Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Chenqiao Mutiny
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If the Alliance Marshal hadn't been Celia, and it had been someone with even a slightly narrower mind, Heinrich's life would have been over.
But why was Celia hailed by later generations as the Alliance's God of War? It wasn't just his godlike military prowess—he also had the boundless compassion of the Virgin Mary. For him to endure something as outrageous as a false heat, which could make a million fucks flash through one's mind in an instant, and still let Heinrich continue serving steadily as his guard captain? That was hardly surprising at all.
In the year 3290 of the Galactic Calendar, the third engagement between Marshal Celia and Miss Edna was declared a failure.
The conflicts between the two had deep roots. From Heinrich's perspective, while Celia's actions were iron-blooded, deep down he harbored an idealized tendency toward absolute democracy. Edna, though an Omega woman, clearly admired centralized authoritarian political systems. Their statuses, positions, and political views were all at odds, making reconciliation impossible on many fronts.
At the time, Celia was leading troops on an expedition to Red Soil Star. When news of the engagement's cancellation arrived, the battle was at its most intense phase. He himself had anticipated it and wasn't too shocked, but the Alliance Parliament could not tolerate it—especially Edna's father, Speaker Douglas Konsetlin, who sternly warned his daughter:
"It's been too long. This time, you must settle things with the Marshal immediately!"
Douglas's attitude was understandable. The military was already deeply dissatisfied with Parliament over Celia's endlessly stalled marriage, and during wartime, the military's power surged. With Celia's immense prestige and the overwhelming public pressure, Parliament simply couldn't withstand it.
But the problem was that Edna's feelings for Major General Caroline had suddenly deepened, making her anger toward Celia and resentment toward her father run high by comparison. Faced with her father's interrogation, her first thought was—Celia is actually pressuring me through Parliament!
I've worked so hard to mediate the conflicts between you and Parliament, and now you turn around and use them to pressure me?!
In her agitation, Edna committed the first irreparable mistake of her life, an event that historians in later generations would never forget:
That evening, when reporters blocked her at her doorstep, she angrily smashed the media light brain and declared, "I won't marry Celia... Yes, because he's a Beta. We simply can't be together!"
The stone stirred a thousand waves. News of the Marshal being a Beta spread instantly through millions of media outlets, crashing the Alliance network in just a few hours!
No one knows how much Edna regretted it that night. What people did know was that the moment the news broke, mutiny erupted on the front lines. The next day, over half of the frontline commanders withdrew, demanding an emergency audience with the Marshal!
Celia's holographic image projected onto the steps of the command center, still in his white military uniform, gloves, and titanium-silver saber. His handsome face was expressionless, his eyes gleaming with a chilling edge like a blade.
"My status changes nothing about the Alliance's war situation. Gentlemen, your focus now should be Red Soil Star. Before the greater interests of the whole, set aside all personal emotions for the time being. If you have genuine questions, raise them with me privately."
"As for gathering crowds to block the door—which in the worst case could be treated as mutiny—you are all frontline commanders I personally trained. You surely know how severe the penalties for mutiny are. Remember, Parliament sits safely in the rear. I don't want your actions to bring shame to the Alliance military."
Though the commanders' emotions ran high, the Marshal's long-accumulated authority steadied the situation with just a few words.
The crowd exchanged glances at the base of the steps, then all looked up at the Marshal together. Celia merely nodded, and the three-dimensional projection vanished abruptly.
"These spineless cowards, just parroting rumors and stirring up trouble!" In the distance, Aaron lowered the surveillance scope, his face flushed with fury as he cursed. "The Marshal's too soft. He should just say anyone dissatisfied can step up and fight him! I don't believe anyone could beat him! They spend all day deluding themselves with gender excuses—this slap to the face is long overdue..."
"Calm down, Aaron."
"What did you say?"
Heinrich leaned against the wall with arms crossed, gazing coldly at the group. After a moment, he shook his head. "We can't provoke them now. Stability is key... The Marshal has only two options: either use silver-tongued eloquence to turn the tide and pull the wavering hearts to his side, or say nothing—because the more said, the more mistakes, better to wait for the heat to die down and plan slowly."
"The first is risky but rewarding, but does the Marshal strike you as someone skilled in verbal debates? He's already at the eye of the storm; any misstep would only make it worse. So after weighing it, he chose the safer second path. Doubts and conflicts aren't resolved yet, but at least he's bought some breathing room."
Heinrich paused, then added, "Provoking these Alphas now would make it truly irreparable—of course the Marshal could easily defeat them, but what they need isn't defeat. They need a splendid, decisive victory... Only victory can restore their reverence for the Marshal and faith in the military."
Heinrich looked up at the sky, where Red Soil Star's massive halo was slowly rising over the horizon.
Its blood-red glow reflected in his eyes, as if heralding an impending war.
That winter in Galactic Year 3290, the Alliance forces achieved a great victory at Red Soil Star. Upon returning home, Celia gave a public address, admitting his Beta identity before all Alliance citizens.
The entire galaxy was abuzz. Countless people were angry, skeptical, refused to believe it, even futilely claiming it was a Parliamentary plot to smear the military. Yet amid the national uproar, Parliament was the first to extend goodwill to the Marshal. Speaker Douglas declared publicly, "Marshal Celia's contributions to the Alliance are indelible. Parliament's trust in him will not waver in the slightest."
The military, courts, and major administrative provinces soon issued identical statements, affirming that the Marshal's gender would not affect the Alliance's military power structure.
The bigwigs' stances finally shifted public opinion, and with the great victory at Red Soil Star softening media and public attitudes toward leniency, the populace gradually accepted the Marshal's gender before long.
—Of course, the storm left no lack of aftereffects. As doubts subsided, the public suddenly reacted with collective excitement to one realization:
Betas can bear children!
Oh, sure, Alphas can sire them too, but Betas can get pregnant!
How exhilarating!
Less than two weeks later, the military held a capital military parade. When Marshal Celia appeared on the rostrum leading a host of generals, a commotion suddenly stirred in the VIP seats. An administrative province official emerged from the crowd holding flowers, pushing past stunned spectators and attempting guards, and knelt on one knee before Celia!
"I've always admired you, esteemed Marshal Celia." The Alpha official looked up, trembling with excitement, and reverently opened a deep blue diamond box from the bouquet. "Please believe in my sincerity and persistence. If you accept my burning love, we shall form the happiest family from this day..."
In that moment, the blooming bouquet, the glittering diamond ring, and Celia's slightly stunned face were broadcast via cameras to every corner of the galaxy.
Silence fell over the rostrum; everyone was stunned.
The Marshal's guard team was stationed outside the venue, and Heinrich was the first to sense something amiss, striding quickly toward the rostrum.
"..." Celia was briefly stunned, then reacted instantly. Smiling, he reached out to help the Alpha official up, his grip firm but appearing effortless. "I must thank you for your sincerity and kindness, but Edna and I are preparing to get engaged. I'm truly sorry to disappoint your passion..."
Edna, in a flowing white gown, glided from the VIP seats, took Celia's arm, and stood beside him, smiling at the official. In that instant, they looked the perfect golden couple. The official's shocked gaze darted between their faces before he stammered, "But I thought... I thought..."
"Sir, the parade is about to begin." Heinrich arrived swiftly, naturally placing a hand on the official's shoulder. "Please return to your seat with me."
The dazed official was led away instinctively. Media cameras lingered on him for seconds, a mix of sympathy and knowing implication. Then the rostrum dignitaries took their seats, faces a mosaic of expressions, and the parade ceremony commenced after twenty-eight salute cannons.
The incident somewhat eased military officials' disdain for Edna, but it couldn't stem the online masses' fantasies. The Alpha official's proposal acted like a fuse, suddenly making everyone aware of the explosive fact: As a Beta, Celia could pair with an Alpha—and even bear offspring.
—Though Beta conception rates were low and they could only birth Betas, if it meant Celia bearing them, who cared how many?
Overnight, Celia transformed from the top ideal partner for countless Omegas into the number-one fantasy object for Alphas. The Marshal's office was flooded daily with frenzied love letters; TV brimmed with sensational true-or-false news; interstellar networks overflowed with jaw-dropping absurd images and posts. Desperate smugglers even developed ultra-realistic Celia dolls, fetching millions of Alliance credits on the black market, often selling out due to overwhelming demand.
—Enough was enough; Celia's patience finally reached its limit.
Two months later, the Alliance military abruptly halted the frenzy. Black market trades were purged, shows canceled en masse, and networks blocked with keywords. The explosive wave of online fantasies vanished; overzealous site operators faced military police detention.
Yet in this farce, what infuriated the military most wasn't the Alphas secretly fantasizing online, the celebrities chasing fame on TV, or even the black marketeers peddling adolescent, young adult, and mature Celia figurines.
—The one who drew the most hatred was the Alliance Parliament—or rather, Edna Konsetlin, who had revealed the Marshal's gender secret.
Whether Celia and Edna still harbored old feelings was hard for outsiders to say, but to Heinrich, their relationship had plummeted to freezing point. That arm-link at the parade merely preserved a facade of balance; the true state was known only to a few close guards—
After the ceremony, en route back, Edna connected to the Marshal's shuttle comms, tears in her eyes. "What exactly do you want?"
"..."
"I want to be alone for a while."
They stared at each other across the light screen. After a long moment, Celia reached out first and cut the connection.
That disconnection was like a signal, declaring the official end of harmony between Celia and the Alliance Parliament.
Without Edna's mediation, frictions between the military and Parliament grew ever more pronounced. Just then, a border rebellion erupted. On the eve of the Radiant Legion's deployment, Parliament forcibly inserted several overseers onto the command ship, inciting fury throughout the military.
In the spring of Galactic Year 3294, the Gemini Rebellion broke out, and Celia led troops to war.
That same year, Parliament and the military clashed majorly, forcing Celia to rush back.
The conflict escalated; Parliament detained the returning Celia in the capital, enraging the military and sparking the infamous "Burning of Parliament" incident.
A week later, Celia broke free and raced to the Gemini front to take command. Behind him, the capital teetered on the brink of explosion.
Meanwhile, Heinrich, Aaron, and others cooperating on the front successfully drove the rebels out of the Gemini system. Over recent years, the pair had often led campaigns in Celia's name, earning high prestige in the military. After the great victory, they led the entire Radiant Legion back into the Gemini system to begin constructing Chenqiao Fortress.
When Celia arrived, they were holding a meeting in the White Heron Star command headquarters. Hearing of the Marshal's arrival, Heinrich led everyone out of the ship to greet him—but the moment Celia stepped onto the bridge, all were shocked:
"M-Marsh..."
Celia's face was pale, his expression calm, but his forehead was messily bandaged, clearly only emergency-treated. Bloodstains seeped through the gauze and collar; bandages wrapped from his shoulder to his fingertips under his shirt, his left arm bent unnaturally.
Heinrich felt the blood rush to his head. "What happened, Marshal! Was it Douglas's doing? Those military police bastards—"
Celia raised a hand to stop him.
"Withdraw the troops," he said lowly. "Parliament demands a muster."
—Celia had compromised with Parliament again, but it was a seasoned decision, carefully weighed in scope and manner.
Yet to the rest of the Radiant Legion, Parliament's aggression and the Marshal's repeated concessions had pushed them to their limits; his forced imprisonment peaked their discontent, becoming the fuse for all that followed.
The people present exchanged covert glances, then all looked to Heinrich. He seemed oblivious, nodding casually before stepping forward. "Understood, Marshal. Please rest in the med bay first. The fortress wrap-up will take until tomorrow afternoon."
Celia's gaze swept the faces, sensing something off in the atmosphere but unable to pinpoint it. Moments later, he shelved his doubts, nodded politely, and followed Heinrich to the medics.
What Celia never imagined was that the moment he turned away, the largest internal rebellion in Alliance military history finally began—
In Galactic Year 3294, on White Heron Star in Gemini, Radiant Legion high command seized the Marshal and issued a declaration of autonomy to the Alliance Parliament.
The declaration decried Parliament's ills, exposed the military's grievances, and demanded a military government centered on Marshal Celia. Upon release, it shook Parliament to its core, marking the start of the military's internal strife.
This strife directly led to the Alliance's schism and the later founding of the Gemini Empire, forever known in history as—the Chenqiao Mutiny.