Paranoid Alpha Chapter 71: Anecdote

Chapter 71: Anecdote

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: CaiCai

The bustling command ship suddenly fell into silence. The controlled escort ships outside the command ship seemed to have rebooted, hastily changing their targets, aiming at a distant location where a chain reaction explosion was still occurring.

Originally calculated based on starship parameters, an explosion at this distance shouldn’t have caused such a wide-reaching impact. The data of these starships seemed to have been tampered with, as the explosion triggered an immediate feedback from the self-destruct system, causing the blast to spread to a range sufficient to initiate a chain reaction.

The system clearly had no knowledge of this event. Even though it reacted promptly, the explosion still spread to the center of the fleet.

Triss’s fleet systems had all been compromised, monitors completely rendered ineffective. The people in the fleet could only stare in astonishment at the brilliant yet silent explosions outside.

Lyss stood by the window, looking down at his fingers, shockingly composed.

The newly appointed Marshal, Ural, was the first to regain composure, swallowing hard, “Chief, this…?”

“Someone tampered with the code beforehand,” Lyss’s words weren’t wrong, but the most skillful deceit often lay in telling only half the truth. “The fleet systems will recover immediately. Prepare to take position.”

At this critical moment, Lyss’s response was quite reasonable. The others didn’t suspect anything; it was like travelers suddenly finding an oasis in the desert. Soon, order was restored, and everyone returned to their positions.

Only Ural hesitated for a moment at the command post. Seeing Lyss approaching, he couldn’t help but speak, “Chief, forgive my presumption, but who is that person?”

Lyss glanced at him, “Lu Xingye, the Sixth Prince of the Empire.”

Ural instinctively asked, “Is the Sixth Prince trustworthy, being from the Empire?”

The high-ranking officials surrounding them stopped in unison, obviously concerned about the question. Lillia, as the only informed person, couldn’t help but furrow her brow, “Marshal Ural, the situation is urgent now. It’s probably not the time for such discussions.”

Ural, a tall beta male, which was why Lyss supported his promotion to marshal, interrupted Lillia with a frown, “Precisely because the situation is urgent, we should be more cautious. Triss and Mannstadt have a century-old feud, and behind us is our mother planet. The slightest deviation could expose federation citizens directly to the Empire’s blade.”

His words were reasoned and resolute. If Lillia hadn’t known about the relationship between Lyss and Lu Xingye, she might have been persuaded by Ural.

The people around turned to look at Lyss, and there were some murmurs of discussion, evidently, many thought Ural made sense. Upon hearing this, Lyss shrugged his cloak and turned away, silencing the voices immediately. With his right hand still resting on his abdomen, a habit since carrying Lin Lang, this gesture softened his superior air, adding a subtle gentleness.

But the more Lyss did this, the more nervous the others became.

Ural hesitated for a moment, “In fact, this is just my personal opinion. If the Chief has another—”

“Lu Xingye is my alpha,” Lyss suddenly interrupted, stating the fact with utmost calmness, “I find him trustworthy.”

With these words, not only did Ural freeze in place, but all the officials present were shocked to various degrees. Ural, who questioned, seemed completely unprepared for this situation.

A daring officer nearby couldn’t help but speak, “Um, your child in your belly…”

“Is mine with him,” Lyss looked at him, “But it seems not the time to discuss such matters.”

Under normal circumstances, if Lyss had said something like this, the person would probably be terrified for a long time. However, at this moment, shock overcame fear. If it weren’t for the tense situation outside, many, including Ural, would likely have expressed their shock verbally.

“Report, Chief, Marshal!” A voice timely interrupted the silence, “Communications have all been restored!”

Lyss glanced at the central terminal, where an unnoticed silent war had just occurred. That couldn’t even be termed a war; in front of the true Chudai System, inferior counterfeits could only flee.

Lyss withdrew his gaze, looking again at the now illuminated star map, “Notify everyone to prepare for their positions.”

In the vast sea of stars, the fleet enveloped that one white spot. Suddenly, that white surged outward like a sharp blade, cleaving through the black starships. Silent rays covered the entire sky, yet the Empire’s fleet had no reaction, resembling lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Looking across the star map, Lyss realized he hadn’t communicated with Lu Xingye since their last parting. Their coordination relied solely on tacit understanding; there was no other way. Currently, with no access point to the Imperial fleet’s terminal, he had no means to control their starships. The enemy’s motionlessness was evidently Lu Xingye’s doing, which aligned with the excuse Lyss had previously found.

Meanwhile, without their AI advantage and Lu Xingye’s comprehensive preparation, Serica couldn’t cover every aspect. Yet, as a civilization from Earth’s era surviving until today, Serica displayed an extraordinary response.

With their hub invaded, switching the star map to manual operation was the only option. Some starships, too close to the enemy, unable to switch the star map in time, had their systems hijacked, targeting the nearest friendly starships. In such a scenario, almost all starships experiencing this would choose to self-destruct immediately.

Simultaneously, with Triss restraining most of the enemy forces, Serica eventually achieved a heroic victory, lacking Lyss’s invisible trump card and with limited information. They demonstrated why ancient civilizations could endure to this day with their most primitive methods.

Other nations weren’t as fortunate as Triss and Serica, with Sheng Dan being a typical example.

Despite Lu Xingye’s manipulations solving most of their starships, once their system was breached, even without any manipulation, chaos erupted within their ranks. Suspicion pervaded in silence, fear overpowered human reason, and those afraid of being shot down were the first to redirect targets, leading to a tragedy.

The only fortunate aspect was Triss and Serica, after defeating each of their enemies, immediately dispatched troops for rescue. Lyss even went to the front lines, and after a month, they had barely managed to push the Imperial troops to the periphery of their mother planet.

At this point, the Empire was retreating in the outer battles, and internally, pressure was building up. A large number of civilians started fleeing, including the traces left by Lu Xingye and the former Prime Minister.

The first choice for these fleeing people was Triss, as they shared origins. Their only concern was that Triss, exiled from the Empire centuries ago, might seek revenge.

But they had no other choice.

Soon, these refugees reaching Triss realized that the Federation wasn’t overly harsh on them, processing their papers and settling them in refugee areas. The Federation citizens did express a lot of opinions, but in their gazes, beyond displeasure, was a complex, indescribable emotion.

Initially, the Imperial refugees didn’t understand this sentiment until a daring omega wolf intercepted someone to ask the question. They finally got the answer.

The person, caught off guard, looked at them incredulously for a while before speaking, “The Sixth Prince, whom you call an alpha, is the father of our Chief’s child. Don’t you know?”

He phrased it cryptically, when a simple “The Sixth Prince is the alpha of our Chief” would have sufficed, creating confusion among the wolf pack, who then took a while to unbelievably widen their eyes, “That’s impossible!” 

“How could that be? Who spread this rumor?”

Everyone instinctively denied it, and at that moment, even the Triss people passing by couldn’t help but look at them, as if witnessing an alpha’s maternal relatives denying kinship, almost showing animosity on their faces.

“It’s what our Chief said.” Initially stopped, the person chuckled, “Who is spreading this ‘impossible’? Lu Xingye?”

Even Triss’s people, to save face for the Empire, rarely addressed the Sixth Prince in this way.

From this, it was evident that Triss was truly infuriated. Someone who was diligently protecting his rear had no idea he had become a public enemy in Triss. During wartime, as long as the news wasn’t about casualties, everyone was willing to accept anything they usually wouldn’t.

What they didn’t know was that Lin Lang was also Lyss and Lu Xingye’s child. Considering Lu Xingye’s bone age when he returned to the Empire was 18, and the age publicly announced by the Empire was also eighteen, Lyss couldn’t disclose Lin Lang’s identity due to this issue. Hence, the general belief in Triss was that Lu Xingye was about to become Lin Lang’s stepfather, and even when Lin Lang went to kindergarten, she would be asked about this by other children.

Lin Lang didn’t want to lie but couldn’t tell the truth, so she chose to remain silent. Annoying Keke, who detested lies, had already transferred schools. The remaining children were kind and assumed she didn’t want a stepfather. Some even comforted her, “It’s okay, the war won’t end anytime soon, so your dad won’t come to Triss immediately. Don’t worry.”

Lin Lang was at a loss. She wished the war would end soon so her dad would return. These children were being kind-hearted, so Lin Lang ultimately just nodded without refuting them. In fact, the war was nearing its end. The Imperial fleet, with its thunderous presence but weak links, lost human control, and fully automated starships couldn’t handle experiences not in their databases.

Humanity had stagnated too long in the field of artificial intelligence. If it were people from hundreds of years ago dealing with this war, things might not have been as dire as they were now. The war itself wasn’t the most critical issue; it was the aftermath that mattered most.

Now, as the war approached its end, Lyss’s fetus had reached three months, gradually showing. After analyzing with everyone, he chose to leave the front lines and retire to the background, mainly to bring in the net.

After two months, Lyss returned to his home. His first action upon returning wasn’t going upstairs; instead, he changed clothes and supported his belly to the bathroom. Lin Lang had already been sent to Lillia’s place ahead of time. Lyss quietly leaned against the tub, feeling an unprecedented calmness, but he also felt something was missing. He looked up at the ceiling, then suddenly stood up from the pool, donned a robe, and went to brew some tea outside.

The bitter taste with a hint of fragrance spread in his mouth, initially seeking to be filled, but soon, more discomfort permeated. It was then that Lyss remembered; he seemed to have developed a fondness for drinking tea when carrying Lin Lang.

A cup of tea back then could soothe his emotions well. But now, the taste remained the same, yet the heart seemed insatiable. Some pregnant omegas might exhibit nesting behavior due to insufficient alpha pheromone intake. Lyss didn’t have this habit. Physiologically, having an alpha or not didn’t make a difference to him.

Emotionally, Lyss gazed at the surface of the water in the tea cup, faintly seeing his slightly protruding belly. He missed Lu Xingye a bit. It wasn’t due to omega’s need for an alpha or the effects of pregnancy. He just simply missed Lu Xingye a little.

At that moment, a message appeared on the terminal. Lyss regained his senses and glanced at it; it was from Marshal Ural, with the content being, “Marshal, we’ve achieved a major breakthrough at the frontline.”

Lyss smiled slightly after reading for a while, looking up at the second floor. He put down the terminal, stood up, and stepped towards the stairs.

One more step was left for the trap.

The locked door remained tightly shut. After pushing it open, as expected, the figure of the doll was nowhere to be found. He stood still, gently supporting his belly. Behind him came familiar footsteps and a familiar address, “Brother.”

Lyss turned back, seeing the doll standing at the door. It smiled at him, even the details of the smile resembling Lu Xingye, the only difference being its blue eyes.

“Nice to meet you,” the doll smiled, “I am A-001, your brother.”

Author’s note:

Distant little dog: ?! Can you call me brother?