Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

It seems that his decision to break away from previous thought patterns was not wrong.

As for who proposed this proposal, does it matter?

Hamilton glanced at Carlos, who still looked somewhat dazed as if he had not reacted—

In the end, didn't the person end up in his hands?

Hmph!

["Lucky Strike" energy +2.]

"I have no objections! This is the well-deserved honor of 95B27! He has made so many contributions to the barracks, risking his life from birth to death. He should have been reused and promoted long ago!" Hamilton was the first to express agreement, then turned to Carlos, "What about you, Carlos, what do you think?"

It's not necessary to convene this kind of council to promote a natural-born soldier normally, as the barracks are already the most straightforward force in the city.

The able rise, the weak fall.

With real merit laid out, no one would have any objections.

However, Bai E, this synthetic being, was already the focus of contention between two factions, his fate was out of his control, and he had become the battlefield for the confrontation between the two factions.

Any decision regarding him could invite criticism from the opposing faction.

Not to mention that the decision to promote a synthetic being to the status of natural-born had never been made before.

The first time, it always required the collective decision of everyone.

Carlos's face was gloomy.

He had never expected Hamilton, who appeared to be a rigid pure natural-born partisan, to be able to show such adaptability.

This unforeseen tactic, one that had never been used before, had indeed disrupted his strategy.

"What's the matter? Your constant talk of hoping synthetic soldiers could have a bright future wasn't just lip service, was it?" Hamilton looked at Carlos sarcastically. "Now he has the chance for a glorious future, yet you're still hesitating. Or were your past convictions merely a pretense to support synthetics as an excuse to seek your own benefits?"

"..." Carlos furrowed his brow tightly, sensing that things were going south.

Hamilton's words, of course, had flaws to exploit—

If a synthetic being becomes regarded as a natural-born in the records and in everyone's perception, then all his future achievements and efforts will become the glory of the natural-born, having nothing to do with the synthetics anymore.

It's essentially about class…

Synthetics can only enjoy equal rights by being promoted to "natural-born."

But what he wanted was for all synthetics to be able to enjoy the full treatment of natural-borns from birth, hoping to use Bai E, an excellent synthetic, as an example to lead the charge under the banner for synthetics.

The starting points are diametrically opposed.

It's just that Bai E himself was also present at the scene, which was the most troublesome part.

If he were to express any reservations about his promotion, then even if he forcibly kept him, Bai E's heart might not be free of a gap, likewise letting Hamilton triumph completely.

Such a vicious plan!

Carlos's gaze swept over the faces of Weslin and Hamilton, the architects of this stalemate.

The Marshal had always maintained a neutral faction, but now... had the Marshal made some kind of deal with Hamilton?n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Regardless, it was time for him to make a decision.

If he couldn't retain him... then it was time to let go completely.

He truly pitied the tragic fate of the synthetics, which is why he joined the faction that supported synthetics to fight for the lifelong rights of all synthetics.

Now...

"I agree..."

"But I would like to keep his special squadron assignment." The old Marshal, who had been sitting quietly at Carlos's right as if he were asleep, suddenly spoke up.

The elderly man slowly opened his eyes, and his aged gaze seemed clouded, "He has only been born for a short time and still needs to learn more. Since he is now a natural-born, he should learn everything about this world."

'Pah! Old coot!' Hamilton cursed silently, somewhat irritated.

The things that a reserve mech pilot from the armored battalion needs to focus on training are only one thing—Titan-class armaments—which could almost be said to be treasures rarely displayed outside the barracks.

Severing his ties with the outside world completely and making him entirely his own, wouldn't it be up to him how to brainwash him when the time came?

But the old Marshal's remark meant that he would still spend half his time exposed to people from other factions.

As for which side this soldier, promoted from a synthetic to a natural-born, would sit on... that would be really hard to say.

And to top it off, the excuse he gave was to climb on top of what he, himself, had said, all for the sake of the soldier's own future.

Damn! Indeed, the old are wiser!

"Right!" Carlos, reminded, suddenly had a gleam in his eyes, "I agree to his promotion to natural-born, and that he participate in the reserve mech pilot training at the armored battalion during his free time, but also to maintain his special squadron assignment, aiming to learn all that a natural-born needs to know."

This is even better...

Weslin was indifferent, he just wanted to reward Bai E.

After all, Aglaya had said that his contribution was undeniable... and considering that the two extraordinary talents seemed quite fond of this soldier, it couldn't be guaranteed that he wouldn't remember old affections as he grew in the future.

His full support for the promotion might not be very evident now, but it might come in handy at some crucial moment in the future!

"Carlos is right, does anyone have any objections?"

"None." Hamilton didn't make a sound, but the officer sitting next to him glanced at his face and responded in a muffled voice.

The neutral faction cared even less, if there was merit, then one deserves the position; they were the purest of soldiers, "Let's do as Carlos says..."

"Then it's decided." Weslin gave the final verdict.

The decision took effect; inside the barracks' records, Bai E's identity had completely transformed from synthetic to natural-born...

From... Black Street.

Background... orphan.

"Let's go! I'll show you the sights of our armored battalion!" Hamilton's broad palm wrapped around Bai E's shoulder.

Although the result wasn't entirely satisfactory, at least it had been a thorn in Carlos's side.

Hamilton, who glanced back at Carlos, raised his head high like a victorious rooster.

"Yes, sir!"

Bai E answered expressionlessly. Your adventure continues at empire

From start to finish, he hadn't said a word.

They had summoned him only to reward him, but nobody had asked for his opinion.

In fact, he himself didn't have much attachment to such a title; any status that could help him acquire more resources was a good status.

Since he temporarily couldn't leave the military camp, he had to find ways within the camp's system to acquire more things to aid his growth.

The Gene Optimization Solution he had just been injected with proved this point; who knew where to get that stuff if he went elsewhere?

As for which side he was really on...

Talking about that was premature when he hadn't clearly seen this world yet.

If he were to take a side, it would only be the side of humanity.

...

"Squeak squeak squeak~"

Broad tracks dragged the heavy tank bodies slowly past, kicking up a whirlwind of yellow sand.

Out of the hazy dust emerged two indistinct shadows.

"Cough cough~" Hamilton waved away the dust from in front of his mouth and nose, "As you see... cough cough~ our battalion's main training focuses on these steel vehicles."

The armored battalion's camp was entirely different from ordinary soldiers' training camps; upon perusal, nearly everything within the camp was composed of those cold and formidable creations of steel.

Rows of Multi-function Infantry Vehicles lay quietly arrayed, V3 rocket vehicles laden with missiles ready to deploy at any moment, massive tanks maneuver diversely across the field, their turrets swiftly turning in practice, trying to aim at non-existent targets.

This was their daily training.

And the mechas...

The towering mechas stood at the back of the camp, those mechas he had seen countless times from a distance in the regular training camp only became truly imposing when he got up close, conveying a sense of pressure only massive objects could impart.

Watching Bai E's gaze sweep interestedly over the moving tanks, Hamilton, with his sonorous voice, said, "If you want, you can train with those too. In your free time, my hope for you is to be an official Mech Pilot adept at handling our Titan-class armed mechas!"

"Hmm~" Bai E nodded slightly.

Hamilton's glance swept over his profile, growing fonder of this silent warrior the more he saw.

His opposition was always specifically focused on Carlos's faction, the ones who wanted to give artificial beings and natural humans equal status. With status comes aspirations.

Then, what was the purpose of creating these artificial beings?

To resist all surrounding natural disasters and calamities, the city needed to suffer so many deaths every year; if not using the lives of artificial beings to fill the gaps, should they draw lots to let artificial and natural humans compete fairly?

The plan of producing batches of two thousand artificial soldiers four times a year in the military camp was specifically designed to handle this level of human attrition.

The number of deaths due to warfare each year was around eight thousand, and the production of artificial beings was to plug this loophole.

Humans have always had the capability to mass-produce soldiers, and the production line of artificial beings could even handle more than four batches a year at peak efficiency.

But if too many artificial beings were produced and they didn't die in battle, what would be used to sustain them?

They would only encroach upon the already scarce resources of natural humans.

Wanting to give such creatures, created for sacrifice, a status was undeniably naïve idealism.

If they weren't needed to die, then there was no need for them to be born.

If they were needed to die, why bother hypocritically granting them human rights?

This was the fundamental difference in political views; Hamilton held no sentiment for individual artificial beings sent to life-or-death situations.

However, this artificial being was special...

He was already a natural human, and he was now in his command.

No officer dislikes a strong and obedient soldier.

The fonder he looked...

["Lucky Strike" charge +1.]

"..."

Bai E hesitated internally, "Sir, when can I start participating in the formal Mech Pilot training?"

That was a mecha!

No man could resist the allure of a mecha!

"You can start now, but the training for Mech Pilots now involves more than just operating mechas. You saw it last time during the assault on the hive, without a strong spirit, no matter how formidable the armament, it's just a lamb to the slaughter."

Hamilton shook his head and sighed, "At this point, they should be undergoing Spiritual Energy stress resistance training."

...

"Hello everyone, I'm your new instructor."

The girl's clear voice arose in front of a group of warriors standing with their hands behind their backs, showing no hint of levity.

Franca, in her tight light blue combat suit, looked over the soldiers before her with a smile brimming with cheer.

"From today onwards, I'll be specifically responsible for overseeing your training in resisting Spiritual Energy impacts!"