Chapter 435: a strange new year

The day after the end of the war was New year's day.

The Mocan republic celebrated the new year like always, but the atmosphere in the country was strange and oppressive compared to recent years. It was like they committed an abomination.

About wars, it was only normal for civilians of any country to hate it. Too bad that they were not the ones in the decision-making brass, the President of the country and the military Commanders were the ones in charge.

Though during the war period news from Sparta was cut off from the whole world and only optimistic news of the Mocan army winning was sent back, most Mocan civilians could still imagine the brutality.

Throughout the years, the Spartan republic hardly ever takes the initiative to invade but there are rare examples where they did.

Those that lived in that period knew how it was, so they didn’t want to see such a thing happening again.

Only the true lunatics who craved violence enjoyed the repeated aggressive invasions of the country and the unstopping wars.

Throughout the war, the territory of the Mocan republic suffered no damage but despite this most of the civilians suffered psychological damage of various degrees.

You kill by the sword, you’ll die by the sword. The psychological burden weighed on them so much that the normal celebratory mood of New years could no longer be found in the country.

When the news came that their originally winning army was suddenly defeated pathetically and were retreating, they feared for the worse.

They feared that the Spartans would retaliate, they feared that the invasion target would be reversed and they would suffer the same fate.

This and a lot of other reasons were why this year’s New year celebrations were subdued and oppressive. No official announcement was given by the President yet, so they could only wait anxiously in the dark.

…

In a secret underground shelter that was hidden and heavily fortified.

Commander Ash and Commander Naga walked into the underground base. The latter was weak but could still walk properly, but Commander Ash had an extremely weak aura.

Walking was now a chore for him. His face was extremely pale like all blood was drained from him, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hands shook like he was a dementia patient.

The original imposing aura that was universal of every 5th rank high-grade soldier could no longer be detected in him, he was like a precious stone that strangely lost its luster.

As he walked, he wavered just like a life free-falling in early autumn with nothing to direct nor support its descent.

Despite all these that happened to him, he didn’t say a word as he walked silently with his companion down the underground base.

A few minutes later, they got to the door that was at the deepest part of the underground shelter.

Commander Naga took a step forward and knocked. After verifying their identities again, they finally entered.

This time, the 2 esteemed guests inside did not allow them to greet which was normal before they asked.

“Commanders, tell me what happened, our connection was cut off”.

The ex-President of the Mocan republic was anxious to ask even more targeted questions, but he forced himself to be patient and listen as the current acting President already asked.

Commander Naga gave a look at her companion before answering. “This is what happened…”

After everything was recounted, the 2 Presidents were speechless.

“Leonidas is still injured but he’s that strong? Uniqueness? What’s Uniqueness? Golden energy special ability, what’s that?”

Commander Naga did not answer the question, instead, Commander Ash finally spoke. “The situation summarizes that with Leonidas, even though he’s injured, there’s nothing we can do about Sparta”.

“Our losses this time is a simple example of what we are liable to lose if we decide to engage in even more impulsive attacks”.

“I don’t know how much I have to stay in seclusion to recover from my current injuries, I think that is enough to tell you how terrifying the present Leonidas is”.

“If you guys push your luck, I have no doubts that he is capable of singlehandedly invading our country to return with the both of your heads”.

Feeling the President's glare at him, he did not flinch. “This is not treason, this is simply a fact I’m stating for the both of you to safeguard your lives if you love it”.

“For the term Uniqueness, us telling civilians like you about it is already breaching the confidential rules set by the big 5”.

“If you are not scared of attracting the big 5’s ire, you can research it yourselves. It is a term related to a huge secret of high-grade soldiers”.

“My advice to you both, Mr. President, is that you temper your curiosity”.

“In summary, the main point in our report is that the Mocan republic no longer has the military force to invade Sparta without suffering staggering losses that will set us back for decades”.

Without waiting for the 2 Presidents to speak, Commander Ash staggered and turned around. Then he left with Commander Naga.

For a long time after they left, the 2 Presidents sat thinking over the information that was just revealed to them.

“Does those brats mean Sparta is uninvadable?” The ex-president gritted his teeth and asked angrily.

The acting President only gave him a silent glance, then he also stood up and left the hall.

Then, silence descended.

…

Up in the skies of the Spartan republic hovered a lone warship.

At the deepest parts of this warship, in the main operation room stood a man dressed in a black mysterious robe as he watched his subordinates operating the enormous A. I of the warship.

This man had a blue clown-faced mask on, this mask was always on his face so few people knew his real face.

At this moment, with a calm face, the computer geek subordinate below made some alterations and this room suddenly turned into a virtual kingdom.

A few minutes later, virtual faces popped up around the room.

“Leader”. All the virtual masked faces bowed and greeted respectfully.

The man who stood in the room was referred to by the people who knew him more as Masked John, he was the current leader of the Persian tigers organization.

Without wasting time, he directly went to the point. His voice was deep with a tinge of mysteriousness in it. “You all watched the war, you all saw Leonidas’s state despite his injury”.

“This was the reason why I disagreed with the plan of us participating in this war, selling information to watch both parties kill themselves was the best decision”.

He paused for a moment before continuing. “Leonidas already grasped his uniqueness, this means that his indecisive mentor will finally be forced to make a decision”.

“If I’m not wrong, hard days are coming for us ahead”.

“My order is- Minimize appearances in the country and try as much as possible to reduce our influence until the bad tides die down”.

“Understood, leader”.

As soon as all the virtual projections disappeared, the man’s deep eyes grew deeper inside the mask as his lips slowly curled up.

“Leonidas…”