realizing this, John felt as if he had used all his strength to bite into a Shandong pancake, and as a result, he hit the back of his head on the wall with too much force, and his head was instantly buzzing.

For a moment, the brain briefly lost its ability to think.

He stared blankly at Dick, who was kowtowing repeatedly to him, trying to show his loyalty.

It took John a long time to recover from this astonishing news.

There was no time to grieve over his shattered dream of getting rich.

After realizing that Will's real purpose in leading his troops to infiltrate Stone Village was to assassinate him, John couldn't help but feel a sense of lingering fear.

To be honest, he really didn't expect that he, who was just a novice commander, could actually catch Roxie's eye.

Although he has disrupted the Allied plans twice due to unforeseen circumstances.

But based on his understanding of Roxina's arrogant personality, under normal circumstances, the other party shouldn't have attacked him at this time.

After all, as a prodigy who rose to fame at a young age in the game's lore, Roxie's arrogance is enough to rank first in this world.

After discovering a talent qualified to compete with her, she waits for that person to become a player, and then, on the battlefield, she uses her wisdom to defeat the opponent fair and square.

This is more like Roxie's style.

But why did they make an exception this time?

She even used this assassination method, which she despised and scorned most in the game.

Is there some unexpected situation?
Or was it someone else who actually issued this order?
At this moment, John couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Before he could figure out whether all of this was an accidental act of his own, a change brought about by the butterfly effect, or whether this assassination attempt was just a test by Roxie.

The next second, Will's voice entered his ears:

“Warrant Lieutenant John, I am willing to lead the great Imperial Army and help you eliminate the Allied forces hiding in the remaining three villages.”

"However, I need—no, I beg you—I hope you can grant me one request!"

……

I'm posting 4,000 words today. I had too much fun over the weekend and didn't get enough rest, so I'll just post one today to take a break. I'll post two tomorrow.
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(End of this chapter)