Major General Alpha (12): I didn’t expect that the eldest prince would be such a person!

The StarNet was vast, and no matter what news spread, it spread extremely quickly.

In just a few hours, the incident of Gu Juntian stealing Zhou Qinghao’s military merits had already become known across the entire network.

This fire even burned all the way to the First Legion.

“The Crown Prince stole someone else’s military merits—does the commander of the First Legion really not know?”

“No one in the First Legion noticed anything wrong?”

“Did Zhou Qinghao never lodge a complaint?”

“Is the entire legion bullying Zhou Qinghao just because he’s from a civilian background?”

“They all say the First Legion is the best, the most suitable for civilians—so this is what they mean by ‘suitable’.”

…

This world was full of injustices.

Ordinary people being bullied by their superiors at work was a common occurrence.

So, countless people projected themselves onto Zhou Qinghao and felt indignant on his behalf.

In their anger, the public also hoped that Zhou Qinghao and Gu Juntian would step forward to respond.

But on the First Legion’s side, they couldn’t get in touch with either of them at all.

When someone reported Gu Juntian by name, the commander of the First Legion—Gu Juntian’s grandfather, Marshal Lei Molei—knew about it immediately.

Marshal Lei knew his grandson well enough. He knew that Gu Juntian’s skills couldn’t compare to Zhou Qinghao’s.

He also knew that his grandson had often taken credit for Zhou Qinghao’s achievements.

Because of this, he had once sought out Zhou Qinghao and had an honest conversation.

At that time, Zhou Qinghao had said it was voluntary.

Marshal Lei was still human—he had his own selfish motives.

He wanted Gu Juntian to become emperor, to take over the First Legion. If that was the case, Gu Juntian would need military merits.

If Zhou Qinghao was willing to help, all the better.

Of course, he knew Zhou Qinghao was getting the short end of the stick, so he made sure to compensate him.

For nearly ten years, Zhou Qinghao and his men had always been given the best equipment, and the First Legion’s top logistics personnel were sent to him.

Although Zhou Qinghao’s promotions were slower than Gu Juntian’s, they weren’t much slower.

However, at that time Marshal Lei didn’t know that his grandson’s freeloading had reached such an outrageous, shameless level.

This could no longer even be called “freeloading”!

He had thought his grandson was talented in commanding battles, only avoiding direct confrontation with high-level Zergs out of caution.

But the truth? Every single one of those battles had been commanded by Zhou Qinghao!

Marshal Lei had been in the military for over a century—one look at the online evidence, and he knew it was all true.

Furious, he immediately tried to contact Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao, but failed—even the advisor he had assigned to Gu Juntian couldn’t be reached.

After making inquiries, he learned that Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao had left together aboard Gu Juntian’s private ship.

With neither of them around, Marshal Lei didn’t dare make a rash public statement.

He couldn’t say Gu Juntian hadn’t stolen the merits—without a doubt, he had.

But he also couldn’t admit guilt on Gu Juntian’s behalf. The matter was too big; if they admitted it, Gu Juntian would be finished!

The best way to resolve this was to wait for the two to return, then have Zhou Qinghao say a few words in Gu Juntian’s defense.

As long as Zhou Qinghao didn’t mind, the matter could be downplayed and smoothed over.

In the end, Marshal Lei only had the First Legion release a statement saying they were temporarily unable to contact Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao, but would investigate thoroughly and give the public an explanation.

This statement calmed some people, who decided to wait for developments, but many still thought it was just an excuse.

They continued expressing their dissatisfaction online.

Inside the First Legion, chaos broke out.

Many officers sided with Zhou Qinghao, and the soldiers even more so.

They thought Gu Juntian had gone too far.

However, Gu Juntian’s subordinates and Zhou Qinghao’s subordinates remained silent.

Gu Juntian’s people were silent out of guilt; as for Zhou Qinghao’s…

They had originally been very displeased with Gu Juntian, but not long ago, Gu Juntian had saved them in battle!

That battle had actually been commanded by Gu Juntian, but in the end, the military merits had gone to their general.

Also, Gu Juntian had stayed with them for half a month, and they’d found he wasn’t such a bad person after all.

Most importantly, Zhou Qinghao had never once complained about Gu Juntian.

So, if Gu Juntian had taken the merits, it was because Zhou Qinghao was willing.

Their general had already decided to follow Gu Juntian, so what more was there to say?

They would just follow their general!

Some soldiers in Zhou Qinghao’s garrison even discussed privately: “I knew our garrison’s food and equipment were always better than others’… thinking about it now, it must have been the Crown Prince secretly funding us.”

“The First Legion’s best medical team and mech repair team are both with us…”

“Even though some of the major general’s military merits were taken, he didn’t get promoted much slower. Marshal Lei often praises him too… I think this whole merits thing must have been arranged between the major general, the Crown Prince, and the marshal.”

…

Zhou Qinghao’s men knew well that their general had voluntarily given the merits away.

With him absent and the facts unclear, if they jumped out now to defend him, they might get chewed out by him later!

Besides, even if Zhou Qinghao’s merits had been taken, theirs hadn’t.

Following Zhou Qinghao, their promotions were fast, and their safety was guaranteed.

He often gave them extra allowances after battles too…

They thought things were pretty good as they were.

With the supposed victim absent, the online uproar was just noise.

The Second Prince’s people had anticipated this situation—that’s why they had collected evidence of Gu Juntian stealing merits long ago but never released it.

Just this alone could only damage Gu Juntian’s image, not strip him of his claim to the throne.

“It’s time for the next move,” the Second Prince said with a cold smile as he looked at the trending news.

Then, an even bigger bombshell hit the StarNet.

The Crown Prince’s childhood friend, Herman, son of Duke Camille, suddenly released an online video of a conversation with him.

Duke Camille was friends with Marshal Lei, but his family also had a grudge against the current empress’s family.

In the public’s eyes, Duke Camille was firmly in the Crown Prince’s camp.

But now, his son Herman was openly accusing the Crown Prince!

“I’ve been friends with the Crown Prince for many years. I shouldn’t speak ill of him, but he’s gone too far. I can’t stand by and say nothing…”

The future duke claimed that Gu Juntian and Zhou Qinghao had been secretly involved for more than a decade.

When Gu Juntian was in military school, he discovered Zhou Qinghao liked him, so he started dating him—and then shamelessly had Zhou Qinghao do all sorts of things for him.

If that were all, fine—but Gu Juntian didn’t actually like Zhou Qinghao. In private, he constantly belittled him, saying he was useless.

The video showed the Crown Prince, usually gentle in public, with a dark expression and venomous words.

He said Zhou Qinghao was just a dog he kept. He said if it weren’t for Zhou Qinghao’s merits, he wouldn’t bother with him.

He also said that once he became emperor, he would exile Zhou Qinghao.

He even called Zhou Qinghao a perverted homosexual.

The public was stunned by the video.

“My god, I thought it was just about stealing merits—didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“Zhou Qinghao is so pitiful.”

“I used to defend the Crown Prince. I thought he just wanted attention from the emperor and made some foolish mistakes, but I thought he was a good person at heart… I didn’t know he was like this…”

“We must never let someone like this be emperor!”

“As an Alpha, I think AA relationships are disgusting, but the Crown Prince saying that while being with another Alpha—he’s the most disgusting one.”

…

Soon, the Crown Prince’s AA relationship became headline news.

By now, at least half of the empire’s internet-connected citizens knew about his public image collapse.

Marshal Lei nearly coughed blood after seeing the video.

When he realized his grandson had no command ability, he had wondered why Zhou Qinghao would willingly help him for over a decade, and to such an extent.

Now, he finally knew—his grandson had seduced him!

And Zhou Qinghao, an ultra-S-level powerhouse, turned out to be love-struck!

If Zhou Qinghao had done it for promised benefits or friendship, he might still be willing to defend Gu Juntian’s reputation.

But it was all for “love”—and now his grandson’s ugly side had been exposed to him.

Zhou Qinghao would never help clear his name now!

Even Marshal Lei himself, after seeing the video, found his grandson disgusting.

He was just like the current emperor—the scumbag who had ruined his daughter!

Just as Marshal Lei was thinking this, one of the empire’s most sought-after Omegas—Amos, grandson of the Third Legion’s marshal, nicknamed the “Starry Night Rose”—produced evidence that the Crown Prince had been courting him: “The Crown Prince has been pursuing me, saying that after he became emperor, he would marry me as his empress. We never made our relationship public because he said Zhou Qinghao liked him and would harm anyone close to him… I believed him, but it turns out he was lying the whole time.”

“Holy crap! So the Crown Prince kept Zhou Qinghao hanging for merits while chasing an Omega—he’s the worst scum I’ve ever seen!”

“I can’t believe I ever supported him! I feel sick!”

“Disgusting. People like this should just drop dead!”

“This really makes the Second Prince look so much better!”

“The Second Prince was raised personally by the emperor, while the Crown Prince grew up in the First Legion—what garbage is the First Legion producing?!”

“Marshal Lei has praised the Crown Prince many times in public—just what is he praising?!”

“If the Crown Prince is like this, there’s no way Marshal Lei didn’t know. Marshal Lei must be no good either.”

…

Now even Marshal Lei was trembling with rage.

Years ago, the emperor had used sweet words to win over his daughter, but after she joined the royal family, he cheated with another Omega.

Devastated, she had taken her own life shortly after giving birth to Gu Juntian.

Marshal Lei had worked hard to raise Gu Juntian into a man of integrity—only to see him act exactly like his scumbag father!

Zhou Qinghao’s subordinates, who had previously stayed calm, were now stunned.

Their general had given his military merits to the Crown Prince because he liked him?

They’d never seen any sign of that!

And the Crown Prince in those videos—both Herman’s and Amos’s—was completely different from the man they’d met.

They hadn’t expected him to be like this!

Once their general saw those videos, he would surely cut ties with the Crown Prince for good.

Luckily, their general was still young—not so far gone as to have his life ruined by Gu Juntian.

With his abilities, even if he broke with the First Legion, he could join another legion and continue to shine on the battlefield.

In a few decades, he might even become a marshal himself.