Meta 06: A Fatal Mistake

Suicide as an apology?

Lin Zhu couldn’t help but grow anxious, and Marshal Vera’s hand, which had been hanging at his side, clenched into a fist, his tightly pressed lips tinged with anger. He was just about to defend his favored officer—“Ms. Karin…”—when he heard Rhine’s voice, utterly unaffected, cut in.

Rhine said, “As the frontline commander of the B-791 campaign, I, Rhine Stran, will take full responsibility under Federation law for the grave consequences of one hundred and twenty thousand casualties and the annihilation of three sub-squads…”

Marshal Vera’s brows instantly knit into a deep furrow.

Rhine continued, “But I must clarify two things, Ms. Karin, Mr. Sutherland, Marshal Vera, and every representative present.” At last, his gaze fell on Lin Zhu. “First, I have no connection whatsoever with this lady from Earth. Second, there is currently no evidence to prove she was sent by the insectoid as an infiltrator. Therefore…”

He paused, sweeping his sharp gaze once more across the crowd. “Do not use subjective assumptions to persecute any living being.”

For the first time, Lin Zhu saw an expression on Rhine’s face that was not cold—so clear, so direct. Tsk, even with the burden of over a hundred thousand dead on his shoulders, he could remain so composed. She had to admit, that was something. The barrage of comments on her stream croaked along with her, and the shippers were starting to show signs of becoming solo stans.

Sutherland let out a cold laugh.

Rhine was the commander of the B-791 campaign against the insectoid, Vera’s right hand. Taking him down would deal a heavy blow to Vera. Now, Rhine himself had said he would take all the blame. According to the casualty ratio, Rhine would be stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment. If they could prove he had colluded with that madwoman as a insectoid spy, that would be treason—punishable by death. No matter what, Rhine was finished. Sutherland’s goal was achieved; he decided to say nothing more and simply watch events unfold.

Karin also fell silent, turning to Vera and waiting for his final verdict. All the representatives present fixed their gaze on Vera.

Vera sat upright, his bearing stern. “This defeat is not Rhine’s responsibility.” His commanding gaze brooked no dissent. “Pre-battle intelligence indicated that insectoid activity was within controllable bounds, and standard deployment should have been sufficient to suppress them. No one could have predicted the insectoid would suddenly riot and mutate—mutate! In three hundred years of war with the insectoid, this has never happened before.”

Cohen manipulated the holographic screen, displaying an insect the size of a bull with six legs, alongside a comparison of the insectoid before and after mutation. Lin Zhu smacked her lips; before mutating, the bugs were about the size of a husky, with no barbs on their mouths—actually kind of cute, much more endearing than cockroaches.

Vera’s gaze swept over the crowd. “Admiral Rhine immediately reported the situation to Federation Military Command and requested reinforcements, but before help could arrive, the mutated insectoid became uncontrollable. Therefore—”

Sutherland interrupted him rudely. “Is Marshal Vera trying to shift the blame onto the reinforcements to protect his favored officer?”

Vera’s tone grew heavier. “I am stating the facts!”

Sutherland slammed the table and stood up. “The fact is that Rhine Stran has committed an unforgivable war crime and should be detained immediately and tried under Federation law!”

Lin Zhu was jolted by Sutherland’s outburst. She was grateful they hadn’t turned off the translator, allowing her and hundreds of thousands of viewers to witness this interstellar power struggle with perfect clarity. But seeing Vera huff and glare, yet unable to say a word, Lin Zhu understood—time was running out for Rhine.

If Rhine died, she certainly wouldn’t survive either. Sutherland and his cronies had plenty of ways to brand her a insectoid spy. If death was inevitable, then any struggle was a victory. She slapped her hands on the table. “Idiot.”

Sutherland stared at her in disbelief. “What did you say?” He couldn’t understand those two words, and what astonished him was that, even under such disadvantageous circumstances, she could still strike such a posture.

Lin Zhu didn’t back down. “Don’t understand? Then let me explain: idiot! This is a very civilized insult from Earth.”

Sutherland: “…??”

Lin Zhu: “…??” Still don’t get it? Still don’t get it! The Interstellar Federation didn’t have a word for “idiot.” Lin Zhu couldn’t help but laugh. If she made it out alive, she’d start a class just to teach them the essence of Chinese insults and enrich their vocabulary.

But survival came first. Lin Zhu got to the point. “Admiral Rhine’s military achievements are for your Federation. To the insectoid, he’s enemy number one. So, if I were a insectoid spy, I would have killed him in his mech, never letting him bring me back to be thrown in prison. And don’t talk about infiltrating the Federation through him. I don’t think such low-level, incompletely evolved creatures as the insectoid could think that far ahead. Killing him outright would be more in line with their logic.”

Karin spoke up. “But just now, Marshal Vera said the insectoid have mutated. This is something that hasn’t happened in three hundred years. Maybe they’ve evolved too, become more cunning, and know to send spies into the enemy’s ranks?”

Lin Zhu smiled, a small triumph. “Since you admit this is something that hasn’t happened in three hundred years, doesn’t that mean Admiral Rhine’s crime should be judged more leniently?”

Rhine’s lowered eyes paused, and he turned to look at her, a sly little expression flickering across his profile, caught in his gaze.

A wave of comments scrolled past, croaking at her brain speed:

[Did the streamer’s brain finally boot up? She’s running faster than corpses at the funeral home.]

[King Yama must have tapped your crown chakra.]

[Come clean—did you sneak some offerings from the bereaved families to secretly boost your IQ?]

Was that supposed to be a compliment? Not really. Even their compliments were so backhanded.

Sutherland snorted. “Sophistry.”

Lin Zhu looked at Karin. “He says you’re being sophistic.” Sutherland glared, but she showed not the slightest hint of panic. “If that’s not grounds for leniency, fine, then I’ll go on.”

Lin Zhu simply stood up. “150,000 and 120,000 dead. That number is indeed shocking. But have you considered that if Admiral Rhine hadn’t risked his life to save them, the remaining thirty thousand would have been wiped out by the insectoid, too? He could have left on his own. But he not only covered the retreat, but he also gathered as many survivors as possible before bringing them back.”

Karin’s face was flushed with anger. “You woman, not only are you mad, but you’re adept at twisting facts and making trouble. How can saving thirty thousand offset the death of 120,000?”

Working at a funeral home didn’t require much patience—after all, no one could jump up and argue with her. So, Lin Zhu had grown used to being patient, but now, faced with such an unreasonable noblewoman, her patience ran out in an instant, and her face grew cold.

After a moment, Rhine spoke. “No matter what, I should take responsibility for this defeat.”

Lin Zhu rolled her eyes at him. Big brother, how did you ever make it to the rank of admiral? Is the interstellar workplace really so pure? Can you rise through the ranks on merit alone? Do you just accept whatever people say about you? Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?

That couldn’t be right. Sutherland was such a formidable opponent… After a brief moment of thought, Lin Zhu reached a conclusion: he was Vera’s confidant. Vera must have shielded him all along, so he could focus on fighting and racking up achievements, rising swiftly through the ranks.

Lin Zhu guessed right.

Rhine—twenty years ago, a child Vera had picked up from the ruins. At fourteen, he graduated from the military academy with the best record in history. At sixteen, he commanded his first battle independently and won a resounding victory. At twenty-five, he became the youngest admiral in the Federation. Now, at only twenty-eight, his military exploits were legendary, his reputation shaking the star domains.

All of this was accomplished with Vera’s unwavering support. Rhine never let him down. Ten years ago, when Vera rose to the top of Military Command, Rhine fought three brutal battles on the front lines, paving the final stretch of Vera’s path to power with insectoid blood.

Unbelievable. Lin Zhu’s rebelliousness surged, as if she were reliving her adolescent years. The two of them were now grasshoppers tied to the same rope—he might want to die, but she certainly didn’t.

She gritted her teeth. “Since you say the insectoid haven’t mutated in three hundred years, then why did they suddenly mutate this time? Have you considered the reason?”

Sutherland and the others were stumped by her question.

But Rhine had a bad premonition, his eyes warning her—don’t say anything reckless!

Lin Zhu pretended not to see. At a time like this, why keep secrets? “I know.” She said those two words with utter confidence. “The temple.”

The thing incubating inside the crystal at the heart of the temple… No, what hatched from the crystal certainly wasn’t human. The person inside the crystal was most likely just a catalyst, feeding the thing near the dome.

Rhine’s hand, resting on his knee, clenched suddenly.

A year ago, during a routine inspection of the Seventh Star Region, Rhine’s mech was forced to make an emergency landing on B-791 to avoid a sandstorm. When he took off again, he saw a deep canyon below that wasn’t marked on any chart.

At first, he hadn’t thought much of it—the planet had only been colonized five years before, so unknown areas were normal. But when his searchlight hit the cliff wall, the patterns there absorbed all the light, reflecting none back, as if the rock swallowed every beam he sent…

He’d found it extremely strange.

Over the following year, Rhine returned three times under the pretext of inspections. On his last visit, he found the entrance to the temple, but no matter what method he tried, he couldn’t get it open.

Rhine’s curiosity piqued, but he chalked it up to a harmless quirk—not something worth reporting. But after Lin Zhu opened the temple and he saw what was inside, Rhine realized with absolute clarity that he had to report privately and immediately to Marshal Vera. Sutherland could never know, or he’d use it as ammunition against the Marshal.

Sure enough, Sutherland turned his fire on Vera. “There’s a temple on B-791? And it’s connected to the insectoid mutation? As Supreme Commander of the Federation, Marshal Vera, have you neglected your duty?”

Lin Zhu saw Vera’s impassive face and realized he hadn’t known about this before. “I’m the one who mentioned the temple. Why are you questioning him? And let me tell you, none of you can open that temple except me.” She was absolutely certain of this—after all, Rhine had already demonstrated the most advanced interstellar weaponry to her, to no effect.

Karin suddenly laughed. “A temple connected to the insectoid mutation, and only you can open it. This lady who claims to be from Earth, the way you put it, I’m even more inclined to suspect you’re an insectoid spy.”

Lin Zhu gave a little exclamation. “What kind of logic is that?” She was emphasizing her importance.

But the barrage was scrolling: “If it were me, I’d think the same way.” “The streamer’s brain booted up, but not all the way.” “She’s talked herself into a corner.” “Ha, so my CP is going to die together, huh?”

Hah! Hah! Hah!

Unbelievable. At this point, Lin Zhu decided to play her trump card. She glanced at the barrage. “Give me ideas, or I’ll end the stream.”

The netizens, never ones to shy away from drama, clamored for a few seconds before suggestions flooded in. But before Lin Zhu could read them, she heard that grating voice—Karin again.

She said, “Marshal Vera, have her undergo a mental power test. Let’s not waste any more time.”

The mental power test was used to distinguish humans from non-humans. At first, she’d thought Lin Zhu was just some border-world human turned by the insectoid—something that had happened before. But when she heard about the mutation, she became convinced Lin Zhu was a mutant herself. Otherwise, how could she invent such a wild story about Earth?

Sutherland picked up where Karin left off. “If the result is ‘no mental power,’ then she must be a mutated insectoid. Given how she just tried so hard to defend Admiral Rhine, I have every reason to suspect she and Admiral Rhine are… intimately connected.”

The implication was clear: if Lin Zhu turned out to be an insectoid, Rhine was as good as dead. The mutated insectoid of B-791 had done a fine job—Sutherland was sincerely grateful to them.

Vera looked at Rhine, hoping to glean from his face some further information about this woman, or anything at all that might allow him to maneuver out of this disadvantageous position.

But Rhine’s open, forthright face was as calm as ever. Vera recalled his words—“She’s from Earth”—spoken with absolute certainty. Rhine had never given him false information; he must have had some proof of this outlandish claim.

Since she was a “human” from Earth, Vera said, “Then let’s proceed as Ms. Karin suggests.”