Chapter 62: A Daring Bluff

Inside the rebel warship, Shao Lan leaned back in her command chair, sharp eyes locked on the countdown ticking away on the screen. Her fingers tapped the armrest rhythmically, her smirk a razor-edged promise. Victory was within her grasp, so close she could almost taste it.

"Ten... nine... eight..." Her voice dripped with venom as the rebel cannons roared with renewed fury, missiles streaking through the void like death's relentless chains, coiling toward the Alliance mechas.

In the Alliance mechas, the team clung to survival in protective mode, sweat soaking through their uniforms. Hearts hammered like war drums. Silent prayers filled the cockpit.

Lu Zhanxing, however, wasn’t praying—he was locked in. A vein throbbed on his forehead as his hands danced over the controls. His eyes burned with fierce determination. With a flick of his wrist, he activated the space-jump sequence, punching in coordinates and calibrating the parameters. His mental energy surged like a tidal wave, pouring into the system.

“Three... two... one!”

And then, light exploded. Thirty mechas shimmered, surrounded by a blinding glow. Space itself seemed to tear apart, silver ripples twisting reality as the mechas vanished into the void.

The rebel missiles, so certain of their deadly mark, slammed into nothing. The Alliance mechas were gone, leaving only shockwaves and the gaping faces of the rebel crew.

“Where the hell are they?!” Shao Lan slammed her fist on the console, fury contorting her face. Victory had slipped through her fingers at the very last second. Her plan was in ruins, her pride dented.

“Space-jumping?” she muttered bitterly, a hollow laugh escaping her lips. “Well, big brother, you sure know how to piss me off. Pushing me this far—what’s next? Dragging me straight to hell?”

Her nails bit into her palms, almost drawing blood, her knuckles white with rage.

“Launch the fighters. Sweep the surrounding systems,” she barked at her officers. “Lu Zhanxing didn’t just bail. He’s lurking nearby, licking his wounds. Find him!”

Meanwhile, on the edge of a quiet star system, the Alliance mechas emerged from the jump, battered but intact. Relief rippled through the team, though their bodies sagged with exhaustion.

Lu Zhanxing collapsed in his seat, pale as a ghost. His mental reserves were shot, his voice rough as sandpaper. “We made it. That’s all that matters.”

It was a victory, sure, but a razor-thin one, and the cost lingered in the silence of the cabin.

Shao Lan, back on the warship, wasn’t licking her wounds. She was sharpening her claws. “Lu Zhanxing’s a slippery bastard, but those mechas... they’re not invincible.” Her voice cut like a blade. “He’s given me enough surprises—I’m done playing nice.”

Her orders came swift and merciless. “Search every system around here. Bring reinforcements. We’re dragging them out, piece by piece, if we have to.”

In the Alliance camp, the mechas were running on fumes—barely 30% power left, systems overheating, and damage mounting. Lu Zhanxing hauled himself upright, pain etched across his face but determination blazing in his eyes.

“We can’t sit still. We repair, we refuel, and we move. We’ve still got to save Shao Ye.” His voice was a growl, raw but unyielding.

The team set their sights on an abandoned base in a nearby asteroid belt, a hidden sanctuary for repairs.

During the flight, Yu Mo voiced what everyone was thinking: “Shao Lan won’t let this slide. She’ll come for us, and she’ll come hard.”

Lu Zhanxing nodded grimly. “Let her come. Our mechas can outlast hers. We just need time—enough to hold out until we’re fully armed and ready. Then, we’ll be the ones doing the hunting.”

The rebels didn’t take long to find their trail. A scout team picked up the Alliance signal near a desolate asteroid field.

“Commander, we’ve found them,” the scout reported. “Fifth star system. Asteroid belt.”

Shao Lan’s lips curled into a dangerous smile. “Good. Now, let’s finish this.”

Word spread to Shao Lan's ears, and the wicked grin that curled across her lips could have frozen a lesser soul. “The asteroid belt? You think I wouldn’t dare dive in? Lu Zhanxing, you’re out of your league this time. Today, only one of us leaves breathing.”

With venom-laced resolve, she mobilized her entire fleet. The warships, metallic monstrosities, surged forward like beasts of iron, their sheer power suffocating the void. Stars dimmed in their wake, as though intimidated by the raw, murderous aura that flooded the cosmos.

Meanwhile, on the Alliance’s side, their mechs hummed back to life, shields repaired and energy reserves topped off. They were gearing up to track down Shao Lan when alarms shattered the calm.

“Enemy attack incoming! Rebel forces have deployed squadrons of fighters—tons of them!” a lookout cried, panic edging their voice.

Lu Zhanxing’s gaze sharpened, the weight of command crackling in the air. “Strike team, intercept those fighters. Special Ops, you’re with me—we’re taking down Shao Lan’s flagship.”

No time wasted. Boots hit metal, squads boarded their mechs, and preparation met adrenaline.

But then, like a black tide swallowing light, Shao Lan’s rebel fleet surged into view. Her flagship’s bridge hummed with tension as she stood tall, barking orders. “Full offensive! Wipe them out!”

The first barrage roared to life. Main cannons fired, spitting lethal beams that tore through space like unholy lightning. Missiles rained down like a meteor storm, obliterating everything in their path. The vacuum itself seemed to scream as explosions erupted, flames blooming across the battlefield.

But the Alliance wasn’t just sitting ducks. Their mechs linked shields, forming an impenetrable defensive wall. When the rebels drew close, thirty mechs unleashed a synchronized energy pulse. Blue light flared, surging into a massive barrier that shattered the incoming onslaught.

Shao Lan’s sharp eyes narrowed. “Same tactic. Twice. In one fight?” Suspicion twisted in her chest. Her gaze darted to the battlefield, and the realization hit her like a slap. “Wait… the numbers… Where the hell is Lu Zhanxing?” Her grin returned, now tinged with a hint of wildness. “Trying to play hide-and-seek, are you? Cute.”

She didn’t hesitate. Her fingers flew over the console, deploying tracking missiles and activating every fighter’s radar. Within moments, the coordinates of Lu Zhanxing’s stealthy Special Ops team lit up her display.

“Gotcha,” she hissed, a feral smirk twisting her face. Her finger slammed the button to launch the ultimate missiles, dozens of them screaming toward Lu Zhanxing’s location.

Inside Lu Zhanxing’s mech, alarms shrieked like death bells, the AI coldly droning:

[Warning. Target locked. Warning.]

But his voice stayed calm, steady, the eye of the storm. “Team, release energy pulses. Now!”

“Yes, sir!” The team reacted instantly, pooling their energy into a combined pulse that deflected the missiles’ first wave, barely skimming destruction.

Shao Lan watched, seething as her prey wriggled loose. Her teeth clenched as she snarled, “Fine. Let’s see you handle this!” She unleashed a hundred missiles in rapid succession, a storm of death and devastation.

But the Alliance pilots weren’t amateurs. One by one, their mechs blinked out of existence, jumping through space like ghosts, confusing the missiles’ guidance. Each jump nudged the lethal projectiles closer to an unintended target—the rebel flagship.

Shao Lan’s smirk faltered as realization dawned. Her eyes flicked between the incoming swarm of her own missiles and her fleet. “Those bastards…” she muttered, dark amusement flickering through her frustration. They were using her weapons against her.

Her laugh was low, almost deranged, as she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them with a blazing intensity. “So, this is how it ends, huh? Let’s see who burns first, Lu Zhanxing. Fish or net—it’s all going down in flames.”

She checked on Shao Ye’s condition aboard the escape pod first—vital signs stable. Only then did she activate the pod’s departure from the main warship.

Next, she keyed in coordinates for every last one of the ultimate missiles still on the battleship. From her observations, the Alliance’s new mechs had a 38-second cooldown between short-range spatial jumps, and those jumps came with strict range limitations.

So, in that 38-second window, she flooded every possible jump point within range of the mechs with missile coordinates. If her calculations were right, Lu Zhanxing was finished.

A glint of ruthless determination flashed in Shao Lan’s eyes as she finalized the targeting, ensuring even her own battleship fell within the blast radius. No hesitation. No second thoughts.

“Commander… are you out of your damn mind?” Her lieutenant gawked at the control panel, eyes wide with horror at the sea of red markers—an annihilation zone, including their own position.

Shao Lan didn’t flinch. She closed her eyes lightly, her face disturbingly calm.

“Maybe I lost my mind ten years ago,” she murmured. “Back in the dust-pit cemetery of the slum zone, when my brother held my hand and promised to protect me. Maybe I’ve been broken ever since. And maybe I don’t care anymore.”

The explosion tore through the void, a symphony of chaos echoing across the starry abyss. Hundreds of missiles detonated in unison, their fiery brilliance lighting up the cold darkness. Shockwaves pulverized asteroids into nothingness, scattering them like dust into the endless void.

“Don’t be afraid, Ah Lan… I’ll always protect you…” Her brother’s voice—gentle, familiar—whispered in her mind. A fleeting smile graced her lips, though a single tear of regret slipped from the corner of her eye, evaporating instantly in the searing heat. She vanished into the cosmic blaze, leaving nothing behind but memory.

The Alliance soldiers erupted in cheers of victory; the battle was won.

But Lu Zhanxing stood apart, his gaze fixed on the inferno in the distance, his expression heavy. “I made a promise to Ah Ye… and I failed.”

He’d sworn to save Shao Lan if possible, but this… this had been her choice. He had no way to stop her.

The elite squad gathered around him, their faces alight with relief and triumph.

“Boss, that remote-controlled mech strategy of yours was genius!” Yu Mo exclaimed, grinning. “Sacrificing five mechs to take down a rebel battleship and its commander? That’s the kind of move they’ll write about in Alliance history books!”

But Lu Zhanxing didn’t share their enthusiasm. His eyes remained dark, his tone grim. “Xueluan, did we capture the data before the blast?”

Rai Xueluan quickly pulled up a holographic display. “Yes, Boss. Just as you predicted, twelve minutes before the explosion, a small escape pod launched from the rebel flagship. We couldn’t track its trajectory or pick up its signal after, but based on its energy reserves, it likely landed somewhere in the Fifth Star System.”

“Good,” said Li Rui, his tone hopeful. “That system is still under Alliance control, untouched by the rebellion. We’ll find Shao Ye soon enough.”

“We will,” Lu Zhanxing said quietly, as if reassuring himself.

Yu Han frowned, his voice tinged with curiosity. “Boss, you’ve always been cautious when it comes to Shao Ye. But this time, you gambled everything on the chance that Shao Lan would let him go. What if she’d decided to drag him down with her? What if she’d rather see him dead than free?”

“She wouldn’t,” Lu Zhanxing said flatly. “She doesn’t care about life or death—not even her own. But she’s terrified of one thing: her brother dying.”

“Why?” Yu Mo asked, incredulous. “That woman? Afraid of something? I thought she was just a soulless monster.”

“Because of love,” Lu Zhanxing said, his voice low. “She loved him. Maybe it was twisted, maybe it was obsessive, but it was love. The kind of love that made her want to see him live, even if it meant sacrificing herself.”

The words felt bitter in his mouth, like ash. He suddenly realized how much he understood her—this despicable, ruthless woman. He understood the kind of love that didn’t ask for anything in return, that wanted only the other person’s freedom, even at great personal cost.

He had always believed he could never forgive Shao Lan, never let go of the pain and hatred she’d caused. But now he understood: true love wasn’t about possession or vengeance. It was about letting go. About wanting someone to be happy, even if that happiness didn’t include you.

And somehow, that hurt even more.