Counterattack [Interstellar] - Chapter 12

“Do you truly think that without you, I would have no way to resolve this mess?!” Austin’s gaze was dark, his voice chillingly cold. “Or perhaps you believe my temperament has changed, and I will tolerate your behavior time and time again?”

The banquet was drawing to a close. Alan watched the fireworks filling the sky outside the window, his expression nonchalant. “No… You could certainly have resolved this minor crisis on your own. You called me back simply because you wanted to handle the matter more elegantly. Please rest assured, I am well aware that in your heart, I have always occupied an expendable position.”

Austin let out a series of cold sneers. “So you do know why I summoned you back. Then how exactly have you fulfilled my expectations?” The more Austin thought about what had just occurred, the more he found it impossible to suppress his rage. Finally, he erupted, “Who gave you permission to overstep?! Anthony hasn’t even said a word, yet you decide to improvise so boldly! Even if you wanted to establish some new Guide Academy, why didn’t you discuss it with me first?! To announce it directly without notifying anyone—how am I supposed to explain this to the Parliament?!”

“That is your concern.” The smile vanished from Alan’s face, replaced by a cold tone. “Your Majesty, you have always known that I cannot be your puppet. When you summoned me back, you should have been mentally prepared for this, shouldn’t you?”

Austin closed his eyes. Indeed… he had anticipated this. However, he had desperately needed a target to successfully divert public attention. Furthermore, he had suspected that Alan was the mastermind behind the recent scandal; keeping Alan under his own eyes felt safer. But he never imagined that this Guide son, whom he had kept under house arrest for ten years, could stir up such a massive storm!

“I was prepared, but there are limits.” Austin had reached the end of his tether with Alan’s constant challenges to his authority. His tone turned somber. “Alan… I could place you under house arrest for ten years before, and I can keep you confined for a lifetime hereafter. Do not test my patience.”

To his surprise, Alan showed no fear upon hearing this. Instead, he burst into laughter. “Your Majesty, are you threatening me?”

Alan sneered mockingly. “If I were to listen obediently, would you refrain from placing me under house arrest again in the future? Even if you wouldn’t, what about Anthony? Once he resolves his own crisis, won’t he immediately start burning bridges to deal with a ‘big trouble’ like me? By then, simple house arrest would likely be a mercy, wouldn’t it?”

Alan looked at Austin with a cold smirk. “Your Majesty, if you could put yourself in my shoes, you would understand. My mother, the crown, military power… I already have nothing left. What is there to fear? Anything placed before me now is a gain if I can grasp it. Why should I not fight? Why should I not snatch it?”

Austin was so enraged he ground his teeth, roaring, “What do you mean ‘snatch’? Everything you have can only be given to you by me! What I give you is yours!”

“Say whatever you like. Or I can put it another way: I can make it so you have to give these things to me.” Alan curled his lips in a provocative smile. “Take today, for example. You were clearly present, clearly unwilling, and yet you could only nod and smile, could you not?!”

“You insolent—!”

Austin’s lion pounced toward Alan like a gust of wind. Alan immediately summoned his Taipan snake. The snake reared its head high; though its strength was insufficient to repel the giant lion, it showed no hint of fear, confronting the beast without yielding an inch. After several minutes, Austin’s anger subsided, and he calmed his lion.

Austin exhaled a long sigh. Alan was right; he had nothing left and therefore had no reservations. Clashing with him was merely a way to aggravate oneself. Austin rubbed his Quantum Beast’s head, comforting it—and himself. Forget it, let it go.

“The establishment of the new Guide Academy was not a spur-of-the-moment whim.” Seeing that Austin’s anger had passed, Alan moved on to official business. “This was something Queen Mary Ann had envisioned before. She had experts perform analyses, and after several revisions, it has great feasibility. I simply expanded on that foundation using my own firsthand experiences.”

Hearing this, Austin scoffed. “Your ‘firsthand experiences’? What, do you plan to educate all the Empire’s Guides to be as vicious as you?!”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Alan bowed with a smile and continued, “Not entirely. After all, not all Guides have offensive Quantum Beasts. However, I will indeed add similar courses, such as how to establish one’s own mental barrier so they can successfully block those Sentinels who are perpetually in heat when they don’t wish to be disturbed. Or, for example, how to proficiently use one’s mental power in combat, rather than merely serving as an auxiliary for a Sentinel.”

Austin’s brow furrowed. “Unnecessary! A Guide’s physical condition is no different from a commoner’s; they have no advantage in actual combat.”

“Which is why we must improve their abilities in that regard. When gifted individuals first appeared, a Guide’s combat capability was much stronger than it is now.” Alan paused. “Though Grandfather Bark hopes I won’t mention that word again, I must say… a Guide’s abilities are regressing. This regression is the result of years of human domestication. Today’s conflict has existed for a long time. Truthfully, Anthony is just unlucky… his only mistake was being the one to light the fuse on this powder keg.”

Austin fell into deep thought. After a long silence, he said, “Organize the differences between the new academy and the White Tower. I will need to discuss this with the Parliament.”

This was as good as a tacit approval. The weight on Alan’s heart lifted, and he nodded with a smile. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Having said all that needed to be said, Alan bowed to take his leave. As he reached the door, Austin suddenly spoke. “Alan… if you had discussed this with me calmly before, I might not have disagreed.”

Alan turned around. Austin narrowed his eyes. “You understand all this, yet you still chose such an aggressive method… was it solely to retaliate for my previous deceptions? Do you really insist on having Pei Yao?”

Alan lowered his head with a smile and nodded. “Yes.”

Austin raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, Alan sneered, “So… if anything else happens to Pei Yao, please be prepared to accept my frantic retaliation.”

Alan offered a perfunctory military salute and turned to exit the study.

Alan was not afraid to show his hand to Austin. While Austin had a volatile temper, his mind was more meticulous than anyone’s, and much of what Alan did could not escape his eyes. By this point, if Alan had claimed he didn’t care about Pei Yao just to protect him, it would have been laughable. Since he couldn’t hide it, he might as well make it clear: he liked Pei Yao, he wanted him by his side, and he would not permit anyone to touch him.

After this encounter, Austin surely understood Alan’s resolve—his willingness to seek mutual destruction just for the sake of revenge. As long as Austin remained wary of him, Pei Yao would be safe. As for Anthony… unless Austin had gone mad, he likely wouldn’t go out of his way to tell his eldest son how much Alan valued Pei Yao. At this juncture, Austin wanted to avoid stirring up trouble more than anyone.

“Your Highness.” The Etiquette Officer, who had been waiting outside the study for a long time, bowed slightly and whispered, “According to your instructions, after you went up, I sent people to bring Major General Pei Yao to the lounge. The Crown Prince came looking for the Major General several times, but our people intercepted him.”

Alan smiled. “Well done. Anthony must be suspecting that Pei Yao was in league with me all along; he’s likely fuming and looking to demand an explanation. Pei Yao is a man of few words; he would surely suffer if he faced Anthony right now.”

The officer smiled. “The Major General will surely be grateful for Your Highness’s thoughtfulness.”

Thinking of that “block of wood,” Alan laughed in spite of himself. “I hope so.”

“And now?” The officer hesitated. “We can’t keep Major General Pei Yao forever. The banquet is about to end; the Major General will likely be intercepted by the Crown Prince the moment he leaves the Summer Palace.”

“He won’t.” Alan gave a cunning smile. “There are still many details regarding the creation of the new Guide Academy that need to be discussed with Principal Pei Yao. For the sake of convenient discussion, I’ve invited Major General Pei Yao to stay at my palace for the time being. Make the preparations; he will be leaving with me shortly.