Chapter 54: Confession and Pregnancy

Chapter 54: Confession and Pregnancy

The shrill alarm continued to blare from afar, but a suffocating silence hung in the air here.

The atmosphere was tense to the extreme, with the narrow, frigid corridor feeling like a taut wire, ready to snap at any moment.

Landis pressed his lips together, but the intensity of his emotions burned in his eyes, betraying his attempt to stay composed. The muscles of his cheeks, stiff as plaster, were rigidly stretched over his cheekbones.

Even now, with his heart twisting and each breath a sharp pain, he clung to the hope that the answer would be no.

He couldn't bear the thought that Xiao Sa had been deceiving him all along, and even more so that the other man had never loved him.

"Landis..."

Faced with Landis's accusations, Xiao Sa found himself at a loss for words.

When he initially signed the marriage agreement, besides pitying Landis for his deteriorating health, he had misunderstood Landis's affection for him. He had indeed harbored thoughts of using Landis's status and power to retrieve the gem and find his clansmen.

However, due to various concerns, he had abandoned that plan.

According to his original plan, using the identity of an Alpha to retrieve the gem, with Haino's help, he would shake off the royal family's pursuers, then secretly return to his original form as Xiao Sa and wait for Landis to come back at Wenser Estate.

The Alpha identity could be discarded at any time, and as long as Haino's consciousness in the core was transferred, it didn't matter if the remaining empty core was returned to the royal family.

No one would connect the Alpha with him except Landis.

—As long as Landis didn't come back early and collide with him at the worst possible moment.

Plans don't always go as expected. Unexpected incidents kept occurring, and the situation was spiraling out of control.

There was no use in overthinking now.

Meeting Landis's angry gaze, Xiao Sa steadied his mind and quickly explained, "Landis, I've told you before, the Star Power Gem, a precious artifact passed down in my family, is extremely important to me, and I must get it back no matter what."

Landis furrowed his brow even deeper. "You can take your things, but why did you take the Central Mind's core? The Central Mind is incredibly important to the empire, and the royal family won't let you go. The net is already spread outside!"

Is a gem more important than your life?

Xiao Sa exhaled slowly and said gravely, "Because they are now integrated and can't be separated for now."

Moreover, Haino's consciousness was inside, and concerning its "life or death," Haino certainly wouldn't want such a significant secret to be known by the empire.

Landis took another step closer, his reddened pupils fixed on Xiao Sa's eyes. "So when you brought up that six-month agreement before, you were already planning for today?"

"Now that you've got what you wanted, are you preparing to leave?"

"What about our marriage? You don't want it anymore? Or have you never cared about our marriage and feelings? Was I just a stepping stone for you?!"

And what about me? Does he even want me anymore?

Did Xiao Sa ever love him...

Landis could no longer contain the raging fire burning in his chest and abdomen, his emotions nearly out of control, scorching the last bit of his sanity, his fists clenched tightly, nails digging into his palms.

The military doc said my spiritual sea, the source of my mental and emotional strength, had supposedly healed, but that was a load of BS. Otherwise, why was his mind blank, and his spiritual sea aching as if it were about to explode.

All the promises of staying together and curing him—lies, every last one.

Landis felt a hole pierce through his heart, each breath bringing a knife-like pain.

He stared at the other man, unable to bear it, his throat trembling. "You were with me just to… just to…"

His lips moved, but he couldn't continue. His icy blue eyes trembled uncontrollably. If Xiao Sa dared to say yes, he felt like he’d lose his mind.

"Landis… I…"

Xiao Sa felt darkness cloud his vision, his mental energy draining rapidly. He was growing weaker, his legs heavy as if filled with lead.

He forced himself to stay conscious, whispering, "I'm sorry, Landis…"

After hiding the truth for so long, he really should apologize.

Landis' gaze was shaky, on the verge of heartbreak. "I don’t want to hear any of this!"

Xiao Sa looked at those deeply shattered blue eyes and felt his own heart clench painfully.

Landis had completely lost faith in him…

Haino's voice grew more urgent. "Xiao Sa, three minutes!"

There was no more time.

Heavy with emotion, he exhaled and quickly said, "Landis, I know this sounds absurd, but please believe me."

"I'm not from the star sea region. I come from a galaxy a hundred light-years away, seeking refuge and searching for our ancestral planet, crossing through a wormhole with my clansmen…"

Landis' eyes widened in shock. "What did you say?"

Xiao Sa clenched his teeth, laying everything out in one breath. "Yes, to you, both I and my clansmen are aliens."

"I kept it from you because I didn’t dare tell you my identity, afraid you'd stop me or treat me and my people as an enemy race."

"I was planning to tell you everything after today, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this…"

"Our marriage wasn’t—"

Xiao Sa's voice choked. What was he supposed to say about their marriage? From the start, it had been impure.

Landis needed him to heal his mental contamination, something that had been made clear from the beginning. Yet he had hidden so much.

At first, he did intend to get the gem and divorce within six months, but now, he couldn’t deny that he had genuinely developed feelings for Landis.

But Landis, as an Admiral of the Dawn Empire, saw the elimination of humanoid mutants and even alien threats as his duty.

Even if he forgave Xiao Sa's ulterior motives and numerous secrets, could he betray the empire he was loyal to, or even his own race, to stay with a man who stole the Central Mind and was "suspected to be a humanoid mutant"?

Xiao Sa asked himself, if he were in Landis’ shoes, he doubted he’d be able to overlook this.

How could he even ask that of Landis?

"Xiao Sa, two minutes! The Special Ops are closing in on us. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!"

Xiao Sa gasped, meeting Landis' disbelieving eyes. "Landis, let me go. I don’t want to fight with you. The pursuers are coming; we can’t risk being seen together."

Landis' pupils shook violently. He had imagined countless scenarios, the worst being that Xiao Sa was a spy sent to steal the Central Mind.

He couldn’t have imagined Xiao Sa giving such an absurd and extreme reason.

Despite his decades of combat experience, even he had never encountered such a complicated situation.

Before he could respond, a deafening explosion signaled the royal forces' attack.

The thunderous mechanical footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.

They’ve found us!

Without hesitation, General Landis grabbed Xiao Sa’s hand, frowning deeply. “Follow me, now!”

Xiao Sa hesitated. “There’s a ready mech waiting at the emergency exit.”

General Landis gave him an intense look, struggling to understand how Xiao Sa could be so resourceful. Mobilizing a mech inside the empire’s most secure palace wasn’t something a regular spy could manage. Could it be the special ability of an alien?

As they reached the vicinity of the emergency exit, a sharp howl came from outside—neither human nor mech, but something resembling a fierce beast!

Both Xiao Sa and General Landis’ expressions changed—what was that?

The next moment, from the exit, they saw a large group of strange “beast-shaped mechs” circling in the distant sky.

They were mechs, but at the same time, they resembled some kind of bizarre biological weapon, covered in greenish scales.

Their heads, limbs, and sturdy waists were perfectly integrated with the hard alloy armor, with long tails trailing behind them and steel wings on their backs, emitting a light yellow jet as they flapped.

These bio-mechs combined the power and weaponry of mechs with physical strength and regenerative abilities far surpassing those of humans. They lacked negative emotions such as fear, laziness, or resistance and only obeyed commands.

General Landis felt a wave of shock—this was a force even the highest ranks of the military had never encountered!

Their noses sniffed the air continuously, then locked onto Xiao Sa’s vicinity near the emergency exit, howling as they sent signals before diving toward them.

Haino’s voice was unusually serious. “Xiao Sa, this biological weapon combat unit is unknown even to me. The database is blank; it can only be the royal family’s most secret weapon!”

Xiao Sa’s expression darkened. This was the third unexpected incident today—and it was potentially fatal.

These biological weapons were different from ordinary mental entities; they could obviously track his pheromones from a distance!

Not being detected by pheromones was supposed to be his assurance to hide his identity.

But with these biological weapons around, as long as he was on Central Star, under the absolute control of the royal family’s power, they would eventually find him.

And when that happened, it would only implicate General Landis and everyone connected to him.

General Landis’ face darkened to the extreme. He opened his communicator and ordered his security personnel, “Come to my coordinates and block those suspected fierce beasts! If they initiate an attack, retaliate immediately!”

“…Vice Admiral Charlie, a group of unknown species has suddenly appeared above the royal palace, threatening the royal family’s safety… please initiate defense immediately!”

Xiao Sa stared at him in shock, but before he could speak, another wave of searing pain washed over him, threatening to tear apart his mental defenses. He clenched his fist tightly, forcing himself to stay conscious.

General Landis’ communicator kept ringing. “General Landis, we have confirmed that the target is an Alpha. He is very likely near you! If found, capture him immediately; if he resists, eliminate him on the spot!”

“General Landis, the crown prince has ordered…”

“General! Please gather your security team and avoid conflict…”

General Landis cut off the communicator and spoke urgently, “You need to leave now. I can only delay them for a while. If they discover your identity, I may not be able to protect you.”

General Landis shifted his gaze away and took out his sidearm again, shooting at the edge of his own arm. The bullet grazed his sleeve, leaving a deep bloodstained wound, with blood trickling down.

"Landis!" Xiao Sa's eye twitched, his brows furrowing.

He never imagined that Landis, who always prioritized military duty and honor, would let an alien who had stolen a critical imperial artifact escape at such a crucial moment.

He gave Landis a deep, final look, and under Haino's frantic urging, dragged his heavy feet into the cockpit.

Watching Xiao Sa leave, Landis pressed his hand to his arm and turned back into the passageway. Moments later, he ran into the rapidly arriving mechanized personal guard forces.

The deputy commander gaped at the injured Landis. "General, have you encountered the Alpha?"

"Yes, as you can see, I was wounded by him and he has escaped," Landis replied, his expression solemn and cold, his tone icy with barely contained rage that silenced those around him.

"What?" The deputy commander could hardly believe his ears. Could the Alpha really be that strong? Even an S-rank warrior like Landis couldn't defeat him?

"I need to tend to my wounds now. You can go after him yourselves," Landis said coldly, before walking away without another word.

The vice personal guard commander had been about to call out for him to organize the legion, but the words stuck in his throat and he could only awkwardly remain silent.

※※※

The moment Xiao Sa linked neurologically with the mech's control panel, he felt an intense pain, as if his mental energy was being completely drained, and his spiritual sea retaliated.

The pain was so severe he nearly blacked out, large beads of sweat covering his forehead and soaking his chest and back.

Once it had drained all of his mental energy, the Star Authority Gem stopped pulling and clattered onto the control panel. Inside the Central Mind core, countless streams of data flowed rapidly, reorganizing...

"Target confirmed: First Sequence."

"Severe threat detected. Initiating full system lockdown to protect the First Sequence target. Priority: Critical."

Xiao Sa couldn't spare a thought for it, barely able to grip the control stick. "Haino, follow the backup Plan C route to escape!"

The mech began to rapidly ascend, and on the control panel's radar, red dots lit up all around, closing in on him from all directions.

Fortunately, Landis' personal guard team had intercepted the most dangerous biological weapons for him, allowing Xiao Sa's mech to break through the encirclement at maximum speed.

At the moment his mech pierced through the air, it was once again captured by the live broadcast signal. Since the chaos and suspected 'terrorist attack' in the Golden Dome Hall, everyone on the Stellar Network was glued to the unfolding events.

Especially after the Central Mind nearly went into "paralysis," the royal family temporarily lost control over network signals in various regions. Even after forcibly cutting the signals, countless private transmission devices were set up, with no one wanting to miss out on this unprecedented "big news."

Across various star system forums and media outlets, after several lag spikes, fluctuations, and even temporary disconnections, the screens were flooded with posts:

"Who is this Alpha? Is he a foreign spy?"

"The royal family is incompetent. They failed to capture the intruder and allowed him to steal the Central Mind core and escape!"

"What is that creature that looks like a fierce beast? It's horrifying. Why is the royal family experimenting with such things?!"

Whether it was the missing Alpha, the suspected perpetrator successfully escaping with the Central Mind core, the terrifying biological weapons suddenly exposed to the public, or the "contamination source" suddenly appearing within the palace, each element was enough to shock the entire empire.

"Boom boom boom—" Countless energy cannons and lasers bombarded the sky, more dazzling than the fireworks during celebrations.

Xiao Sa's mech weaved at the edge of its limits, miraculously dodging each attack just a second before impact, leaving everyone so tense they nearly forgot to breathe.

"If Alpha is this powerful, why bother with the arena?"

"Wow, he's so strong and amazing! I'm a sucker for strong characters, let me say it first!"

In the cockpit, Haino's voice cut in urgently, "Xiao Sa, the Heaven's Eye defense system's large-caliber quantum beam cannon has locked onto us!"

"The Royal Guard mecha heavy artillery has begun remote fire coverage!"

"Got it." Xiao Sa remained expressionless, maintaining absolute calm. His mental energy was nearly depleted, but his physical strength and operational skills were still intact.

"Xiao Sa, my permissions... Huh? My permissions suddenly came back!"

Haino was astonished. Just a moment ago, after the royal family detected anomalies in the Central Mind's defense system, Haino's permissions had been interfered with, shrinking more and more until almost all were revoked.

But now, for some reason, he suddenly found that part of the core's hidden area had been unlocked again, and the permissions that had been interfered with by the royal family were back!

With newfound confidence, Haino said, "Xiao Sa, don't waste your energy. Take the nearest escape route."

"Okay." Xiao Sa's eyes flickered slightly. He trusted Haino and pushed the energy lever, ascending rapidly.

On the ground, Landis, who had been monitoring Xiao Sa's mecha through his neural interface, had a drastic change in expression.

Is Xiao Sa out of his mind?

Above, the quantum beam cannon of the Eye of Heaven had immense power and an extraordinary range. A direct hit would leave not even bone fragments behind.

The best course of action right now would be to charge into the Guard forces' mecha group, forcing the Eye of Heaven to hold back.

His face darkened as he quickened his pace toward the control room of the Eye of Heaven defense system.

The barrel of the Eye of Heaven defense system's cannon slowly turned, fully locking onto Xiao Sa, while the royal Guard forces' mecha heavy cannons also adjusted their direction, locking onto the lone mecha in the air.

No other mechas dared to rush up at this moment to trap Xiao Sa, fearing they would be reduced to ashes along with him.

In the air, all the surrounding mechas retreated, leaving only Xiao Sa rapidly ascending.

On the Stellar Network, viewers who were intently watching the live broadcast held their breath in unison—was Alpha finally going to die?

"I told you, you can't win against the royal family!"

"With this cannon, both the person and the Central Mind core will be gone."

"It’s a shame. The royal family hasn’t cared about humanity in centuries, and I thought we finally had someone brave enough to stand up to them!"

A pale golden light began to gather at the mouth of the Eye of Heaven's quantum beam cannon, becoming brighter and brighter as the energy reached its peak.

Just as it was about to release an earth-shattering energy wave at Xiao Sa in front of everyone's eyes, the energy operation instead slowed down and eventually came to a complete halt.

The gathered energy at the cannon's mouth rapidly dissipated, finally exhaling only a few wisps of high-heat, grayish smoke before completely dying out!

"What the heck? What’s wrong with the Eye of Heaven?"

"It stalled? Does Alpha have superpowers?"

Not only were the viewers on the Stellar Network stunned, but the operators in the control room, the crown prince, and the security ministers were equally shocked.

However, the "magic" wasn't over yet.

At the same time the giant cannon of the Eye of Heaven stopped its attack, the heavy cannons of the Guard forces had already launched their assault on Xiao Sa!

A rain of tracking shells pursued Xiao Sa like a meteor shower, and once again, something unbelievable happened—

The tracking shells, as if they had suddenly gone blind, continuously deviated from their original trajectory, just barely missing the edges of the straight-flying mecha.

The viewers were left speechless as Xiao Sa's mecha headed straight into the barrage of cannon fire, with all attacks veering away just as they approached him, as if they were a protective escort paving the way for him.

The artillery fire, which had missed its target, now “precisely” hit the energy reserve warehouse on the ground, resulting in a loud “boom,” and flames shooting up into the sky.

Amidst the towering flames that surged like a crimson wave, Xiao Sa's mech finally broke through the encirclement and vanished from the radar's detection range.

Watching Alpha single-handedly manipulate the entire royal family, taking away the Central Mind core and escaping unscathed, what was supposed to be a grand celebration for the people turned into a complete farce.

Not only had they lost the core and exposed their most secret weapon, but they had also shown unprecedented weakness in front of the entire imperial populace, losing all their prestige.

In the underground shelter, the royal nobility and ministers, who had witnessed everything, were left speechless and in shock.

On the Stellar Network, eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and frantic comments flooded the screens:

“Oh my God, what kind of miracle is this?”

“That’s not a mech, is it? It’s probably an alien ‘UFO,’ right?”

“I suspect there’s a traitor in the royal family, and the Crown Prince, who is responsible for palace security, is the biggest suspect! I’m starting a conspiracy theory*…”

“Did the above account get deleted?”

“Those who can flee should do so quickly; this empire is doomed!”

※※※

On the other side, upon learning that Xiao Sa had successfully escaped danger, General Landis finally breathed a sigh of relief. He sat in the recovery room of the Royal Medical Institute, holding his injured arm.

When the doctors at the Royal Medical Institute learned that General Landis was injured, they didn’t dare to delay. Even though it was just a minor wound, they conducted a comprehensive body check for him.

Landis had deliberately come to receive treatment to avoid the emperor's pursuit order. He thought the treatment for a simple flesh wound would be quick, but the doctor frowned and made him undergo one test after another, from mental energy checks to CT scans, and even an ultrasound.

Landis’s face darkened with impatience. “How much longer? It’s just a small injury.”

The doctor looked at him awkwardly, as if there was some unspeakable news and didn’t know how to begin.

Landis’s gaze shot over like an arrow, his brows furrowed. “What exactly are the results?”

It couldn’t be something worse than his mental sea going berserk, could it?

The doctor took a deep breath, pressing his hands down in a calming gesture. “General, please don’t be surprised. While this situation is rare domestically, there have been quite a few cases.”

Landis lost all patience. “Just spit it out!”

The doctor took out the ultrasound results and smiled awkwardly. “You… um, have developed a structure similar to an ovary, and there’s a new life growing inside. We’ve checked multiple times, and there’s no mistake.”

“Some males have similar bodily tissues, though they’re usually not prominent. They gradually develop under certain… um, stimulation.”

The doctor, sweating profusely, continued bravely. “Congratulations, General. It’s a healthy baby, about two or three months old.”

The moment Landis heard the words “new life,” his expression completely froze, and his thoughts nearly ground to a halt. No matter how long the doctor’s mouth moved, he couldn’t process the information.

After a moment, when the doctor repeated the congratulations twice more, he blinked slowly and instinctively placed his hand on his abdomen.

He… was pregnant?!

He and Xiao Sa’s child… He and Xiao Sa had a child!

A mixture of joy and surprise appeared on Landis’s face as he repeatedly caressed his lower abdomen, his mind buzzing in chaos. Suddenly, he remembered Xiao Sa’s claim about being an alien.

Landis’s eyes shifted slightly. If Xiao Sa hadn’t lied to him, what kind of baby would he have with an alien?

Could it be… that he’d lay an egg?