Chapter 6#

The Beta Lieutenant Colonel Who Gave His Life for His Country#

Hewitt rubbed his nose, somewhat surprised: “Is this… an Omega’s pheromones?”

As the Child of Destiny, Carlo’s compatibility with Hewitt was naturally extremely high. This caused his pheromones to have a multiplied stimulating effect on Hewitt, making even Hewitt—who had an excellent grade in pheromone resistance class—quickly begin to feel off.

Lu Heng could not smell pheromones, but as soon as he saw Hewitt’s somewhat drifting gaze, he immediately pounced over to Carlo’s side. As an Omega hiding his identity, he would definitely carry suppressants on him.

Sure enough, Lu Heng found a suppressant in a concealed pocket of Carlo’s close-fitting clothes. As the suppressant took effect, Carlo’s breathing returned to calm, and only then did Hewitt dare come over to check the situation.

“Carlo is an Omega?” Hewitt’s expression was somewhat at a loss. Although he often joked that Carlo was so slender and beautiful that he looked like an Omega, he hadn’t expected to hit the mark.

“It seems so. This is no small matter. We must report it to the military immediately.”

“No…” Carlo happened to wake up. “Don’t report it to the military. Hewitt, let me explain.”

Carlo’s story was very moving. He had never seen his father. When his mother was three months pregnant, his father went to the battlefield, and then fell in battle when Carlo was ten. From then on, he resolved to inherit his father’s last wish and become a soldier, even willing to change his own constitution for it.

“I have never seen my father, but on the battlefield, that was the closest I ever came to him…”

Hewitt’s expression softened somewhat. He was naturally a man of deep feeling and loyalty, and Carlo’s account reminded him of Sergeant Meg.

Meg was an extremely qualified soldier: strong-willed, brave, and fearless, and he took great care of the members of his squad. The newly graduated Hewitt had grown step by step by following him. Meg was his commanding officer, comrade-in-arms, mentor, and savior.

During a reconnaissance mission, Hewitt’s combat squad unexpectedly encountered a large group of ground crawlers. The overwhelming disparity in combat strength nearly wiped them out, leaving only Meg and Hewitt. In the end, Meg knocked Hewitt unconscious, put him into an escape pod, and used himself as bait to lure the swarm away.

Therefore, when he discovered that the graduate volunteering to join Wind Thunder was Meg’s child, despite Carlo not meeting the requirements, Hewitt had ignored Laina’s opposition and recruited Carlo.

Looking at Carlo’s timid expression, he again remembered the conversation he had had with Sergeant Meg before that mission.

Sergeant Meg had told him that after this mission ended, he would apply for retirement and go raise his underage child. But he had stayed forever on that battlefield in order to save Hewitt.

Hewitt had been searching for Sergeant Meg’s child, wanting to take Meg’s place and care for his child until adulthood. However, Sergeant Meg had never married; his child seemed to be illegitimate, and the two had not known each other for long, nor did many people know the situation. It was only at that interview that Hewitt unexpectedly found Sergeant Meg’s child—Carlo.

Since then, he had always regarded Carlo as his responsibility. Becoming a soldier like his father had always been Carlo’s ideal. How could he bear to personally shatter the only hope of this parentless child?

There must be room for compromise in this matter, as long as Laina was willing to help him. Hewitt was thinking this when he heard Lu Heng’s somewhat cold voice:

“This is not a reason for you to violate Alliance law. This matter is outside my or the commander’s authority. After it is reported to the Law Enforcement Department, they will handle you.”

Hewitt turned his head and looked at Lu Heng’s cold, rigid expression. He suddenly felt that the person before him was somewhat unfamiliar; his heart felt as cold as if it had fallen into an ice cave, and yet also as if it were being scorched by lava.

Hewitt suddenly let out a breath, wanting to exhale that unrelievable feeling along with it, only to find that he could no longer control his emotions: “Laina! You are being far too unsympathetic. Look at yourself now—are you really still the Laina Haint I knew? I even somewhat regret inviting you to form Wind Thunder together!”

Seeing Lu Heng’s expression change, Hewitt somewhat regretted his loose tongue, but then he heard Lu Heng say: “Commander, this is my duty as an Alliance soldier. I must report this situation to the military.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Laina Haint! This matter will be discussed later. This is an order!” Hewitt’s tone turned stern.

“Reporting, sir. According to emergency regulations, when a direct superior’s order violates the law or may endanger the entire team, the deputy officer has the right to report above his superior.” Lu Heng looked straight into Hewitt’s eyes, unyielding.

The atmosphere between the two was extremely tense, needing only a spark to explode. Just then, footsteps suddenly came from the end of the corridor.

“Damn. It seems the people from the auction house have hidden in the same shelter as us.” Hewitt frowned tightly. Truly, misfortunes never come singly.

Lu Heng immediately kicked out the fire. He made a gesture, signaling Carlo, who had not yet recovered his combat ability, to take the confinement pod and retreat into the inner room.

Judging by the footsteps, there were about ten people. The electromagnetic storm had not yet stopped, so only cold weapons could be used in close combat; this was actually advantageous to their side. Lu Heng drew the dagger hidden in his boot, held his breath, and concentrated as he waited for the enemy to arrive.

After all, the two had been comrades for decades. Although they had just had some friction, they still worked in perfect harmony and quickly took down the pursuers. Hewitt looked somewhat distracted. He actually turned toward Lu Heng without checking much, brows tightly furrowed and looking heavy with worry.

“Watch out!” Lu Heng caught a flash of cold light behind Hewitt. An enemy still barely alive lunged forward with a dagger, aiming right at Hewitt’s back, at the position of his heart. Even with a 3S-level constitution, being stabbed through the heart would leave no hope of recovery.

Lu Heng could have kicked away the pursuer attempting the sneak attack, but on a sudden impulse, he chose to stretch out his arm to block the dagger stabbing toward Hewitt’s back.

With a ding, the dagger struck the optical computer on Lu Heng’s wrist. The high-strength dagger pierced straight through the optical computer and, without losing momentum, even pierced through Lu Heng’s wrist. Hewitt, turning his head, was greatly shocked. He twisted the sneak attacker’s neck with one hand, then hurriedly found first-aid spray to treat Lu Heng’s wound.

【Are you playing the self-injury ruse? I don’t think this will work. Just piercing a wrist isn’t enough at all. At the very least, you’d have to use your body to catch that dagger, and then you could collapse into Hewitt’s arms and tell him your troubles…】Mission Assistant suddenly made its presence felt.

【I didn’t expect you to be a fan of melodramatic TV series. Your trope is too old-fashioned, and it breaks character, you know. Lieutenant Colonel Laina is no weak little white rabbit.】

【Then why did you take this stab?】

【Of course it was to deal with the optical computer on my wrist. Think about it: with Laina’s personality, once the electromagnetic storm stops, the first thing he’ll do is definitely contact the military to send Carlo away. If he does that, we’ll head down the original worldline again. Wind Thunder only has two optical computers that can directly contact the military. Destroy this one, and the other is in Hewitt’s hands. As long as he doesn’t relent, no one can send Carlo away.】

【You humans really are deep schemers. As a program, I’m indeed too naive.】

Lu Heng lowered his eyes to look at Hewitt treating his wound, his expression somewhat vexed.

Just then Hewitt looked up and caught the expression Lu Heng had no time to conceal. He was stunned for a moment, then raised his brows and smiled: “Little Nana, it seems you’re not as calm as you acted. That cold look just now really broke my heart…”

Lu Heng turned his head away, not wanting to pay him any attention.

But Hewitt had no intention of letting him off: “In that situation, with your combat skills, you didn’t need to get hurt at all, right? What’s that called again…”

“You can shut up now, Hewitt!” Lu Heng was somewhat angry from embarrassment.

“When you care, you panic.” Hewitt struck his right fist into his palm, as if suddenly enlightened.

Lu Heng snatched the first-aid spray from his hand and went aside to treat his wound himself. Outside, the electromagnetic storm had stopped at some point, and soft starlight spilled in. Hewitt discovered that his best friend’s eyelashes were astonishingly long. Perhaps because of the pain from the first-aid spray treating the wound, those long lashes trembled gently, like a butterfly fluttering its wings, fanning a sudden itch in the bottom of Hewitt’s heart.

Hewitt didn’t quite dare keep looking. He lowered his gaze and focused on whether Lu Heng was treating the wound properly. He looked at the somewhat hideous wound on Lu Heng’s forearm and the slender, strong fingers holding the first-aid spray. Lu Heng’s hands were extremely beautiful: ten long, slender fingers, smooth in shape yet not lacking strength. Hewitt remembered how, long ago, these perfect hands had flown over the piano keys, as beautiful as a graceful dance. As he thought, his gaze became glued to those hands and he could not look away.

Hewitt watched those hands neatly finish treating the wound, then move to the very top of the shirt. As buttons left their buttonholes one by one, beautifully lined collarbones were revealed to the air. Hewitt stared blankly, feeling his throat somewhat dry, and unconsciously swallowed.

Hearing his own swallowing sound, Hewitt suddenly came to his senses: “You, you, what are you doing?”

Lu Heng looked up and saw Hewitt’s conflicted expression and reddened ears, and felt somewhat baffled: “My clothes are torn. I’m changing.”

“Oh, oh, so you’re changing clothes. What a pity—ah no, I mean you should change one.”

Lu Heng looked at the incoherent Hewitt and thought he had probably had his brain addled by pheromones. Too lazy to bother with the foolish Hewitt, he directly took off his shirt.

“Hewitt, how is the situation?” Before Lu Heng could put his clothes back on, Carlo, hearing the commotion outside, walked out. Hewitt’s reaction made Lu Heng even more baffled. He rushed over in one stride and directly threw his own jacket over Lu Heng’s head and face, covering him.

Seeing Lu Heng’s strange look, Hewitt laughed dryly twice: “Hurry and put your clothes on. Don’t get sick.”

Would someone with a 3S constitution get sick? Lu Heng was now certain that Hewitt’s brain really had been addled by pheromones. It seemed he would have to have the military doctor take a look at him after they returned.