Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The Emperor's Raid
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In that instant, Gavin's first instinct was to reach back and summon the Gryphon as a weapon, but he forced himself to stop short.
He was half-kneeling on the ground, his entire body taut like a bowstring pulled tight and ready to fire. Heinrich loomed over him with a single hand gripping his blade, a cold glint flickering in his eyes.
"You're Consertlin's assistant? Her disciple? Where did she dig you up from, and what does she plan to use you for?"
Gavin gasped in pain, his teeth clenched tight in silence. Just as Heinrich was losing patience and about to do something, the cutting machine let out a chilling whine—"Zzziiip!"—and sliced clean through the first layer of Phoenix's metal chest plating!
In that moment, Gavin didn't even have time to hide it. He collapsed face-first onto the floor! Agonizing pain ripped through him as if someone had torn open his chest with bare hands. He couldn't even scream, his spasming fingers clawing desperately at the metal ground until Heinrich pinned down his hands and upper body, forcibly flipping him over and unbuttoning his shirtfront.
"Strange..." Heinrich murmured.
He'd thought he'd injured the student somewhere, but there wasn't a single mark under the clothes—only the finger marks from the boy's own frantic scratching, which didn't look severe enough to cause such intense agony.
Gavin seized Heinrich's hand, cold sweat soaking his entire face. Only a shred of reason forced him to grit his teeth and hold back any sound—that instant, his face overlapped so perfectly with Celia's that Heinrich's pupils contracted slightly. Instinctively, he glanced up at the Phoenix.
—Mech sensory sync?
"If you're pulling some trick..."
Heinrich's voice trailed off as Gavin, writhing in pain, slammed headfirst into the crook of his arm—it would've looked like pleading if not for the struggle.
Heinrich was a man of iron will, but not a heartless butcher. Even in war, he rarely harmed children or women. This student had plenty of suspicious points, but he bore too strong a resemblance to Celia in his youth. Facing that pained expression, Heinrich couldn't stay completely unmoved.
"Don't bite your tongue."
Heinrich pried his jaw open firmly to prevent choking on his own tongue, then bellowed upward,
"Shut down the cutting machine first!"
The researchers scrambled away at his command. Moments later, several of them worked together to halt it. The interlocking massive gears slowly withdrew from the chest plating—at this point, the five-dimensional alloy was left with only a thin inner lining. A few more seconds, and it would've pierced the cockpit.
Gavin panted raggedly toward the Phoenix, the searing pain ebbing away bit by bit from his body. After a while, dizziness, numbness, nausea, and other sensations flooded in all at once. He clutched Heinrich's sleeve, curling up as best he could, nearly vomiting on the spot.
Truth be told, given Gavin's impression of the emperor, he would've hurled if he could. The problem was, he dry-heaved for ages without even producing saliva. After a moment, he felt Heinrich hoist him up and pin him against the wall, as Bian morphed into a metal clamp that gripped his cheek tight.
Gavin futilely turned his face away, but the emperor wrenched his chin back. Moments later, the scan completed, and Bian intoned mechanically,
"Bone structure match: 93%. Overall facial features overlap: 40%—Your Majesty, the scan target shows a 25% change in comparison to surrounding historical records."
Heinrich lifted Gavin by the collar, staring into his eyes.
"Was that you I saw at the research institute's entrance last month?"
"..."
Gavin stared back, panting without a word.
"You really won't talk, huh?"
"..."
Heinrich nodded with a cold laugh and ordered his men,
"Resume cutting."
In that instant, Gavin sucked in his gut and kicked up, using the power of his core to launch himself airborne. His foot slammed into Heinrich's chest, sending him staggering back half a step!
Heinrich knew nothing of Gavin's background and hadn't expected such explosive agility from a Beta student. He stumbled two steps before recovering. Clearly caught off guard, he flipped his hand, transforming Bian into a glowing blue electromagnetic shortsword. With a swing, a fan-shaped light curtain sliced down neatly, shearing off a few strands of hair by Gavin's ear.
Gavin dodged at the last possible second, rolling several meters away before springing up and bolting toward the tungsten alloy door. Heinrich barked,
"Halt!"
Seeing him ignore the order, he flung another narrow light curtain from the blade.
The strike was dead-on—if it hit, it would've severed an arm clean off. But Gavin reacted even faster, twisting behind an instrument console just as the electromagnetic edge blasted out, carving a meters-long gouge into the metal wall and floor.
Heinrich casually slashed through a row of electronic instruments. Amid the shower of sparking debris, he lunged to grab Gavin—he was now almost certain Edna had some shady dealings at the military academy. How else could she produce a student so eerily like Celia? And why else could this kid neural-link with the Phoenix?!
Their repeated refusals to hand over the mech—what were they really up to?!
Metal shards flew everywhere. Just as Heinrich's fingertips brushed Gavin's nape, the lab lights flickered dim.
Then red lights blazed on, and a piercing alarm echoed through the underground chamber:
"—Warning, warning! Laboratory under attack. Emergency protocols activating—warning, warning! Unauthorized personnel, lower your weapons. Emergency protocols activating—"
Fuck! Heinrich snapped back his blade and spun around, shouting,
"Go, now!"
For the emperor of a galactic empire to sneak into the military academy at dead of night to steal something was scandal enough. The Phoenix mech's political implications were insanely delicate—getting caught would unleash endless headaches! The researchers leaped into action, dismantling and retracting the cutting machine and all equipment in seconds. Amid the alarms, Bian let out a shrill whistle, swiftly disassembling and reassembling into a black armed hovercraft!
It all happened in mere seconds. The tungsten alloy door burst open, and two ranks of guards charged in under the flashing crimson lights:
"Don't move! Freeze!"
But the intruders were already aboard the hovercraft. Heinrich hooked an arm around Gavin's neck, trying to drag him along by force.
Gavin possessed centuries-honed combat instincts, but he was still an Omega. Even if his physique was nearly Alpha-level, it wasn't the real thing.
Moreover, Heinrich had conquered battlefields for a century and ascended the throne—his base genetic qualities outclassed most Alphas. At such close range in a raw strength contest, Gavin stood no chance.
The lead guards raised their guns to fire, but a shadow flashed at the hovercraft's hatch—and hauled a student inside!
"Release the hostage!"
"You've gone too far!"
The guards fired in unison, a hail of lasers peppering the pure-black five-dimensional alloy hull of Bian without a scratch. Jet streams roared out as the hatch slowly sealed and the craft lifted off.
The guards roared forward, blasting away. Countless lasers streaked into the cabin through the not-yet-closed hatch. Gavin hadn't steadied himself when Heinrich shoved him behind—the spot where he'd stood was instantly riddled with beams.
Swift as it happened, Gavin kicked Heinrich into the cabin and spun to leap out.
"You—stay right there!"
Heinrich roared, reaching out but missing.
Gavin was fated for bloodshed tonight. Heinrich missed, but two subordinates arrived in time to block him at the hatch. Though researchers, these Alphas had physiques rivaling capital defense troops. One grabbed him single-handedly and yanked him back from the door!
With a heavy clang, Gavin crashed to the floor not far from Heinrich, blood gushing instantly from his forehead.
—Seeing blood now was bad. The pheromones in it were hard for suppressants to mask; up close, his Omega identity would be exposed.
No time to get up, Gavin snatched his shirt collar and smeared his face with it, then charged the hatch again. The researchers were getting aggressive—one reached for a stun gun, but at the critical moment, Heinrich bellowed,
"Stand down!"
The researcher flinched. Just then, Gavin glanced back, his face etched with hostility and wariness, fresh blood trickling from his temple down his cheek to his jaw. In that instant, Heinrich's heart clenched hard.
He remembered Celia.
He recalled fifty years ago on Red Earth Star, watching through a screen as Celia bled out, his breaths fading to nothing.
He'd endured so much parting agony, unspoken longing, inevitable separations; that nightmarish scene was seared into his heart like a branding iron—a grotesque shadow that instantly merged with the blood-smeared face of the boy before him.
Heinrich froze mid-step.
In that split-second flicker, Gavin reached the narrowing hatch gap, gripped the windowsill, and leaped out.
The researchers tried to stop him, but the door had sealed to the point only someone his size could squeeze through. Heinrich rushed to the hatch, peering through the window to see Gavin plummeting, weaving through a web of crisscrossing lasers.
In that moment, Heinrich's nerves were strung wire-tight until the lasers ceased. Gavin slammed into the ground, instantly swarmed by guards.
At the same time, the lab door flew open as Caroline, Edna, and other academy brass poured in. Heinrich stepped back half a pace from the window; the last sight was Edna looking up at the armed hovercraft, her face a mix of shock and fear.
Then the craft fully ascended, smashing through the ceiling with a thunderous boom. Debris rained down amid the chaos as Bian rocketed upward, vanishing into the night sky.
Gavin lay on the ground, head throbbing and vision swimming, everything shrouded in a red haze.
After a moment, he realized it was blood.
The gash on his forehead still oozed steadily—total disarray. Caroline dashed forward, waving off the guards, her voice taut as if about to snap:
"—Are you okay?!"
"It's the emperor," Gavin rasped, utterly spent. "He wanted... Phoenix's cockpit."
The words reignited that gut-wrenching pain. Gavin struggled up, retching, but only spat out frothy blood tinged sweet. Caroline hurriedly wiped the blood from his face with her jacket, barking orders to inspect Phoenix while exchanging a grim look with Edna.
"Did he hurt you?" Edna asked, half-kneeling, worry etched deep.
"No... cough cough!"
Gavin clamped a hand over his mouth, trembling as he caught his breath. A thought flashed: Thank god he didn't find the Gryphon.
On instinct, he patted his pocket—then froze.
"What is it?" Edna asked, seeing his expression sour.
Gavin quickly checked both pants pockets, then patted himself down everywhere. His face darkened slowly. Seconds later, he looked up at Edna and said coolly, softly,
"—The Gryphon's gone."