Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Phoenix Awakens
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Half an hour later, the Imperial Parliament.
Heinrich sat high above, surrounded by tiered seating in the style of an ancient Roman Colosseum—military leaders to the east, senate elders to the west, sector heads to the south, and lower house representatives to the north.
“Parliament agenda item eight: Abolish the mandatory pairing system and review the privileges of the Omega Protection Association.” Elder Langfero spoke in a flat tone. “Press green for yes, red for no. Abstainers step forward. Voting begins now.”
The chamber buzzed with murmurs, then hands reached for keys. Moments later, the holographic screen finished tallying: 93 yes, 284 no, 165 abstentions.
The abstainers had a lot to say, all of them fired up, each clutching hundreds of pages of papers and itching to leap from their seats and spray spittle right in the emperor’s face.
Elder Langfero turned expressionlessly toward the emperor. “You’re in the minority this time. Will you exercise the emperor’s tiebreaker privilege of twenty votes?”
“...No need.” Heinrich rose to his feet. “Next item—”
At that moment, a folded note was passed up from the military section. The emperor opened it to find five scrawled words in Aaron’s handwriting—Phoenix activated.
“My apologies, everyone.” Heinrich stood. “That’s all for today. Meeting adjourned.”
The representatives exchanged bewildered glances, but the emperor strode out, the hem of his black-and-gold cloak slicing a sharp arc as he turned.
—Phoenix activated.
Carolyn stood outside the underground lab, facing a metal corridor glowing with white light. At its end loomed a severely deformed tungsten alloy hemispherical door, the panel nearly torn from the wall, with cracks radiating out more than a dozen meters.
Researchers trembled behind her. “The impact came out of nowhere. We had no way to get inside... The shock destroyed the circuit systems. It went pitch black—we thought the whole place was coming down...”
Carolyn glanced up at the ceiling, split into quarters and liable to collapse at any moment. Carbon steel beams now barely maintained a precarious balance amid the scattered shards of metal and chunks of concrete littering the floor.
She stepped into the corridor. The researchers rushed to block her. “Principal, it’s too dangerous here! Please don’t go any closer!”
“No need to worry. It won’t activate.”
Carolyn picked her way through the debris to the end and gently stroked the deformed tungsten alloy door. Silence enveloped the area now, as if the frenzy and chaos of half an hour ago had never happened. Yet she could picture it clearly: how this indestructible alloy door had been battered with ferocious force—just once—and the entire multi-ton sphere had bulged outward.
One more hit, and the door would have been utterly wrecked.
“Good day, Principal. Incoming secure comm from the palace. Shall I connect?”
Carolyn waved the lab staff back and pulled a 3D communicator from her pocket. Red lines shot out, assembling in midair into Heinrich’s stern face.
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”
The emperor’s gaze slid past her to the deformed alloy door, his expression subtly complicated. “Who activated Phoenix?”
Carolyn knew the military academy had the emperor’s informants planted there, but anyone with half a brain wouldn’t go out of their way to antagonize them. So she answered honestly. “It was an accident. Phoenix slammed into the floor in semi-full form. The lab’s entire power system is offline—we can’t get in right now.”
“Celia, he...”
The emperor still instinctively avoided sensitive terms like “remains” or “corpse.” Carolyn understood. “Given the cockpit’s durability, it should be undamaged, but we don’t know for sure. Even if Phoenix powers down again, we still can’t open the cockpit without risking damage to it... or accessing the marshal’s... um.”
Heinrich stared at her for a long moment before saying slowly, “Carolyn.”
“Yes.”
“I can understand Edna’s feelings.”
“...” Carolyn felt a chill run through her.
Heinrich understanding Edna’s feelings? What was the difference between that and a wolf understanding a sheep? A cat understanding a mouse? A weasel understanding a chicken?!
“But I hope you can understand me.” The emperor clearly didn’t notice Carolyn’s rattled expression and continued slowly. “The marshal holds special significance for most of the stubborn anti-Alliance hardliners. If the imperial heir carries his bloodline, it’ll make any future political reforms far less difficult...”
Carolyn blurted in shock, “Reforms?!”
“I won’t say more. I’m new to being emperor myself—lots of plans to figure out step by step.” Heinrich paused. “Back then, I couldn’t understand many of the marshal’s ideas. It’s too late now. But I’ll pass them on bit by bit to our next generation. History will bring us a brighter future.”
Carolyn stood there at a loss.
“Anyway, I just wanted you to know the marshal’s DNA is irreplaceable—even Phoenix can’t compare.” Heinrich’s voice grew grave. “Think it over.”
He nodded politely, and the 3D projection vanished into thin air.
Carolyn stood stunned in the corridor for a moment before snatching up the communicator and snapping, “Edna!”
Red lines shot out again, rapidly forming Edna’s figure in midair—she was wearing a white lab coat, standing in one of the institute’s labs.
“His Majesty knows about Phoenix powering up. He just contacted me.”
Edna’s face was full of worry. “He still wants the DNA?”
Carolyn nodded heavily.
“No matter what, we can’t give it to him. You know, after the Venus Fortress battle, the marshal...” Edna swallowed. She shook her head. “One test, and he’ll spot the inconsistencies. Then he’ll dissect the remains, and everything will...”
“I understand.”
The two women locked eyes for a long moment. Edna took a deep breath. “We have to win the league.”
“Yes.”
“We have to protect the mech.” As Edna spoke, she glanced back, as if someone had called her. “—Wait, Gavin’s inside waiting for his injection. I’ll be back.”
Carolyn signaled for her to go, then cut the comm.
Ever since arriving at the military academy, Gavin had become inseparable from injections and pills, running to the med bay every few days and picking up scrapes left and right.
Edna pushed the suppressant into a vein in his wrist. The sweet, alluring Omega scent in the air immediately faded, vanishing completely within minutes.
Dean sat watching from the side and suddenly understood why Alphas hated suppressants so much—that feeling of watching food snatched right from your mouth could make even the hardest heart flare with anger.
“Still dizzy? Nauseous?”
Gavin shook his head. “No, thanks.”
Edna smiled warmly, her emerald eyes shimmering like a tranquil lake. She was stunning like this, and Gavin’s gaze softened without him even realizing it. “Sorry for using Principal Carolyn’s mech. If Blazing Fox took any damage...”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Edna’s slender white hand gently covered the back of his. She smiled. “Actually, the principal and I need you to help us with something...”
The two of them—one sitting, one standing—Edna leaning slightly forward, her hair nearly spilling onto Gavin’s lap.
Dean frowned slightly from the side. He knew they were both Omegas, but the intimate scene still stirred something oddly uncomfortable in him.
“What is it?”
“You know we enter the mech league every year—and we always face off against Gemini Interstellar Military Academy. This year, they have some exceptionally strong students, and for certain reasons, we absolutely cannot lose.”
Edna glanced up at Dean.
“You two are the top students this term—though your teamwork’s a bit off—but I’d still like you to form a team and win the league for Royal Military Academy.”
Dean shot to his feet, but before he could speak, Gavin said, “Sure.”
Edna seemed surprised he’d agreed so readily.
...Truth be told, Gavin was surprised himself. It was like seeing Edna made him want to say yes without thinking—his agreement slipped out instinctively.
“That’s wonderful. I’ll have them forge an identity for you—no need to worry about anything. The principal and I will cover for you.” Edna squeezed Gavin’s hand gratefully. “Thank you!”
“...” Gavin suddenly felt like agreeing hadn’t been such a bad idea.
“Why’d you say yes to her?” A few minutes later, after Edna left and the room held only the two of them, Dean finally couldn’t hold back his anger. “Isn’t this tournament dangerous enough already?! How long are you going to keep messing around?”
Gavin blinked. “Isn’t the danger on you? Let me think—under Omega Protection Law, how many years for this? Twenty?”
Dean: “...”
Gavin looked at him innocently. The Alpha cadet’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. After a moment, Gavin’s conscience kicked in. He sighed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have interfered in your match.”
“This isn’t about—”
“I got too eager to take control of the fight and forgot it was your battlefield.” Gavin extended his hand proactively. “Sorry. Please accept my apology.”
His long fingers were still wrapped in bandages, palm upturned, utterly sincere. Dean’s feelings right now mirrored Gavin’s earlier gaze at Edna—impossible to refuse.
He hesitated, then gripped Gavin’s hand. After a long pause, he asked gravely, “You’re really going to the mech league with me?”
“—Yes. That’s our battlefield.”
Gavin’s eyes shone bright and honest. Simple words from him carried a heart-piercing charm.
In truth, it was just his professional habit talking, but naive Dean had no idea—and couldn’t help but feel a stir, blurting, “In that case...”
“Gone off to lose together?” came a cold voice from the doorway. “How pitiful.”
They turned to see Claire in his combat uniform, a bandage on his lip, arms crossed as he leaned against the infirmary doorframe.
Claire was nearly as tall as Dean, his blond-brown hair a tangled mess, face bruised and bloodied—looking a bit ragged. Unlike Dean, he exuded a rebellious edge, high brow bones and deep-set eyes filled with undisguised arrogance and hostility.
Dean tensed immediately. “None of your business, Claire. You...”
“—Yep, not losing with you.” Gavin cut him off amiably. “Be good and go play with your little friends.”
Claire: “...”
Claire nearly lost it, gripping the doorframe hard to restrain himself from charging in. He glared at their clasped hands for several seconds, then snorted in disdain and stormed off.
2.
Once the competitors from each school were finalized, following tradition, Royal Military Academy invited all the contestants and instructors for a pre-league banquet.
Don’t let Royal’s disfavor with the emperor fool you—it bore the royal name, after all. The entire hall glittered with opulence, no less lavish than an imperial noble gala. On banquet night, representatives from the various academies arrived by shuttle, all in formal suits and tuxedos, cutting quite the figure from afar.
Gavin was competing under a false identity, so he couldn’t show his face. He and Edna hid in a corner, munching away. Both were pros at it—by the time the Haini star steamed fish came out, they’d already hollowed out the bellies. Every mint tower lost its golden apple slices before being served. Worse, they pointed and whispered at the entrants: “That one’s definitely on fake muscle boosters—look at those ape arms... That tie is rose pink? Thinks this is a date?... Oh, look, Principal Dana! His nose is at least half an inch higher than in last week’s paper! Alphas get gene sculpting too?!”
Dana looked up suspiciously. Carolyn asked sardonically, “Principal?”
“...Er, your banquet leaves quite the impression.” Dana rubbed his nose awkwardly. “Where were we?”
“Finals venue setup.” Carolyn replied coolly. “His Majesty passed along that you want Phoenix displayed at ringside—the winner takes it before all the universe’s media.”
“Oh—yes. I think it’ll fire up the competitors’ spirits. Don’t you agree?”
“I just think it’ll hit the losers harder.”
Dana smiled at once. “While making victory all the sweeter.”
The smile was unsettling. Carolyn eyed him with interest, then nodded after a beat. “I agree—so I fully endorsed the idea.”
“...” Dana’s smile faded instantly.
Not far behind him in the corner, Edna and Gavin split three diamond orbs and eyed a fourth—these pricey fruits numbered only ten for the whole banquet. They were lucky no one had noticed; otherwise, the two in Gavin’s pocket would’ve been confiscated.
Edna cradled the translucent fruit in a napkin. Gavin watched her and smiled faintly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Gavin turned away. Edna fell silent for a moment, then asked suddenly, “Remember that friend I mentioned before?”
“Yeah?”
“As kids, whenever there was a banquet, we’d do just this—sneak backstage to eat and chat, then slip out to the courtyard fountain to stargaze. I still remember the Alliance skies: endless, vast galaxies and starfields like diamonds scattered on velvet.”
Edna smiled nostalgically. Gavin said offhandedly, “Your friend must’ve come from money.”
“...How so?”
“Even in the Alliance’s waning days, raising an Omega girl safely wasn’t easy—let alone sending her for a doctorate. That takes upper-crust connections. For her to be your childhood friend, either families matched or she had a special background.”
Gavin added casually, “No offense—just a guess.”
Edna stared for a beat, then laughed. “My oversight. You’re right, except... back then, the Alliance was still at its peak. About five hundred years ago.”
Gavin froze. Normally, gene treatments every twenty years kept youth eternal—five centuries meant at least twenty-five procedures for Edna.
“The principal’s lived that long too?”
“No, Carolyn came later.”
Gavin nodded, then after a moment: “I feel like you and the principal are very different.”
“What of it? I’m an Omega, she’s an Alpha—genes dictate our entire ways of thinking can’t match.”
“No, not that.” Gavin chose his words carefully. “You gripe about the emperor, but fully back the Empire replacing the Alliance. The principal respects him sincerely, but doesn’t seem to... appreciate the current imperial system much.”
Edna went still.
Soft music drifted from the hall, the swirl of finery and lights turning into a vibrant, distant backdrop.
“I don’t approve of the Empire supplanting the Alliance, either. The end of the Alliance was a unique era. Carolyn and I both...”
Edna trailed off as a commotion stirred at the hall entrance. The crowd parted, academy leaders beaming as they hurried forward.
Several Capital Defense Force soldiers in uniform entered and lined the aisle neatly. Soon, a few people appeared at the door—the leader a blond man in pure black military garb, tall and imposing: General Aaron.
Edna’s face changed. “Why is he here?!”
Gavin backed away without a word. Edna gestured for him to hide in the backstage restroom, then hurried forward herself.
General Aaron hadn’t been invited, nor was there any rumor of his attendance, so his arrival caught everyone off guard.
Surprise aside, Aaron’s clout in the military was immense. Many expressed instant enthusiasm, quickly surrounding him in overlapping layers the moment he appeared.
Gavin bolted for the restroom, Gryphon yammering in his ear the whole way: “Ahh! That’s my former master! Still so handsome, so majestic! You sure you don’t wanna say hi?! Seriously, he’s way more reliable than that Dean brat—you feel the difference, right?!”
“...” Gavin yanked off the earpiece and stuffed it in his pocket.
“I can introduce you! Put in a good word! If you bond, I’ll give you his bank codes!” Gryphon crawled out reluctantly. “Plus his physiology’s top-notch! Not tempted at alllll—ow!”
The pathetic dumb lion yelped as it got pinched hard and slunk back into the pocket, teary-eyed.
Gavin burst into the restroom and locked the door behind him. The hall’s lively noise still echoed faintly. He exhaled, leaning against the counter.
The restroom gleamed clean and spacious, empty. Gavin zoned out for a bit, his gaze landing on the full-length mirror—and he froze slightly.
The youth in the mirror had deep black hair, pale skin, sharp cheekbones and defined features. His pure black eyes gleamed clear and bright under the lights, high nose bridge and thin lips forming contours between boy and man.
Gavin stared at himself for a long time, feeling something off.
But what?
His brows furrowed slowly as a vague, unbelievable thought flashed through his mind:
—He’d changed.
“Gryphon,” he murmured.
“Dead!” came a aggrieved voice from his pocket. “Call me little Gryppy when you need me, tell me to die when you don’t—worst master ever?!”
“...Didn’t you say you wouldn’t recognize me as master?”
“But if you bond with Aaron, you’ll be my master! My lady master!!”
“...” Gavin pinched Gryphon out viciously amid its wails and asked softly, “Little Gryppy, you still have that wanted poster from when we cleared customs on TV?”
“Wanted posters are no biggie! General Aaron can fix it! If you bond...” Gryphon’s voice weakened under the mental pressure laced with killing intent, fading to a mumble: “...Got... it...”
The earpiece disassembled in midair into a round light brain. A 3D image projected, vividly showing Gavin as he’d vaulted onto the shuttle that day.
The boy’s cheeks were roundish, flushed bright red, eyes misty, lips soft and bitten from tension, still quivering slightly.
His skin had been a healthy honey tone, giving a soft, delicate impression.
Gavin’s eyes widened in disbelief. He turned to match the image’s angle exactly in the mirror. Under the lights, his cheeks now gleamed with an almost translucent icy pallor, like cold, luminous jade—utterly unlike the image.
No wonder he’d escaped notice.
No wonder no one at the academy had recognized him.
In just over a month, he’d changed this much!
“Your facial match to the image is only 60%. Too weird—normal people change 2% max in two months, developing teens 3% at most.” Gryphon realized the anomaly, its tone turning serious. “Too bad I didn’t log your changes these past two months for a comparison chart—gods, your bone structure shifted. Nose bridge up at least a millimeter, brow bone and jawline too...”
“Anyone in there? Why’s the restroom locked?” Someone pushed the door twice. Gavin slapped down on Gryphon, signaling silence. “Shh.”
The light brain shattered back into an earpiece, whispering, “Now what?”
“Out first.” Gavin scanned the room, spotting a small vent high on the wall—an idea struck.
Thirty seconds later, Gavin held his breath as his lithe, slender body wriggled through the vent, hands gripping the outer wall.
Stars dotted the cool night breeze; the hall’s noise was distant now. Gavin dangled for seconds, then let go and landed softly.
With a light thud, he brushed off his pants and started to rise—then froze.
Two people nearby stared at him in shock—one Claire, the other a Beta girl he’d never seen. Both in formal wear, chatting intimately, looking quite the pair from afar.
“...” Gavin managed awkwardly, “Evening.”
He turned to slip away fast—but Claire snapped, shoving the girl aside and charging after him. Poor Gavin couldn’t bolt outright and watched him cut in, solidly blocking his path. “Yo, what’re you doing here?”
Gavin halted calmly. “Taking a stroll.”
“Climbing out a restroom window for a stroll?”
“What’re you doing here?”
“Strolling.” Claire shot back righteously, then grinned maliciously. “Thought maybe you and that poser Dean eloped—lemme see, where’s he waiting? Dean! Dean—!”
Gavin truly regretted not finishing him off back then. A few students at the hall entrance turned curiously at the shouts.
“Dean! Where you at? Come out or I’ll spill on your...”
“Shut it!” Gavin clapped a hand over Claire’s mouth. “I just love climbing walls! Quiet!”
Claire wrenched at Gavin’s palm. Seconds later, their silent tussle ended: Gavin pinned to the wall corner, one hand shoving Claire’s shoulder, the other gripped at the wrist—Claire grinning like a shark:
“Don’t tell me you stole something. Lemme check—”
He reached out slyly—but Gavin grabbed his hand first. They locked eyes for a beat, then inspiration hit Gavin!
“Sorry you caught me. Yeah, I stole something.” Gavin pulled two diamond orbs from his pocket, sincere. “Here, buddy. These are for you.”
Claire: “...”
Claire gaped at the fruits, then muttered awkwardly after a moment, “This is it?”
“I love eating them! Love ’em so much!” Gavin forced the orbs into his hand solemnly. “Giving you my favorite thing—we’re besties now! Bye!”
Claire: “#￥%*&￥#!...”
Gavin bolted. Claire’s muddled brain short-circuited; clutching the fruits, he gave chase. Like hawk and chick, they raced across the lawn. Gavin reached for the fence to vault it—then a stern voice barked from the side: “Halt! What’s this?!”
Gavin was mid-leap, off-balance and nearly face-planting. A strong hand seized him, slamming him down. The voice boomed with authority: “Military cadets hollering and chasing like fools—what year are you... Hm?”
The man turned Gavin’s face—and froze.
Gavin froze too.
Staring at him intently, eyes wide with shock and surprise—it was General Aaron!