Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Helen stood in the control room of the separate mecha hangar, staring at the power output level the mecha's blade had achieved with a single strike—her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

The maximum power output of a mecha is standardized, and the material of the combat blade wasn't anything special, yet the target made from unialloy was instantly shattered by a single hit. It was only in the milliseconds before fragmentation that the hit data was transmitted to the computer in the control room.

But according to the data, it far exceeded the output level of weapons made using High-Frequency Cutting technology in previous laboratory experiments!

Bai E, stepping down from the cockpit, pushed Rose in front of Helen with a smile, "If you use bugs for targets, you'll make some new discoveries, of course… though it won't have much to do with technology. Additionally, if you need help later, you can have Rose assist with the testing. I'm expected to lead a team out in the next few days and won't have the time to assist with your research."

Helen's research progress wasn't so swift; she first had to extrapolate something truly substantial from the weapon before Bai E could offer guidance under the pretext of a mecha spirit and transmit the two techniques he mastered to her.

Before that, he had his own matters to attend to.

"Okay," Helen nodded, "then go attend to your business, and I'll contact you if I need to."

After all, she and Bai E had a private means of contact and could get in touch at any time.

"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

There were other matters to deal with in the military camp. With Weslin asleep, Bai E needed to complete everything he wanted as swiftly as possible!

"Okay, go ahead, and leave Rose with me to help."

Patting Rose on the shoulder, Bai E turned and left.

After leaving the separate mecha hangar, Bai E summoned all the officers in the military camp whose opinions mattered.

In a private room, a projector light shone on Bai E's face as he stood in the light, looking at everyone seated in the darkness.

It was pitch-black and their expressions were indiscernible.

This was once the position Weslin stood in, but now it belonged to Bai E.

Not being able to see the expressions of others naturally made it difficult to grasp their intentions.

Bai E knew standing in this position was fraught with controversy.

Officers like Carlos, who firmly stood behind him, were always in the minority. Even though Bai E could be a leading figure within his own faction during peacetime, when it came to his own influence, not all officers from the faction supporting manufactured soldiers were as openly supportive as Carlos.

Now, within the military camp, besides the preexisting factions divided over attitudes toward manufactured soldiers, there were two new factions over attitudes toward Bai E as an admiral—either for him or against him; this time, there was no room for neutrality.

To make things difficult for Bai E, the opposition presented him with sufficient challenges.

Bai E's hands pressed down on the tabletop, his expressionless gaze sweeping over each officer assembled before him, "I've just discussed with Helen from the Military Department's R&D, and she has agreed to increase the production rate for our military zone. However, she needs us to resolve the supply issue for the new manufactured soldiers. So, about the matter we discussed last time, what are your thoughts on it now?"

The request Caesar and Bai E had mentioned, Bai E brought up immediately upon his return to the military camp and shared with the senior officers in the zone.

But he hadn't gone into detail, simply mentioning that, based on predictions, there could be a degree of unrest in the city and that the urban security forces might request their military's support at a critical moment.

"I'll say it again, what does the city's turmoil have to do with us? Our mission is to repel foreign enemies. Unless the city lord orders it, who is a security force captain to count for anything?" An irate officer, perhaps with grievances against Caesar or Bai E, stood up and burst out in complaint.

"Calm down, calm down, didn't we agree on this? As long as Admiral Bai E can solve our personnel issues, I'll support all his decisions!"

The military was drastically understaffed after deploying to the bug nests, the remaining forces barely able to form the basic combat formations, the daily drill scenes poignant in their desolation.

A general is called so because of the power he holds.

Without troops, they were nothing.

And without Marshall Weslin, their Military Department couldn't even make a splash with the draft requests they submitted.

Some speculated this might be a deliberate play by the city lord, lacking vision, intending to make the military realize the importance of Marshall Weslin.

But if Weslin remained comatose, it didn't mean they could stop living.

"Whoever can solve our personnel problem, I will recognize as our military zone leader!"

"But we can't just say that. Even if we had the troops, aren't we supposed to guard against bugs, beastmen, and other non-human races? Are we still supposed to conduct daily patrols? Should we continue with our strategy of 'small sweeps every three days, major sweeps every seven'? All this requires people. If we are too busy with our own tasks, how can we spare effort for the city's issues? In the end, if we fail in our duties and don't gain any favor there, we'll be blamed on all sides. If someone wants to curry favor, let them do it themselves; why drag everyone into it?" another person added in.

Bai E looked deep into the eyes of the speaker, remaining silent.

The influence of the nobility was not limited to inside the city.

Many of these so-called high-ranking military officers in the camp were not all self-made men who had fought their way up from the battlefield; quite a few... were of noble birth themselves.