Reborn: The Female Monarch Is My Life’s Greatest Love - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Infiltration Operation

Lester looked at Allex, his long-time rival who had just saved his life. The initial daze in his eyes had faded, replaced by a deep internal stir.

“Why did you…”

“Stay alive, Lester.” Now was not the time for idle talk, so Constant didn’t wait for him to finish. He simply reached out and patted Lester’s shoulder. “Stay alive. Your Father and Papa are still waiting for you to come home.”

As he spoke, Constant picked up the light-energy gun that had fallen when he tackled Lester. He turned to coordinate with the other team members and immediately dove back into the fray.

Lester sat on the ground, staring blankly at Constant’s retreating back for a moment. Then, he gritted his teeth, grabbed his own gun, and followed closely in Constant’s footsteps.

He finally knew what he had to do.

In this mission, Constant’s team didn’t just need to assist Teams 1 and 2 with real-time tracking; they also had to act as a flank to draw the Butterfly forces toward them. Combined with the Zerg soldiers already stationed there, they were currently facing a heavy disadvantage.

After receiving a signal from Team 1, Constant led his teammates through a doorway at the side of the high tower. Since the rescue involved a key ore researcher, they had to ensure they didn’t alert the enemy before the target was secured.

Awaiting them was the Butterfly race’s command center—the location where Zerg intelligence suspected the secret weapon was hidden.

Thermal sensors had already mapped out the terrain beneath the tower: a military base modeled after a butterfly chrysalis. They were about to face a defense system more complex than the surface, guarded by thousands of Butterfly soldiers.

“Units 3 and 5 to the left, 2 and 4 to the right. The rest follow me.” The building was arranged in a spiral descending downward. The middle section, being the largest part of the framework, likely housed the Butterfly army’s secrets.

After delegating the tasks, Constant scanned the area using his helmet’s infrared mode. Upon receiving a confirmation of infiltration from Team 5, he crouched low in a corner to minimize his profile.

Lester, who had been assigned to scout the left side, stayed close to Constant’s side. Once everyone found cover, he looked toward Constant. For a long time, he struggled with a sentence in the private channel but ultimately remained silent.

Now, as long as Teams 1 and 2 rescued the hostage, the mission could be considered a success.

“Team 3, Team 3.”

Constant pressed his hand to his ear. “Team 3 receiving, go ahead.”

“Teams 1 and 2 have infiltrated the tail of the chrysalis. We’ve detected that the secret weapon is hidden within your defensive perimeter. Once the hostage is rescued, utilize the chaos to survey its composition.”

“If possible, bring it back.”

Faced with this sudden change, Constant looked at his team. As expected, their faces betrayed a mix of confusion and panic.

“Team 3, acknowledge.”

“Team 3 acknowledges.” For such a dangerous task, Constant couldn’t guarantee he could bring everyone back. After cutting the public channel, he switched to the internal team frequency. “You heard the orders. The secret weapon used against our troops is right here in our sector.”

Once the hostage was rescued, they would be evacuated through Team 5’s right-side channel, drawing away the bulk of the Butterfly soldiers. That would be their window of opportunity.

Such a last-minute change to the plan was jarring, but Constant knew that if he faltered, the team would face total destruction. Out of twenty members, he wanted to bring every single one back if he could.

“Time is short, so I’ll be brief.”

“I know you aren’t afraid of death. But this mission is for the weapon that wiped out nearly seventy percent of our forces. Because of the volatility of the situation, I need—and will only take—one volunteer to go with me.”

“I want you to know that whoever comes with me faces the very real risk of dying alongside me.”

“Now, make your choice!”

Lester listened to Constant’s voice. After a brief hesitation, he slowly raised his hand. “Captain.”

Constant looked back at him in surprise. To be honest, he still had reservations about this “young master” who had just frozen up on the battlefield.

Slowly, the other members raised their hands too. They were recruits; they hadn’t yet learned how to completely discard the fear of death. But since the person before them gave them the power to choose, they chose to follow.

“No. 2, Bart, standing by.” “No. 4, Charles, standing by.” “No. 5, Cook, standing by.”

As the responses echoed, Constant’s gaze swept across their faces before settling on Lester.

“Can I trust you?”

“Captain Allex.” Lester placed his right hand over his heart. “Please believe in my resolve as a soldier of the Empire.”

Constant nodded slightly and adjusted the formation. “The rest of you will evacuate with Team 5 once we enter the research perimeter to ensure the safety of Teams 1 and 2’s target.”

“Captain, is two people really enough?” Though they were in the same team, they hadn’t had much contact with this captain before.

Constant recalled the interstellar news reports he had seen in his previous life and nodded. “Two is enough.”

Because the core powering that weapon was only the size of a fist. As long as it was stripped from the operating system, it would stop the Butterfly race’s next large-scale sweep. Even if they couldn’t retrieve it, destroying it was only a matter of time.

As the minutes ticked by, Constant’s grip on his light-energy gun tightened. When the ground began to vibrate, a short hum sounded in his earpiece.

“Move!”

Constant hugged the wall, gun ready, ensuring he could deliver a lethal shot the moment an enemy appeared. The closer they got to the center, the louder the explosions and gunfire became. He paused against a wall to steady his breathing; to be honest, he was terrified. He could already imagine his limbs being scattered through the air by an explosion…

In those five seconds, he rebuilt his mental defenses and looked back at Lester.

Ready? Constant asked with his eyes.

Lester looked into Constant’s blue eyes and nodded solemnly. This time, he had to show the spirit of his Captain father!

A flurry of footsteps approached. They heard voices:

“The Zerg have broken in.” “Is their target the ‘thing’ in the lab?” “They only took the prisoner from the tail section.” “But what about that thing?” “That’s not our concern. They rescued that person!” “You mean…” “Yes, the Snatcher.”

The Snatcher?

The name sounded familiar to Constant, but he couldn’t recall who it was.

As the footsteps faded, the two continued their infiltration. They moved with extreme caution to avoid making any noise that would cause a commotion.

Unfortunately, just as Constant was about to vault into a stairwell at a junction, he came face-to-face with a Butterfly soldier coming from the opposite direction.

Thankfully, the space was so narrow that the soldier didn’t have time to disperse his pollen before Constant tackled him to the ground, pinning his throat. At the same time, Constant activated the filtration layer in his mask to prevent himself from losing consciousness if he inhaled any stray pollen.

Before Constant could even interrogate him, the soldier took advantage of the moment to draw a poisoned blade and lunge.

Sensing the movement, Constant pressed a concealed needle from his palm into the soldier’s neck. The hand holding the blade at Constant’s temple instantly went limp.

Constant felt the warmth beneath his palm fading. The pulse against his hand slowed and stopped. Sitting astride the Butterfly soldier, he witnessed the light leave the man’s eyes.

This was the first time Constant had killed a living being with his own hands. Perhaps he finally understood why Lester had frozen earlier.

The mission didn’t stop, but it made Constant move even faster. If the death of an enemy made his heart race with unease, he didn’t want to see the corpses of his own kind.

Scanning the structure below with infrared once more, Constant and Lester exchanged a look. No words were needed—the storage site for the weapon was right beneath their feet.

Success or failure, it all came down to this.