Chapter 173: Zerg Assault
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The thing Alfred held that Lin Xu feared the most was the psychic suppressor. In the information age, infiltrating the Imperial palace without relying on external devices and without triggering alarms was an impossible task.
Time-space powers allowed Lin Xu to come and go without a trace, but if Alfred was cautious enough, Lin Xu was certain he had surrounded the entire palace with psychic suppressors—blocking any sudden rift in space-time that Lin Xu might tear open to storm inside, threatening his life. Still, it wasn’t completely hopeless.
Capital Star was heavily fortified, with heavy weaponry stationed everywhere. Heinrich and Lin Xu could not bring large-scale weapons of mass destruction inside the palace without being detected.
But Heinrich claimed that a dragon’s close combat ability rivaled that of a mecha, only lacking heat-based weapons. Its defense points were high enough that until the dragon finished dismantling the palace’s electrical cables, the palace guards’ weapons weren’t enough to kill him. Lin Xu could use this opportunity to rush in and find Yuanxiao.
It was an absolutely insane plan—even Meng Zhenhua, who usually supported Lin Xu’s decisions, shook his head repeatedly upon hearing it, urging Lin Xu to sober up and not lose his mind just because the rescue target was his own child.
Lin Xu had remained silent at the time, saying nothing, pacing the room with his eyes fixed on the floor. The occasional glance he let slip was chilling. Meng Zhenhua knew Lin Xu was hesitating.
Lin Xu had never hesitated before—or rather, before becoming a weapon himself, when commanding others to charge into battle, he would think carefully, make prudent decisions. But after becoming a bloodstained blade, Lin Xu only had to command himself—hesitation was no longer an option. If his death could bring victory, he wouldn’t cling to life.
But now, a cold aura emanated from him. He couldn’t just charge ahead recklessly on his own. He had to consider Heinrich. He had to consider that after rescuing Yuanxiao, the little dragon shouldn’t lose his father in childhood, deprived of familial care. Something tugged at his heart, struggling against his reckless madness. Finally, news from Capital Star stopped Lin Xu’s pacing.
The Alliance had received intelligence that the Imperial forces were gathering the Third Legion’s troops to launch an attack on the Alliance. Heinrich’s informant in Capital Star also reported that some of the First Legion’s forces would be sent to Dionysus to fight the Dawn Front. Heinrich notified Alonso to prepare accordingly.
And the Alliance… They were debating whether to strike first and seize the initiative. In the end, the rotating chairperson of the Alliance rejected the proposal. The Alliance would not be the first to fire on the battlefield. They hoped instead to gain the moral high ground and deal another blow to Imperial’s rapidly declining reputation.
Although the Alliance didn’t need to strike preemptively, they decided to deploy their defenses early. The Alliance Military Council resolved to keep the battlefield confined within the Dark Zone of the Red Moon System, aiming to avoid any spillover affecting Alliance citizens or Haven, located just beyond the Michael’s Sword defensive line.
Within the Long Whale Region, Imperial forces were mobilizing troops and tightening patrols along the shipping lanes. The atmosphere was thick with a tense, austere authority.
It was said that some powerful energy and transport consortiums within the Long Whale Region had already dispatched a large contingent of lobbyists to Capital Star. Their mission was to persuade the parliament and the Emperor to relax restrictions on private shipping lanes in the region, maintaining commercial stability.
These requests were either flatly rejected or quietly shelved. Despite the swelling waves of suspicion toward Imperial, it was undeniable that the entire Long Whale Region remained firmly under the Emperor’s absolute control.
Lin Xu and Heinrich’s planned journey to Capital Star had to be postponed indefinitely. Heinrich was appointed as a strategic adviser to the Alliance, deeply involved in planning the resistance against the Empire.
The Abyss Fleet, originally tasked with patrolling Imperial territories and well-informed about the conditions of various legions, provided invaluable insight that allowed the Alliance to make more refined military deployments. The war erupted one week later.
The Third Legion was a formidable force, but the problem was that it faced an Alliance with no worries about rear security—one that could bring its full strength to bear. The Third Legion suffered successive defeats; the situation looked grim. After three days, the attacking Third Legion attempted to fall back to the Michael’s Sword defense line.
This defensive line, standing between the Alliance and the Empire for over a century, was nearly impregnable. One fortress after another, each armed with ultra-high-energy weapons and dozens of starships, stretched in a long row, growling low at the approaching Alliance fleet.
Largo Paris, who had once been stationed at this line, knew well the sharp edge of Michael’s Sword. He advised the council to act cautiously and avoid rash moves.
The council had initially agreed, but compared to the Battle of Marquee thirty years prior, the Michael’s Sword line, now without Largo Paris as its backbone, was pitifully weakened. If they didn’t press the advantage and finish off the enemy, the people of the Alliance would likely doubt whether the military truly wanted to restore the Alliance’s glory. This weakening made the council even more wary. Why would Imperial send such weak troops against the Alliance? What were they really after?
– –
Outside the Whispering Chapel’s white walls, rose petals drifted gently down. Ika sat in the garden, speaking with Lin Xu over a call. He had managed to hack into the Imperial Palace’s surveillance system, helping Lin Xu track any trace of Yuanxiao.
“The egg was taken into the Emperor’s study and hasn’t been brought out since,” Ika reported. “There’s no surveillance inside the study itself, so I can only monitor the comings and goings in the garden cameras.”
“Who’s been inside?” Lin Xu asked.
“Mostly attendants and military-political personnel.”
Lin Xu nodded and reluctantly put down his snack. These people weren’t enough of a threat to the tough egg. “Can you keep watching the palace continuously?”
Ika considered. “Not easily. If I keep accessing the palace surveillance non-stop, the AI controlling the system might detect me. I’m going to try injecting a program—if the egg ever enters the cameras’ view, it will send me an alert.”
“Good, thank you, Ika.”
“It’s what I’m here for.” Ika didn’t immediately hang up, instead lowering his head in thought. Then he looked back at Lin Xu on the screen and said seriously, “Dr. Lin, please make sure Marshal Chu takes good care of the Victoria. When he took it away, he kicked out the starship maintenance crew. Now only Ruth is doing routine checks, and the AI might miss some issues.”
“Can I arrange for Alliance technicians to maintain the Victoria? Any classified components I shouldn’t disclose?”
“Imperial considers some tech classified, but the Victoria is no longer under Imperial control, so it’s fine. The Alliance team can work on it, though some of their tech differs from Imperial’s. If anything unusual happens… I… and Te…na can provide consulting help…”
Suddenly, the video stuttered several times, seeming to disconnect. In the interstellar era, aside from damage to network transmitters, few things caused signal drops.
“Ika?” Lin Xu asked anxiously. “Can you still hear me?”
The screen froze for several seconds on one frame before switching to the next. Ika was seen looking back at the sky. His voice transmitted with a hoarse, glitchy rasp, like a tangled tape.
Then a piercing shriek sounded. The video briefly returned, showing Ika running into the Whispering Chapel’s interior, the harsh shrieking continuing relentlessly. The strange noise was clearly not a network glitch.
“Ika, what’s going on?” Lin Xu called out. But Ika didn’t respond. The background’s thunderous crashing completely drowned out Lin Xu’s questions. On Lin Xu’s screen, it looked like a slideshow—each frame lingering for several seconds.
A shadow flickered past the chapel’s round window. The people in the picture stared out with terror etched on their faces. It was Brumer. Recently, Brumer had often gathered with physicists in the chapel to discuss quantum spacetime problems, and the chapel had barred visitors from entering.
The next frame showed Brumer urgently beckoning colleagues inside. He looked anxious, saw Ika hadn’t arrived, and dashed to pull him inside. Behind them came successive booming crashes—like steel beams snapping and rocks collapsing.
A massive forelimb, glowing with a greenish-blue hue and shaped like a scythe, broke through the window, scattering glass and debris. It was an A-Class Mantis Zerg!
The towering Mantis Zerg stood taller than the entire chapel. Its enormous body sprawled across the roof, its empty eyes shifting. Blackish dots on its bulging eyeballs locked onto Brumer and Ika, who hadn’t yet escaped underground. The huge scythe-like forelimb slowly lowered, gleaming ominously in the light.
Its movements were slow but unstoppable. Brumer and Ika couldn’t outrun it; the greenish blade was mere centimeters from their backs. Danger loomed. Ika’s heart pounded wildly. Even before the limb struck, the Zerg’s aura made his hairs stand on end.
He didn’t know how far the Mantis Zerg had chased them. He glanced back involuntarily. His nose was just centimeters from the freezing exoskeleton of the scythe. He could even feel the lingering cosmic radiation’s sting. It would pierce them both. Ika’s heart almost stopped. Primal fear twisted his stomach in knots.
Suddenly, a dizzying whirlwind hit. Brumer, still dragging Ika, collapsed. Ika’s head slammed against a hard surface. Darkness crept into his vision. But the expected pain never came. A high-pitched, prolonged hiss sounded behind them.
Brumer, on the ground, looked back just in time to see the glowing green scythe forelimb severed in two. It was kicked away just before it could crush them. A viscous green-white liquid oozed from the broken limb, pooling on the floor. The highly corrosive fluid sizzled as it ate through the white tiles, producing steam.
“Everyone get out of the way!”
Ika’s vision was still darkening when a familiar voice shouted at him. The sound transmitted over the comm couldn’t match real life perfectly. Ika’s mind spun, but his brain rapidly processed the situation. Has Dr. Lin arrived? How was Dr. Lin here?
“Get up, Ika!”
It wasn’t a hallucination. Brumer saw Lin Xu bursting out of a spacetime rift. He yanked both Brumer and Ika out of the Zerg’s scythe strike range, then stepped forward, slashing clean through the Zerg’s sharp, tough forelimb. Brumer scrambled to his feet, pulling Ika away from the chaos of Lin Xu and the Zerg’s battle.
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