Chapter 15 - 1#

The Beta Lieutenant Colonel Who Sacrificed Himself for His Country#

The chaos in the tactics hall was being broadcast live on the Star Network simultaneously. The entire Star Network was in an uproar, comments surging at a rate of millions per second.

Lu Heng watched as Shuite slowly approached the center of the chaos, trying to bring Carlo to the isolation room. But there were too many people surrounding Carlo. No matter how strong Shuite’s combat abilities were, he couldn’t knock out that many elite soldiers in such a short time. What’s more, Shuite was also beginning to be affected by Carlo’s pheromones, his mind starting to grow muddled as well.

Carlo’s pheromones were extremely abnormal. Even Rhine, a Beta, could smell that sickeningly sweet, almost water-dripping scent in the air. Let alone the Alphas in the mecha corps—the stronger an Alpha was, the more they seemed to react to these pheromones, desperately clawing their way toward Carlo as if their lives meant nothing.

Something was wrong. It looked like Carlo had been injected with a hormone agent. Hormone agents were used on Omegas with defective gland development, capable of inducing them to successfully undergo their first heat. However, if used on a healthy, pure-blooded Omega, it could probably drive every Alpha on the entire planet insane.

With the situation on the verge of spiraling out of control, if this continued, these hot-blooded mecha warriors would end up killing each other before they even set foot on the battlefield. Every member of the Wind and Thunder Mecha Corps was among the elite of the elite. Even a single casualty would be an immense loss.

Without hesitation, Lu Heng linked into the starship’s AI system and swiftly authenticated his identity: “Activate Emergency Protocol X.”

A cold voice echoed through the hall: “Activating Emergency Protocol X. High-concentration sedative gas will be released throughout the entire starship. This gas is only effective against Omegas in heat and Alphas affected by Omega pheromones. Upon inhalation, sleep duration will be twenty-four hours. Confirm activation?”

“Confirmed.”

Several minutes later, the chaotic hall returned to calm. Unexpectedly, Shuite was still standing. His eyes were bloodshot, and he staggered toward Lu Heng as though he might topple at any moment. Lu Heng hurried forward and caught him before he collapsed.

Shuite grabbed Lu Heng tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging: “Lieutenant Colonel Rhine Hynt. I order you to force-awaken me.”

Shuite knew Lu Heng all too well. He knew that Lu Heng would absolutely continue carrying out the mission. But going alone was essentially a one-way trip.

“Based on past cases, a force-awakening would cause the collapse of one’s mental domain. Mental power level would drop to F, and you would never be able to pilot a mecha again.” Lu Heng’s tone remained composed.

“Hell your mental power! Hell your mecha! I don’t care! What I care about is you!” Shuite’s grip was like iron pincers around Lu Heng’s arm, causing a dull ache. His eyes were scarlet red. He even considered stabbing himself just to stay conscious. But struggling was futile. In the end, Shuite could not resist the drug and passed out.

Only a handful of people remained standing in the hall—all of them Betas. The few remaining combat personnel were insufficient to carry out the mission as originally planned.

Lu Heng’s calm and composed expression brought a measure of composure back to the panicked crowd. One person asked, “Adjutant Rhine, what should we do now?”

“Activate emergency defensive state.” Lu Heng issued his orders methodically, directing the remaining people to carry the unconscious Alphas in the hall back to their respective rooms. As for himself, he walked over to Carlo and conducted a careful examination. Sure enough, he found an extremely fine needle puncture at the back of his neck.

It seemed someone with ulterior motives had given Carlo a helping hand, smuggling him out of the confinement room. As to who this person was, Lu Heng had a guess in his heart, but he still needed concrete evidence.

Lu Heng prepared to head to the Queen’s Nest alone. Their original plan had been to withdraw safely after a successful assassination, which required the coordination of two people. However, if retreat was not a consideration, given Lu Heng’s abilities, this mission could be completed solo.

【You haven’t really done anything, so how did you end up at such a moment—needing to die, and dying so spectacularly in front of everyone?】The little assistant, who had been watching the entire time, finally couldn’t help but speak up in Lu Heng’s mind. As a newcomer, Lu Heng was truly outstanding. The entire narrative had flowed naturally and seamlessly from start to finish, and it hadn’t even had to issue a single OOC warning.

【Do you know what the butterfly effect is? That deliberately damaged optical computer—that was the flap of this little butterfly’s wing.】

【I’m starting to admire you a little. So are you going to go die now? Don’t worry! We little assistants all come equipped with a pain-immunity system. To prevent employees from developing psychological trauma, all deaths during missions are completely painless!】

【No rush. I still need to fan the flames a bit more.】

Lu Heng picked up the unconscious Carlo and left the range of the holographic cameras. The people on the Star Network were stunned by Lu Heng’s bold move of sedating every single Alpha. It wasn’t until Lu Heng disappeared from the camera’s view that they snapped back to reality.

“He just force-sedated ninety percent of Wind and Thunder’s combat power like that? He’s not planning to carry out the mission?”

“Rhine Hynt is a sinner of all humanity! Wind and Thunder, having failed this mission, should also be nailed to the pillar of shame!”

“Demanding that Rhine Hynt be brought before a military tribunal! He should be sentenced to lifelong exile on a waste planet!”

“I suspect he’s also an insect species spy. These parasitic insects are truly terrifying!”

……

No matter how heated things got on the Star Network, Lu Heng currently had no energy to pay attention. After tossing Carlo onto the bed in the confinement room, he reached into a crevice in the ceiling and pulled out an extremely compact device.

It was an anti-shielding camera that Lu Heng had planted in the confinement room beforehand. Even before locking Carlo inside, Lu Heng had known there was a traitor among Wind and Thunder’s ranks, but had never been able to confirm their identity. After Carlo’s unexpected heat incident, that mysterious figure had revealed clues—the few encrypted communications intercepted by the starship’s AI system were the evidence.

Although the contents of the communications could not be determined, they did let Lu Heng know that the mysterious person and the forces behind him were plotting something, stirring restlessly. Lu Heng, who had always been thorough in his work, had placed anti-shielding cameras at all the key locations aboard the starship.

These cameras were unaffected by shielding fields. Lu Heng had obtained them from Alex. However, the technology was still in the experimental stage and not yet mature. The cameras’ lifespan was extremely short—a single recording session was enough to render them unusable. Lu Heng only deemed it worth bringing them out at critical moments like these.

Lu Heng pulled up the footage. The events in the confinement room over the past few days had been recorded, and most critically, the scene of Andrew injecting Carlo with the needle. With a suspect identified, Lu Heng contacted Alex again, asking him to investigate all of Andrew’s communication records from the time he joined Wind and Thunder.

Countdown to the Queen’s final evolutionary stage: three hours.

The enraged public on the Star Network watched as the holographic display before them suddenly switched. What appeared before them was Lu Heng, seated behind his desk.

“I am Wind and Thunder’s adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Rhine Hynt. I am now reporting the investigation results regarding this incident.” Lu Heng before the camera still wore his usual expression—brow slightly furrowed, mouth in a straight line, looking extremely serious.

Lu Heng published all the footage from the camera along with Andrew and Wayne’s communication records onto the Star Network, including that encrypted message: “Sabotage the mission by any means necessary.”

The Star Network erupted instantly. General Wayne had always presented himself before the public with an image of utmost integrity. The fact that they had disregarded the bigger picture for the sake of power struggles was utterly despicable. And among the uproar was a tinge of guilty conscience from those who had just been frantically cursing Wind and Thunder and Lu Heng.

“I told you Wind and Thunder and Lieutenant Colonel Rhine were innocent! He’s the pride of us Betas! The person I admire most is him!”

“Could these things be forged?”

“Bullshit! Those footage records use military decryption formats—try forging one and show me!”

“But what about the Queen assassination mission? I live on Blue Dream Planet. We get attacked by the insect species all the time. My father and my brother both died under those creatures’ claws. I finally thought, maybe this time we could have a peaceful life…”

“That despicable Wayne! Despicable! He’s the one who should be brought before a military tribunal! He deserves the death penalty!”

“That’s right—the death penalty should be reinstated for Wayne!! That hypocrite! That scum!”

The tide of public opinion on the Star Network shifted once again. Lu Heng gave it a cursory glance, then left his office without much concern.