Chapter 161: preparations for the rank promotion ceremony

Clark’s meeting with Captain Daniel was done in a jiffy. It only required a minute, as they didn’t have much to discuss.

The Captain first asked him about how he fared alone in the sea and his encounters. After going deep around the bush, he finally showed why he called for him, he just wanted to satisfy his curiosity about the recent sea disaster as he was sure that it was connected to the Spartan fleet somehow.

In the end, he couldn’t know much, as his clearance level and authority were not enough to know what happened in the sea expedition mission. This mission was graded as highly classified information.

He did not press for it. He just sighed, feeling that it was a pity. As a high-grade soldier, he understood the rules clearly and he was not going to break them just to satisfy his curiosity.

After learning about the little information that Clark could savage and tell him, he finally gave a gift to him as his former leader.

He knew that Clark was leaving his military division 100%, there was no bargaining in it, so he wanted to just use this as a bridge to maintain a good relationship with him.

As Clark’s figure slowly disappeared from his view, he sighed in a melancholic manner. This was a soldier who he was already on the verge of giving a promotion. Why were his demands so much at that time, he felt frustrated at his stubborn self.

And who thought that this soldier would suddenly leave and run to the Mocan republic, then the Mediterranean Sea. “What an unstable maniac?” He cursed softly.

Now, he no longer had the opportunity to give the promotion, nor retain him. The Spartan army will retain and steal all the credit.

He was not blind. Just like the others, he could see the strength that this small soldier of yesterday now wielded.

He was not even confident that he would win all 5 times if they fought in a duel 5 times. That was how outrageously high of an evaluation he gave Clark, and he was not exaggerating.

Though his relationship with his subordinate soldiers was always cold. He hoped that with this gift, they would be a little closer. No one disliked making friends with influential people.

…

As Clark left, he was completely speechless from the gift that his Captain gave him. Though he appreciated the kind gesture, giving a hundred thousand Spartan credits cheque to him at his current status was not really nice.

If the Captain even used the money to buy a special gift for him, it would have been much better than giving him the money directly.

At his current status, 100,000 Spartan credits were not worth much again. And his leader being a Captain, his status was even higher, so such an amount of money was even more worthless.

The situation was just like you’re a billionaire. You want to be friends with your subordinate who just gained a fortune, and you try it by giving him a gift worth 100 dollars when you’re a billionaire.

It did not feel nice at all even if it was sincerely from your heart, that was the current situation.

“No wonder he is still without a wife, such stinginess is definitely legendary”. Clark muttered with a chuckle, as he quickly arrived back at his apartment.

He was happy, as in this short time though they were not conversing like friends yet, Emily and her sister were already communicating with his male friends freely.

A rather weird expression came over his face when his implant notified him of the unnaturally excited state which Leo was in when conversing with Kate. His eyes twitched a bit, as he could not help but blush on behalf of his friend.

“What a waste”. He cursed under his breath.

After arranging his things and doing some other miscellaneous tasks, he finally proceeded to take the sisters away to his ancestral home. They could not stay with him in his military apartment, it was against the law.

After the girls went outside to wait for him in the car, this was when he finally asked his friends about a sensitive question. Where was Sonia?

When he heard about what happened to her family, and that her status and that of her brother were unknown, he was completely shocked. He never expected such a big bomb to drop from nowhere, immediately after he returned.

As the news of what happened to the Calibri family was not hidden, the whole world knew of the fall of the great business tycoon.

Though he felt a wave of shock and depression overwhelm him, he still left the room as he could not just leave the girls waiting.

On seeing him, Emily noticed his change of demeanor immediately and inquired about it.

He just answered vaguely while still in a daze, before asking his car to take them to Vatican City on autopilot. He gave an excuse that he wanted to rest, before closing his eyes to lean on the chair he sat to internalize what he just learned.

Though he never really talked much about her with his friends when he was in the sea, that was because his living was not guaranteed then yet. There was never a second where he did not think of Sonia.

She was the only girl that completely stole his heart. She was the only girl that could make him smile even when he was bleeding. She was the only girl that he could see even while sleeping, though he knew he was not dreaming. Saying that she was his everything was not wrong.

He felt devastated on hearing this news. Where was she currently? Was she in any danger? Was she suffering? Was she even still alive?

The ominous questions plaguing his mind became too much, as he quickly demarcated the car into 2 sides to get private space for himself to think. This news completely wreaked his happy mood.

On seeing this, Kate was surprised while Emily got worried, as Clark behaving like this meant something was terribly wrong.

During their short stay with Leo and the others when Clark met with his Captain, they already exchanged contact details with them. Emily quickly contacted Leo through her implant to inquire about what happened.

After learning about what happened, she finally understood. She felt sorry for him, while at the same time feeling sorry for herself as Clark’s current behavior meant that the Sonia girl left no place in his heart to accommodate another girl.

She quickly told her sister, so that she could mind how she talked to him later when they arrive at their destination.

Kate was stunned on hearing the news. This man that was so harsh to her with words, could actually have such deep emotions for a girl. She could not understand him at all, what an eccentric man.

After another 2 hours of plying the road, they finally arrived at Vatican City. This was when Clark finally came out of his isolation, his mood already returned to normal.

The 2 girls looked at him cautiously, as the depressed expression already left his face, but they still kept quiet.

On seeing this, Clark knew that they already learned what happened from Leo and the others. He secretly cursed Leo, as he suspected him as the most likely mastermind.

He finally turned to face the 2 sisters to chat with them normally again. After thinking about it through, though he was depressed, he did not want his depression to affect his friends, so he decided that it was better to control himself.

He first took them to his adoptive mom’s restaurant, eat with delight, where he introduced them to her.

As they would be staying in the same area, he found it nice to introduce them to each other. After this, he finally took them to his ancestral home. His home A. I already prepared food through the foodstuffs he ordered online on the way here, so they ate to their fill.

This was when he finally asked the most important question.

“Emily, Kate…, what would you guys like to do during your stay here in the Spartan republic? I don’t advise being idle, doing something is a better way to spend your time”.

“Emily, if you want, I can work it out and you’ll be enlisted into the Spartan military. I’m confident that with my current rank, it can be done in a maximum of 2 months”.

“Oh, about that. I already thought it through during the way here. Clark, I don’t think I want to serve under a country’s military again, I want to be independent now”. Emily finally replied after a short moment of thought.

“Thanks for the concern Clark, but I think I’ll be like Arthur this time. I want to be a mercenary, I’m tired of being a soldier”.

“Ok, that’s good too”. Clark finally replied with a slight smile on his face, before turning to face her sister. “Kate, what of you?”

“Umm…, I think I’ll like to work in that Python something military division where your friends were”. She finally said with a faint blush creeping up her face, after hesitating for a second.

Seeing this, Clark nodded with a smile that was not a smile. He said it, just like him and Benny, Leo also grew up. But this piece of shit improved on his flirting skills, instead of something more important.

With this thought flowing through his mind, he was able to let go of the depressed mood a bit as he started fleshing out the sisters' plans with them.

After doing all these, he finally stood up to go. He promised Kate that Captain Daniel would get to her in a month, a qualified doctor like her was not an everyday resource. She was valuable in her own right.

He left under the waves of the 2 sisters. He still had a lot of things to do to enable his smooth integration into the Spartan army, which needed his time.

And two days from now, which is on Thursday, would be his and Captain Oxford’s rank promotion ceremony in the headquarters of the Spartan army, in Northern Sparta.

The ceremony would be very big and grand, so he had a lot in his hands to take care of. He promised the sisters that his car would come to take them to the venue, before the day.

He could only put the thought of Sonia’s situation at the corner of his mind first, as the things pending that required his attention were much.

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