The Bloodline System

Gustav felt since it was just a mission briefing, he didn't need to come all dressed up, especially when it was a hassle to put on his new uniform.

"Colonel Oxlar with all due respect this kid doesn't seem fit to lead us into this mission. Wouldn't it be a joke for someone that looks not a day over eighteen and is also the lowest in terms of bloodline rank among all six of us to be the leader?" One of the officers who had a dissatisfied expression on his face voiced out.

"Officer Felgro, should I take your disagreement as an act of insubordination?" Colonel Oxlar stated with a fierce glare.

Officer Felgro flinched and quickly responded, "No colonel, I am not in anyway disagreeing with the decision of the higher-ups. I am just stating my concern for the fate of my comrades and this mission. I don't see any qualifications of leadership that he has got. He's even dressed in a casual outfit, which leads me to believe he might be at the lowest official rank," Officer Felgro, who looked like a Hispanic male with yellow hair, voiced out.

"So you're saying you see better than the higher-ups do? They must be quite foolish to pick a kid as the leader of the squad, right?" Colonel Oxlar's voice turned colder and colder as he spoke.

"No... I... Mean..." Felgro, at this point, was speechless and didn't know how to respond.

No matter what he said now, it would make things worse.

"First off, Officer Crimson was the one that gathered half of the information needed for this mission, second, he completed a five-star mission not too long ago in this same city.."

As Colonel Oxlar got to this point, the eyes of all the other officers in the vicinity widened. Except for Mill, who already knew this.

They all stared at Gustav's face as they recalled the rumors that had been going out across the base recently about a cadet completing a five-star mission.

"Third, he's your senior officer. A senior Argent-ranked MBO officer," Colonel Oxlar added, stunning the officers around even more.

At this point, Officer Felgro felt a sting of humiliation assault him after recalling he was a junior argent.

Gustav just stood in the background watching the drama with no intention to get involved from the start. He would rather undergo the mission just by himself like he did with Sahil, but he understood why a team was needed for this.

They stared at Gustav in a different light now, understanding why he was picked to be the leader.

Even though Mill was dissatisfied, he didn't say anything from the start because he knew very well that Gustav was qualified. He didn't want to dig a grave for himself like Officer Felgro, who was now hoping he didn't get punished for an act of insubordination and speaking low of a senior officer.

"Officer Crimson, how do you wish to punish your surbodinate?" Colonel Oxlar voiced out while gesturing at Gustav.

His eyes squinted as he waited to see how Gustav would respond to this. Officer Felgro had a look of distress written all over his face at this point.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Let's just get on with the mission briefing," Gustav discarded it with an unbothered expression.

Colonel Oxlar nodded and proceeded to resume explaining a few more things.

The mission briefing went on for about five minutes more before it ended.

"By six tomorrow you all are expected to arrive at the transport bay. You can now head to to the weapons vault to gather the necessary equipments for the mission. Other feeding items will also be provided to you all, along with fake identifications you can use to hide in plain sight after infiltration," Colonel Oxlar ended with this.

"I wish you all luck and Officer Crimson… The higher ups have high expectations of you," Colonel Oxlar smiled at Gustav before he walked out.

Gustav nodded at him as well, not verbally responding since he didn't really care about their expectations.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't do his best to complete a mission he instigated himself.

He proceeded to move towards the vault within the second base to obtain the items he needed.

He was glad the grand General here wasn't brain dead and decided to listen to him.

Now he had to start plotting and making plans on how to successfully complete the mission with his squad.

Based on his examination of their strength, they all seemed quite strong. He was still a first step Falcon-ranked, but they were all at the last step while Officer Falgro was at the peak, looking like he might break through soon.

The problem wasn't strength since Gustav saw himself as quite capable enough. The issue Gustav saw was their willingness to obey commands and how smart they were in making plans.

Even if a dumb person was given a lot of power, they wouldn't be able to make the most of it, so he was hoping that his subordinates were not the stupid kind.

Later in the evening, Gustav arrived back at the apartment and met Miss Aimee and Red Shadow around.

Miss Aimee had been available for the past two days, so he wasn't surprised to see her, but Red Shadow had been quite busy recently.

"Looks like your mission has been decided. You'll probably be leaving for Leoluch city soon," Miss Aimee voiced out as Gustav sat in the living room.

"Hnm, but wouldn't this clash with your plans to make me work with you?" Gustav asked.

"You already did work with me although not directly. I wanted you to be under my canopy and move with me but later I realised, it would be better if you embarked on dangerous missions by yourself without me being there to protect you. That way you'll be able to grow more," Miss Aimee explained.

"Oh, I see," Gustav smiled as he responded.

"Well this mission isn't all that dangerous.. It's a four-star mission after all," Gustav added.