Can’t Pretend Chapter 96: The Darkest Hour

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: SpringBreeze, Kiramekineko

 

Henry caught Xie Quan from below, while the fighters in the mecha broke away and crowded to Xie Quan’s side, quickly arranging for a treatment team to take him to the hospital for resuscitation. The media flocked to the hospital.

When they arrived at the resuscitation room, Ji Cheying finally appeared. A group of people were waiting outside, but it was soon announced that Xie Quan’s resuscitation failed and he had died.

Ji Shanhong wanted to go in to check, but Ji Cheying exploded and told them to get lost, and the two sides were on fire!

The loud bang, as if shattering the screen, hit everyone’s heart.

After a moment of silence, panic erupted in the crowd with a shriek. The terrace was two stories above the ground, and as Xie Quan fell from the terrace, the dark blue mecha immediately rushed to the terrace and caught Xie Quan before he fell to the ground. As soon as he landed and placed Xie Quan on the ground, the man in the mecha immediately disengaged from the cockpit, and it was Colonel Henry of the Ninth Legion.

He quickly took off his jacket and pressed it against Xie Quan’s wound, then shouted, “Quick! Call the ambulance team!”

Ji Shanhong did not pull Xie Quan. His two hands braced against the railing, the muscles of his arms tense and sinewy. He stared down, suddenly remembered something, jerked his head up and looked in the direction where the bullets came from. In front of the square, there was no place to hide, only at the back of the square, more than 2,000 meters away, there was a clock tower.

With a thunderous rage brewing in his voice, he bellowed, “Mobilize the men to surround the clock tower! Immediately! Seal off the square! Not a single person is allowed to leave!”

How dare someone do something to Joan’s child under his nose!

It’s unforgivable!

Henry also showed a letter of appointment signed by Xie Quan and his own officer’s card, proving that they were indeed ordered by Prince Caesar to protect his safety and were not suspicious elements. At this point, the other three mecha pilots also revealed their true colors under the eyes of everyone. These three mecha pilots looked very ordinary, but it was this ordinaryness that made everyone react with astonishment after a second of delay.

“Betas?”

A crowd exclaimed, “They’re all betas?”

“How can a beta pilot a mecha?”

It was clear that these mecha were not on par with the Empire’s army. Could it be that what His Highness Caesar said earlier was true?

Soon after the ambulance team had arrived, Henry carried Xie Quan into the treatment capsule, and then followed the ambulance team in the hover car to escort Xie Quan to First Imperial Hospital for treatment.

Ji Shanhong was still standing on the terrace at present, his brow deeply locked. Was it Xie Quan’s plan?

Xie Quan’s blood was still on the railing and on the terrace. Ji Shanhong touched it with his hand and put it to the tip of his nose, warm and hot, the taste of blood was correct. That shot was indeed into Xie Quan’s body, and he saw clearly that it was at the heart. He raised his head again to look in the direction of the clock tower.

So far away…

If it was Xie Quan’s own show… No, it couldn’t be self-directed, even if they designed to avoid the fatal area, that position was a thousand miles out of control, especially at such a distance.

He clenched his hand.

It was true that someone wanted to kill Xie Quan.

Then Xie Quan really might die…

The ambulance team rushed straight to First Imperial Hospital, and in less than fifteen minutes, Xie Quan was already admitted to the resuscitation room.

During this time, the media had also moved like beasts that smelled blood. They were divided into two waves, one wave surrounded the auditorium entrance to block the royal family members in the hopes of getting some information from them about the killing of Prince Ceasar in front of the nation’s eyes, about the truth of Prince Ceasar’s beta gender, about the beta mecha pilots that appeared in the live broadcast just now… They had so many questions they wanted to ask, and the citizens were currently sharing their desire to get an answer.

Meanwhile, another wave quickly ran to First Imperial Hospital, the floor of the resuscitation room had been protected by soldiers of the Ninth Legion and was inaccessible, so they stood guard at the stairway as well as the main entrance below, waiting to confirm the life and death of the prince.

In the middle of the auditorium, Lilith watched the scene of Xie Quan being hit. She did not even have time to scream before she fell from her chair before everyone’s eyes. Her father was frightened and rushed to call someone to take care of her, causing some panic again.

The royal family members, including crown prince contenders Saroyan, Amelia, and Erica, were in shock since Xie Quan started telling the truth about betas. As they had not yet been exposed to the core of the Empire, they were no less surprised than the masses.

After Xie Quan was attacked, they subconsciously looked at each other, especially Amelia and Saroyan.

After all, the most motivated after Xie Quan were also the two of them. However, what the two saw from each other’s faces was the same surprise and confusion.

And at this time, Lu Wu sat quietly aside, taking it all in.

He was one of the few people who knew the beta truth. Their family had always been in charge of the underground world, the Empire’s secret knowledge, so the secret about betas had long been known by him. He just did not want Xie Quan to actually have the courage to reveal this matter in front of the nation.

Lu Wu also knew that those mecha must be the handiwork of Xie Quan, since Xie Quan was Yan Bai. Before, he suspected that the rescue of his unusual specifications of the mecha was not designed by Yan Bai. Today, after this play, he was more convinced that the mecha must be designed by Xie Quan. After all, Xie Quan had taken a lot of meteorite steel from him in the previous two weeks. He had wondered what Xie Quan needed that much meteorite steel for, and today he saw it in these mecha.

The fact that those betas could fly the mecha should also be Xie Quan’s special design. The purpose was to prove to the world the truth about what he said about the betas.

As for that last attack…

Could it be self-directed? What was he trying to do?

Lu Wu subconsciously began to look for someone in the crowd, yet his eyes dazedly turned around the crowd and he didn’t see Ji Cheying, whom he was looking for.

“Get out of the way!” Ding Fei, who had been outside the auditorium, rampaged to the hospital after seeing the scene on air. She was concerned and couldn’t care less about what was appropriate or not, and directly pushed past the media reporters who were swarming the hospital entrance and tried to rush inside.

“Do not bump! Can you afford to pay for machine damage?!

“Newcomers should behave, line up behind!”

Ding Fei rounded her eyes, what newcomers, who are newcomers? And what line, a group of people in disarray here looks like a fucking line?!

However, just then, Ji Shanhong had arrived at the hospital. Once the military marshal appeared, plus a row of neatly organized and powerful officers behind him, the chaotic group of people immediately quieted down and unconsciously gave way to a path.

Ding Fei was always a “courageous” person. She did not cower, standing directly in the middle of the way that receded like a tide, and then took the initiative to meet the front.

“I know you, you are Marshal Ji, Major General Ji’s brother. I am a student of First Imperial Military Academy, Mr. Xie’s friend. Are you going to visit him? Can you bring me along?”

Ji Shanhong frowned, and didn’t know if it was because there was the media in front of him, or Ding Fei’s words aroused a few points of interest, at such an urgent moment, he still had a gentle, good-tempered appearance. Stretching his eyebrows, he nodded without any airs. “Let’s go.”

Ding Fei breathed a sigh of relief.

With Ji Shanhong, Ding Fei went to the emergency room without hindrance. At this time, Colonel Henry, Colonel Joseph, and Colonel Xu Wan, with a dozen soldiers of the Ninth Legion closely guarded there.

Ji Shanhong recognized them; they were all Ji Cheying’s inner circle.

“How is the situation inside?”

After saluting, Henry replied seriously and without hiding his concern, “I’m afraid the situation is not optimistic, His Highness’s vital signs were unstable on the way here… That shot hit His Highness right in the heart.”

Ji Shanhong frowned, he glanced at the people here and asked incomprehensibly, “Where is Ji Cheying?”

How come he wasn’t there when something like this happened to his beloved one?

Henry said, “Major General is on his way here. Before that, Major General had orders to guard His Highness to the death, to never let anyone other than the medical staff near the emergency room.”

Ji Shanhong narrowed his eyes.

This was an order specifically for him.

When Ding Fei listened to the phrase “the situation is not optimistic”, her breath almost choked, and she began to anxiously bite her fingernails in the corridor, while she kept praying, “Please, please be okay.”

She had never been superstitious about anything, but now she could not help but begin to place her hopes on Heaven.

The snow-colored door of the emergency room was closed, and countless people, except for those present, were worried about the final outcome inside the door. Ding Fei only heard her heartbeat thumping. She was too nervous and a sense of pressure from somewhere made her feel as if she was going to throw up in the next second.

Henry also had similar feelings, but not the same as Ding Fei, who was indifferent to pheromones. He could clearly sense the marshal’s suppressed pheromones, who was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, and the inner pressure was as frightening as an army bearing down on a border, even when held back.

And in these short ten minutes, the royal family very quickly regained full control online, and that overbearing “virus” also suddenly disappeared without a trace.

All live signals were immediately cut off, all video messages from earlier were deleted, and any related discussions were also quickly blocked and deleted.

In an instant, the amazing speech seemed to have never happened, leaving no trace of it anywhere. It’s just that they can delete the traces on the internet, but they can’t delete the memories in people’s brains.

Some scholars, as well as beta human rights advocates, had already started to take action to seek evidence and investigate the matter of the truth about betas. Some had also begun drafting petitions asking for a positive response from the royal family.

Tang Wenshao immediately contacted Anna.

Anna was injured previously, and after Xie Quan and Ji Cheying decided to go back to the Imperial Capital for treatment, they sent Anna and Sofia to the hospital. Anna never returned to the Imperial Capital.

Once the communication was connected, Tang Wenshao asked directly, without any pleasantries, “Is what Xie Quan said true?”

Anna’s father was the director of the research institute at the time and was one of the leading people in the re-differentiation of the beta gland. If what Xie Quan said was true, then Anna would definitely know some information.

Anna also watched the broadcast, and she was no better than Tang Wenshao at the moment. she said, “I don’t know, I was young, what do I know? You’ve read the research and the data, haven’t you? Didn’t you judge for yourself?”

Tang Wenshao did read it, not only did he read it, he was even constantly replicating the experiment. The research data given to him by Ji Shanhong at the beginning, the final result did point to the extreme feasibility of beta gland re-differentiation.

But—

Tang Wenshao thought of the final outcome of the experimental subjects who had undergone beta gland re-differentiation research by his hands, all of them were caught in a pheromone storm, worse than death, without exception.

He always thought he had made a mistake.

Tang Wenshao squeezed his hand tightly as he gritted his teeth and said, “Ji Shanhong lied to us, he falsified the experimental data.”

No wonder, at that time, after he caught Xie Quan, Xie Quan told him categorically that the experiment could not be successful.

It was so ridiculous.

And just then, the closed door opened without the slightest expectation.

Ding Fei was leaning against the wall, and at that moment she immediately stood up straight and looked at the door. But for some reason, she was looking forward to the opening of the door, but when it did open, she suddenly had a strong sense of unease.

It was too fast. This door opened too fast.

Although the time spent waiting outside was like years, this was not even half an hour.

With a face of regret and grief, she bowed deeply with the rest of the medical staff behind her and said in a restrained tone, “I’m sorry, Your Highness… We lost all signs of life about ten minutes ago, and we have exhausted all means, but there is nothing we can do.”

Ding Fei’s heart clenched, and her head exploded, and in that moment, she suddenly understood where her unease was coming from. Such a short period of time could not possibly get a person out of danger.

Only enough time to confirm a person’s death.

“How could…”

At that moment, Colonel Xu Wan suddenly raised his head and looked behind Ding Fei, she subconsciously called out, “Major General…”

Ding Fei turned around and saw Ji Cheying, dressed in a military uniform, had arrived at some point and was standing a short distance behind him. He still had the same heroic and upright look, but his forehead hair, perhaps because the master came in a hurry, was a bit messy, scattered a little, and he looked a little wretched. His eyes were bloodshot, staring straight at the emergency room, jawline tense, silent without a word.

If it were not for the somewhat unsteady breathing with the chest visibly heaving, he did not look like a person, only like a statue.

How could he come only now? How could he have failed to protect Mr. Xie?

Ding Fei looked at him, emotions surged, a pair of eyes could not stop falling tears, was about to vent to Ji Cheying cursing, however at this time she suddenly froze, because she suddenly found that his hands were shaking.

If she and Ji Cheying were not close, she wouldn’t have been able to notice his difference.

His body was standing straight, his face was cold without a trace of expression.

However, his hands hanging down on the sides of his body were shaking uncontrollably.