Starting as a Wallfacer, his defection to the Three-Body Problem shocked the world.

Chapter 354 At least I don't have to hear about aircraft carriers anymore.

"Mr. Rhodes, given the 13 military charges against you by the military tribunal for your conduct in this war, do you have anything to refute before the trial begins?"

Mechanical Earth, Military Tribunal.

The destruction of the HMS King Aventis aircraft carrier may not have had a significant impact on the main battlefield, but the 121 escort ships that served as its protectors could not escape being held accountable.

Come to think of it, a group of escort ships that were protecting an aircraft carrier were all destroyed; it's unprecedented.

But in truth, these frigates were quite wronged. Who could have imagined that an aircraft carrier that was perfectly fine at home would suddenly explode?

If the Financial Secretary's allocation hadn't been so small as to be insufficient for the aircraft carrier's maintenance costs, they wouldn't have needed to engage in these messy profit-making projects, and naturally, none of this would have happened.

Now that something has gone wrong, they're making the Space Force take responsibility themselves; that's a bit shameless.

And Rhodes happened to be one of the more than one hundred captains of these hundred-plus frigates who were wronged by their fate.

The trial of their cases was merely a formality. These hundred-plus people were all ordinary people in the military with no money or power. The fact that they were chosen to take the blame meant that they had already been selected beforehand.

Rhodes let out a long breath and glanced behind him at the captains who were standing in neat rows, sharing the same fate as him.

They are like pigs about to be sent to the slaughterhouse, at the mercy of people, seemingly having a choice, but in reality having no choice at all.

"no disagreement."

Rod only said those few words, and then fell silent.

The clerk nodded and asked Rhodes to sign a pre-prepared statement. Rhodes didn't even bother to look at it and simply picked up the pen and signed his name.

After the clerk left, the other captains who were familiar with Rhodes came over.

"How despicable! These sons of bitches, they just think we're easy to bully!"

“Indeed, when the Royal Avent was bombed, I was working diligently on the front lines. Now they’re blaming me for dereliction of duty. How do they expect me to stand guard? Do they expect me to move a bed to the Royal Avent and spend the night there?”

As Rod listened to the complaints of those around him, he felt a pang of melancholy.

He entered the National Military Academy with outstanding grades in his twenties, and then joined the army, working his way up from the bottom to become the captain of a frigate.

He had thought that the gap between himself and those noble gentlemen had been bridged by his diligence and hard work, but this sudden accident may have completely ruined his decades of efforts and brought him to a complete halt in his career as a captain.

On this mechanical Earth, there remains an insurmountable chasm between ordinary people and nobles.

"Rhodes, we've all been through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so keep your spirits up and don't embarrass us!"

"Yes, cheer up!"

Listening to the constant jeers from those around him, Rod also felt that there was some truth to it.

He strode into the courtroom, his expression regaining the dignity of a soldier.

"Military court? What right do you have to judge me? When I joined the army, some of you were still wearing open-crotch pants."

"I'm not a mercenary on the field. I'm a captain who has fought for the mechanical Earth for decades. I've been through water and fire, and I've even landed on alien planets. I'm a tough guy with an iron will."

"If you want to judge me, I'm afraid none of you here are qualified!"

Rhodes' words immediately ignited the passion of the crowd waiting outside!

"Great job, well done!"

"That's how it should be, let them see we're not to be trifled with!"

Hearing the growing support behind him, Rhodes' confidence reached an unprecedented peak!

"Ha, I believe Mechanical Earth will give me justice. If they have the guts, they can dismiss me..."

……

Thirty minutes later, Rod left the military camp carrying his personal belongings.

"Very good, this time he was not stopped at the position of captain, because he was directly demoted to a commoner."

Dejected, Rhodes walked down the street, unsure of where to go next. It seemed as if all he knew how to do in his life was fight.

Ultimately, his attention settled on a beer hall.

However, what attracted him was not the speech information on the promotional poster, but the small print at the very bottom of the poster.

"Free and unlimited drinks today."

In the past, Rhodes, as the captain of a space force ship, would never have gone to such a place to drown his sorrows.

His life was still full of hope, so he naturally didn't need alcohol to numb himself.

But now, he walked in as if possessed.

The beer hall was crowded, but most of the people there were there for the free-flowing beer.

Here, representatives from various political parties give speeches every week, and the free beer is provided by them at their expense.

However, most people don't care much about politics, or more accurately, their concern is completely useless.

In Mechanical Earth, an extremely capitalist political system, the source of all power is only one thing—money.

That's right, in this place, money can buy everything, and everything has value.

The same applies to political votes.

The wealthier and more powerful the nobles, the greater their vote weight in political decisions.

At first, ordinary voters were somewhat involved in politics, but later on, the votes of the masses became less and less valuable.

There are two main reasons for this.

First, most of the masses are limited by their class background; their social class restricts their cognition, making them very easy to be swayed and thus make some extremely foolish decisions.

Secondly, those political officials and nobles who successfully gained power by exploiting voters do not want voters to decide whether they can keep their jobs. Therefore, as the power of the state apparatus continues to increase, the weight of voters is constantly decreasing.

The reason why some political parties still campaign among ordinary people is simply to try to use their numerical advantage to achieve a draw with the opposing side. Therefore, the political parties that organize these activities are not well-liked by the general public.

It is worth mentioning that the final producer is not a single person, but rather represents a person.

Anyone can be a final producer, but a final producer is also someone who is constantly being swept forward by capital.

"One beer, three ice cubes, and a 3:1 mix of cola, please."

Rod found a seat and downed the drink in his glass in one gulp.

The sugar from the cola stimulated dopamine, making him feel a little less down and sweeping away the gloom brought on by the explosion of the HMS Lord Avent aircraft carrier.

Leaving the military seems like a good thing; at least I won't have to hear about that lousy aircraft carrier anymore.

"By the way, who's giving the speech today?"

He casually asked someone next to him, "We're all here to get something for free, but we can treat the speech as entertainment."

The older man next to him, hearing the question, picked up the flyer and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh...the people from Starfire, it seems to be that guy who claimed to have blown up the HMS Lord Avent a few days ago."