T/N: I’ve just got my first Ko-fis! Thank you, sno-cone! Thank you, lizzyhannie! Also, HUGE thanks for all the love and support in the comments! As always, I will try to release chapters as quick as I can, rereading this novel while sharing it with you all is a lot of fun!
Night, wild sand, cannon fire.
The cacophony of clashing metal.
A power core running at super high speed.
Hydraulic axes repeatedly cooling, slight traces of sweat on the control stick.
“Boom—”
Another enemy mecha crashed to its knees, scorching sand spraying into the sky.
The fierce wind turned large sand grains into bullets, pelting the sturdy metal hull.
Nero, for a moment, felt as if he was back on the night he stormed the Capital.
It was the same unending, sunless night, with him and his Wolf Knights. The difference now was that the number of enemies they faced back then far exceeded those on this desolate star.
In the most intense battles, strategic planning became a burden, and the only thing dominating the human brain could and must be the overwhelming desire to fight.
“…We belong to the Kaises Family. We are lions and foxes; we are tigers and a pack of wolves.”
The crimson imperial cloak cascaded from the Rose Throne, draping over the thorny carvings that encircled the throne.
A voice echoed distantly from above, his father’s voice.
“Our family crest is the Silverleaf Rose, born from fire.”
“The flames burn our skin, drain the moisture from the buds, and scorch the leaves to ashen white.”
“But they can never corrode our roots and bones.”
“Ahhh!” The Fourth Prince, who had been listening intently, suddenly jumped up. “Sister! Sister! Nero bit my thigh! Sister!”
“I’m a lion!” Little Nero grinned, showing his newly grown baby fangs, chasing and biting at people everywhere. “Awooo~~ awooo~~”
“——”
“——……”
“……Get down from that throne.”
The blood-soaked mecha stood in the Solar Palace, surrounded by carnage.
It trembled slightly from the pain induced by neural connections, yet the tip of the chainsaw sword it held was lifting the usurper from the Rose Throne. Rupert dangled helplessly from the blade, his legs flailing in the air.
“You do not deserve to sit on this throne.”
The raspy voice of the youth echoed from inside the mecha, his eyes blazing like the sun.
“You do not deserve to touch that Silverleaf Rose.”
“……”
“——……”
“——Down! Your Majesty!”
Nero snapped back to reality, his back slamming with a clang against the solid mecha of the White Wolf Knight.
The White Wolf Knight urgently asked, “Are you hurt?”
“No, I was just distracted for a moment.”
Nero replied, blasting off another enemy mecha’s head with a cannon. “What about that Wolf Knight from the arena?”
“He’s in our transport ship.” The White Wolf Knight’s tone was clearly a bit bitter. “I had to kill his ‘master’ in front of him, so it took some time to bring him back.”
Nero gritted his teeth. “No matter. Once we bring them back to the Capital, the Imperial Science Bureau will crack the Asimov Collar.”
The patrol boats and transport ships docked on the desolate planet had now become their temporary fortress.
With the Imperial transport ship’s starship shield up, Nero and the Wolf Knights used it as cover, constantly moving and shooting to deplete the Star Pirates’ combat strength.
When being escorted out of the arena by the Wolf Knights, Nero had used the simplest and most brutal method to take Asaga away.
He directly dug out Asaga’s cockpit from the mecha’s head; then welded the hatch shut with a light blade to prevent any sudden actions from Asaga. Amidst the barrage of the Star Pirates’ gunfire, he carried the cockpit back to their transport ship.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Now, he had swapped his flimsy combat mecha for the Imperial battle mecha, using its formidable firepower to intimidate the enemy and cover the Wolf Knights as they transferred the rescued slaves.
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In the dense beam battlefield, another starship carrying Omegas suddenly accelerated towards the temporary fortress where the Imperial transport ship was located without receiving any commands.
The Star Pirates, who had just survived the arena massacre, were nearly bursting with rage, as if they saw a ship full of precious gold being taken away:
“Stop them! Quickly stop them! Don’t let them leave this planet!”
“Damn it, there are so many of our brothers here, we don’t believe we can’t exhaust their transport ship’s firepower!”
The Star Pirates’ battleship parked in the mineral sand slowly turned its cannons, focusing its fire on the Imperial transport ship’s shield.
“Fire! Fire! Everyone, concentrate fire on one spot!”
With the fierce attack from the Star Pirates, ripples of energy spread across the shield’s surface.
Inside the starship, the energy consumption of the shield generator was rapidly increasing.
Nero knew what would happen once the shield was depleted: it meant that the Star Pirates would storm the temporary fortress, and with only about thirty mechas, they would have to engage in close combat with the numerous Star Pirates on this desolate planet.
But the silver-haired Emperor showed no fear.
Raising his hand, he vaporized another Star Pirate who attempted to breach the shield with a light blade.
Glancing at the sky, he estimated that the other side should be receiving the message around this time.
“… An Imperial fleet is approaching!”
The lookout Star Pirate shouted in horror.
“No… It’s two fleets… Three fleets… Boss, a large number of Imperial fleets are warping towards us from the northern frontier!”
“What the hell… How did the northern frontier know our location?!”
“Aren’t these guys members of Scorpion Tail?!”
“Damn it! Get out of here!”
The Star Pirates’ base was folded and retracted, transferring onto the starships.
But the warp engines at the rear of the Star Pirates’ starships began to explode one after another during acceleration.
Without exception.
At this moment, a terrifying thought crossed everyone’s mind.
… The other side intends to kill them all here.
The Empire had been unstable for many years, with the regime unsteady, regents ruling for a decade, and the nobility being weak and averse to war. The Star Pirates hadn’t encountered a tough opponent for many years.
Among the few tough bones left in the Empire, Heidrich, who fought to annihilate Star Pirates, was one, but he was commanding battles in the territory and couldn’t be on this desolate star;
And the other was—
A high-ranking Star Pirate punched the communication screen: “Damn it, fight them to the death! It takes an hour for the northern fleet to land. If the other side is really that damn Emperor, no matter how many brothers we lose, it’s worth it!”
The enemy’s firepower suddenly became fierce. The Imperial side’s shield seemed increasingly precarious. Nero stood before the reclaimed gladiator warehouses, reloaded an empty energy magazine, and aimed again.
With a pull of the trigger, several more heavy enemy mechas’ cores exploded, becoming soaring flames.
At the 25th minute, the Imperial transport ship’s shield generator ran out of energy.
Dense beam cannons began to streak past Nero’s ears, chest, and legs.
The White Wolf Knight jumped off the transport ship, grabbed Nero around the waist, using his body to shield the beams while retreating to the ship under the Wolf Knights’ cover fire.
His mecha was in bad shape, its outer armor marked with scorch marks, blue conductive liquid leaking inside. As he carried Nero back, Nero still rested a gun on his shoulder, relentlessly shooting at the Star Pirates.
Reaching for his waist for an energy magazine, his hand paused slightly.
But only for a half-second, then he drew the last magazine, loaded, and continued firing at the Star Pirates.
With the shield down, the Star Pirates’ encirclement tightened further.
Some enemy mechas even climbed onto the transport ship’s deck, their heads pierced by the Wolf Knights’ swords.
Nero discarded his empty beam gun, slowly drawing a light blade from his arm armor.
At that moment.
From the desolate planet’s sky, beams of light rained down like a torrential storm!
The star rivers cascaded down, and the area that was once bustling with Star Pirates instantly turned desolate.
Nero raised his blade, looking up to see numerous Imperial starships with stealth coatings revealing themselves from the dark clouds.
He was somewhat surprised. “The northern fleet arrived faster than expected.”
Wolf Knight: “Your Majesty, they don’t seem to be the northern fleet.”
More and more Imperial warships emerged from the dark clouds.
Countless Imperial mechas jumped from the ships, landing with a thud, raising sand tens of meters high.
Once on the ground, the mechas rolled up, wielding heavy firepower cannons, advancing in a fan-shaped formation towards the Star Pirates.
The command ship of this fleet also descended towards Nero’s transport ship, deploying shields to cover all the ships below.
A communication link opened to the command ship, but the other side remained silent for a long time.
Nero thought for a moment, and said, “Heidrich?”
“Present, Your Majesty.” Heidrich replied in a deep voice, “Apologies for the delayed rescue, Your Majesty.”
Nero was a bit annoyed. “Don’t use ‘rescue’ for your Emperor.”
With the vanguard fleet’s firepower, the Star Pirates on the desolate planet faced their final annihilation.
By the time the northern fleet arrived, the last few Star Pirates trying to escape in patrol boats were completely wiped out in the planet’s atmosphere.
Nero strode along the temporary bridges linking the starships, directing soldiers to transfer the rescued slaves to various transport ships.
He hadn’t forgotten about Asaga, who was trapped in the cockpit.
The silver-haired Emperor walked towards the transport hold, talking to the White Wolf Knight: “After all the effort to bring him here, we fought all night outside. I hope he hasn’t suffocated in there.”
Reaching the transport hold, both he and the White Wolf Knight were taken aback.
The cockpit he forcibly extracted was still there, and the hatch was welded shut, but the wall with hundreds of wires had a hole in it, as if someone had kicked it open from inside.
Nero frowned and peeked inside, finding it indeed empty.
He rubbed his temples, turning to the White Wolf Knight: “Send out a search—”
Before he could finish, it happened in a flash.
A shadow fell from the sky!
It was as if he had been struck by a fierce beast, crashing onto the floor of the transport bay.
Even the holographic mask fell from his ear, and his silver hair, like scattered moonlight, spread out and filled his hood.
The fierce scent of Asaga’s pheromones instantly invaded his nostrils.
The man’s bloodstained hands clamped tightly around the young Emperor’s fragile neck, forcing him to arch back like a swan about to have its neck broken, struggling to breathe.
Nero clawed at Asaga’s hands, without hesitation, and kicked up fiercely.
But it felt like he was kicking a rock, sending pain shooting through his legs and the outer nerves.
The transport bay was already in chaos, the sound of gun bolts snapping echoed everywhere, and people were shouting and screaming: “Your Majesty!!”
The White Wolf Knight immediately drew his gun, but as soon as Asaga heard the sound of the gun bolt, he rolled into the cockpit with Nero in his arms, completely entering a blind spot for shooting.
Nero was forced to straddle Asaga’s legs, kicking the man’s abdomen wildly while struggling to claw at the hands choking his neck.
But when he gasped and met Asaga’s gaze, he found that the man wearing the collar had the most complex expression in the world at that moment:
His face was cold and tense, his lips pressed down in a killing rage, yet those golden eyes were wide with a near-desperate look, staring at Nero like the most helpless child.
“Ugh…!”
The grip on his neck tightened, and Nero let out a choked gasp, his kicks to the man’s abdomen growing weaker.
Suddenly, Asaga threw his head back, slamming it against the metal seat with a series of terrifying crashes.
The grip on Nero’s neck loosened.
Through his blurred vision, he saw thick blood dripping down the back of the seat.
Outside the cockpit, the White Wolf Knight’s blue eyes had turned completely red.
He dropped his laser gun, propped himself up, and followed them into the cockpit.
The small space was now crowded with three people. Nero’s waist was tightly held by the knight’s trembling arms, and he felt sandwiched between two solid walls, barely able to breathe.
The White Wolf Knight drew a short dagger from his back and stabbed it into Asaga’s arm!
“Let go!”
Blood splattered, but Asaga seemed not to feel it, still gripping Nero’s throat.
“Let go, or I’ll cut off your hand!”
The knight’s shout was fierce!
The dagger deeply embedded in the wrist bone twisted in the knight’s hand, about to sever Asaga’s hand.
The self-preservation function of the Asimov Collar kicked in, and just before his wrist was cut off, Asaga briefly released Nero’s neck.
The White Wolf Knight seized the opportunity, hugging Nero with one arm and grabbing Asaga’s injured wrist with the other, rolling them both out of the cockpit.
He pushed Nero towards the nearest Wolf Knight, his eyes fierce, holding Asaga as they both crashed to the floor.
“Crack!”
Both the White Wolf Knight and Asaga’s shoulders smashed into the hard floor with a horrifying crack.
Feeling the inhuman strength of his opponent, the White Wolf Knight shouted, “Fire!”
He hadn’t finished speaking when the gunfire erupted.
But it wasn’t from the Wolf Knights around Nero.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
A black-haired General in a military uniform strode in from the transport bay door, his black military cloak billowing behind him.
He was holding a beast-killing laser rifle, his blue eyes as cold as ice.
Several shots were fired, and Asaga’s knees and elbows exploded in blood.
As Asaga still tried to get up, Heidrich quickly reloaded, aiming at Asaga’s heart.
“Don’t kill him!” Nero, clutching his neck, hoarsely shouted, “Don’t kill him! Heidrich!”
Heidrich said nothing, raising his gun.
“Bang!”
The gun fired.
Asaga was shot in the heart, his pupils dilating instantly.
He staggered, then fell back.
As he fell, those golden eyes slowly closed, hiding away the last trace of peace.
The transport bay fell silent.
Nero hurriedly stepped forward, supporting the White Wolf Knight against the wall, hoarsely asking, “Alexei, are you alright?”
“Just a shoulder sprain, two hours in the medical pod will fix it.”
The knight, panting, looked at Nero’s neck with red marks from being choked: “Your Majesty, your neck—”
“I’m fine.”
He immediately ordered the ship’s medic to take the White Wolf Knight onto the ship.
Heidrich, holding the laser rifle, was still standing quietly at the transport bay door.
Nero walked up to him, looked up at him for two seconds.
…And punched him in the face.
The black-haired General’s head was knocked to the side.
“Your Majesty.”
He did not turn his face back.
Still with his head to the side, he said in a low voice:
“The last shot was a tranquilizer.”
…
I think nine seconds is my record..! thanks for the chapter!
Wow holy smokes! He got me there, I really thought he shot a killing blow there °-°u
Hexagon: you hit me over other men??? (Vinegar overflows)