Love Began with the First Meeting

William visited the Eagle Special Brigade, accompanied by just his secretary and a signaller. The main purpose of his trip was to make sure that Edgar was fine. Besides, he invested a great amount of time in this incident and hoped that no more load would be put on

Edgar's

mind.

When he entered the camp building, William saw Edgar chatting with somebody on the phone, laughing and joking. Immediately, he realized that his trip was completely unnecessary. Edgar had once been under his direct command when he was in the Reconnaissance Company. He knew Edgar quite well, so he should not have doubted his psychological strength in the first place.

When he saw William standing at the door of his office, Edgar intended to cut his call short and hang up the phone, but William gestured to him to continue with the conversation. Then, he walked inside and looked out through the office window. The first thing his eyes fell on were the four new recruits who were being punished. They were frog-leaping, each holding a long-barreled gun above their heads. William could feel the pain in his heart. As a father, he could not bear to see his daughter suffering hardships like that. "You could just look away if you still find it difficult to watch her suffer," Edgar said, just as he had hung up the phone..

Heaving a sigh, William walked away from the window and sat on the sofa.

After pouring water into an enamel covered cup, Edgar asked, "Sir, why are you here today?"

"Why do you ask that? As a leader of the military region, am I not allowed to inspect the progress of your brigade?"

"With a secretary and a signaller?" Edgar asked him back. Obviously, he didn't fall for William's lie. As soon as he found out that William had come with only two subordinates, especially without notifying him in advance, Edgar knew that the purpose of his visit was of a private nature. "If you've come here to talk about that issue, please don't bother bringing it up again. After all, everything has already been settled. It's meaningless to talk anything more about that."

"Alas," William sighed as his unspoken words were easily intercepted by Edgar. He paused for a while, most likely to think, but in the end, he groaned in defeat and said, "I know how headstrong you are. If this had happened to somebody else, they would have made so much trouble. But since it's you, I don't need to worry about it too much. I knew that you could endure the unfair decision that was taken against you. But, are those five men willing to endure it with you?"

"Sir, rest assured. They are my men. I have full confidence in them,"

Edgar replied as a confident smile flashed across his eyes. "After all, we will be recruiting new members in the spring of next year and they can take part in the entrance examination.

"William felt relieved. He smiled, as he did not expect that Edgar would be so optimistic. "You took the fall for them and got yourself demoted so that they wouldn't get expelled from the military and would still have a chance to rejoin the Eagle Special Brigade. You were willing to be the scapegoat for your men, right?"

Then he frowned and continued, "But how could the Eagle Special Brigade, which is under the S Army, admit soldiers who have made such grave mistakes?"

"Eagle takes in only soldiers who are fully capable,"

Edgar said with a smile. "Sir, you are the one who set such a high standard."

William lost his tongue. He smirked and said, "I see. You've been holding back and waiting for me to show up here. You rascal!"

They laughed heartily and chatted casually for a while. Gradually, the topic shifted to Maggie. William asked Edgar about her performance. After all, he was curious to know how his daughter was faring under Edgar's command.

Maggie hadn't impressed Edgar very much. He had rescued her from the kidnappers when they had met for the first time. He had seen her photos occasionally from William, who was so dramatically proud of his daughter and liked showing off her photos to people he was familiar with. The last time Edgar saw her in person was the day before she had come to the Eagle Special Brigade. Maggie had caught him in the private room she had entered by mistake at the entertainment center. However, up until now, what impressed him the most was her self-criticism. He was able to come to the conclusion that she was smart, but stubborn. Her temper would do no good for her future development. She had to be cultivated properly as a perfect soldier. She could be a sharp tool if she could be a little more sophisticated.

After talking for a while longer, Edgar saw William off. Standing by the window, Edgar observed the training of the Falcon Commando. The newbies, apart Garth, were being punished. Punishments were also a form of training for the body and the mind. Three of them were carrying a long-barreled gun, with two bricks hanging from the gun barrel. And on top od that, there was a shell case on top of the bricks. If they could not bear the weight of the bricks and lost their balance, the shell case would fall to the ground. If that happened, one more brick would be hung from the gun barrel as added punishment for failing. Therefore, if they didn't want their suffering to increase, they'd have to keep the gun steady.

"Sir!"

"Come in," Edgar answered, turning towards the door. He saw Cathy walk into the office. "Have you finished the tactical research?" "Yes,"

Cathy answered, handing the report to Edgar. "But we ran into some difficulties during the research." "What difficulties?"

Edgar asked. "After all these years, I didn't think that there was anything you would find difficult anymore." Shrugging casually, Cathy said, "I can't solve every problem. I'm good, but I am not as good as you."

After a pause, she continued to elaborate on the problem. "In order to change the ballistic curve, we have to enhance the firing range of the sniper rifle effectively, which would improve the success rate greatly, but that is almost practically impossible." "What did your four students have to say about it?" Edgar asked.

"I was told by Elijah that Maggie once talked about this problem and she was confident on her theory that could change the status quo. However, a lot of experiments and research would be necessary to reach a satisfactory solution." Edgar raised his brow. "What did you think about her opinion?"

Cathy smiled. A glimmer of excitement appeared in her eyes. "I think we should let her try. If we succeed, our military will enjoy the benefits of her labor.

"Hmm," Edgar said. "Give her access to a laboratory for her research, but only as long as she doesn't miss her daily training."

Cathy frowned. In a doubtful tone, she asked, "Sir, they have already begun training with the Falcon Commando. Do you think she will be able to bear the intensity of the training and work at the laboratory at the same time?"

"Don't worry. Mankind's potential is limitless. People don't usually tap into it unless they are pushed into a corner with no other choice," Edgar said with a smirk. Then he added, "Tell her it is an order, and that we need results as soon as possible.."00