Chapter 92
"Access permission".
"Identity confirmed."
Gender: Female
Rating: 3S
Lord: Hildegard
"Scan complete, identity confirmed, area link established, permissions transferred."
"Good evening, Your Excellency Marshal Celtic. Welcome back."
A calm, mechanical voice sounded in his ears. Celt strode swiftly onto the starship. Real-time compressed information about the recent battle was connected to his personal computer, exploding the moment it connected and displaying a vast, dense sea of images on the invisible screen in front of him.
Celtic took it as normal.
"Beep beep—" The familiar communication came through, revealing Dick, who had been pressed down on the table. The moment he saw Marshal Celt, he excitedly sat up abruptly: "Marshal!"
Celt interrupted Dick before he could say anything more: "Now, circle around the Morning Star along the Tongming Orbit to point 651. At 4:30 PM, launch an attack on Port Lunt 1, while simultaneously receiving the starship."
“Isidore will make a space crossing back to the capital planet tonight; his injuries cannot be delayed any longer.”
"Yes," Dick answered instinctively, all the questions he was about to ask turning into complete obedience to orders.
Inside the Qimingxing Airport.
A huge bloody hole appeared in Isidore's heart, and countless silver supporting metal rods struggled to function in place of his organs. His hair was stuck together with blood, and he could only open his eyes and stare ahead.
Sirius appeared on the other side of the starship, his S-class male pheromones emanating from him. He coldly stared at the dying female.
He opened his mouth, a trace of sorrow appearing in his eyes: "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I couldn't give you the best."
I cannot win this war for you. Even if the situation is reversed in the end, His Highness Hilgard, represented by Marshal Celt, will have more say.
As Isidore opened his mouth to speak, abnormal blood foam spilled out, but he refused to stop. He didn't know when his heart would stop beating; he needed to utter all the words he wanted to say before death came.
"Actually, I left six years ago because I felt I wasn't good enough for you. Only the strongest female insect was worthy of you and helping you win that position. I knew I would lose to General Hesen..."
"But the female soldier isn't afraid of failure; I'm only afraid that my failure will implicate you..."
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I've dragged you into this after all."
He failed to cross this insurmountable barrier; the only consolation was that he fell on the path of fighting for Prince Sirius.
His gaze gradually became unfocused, and his vision gradually blurred.
“Shut up,” Sirius said coldly, putting on his silk gloves and touching the mechanically maintained organs. He injected male pheromones into them. “If I had known that you had fallen to this state just to help Celt escape from prison, you would have been in a much worse state than you are now.”
No, that's not it. It's not because of Marshal Celtic...
He wanted to speak but couldn't, and finally sank into a long darkness.
——
"Hessen, what are you doing?"
"Warships have bombed Silver Oak Estate!"
Nathaniel's furious face appeared in the center of the screen, interrupting Hessen's remote meeting with his subordinates. On the other end, the female soldier was still waiting for combat orders, and the explosions around the starship continued. Brandon's forehead veins throbbed, and he really wanted to cut off Nathaniel's communications.
His Highness Nathaniel is willful and capricious, always demanding that he be number one!
"Are you injured?" Even though he already knew about Nathaniel's condition, Hessen decided to stroke him gently, first and foremost concerned about the male insect's safety.
“Hmph, of course not,” Nathaniel replied, then frowned, seemingly uneasy. “It’s so loud over there, have they attacked? Why did you send Elliott to take me away?”
“It’s just a temporary evacuation. Didn’t you say Oak Star was boring and dull? Now we’re just changing places. I specially chose a beautiful and habitable planet for you. Aren’t you happy?” Hessen’s expression remained gentle, as if he had the situation under control and that it would not cause any inconvenience to Nathaniel’s life.
“But…” Even a slow-witted insect like Nathaniel seemed to sense something was wrong. “The StarNet says…”
The war is going very badly, and there are so many damned bugs attacking him! They say he's using underhanded tactics and spreading those rumors about Hill!
He clearly didn't!
“There are rumors all over the StarNet, don’t you believe me?” Hessen reached out as if to stroke Nathaniel’s head from afar.
Nathaniel frowned: "You've been away for too long and haven't fulfilled your duties as a queen. If you haven't come to see me by the 15th, I'll take in a new queen!"
Hessen asked gently, "Male insect, I was wrong. Do you prefer Ysera or Horto? I can send you some alternatives."
The communication abruptly ended. Nathaniel angrily kicked the aircraft, thinking furiously that damned Hessen had actually allowed it! Although he had no right to refuse! He had never had a say in the past, but Hessen should have understood that he wanted him to come back to see him!
He didn't show up as he expected, and that was his mistake.
Hessen, his hands supporting him on the table, was answering Nathaniel's questions while simultaneously giving instructions to his subordinates. Suddenly, upon seeing some message, he slammed his fist into the command platform, creating a huge hole.
It was extremely rare for a female insect like Hessen, so gentle and serene as if she had a mask etched on her face, to show such a strong reaction. Brandon was startled and couldn't help but exclaim, "General—"
“Celt has captured the port of Publos!” Hessen said grimly.
"It should be the polar night right now, since Celtic last appeared on the morning star. Doesn't he need to rest?"
According to the StarNet report, he even had an insect egg. Brandon felt a sense of fear. Celt was like a real machine, showing no signs of fatigue even when the female warrior should have been at her most vulnerable, and he could not find any flaws.
His presence would make his opponents feel hopeless.
“I need to find a special passage to speak with Celt in person,” Hessen said with a deep breath. “At least I’ll be able to find out his current condition.”
In the early hours of that day, an encrypted message bypassed the military's defenses and precisely located Gust's optical computer.
Gust was Celtic's confidant, but his rank was relatively low, making him easier to defeat and the most suitable choice for the insect. Even so, Hessen still had less than ten minutes to spare.
"Marshal Celt, it's been a long time." Hesen's figure appeared in the empty starship. He still maintained his aristocratic elegance, wearing a proper white military uniform, with a glass of red wine, perfect for an evening drink, on the table he was leaning against.
In contrast, Celt appeared ruthless and devoid of desire. His desk contained only the essential items for female soldiers, without any personal preferences, making him difficult for outsiders to fathom.
"Marshal, your appearance is truly beyond my expectations. To celebrate your renewed freedom, I raise a toast to you." Even though Celt wasn't actually on the other side, Hessen gracefully poured him a glass of red wine and placed it in front of the virtual insect statue.
Celtic's hawk-like eyes swept over his current opponent: "You have nine minutes left."
“You certainly have a good sense of time,” Hessen shook his head, but instead of speeding up his movements, he lowered his head and took a sip. “Do you know why His Highness Hilgard is so persistent in pursuing me?”
Hesen gave a helpless smile: "Because when His Highness Hilgard infiltrated your side, I made some minor alterations to his fabricated identity."
Celtic's cold, gray pupils narrowed into a vertical line, exuding danger, but there were not many surprises.
"You knew all along?"
Hessen was slightly surprised, but quickly accepted the fact: "We joined forces to thwart Prince Hilgard's advancement. You should have seen that Prince Hilgard is vindictive. This time, he put you in a life-or-death situation, but he released you because Isidor was too useless. It's just a matter of using one wolf to devour another. What benefit would we gain from a deadly battle?"
“Once I die, your remaining days won’t be easy either. It seems His Highness Hilgard is not willing to let you go.”
"After all, I've heard that you're imprisoned in the military's S-class prison. The feeling of being shocked by the suppression ring every fifteen minutes must be unbearable, right? If I didn't hate you to the extreme, I wouldn't be so ruthless."
“Especially since you have just served His Highness Hilgard and are even carrying the insect eggs.”
His gaze swept over the taut waist and abdomen beneath the Celtic uniform, and a hint of pity appeared at the right moment: "For arrogant and brutal male insects, insect eggs are nothing. If one is gone, there's another, and the next one. They never lack female insects to follow in their footsteps."
"But for female soldiers who are physically strong and not prone to conceiving, being able to have their own eggs and continue their own lives is something that can only be encountered by chance, don't you think?"
Hessen sighed, full of pity: "Can you bear to let your unborn egg never even have the chance to see this world?"
Celtic remained unmoved, just like the insect itself, seemingly unaffected by anything.
"You have three minutes left."
“We can join forces. Prince Nathaniel is a forgiving male; he only wants to teach his younger brother a lesson in respecting his elder brother and will not harm Prince Hilgard. After it is done, you can have Prince Hilgard completely. Don’t you want that?”
"No insect can compete with you for male insects, so you don't need to worry that His Highness Hilgard will discard you after the fact and stop giving you pheromones."
"Can't you tell which option is more appealing to the insect: a male insect that dominates you or a male insect that is completely dominated by you?"
"I thought you, Marshal, were a decisive woman. What? Is it worth hesitating over such a simple option?" Hesen chuckled softly, as if bewitching someone.
"Marshal, it's the last minute. Have you made up your mind?"
With ten minutes of pressure, the control of the conversation, which had initially been held by Celtic, quietly shifted to Hessen's hands.
One minute to make a decision. Time ticked by, second by second, urging the female insect's heart to rush blood to her brain, squeezing out her already limited rationality.
"What if what I want is the position of the Insect Emperor?" Gray-cold eyes lifted inch by inch, as if a wild and untamed beast surged out of his pupils, revealing sharp claws and instantly tearing away Hesen's gentle mask.
beep beep—
The encrypted communication flashed white light; only ten seconds remained.
Once ten seconds have elapsed, this encrypted channel will be instantly destroyed, and the attacked defenses will be reinforced and become much harder to breach.
Author's Note:
Hessen, it's your turn to choose! [starry-eyed]
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