Chapter 12#

The Beta Lieutenant Colonel Who Died for His Country#

Planet Atlantis bore a striking resemblance to humanity’s homeworld, Blue Star — vast oceans encircling several continents. For the humans who had only recently left their home planet, this world offered a sense of spiritual solace and tranquility that no other place could provide. Today, all structures on Atlantis were protected under Alliance law and could not be demolished without authorization.

Thus, Lu Heng and the others’ secret base still stood quietly on the shore, just as it had many years ago. Listening to the sound of waves crashing against the rock face, Lu Heng climbed slowly up the long spiral staircase. The iron door leading to the rooftop terrace had rusted over, and it let out a piercing screech as he pushed it open. Even so, the silhouette standing before him did not turn around.

Lu Heng walked over and sat down beside Xiu Yite.

Xiu Yite’s jacket was tossed carelessly to the side. He wore only a black training tank top, the firm lines of his muscles on full display. The whole man resembled a lean, powerful black panther — except that this large cat currently looked listless. The warm, damp sea breeze had tousled his slightly curly red hair into disarray, but he couldn’t be bothered to fix it, gazing silently into the distance.

Suddenly, Xiu Yite felt something cool against his face. He turned his head and saw Lu Heng’s slender fingers holding out a familiar bottle of liquor. It was the kind they used to drink together when they were young. Xiu Yite took the bottle, and the two still didn’t speak — they simply drank in silence until the bottle was empty.

“Those bastards in the Military Ministry!” Xiu Yite tossed back the last mouthful of wine and finally spoke.

Lu Heng merely turned his head slightly to look at him, saying nothing.

“Feng Lei is executing the assassination mission against the Queen alone, with no support whatsoever. Hah…” Xiu Yite laughed with a note of mockery. “In their eyes, nothing matters more than that position. Such a perfect opportunity — and they actually used it as a bargaining chip in their political struggle!”

“So what?” Lu Heng asked.

Xiu Yite froze.

The corner of Lu Heng’s mouth curved upward into an expression that hovered between a smile and something else. “So you’ve lost your confidence?”

“How could I?! Even if it’s just Feng Lei, this mission is no problem!” This wasn’t arrogance. Although Xiu Yite’s mind was somewhat fogged by the alcohol, he was fully aware of Feng Lei’s capabilities. Losing the support of the other legions would at most make the mission somewhat more difficult.

“Then why so downcast? The path we walk was never meant for others’ understanding. As long as we stay true to our original intentions, that is enough.”

Xiu Yite looked at Lu Heng. In those eyes, which were always as calm and unruffled as an ancient well, there now blazed with brilliance like a river of stars. Xiu Yite was drawn in by that dazzling radiance — everything around him seemed to cease existing, even the ceaseless, ever-present roar of the waves vanished into nothing. All Xiu Yite could hear was the pounding of his own heartbeat, all he could see were those beautiful eyes. He leaned in slowly, wanting to touch that starlight. As the distance grew smaller, he found himself holding his breath — but just before he reached it, something blocked him.

In that instant, Xiu Yite wanted to destroy whatever stood in his way. But his remaining reason pulled him back to reality, and then Xiu Yite saw Lu Heng’s palm pressed against his forehead, an undisguised look of disgust on his face.

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence for a moment before Lu Heng resumed his usual expressionless demeanor. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Xiu Yite’s face flushed scarlet in an instant. “You — you had a leaf on your face…”

Lu Heng’s stare made Xiu Yite feel like a complete idiot. Sure enough, the next words nearly made him want to dig a hole and bury himself in it.

Lu Heng said: “There is no vegetation within a radius of one kilometer.”

The night had grown deep, and under the dark canopy the river of stars blazed all the more brilliantly. The warm, damp sea breeze drifted softly by. Lu Heng drew up his left knee and braced his right hand on the ground, settling into a rare posture of relaxation as he watched the waves beneath the night sky in silence. Suddenly, he felt his right leg grow heavy. Lu Heng looked down to find that Xiu Yite had laid his head on his lap.

“…”

Perhaps the effect of Lu Heng’s expressionless stare was too devastating — Xiu Yite turned onto his side and wrapped both arms around Lu Heng’s waist. “This liquor has a strong after-effect. I’m a bit dizzy — let me just rest for a bit.”

Lu Heng paused for a moment, then decided not to bother arguing with a drunkard. Whether real or fake, if he said he was drunk, then he was drunk.

Hugging Lu Heng’s lean, toned waist, Xiu Yite curled the corner of his mouth where Lu couldn’t see, feeling the heat creep back into his ears.

“Tell me — what exactly happened?” The two satellites of Atlantis had traversed halfway across the sky. Xiu Yite’s breathing was steady, but Lu Heng knew he was awake.

“The analysis report from the First Research Institute is out. The Queen is evolving. The report came seven days ago. It took a full five days, and the Military Ministry’s discussion produced nothing but a load of horseshit — Feng Lei is to execute the assassination mission against the Queen, with no reinforcements.” Xiu Yite laughed sardonically. “I shouldn’t say no reinforcements — the Interstellar Television Network is going to provide us with twenty fully automated live-streaming drones!”

“Live-streaming?”

“Some idiot proposed it, saying this mission is of great significance and, out of respect for all citizens’ right to know, the entire mission execution should be broadcast live.” Xiu Yite raked his hand through his hair irritably. “What’s even dumber is that the Military Ministry’s senior leadership actually voted it through.”

Upon learning this news, Xiu Yite had immediately opened a comm link to the Military Ministry’s upper echelons and let loose a tirade of fury — but the situation remained unchanged. An opportunity as rare as the Queen’s evolution, no matter how dangerous, was one that neither Xiu Yite nor Feng Lei would let slip away. Perhaps the Military Ministry’s brass had banked on exactly this, stubbornly refusing to grant even the slightest reinforcement. As for the live-streaming, the Military Ministry explained that news of the Queen’s evolution had somehow leaked, causing an uproar across the entire galactic network. Under pressure from public opinion, they had no choice but to allow the broadcast.

The intentions of those senior leaders were painfully clear. Without reinforcements, Xiu Yite’s only option would be to have Feng Lei’s elite members use Agent No. 1 and travel through the wormhole to carry out the mission. The consequences of using Agent No. 1 were almost entirely foreseeable: regardless of success or failure, those who carried out the mission would have no path but death.

In that case, although it was for the sake of the mission, dissent would inevitably brew within Feng Lei’s ranks, and Xiu Yite’s prestige would diminish. After that, they could find ways to gradually fracture and swallow Feng Lei, absorbing this powerful fighting force into their own hands.

“The safety of tens of thousands of border planets — and it can’t compare to their political scheming. But then again, looking at it from another angle, isn’t this a sort of acknowledgment of our combat capability?” Xiu Yite was quite good at finding silver linings.

“This is what happens when you didn’t take General History of Humanity seriously back at the military academy,” Lu Heng threw out a remark that seemed entirely unrelated.

But Xiu Yite quickly understood his meaning. “You’re right. If I’d listened to that course properly with you, maybe I wouldn’t be such an idealist.”

Power struggles had always permeated every corner of human civilization’s development. Whether in times of peace or war, maneuvering for one’s own interests had always been the unwavering main theme.

“However, if you didn’t have such a pure and righteous heart, Feng Lei would never have become the ideal nation that all outstanding soldiers aspire to.”

Xiu Yite gazed at Lu Heng illuminated by starlight. Perhaps it was the effect of the alcohol — his cheeks were faintly flushed, and with his soft, low voice, even the wind around them seemed to soften. Xiu Yite’s turbulent thoughts grew calm in that moment.

Suddenly, a massive projection appeared in the sky above the nearby harbor, beginning to play a nostalgic film: Escape from Blue Star. Blue Star had once been the homeworld of all humanity. After it was discovered by the Zerg, humanity — whose technology was still relatively primitive at the time — had no means of resistance against the Zerg army. Humans were forced to abandon their homeland, and in the course of their flight, humanity evolved. An evolved human squad had stumbled upon an evolving Queen. In a desperate gamble, they traded their lives to assassinate her, purchasing humanity two hundred years of rebirth.

“Hmm? The open-air movie at the port — they’re still screening it once a week. The last time we watched a movie together here was twenty years ago, wasn’t it?” A hint of nostalgia flickered across Xiu Yite’s features.

Lu Heng didn’t respond, simply watching the magnificent epic in silence. Xiu Yite glanced at his intent profile and relaxed as well, letting himself be drawn into the story. A detail in the film suddenly sparked an idea.

“Reiner, I have a bold idea. In the final stage of evolution, the Queen’s control over the psychic network is at its weakest.” The more Xiu Yite spoke, the more feasible the plan seemed.

Lu Heng nodded for him to continue.

“We could masquerade as the Queen’s psychic pulses and issue a command to all guardian Zerg to leave the nest and venture out to explore. Then we take the opportunity to sneak in and assassinate the Queen.”

“This plan is viable.” Lu Heng immediately activated his neural computer and began running simulations of the mission execution process.

Xiu Yite watched Lu Heng’s serious expression in silence. Between them, it had always been Xiu Yite who came up with an idea, while Lu Heng handled all the details of actual implementation. As long as Lu Heng was there, no matter how wildly imaginative the idea, it could be carried out successfully.

“Following your concept, after running the calculations, the minimum number of operatives needed to assassinate the Queen and successfully withdraw can be reduced to two.” After a long while, Lu Heng looked up and held up two slender fingers toward Xiu Yite.

Xiu Yite grabbed Lu Heng’s outstretched hand in excitement. “As expected — as long as you’re here, nothing is impossible!”

Lu Heng’s plan was for him and Xiu Yite to once again traverse the wormhole. After simulating the psychic pulses of guardian Zerg, they would approach the Queen’s nest. They would wait until the Queen reached the final stage of evolution — when her control over the psychic network was at its weakest — and then Lu Heng would simulate the Queen’s psychic pulses to command all guardian Zerg to leave the nest, while Xiu Yite would enter the nest to assassinate her.

Once the Queen was killed, the guardian Zerg would inevitably become aware of it. Therefore, one person would need to continuously simulate the Queen’s psychic pulses throughout, so that whoever had entered the nest could withdraw safely. As for the rest of Feng Lei’s members, their task was to guard the other end of the wormhole, preventing the guardian Zerg — now under external control — from entering the human Alliance’s territory through it. After all, this end of the wormhole was not far from several inhabited planets. If the guardian Zerg were to make it through, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The plan to assassinate the Queen was thus finalized.