Chapter 282: military report

Clark felt his heart palpitating rapidly but he did a good job in concealing it as the entourage of vehicles drove into the Presidential villa. To his shock, this was actually his first time visiting this place.

He was surprised that throughout all these years as a soldier, he had not visited the Spartan Presidential villa before, not even once.

The Presidential villa was just like the headquarters of the Spartan army, the only difference was that the former had a more militaristic vibe while the villa was more luxurious.

>The Federal Republic of Sparta>

Even before the entourage of cars got close enough, Clark was already seeing this from afar. It was stylishly drawn boldly in an extremely tall stale, proudly displaying the majesty of the Spartan republic.

Clark savored the sight ravenously like a hungry wolf, taking his time to admire it before the cars drove close enough to obstruct his view.

He finally looked down to see the villa’s gate. Taking his sight away from the luxurious oversized gate that led inside the villa, his eyes came before a feast of majestic buildings rambling across.

Everywhere and everything before him was in a red and white theme.

Red and white buildings, red and white cars, guards dressed in red and white, everything about the Presidential villa was practically screaming these 2 colors, forming an astonishing sight to the beholder who was Clark.

There were a lot of details that he was excited to look into, but he was not given the time as the car that he was in drove inside after undergoing a thorough check by the villa guards.

As they drove deeper, Clark observed that the number of luxuriously styled buildings grew fewer while buildings with a more militaristic background took over his vision.

The most prominent of these buildings had various tags to indicate their use.

He saw the war strategy planning building, the virtual conference building, and a lot of other buildings before his eyes looked upon the President’s building.

Surprisingly, the building that was assigned to the President was much smaller than the other prominent buildings surrounding it. Despite this, it was still a structure designed from peak Spartan architectural design.

The building was shaped like an ancient Spartan helmet relic.

At the bottom of the helmet where the wearer's neck is supposed to be was the door, the place for the 2 openings of the wearer’s eyes stood 2 enormous windows looking like things made from alien technology.

Overall, to Clark it looked plain, it was just a helmet Afterall but it had a certain majesty to it that he could not pinpoint at the moment.

“Major Clark, we’ve arrived”. Captain Dan spoke while turning to face his much younger counterpart with a bright smile on his face.

“Thanks for the company Captain, I really appreciate it”. Clark reciprocated with a smile of his own.

“Don’t mention”. The Captain waved his hands. “It’s not every day that I get to enter this revered Presidential villa, it’s even more of an honor to come in with a soldier as talented as you”.

“I dare not keep you waiting, go on now. The President is waiting for you!”

Clark didn’t know why, but hearing this made goosebumps erupt all over him, creeping all over his skin like slithering zombie snakes.

It was a normal reaction though.

Getting the chance to meet the one and only President of the Spartan republic who was sitting on that seat since the very inception of the republic, it was hard to remain calm.

Though Clark still felt awe about the legendary Leonidas, it was much lesser than before. Since he met his Master, his awe for soldiers lower than the elite-grade realm diminished a bit.

This did not matter much though; he was still a Spartan citizen through and through. Leonidas was his childhood idol and he still was, meeting him physically was a dream come through.

Coming down from the car, he waved Captain Dan goodbye before marching forward with a stern face to meet the villa guards that were waiting before him.

“Welcome, Major Clark. This way”. The one who seemed to be the leader of the guards greeted briefly before escorting him through the opening in the helmet-shaped building.

Inside the building was like a teleportation portal to Clark. All around him was filled with blue color tinged with white sparkling lights like stars, the corridor seemed fantastical.

Unlike what he expected, he didn’t have to go far. The guards just led him to a large computer before stopping.

“Danik A19, take this soldier to the conference room”. The leader of the guard spoke in the direction of the computer.

“Input received, Guard Captain Dariel”. An A. I’s voice sounded out. The next moment, Clark felt the familiar feeling of a scanner flashing through his body.

“Major Clark, welcome to the President’s building. Initializing transportation to the conference room in 2 seconds”.

Warp! Clark disappeared.

When his eyes cleared up and his orientation became normal again, he immediately deduced that he was now in a hall of sorts. 3 throne-like chairs were before him and in the chairs sat 3 hegemons of the Spartan republic.

Clark straightened his back; standing at attention, he saluted solemnly at the 2 figures sitting before him that he recognized. He did not recognize the last person, so he held back his salute.

“Clark Pendragon”. The President’s voice sounded gentle, far more gentle than Clark expected of the legendary Leonidas who singlehandedly led the Spartan republic to where it is today.

“Yes, Mr. President. I’m at your service sir”. Clark maintained his strictly respectful attitude, still standing at attention.

“You’ve done well, I read of the achievements that you accomplished in the Everest from the military report given by your second in command. Well done, soldier”.

“Thank you, sir, it’s an honor to serve the republic under your rule sir”.

“Commander, take over”. The President waved his hands casually, a cool expression on his face.

Though Clark felt giddy on meeting his idol, even more excited about receiving his praise, he did not let his excitement get to his head. This was the President of the Spartan republic, as a soldier of the republic he had to be formal.

“Clark, you didn’t disappoint my expectations”. The man sitting to the right of the President finally spoke after keeping quiet for so long.

“It’s an honor, Commander”. Clark saluted again.

“Ok, Clark, we already know most of the details so I won’t go into many details. I want you to give me a more comprehensive report as the leader of your squad, and about the bean quadrant enhancer of course”.

Hearing this, Clark’s face did not betray a flinch. With a solemn expression, he laid down a detailed report of everything that transpired in the mission, of course, he excluded the parts involving his Master.

After listening to everything that he said, all 3 upper echelon’s faces became strange, going deep in contemplation.

The 3rd upper echelon that Clark did not recognize finally asked, a frown now on his face. “What do you mean by you fused with the bean quadrant enhancer?”

“Clark, this is General Armstrong. He is the one in charge of the republic’s foreign relations”. Commander Rashford introduced.

“It’s nice to meet you, General”. Clark finally saluted at him.

“Explain what you mean to me”. The General had no change in his expression.

Clark still had a calm face despite all these. He broke his report down further, telling them everything about Professor Granit and his crazy experiment.

“How do we verify what you just said?” The General asked.

“I don’t know sir”.

“Good, and you f*cking expect me to believe you”. As the General wanted to explode, Leonidas raised a hand.

“Can the enhancer be removed from your head?” The President asked calmly.

“I have no idea, sir”. Clark flinched a bit but he still answered truthfully.

“Ok”. The President waved a hand as a corner of the room rippled before a machine appeared. “Enter that machine”.

Clark finally hesitated a bit.

“What? You’re not willing?” The General now had a ferocious expression on his face.

Clark’s face finally steeled a bit. “Mr. President, a man that I encountered in the Everest told me that before you work on me, I should show you this”.

He brought a parchment out of his pocket. On the front of the parchment was written a bold E in red font color.

The other 2 had no change in their expression on seeing the parchment, but President Leonidas’s face changed immediately on seeing it. It took more than a second before he finally calmed down.

He directed an interesting glance at Clark. “I understand. Don’t worry, you can enter the machine”.

Clark no longer hesitated. Keeping the parchment back into his pocket, he went closer to the pulsing machine. An opening appeared before him which he smoothly entered through.

The machine quickly closed itself up before being consumed by blue light, current was visibly drawn from the building’s reserves.

“What’s that parchment?” The General asked while turning to face the President as soon as Clark entered the machine.

“Watch your tongue Armstrong, you’re speaking to your President”. Rashford frowned while chastising the General.

Leonidas was calm. “You don’t need to know, it’s a confidential secret”.

The General frowned, in the end, he just kept quiet.

A few months back, one of his subordinates told him that a young soldier was stirring trouble. He didn’t even look then, he just fulfilled his subordinate’s request and filled Clark’s name among those going for the Everest mission.

Though he and his subordinates could not oppose Leonidas completely, they were competent enough to punish any other soldier who thought he was clever and more patriotic than them.

What he didn’t expect though was Clark fulfilling the mission, and even retrieving the main mission target.

The President suddenly interrupted his thoughts. “The scan is complete. The enhancer cannot be retrieved from the soldier unless we butcher him, but that’s not an option”.

“I second your motion”. Rashford added. “Clark has the potential to be in hold of such an enhancer, this may be an investment that will give us another Commander in the future”.

“What? You guys are not planning to let him leave with such a valuable device right? I have better soldiers under me, I have 4th rank high-grade soldiers”. The General protested immediately.

“Me taking it is even better. With it, I may have the chance of becoming another Commander who will take the republic to higher heights”.

Leonidas finally narrowed his eyes. “Armstrong, know your boundaries!”

“Don’t think I’m not seeing your actions, the only reason why I’m tolerating you is because of your importance to the growth of the republic. Remember that the prosperity of the republic should be placed above all personal gains”.

“The day that you forget this, I’ll get extreme with you and I believe you don’t want to see me go extreme”.

“I’m sorry, Mr. President”. The General cowered back under the President’s deep tone before finally relenting, “but…”

“Enough! This discussion ends here, Clark Pendragon takes the bean quadrant enhancer. Rashford, work the other minor details”.

“From today, Clark’s evaluation will be raised from a rising prodigy to a prodigy of the highest tier. Grant him all the privileges that follow, I don’t want to wake up one day to hear that we’ve lost him”.

Leonidas directed a fierce gaze at the General.

“Yes, Mr. President”.

“Good”. With one step out of his throne-like chair, he disappeared.