Chapter 22: The Fall of a Commander

Ever since Lin Yu showed up wearing the insignia of a lieutenant colonel,

Stephen knew something was off.

Back then, it was true—faced with Mu Qingxue’s threats, he’d pulled every string he had behind the scenes to get Lin Yu assigned to the Fifth Fleet, handing him a special promotion. Straight out of the academy, Lin Yu had become a captain.

But how long has it been since then?

Not even a month, right? How did he leap to lieutenant colonel?

Forget Mu Qingxue—even if Mu Xingchen stepped in herself, there’s no way an eighteen-year-old rookie could jump that high in rank.

Unless…

All three titans in the Federation Fleet had agreed to it.

So, what would convince all three leaders to give a simultaneous nod?

Brain development—it had to be that damn innate brain development rating.

After joining the Fifth Fleet, Mu Qingxue must’ve had Lin Yu retested and received results so shocking that all three top leaders signed off.

For example…

The first human with innate brain development topping 25%?

Of course, the real first was Mu Qingxue herself, though Stephen had no idea.

Either way, his guess was already pretty close to the truth.

After listening to Lin Yu’s tactical briefing, Stephen realized he had no choice—he had to take action.

If he didn’t, and the tactic was actually used to achieve victory at Jupiter’s orbit…

Lin Yu would absolutely climb even higher in the Federation Fleet.

This was wartime—a fight that determined the fate of all humanity.

Who cares about age?

If someone proves they’re capable and racks up enough achievements, then—

Even a twenty-year-old general wasn’t out of the question.

And now that he knew his own evaluation report had been forged—and that Mu Qingxue probably told Lin Yu it was his doing—

If Lin Yu got another promotion, Stephen knew he’d be the first target.

No—he’d be coming after the entire Campbell family.

The thought alone had cold sweat pouring down Stephen’s forehead.

And right then, the current scene unfolded.

Excuses or no, he had to find some way—any way—to shut this down.

One thing was certain: he had to sabotage this plan!

Jupiter…

In the West, it’s called Jupiter, but in older times, they even called it Zeus.

So you can imagine just how important Jupiter’s place is in Western culture.

Stephen wanted to use that sentiment to rally more support within the Fleet Command to oppose this proposal.

But…

He was clearly overthinking things.

Ten seconds or so ticked by.

Not a single person in the conference room backed him up. The looks people gave him were all tinged with surprise.

Even his own son, George, sitting beside him, was no exception.

Only then did it really hit him.

This was a crisis threatening humanity’s very survival, and here he was loudly insisting no one touch Jupiter?

That basically put Jupiter’s status above all of humanity…

Truth was, Stephen wasn’t stupid—otherwise, he never would’ve climbed this high.

But shouting something so thoughtless? That was pure panic getting the better of him.

He understood now, but… it was too late!

All three titans at the head table were staring at him coldly.

Even Admiral Ryan, from Stephen’s own faction, didn’t spare him.

A wave of dread washed over Stephen.

He realized he was done for.

“Ryan, I think Stephen’s getting up there in age—maybe not the best fit for the current situation. What do you think?”

“No objections here.”

The two turned to look at Vladimir.

He just shrugged.

This wasn’t his problem—if the other two agreed, that was enough.

That was the message he sent.

“Alright then, the appointment of the new First Fleet commander is in your hands!”

Mu Xingchen finished, adding one last word.

The subtext: even if Stephen’s removed, nobody’s going to take advantage. The First Fleet’s command would still go to someone from the Western faction.

And so…

Right there, in front of dozens of high-ranking fleet officers, the three didn’t hesitate at all—they just sacked Stephen, plain and simple.

Even his replacement was decided in just a couple of sentences.

Originally, the three had agreed to deal with Stephen after the war was over.

Everyone knows it’s a huge taboo to replace a general during wartime.

But Stephen’s stunt today had crossed all three of their lines.

Leaving the Federation’s strongest fleet in the hands of someone willing to put personal grudges above humanity’s survival?

Now that was the real disaster waiting to happen.

That’s why they changed the plan and dismissed Stephen on the spot.

“Alright, if there are any further questions, let’s continue!”

Without sparing a glance for Stephen, who’d slumped into his seat with hollow eyes, Mu Xingchen tapped the table and acted as if nothing had happened.

The other officers exchanged glances across the room…

No one dared utter a word for ages.

After all, the last person who spoke up just lost his command right then and there.

Granted, they all knew it was Stephen’s own fault, but still…

It had definitely shaken them up.

Finally…

A full minute went by.

Someone finally raised a hand.

Lin Yu turned to look, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

It wasn’t just anyone—it was George Campbell, Stephen’s only son.

A few top officers from the First Fleet even tried to signal him not to speak up.

They worried George might be trying to cause trouble for his father just now.

He was, after all, the son of their former commander.

But Lin Yu, standing on the stage, wasn’t worried.

He understood George even better than Stephen did.

George raising his hand…

That was absolutely not to start trouble.

“George, go ahead!”

“My question is, how can we be sure the enemy will throw all their fleets into Jupiter’s orbit and engage in a running battle with us? After all, even with the First Fleet on our side, our warship count is still less than a third of theirs.”

George stood up.

He’d raised a good point.

Even adding the First, Second, Third, and Fifth Fleets together barely got them to 700 warships; the enemy had at least 2,000.

Given that, why would the enemy ever deploy all their warships at once and leave no reserves?

It was a sharp question.

And it hit at the core of Lin Yu’s entire strategy.

Everyone in the room turned in surprise to George, the 18-year-old staff lieutenant.

There was a prodigy on the podium, but the First Fleet…

Had a genius of their own.

That was the honest impression running through nearly everyone’s mind at that moment.

“To answer that, we only need to make our warship numbers close to equal—or even match theirs.”

“That’s impossible!”

Lin Yu had barely finished when George shot him down.

Everyone else looked puzzled.

Right—matching the enemy meant 2,000 warships at least. Where would the Federation get so many? It sounded ridiculous.

“We’ve got them. In fact, they’re—”

“At the Solar System Defense Command!”