In the palace.

"The search and rescue team still hasn't found any trace of the Marshal?"

"Sorry, Your Majesty, the last signal source appeared in the MX system between the A14 and A13 defense lines, but the signal was interfered with, resulting in blurred coordinates. We can only confirm it's near that star system. We have broken through the beast horde's obstruction and are doing our best to search."

"The space cracks are very hidden, without specific coordinates, so the search and rescue team can't guarantee they'll be able to detect the Marshal's trail in time..."

"Don't say such things to me! Search! Now! Immediately! Mobilize as many people as you can!"

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

The projection of the personal terminal closed, and the figure of the general in charge of this search and rescue mission disappeared. The Emperor stood there in a daze for a long time before collapsing dejectedly into a chair.

The attack by the beast horde was a complete conspiracy. The beasts that had evolved intelligence had learned the principle of "capture the ringleader first". Their goal was not B01 or A14, but to use this to lure Audrose, the commander of the army, into a trap and exhaust him to death there.

The fact that the beasts were smart enough to learn to use space cracks was something no one could have imagined. When the news was sent back to the capital star, even the researchers specializing in beast intelligence were so shocked that they were speechless.

They had speculated that the beasts had developed intelligence and begun to use more complex tactics, but they never imagined that they could be cunning to this extent!

And what did he do?

Not only did he fail to give Audrose sufficient warning before, but in his last video call with Audrose, he was still arguing fiercely with him, denying the first love that Audrose had begun to develop in his life—

If Sefir were still here... she would be very disappointed in him.

It had always been like this before.

Because Audrose had shown excessive indifference to emotions since he was young, his wife often felt worried about it and tried various methods to provoke emotional fluctuations in Audrose.

He disliked that Audrose always attracted his wife's attention, especially since no matter how much his wife cared for this eldest son, he always had a cold, unaffectionate demeanor, like an unresponsive cold machine, which made the Emperor feel even more dissatisfied.

So he had rarely shown this son any good face. Even though Sefir had advised him several times, it still didn't change the prejudice he held against Audrose.

After his wife passed away, the indifference shown by this eldest son, who had always enjoyed his wife's care, made this prejudice grow bigger and bigger, and finally erupted in a concentrated manner.

Disliking him had almost become a habit. In fact, he didn't necessarily have to interfere with Audrose's marriage, but he reflexively negated Audrose's actions.

Perhaps there was also a sense of unwillingness and resentment mixed in, blaming him for being so cold to his parents, whom he had lived with day and night for decades, yet showing unusual affection to a slave he had only known for a short time.

But he selectively ignored one thing—

He was a father, a role that should have been pleased with his child's changes, not like a child who hadn't grown up, venting his dissatisfaction at his already somewhat flawed son over a little trivial matter.

He was not a qualified father. All along, he had been too willful.

—Perhaps it was because Sefir gave him too much tolerance, making him forget that he also had a responsibility to his children.

The Emperor's lips trembled, and a hint of moisture welled up in his slightly turbid deep blue eyes. Pressure from an unknown source bent his spine, and he held his head like an ordinary, weathered old man.

Suddenly, with a beep, a message notification sounded on his personal terminal.

Speculating that it might be some new progress from the patrol team, the Emperor hurriedly opened his personal terminal to check.

But this glance stunned him.

The sender of this brief message was none other than Audrose, who was currently missing and whose life or death was unknown.

The electromagnetic waves carrying it had traveled thousands of light-years across the universe, finally reaching the recipient's inbox before vanishing.

His outstretched fingertips trembled for a moment before opening the brief message.

[Audrose]: Mother told me in the video she left behind that living alone is a very lonely thing. I hope that I will no longer be lonely in the second half of my life, and I also hope that you can let go of the past soon. If the war goes smoothly, perhaps we can take another trip to Aegeanro next year?

The Emperor suddenly began to tremble violently all over, like a Parkinson's patient. After a long, long time, he finally let out a suppressed sob from his throat.

......

In the end, the patrol team detected the mech signal source located in the MX system and found the Marshal, who had fallen into a deep coma and was drifting in the universe.

"What's Audrose's condition now? Is he in the treatment pod? Is his spiritual domain still normal? ...Hiss."

Sitting in the rapidly advancing stealth ship, Avid anxiously inquired about his elder brother's treatment from his colleague at the A14 defense line, occasionally letting out a hiss.

That black-haired slave really hit too hard. He lay in the infirmary for a full two hours before the soldier bringing medicine woke him up. The back of his neck was still aching dully even now.

The other side replied: "The external injuries have been fully treated and he should be out of life-threatening danger now, but his spiritual domain is still fluctuating violently, the frequency is too high, exceeding the detection range, the instruments cannot capture the specific signal waveform!"

Looking out at the pitch-black universe, Avid pondered for a moment and said, "Keep in touch, I'll be at A14 right away, notify me immediately if there are any changes."

"Alright, Dr. Avid."

Avid put down his personal terminal and exchanged a glance with Mosi across from him, both seeing a complex look in each other's eyes.

Mosi still seemed to find it a bit unbelievable. He repeatedly checked the red dot still remaining at the base on his hand representing Su Duan's position, frowning tightly, "Your Highness, that slave the Marshal left behind...he really stole your mech and ran?"

Avid rubbed his brow, "Yes, I know it sounds a bit magical for a former mech elite graduate from the Imperial Military Academy to be knocked down in one blow by a race known for their poor physical fitness, but in fact, if I'm not going crazy, that should indeed be the case. My head is still pounding like it's going to explode, his attacking moves were simply too professional."

Mosi muttered, "He's just an unevolved human, he can't possibly pilot a mech."

"But the surveillance outside the base shows the mech left the release chamber, and he's the only one missing from the entire base," Avid said.

Mosi continued to ask, "Even if he forcibly activated the mech, but...where could he go? The mech's energy is limited, and there's nothing but beasts around us besides our troops. Could he be an undercover agent for the beasts?"

"The beasts can impersonate humans now?"

Avid thought for a moment and rationally refuted him, "Unlikely, I gave him a physical exam and confirmed it was a completely human body. If the beasts could really impersonate to this degree, then there's no point in even fighting this war."

Mosi was silent for a moment before asking in confusion, "...Then why exactly?"

Indeed, why?

Why did Su Duan's strength suddenly skyrocket? What was his purpose in stealing the mech? And where did he go after stealing it? What is his true identity?

Why didn't the base's system surveillance capture footage of him leaving, and how did the mech release chamber automatically open bypassing the main control system?

These questions still had no reasonable answers to be found.

The stealth ship, having been set to maximum speed, quickly arrived at the A14 defense line. After confirming the location with his colleagues, Avid hurriedly headed towards the infirmary with Mosi.

Due to today's unexpected incident, the corridors were very chaotic, with an unmistakable seriousness on everyone's faces as they discussed matters at hand even while walking.

Remnants of another mech's body were found on the Marshal's mech?

That's right, the test results are out.

What model was it, did they find out?

The material and structural analysis of the fragments indicate it should be the remnants of the energy compartment from another standard military mech.

Avid's footsteps halted.

A guess vaguely welled up in his heart. He shuddered, not daring to think further, and quickly continued forward at Mosi's urging.

......

"Huh? What?" Su Duan, his nerves almost numb with pain, propped up his last bit of energy to ask the system.

The system said, "You performed extremely well in this mission! The final rating is S! We got a whopping 6000 experience points! The host purchased a total of three 'spinach with an iron content 1000 times higher' today. The original remaining experience was 2700, adding it together makes 8700! (≧ω≦)/"

Eight thousand seven hundred!

He was a rich man now too!

Realizing this point, Su Duan's spirits were strangely lifted a bit.

No matter what, a bulging wallet could always provide some comfort.

The system excitedly said, "The level 2 prop section of the store has been unlocked, and random special props have been refreshed too. Do you want to take a look, Host?"

Since his body wouldn't disintegrate anytime soon anyway, Su Duan said, "Sure, let's see then."

The system swished out the store interface. The golden icon in the upper right corner originally marked with a question mark now had the question mark gone, but it was just an upright square shape, still with no description, so it was still unclear what exactly it was.

The system said, "You need to click it to unlock the special prop, Host~"

So Su Duan reached out his fingertip, already visibly showing white bone, and clicked on that golden icon.

With a ding dong, the golden icon exploded into a small firework in front of Su Duan. After the fine bits of light faded, an exquisite light purple box appeared before Su Duan, along with a product description that popped up.

[Bet you didn't expect me to be back]: Legend has it that this mysterious box was made by a mysterious person called "I'm more mischievous than you", also known as the Mischief Box. Opening this box will lead to unexpected situations~

For example, you thought you had already unluckily died, but with the help of mysterious forces, you strangely came back to life! An authentic product of the System Mall! Guaranteed to give you a completely healthy body again! Lifetime after-sales service~

Revenge for grievances and feuds! It's your best choice for rebirth and slapping faces - of course, if you have an unfinished romance, you can also choose to purchase it~

Slowly finishing reading the product description, a burst of joy mixed with disbelief suddenly surged in his heart. Su Duan widened his eyes and asked urgently after two short breaths, "System, how much is this? I want to buy it!"

After an eerie pause of more than ten seconds, the system weakly replied, "7000 experience points...Are you sure you want to buy it, Host?"

Su Duan, completely caught up in excitement, didn't think much and said without hesitation, "Buy, buy, buy! Of course I want to buy it!"

If he bought this, he could go back and see Audrose right away. He saw that Audrose's spiritual body seemed to have suffered a very serious injury, and he didn't know how he was doing now-

Ten seconds later.

Su Duan: "..."

Su Duan: "Wait - how many experience points was it again?"