After Becoming an Alpha Upon Meeting an Alpha - Chapter 16

Tao Yi hesitated a little. These matters were not originally something he should ask about, but thinking of what Su Cha had just said, he fell silent for a while. In the end, he still sent Tao Cheng a message.

[Brother, when does the military parade training ceremony begin?]

Tao Cheng had just gotten down from his mecha, his whole body drenched in sweat. At first, he did not want to pay attention to it, but when he saw that it was a message from his younger brother, he opened it and replied:

[They haven’t given an exact time yet. But the last military parade ceremony was three years ago, so it should still be about two years away. Why are you asking this?]

Hearing that there were still three years, Tao Yi let out a breath of relief. He thought that he had been too nervous. Maybe Su Cha had only mentioned it in passing.

[Nothing. Just asking.]

Tao Cheng was just about to call his unreliable younger brother and ask what exactly was going on. Normally, Tao Yi would never pay attention to these things.

Before his finger could press down, a communication call came in. He gave up on calling his younger brother and went to a corner to accept the call.

He saluted the man on the light screen and said respectfully, “Marshal.”

Su Yunshan responded coldly and said, “Last time, because you performed meritorious service in capturing an interstellar pirate group, I came to ask whether you wanted anything. When the meeting is held the day after tomorrow, I can mention it for you.”

“You have accumulated quite a lot of military merit as well, and your qualifications are sufficient. I think it is about time to promote your military rank.”

Tao Cheng was someone he had personally supported and raised up, and also someone he had watched grow up. Toward this junior, Su Yunshan still cared quite a bit.

But thinking of the arrangements that would come later, Su Yunshan still did not say much about why.

Tao Cheng had not expected Su Yunshan to bring this up on his own. In the military, he did not have the oldest qualifications, nor did he have the most achievements, but he had been promoted rather quickly. This had already made some people below dissatisfied.

Even Tao Cheng could see this, so Su Yunshan should not be unaware of it.

Tao Cheng’s eyes flickered. He said cautiously, “This subordinate’s qualifications are still shallow. It would be better for me to work hard for another period of time. Besides, serving the empire is the honor of all citizens.”

Su Yunshan was an old fox. Naturally, he understood what Tao Cheng was thinking. “Are you worried that the people under you won’t obey?”

Tao Cheng remained silent and did not answer, but his attitude only further confirmed for Su Yunshan that he was correct. Su Yunshan put on an authoritative air and earnestly lectured him.

“Tao Cheng, as a leader, since this position is being given to you, that means you are suitable for it and capable of handling it. This is our trust in you.”

“As a commander, you must have your own independent thoughts instead of being swayed by other people’s emotions. As long as your strength is sufficient, no one can abandon you.”

“If you always wrong yourself because of other people’s thoughts, then you are not suited to be a commander.”

He gave Tao Cheng a half-threatening, half-guiding lecture. On the surface, it seemed like he was doing it for Tao Cheng’s own good and sincerely wanted to guide a junior. But Tao Cheng thought of the question his younger brother had just asked, then thought of Su Yunshan’s sudden change in attitude, and kept feeling that there was a problem here.

He did very much want to be promoted, but there was no need to be so impatient.

“This subordinate still feels that my qualifications and strength are insufficient, and I cannot shoulder such a great responsibility. Besides, my ambition does not lie in this. I entered the military only to fulfill my grandfather’s dying wish. Whether or not I am promoted is not important to me. As long as the people are safe and healthy, that is enough.”

He directly refused the promotion in military rank and even pointed out several brigadier generals whose contributions surpassed his own, recommending them for promotion instead—especially those brigadier generals who had ability but no background.

Su Yunshan had not expected Tao Cheng to be this foolish, to actually hand away such a good promotion opportunity.

But since the other party had completely refused, he could not continue chasing after him and forcing him to accept it. He could only revise his later plans, nod with a cold face, and casually end the communication.

Looking at the light screen after it was cut off, Tao Cheng walked toward his room while calling Tao Yi.

Tao Yi, who had already set the matter aside, was stunned by the incoming call.

The first thing Tao Cheng asked after the call connected was, “Who told you to ask about the military parade training ceremony?”

Tao Yi was a little dazed, not knowing what had happened.

“What’s wrong?”

Tao Cheng had already entered his room. He blocked all surveillance and confirmed that no one was eavesdropping. Then he sat down on the chair beside the table. His slightly long blond hair was wet and hanging over his forehead.

His gaze was sharp, and his thin lips were pressed tightly together. “Just now, Su Yunshan called me and said he wanted to propose at the meeting the day after tomorrow that I be promoted to the rank of major general.”

Tao Yi did not understand the deeper meaning in Tao Cheng’s words and said in surprise, “Really? That’s a good thing!”

But when he saw that Tao Cheng was not happy, and that his expression was instead grave, he also realized something was wrong. His voice suddenly grew quieter. “Why would he suddenly promote you, Brother?”

Tao Cheng reminded him concisely, “You mentioned the military parade just now, but that ceremony can only be led by someone at the rank of major general.”

Tao Yi’s eyes widened. “!!”

He could not help blurting out, “No way. That accurate?”

After saying that, he realized he had misspoken and immediately covered his mouth. “Didn’t you say there were still two years?”

Tao Cheng said, “There are indeed still two years. Recently, there have been no problems with the atmosphere in the military either. That is why his sudden proposal to promote me made me feel strange. If you had not suddenly asked me about the military parade earlier, I probably would have agreed.”

The Tao brothers were not like those in other families, who would not discuss matters even between biological brothers. Tao Cheng was not worried that Tao Yi would speak of this outside. After all, this could be considered a family secret.

They were absolutely loyal to the Tao family.

Originally, Tao Cheng had not yet accumulated enough military merit, but he was not far off either. There was basically no one under him who worked harder than him, so they all followed him.

This was especially obvious in the army he managed. But this was the military, after all. People from other armies could not stand seeing him advance so quickly, so their words carried the implication that he did not rely on real ability.

Tao Cheng had never cared about these things, because he felt this was also a layer of disguise given to him.

Now, using this layer of disguise, he had detected part of the intentions of those above him.

Su Yunshan definitely wanted to use the Tao family to do something. Tao Cheng’s mental power was S-rank, and his younger brother was also S-rank. Therefore, one brother entered the military while the other did business, and no one said anything.

Tao Yi’s heart tightened. “Then what do we do now?”

Tao Cheng shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do. We can only wait.”

If they wanted to expose Su Yunshan’s little conspiracy, they could only wait for him to reveal a flaw himself. But that would not be easy. Otherwise, he would not have stayed in the marshal’s position for so long.

However, no matter what the other party wanted to do, he was definitely preparing to make a move during the military parade training ceremony. Therefore, Tao Cheng absolutely could not accept the title of major general.

But before that…

“Who was the one who told you to ask about the military parade?”

Tao Yi’s eyes spun around, unsure whether he should say Su Cha’s name. After all, he had promised to keep it secret.

Seeing his younger brother like this, Tao Cheng already knew who it was.

It was just that this was someone he had never taken seriously before. But once she was driven out, her intelligence immediately rose, and she even knew such secret matters.

“I’ll pretend I don’t know about her. But you absolutely cannot leak how she knows about these military secrets. Otherwise, even I won’t be able to protect you.”

Tao Yi covered his mouth and nodded repeatedly.

Looking at his younger brother’s silly appearance, Tao Cheng’s heart softened. “Pay attention to your own safety. I’ll go make preparations first.”

He had to prevent the military parade ceremony from being moved up, and prevent Su Yunshan from forcibly creating military merit for him and conferring the rank of major general on him.

“I know, Brother.”

After hanging up, Tao Yi immediately sent Su Cha a message. He had originally wanted to call her, but considering that many people had arrived at Su Cha’s side earlier, he forcefully suppressed the excitement in his heart and frantically typed to vent the shock inside him.

At this time, Su Cha had no time to pay attention. She was arranging for people to learn how to operate flying vehicles. Although flying vehicles had automatic navigation and could input addresses and star coins according to where one wanted to go, they did not yet have stable routes right now.

Moreover, the route map and plane map of the entire planet had not been imported into the flying vehicles. This meant they first had to manually drive the flying vehicles around the planet, then arrange stops at specific locations.

Su Cha held the loudspeaker 66 had made and shouted toward the crowded mass of people, “Those who want to learn how to drive flying vehicles, come gather here. Where are the eight people from before?”

“We’re here, we’re here!”

Several people struggled to squeeze out of the crowd. There were too many people gathered here, so many that their feet could almost no longer touch the ground. Squeezing through required quite a bit of time.

This time, Su Cha had bought four flying vehicles. These were all bought at a high price. For now, she directly allocated one to Wendy’s planetary defense force.

That way, the time they spent patrolling would be shortened. If something happened, they could arrive much faster. They would no longer need to ride their little motorcycles slowly, and if there was truly some urgent matter, those vehicles could not even carry passengers.

Wendy looked shocked. This generous?

One had to know that customized flying vehicles of this kind were astonishingly expensive. One alone cost more than two million.

Her voice trembled. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but was also worried she would damage it. “Planet Lord…”

Su Cha, whose body trembled from being called in such an emotional voice, rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and comforted her. “These were originally for civilian use. I’m also planning to buy some smaller ones for your patrols. The smaller ones are cheaper.

“For now, use this one to practice, then import Water Blue Planet’s map and resident distribution map into the flying vehicle. Afterward, I will arrange flying vehicle routes according to this distribution map.”

“After I buy the smaller ones in a few days, I’ll equip you with several first. Only when your speed increases can everyone be safer.”

Wendy understood this reasoning, but looking at all the money Su Cha had spent, she felt guilty.

They had been afraid that Su Cha had deliberately come here to ruin the planet, so none of them dared to directly follow her. They had only carefully picked a few people who were not particularly useful to come test Su Cha.

Unexpectedly, Su Cha not only did not mind, she had even spent a large amount of money for everyone’s transportation.

“Thank you so much.”

She could not say anything better and could only keep thanking her.

Su Cha waved her hand. “These are all things I should do. It’s all to make travel more convenient.”

Su Cha felt embarrassed accepting Wendy’s enthusiastic thanks, so she could only wave at Norma, who was being held by 66 and curiously watching this side. “Norma, come here. The wheelchair I bought for you arrived.”