Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Identical Faces
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In an instant, Heinrich was utterly petrified. On the screen, two identical faces stared at him from left and right, blinking once, then again, and yet again.
"M-Mar... Marshal?" the Emperor asked, his voice trembling.
Gavin nodded and grabbed the test subject's hand, waving it.
"Hello, Heinrich."
Gavin's rare attempt at humor did nothing to ease Heinrich's tension. The poor Emperor's mind was on the verge of collapse, but he barely managed to maintain a facade of calm.
"What's going on? The Exile Army's revival experiments... Karyan and the others..."
"Who knows what that idiot's up to," Gavin said casually. "Can't even tell if it's revival or replication. I'm planning to head to the Exile Army base and see how many more test subjects like this they've got. See you later."
—Hearing Celia call Karyan an idiot felt satisfying at first, but deeper doubts immediately flooded Heinrich's mind: Was that really Celia on the screen?
Heinrich was a cautious man. After seeing fragments of Gavin's memories, he'd been desperate to get his hands on Phoenix and dissect Celia's body to confirm Gavin's current identity. But Dark Star Hall's untimely interference had derailed the plan. Now, staring at Gavin on the screen, those doubts crept back in: What if the Exile Army had replicated countless test subjects for revival? What if the soul refraction hadn't produced the real Celia...
How likely was that?
Heinrich froze for a few seconds before instinctively dismissing the thought.
He knew Celia too well—Celia's expressions, movements, words, ways of handling people and situations, even the tiniest details. They all gave him the powerful sensation of reuniting with an old friend. A person's memories could be copied, but the deep familiarity from the soul? That couldn't be faked.
"No replicas exist. You are Celia."
Heinrich paused, then affirmed, "Even if there were, I'd recognize you. It has nothing to do with appearance."
Gavin's expression grew subtly odd, but he said nothing, just staring fixedly at Heinrich. Under the massive gravitational pull, Bluebird flew toward the Alliance mothership. As the distance between them grew, the mecha comms signal grew noisier and noisier, until the screen flickered with static snow.
Heinrich watched Gavin give a wry smile.
"I don't even know if that's trust or a curse."
The tone was exactly like when he was Alliance Commander. Heinrich couldn't help but laugh.
The signal finally cut out completely. In the last instant before comms vanished, Gavin quickly made a gesture, then waved. The screen went dark, reflecting only Heinrich's thoughtful expression—
The gesture meant: stay in touch.
.
With a heavy clang, Bluebird finally locked into place in the mothership's mecha bay.
Karyan stood before the open cockpit hatch, dismissively waving off his subordinates with a troubled mind, then entered the dark cockpit alone.
It was clear a brutal battle had just taken place. The neural links were damaged to varying degrees, the cockpit walls were covered in dents, and scattered precision instrument parts littered the floor, making it hard to even stand.
To preserve neural link sensitivity, cockpits generally had no lighting. Karyan fumbled to the pilot's seat with his flashlight, where amid the dense neural web sat a pale-faced youth, staring stiffly ahead like a perfect statue.
"..."
Karyan stood in silence for a moment, emotions churning, then reached out and pulled him free.
"Let's go."
Test Subject GTX0012 obediently followed him step by step out of the cockpit. Aside from slightly stiff movements, it looked indistinguishable from a real person at first glance.
The more lifelike it was, the more it proved the gene correction program had succeeded—but Karyan felt a surge of revulsion. He stayed silent the whole way. The two passed through the mecha bay one behind the other, took the elevator up to the earlier lab, and found all the researchers gone.
"Sit."
The test subject obediently sat in the surgical chair. Karyan prepared a syringe at the operating table, then turned, gazing at it with complex eyes.
He felt deep helplessness and disgust in his heart, but wasn't sure if the disgust was aimed at this hollow shell with only an outer appearance and no awareness, at the insatiable Alliance Parliament, or at his own powerless complicity in their schemes.
"Enough already..." he muttered, sighing as he approached the test subject to inject the syringe into its carotid artery.
But in that moment of looking down, he missed the test subject's eyes blinking rapidly twice—then its hand shot up, clamping his wrist!
"Wha—"
Karyan jerked his head up and yanked his hand back. Both rose at once. The "test subject" lashed out like lightning, going for Karyan's throat!
"Who are you!" Karyan roared in shock and fury, raising his elbow to block the five fingers. In a flash of clashes, Karyan was forced into the corner. The youth's blade-like fingertips sliced up his arm, snatched the syringe in an instant!
The exchanges were crisp and efficient. As Karyan opened his mouth to call for help, the "test subject" slammed an elbow into his gut. It was vicious and heavy—Karyan felt his stomach lurch up his throat. Before he could vomit, he was seized by the neck and slammed against the wall!
—Bang!
Karyan's head cracked against the wall, his vision blurring, nearly coughing up blood on the spot. Only after a while did he barely make out the "test subject" staring at him, eyes full of amusement.
"You..."
As Karyan spoke, the hand on his throat tightened suddenly, making his neck bones creak. The "test subject" held the syringe needle before his eyeball, asking with that mocking smile,
"Karyan?"
"..."
"I don't think killing to silence is a good idea. What do you say, Lieutenant General Karyan?"
Perhaps from the asphyxiation, the playful expression on the "test subject"'s face suddenly made Karyan dizzy with disorientation. He stared deathly into the youth's eyes, trembling as he mouthed silently after a long moment, unable to speak: "C... Celia..."
Gavin nodded politely and flung Karyan to the floor.
*Cough cough! Cough cough cough!*
Karyan clutched his neck, coughing wretchedly for ages, vision blacking out from cerebral congestion, utterly speechless. It took several full minutes before he could lift his head, his voice hoarse and stunned: "You're...?!"
Gavin crouched down, watching Karyan with keen interest, one eyebrow slightly arched.
That little gesture was signature for him. In that instant, Karyan found it utterly unbelievable—was it possible Test Subject GTX0012 had undergone soul refraction? Had the soul refraction succeeded?
No, no, impossible. When he entered the cockpit, it had been a lifeless, thoughtless shell...
Karyan shook his head in absurdity, only to see his own panicked face reflected in Gavin's eyes. After a long pause, an inconceivable thought flashed in his mind: "No, no, could you be— that thing from Red Earth Star—"
His voice caught like a glitch:
"—How the hell did you get into the cockpit?!"
"I don't know what I am either," Gavin said politely. "But I have an exploit."
Karyan: "..."
If getting beaten earlier had just shocked Karyan, now his mind was a fireworks display of chaos, his expression indescribably splendid:
"You awoke on Red Earth Star?! When?!"
Gavin pinned the struggling Karyan down, but the latter burst free, voice nearly shrill: "When?! Was it a few months ago, before the Ninth Fleet swept Red Earth Star? Or on the fiftieth anniversary of Celia's death? That clown Empire General Aaron had his mecha stolen on Red Earth Star—was that you?"
Karyan wore the face of a man about to drop dead from a heart attack and burst veins. Gavin's mouth twitched slightly before he replied: "When I woke up... you and the Empire fleet were bombing right over my head."
Karyan fell utterly silent, all sounds stuck in his throat.
In that moment, seeing the look in Karyan's eyes as he stared at him, Gavin suddenly felt something strange: He was looking at Celia. No matter this man Karyan's identity or status, that gaze was exactly how he looked at Alliance Commander Celia.
Gavin narrowed his eyes slightly, countless thoughts flashing through his mind before zeroing in on the key point:
"—Where were you the day Red Earth Star was bombed?"
Karyan's lips moved, but he said nothing.
"You're one of the Exile Army who experimented on Red Earth Star back then, aren't you?"
"..."
"You had to evacuate because of the Ninth Fleet's sudden airstrike, leaving me behind as a failed product and claiming the soul refraction that time had failed... But here I am talking to you now. You didn't expect that, did you?"
From Karyan's suddenly ashen face, Gavin knew he'd guessed right. After a long moment, the Lieutenant General squeezed his eyes shut and rasped, "You must have awakened half an hour after we gave up hope..."
His voice was completely hoarse, laced with an indescribable pain. Gavin's heart sank slightly, unsure what to feel: "So the soul refraction succeeded?"
"..."
"So what the hell am I?"
"..."
Karyan said nothing, staying half-kneeling on the floor, expression torn and defeated. Gavin loomed over him, neither pressing nor urging. The vast lab was shrouded in heavy silence, their heartbeats clearly audible.
"I don't know what you are," Karyan finally mumbled. "In any case, you're not Celia."
He braced against the wall to stand, shoulders slumping under the weight. He glanced at the silver-glowing syringe in Gavin's hand: "That's no poison. It's a special accelerant to make body cells divide rapidly and mature into an adult. Parliament thinks an adult Marshal Celia carries more authority."
"But you're just a failed product, so none of this concerns you. You can leave Ophiuchus. As long as you don't go around using the Marshal's name to cause trouble or stir up issues for the Alliance, do whatever you want. I won't tell anyone you exist."
Karyan paused, fell silent again, then dragged his heavy steps toward the door.
But as he passed Gavin, his knee buckled slightly, as if he could barely support his own weight for an instant, nearly collapsing; then he forced his chest out and brushed past without looking back, his whole body rigid with tension.
Gavin watched his retreating figure.
In that instant, he felt like he'd seen Karyan like this before, but the memory was hazy, veiled like fog, impossible to grasp clearly. He frowned slightly, a sudden inexplicable sadness welling up: "Karyan..."
The Lieutenant General didn't turn: "What?"
Gavin sighed.
"—You're lying."