Chapter 163: Heinrich Chu’s Treason
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Another burst of raucous laughter followed. Arnold caught onto a key word. He tried moving his leg—but felt nothing. The relief he’d briefly felt from surviving the vacuum of space vanished in an instant, replaced by a sinking cold dread.
His eyes widened as he struggled to see himself, but no matter how hard he tried, everything remained a foggy blur. “Where’s my leg? Why can’t I see anything?”
“Relax, kid. What era do you think we’re in? Losing a limb’s not the end of the world anymore.” It was the same voice as before. The man approached and gently pushed Arnold back down. “Lie still, or those IV tubes will snap right off in your muscles.”
“Who are you people?”
“One question at a time,” the man said. “Your eyes were scorched by high heat. We replaced them with optical implants. Just blink—you’ll activate calibration mode. Adjust the focus and you’ll be able to see just fine.”
Arnold blinked. The electronic eyes buzzed faintly as they shifted through calibration, flickering between blur and clarity.
The man continued, “The guys who attacked you—we blew ’em off. And that big-ass bird egg you were hauling in your mecha? We fished it out, didn’t get fried in the blast… though who knows, might be halfway cooked.”
“Don’t touch it!” Arnold snapped.
“Alright, alright, we won’t touch it,” the man said, humoring him like a child.
By now, Arnold’s vision had adjusted. Everything became clear—and what he saw was as chaotic as the smells around him. Dirty cables draped from the walls, rusting metal panels surrounded him, and an old surgical light flickered overhead. They were performing surgery on him.
An IV was pumping medication into his arm. He glanced down at his leg—his right one was amputated mid-thigh. In its place was a crude metal prosthetic with a skeletal framework. The anesthesia hadn’t worn off yet, so he felt nothing.
“Well, look who can see again.” The man leaned into his line of sight. “You asked who I am, right? Name’s Wang Wu. These fellas here—just my crew.”
He quickly introduced the others. Wang Wu had dark, weathered skin and deep lines on his face. His clothing was mismatched and stained with black grease. He was an alpha, but not a high-ranking one—Arnold guessed C-Class at most.
“You’re… Star Pirates,” Arnold said slowly, dread curling in his chest.
“Guess we are now,” Wang Wu admitted shamelessly. He pointed to the egg placed in the corner. “There. Your precious egg.”
Then he gestured to a glass growth chamber nearby. Inside, strips of meat tissue floated, slowly growing. “That’s your new leg. We can’t afford high-end prosthetics, so we figured the original kind works best. Once it’s grown, we’ll swap it in for you.”
“You have gene-grafting tech?” Arnold’s eyes widened. The ability to extract cells and grow limbs outside the body was considered advanced, even in the Crescent District.
“Hah! Impressed, huh?” Wang Wu laughed.
“Thank you… for saving me.” Arnold’s voice softened. “If it’s money you want, I can pay—whatever it costs. I still have urgent business. Can you take me to the nearest port? I—”
“Money?” Wang Wu raised an eyebrow, watching him with amusement. “You think money can buy you out, Colonel?”
Arnold’s heart sank. He had piloted an official military starship toward Dionysus, fully uniformed, insignia and all. He hadn’t even tried to hide his identity. “What do you want from me?”
“We’re takin’ you to the Dawn Front. To meet the boss.” Wang Wu patted Arnold’s metal prosthetic. “Relax. The boss is a real decent guy.”
“Heard we’re up for a gear upgrade,” another crew member piped in. “Maybe bringing you in’ll get us something nice.” The Dawn Front… the rebel faction.
Arnold’s composure crumbled. The Abyss Fleet and Sixth Legion were locked in a brutal battle with the rebels. If a Marshal’s deputy fell into enemy hands, he could accept death as penance—but what about Yuanxiao? Would they use Yuanxiao to threaten Marshal Chu?
“Hey, you don’t look so good.” Wang Wu frowned. “You hungry or something? C’mon, open up. Get some nutrients in you.”
Arnold’s internal injuries hadn’t fully healed. The explosion had done more damage than he’d realized. He turned his head away, refusing the packet Wang Wu was trying to feed him. Pain surged from deep within, and the world spun again. His vision faded as he blacked out once more.
When Arnold woke up again, searing pain shot through his right leg. He instinctively tried to move—and to his astonishment, found that he could.
He lifted his head to look. The crude metal prosthetic was gone. In its place was a real, biological leg. The connecting wound hadn’t fully healed yet—regrowing bone and muscle throbbed with an aching, almost itchy pain that went down to the nerves.
Only then did Arnold realize he was being carried on a stretcher, moving quickly through a ship’s corridor. Wang Wu walked at the front. The surroundings were markedly different—less grime, less decay. The corridors looked cleaner, the walls sturdier. This wasn’t the same old junk freighter.
Was this… the rebel base? The thought hit him like a cold wave. Arnold fully snapped awake. He twisted violently, trying to get off the stretcher—only to be shoved back down by Wang Wu.
“Whoa, whoa, hey now! What’s with the sudden gymnastics?”
Arnold struggled, kicking with what strength he had left.
“Tranquilizer, quick! Hit him with one!”
A sharp prick entered his skin. The sedative flushed through his bloodstream. His mind began to fog, thoughts slurring—but Arnold had undergone chemical resistance training. It wasn’t enough to knock him out entirely.
Through the haze, he watched as Wang Wu and his pirate crew carried him deeper into the ship. They reached a large door. Guards stopped them, asking for names, then scanned something before allowing entry. They’re taking me to meet their leader, Arnold thought weakly.
The doors opened into a round conference chamber. Two tall figures sat opposite the entrance. As Arnold was brought in, both turned their heads toward him.
His vision swam again, a fog creeping over his sight—but something about those silhouettes felt… familiar.
“This is the one we picked up after the merc raid on the flagged starship you told us to watch, boss,” Wang Wu reported. “And the egg too—we brought both.”
“Leave him. You’re dismissed,” came a deep voice from one of the men. Wang Wu and the pirates exited. Arnold faintly heard one of the figures instruct the ship’s AI to call for a doctor. He gave a bitter inward laugh. At least they didn’t plan to use his corpse for leverage against the Abyss Fleet.
A team of medics soon arrived, wheeling Arnold off the stretcher and into an adjacent medical room. The two men from the chamber followed. Before leaving, one of them picked up the egg and cradled it carefully.
Arnold’s throat tightened. The doctors began an exam. The man holding the egg finally spoke: “How is he?”
That voice—! Arnold flinched. Wait… wasn’t that the Marshal’s voice?
He turned his head toward the sound, straining his cybernetic eyes. The focus whirred, clicking in and out, trying to stabilize.
A doctor gently held Arnold’s head in place, beginning an optical exam. “The new limb is integrating well. Once the wound fully heals, there should be no long-term side effects. His internal organs need more recovery time. As for the eyes…” The doctor hesitated. “The patient doesn’t seem to be adjusting well to the implants. Could be the tranquilizer messing with neural control.”
“Can we replace them with real eyes?” the man asked.
“We can,” the doctor replied. “We have the gene-cultivation tech. Though honestly, these cybernetics are superior in functionality. I’d suggest asking the patient what he prefers.”
The man nodded, lowering his gaze to the hospital bed. “Arnold, would you rather keep the cybernetic eyes or switch to organic ones?”
Now Arnold could be sure—it was Marshal Heinrich Chu.“M-Mar… Marshal?”
“Yes.” Heinrich leaned in slightly, his expression unreadable. “What is it?”
“Wait, let me give him a reversal shot,” the doctor interjected.
Another injection. Within moments, the sedative’s fog lifted from Arnold’s mind. He blinked several times, the focus mechanisms in his eyes finally syncing up. When his vision cleared—
It was him. Heinrich.
“Marshal… where am I? Those Star Pirates said they were taking me to the rebel stronghold. Have we… already captured them?”
“No,” a new voice answered from behind. Arnold turned his head—and saw the speaker. It was Guy, Chief Strategist of the Sixth Legion. But neither Heinrich nor Guy were wearing military uniforms. And just moments ago, the Star Pirates had called Guy… boss.
“Marshal… this… what’s going on?” Arnold stammered. “The Dawn Front isn’t the enemy,” Heinrich said calmly. “You need to rest. Once you’ve healed, we’ll explain everything. And Arnold—” Heinrich’s gaze softened as he glanced at the object in his arms— “thank you for bringing Yuanxiao.”
Godric had contacted the Alliance and finalized the route and schedule for Lin Xu’s journey there. Chen Jinshan had returned to the Michael Front Line to secretly make arrangements for the passage through enemy territory. Lin Xu remained at the Whispering Chapel, waiting. Brumer helped him locate suitable equipment and a secure location, then removed the suppressor that had been fastened around Lin Xu’s neck. After that, Lin Xu devoted all his spare time to organizing historical data from the Empire.
While in prison, he had asked Chen Jinshan to gather and organize all the crucial materials he had—everything from experimental verification reports, the red-covered journal, the murder investigation notes, to the hand-drawn map of Ares Star, which was marked with potential locations of the time-tampering device.
On the fifth day, Lin Xu received a message from Chen Jinshan. Relying on his First Legion contacts, Chen had managed to gather details about the G398 operation. Lin Xu began analyzing the clues, trying to deduce the possible location of the red journal’s owner’s remains.
Suddenly, a knock echoed at the door. “Dr. Lin, it’s Godric Chapman.”
Lin Xu walked over. The moment he opened the door, he was greeted by Godric, breathing heavily and clearly in a rush. “What’s wrong?”
“Dr. Lin, you—you need to see the news.”
Lin Xu pulled up his terminal. Most of the recent headlines from Haven focused on new technological discoveries. That day’s top story was about a scientist’s new anti-gravity system proposal. “No, not that,” Godric said. “Check the Empire’s news.”
Flustered, he brought up his own terminal’s newsfeed and showed Lin Xu the breaking headline.
BREAKING: Seventh Legion Commander, Abyss Fleet Marshal, and Imperial Admiral Heinrich Chu, Accused of Treason!
Lin Xu’s brows drew together, his expression darkening.
Godric hesitated. “Dr. Lin… was this part of the plan too?”
Author’s Note:
Just a tiny update—today I saw a dolphin giving birth on my feed… I swear, raising this account right is paying off.
This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.
