THIP Chapter 26 V2

Two months later, the Emperor passed away. Si Yibing ascended the throne as the new ruler of the Galactic Empire.

During those months, none of her messages to Mu Liuyin were answered. Until the day of her coronation.

A single message arrived:

“Don’t be sad.”

It was from Xiao Suyu.

Si Yibing wanted to say she wasn’t sad at all—but her eyes stung with unshed tears.

She replied:

“Xiao Suyu, once I get through this, I’ll come find you.”

But no reply came.

And yet, within a month, news broke from Hanhai Star.

Insectoid activity had been discovered. Several extermination missions had already been conducted, and Mu Liuyin’s contributions were critical.

In less than a month, she had accumulated enough military merit to be promoted to the rank of Major General.

By the second month, more and more traces of the Zerg were discovered on Hanhai Star, catching Si Yibing’s attention.

However, the situation in the Imperial Capital was complicated, and she couldn’t leave, so she issued orders for all Hanhai Star residents to evacuate.

A month and a half later, the evacuation was complete.

Si Yibing finally managed to free up time to leave the capital.

When Mu Liuyin saw Si Yibing arrive on Hanhai Star, she was a little stunned. She hadn’t expected her to come at such a time.

There were fewer than fifteen days left until the Zerg Emperor’s birth.

Before the Zerg Emperor broke out of its cocoon, not even the most destructive weapon in the Empire could destroy it. But once it hatched, it would be even stronger than all its predecessors.

The only moment it would be vulnerable was the exact instant it emerged from the cocoon—that was the only chance to deliver a fatal blow and end the Zerg line for good.

With Xiao Jiu’s calculations, Mu Liuyin was confident she could strike at that crucial moment.

As for herself… she probably wouldn’t survive.

She planned to report everything about the Zerg Emperor the day before its emergence. Otherwise, there was no way Si Yibing would ever allow her to destroy the Zerg through mutual destruction.

“Xiao Su Yu, come back to the Imperial Capital with me.” Back in the room, Si Yibing gently wrapped her arms around her, resting her chin on Mu Liuyin’s shoulder. “There are other troops stationed here on Hanhai Star. Can you bear to leave me alone in the capital?”

Mu Liuyin replied coldly, “Yes, I can.”

Si Yibing looked at her with hurt eyes. “But I can’t bear to leave you here alone.”

Mu Liuyin ignored her sulking and firmly kicked her out of the room, insisting she sleep alone.

Xiao Su Yu was ruthlessly determined not to return with Si Yibing, until the day before the Zerg Emperor’s birth, when the military detected its presence deep within the planet’s core.

Si Yibing’s face turned grim, and she immediately ordered the complete evacuation of Hanhai Star.

Mu Liuyin, naturally, was among those evacuating.

On the warship, Si Yibing looked serious. Based on the scans, the power of this new Zerg Emperor would far surpass that of the last one.

She recalled her near-death battle to kill the previous Zerg Emperor, and the thought of this new one being even stronger filled her with dread. If it emerged, the disaster it would bring to the Empire would be unimaginable.

But before breaking out of the cocoon, the Zerg Emperor was nearly invulnerable. Only at the exact moment of hatching would it be at its weakest.

Si Yibing took a deep breath and ordered the military to calculate the precise time of emergence.

She reached up to touch the storage unit on her neck that held Liubing, her mech. She figured it would get damaged again.

She just didn’t know if she’d be as lucky this time around.

Her eyes softened as she gazed at Mu Liuyin. Mu Liuyin’s ears flushed under the stare, and she shot her a glare she thought was fierce, while inwardly wondering how she could sneak off without Si Yibing knowing.

There was no way she would let Si Yibing go into battle alone, like in the original story.

Mu Liuyin quickly devised a plan and asked Xiao Jiu for a tranquilizer.

With thirty-one minutes left until the Zerg Emperor’s birth, the warship had traveled a short distance—but if she returned in her mech, she could still make it in time.

Using the excuse of getting a drink, Mu Liuyin poured the drug into a glass of water and casually offered it to Si Yibing. “Want some water?”

Si Yibing paused, then took the glass and drank it.

Mu Liuyin had gambled that she wouldn’t refuse—and she hadn’t. That, more than anything, made Mu Liuyin’s heart ache.

Si Yibing felt dizzy. She blinked, and just before losing consciousness, she heard a line she once dismissed as a joke:

“I told you, if you ever became Empress, I’d become your sword and wipe out the Zerg for you.”

Something slipped from her eyes.

Mu Liuyin stared silently at the tear that fell from Si Yibing’s closed eyes.

Her expression calm, she turned to the general who had just come to report the Zerg Emperor’s emergence.

“I’ll go,” she said.

The general was stunned.

“This Zerg Emperor’s damn ugly,” Mu Liuyin muttered inside her mech as the Zerg Emperor hatched.

Then she charged.

Boom.

Not only the freshly born Zerg Emperor, but the entire planet of Hanhai Star was obliterated. From a distance, it looked like a dark supernova exploding in the void.

The shattered fragments of the planet streaked through space, falling like meteors across the galaxy.

Back in the system space, Mu Liuyin calmly downed a vial of emotional suppressant and said to Xiao Jiu, “Next mission.”