MCDWTBS Chapter 86

Chapter 86: The Guilty One is Him, The One With a Guilty Conscience…

Chapter 86: The Guilty One is Him, The One With a Guilty Conscience…

As soon as the imperial order was issued, Edwin opened the deployment order file. The order only had Prince Colean’s signature, but not the signature of Serra, the direct commander of the Fourth Army.

Edwin frowned deeply. Ever since this morning, his heart had been inexplicably uneasy. Now, seeing this non-compliant order from the royal family, he felt even more disturbed. The royal family couldn’t be unaware that after the military power of the Fourth Army was handed over to the Duke Corvin’s Residence, the royal family only had half the control over the Fourth Army. The order had to be issued with the signatures of both the Duke’s Residence and the royal family.

He hadn’t received any news from Serra this morning.

This thought, which Edwin had suppressed outside of work, suddenly spread uncontrollably in his mind like a plague. He almost felt his head splitting. Holding his breath, he looked at the order from the royal family again, only to find that a video suddenly popped up on the command console.

In the video, familiar dark tendrils twisted in the bright firelight, emitting silent wails. In a sea of orange-red flames, Serra’s figure stood alone, his face burned dry and pale by the firelight, two trails of blood winding down from his eye sockets.

Then, the fire swept over, completely engulfing Serra’s figure. At the same instant, the recording device emitted a faint electrical noise, and the video abruptly ended.

Edwin’s bloodless face froze. His thoughts drifted far, far away in an instant. His soul screamed sharply in the abrupt silence, then returned to nothingness. He couldn’t even capture his thoughts, as if he were standing on the edge of a bottomless abyss. Time stretched endlessly before him, and the abyss in front of him held unparalleled temptation.

Where was he, what was he doing? He shouldn’t be here, he should be somewhere else, he should be somewhere else.

He should be with Serra in that fire, he should be with his Chong – his Male insectoid.

In the command center, Edwin’s mechanical fingers clicked on the video again. Serra’s figure was swallowed by the flames again before him. He opened his lips, but no sound came out. He suddenly thought of a long time ago, when he was still a skinny young Chong, and his Female Chong father was suffering from pheromone deficiency because he had been abandoned by a Male insectoid, and was bedridden and unable to sleep. One night, when the dawn was about to break, he heard his Female Chong father say with a sigh:

“Don’t get marked, Edwin. It’s just honey on a scythe, it will have to be repaid in the end.”

The sighing words of the Female insectoid were prophetic. Edwin’s world fell apart before his eyes. In that instant, he was completely unable to think. He lowered all his defenses, and the energy field around his body was completely chaotic, full of loopholes.

It was at this moment that a high-ranking Female Chong of the Fourth Army suddenly attacked, stabbing a strange needle into Edwin’s back. Edwin’s Female Chong gland suddenly emitted an extremely sharp sting. Desperate pain and the numbness that followed poured from the back of his neck into his organs like a tide. He had to support himself on the command console to avoid falling to the ground in embarrassment.

The Female Chong who launched the attack was quickly subdued by other officers of the Fourth Army. The Female Chong were very harsh on traitors. The attacker’s arm was quickly twisted off, but extremely rare, there was not a trace of pain or panic on his face. Instead, he tilted his head, opened a pair of hollow eyes that emitted a strange yellow light, and mechanically said to Edwin:

“His Highness Colean sends his regards, General. The First and Third Armies will arrive at the border star in ten minutes. If the Fourth Army does not set off to Tiangong Star to quell the rebellion at that time, the First and Third Armies will immediately encircle and kill the rebelling Fourth Army. The entire Fourth Army will be buried with Duke Noah’s Residence.”

After saying that, the Female Chong, whose behavior was very different from usual, suddenly lowered his head. When his colleagues checked his pulse, they found that he was completely dead.

Some resourceful high-ranking officers of the Fourth Army immediately realized that the attacker was controlled by the royal family using mental control methods, and in the heart of the Fourth Army, no other colleagues had discovered the abnormality. A lieutenant general of the Fourth Army immediately issued an order to take the attacker’s body away for examination, while screening for abnormal behavior in the army. Then, he and other officers looked at Edwin, who was standing and holding the command console, waiting for his orders.

Obeying orders is the instinct that Female Chong are trained to have. Even at this moment, most Female Chong knew that Edwin might not be able to give them any reliable orders. The other party was a Female Chong who had just lost a Male insectoid, and most Chong knew what Female Chong who lost Male insectoid would become – even if they didn’t go crazy immediately, it was considered that they still had reason.

But as subordinates, no Female Chong raised any objections, even if Edwin might lead them into the abyss in an extremely irrational state. The Female Chong were a sharp blade, always have been. Their command authority may be handed over from the hands of one Male insectoid to another, but the essence has never changed – they obey orders. They have been asked countless times to enter the battlefield on the line between life and death, and they have also been asked countless times to use extremely limited resources to create miracles that reverse the situation. Today, it is just another battle.

At least this time, they had a choice. Even if choosing Edwin might be a mistake, the Female Chong were not afraid of any battle, they obeyed orders.

Edwin’s glands were burning like they were exploding. In the pain of losing the concept of time, he seemed to feel that the two fires that burned Serra to death had always been hidden in his body. The explosion that swallowed Serra repeatedly destroyed and reshaped his soul, until his flesh was out of shape, until he turned into small enough particles, and floated and dissipated with the dust.

He had drunk the honey from the edge of the knife. He let Serra and his strange philosophy of “love” swagger into his life, repeatedly persuaded him that everything was fine, and made him believe it – and when Serra’s bright palace fell apart before him, the worst part was that he couldn’t even blame any Chong.

He could only blame himself. It was he who made the two fires that swallowed Serra burn stronger and stronger, it was he who led Serra to this point today.

It was he who condoned Serra’s feelings for him that were unacceptable to the world, it was he who accepted Serra’s mark, and it was he who shamelessly fell into this unethical relationship, leading Serra to destruction.

And until he lost everything, he dared to admit in his greedy and corrupt heart – he loved Serra, he always loved him. Not only because of the bond between the young Chong and the Female Chong father, it was no longer that. He would pretend to avoid silence when Serra confessed his love to him, he would teasingly let Serra taste a little sweetness when Serra was at a loss, and he would gently hold his hand when Serra fell asleep by his bed.

He would, in the most obscure dreams at night, desire Serra’s scorching gaze to stay on him forever. Then, he would push Serra away when dawn came, pretending that his pure love for the young Chong had not been completely corrupted.

But Mother Chong, he loved Serra.

The guilty one was him, the one with a guilty conscience was him, the one who was doomed was him, why did the Mother Goddess take Serra away.

Scorching white light jumped around his vision, and the pain of burning spread to every corner of his body. The medical officer injected him with an emergency recovery injection, but they all knew it would be useless – the attacker’s injection directly acted on Edwin’s Female Chong glands, and that piece of flesh was rapidly decaying, and even the Male insectoid’s mark was collapsing. This injury would not kill him immediately, but it also ensured that Edwin would die in the near future from the rapid counterattack of pheromone deficiency.

It seemed that the mastermind had already arranged his death time and ending.

Blood flowed from the corner of Edwin’s lips, and soon, excessive blood poured out frantically from the seams of his lips, no matter how he tried to hide it and swallow it, it was useless. He trembled and raised a hand, wiped the blood off with the sleeve of his military uniform, supported his body with his floating legs, turned around and said:

“Notify the entire army to head to Tiangong Star. Avoid any conflict with the First and Third Armies.”

Lieutenant General Kane frowned and responded yes. When other officers left the command room after receiving orders, Kane said to Edwin:

“Sir, should we reconsider executing the order from Capital Star? If we can tear a hole from the Third Army, we can lead the army to raid Capital Star. The royal family will never expect-”

“The Second Army and special forces are still guarding Capital Star. Even if we tear through the Third Army, the strength of the First Army is far above the Fourth Army. We are isolated and without support.”

Edwin’s voice was extremely calm, as if he wasn’t standing unsteadily and blood was still dripping from the corner of his mouth.

“I only give you one order, Kane. When I lead the vanguard to fight against the rebels, if the battle is unfavorable, find a way to take the Fourth Army through the wormhole between Tiangong Star and snt401, and then through the Chaotic Star System to leave the empire and go to the Kamaira Star Region. Preserve your strength there until you escape the empire’s encirclement and suppression.”

“There is no need to avenge Duke Noah, that’s not what he wants. And don’t be enemies with the imperial army. You’ve also seen the leaked information from the Imperial Research Institute. The empire may still be able to control Female Chong on a large scale and turn them into puppets. Before the royal family completely shows their cards, it’s not a good time yet.”

He spat out the last few words, as if the simple syllables were cutting his throat. He turned his eyes away, staring at the surging nebula outside the starship.

Lieutenant General Kane was silent for a moment, and unmistakable respect climbed into his eyes. At this moment, he completely understood that he and the Female Chong of the Fourth Army had never chosen the wrong path. Edwin did everything he promised, even after he had just lost everything, what he wanted to do was still to protect his comrades.

Even if it meant paving the way with his own life.

“I am willing to join the vanguard and fight alongside the general.”

Kane took off his military cap and bowed to Edwin to ask for instructions, but Edwin just panted for a moment, as if suppressing severe pain, but his voice was still calm and composed:

“Request rejected. The vanguard will be personally selected by me, and then voluntarily sign the battle warrant. Female Chong in the terminal stage of pheromone deficiency are given priority. You guard the rear and keep your distance from the First and Third Armies to avoid accidents. In addition, thoroughly investigate the army. We still don’t know how the royal family infiltrated and how they used their mental control technology. No matter what happens, don’t panic.”