Chapter 87 A Commander’s Star Shines—Who Is Truly Right? Natasha’s Doubts

At that moment, the entire world was watching low Earth orbit.

The Foundation’s assembled space fleet stood ready.

With a single order, it would launch an assault unprecedented in human history—

An orbital-drop operation.

At a time when Earth’s nations still struggled to conduct crewed lunar missions, the Foundation’s immense space fleet demonstrated power far beyond anything they could imagine.

Fortunately, that power existed to ensure humanity’s survival and contain anomalies.

Certain factions within various countries naturally remained concerned.

However, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already established a precedent. No matter how powerful the Foundation became, most governments viewed it as merely another supranational organization operating beyond ordinary authority.

Now that Obadiah claimed to control SCP-008 and possessed enough power to destroy the world, the nations of Earth ultimately chose to let the Foundation intervene.

The United Nations also passed an emergency resolution.

Multiple countries would jointly establish a UN expeditionary force and deploy it to the United States, fighting together against humanity’s common enemy.

The captain’s command room aboard the Retribution had become Ethan’s temporary headquarters.

Agent Natasha entered carrying a steaming Lava Latte and quietly placed it on his desk.

“Commander, your coffee.”

Seeing Ethan still working without pause, she could not help feeling concerned.

“Just leave it there.”

Ethan never looked away from the screens.

“Yukikaze, run another combat simulation based on the latest plan. Adjust the deployments here—and here.”

He picked up the coffee and drained it in one motion, his eyes remaining fixed on the tactical display.

This was Ethan’s first time commanding a military force numbering at least two hundred thousand personnel.

This was a genuine military campaign, not one of the smaller containment operations he had previously directed.

Commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers was no easy task.

Whether in antiquity or during the two world wars, anyone capable of effectively commanding an army of that scale would invariably be remembered as a great general.

An ordinary person could never coordinate such an enormous campaign.

They had to oversee everything from logistics for hundreds of thousands of soldiers to inter-unit coordination, personnel deployment, operational objectives, and precise timelines.

Placing an incompetent commander in such a position would inevitably produce a catastrophe.

Fortunately, Ethan possessed the professional abilities of a Psychic Commander.

After undergoing several enhancements, his mental processing and computational abilities had long since surpassed those of ordinary humans.

Combined with the terrifying computational power provided by Yukikaze’s upgraded mainframe, Ethan had created the simplest yet most powerful command system in human history.

If Ethan were sent back to any historical era and given command of an army numbering hundreds of thousands—or even millions—he could control it effortlessly.

With Yukikaze’s mainframe assisting him, Ethan and a single computer completed within several hours an operational plan that would normally require thousands of staff officers working for at least a month.

His current command abilities allowed him to assign missions throughout the enormous army with precision down to the platoon level without creating logistical or organizational conflicts.

That accomplishment alone was enough to place Ethan among the world’s greatest military commanders.

After confirming the deployment plan three separate times, he finally exhaled.

“Yukikaze, use the current finalized plan as the operational blueprint.”

“Transmit it to the computers of every command unit immediately.”

Ethan raised his wrist and checked his military watch.

An hour had passed since 2B departed with the YoRHa force to capture Group 935’s armed satellite.

He calculated the remaining time.

“They should be finished soon.”

Ethan raised his head and looked at Natasha, who had spent the entire period watching him work.

“Did you learn everything from the deployment I just completed, Agent Natasha?”

Natasha stared at him blankly.

A large question mark might as well have appeared over her head.

After 2B departed, Ethan had first held a private discussion with Elivise for more than ten minutes.

He had then entered the command room and begun planning the operation.

During that time, Natasha had been drafted as his temporary adjutant.

Ethan had likely recognized her talent for command and deliberately given her an opportunity to learn.

Natasha might normally wear a skintight suit and conduct infiltrations and covert operations, making her appear more like an assassin than an officer.

In reality, however, she possessed considerable command ability and natural talent.

As for why Ethan wanted to cultivate that talent, he had his own plans.

Natasha might currently be fiercely loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., but as long as events continued unfolding according to his design, Ethan believed he would ultimately achieve his deeper objective.

He intended to unite the human military forces of this parallel Earth—the Earth belonging to the Marvel universe.

The Marvel universe faced far too many threats, many of which originated beyond Earth.

Yet humanity’s superheroes spent most of their time fighting among themselves.

Even after S.H.I.E.L.D.’s technology became extraordinarily advanced, it continued withholding those developments from ordinary humans.

Earth’s overall technological progress remained stagnant, all under the noble-sounding excuse that restricting technological proliferation was necessary to protect humanity.

In Ethan’s opinion, that philosophy was complete nonsense.

The perceptive Natasha naturally understood that Ethan was deliberately training her.

Therefore, while acting as his temporary adjutant, she carefully studied everything he did.

Unfortunately, his dizzying series of calculations and operational deployments quickly overwhelmed her.

Natasha moistened her lips and struggled to organize her thoughts before asking about the parts she did not understand.

“Commander, there are still many things I don’t understand about your deployments and reasoning.”

“For example…”

“This formation is positioned here to provide strategic support to the Redstone military base,” Ethan explained.

Under his patient instruction, the previously confusing plan suddenly became clear to Natasha.

Then she abruptly asked an unexpected question.

“Commander, there’s something I don’t understand.”

“I’m a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Why are you teaching me these things and allowing me to see such classified operational deployments?”

Ethan looked at the confused Natasha and answered as though the reason were self-evident.

“Because we are both human.”

“You possess exceptional talent, Agent Natasha. You should make a greater contribution to human civilization instead of remaining nothing more than an assassin.”

“It doesn’t matter which faction or organization you belong to.”

“What matters is whether you consider yourself a member of humanity.”

Ethan closed the computer and encouragingly patted her shoulder.

“Study carefully, Agent Natasha.”

“The operation is about to begin. Until it ends, you will continue serving as my temporary adjutant.”

Ethan left the command room and entered the now-bustling bridge.

Fewer than thirty-four minutes remained before the scheduled beginning of the operation.

Yukikaze’s voice suddenly sounded.

“Commander, communication received from the YoRHa force.”

“Green signal. The target has been successfully captured.”

Ethan’s body stiffened slightly.

He drew a deep breath before addressing the communications officer awaiting his orders.

“Transmit the orange signal to every combat unit.”

“The operation will proceed according to plan.”

Natasha silently watched Ethan’s back.

For the first time, her faith in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ideals began to waver.

Which path was truly correct?

In her eyes, the figure standing before her seemed to grow taller and more imposing with every passing moment.