Chapter 60: Fight to the Death

Outside, the battlefield roared like hell unleashed—smoke coiling through the chaos, flames licking the air, swallowing the world whole in a frenzy of blood and destruction.

Shao Lan moved fast, her steps sharp and deliberate as she secured Shao Ye inside the med-pod. Every touch was careful, calculated. The second she locked it down, she shoved the pod forward, her pace quick, her focus razor-sharp as she aimed for the ship waiting to whisk them away.

But she wasn’t alone. Lurking in the shadows, Lu Zhanxing watched her every move, his gaze fixed, unblinking. The moment she rolled into view, pushing that pod like her life depended on it, his eyes lit up—sharp, dangerous, alive with something raw. Hope. He barked the order, sharp and lethal, without hesitation.

“Track her. Stay glued to that ship. Do not let her slip through.”

Her ship cut through the air, slicing away from the pirates’ fortress. Behind her, chaos stirred—a storm brewing in the distance. The rebels’ mech squads charged in, engines roaring, guns loaded, ready to rip apart anyone in their path.

Shao Lan didn’t flinch. Her face was ice-cold, carved from frost and fury. Her voice, when she barked the command, was low, dangerous, and absolute.

“Flatten it. Leave no trace. Burn it all to the ground.”

And like that, the fortress was doomed. In the war game of powers clashing, her move was an audacious gamble, reckless even, wasting firepower the rebels couldn’t afford to lose. But Shao Lan wasn’t just a player on the board. She owned it. To her soldiers, she wasn’t a leader; she was law, a goddess carved from steel and vengeance. When she spoke, they moved. No debate. No questions. Only blind, brutal obedience.

Hundreds of mechs surged forward like metal beasts unleashed. They circled the pirates’ iron fortress, a lethal pack, their cannons spitting fire and fury. Explosions ripped through the air, shaking the ground, shredding steel and stone alike. Towers crumbled, walls disintegrated, flames shot skyward, painting the horizon in hellish hues. Smoke choked the battlefield, the air thick with death and ash.

In mere minutes, the pirates’ stronghold was nothing but rubble—a smoldering pit of screams and fire, a nightmare set to the tune of agony.

But even as the carnage raged, Shao Lan’s rage wasn’t quenched. It burned hotter, fiercer, clawing at her insides like a beast hungry for more.

She stopped at the med-pod, her eyes softening for a fleeting second as they settled on her brother. Shao Ye lay unconscious, his face pale, his brows furrowed as if trapped in the claws of some relentless nightmare.

The sight stabbed her deep, a knife twisting in her chest, leaving a wound that wouldn’t close. Her heart bled for him, for what he’d endured.

“Brother, it’s almost over,” she murmured, her voice low, trembling with raw determination. “I’ll end this for you. All of it. You’ll forget every second of this hell, I swear.”

With that, she pulled a vial from her belt—a sleek, glass cylinder filled with something potent, deadly, final. Her hand didn’t tremble. Her resolve didn’t crack. She jammed the vial into the med-pod’s oxygen line, her eyes gleaming with ruthless intent.

This wasn’t just war. This was personal.

The chemical agent hit oxygen, unraveling in tendrils of vapor that melted into the air, disappearing like whispers in the dark.

"Brother," Shao Lan murmured, her tone dripping with feigned tenderness that only thinly veiled her ambition. "This serum will wipe your past clean, but it’ll also shatter the chains of that hellish nightmare you’re stuck in. Trust me, I’ll always be by your side. Forget all the mess and start over. Like before, I’ll be your beloved little sister—the one you trust most, the one who’s closest to you. No one can come between us."

As the drug coursed through Shao Ye's veins, the erratic rise and fall of his chest slowed. His furrowed brow smoothed as though an invisible hand wiped it clean. The fluttering of his lashes stilled. Peaceful. Serene. Vulnerable.

A frantic knock shattered the quiet. Shao Lan’s assistant stumbled in, pale and sweating. "Commander, emergency! There’s a mech unit from the Alliance heading this way—small but elite. Leading them is none other than their top dog, Lu Zhanxing."

"Shut up," Shao Lan hissed, her voice cutting like a blade. Her cold eyes flicked over the trembling aide. "Keep your damn voice down, or do you want to wake my brother?"

The assistant froze like prey under a predator’s glare, but managed a shaky reply. "Apologies, Commander. But their mech squad… It’s Lu Zhanxing himself. How could they know we’re here?"

Shao Lan’s pupils narrowed to slits, her breath hitching as realization sank in. Her supposedly perfect act hadn’t fooled him. That fox—Lu Zhanxing—must’ve sniffed out the truth.

She glanced back at Shao Ye, her expression hardening into resolve. The serum was already working. Even if Lu Zhanxing stood before him now, Shao Ye wouldn’t recognize his so-called husband.

Her lips curled into a slow, calculating smirk. "When he wakes, will he believe he has a sweet, helpless sister who’s always been by his side? Or a husband clinging to a bond built on pheromones? Let’s see who wins this game."

Shao Lan couldn’t help but let a sly grin creep across her face, the kind that practically screamed, I’ve already won this damn game, and you just don’t know it yet. In her head, she’d already claimed victory, and the thought of it lit a smug fire in her eyes, daring anyone to try and prove her wrong.

Straightening, she barked orders. "Alert the troops. Full combat readiness. Prepare to engage."

The assistant hesitated, his voice cracking. "Commander, their mechs are… not third-generation. And their pilots? Top-tier. Mental link stability over 90%. A head-on fight is suicide!"

Shao Lan turned to him, her expression as dark as a brewing storm. She stalked forward, each step dripping menace. "Are you questioning my judgment?"

The man crumpled, knees hitting the floor as fear poured off him. "N-no, Commander! I’ll inform the troops immediately!" He scurried away, leaving Shao Lan staring at Shao Ye’s sleeping form.

"You’re smarter than I gave you credit for," she muttered, voice low and bitter. "But why, brother? Why push me like this? You handed over the self-destruct codes for our mechs to Lu Zhanxing, forcing me to rewrite everything from scratch. And then, you build a whole new mech to counter us? Do you enjoy testing my patience?"

She sighed, long and heavy, before her tone softened. "But I don’t blame you. You’re my brother, after all. If only you’d stop fighting me, we could rule everything together—true freedom, just the two of us."

From a hidden compartment, she retrieved a small crystal sphere, its surface glinting faintly. Reverently, she placed it into Shao Ye’s med pod.

"This is for you. I hope it will protect us and allow me to take you out safely," she murmured. "If I fail, then… let this go back to where it belongs. Forget me. Forget all of this."

For a moment, her walls cracked. Tears spilled, hot and unchecked, running down her face. No pretense. No schemes. Just raw, unguarded emotion—a girl desperate for her brother’s protection.

But the ship shook violently, tossing her back to cold reality. Explosions roared outside, the battle already raging.

She wiped her tears, donned her combat suit, and prepared Shao Ye’s escape pod. Only after double-checking the navigation did she leave him, reluctantly stepping into the control room.

"What’s the status?" she snapped, her presence silencing the room like a thunderclap.

"Commander," the assistant stammered, "their mechs are shielded with a new defensive barrier. Our attacks are… ineffective."

The comms buzzed. A transmission from the Alliance. Shao Lan’s eyes narrowed. "Put it through."

Lu Zhanxing’s face filled the screen—calm, composed, exuding authority. "Shao Lan, you’re surrounded. Hand over Shao Ye and end this madness."

Her nails dug into her palms. "He’s my brother. You lost him because of your own incompetence, and now you think you can take him back? Dream on, Lu Zhanxing."

His voice remained steady, cutting through her rage like a scalpel. "He’s not yours to keep. You hid him, didn’t you? This entire war is built on your lies."

For a moment, Shao Lan froze. The truth, laid bare, felt like a dagger to the chest. But her pause didn’t last long. Her lips curled into a dangerous smile, her mind already weaving her next move.

She was still putting up a brave front, clinging to her weak excuse. "You're talking nonsense! It wasn’t me! I would never hurt my brother. Never! Not in a million years!"

Shao Lan almost laughed at herself. The plan—oh, it had been perfect. Flawless. Every piece meticulously placed, every move calculated down to the last detail. Even Boss Bai was just another pawn in her grand game. If everything had gone right, she’d have hit the jackpot: crushed Bai’s pathetic fantasies, guilt-tripped Lu Zhanxing into the ground, and made him so consumed by remorse that he’d leave Shao Ye the hell alone. Then she and her brother could’ve vanished into the horizon, leaving behind the twisted circus of their lives. A clean break. A fresh start. Peace at last.

But no. Lu Xinglan, that deranged lunatic, had to ruin it all. He’d taken her careful chessboard and flipped it like it was nothing. And Lu Zhanxing—God, that bastard—was so pathetically, maddeningly obsessed with Shao Ye that he refused to quit.

The guy clawed through three goddamn days and nights of wreckage after the warship went down, hands bloody and raw, sifting through rubble for the tiniest hint of Shao Ye’s whereabouts. Not once did he falter. No second thoughts. Just blind, relentless desperation.

Even when Lu Xinglan called him, throwing that graphic, brutal video in his face to twist the knife deeper, Lu Zhanxing didn’t break. No, it only lit an even crazier fire under him. And somehow, he still found Shao Ye.

Shao Lan had always prided herself on knowing people’s weaknesses, pulling their strings like marionettes. But when it came to her brother and Lu Zhanxing, she’d screwed up.

Repeatedly.

Her brother, who’d sworn to stay by her side no matter what, took one look at Lu Zhanxing and ran off without hesitation. Ran. She could chain up his body, sure, but his heart? That was never hers to claim.

This time, there was no salvaging the wreck. She’d lost. Totally.

Shao Lan pressed her lips into a thin line, locking her gaze on Zhanxing with venom in her voice. “If I can’t have him, then neither can you. If I die today, I’ll still be his only sister. But you? You’ll never see him again.”

A sharp chill ran down Zhanxing’s spine. Something about her tone set every alarm in his head blaring. His voice dropped, rough and dangerous. “What the hell did you do to him?”

"Then come take him," she said softly, her voice dripping venom. "If you can."