AHDIBCB Chapter 67

Visser hadn’t suffered a loss this heavy in a long time— especially not at the hands of an omega just like him!

He ground his teeth on the other side of the blue gel wall. “You’ve got some guts.”

Yuan Yi said calmly, “Maybe just a little more than you. You don’t have to take it so personally.”

At that moment, four mechanical soldiers approached. Visser asked, “What are you trying to do?”

Yuan Yi replied, “Remove everything on you that can be taken off. I don’t want you trying to contact the outside world again. Captain Thunder, also check his body for embedded devices—remove them if you find any.”

The robot captain asked, “Madam, should we just extract them, or destroy them as well?”

“No need for destruction, for now. Extract and cut off their network access—I may have further use for them.”

The captain obeyed. After stripping Visser of his clothes, they began checking him thoroughly for anything that could connect to the outside. They found devices in his ears and on his hands, and immediately disabled the signals.

Visser stared at the torn-open skin on the back of his hand, his expression twisted with rage. “You think leaving my whole squad trapped here means you’re in the clear?”

Yuan Yi replied, “Of course not. I know others will come for you. But so what? If we can trap you and your team, we can trap anyone else who comes too.”

Visser sneered, “What, just you and these robots here? Your precious General Li didn’t even leave a single guard behind to protect you? Or did he send them all out to protect his other little lover? Oh right— you probably don’t know he’s secretly keeping several omegas aboard his fleet.”

Secretly keeping—several?

Yuan Yi actually burst out laughing this time. “Tricks like that don’t work on me. My alpha has never stooped to sneaking around. ‘Little lovers’—did you think saying that would get me to let you go? Or do you really think I’m dumb enough to not see what you’re trying to do?”

“You want me to send an alpha to get close to you, so you can use your pheromones to manipulate them and find a chance to escape, right?”

An omega, with no weapons, stripped of even his clothes— the only thing he had left to use was himself.

But Yuan Yi felt no sympathy for that kind of person, nor did he dare let down his guard. Someone who can stay so calm even when naked must have a dangerously deep mind.

He waved to the robot captain. “Let the lieutenant colonel have a good nap.”

The captain’s pinky finger suddenly extended a tiny injection needle. Only then did Visser finally show some panic. But it was too late. With a barely perceptible prick, his world went dark.

Snow Wolf’s stealth mecha became visible at last. “Madam, what do you plan to do with him?”

Yuan Yi held the two micro-devices the robot captain had just handed him. “Can you make it to the front lines?”

“Of course,” Snow Wolf replied.

Yuan Yi handed over the tiny devices. “Get these to the general as fast as you can. He might be able to use them to gather more intel. Have we captured all of Fourth Prince’s men?”

Just then, Flight Wolf happened to pass by and said, “All caught. The people under Fourth Prince rarely see real combat—much easier to handle than Second Prince’s men. But since we’ve captured both sides’ people, they’re bound to make a move soon. Should we inform the general?”

Yuan Yi smiled knowingly. “You already sent word and came back just to put on a little show for me, didn’t you?”

Flight Wolf: “…”

Sure enough, before long, Li Mian arrived. “Brother Yi, Master wants to speak with you.”

Li Mian immediately zipped over in front of Yuan Yi. “Why not, why not?”

Looking all too eager for some juicy drama.

Yuan Yi caught him mid-air and started walking toward the rest area. “If I answer, he’s eighty percent likely to scold me again. I might as well take a nap instead.”

On the other end, Li Heng—who had been listening through Snow Wolf’s comms—fell silent for a moment: “….”

A bit of a gut punch, honestly.

It wasn’t that he’d intended to scold Yuan Yi—he was just genuinely worried. And in his anxiety, his tone had come out too harsh.

When Li Mian refused to connect the call, Li Heng had no choice but to borrow Flight Wolf’s communicator. Moments later, his holographic image appeared on the path Yuan Yi was walking.

“Wife, are you mad?”

Yuan Yi turned his head, saw that Snow Wolf had already left to deliver the micro-devices taken from Visser, and Flight Wolf was still behind him helping maintain the comm link.

He figured it was unfair to have people still fussing over their superior’s domestic drama right after a major skirmish.

So he said, “Li Mian, connect your master’s comm. Flight Wolf, go take a break.”

Flight Wolf quickly accepted the favor and ran off.

Li Mian said, “Brother Yi, you’re just soft-hearted. From what I’ve observed, with Flight Wolf’s stamina, fighting another two days wouldn’t even be an issue!”

Yuan Yi said, “Then I think with your stamina, carrying bricks for another three days would be no problem either. In a bit, go catch all the bugs in the vegetable garden. There’s a patch of cabbage that hasn’t been sprayed with anything—I’ve been worried about vegetable bugs on it. If this goes on, it’s going to turn into lace cabbage. Since you can lock onto moving targets quickly, go and pinch them to death.”

Li Mian immediately flailed around: “Brother, I was wrong! I was really wrong!!!”

Yuan Yi stood him upright, adjusted his little vest, and asked without even turning his head: “Does the General have anything else?”

Li Heng: “……”

He paused, then cleared his throat lightly, “Wife, I’ve calmed down now. But I’m still really worried that you exposed yourself like that—it was just too risky.”

Yuan Yi said, “Anyone in a high position makes risky decisions. As long as it’s worth it, that’s enough. Or do you have a better method to teach me?”

Li Heng said, “No, you handled it very well. Also, the communication chips taken from Visser will play a critical role. But are you sure you want to keep him there and not send him over with the rest?”

Yuan Yi turned his head and said, “What, are you afraid he’ll spill some of your other secrets to me? I heard General Li keeps several omega companions on his ship.”

Li Heng caught the hint of jealousy in his tone and chuckled, “Well, there are indeed a few pleasant ones. They keep me company every night. Would Madam like to take a look?”

Yuan Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.

By now, Li Heng had already walked into the bedroom. The door shut, the lights turned off, and darkness instantly fell over the room. Then a small robot on the nightstand switched on and projected a series of images onto the wall.

Some were veiled in gauze, some were picking flowers in a garden, and some were reading in a study.

They were all of him.

Yuan Yi felt a rush of agitation in his chest. “You had Li Mian secretly take pictures of me again. But seriously, looking at those—can you actually sleep at night?”

Li Heng said, “I sleep just fine. As long as I think about how you tease me and how you actually want me to hold you, life suddenly feels worth looking forward to.”

Shameless bastard.

Yuan Yi flushed with heat, his face burning. “Don’t you have work to do at this hour?”

He noticed Li Heng’s hair had grown out a bit, likely hadn’t been trimmed in a while—clearly, the man hadn’t exactly been idle. Li Heng had always been one to keep himself neat and clean.

“The Xingyan’s Feilong Fleet is out. That’s the old man’s ace force—older than Feilang, and with a more complete structure. Right now they’re locking onto the Mingzhu Fleet, while Feilang is tangling with the Linhai Fleet. I may need to take care of something else.”

“You’re heading for the Brute Horde?”

“How’d you guess?”

“When you want to force an enemy to retreat, there are only a few options: overwhelming deterrence, striking the heart of their territory, cutting off supplies, or a decapitation strike. Right now, with the two sides evenly matched, overwhelming deterrence is off the table. As for supplies—Second Prince committed treason and is feeding the Brute Horde using our own provisions, so that’s not exactly news. That leaves hitting their base or going for a decapitation strike. But given the current state of things, that’s no easy task. This battle—isn’t it going to be very hard?”

Li Heng’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse. He certainly didn’t look like someone who’d been sleeping well.

If Yuan Yi remembered correctly, the Qiming Army had been preparing for this battle for years.

While the Xingyan Army had also been preparing all along, the orcs of the Brute Horde were vicious and formidable fighters. They had now mobilized the strength of their entire nation for this campaign—all in order to carve up the Maledor Star together with the Qiming Army.

Li Heng silently reached out and touched Yuan Yi’s belly. Feeling the babies respond, his voice softened with rare warmth. “It’s not finalized yet, but yes—there’s a good chance I’ll have to go to the Brute Horde. Igtan is also moving troops toward this direction. I have to intercept them on the route.”

Yuan Yi frowned slightly, sensing something wasn’t right. “That’s not close. A long-range operation like that wouldn’t necessarily put you at an advantage. Did something happen on the home planet?”

Li Heng didn’t answer immediately.

Yuan Yi called, “Husband?”

Li Heng gently caressed his cheek. “You always pick the perfect time to call me that. How are you this sharp, all the time?”

“Well, how can a doctor afford not to be sharp? Now tell me—what’s going on?”

“It’s the Second Prince. His forces allowed the orcs to land on the surface of the home planet—burning, looting, killing. Ground battles have already begun. The Xingyan Army has always seen protecting the people as its core mission, but right now we’re stretched thin—it’s hard to cover everything.”

He had deliberately instructed Li Mian and He Yanwu to block that part of the information, fearing it would upset Yuan Yi too much.

“But doesn’t the home planet have its own defense systems? What about Pei She and the major defense zones? Don’t we have electronic police?”

“A lot of the defense zone personnel are still sitting on the fence, so Pei She’s struggling. And we don’t have many electronic police. Most of them are electronic inspectors. Inspectors supervise, police respond. In recent years, public safety has been good, and robotic police are quick to act, so there weren’t many assigned in the first place. Even if we threw them all in now, they wouldn’t make much of a splash. Especially with the dark-tree people from Igtan—those things can grow their roots and branches into a robot’s body and paralyze its systems. Even electronic police are struggling. Right now, a lot of civilians are too scared to even go out for supplies. The public’s starting to panic.”

“How about I give you a lousy idea?”

“Hmm? Let’s hear it.”

“Back when I was still in school and you weren’t around—how did you shield me? Forgotten already?”

“Of course I… remember. But those things—there were many, sure, but they didn’t have any combat ability.”

“They didn’t have combat ability because you never equipped them with combat skills. But that’s totally something you can add later. Go talk to Dad.”

“Talk to Dad?”

“Yeah. After all these years, don’t tell me our dad hasn’t developed any gene-based drugs or other stuff for dealing with beastfolk. And even if he hasn’t, there are so many chemical compounds out there—it’s all about making it happen, General. You don’t have to be upright and honorable all the time.”

When Li Heng saw the glint of mischief in Yuan Yi’s eyes, he suddenly understood what he meant. He wanted nothing more than to fold this man into his very bones, but he could only wrap his arms gently around him and say, “I’ll start making arrangements right away. Also—I’ve already dispatched troops to Aysdiya, so don’t worry about anyone attacking it. But if anything really difficult comes up, you must contact me immediately.”

Yuan Yi nodded. “Go quickly.”

Half of Li Heng’s figure had already faded away, but he suddenly reappeared in full and strode over to whisper something in Yuan Yi’s ear.

Yuan Yi’s face instantly flushed red, but seeing Li Heng still waiting for an answer, he had no choice but to agree.

Not long after, Ji Lan came over to call Yuan Yi for dinner. Seeing his unusually red face, he asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Li Mian piped up, “I know! It must be because my master just said something indecent!”

Yuan Yi’s face turned even redder—now his neck was flushed too. He quickly grabbed Li Mian and threw him out. “Go catch your bugs!”

From outside came Li Mian’s wail: “Awoo awoo! I don’t like how they burst in my hands, Brother Yi!”

At that moment, Yuan Yi wished he could sew that little brat’s mouth shut. Then he thought, sewing it shut wouldn’t be enough—he’d have to cut the power.

•  

Three days later, on the surface of the main planet.

In the major cities, waves of agricultural robots suddenly appeared.

With the advancement of technology, farming had long been fully industrialized. People only did it by hand—like Ji Lan’s family—for relaxation. Normally, every step from tilling and sowing to pesticide spraying, pest removal, and harvesting was handled by agricultural robots.

It was rare to see them in cities, but somehow, they showed up. They weren’t eye-catching—especially the pesticide-spraying ones. In the middle of winter, if you didn’t look up, you wouldn’t even notice them. Even if you did, you’d just assume they were survey drones or something similar.

But it turned out that these inconspicuous pesticide-spraying robots would quietly fly past orcs and spray them with a beast-specific sedative. The orcs only realized something was wrong a second before they passed out.

Then came the harvesting robots. With a snip of their massive cutters—the same ones used for cutting rice and corn stalks—they could directly decapitate the orcs. They even had their own built-in hoppers to collect and carry away the bodies.

Next, the city-cleaning robots arrived. Tireless and diligent, they scrubbed away the bloodstains from the ground. If any Dark Tree people tried to sneak into the cleaning robots’ systems, they’d be met with embedded corrosive agents stored inside the bots. Before the intruders could sabotage anything, the chemicals would attach to them—and they’d go berserk before they could cause any damage.

Why weren’t the robots affected by corrosion?

Because these machines were built to withstand constant exposure to sun, wind, and rain—they were made of highly corrosion-resistant materials. Corrosive chemicals meant nothing to them.

Once the cleaning was done, the cleaning bots tucked their brushes back into their legs and calmly rolled away.

If they encountered a large squad of orcs, the beast-specific sedative would be sprayed first. When the enemies collapsed en masse, harvesting robots wouldn’t be fast or safe enough to decapitate them one by one. At that point, they’d bring in industrial-grade waste shredders. The orcs went in whole—and came out as beast paste.

News from the surface quickly reached the orcs aboard the fleet. Enraged, the orcs demanded to know why the Second Prince hadn’t warned them about these machines.

The Second Prince had no answer. Who would have thought that in such an advanced era, someone would actually think to send agricultural robots into battle?

But the damage was already done. The losses were indeed severe—mainly because, at first, the orcs hadn’t taken small robots like crop-spraying drones seriously. If those hulking machines had come at them from the start, they wouldn’t have been so careless or suffered such a huge loss.

Now there was no choice. Orcs landing on the surface began wearing helmets.

But this time, Li Heng had truly inherited Yuan Yi’s teachings. When the orcs wore helmets, he simply ordered his troops to attack from underneath.

Over the years, Li Heng had led his forces across the galaxy, relying mostly on long-range combat. He’d nearly forgotten that the essence of close combat was speed, precision, and brute force. Who cared about fancy techniques? What mattered was that it worked.

After being burned by agricultural robots, the orcs began attacking them on sight. In the past, hitting these bots didn’t do much—since they weren’t combat units, they would just retreat as long as they weren’t damaged.

But now, the agricultural robots self-destructed when attacked! And when they exploded, injection-type munitions would shoot out. The orcs would still be hit and pass out.

And it wasn’t just the agricultural robots. The city’s cleaning bots and urban patrol bots had the same upgrade.

You hit me? I explode on you!

With that, the orcs were too scared to attack anymore. They even began avoiding the surface altogether—because everything down there was full of traps and treachery.

So, after a week, the orcs landing on the surface had all switched to mecha armor.

And as long as a mecha had a design, it could be quickly printed using a 3D metal printer.

Li Heng had identical copies made, which caused the orc soldiers to suffer losses once again.

Back and forth like this, within just half a month, more than two thousand orc soldiers were lost. Including the ones Visser had taken, it totaled around 2,400—no small number by any means.

The orc chieftain, Dru’Adi, said to the Second Prince, “Why hasn’t that omega under your command returned yet? He took my people to search for the blue gel, and so many days have passed, yet there’s been no word!”

The Second Prince said nothing. Truth was, he didn’t know what was going on anymore. According to his scans, Visser’s current location showed up right in the enemy fleet. The message Visser had sent him was some strange symbol, but he still hadn’t figured out what it meant.

He messaged again, only to receive the same symbol back—now duplicated, with no explanation whatsoever.

He had considered the possibility that Visser had been captured—but Li Heng hadn’t mentioned anything about it, which made the situation even more uncertain. He couldn’t tell whether Visser had infiltrated successfully or had actually been caught.

If Visser was infiltrating, any sudden action might throw off his plan and waste all their previous effort.

“Let’s wait another two days and see.”

“Still waiting?” Dru’Adi said impatiently. “You’re not thinking of keeping that batch of blue gel for yourself, are you?”

“How could I? I even sent my full-blooded younger siblings to your tribe. Do you still think I’m not sincere enough?”

“Hmph. If not for that, I wouldn’t have agreed to send troops. You’d better keep your word.”

“Don’t worry, just wait a little longer—there’ll definitely be results.”

The orc chieftain had no choice but to suppress his dissatisfaction for the time being.

But before even two days had passed, he suddenly received a report from one of his subordinates: “Chieftain, you need to take a look at this—what is this?”

The subordinate indignantly unfolded a piece of tissue paper. Inside was what looked like a small bone—slightly larger than a human tooth, shaped like a bird’s beak, with a slight point.

Dru’Adi frowned and said, “You fool, isn’t this the beak bone from a beast root? What are you doing with this thing? Whose is it?”

This was a uniquely male orc trait—because it resembled a bird’s beak, it was called a “beak bone.” He definitely wouldn’t mistake it.

The subordinate said, “It was found in the meat dish the brothers received from the Qiming Army!”

Dru’Adi’s rage surged. “What did you say?!”

The subordinate said, “Chief, do you think the Qiming Army is mocking us? Kantí personally bit into it during the meal—many of us were there and can testify to it. I was going to grab my weapon and go confront the Qiming Army’s commander, but Kantí told me to hold back and come ask you what to do. They clearly don’t see us as people—feeding us our own tribesmen’s meat!”

Dru’Adi’s fury was easy to imagine. His massive fists clenched so tightly that the veins looked like they would burst. He examined the beak bone repeatedly to confirm it wasn’t fake, then carefully put it away and said in a low voice, “Kantí did well. Go back and tell everyone to keep quiet for now. I need to look into this carefully. If they really dared to do something like this—we will demand justice for our brothers!”

The subordinate nodded and withdrew.

The horn on the chief’s head flushed blood-red with rage.

Originally, he had thought the chaos on Huamei Star’s surface was orchestrated by Li Heng’s forces. But now that he thought about it—Li Heng and his people had never actually shown up. So how could he be sure?

What if it was the Second Prince himself? Could he be using this to win the sympathy of the Owanda populace?

It suddenly didn’t seem so impossible.

If it had been Li Heng, there would be no reason to hide it. This was exactly the time when he should be working hard to win over the people.

Dru’Adi immediately summoned his closest aides to begin a secret investigation. But before they could even uncover the truth about the beak bone, someone else bit into another one—this time, it was the hardest bone from a male beastman, probably not ground down properly!

To make matters worse, someone had spotted Visser in Star City! That omega had entered a secret facility with someone—and that person was none other than Luo Qizheng, the commander of the Vajra Mecha Division!

Dru’Adi suppressed his fury. “Second Prince, the two days you asked for are long past. How much longer do you expect me to wait?”

The Second Prince now suspected that Visser was most likely in trouble, but also sensed this was a turning point. He said, “He’s already been captured by Li Heng’s forces. Your orc beastmen are in Li Heng’s hands too. Maybe it’s time for a rescue mission. Qiming will provide long-range cover, and you launch a boarding operation to save them.”

Dru’Adi snapped, “Your man took my people to help you, and now that they haven’t returned, you want me to go rescue them?”

Sensing the other’s growing anger, the Second Prince smiled and tried to explain, “When it comes to close combat, your tribe far surpasses us. Though we do have robot soldiers, you, Chief Dru’Adi, know how much energy it takes to mobilize them. At this moment, we simply can’t afford that cost.”

Can’t afford it?!

At those words, Dru’Adi slammed the table and stood up. “So that’s why you dare serve us meals made from my clansmen’s flesh?!”

Just then, someone rushed in. “Second Prince!”

The Second Prince gestured for the messenger to hold off, then turned to Dru’Adi and asked, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Dru’Adi took out the beak bone. “This was found by one of my people in the food your men delivered. If the Second Prince doesn’t recognize it, I’d be happy to explain.”

The Second Prince’s mouth twitched. “Impossible! I’ll have this investigated immediately.”

The messenger again spoke up, “Second Prince—”

The Second Prince asked, “What is it now?”

The messenger said, “The Seventh Prince is dead. He… he was beaten to death by their own tribesmen.”

The Seventh Prince was his full younger brother—the one he had personally sent to the Brute Barbarians. Hearing this, he suddenly turned to glare at Dru’Adi, fury blazing. “This is your so-called sincerity?!”

Dru’Adi hadn’t ordered the killing, but he had a rough idea who did. Still, he didn’t deny it. “Sailan, even though the battle is being fought on your territory, don’t forget—we’re allies, not vassals of your Qiming Army. If you continue to act as though you can command and exploit us, then my brothers will teach you the consequences. I’ll be waiting on your investigation results. Let’s go.”

A group of towering beastmen turned and left the Mingzhu flagship.

The Second Prince took a sharp breath, barely restraining his urge to kill, then asked his subordinate, “Any word from the second group sent to Aysdiya?”

The subordinate replied, “Second Prince, not yet. The last message we received was just before they landed. Also, someone just reported that the Fourth Prince has sent people to Aysdiya as well.”

The Second Prince was full of confusion. “Send another team. This time, make sure we get a report back!”

The subordinate accepted the order and left. Meanwhile, on Aysdiya’s side, Flight Wolf and Snow Wolf had once again successfully trapped enemy forces in the deep sea.

Yuan Yi was no longer handling this matter—his body was getting heavier, and he was becoming increasingly reluctant to move.

He was already seven months pregnant—or more precisely, thirty weeks in. With the due date approaching, Lì Heng’s pheromones alone were no longer enough to give him the same sense of ease. As he began waking up more frequently at night, he experienced insomnia, headaches, back pain, and growing feelings of unease and irritability.

But he didn’t show any of it. During the day, he would lead Ji Lan in organizing volunteers online—gathering information and helping the elderly and those in poor health who were struggling to buy supplies due to the war. They would then coordinate delivery to people’s doorsteps.

This had been going on for a while, and they even had a dedicated website for it. To avoid revealing their location, all communications were relayed through the Zhenyuan fleet’s network.

Professor Jian said, “If you’re tired, take a break. You really do look worn out lately. Let Flight Wolf and the others handle this. If needed, I’ll step in.”

Professor Jian had come shortly after Ji Lan arrived, bringing with her a team of obstetricians and nurses. She had even personally studied how to care for postnatal omegas.

Originally, Yuan Yi hadn’t wanted her to come—he was worried it would be too dangerous. But Li Heng was concerned that when the time came, he might not be able to make it in time for the birth, so he had Professor Jian and the delivery team sent over in advance.

Yuan Yi said, “Mom, I’m fine. It’s just that the babies are heavy, and I’m not sleeping well at night.”

Professor Jian replied, “Once the war is over, no matter what, Li Heng better serve you hand and foot. This is too much—carrying his child and still having to think about preserving his reputation.”

Yuan Yi chuckled and said, “Well, I’m also doing it to accumulate virtue for the children. Can’t say it’s entirely for him. Really, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Li Mian was off to the side, fiddling with its fingers.

That night, as Yuan Yi was getting ready for bed, he asked it, “What happened this afternoon? You looked like you had something to say but didn’t. Did your master tell you to keep something from me again?”

Li Mian said, “Brother Yi, the Qiming Army and the Brute Barbarians suddenly ramped up their firepower. Xuan Ying said it all comes down to this.”

Yuan Yi asked, “Are the casualties heavy?”

Li Mian drooped its head and didn’t answer.

Yuan Yi called out, “Li Mian, find a photo of the general in uniform and project it onto the ceiling.”

Li Mian quickly did as told. “How about this one, Brother Yi?”

It picked a photo where its master was in uniform, having just taken off his white gloves, looking straight ahead.

Yuan Yi looked at the image and said, “Good. Now send your master a message.”

Li Mian said, “Sure. What should I send?”

Yuan Yi didn’t even hesitate. “Tell him to keep looking forward. And tell him to hurry up—I don’t want to wait too long.”

Li Mian: “……???”