Bopo was rushed to the capital hospital of the Interstellar Federation overnight. When he finally awoke, it was already the following dawn. The first thing his eyes registered upon opening were the figure of his father, Commander Karu.
Bopo had just navigated a day where life hung by a thread. To see the person dearest to him the moment he regained consciousness—at this point, it didn't matter that he knew he was a clone.
—That was his father.
His father, who had arrived at his bedside the instant news broke of his accident.
Bopo suddenly felt much less resistant toward his cloned father.
Clone or biological parent, all he truly wanted was someone who cared for him.
Just as Bopo was about to speak, a glimpse out of the corner of his eye caught sight of someone standing next to Karu. That dazzling, stunning face, that distant, cool smile—it ruthlessly smashed all his nascent feelings to pieces on the ground, grinding them into dust.
Ilia!
He couldn't help but recall the news he’d seen just before losing consciousness yesterday: Ilia was about to become his stepmother.
The hands Bopo kept hidden under the quilt clenched into tight fists.
“Bopo, this is Ilia, the future heir of the Fia family estate.” Karu introduced her, notably omitting that she was his girlfriend.
Just as Bopo was about to turn his face away, Ilia leaned intimately close to his side, smiling lightly. “Kaka, Bo and I have known each other for a long time. He performed brilliantly in the Mecha Tournament.”
Karu sighed, “A pity he’s such a worry.”
Bopo glared fiercely at Ilia, refusing to speak.
Go to hell with your 'worry'!
Karu shrugged helplessly toward Ilia. Ilia responded solicitously, “It’s fine, as long as he’s awake. I’ll step out and buy him some food.”
Karu nodded. “Thank you for your trouble.”
Ilia turned back with a dazzling smile. “It’s my pleasure.”
Karu seemed lost in her smile, taking a long moment to snap back to reality. When he finally turned his attention back to Bopo, his usual stern coldness had returned.
Bopo couldn't bear to look and turned his face aside.
Karu let out a heavy breath. “What exactly happened to you yesterday?”
Bopo snapped back, “Did you come here just to interrogate me?”
Karu was momentarily choked, his expression darkening. “Do you have any idea how many lives in the Interstellar Federation this incident involves!”
Bopo suddenly shot up from the hospital bed, shouting, “Yes, only their lives are important, mine means nothing! I was nearly blown to pieces out there, and you were announcing your engagement in the auditorium, and the bride is the person I despise most!!”
The latter half of that sentence erupted from him as a roar. The moment it left his lips, Karu froze, and Bopo froze too.
Karu raised a hand, intending to strike him, but the hand stopped halfway in the air. He restrained himself. “Very good, very good. You’ve grown up.”
Bopo instantly regretted speaking, but he was too stubborn to admit fault. He jutted his chin out, turning his face away, his neck stiff. “You just want to know what I did yesterday to cause the annihilation of Admiral Morin’s fleet, don’t you? Ask whatever you need to ask quickly. I’m tired, I need to sleep later.”
Karu, after all, was a seasoned veteran. He quickly reined in his emotions. Emotionlessly, he stated, “Tell me exactly what transpired yesterday in the Tuba Star System. Where did Admiral Morin’s fleet go?”
Bopo gripped the blanket, forcing himself to remain calm. “Yesterday, I kidnapped Ziye—the strategic weapons director for the Wolf’s Den Legion, the girlfriend of the Angel Legion Commander, and the apprentice of the Tang Sect’s Young Master.”
In that single sentence, he laid bare all the factions involved.
Karu’s face darkened. “Bai Lanxue ordered you to do this?”
Bopo let out a disdainful 'huff'. “That’s right. Bai Lanxue promised me the command of the Seventh Fleet.”
Karu didn’t get angry; instead, he laughed softly. “Is the command of the Seventh Fleet that important to you?”
Bopo turned his face away. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Karu countered, “So you also don’t understand that only I can appoint a fleet commander? Bai Lanxue was merely relaying orders?”
Bopo remained silent, his eyes refusing to meet his father’s.
The truth was, Bopo understood everything.
He simply hated that Karu knew how much he desired that command but persistently refused to grant it. He was merely using Bai Lanxue’s voice to voice his discontent. He had calculated that if Bai Lanxue put the request forward for him, Karu would inevitably agree.
The state of the father-son relationship had reached this point; it was, undeniably, a profound tragedy.
Karu ultimately decided not to tangle over this issue, which was currently neither urgent nor vital. “What does kidnapping her have to do with Admiral Morin’s fleet?”
Bopo narrated flatly, “After I swapped the shuttle for a Destroyer, I felt someone tracking us. I fled all the way to the Tuba Star System, where three or four Battleships appeared and attacked us. I realized Admiral Morin’s fleet was passing nearby and sent him a distress signal.”
Karu chuckled dryly. “Son, can you try telling the truth for once?”
Bopo’s expression remained blank. “Believe it or not. That scorched patch on the rear of my Destroyer is where they hit us.”
Karu chose not to debate the truthfulness for the moment and instead asked, “Which legion did they belong to? Why were they shooting at you?”
Bopo replied, “I don’t know. Their arrival was strange. I doubt they were from the Wolf’s Den, Angel’s Domain, or the Tang Sect. They were aiming to kill. If they were Battleships from those three factions, they would have demanded the hostage be released first.”
Karu snorted. “How do you know she didn’t have enemies in those three legions?”
Bopo cast a sidelong glance at him. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”
Stifled again, Karu patiently continued, “And then what happened?”
Bopo continued, “While they were attacking me, Admiral Morin hadn’t arrived yet. Suddenly, a Ghost Mech appeared from nowhere and launched an attack on the Battleships, blowing the sterns off several of them.”
Karu grew pensive. “A Ghost Mech? What did it look like?”
A Ghost Mech referred to a mysterious mech that appeared suddenly in space, bearing no legion insignia and not belonging to pirates. Sometimes, certain legions would employ these Ghost Mechs to operate covertly; the Interstellar Federation was one such faction.
Bopo described, “It was entirely vermillion-gold, larger than a Battleship. Standing there, it was like a giant.”
Without needing to search his memory, Karu knew he had certainly never seen one. He hadn't even seen mechs larger than a Destroyer, let alone one larger than a Battleship.
A Battleship was five times the size of a Destroyer!
He couldn't determine if Bopo was simply fabricating or if this actually happened, so he refrained from dwelling on the details and asked, “Do you have any recording?”
Bopo answered, “In the Destroyer’s optical computer.”
Karu nodded. “So, the Ghost Mech was on your side?”
Bopo shook his head. “No. The moment the Battleships and Carriers began attacking that Mech, Admiral Morin arrived. It immediately turned and attacked Admiral Morin’s forces. Admiral Morin dispatched five or six Battleships, but none could match it. Admiral Morin deployed all his Carriers and Stealth Bombers and hit it with a Nuclear Super Missile.”
Karu visibly shuddered. “Admiral Morin used a Nuclear Super Missile?”
Bopo said, “I assume so. That Ghost Mech observed the Battleships and Carriers attacking. Since our Destroyer was small, it ignored us. Our captain used the chaos to escape. The captain told me this when I woke up.”
He clenched his fist, his voice filled with feigned grief. “I know Admiral Morin died for me, and for our Interstellar Federation. He was willing to sacrifice an entire fleet just to take that Ghost Mech down with a Nuclear Super Missile!”
Karu gazed at him for a long time. “Swear it to your mother.”
Bopo visibly stiffened, glaring at his father with furious eyes. “To guarantee everything you’ve said is the absolute truth.”
Bopo swallowed his anger, raising his hand. “I, Bopo. Emmanit, swear upon my biological mother: if a single word I have spoken is a lie, may I become wreckage forever adrift in space, and may my clone activation fail!”
Karu hadn't expected such a venomous oath. He reached out to pat his son’s shoulder, but Bopo turned his body away, dodging the touch.
He awkwardly withdrew his hand and started walking toward the door. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back and asked, “Didn’t you kidnap that... person? Where is she?”
Bopo replied, “I don’t know. She was gone when I woke up. Someone said she forcibly piloted a transport craft and left the ship.”
Karu asked, “What are the chances she’s alive?”
Bopo stated flatly, “Zero percent!”
At that very moment, Ilia, who had been eavesdropping, slowly removed her earpiece.
—She had used the pretense of going out to buy things, seemingly out of consideration to give the father and son space and privacy, but in reality, she was listening in.
The soundproofing in the Interstellar Age was excellent, but as she closed the door, her hand had inadvertently left an invisible listening device on it.
She walked into an empty adjoining sickroom and settled in comfortably to monitor the conversation.
Those three or four Battleships of unknown origin that Bopo mentioned had indeed belonged to Fia.
After the incident, Fia had rushed to the Tuba Star System for search and rescue but found nothing. It turned out, the Tuba Star System had far more than two factions involved at the time.
Regardless of how Admiral Morin died, what concerned her was the vermillion-gold Mech Bopo had described.
Did such a terrifying Mech truly exist in the galaxy—one capable of destroying one of the Interstellar Federation's ten most powerful rescue fleets?
Even thinking about it felt impossible to her.
Regardless, the Mech belonged to neither the Interstellar Federation nor Fia. Which legion could it possibly belong to?
The result of three legions battling was mutual annihilation.
She cared nothing for those who were dead.
What mattered to her was: where did all the wreckage go?
If she could acquire the remains of that Mech, even the most powerful Mech could be replicated by Fia!
Ilia was deep in calculation when the light on her universal communicator flickered—Karu was calling her. With quick reflexes, she found a subordinate, had them buy the meals, then left via a side exit to meet the subordinate. Together, they located Karu, and she then sent the subordinate back toward Bopo’s room.
Karu was extremely pleased with her thoughtfulness. “I have to go to the Tuba Star System in a bit. Can you wait for me at home, alright?”
Ilia looped her arm through his, giggling sweetly. “No, I want to go with you.”
Karu insisted, “Be good. That area is very dangerous.”
Ilia pouted her cheeks. “But I don’t want to be alone.”
Karu relented with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll take you. But you absolutely cannot wander off, understood?”
Ilia mentally cursed the Interstellar Federation, wishing for its swift demise, but on the surface, she beamed like a flower, kissed Karu’s cheek, and raised her hand like a little girl. “I promise you, I absolutely will not run around!”
-RS