Chapter 5#

The Beta Lieutenant Colonel Who Died for His Country#

“Who’s there?” A hoarse voice came from behind the door, obviously processed through a voice modulator.

“Your Excellency, this is service personnel number 116. I am here to conduct the final pre-auction inspection of your cargo.”

A moment later, a man with a hook nose and a face full of wrinkles opened the door. He looked nervously behind Lu Heng, and upon confirming there was no one else, stepped aside to let him in.

“Wasn’t the inspection already done when the goods were brought in? Why are you here again?”

“Your Excellency, this is also to ensure the safety of the cargo. Please understand.” Lu Heng closed the door and instantly struck toward Eireidon’s nape.

Years of fugitive life had made Eireidon extraordinarily vigilant, and his reflexes were nothing if not swift. At the critical moment, Eireidon rolled across the ground, dodging the sudden attack.

But Lu Heng’s counterattack came even faster. He extended his leg directly, his toe landing on Eireidon’s nape with just the right amount of force, knocking him unconscious on the floor. After placing Eireidon into the containment pod, Lu Heng pressed the communication button: “Mission complete. Please coordinate with me for extraction.”

Under Shouite’s covering support, Lu Heng successfully withdrew from the auction house. The two of them retreated toward the spaceport, with the auction house’s pursuers trailing behind.

“Little Nana, your movements are way too fast—I was just getting warmed up. That one piloting the red mecha seems to be a pretty famous bounty hunter. I only exchanged a few moves with him and I haven’t even gotten my fill yet.” Shouite’s somewhat nonchalant voice came through the comms channel.

“Carlos, the Commander and I will arrive at the spaceport in approximately five minutes. Please prepare for rendezvous.” Knowing full well that Shouite always liked to use this kind of manner to relieve tension, Lu Heng ignored him and contacted Carlos directly through the comms channel.

Carlos’s condition was not good. When Lu Heng’s voice came through the comms channel, he couldn’t even make out what was being said. An hour ago, Carlos had not obeyed Lu Heng’s orders to stay aboard the shuttle in preparation for rendezvous. Shouite was alone outside the Central Auction House, responsible for drawing away the bulk of the defensive forces, and this worried Carlos.

He had searched for relevant information on the StarNet. The guards at the Central Auction House were no simple characters, and it was said that the guard captain was even a renowned bounty hunter. Out of concern for Shouite’s safety, shortly after they departed, Carlos secretly made his way toward the vicinity of the Central Auction House.

Carlos wanted to confirm Shouite’s condition with his own eyes. If Shouite was handling things with ease, then he would return to the shuttle and stand by. If Shouite was in danger, he could still lend a hand. With this thought in mind, Carlos mustered his courage and set off—but he encountered danger before he even reached the Central Auction House. After frantically shaking off several persistent Alphas and making it back to the shuttle, he felt something was off.

At first, Carlos only noticed that his cheeks felt a bit warm. Maybe it was because he had been too nervous just now, he thought. But as time passed, his face grew hotter and hotter, and he even began to feel dizzy.

“Carlos?”

Carlos heard Lu Heng’s voice again, but it seemed to float mid-air like willow catkins, failing to land on anything solid. He felt as though he were being roasted over a fire, or as if he were drunk—his limbs went soft, and his body was utterly devoid of strength.

What’s wrong with me? Carlos thought. This is terrible… Shouite, where are you? Am I going to die? Come quickly, save me…

“Carlos, is something wrong on your end?” Shouite’s voice reached him like a cup of clear water in a desert, granting his muddled brain a moment of clarity.

Can’t let Shouite down. Can’t let Vice Admiral Leno look down on me. Carlos slapped his cheeks hard, pressed the comm button and said: “Nothing! Everything is normal. I’m sending you the shuttle’s coordinates.”

Having shaken off their pursuers, Shouite and Lu Heng arrived at the spaceport quickly and located the shuttle using the coordinates Carlos provided.

The moment the shuttle departed the spaceport, the taut nerves of both men finally relaxed ever so slightly.

“This place, Nabiya, is pretty impressive—even an auction house has experts like that.” Shouite spoke as he operated the controls with fluid ease. “Shame we don’t have more time. Otherwise, I really would’ve liked to have a proper go at him.”

Shouite was a battle maniac; encountering a formidable opponent always thrilled him. Back in military academy, his favorite pastime had been challenging the school’s famous experts. By the time of graduation, across the entire First Military Academy, only Leno could match him on equal footing.

“We are here to execute a mission,” Lu Heng answered in a deadpan manner.

“No matter when, you need a bit of enjoyment—otherwise, how boring life would be. Why can’t you just understand this?” Shouite shrugged.

At this point, Lu Heng suddenly recalled an event that occurred later in the original storyline. After completing this mission and returning to the warship, Shouite’s battle fervor, stoked by the bounty hunter, had yet to settle. Later, he secretly returned to Nabiya to fight the bounty hunter. That in itself was no big deal—the problem was that Carlos had gone along. After they returned, Shouite’s admiration for Carlos deepened, and his resentment toward Leno—who insisted on sending Carlos away—grew all the stronger. In the end, a fierce conflict between the two was practically inevitable.

Lu Heng thought for a moment, then checked one more thing with his assistant.

【If I change an event that advances the emotional bond between the Destined Ones, will it affect their romantic storyline?】

【Don’t worry~. The romantic storyline between the Destined Ones is a key point of monitoring by the Fate Bureau’s Matchmaker Division. Even if you alter this particular event, other events will compensate. In short, the romantic storyline between the Destined Ones will not waver—this is fundamental to maintaining an entire plane of existence.】

Hearing this, Lu Heng relaxed. If he accidentally disrupted the romantic storyline, or worse, caused a disturbance in the plane’s stability, his annual performance review score would probably be deducted down to negative numbers. And at worst, he could be terminated and cast into the cycle of reincarnation.

“I’ll spar with you when we get back. Don’t do anything unnecessary,” Lu Heng said. The original owner, Leno, hadn’t sparred with Shouite in a long time. As the only person who could match Shouite evenly, Shouite’s longing for sparring with Leno could only be described as intense.

Sure enough, Shouite’s eyes lit up: “Deal! No going back on your word!”

Lu Heng watched Shouite practically blooming with flowers, frowned, and turned his face away, not wanting to see that foolish expression.

As they talked, the shuttle had already entered the warp corridor. It looked as though they would soon shake off their pursuers and complete the mission, but things didn’t go quite that smoothly—an unexpected crisis arose.

“Position two is ready. Position three, prepare to warp.” Lu Heng waited a moment, but no sound came from Carlos at position three. “Position three, prepare to warp! Position three?”

Lu Heng turned his head and found Carlos lying face-down on the instrument panel, his cheeks flushed bright red, completely unconscious.

“Position three has malfunctioned. Unable to warp. Emergency landing required.”

“Damn it—the city is crawling with Central Auction House personnel looking for us.” Shouite gritted his teeth. “We can only land near 54°N, 112°E. There’s an abandoned city there; there should still be a usable electromagnetic storm shelter.”

“There are two hours until the next electromagnetic storm hits.” Lu Heng laid Carlos down on his side, then began working with Shouite to pilot the shuttle in search of the ruined city.

This time, the Goddess of Fortune finally favored them. Before the electromagnetic storm struck, Lu Heng’s party of three—including a prisoner in the containment pod—arrived safely at the shelter. The sky outside had gone completely dark, the winds were howling fiercely, and the air was filled with cacophonous white noise. All electronic devices and thermal weapons were rendered useless.

Shouite sat before the campfire, watching Lu Heng’s beautifully profiled silhouette in the firelight. For reasons he couldn’t explain, a flood of old memories suddenly surfaced. During their graduation military exercise, on Planet TRX, he and Lu Heng had also been trapped in a shelter by an electromagnetic storm. Back then, Lu Heng had not yet grown so distant and cold toward him. Lu Heng had even secretly hidden a bottle of good wine in a spatial pendant, and the two of them had drunk together until dawn.

Lu Heng sensed Shouite’s gaze and turned his head to look at him. He still didn’t smile, but his expression was unexpectedly gentle—apparently, he too had recalled this memory.

Seeing Lu Heng’s gentle expression, a sudden surge of impulse rose in Shouite: “Leno, I’ve always wanted to talk to you about something…”

Lu Heng’s heart stirred. In truth, Lu Heng had never fully understood the falling-out between Shouite and Leno in the original storyline. Their bond was incredibly deep—the friendship of growing up together, the camaraderie of studying side by side, the brotherhood of fighting life-and-death battles together… To tear apart over a mere Carlos seemed unreasonable. After all, during their time together, Lu Heng had discovered that Shouite was not the type to abandon friends for a pretty face or lose all sense of right and wrong.

Perhaps what Shouite wanted to say now might shed light on the truth behind their rift. At this thought, Lu Heng nodded at Shouite with an even gentler expression.

“Leno, have you noticed you’ve been less and less like yourself? Ever since we founded Gale-Thunder, I felt you slowly changing into someone else. You started keeping your distance from me. Whenever you approach me, all you ever say is, ‘Commander, this doesn’t comply with military regulations,’ ‘Commander, this requires approval from the Military Ministry,’ things like that.”

Seeing the thoughtful look on Lu Heng’s face, Shouite seemed encouraged, and the questions that had gnawed at his heart for so long came pouring out in a rush: “You even went so far as to flatter those useless parasites in the Military Ministry’s political division. What was the reason we founded Gale-Thunder? Have you forgotten, Leno?”

“…So that every soldier with burning passion in their hearts could have a place where their ambitions could be realized…” Lu Heng murmured softly.

“Leno—many people say you’re so busy currying favor for your own advancement, for a spot in the Military Ministry’s upper ranks, that you’re just using Gale-Thunder as a springboard.” Growing agitated, Shouite shot to his feet. “But I didn’t believe it! I refused to believe you were that kind of person!”

“I still clearly remember every moment we shared together—your shy and endearing self as a child, your spirited and radiant self as a youth, and you, side by side with me in battle, ever since we grew up…”

Shouite walked up to Lu Heng, knelt down, and gently placed his hand on his shoulder: “Leno, we are comrades. We are dearest friends. So, whatever burden you’ve been carrying—can you tell me now?”

So that’s how it was. Their falling-out back then was indeed not solely about Carlos. Shouite’s furious anger and deep hurt stemmed far more from the grief of watching his closest friend change, and the bitterness of being forced to walk separate paths. Seizing this opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding would be greatly beneficial to completing the task.

“Shouite…” Lu Heng had just opened his mouth when he suddenly heard a strange sound from behind him—somewhat pained, yet laced with something altogether different.