Major General Alpha (11): So, Gu Juntian really stole Zhou Qinghao’s military achievements!

Going to the desolate planet to kill Zergs was such an important matter, so Gu Juntian naturally told Zhou Qinghao in advance.

After persuading the five S-level powerhouses to go with him to the desolate planet, he told Zhou Qinghao about the plan to hunt the high-level Zergs there.

Gu Juntian showed Zhou Qinghao a recorded communication in which his own advisor was inciting him to lure Zhou Qinghao to the desolate planet, and then began accusing the Second Prince: “Qinghao, you know my younger brother has always wanted to kill me. He’s planted a lot of people around me. Not long ago, I discovered that even my most trusted advisor was his plant. This guy has been trying to sow discord between us. So I decided to play along, making him think we were on bad terms. But I never thought he’d tell me there were high-level Zergs on a certain desolate planet, and that he’d want me to take the opportunity to kill you!”

At this point, Gu Juntian’s expression grew extremely serious. “I suspect my brother is colluding with the Zergs! There are now more than four high-level Zergs on that planet. I want to go with you to wipe them out.”

After explaining his plan, Gu Juntian told him he had also found outside reinforcements: “Don’t worry, it won’t just be the two of us this time. There will be other S-level powerhouses as well. They’ll be lying in ambush near the desolate planet. With the two of us—both super S-level—and five S-level powerhouses, we’ll definitely be able to kill all the high-level Zergs on that planet!”

Zhou Qinghao had agreed right then to go with Gu Juntian to hunt the Zergs, and later, while Gu Juntian was making preparations, he also made some of his own.

Today, Zhou Qinghao wasn’t wearing his lieutenant general’s uniform, but the standard-issue combat suit given to soldiers by the military. The suit was form-fitting, hugging the body and showing off his figure.

The moment Gu Juntian saw Zhou Qinghao, his eyes were drawn completely to him.

Zhou Qinghao was truly stunning.

Gu Juntian stared at him for quite a while before coming back to his senses, smiling as he said, “Qinghao, let’s go.”

Zhou Qinghao nodded in agreement. “Alright.”

Then, Zhou Qinghao followed Gu Juntian onto his private starship.

They would travel on Gu Juntian’s private starship to the desolate planet.

While traveling, the ship could receive nearby signals and communicate with other ships, but it couldn’t connect to the star network unless there was an imperial signal station nearby.

Even if there was a signal station, because the ship traveled so fast, they could usually only connect to the star network for a short while before losing the connection again.

So, once Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao entered space, they were essentially offline.

They were already used to this, but since the journey to the desolate planet would take around twelve hours, they still needed to find something to do.

Gu Juntian suggested, “Qinghao, shall we watch a movie together?”

Zhou Qinghao agreed. “Alright.”

He couldn’t bring himself to refuse Gu Juntian.

Who knew how many more days they’d have together?

Zhou Qinghao sighed silently in his heart.

Lately, Gu Juntian had been acting very open and friendly toward him.

But Zhou Qinghao didn’t dare to trust him.

Leaving aside other matters, just take the mecha Gu Juntian had given him… inside it, he had found an extremely well-hidden surveillance device.

Zhou Qinghao liked mechas very much, but coming from a civilian background, he had no money to buy one when he was young.

It wasn’t until he entered the military academy that he first came into contact with mechas.

Because he possessed S-level mental power, the school assigned him an advanced standard-issue mecha to help him learn piloting.

He treasured this mecha greatly, and in the beginning, he would carefully wipe it down every day.

The mecha was issued to students for training. If a student damaged it during use, they had to repair it themselves, and upon graduation, they had to return it to the school.

At the time, he had no money and feared he wouldn’t be able to afford repairs if it broke, so he specifically learned mecha repair.

With his S-level mental power, he learned quickly, completing all the repair courses.

He always repaired his own mecha, and after Gu Juntian gave him one, he even modified it.

The mecha he had been using before might have looked ordinary, but many parts had been modified by him, giving it excellent performance.

Through the modification process, he also learned more and more about mecha repair and manufacturing.

Now, he could be considered a mecha master.

Half a month ago, Gu Juntian gave him a brand-new mecha.

It had been crafted by a master, identical to the one Gu Juntian usually used—expensive and rare to obtain.

He liked it very much, and carefully inspected it with the intention of making some modifications.

A mecha personally modified by him would be the most suitable.

But during the inspection, he found a surveillance device hidden inside.

He studied it for a long time before confirming it was indeed a surveillance device.

Gu Juntian wanted to monitor his every move?

Now that Gu Juntian had become a super S-level powerhouse and found someone else skilled at commanding battles who could replace him…

Gu Juntian didn’t need him anymore.

In that case, would Gu Juntian find him an eyesore? Would he want to kill him?

Had Gu Juntian suddenly been so warm toward his subordinates in order to win them over?

Given the current situation, after his death, his subordinates would likely join Gu Juntian’s camp.

Of course, this was only his speculation.

Perhaps Gu Juntian truly liked him.

The videos he had received might all be fake, fabricated by the Second Prince.

Zhou Qinghao kept telling himself this, over and over.

But even so, he still couldn’t trust Gu Juntian.

Lately, every time Gu Juntian saw him, he challenged him to a sparring match, and during the fights, he never held back.

Did Gu Juntian really like him?

Moreover, he was still a major general, and he and Gu Juntian had been classmates. He also knew many of Gu Juntian’s friends.

Even if he didn’t actively inquire, people would still tell him things about Gu Juntian.

He had long known about Gu Juntian’s close relationship with an Omega.

Sitting beside Gu Juntian, supposedly watching a movie, Zhou Qinghao’s mind wasn’t on it at all.

Was Gu Juntian taking him to the desolate planet really to kill Zergs together?

Gu Juntian’s mind wasn’t on the movie either.

From time to time, he would glance at Zhou Qinghao and sigh inwardly.

Staying at Zhou Qinghao’s base and even living in his suite, he had originally intended to take advantage of the proximity to spend more time with him.

But in order to improve his strength, their time together recently had been very little, and when they did meet, they were always fighting.

Only now did they finally have some time alone together.

So, what should he do when alone with someone he liked?

People on the star network had said before that they could watch a movie together, but judging by Zhou Qinghao’s expression… it didn’t seem like he enjoyed movies.

Gu Juntian felt a bit conflicted at the thought.

While they silently watched the movie, the star network suddenly flooded with news about them.

In the past few days, many combat videos of Zhou Qinghao had appeared online.

His performance in those battles was breathtaking!

With Gu Juntian and the Second Prince fanning the flames, Zhou Qinghao’s fame in the empire skyrocketed, and he became a war hero.

Zhou Qinghao’s service record and the wars he had participated in could be found online, and after seeing his many military achievements, people liked him even more.

Before this operation where he killed four high-level Zergs, he had already killed ten high-level Zergs—an impressive record.

However, in his previous battles, victories had been achieved under the Crown Prince’s command, so people’s focus had often been on the Crown Prince rather than him.

Now, people realized he was just as outstanding.

“The Crown Prince excels at command, Zhou Qinghao at combat. They really are the perfect team!”

“Their record together is so impressive!”

“I heard they’ve been close friends since military school, inseparable!”

“The Crown Prince has great eyes, to have discovered such a treasure in Zhou Qinghao!”

…

The Crown Prince had always enjoyed a good reputation online.

When he was young, he rarely appeared before the public, so they knew little about him. But after entering the military academy, he began to display his brilliance.

At the academy, his grades were excellent, and after joining the army, he earned remarkable military achievements over more than a decade.

A few months ago, when Gu Juntian was promoted to lieutenant general, the star network had been abuzz with discussion about him!

At that time, his popularity far exceeded Zhou Qinghao’s, and his number of fans was incomparable.

When people found out Zhou Qinghao was connected to him, Zhou Qinghao’s popularity rose further.

Even people who had no interest in military affairs and only followed entertainment gossip learned that the Crown Prince had a friend named Zhou Qinghao.

It was around then that a video was posted online.

It was secretly recorded inside a command room, showing Zhou Qinghao sitting beside Gu Juntian, directing the battle.

All the commands were issued by Zhou Qinghao.

He entered various instructions and gave numerous orders.

However, with AI assistance, the voice that issued those orders was Gu Juntian’s.

Anyone not in the command room would naturally assume Gu Juntian had been the one commanding the battle.

People were stunned—what was this? Around the same time, one of Gu Juntian’s advisors stepped forward online, using his identity as a staff officer under Gu Juntian, to publicly accuse him of stealing someone else’s military achievements!

“The Crown Prince of the empire, First Legion Lieutenant General Gu Juntian—although he has S-level mental power, he is timid, incompetent, unskilled in combat, and ignorant of command. He attained the rank of lieutenant general entirely by stealing others’ military achievements…”

The man, holding his identification for proof, recited a list of victories Gu Juntian had allegedly stolen.

According to him, since Gu Juntian had joined the army alongside Zhou Qinghao, he had been leeching off him, taking more than half of Zhou Qinghao’s military merits!

He even released a large amount of evidence.

This included secretly recorded footage of Zhou Qinghao directing battles for Gu Juntian, as well as videos of Gu Juntian making errors in command, only for Zhou Qinghao to lead his troops to complete impossible missions, turning flawed orders into legendary victories.

The man swore, “In more than a decade of service, almost every one of the Crown Prince’s battle plans was made by Zhou Qinghao. Even his top marks in command classes at the academy were thanks to Zhou Qinghao…”

This information quickly spread across the entire network.

The public was stunned: “Is this real?”

“The Crown Prince is actually this kind of person?”

“Isn’t this going too far?”

“This isn’t just too far—it’s disgusting! If he’s incompetent, he could just stay off the battlefield, like the Second Prince, and be an S-level figurehead. But no, he insisted on going to the front lines, using his status to steal others’ credit. Disgusting!”

“Zhou Qinghao’s situation is too tragic…”

…

The evidence provided was overwhelming.

Anyone who had been on the battlefield could see it was real.

So, Gu Juntian really had taken Zhou Qinghao’s credit!

Perhaps “taken” wasn’t even accurate—videos showed that Zhou Qinghao had willingly helped Gu Juntian.

So some people defended Gu Juntian: “What do you mean ‘steal’ credit? Zhou Qinghao clearly agreed to it himself.”

“If they had an agreement, then it’s fine.”

“They’re friends—just helping each other out.”

…

Of course, these people were quickly criticized: “Can you be sure Zhou Qinghao agreed willingly and wasn’t forced to?”

“Gu Juntian is the Crown Prince, and the First Legion’s marshal is his grandfather. Maybe Zhou Qinghao had no choice but to comply!”

“Friends? I doubt Zhou Qinghao wants a friend like that!”

…

The star network was in an uproar.

Headlines like “Crown Prince’s Military Achievements Fabricated” quickly appeared in major media outlets.

Before, in the eyes of the public, Gu Juntian had been a man of noble birth who was still willing to endure hardships on the front lines, someone to be admired.

Now, he was a fraud.

The public was outraged, demanding a thorough investigation and that Zhou Qinghao’s rightful military merits be returned to him.