The military officers gathered in the briefing room, and Captain Carter's opening words set the tone for the meeting. She expressed her hope that everyone had managed to get a good day's rest, a sentiment that made Dylan give a cheeky look at Alan. The two of them had just pulled an all-nighter, working tirelessly on their respective projects.
As the meeting was about to commence, Captain Farrell, the second in command of the army, couldn't help but cast a curious glance in Alan's direction. He openly questioned why a civilian was permitted to partake in this military briefing.
"I understand inviting him to a debrief, but this is a military meeting… "
Before Captain Farrell could press the issue further, Captain Carter intervened and, with a casual tone, introduced Alan to the assembly as the new leader of the Fourth Company, the Wolverines company. She elucidated the intricacies of her plan, detailing that 50 soldiers, including Lieutenant Marsh, were to serve as Alan's second-in-command.
The reactions among the military officers were mixed. Lieutenant Steele of the Alpha Company, who had been under Captain Carter's command before the game, accepted the orders without question. However, Lieutenant Sanderson of the Charlie Company expressed his dissent. He believed that a militia unit was essentially what the Wolverines were, and he saw no justification for Alan, a civilian, being officially placed in charge of a military unit. He expressed his displeasure at the prospect of civilians leading over an army lieutenant like Marsh, even though Marsh himself endorsed the arrangement.
Captain Farrell chimed in, "I do not wish to argue about his capability, but the fact that he had to ask for payment for those potatoes that fed the other players speaks of his character."
As the discussion unfolded, it became evident that Alan's transition to a military leadership role was met with both curiosity and skepticism, and his character was being scrutinized as he stood at the cusp of taking on this new responsibility.
The argument reverberated throughout the meeting, with many questioning Captain Carter's decision. Alan realized that any words from him at this point would likely only exacerbate the situation, so he patiently awaited the captain's final decision. On the other hand, Alan couldn't help but secretly smile as he observed Dylan barely containing his anger, his face seemingly on the verge of exploding. The sergeant had grown exceedingly annoyed with Captain Farrell, who had left him to deal with a dirty bomb while fleeing the scene.
After allowing the chaos to run its course for a few minutes, Captain Carter finally managed to regain everyone's attention. She went on to explain, "This is a special circumstance. Unlike the real world, it isn't just the army fighting here. They are as involved in clearing the game as we are. We need to share information and involve the civilians more in the overall plan. Besides, this has been cleared by Colonel Weeber, so there should be no more arguments about this. I expect everyone to treat him as a company leader."
Lieutenant Summer of the special forces unit, who had been casually sipping tea, chimed in with a wry comment, "You should have led with that argument, Captain."
With the matter seemingly settled, Captain Carter called the meeting to order.
"Alright let's start the meeting"
The meeting followed a familiar pattern, commencing with a brief given by the higher-ups; which was the note Alan gave to Colonel Weeber.
"Next is us against the Inhuman, Here it's written; D rank enemy, 10 times the number of the last round," she informed the officers.
To protect his secret, Alan deliberately omitted the specific details about the round. He believed that conveying the general information about the enemy rank and numbers would suffice. Nevertheless, the revelation about the upcoming round's difficulty sent shockwaves through the room. The sheer magnitude of the opposition, potentially numbering in the hundreds of thousands, left the officers visibly stunned. Captain Farrell was the first to react with disbelief, exclaiming, "What? Ten times! we don't even have that many bullets! That analyst must be crazy, its definitely an exaggeration!"
Sergeant Dylan, however, intervened, "With all due respect, sir, you said the same thing last round about the food penalty. If we had purchased more seeds at that time, we wouldn't have had to pay Mr. Alan."
"..." the words quickly shuts the captain argument down.
Captain Carter chimed in, her tone somber as she share a little about her previous year's experience, fighting hordes of beast that had resulted in the loss of most of her unit. She emphasized the importance of conserving ammunition and transitioning to melee weapons for the upcoming round.
"Even if the information is inaccurate, we shouldn't be squandering our ammunition recklessly. We still have more dangerous rounds ahead of us."
Captain Carter, an experienced veteran of both the military and the game, emphasized the importance of achieving balance in subclasses, making it a top priority for every soldier. "We need more Knight job classes on the frontlines, and we need several to shift into the Spirit subclass to act as healers," she directed.
The first order of creating more Knights was relatively straightforward, but converting players into healers required greater commitment and sacrifice, given the potential impact on their abilities. However, Alan believed in Captain Carter's leadership and charisma, which would likely inspire more players to embrace the magician subclass.
Addressing the note's mention of a high possibility of a siege situation, she sought input from her officers. One officer requested additional army supplies, specifically explosives. However, the captain refused this request, preferring to preserve these highly valuable items for the subsequent round where Rank C or higher enemies were expected to appear.
Another officer delved into discussions about multiple siege defense strategies, prompting Captain Carter to cast a meaningful glance at Dylan, as she counted on his support units to be well-prepared for such scenarios.
Captain Carter continued, "Just like the previous game, we will be joining the third-round game, along with three other servers." Before she could elaborate further, Captain Farell volunteered to oversee the coordination with the other servers. Given his position as second in command, Captain Carter agreed to his proposal.
Hearing this, Alan couldn't shake off his rising unease. He had serious doubts about Captain Farell's suitability for handling diplomatic negotiations with the other three servers set to join them in the upcoming round. He couldn't help but recall the failed diplomacy efforts from his past rounds, and he feared history might repeat itself if the wrong person were in charge.
Unfortunately, Alan found himself in a delicate position. He was a newcomer to this command structure and lacked information about who had been responsible for diplomacy in the past rounds. It had always been a source of mystery to him, and he couldn't even confirm if Captain Farell had participated in previous rounds.
However, with his outsider status and civilian background, Alan felt powerless to challenge the decision, leaving him with a growing sense of apprehension.
The meeting carried on, addressing the concerns about soldiers within each company who required rank promotions or disciplinary actions. This was followed by a discussion on logistics and resource management. When the topic shifted towards their current inventory of melee weapons, Captain Carter voiced her concern.
"I believe we need to purchase more melee weapons," she declared.
These were the words Alan had been waiting for, and it was his moment to step up and make a valuable contribution. He eagerly spoke up, saying, "My team can actually assist with this."
However, his hopeful intentions were met with a sneer from Captain Farell, who condescendingly remarked, "Look, this shameless guy is trying to make money from the military again, huh? I've seen your sword, it's pathetic."
Alan took a deep breath and, with confidence, decided to showcase his most recent creation: the [Steel Sword (Uncommon)]. He calmly presented the sword and said, "This is our newest crafting product. Please give it a check to see if it's worthy for the army."
The officers present couldn't believe their eyes. Not only was it an [uncommon] item, but it was also of higher quality, boasting superior damage output. Captain Farell's face paled at the sight of the weapon. In contrast, Dylan discreetly gave Alan a cheeky smile and two thumbs-up.
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