Chapter 195: facing the world with a calm face

Seeing the always calm General Oxford with an unsightly expression on his face, Clark sighed as he could already see the progress bar of his chances of rejecting the mission dwindling rapidly.

General Oxford finally forced himself to calm down a little, when he noticed Clark’s stare. He sighed, turned to glare at the middle-aged Captain who shrugged innocently in reply, before speaking out.

“Captain, you better remember this day. Today, you succeeded in getting yourself an enemy”.

“With all due respect, General, I already explained to you. The circumstances behind this mission are beyond mine or your jurisdiction, the higher-ups are the only ones calling the shots this time”.

General Oxford suppressed his irritation on hearing this, ignored the Captain before turning to face Clark.

“Clark…, follow me. I don’t think you have a problem with that, right, Captain Cinnabar?”

“No problem, General”.

With that, the problem was solved as Clark walked quietly after General Oxford. The General did not waste time, leading him directly to a side compartment of the large hall.

Bam!! The compartment’s door was quickly shut, barring any mischievous ear that intended to listen to what they were saying.

“Good morning, General Oxford”. Clark finally had time to greet his superior properly, while complementing it with a salute.

“Clark, stop those trivialities, we are already past that level. I’m sorry for yesterday, I saw your missed calls, but I couldn’t call back because I was very busy throughout”.

“I discovered this plot against you yesterday, and I immediately went into action. That General Maks Vincent from your region also helped me, and we both confronted the army, but the result was not favorable”.

“I don’t know how it came about, but opposition came and suppressed all our queries from nowhere”.

“Clark, you shouldn’t have confronted them directly in your press conference. Countless brave soldiers did before you, and they are now history. These hidden individuals, your current self cannot comprehend their power”.

“I’m sorry, I tried my best, but it could not be changed, it's already decided. You’re going for the mission, and nothing can stop it. Not even the President, his hands are tied”.

“Though I know that this is injustice on your part, you have to bear it. That’s the circumstances that every rising soldier faces, there are always obstacles”.

“I don’t want you to be too pessimistic though, because this is not a direct death sentence, at least you have a chance. Because of how persistently I pushed for you to be dropped out of the mission, I had the privilege to speak personally with Commander Rashford”.

“According to him, he was the one who issued this mission. He told me to inform you that though this was unexpected, see it as an opportunity rather than a death sentence”.

“The frontiers are the most dangerous places in the world, but so also are they filled with opportunities. None of the Spartan legends today didn’t pass through problems like the one you’re facing today”.

“They forged their legend through blood, sweat, and unfavorable circumstances. It was never a workover, it was never beans but thorns and thistles”.

“One of the advantages you have in this mission is that you’re still a 2nd rank high-grade soldier, but you can already survive an ordinary 3rd rank high-grade soldier’s assault”.

“This is a great advantage for you, as this mission is secret. Because the republic doesn’t want to alert our rivals, only five 3rd rank high-grade soldiers are being released for the mission”.

“Any other, and our rivals would be alerted. The others are 2nd rank high-grade soldiers, 1st rank, and normal soldiers. You having such strength in your rank is a blessing, it means that you will have more survival chances in the mission”.

“I don’t want you to die, Clark, survive, return stronger, and prove the bastards who set this up wrong. Show them that you’re in control, you’re in charge”.

“That’s all I want to say to you today, the rest is up to you. You’ll know more about the mission when you converge with the others for the briefing. Prepare yourself, because you’re leaving tomorrow”.

“Thank you General, for standing and fighting on my behalf”.

Clark finally spoke out after thinking of all the information that was just dumped at him. Despite being mentally prepared, he still felt bad knowing that there was nothing that he could do to stop this.

Like the flash, his life that was slowly just returning to normal was about to zoom back to chaos, trouble, and struggling. Adventure is good, but too much adventure is bad.

Despite how ineffective it was, he was still extremely grateful for the help rendered by the 2 Generals. None of the both of them were his family.

Sighing, he thanked the General again before turning to go back. General Oxford also turned to leave. He was not returning to the hall; he used another door to directly leave the building.

As soon as Clark turned around, his disappointment turned to determination. His face grew hard, taking a stone-cold tone. As General Oxford said, he was determined to prove these bastards wrong.

Right now, he could not wait for the mission details to be given to him. He could already feel his temperature rising, his blood was already boiling.

In that hyperactive state, it did not take him up to a minute before he returned to the large hall, where the middle-aged Captain was still addressing the hundreds of soldiers.

His return did not stir any trouble as he quickly located a seat and sat down. His ears pried open, as he listened like a hawk to the instructions that were being given out.

Most of what was being said was not really relevant, it only emphasized that they should give their all in the mission, and they should remain loyal to the republic.

“Soldiers, that’s all that I have for you today. You can now go; you have the rest of the day till evening to settle every pending problem that was bugging you before you were called”.

“Inform your close friends and relatives that you will be out of contact for an important confidential mission. Do the needful before evening and converge back here for the mission briefing. None of you is allowed to leave the headquarters”.

With that, the gathering was dispersed as every soldier left to do his own thing. Clark also stood up to leave, while deep in thought on how to break the news to his friends.

When he got to the elevator, this time, he was surprised to discover that there were dozens of elevators around the one he came it. They were all clustered together to form a dome-shaped mechanical artwork.

With this setup, none of the soldiers had to wait for others to go before their turn. Every soldier had enough space in the elevators to enter, so they descended at the same time.

On getting back to the base floor, Clark directly went out of the building without tarrying. Though he already accepted it, he still felt conflicted deep inside.

He felt more guilty about Leo, thinking back on what his friend said back in the day. Feeling a little choked up despite exposing himself to the outside atmosphere, he entered his car and drove to his mansion absentmindedly.

Getting there, he was not surprised to see Rose still pacing around like a female lion that lost her home. Feeling that the sight was a little comical but still not being able to bring himself to laugh, he just sighed.

As soon as he parked his car, Rose raced to the garage to meet him like an athlete. Finally getting to the garage, she stopped to catch her breath, walked quickly to the car while adjusting her short skirt.

“You could not reject it?”

After Clark came out of the car, she quickly deduced the answer that she was looking for through his mannerisms before asking in a weak and slightly sobbing tone.

“Yes, I could not. It was a lost cause since the beginning”. Clark replied in an even weaker tone, before inclining his head down and leaning back on his car. Till now, he still felt lost. He was not ready for this at all.

When he raised his head and saw the tear signs slowly gathering in his assistant’s eyes, he was shocked and startled out of his depression.

“What the hell?” He quickly jumped to the side, before understanding and going back to hold her in comfort.

Sobbing, Rose spoke out. “Boss, I don’t want you to leave, I’ll miss you. Your last mission that was important as this one, you were lost for 3 years, I can’t live that long without you”.

Though Clark felt that this sounded like a nagging girlfriend who did not want her man to engage in something, he did a good job in shelving this thought and taking time to comfort her.

As someone close to her, he knew that this was what she genuinely felt, which only made him feel more lost. It took a few minutes, but he finally succeeded in calming her down, which brought him great relief.

“What will you do now?” She finally asked while using her luxurious white handkerchief to wipe her tears.

“I don’t know. I’ll just follow orders, try my best to survive and fulfill the mission, then leave every other thing to fate”.

After taking time to answer a lot of her questions about how he hoped to survive in the frontier, he finally brought out his military encrypted communication device to call his friend.

“Hello, this is Clark”.

“Yeah, I know”.

“…”

Finding the silence from both sides a little choking and tense, Leo finally broke the silence. “Ahem, Clark, how was it? Did you manage to reject it?”

“Bro, I’m sorry, I’m leaving again. I could not reverse the decision; their authority and power are bigger than I expected”.

Laughing depreciatingly at himself, he added. “I guess I really bit more than I could chew this time. I don’t even know if it was patriotism that pushed me again or if it was pride, I’m such a fool”.

“Bro, don’t blame yourself. Till tomorrow, I will still beat myself proudly and say that I admire your decision”.

“Remember this Clark, that’s why I was attracted to you in the first place, your unrighteous but justice-driven heart, your decisiveness, your respect for friendship and kinship, that’s why you’re my best friend.

“Thank you…, best friend”.

“Welcome, bestie”.

“Hmph!! What do you think of me, a girl? Bestie my foot”. This word usage by his friend earned a laugh from Clark, livening the atmosphere between them more.

“Clark”.

“Yes”.

“Benny applied to join the mission also, and he has been approved already”.

“What???”

Clark was shocked, what the hell did he just hear? When did Benny hear of the mission that he already decided to join? And such a dangerous mission at that.

“What the hell Leo, why did you not stop him? Do you know how dangerous this mission is? Even myself, I’m not confident”.

“Bro, it’s his decision. I tried my best to persuade him, but he was adamant. He feels like the dangerous missions you embarked in are the things influencing your fast growth, and he craves it also”.

Hearing this, Clark finally calmed down with a sigh. He was not ignorant. Despite being friends, he knew that his friends sometimes craved to be like him. Knowing Benny’s reason, he no longer fretted over it, he just sighed.

After exchanging a few more farewell words with his friend, their conversation finally came to an end.

“Ok, bro. I’ll definitely live to see you in the future, wish me luck”.

“Ok, Goodluck bro. Remember, you’re not permitted to die”.

“Haha, I know that… Ok, bye”.

“Bye”.

With that, the 2 best friends finally got separated again for another indefinite time. Only fate would decide when they would see themselves again.

“Ok, Rose. You heard everything, I’m ready to go. My mansion, finance, and everything are in your control. I hope you keep them well on my behalf”.

“I will boss, it’s a vow”.

With that, Clark finally went closer to hug his diligent and cute personal assistant for the first time. Before she could blush, he already broke from the hug and turned back.

He already did the needful, now it was time to face the world with a calm confident face.

“Frontier, here I come”.

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