Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1471: Chapter 834: Proving Myself

On Bright Eyes Star, the major fortress clusters housing the Cosmic Lock are under heavy assault, with large areas already fallen.

The thunderous cannon fire fell upon them, and even though Ricardo and the others stayed inside solid defensive fortifications, they could feel the ground trembling.

But this didn’t affect Ricardo at all.

He carefully inspected his weapon.

Even though he had checked it many times, this was still his habit before setting out. He used this method to relax his mind and body.

“Captain Ricardo, there’s no chance of victory in this operation.”

The person trying to persuade him was named Liu Se, from the Wangyue Knight Battle Group. Just by the name, it was clear that this was a native Interstellar Warrior Battle Group of the Wangyue Star Domain, with a history of about two thousand years; its mother group was the Golden Knight Legion. When the Beastman war broke out in Omgeria, they bravely accepted assistance requests from brother battle groups within the Star Domain, dispatching three companies to participate in the war — at that time, they had less than five hundred soldiers. And those three companies, not a single person returned, including the Battle Group Leader.

The hundred or so remaining Wangyue Knights elected Liu Se as the acting Battle Group Leader, joining the Alliance’s front line. After the establishment of the Unbreakable Defense Line, Liu Se’s task was to cooperate with Captain Ricardo of the Spear of the Dragon King, to defend the three exits of the Wangyue Star Domain.

At the moment, they were both located at one of the three exits, specifically the seventh exit on Bright Eyes Star, which had always faced the greatest military pressure.

But now, Bright Eyes Star was on the brink of collapse.

The Beastmen had already broken in, and despite exhausting all options, they had been forced to retreat over the span of a month, eventually holding at this final core fortress.

No more retreat was possible, behind them was the Space-time Locking Device. If this were destroyed by the Green Skin Orcs, then this massive Beastman Army, capable of crushing Bright Eyes Star within a month, would overrun the Wangyue Star Domain, causing unforeseeable destruction.

And as Commander, Ricardo Lazio, at this final moment, decided to gather all remaining mobile forces and perform a decapitation strike against the enemy’s commander, the Beastman Warlord known as ’Ulu’.

Ulu was reckless but truly powerful. He enjoyed fighting on the front line and had personally slain at least ten Combat Brothers from different battle groups over the past month.

No scouting was needed for his position; his flag stood at the forefront of the assaulting fortress.

But what of it?

It’s still extremely difficult to kill him.

Ricardo’s so-called last gamble, Liu Se was not optimistic about.

The success rate was too low.

“So what do you think we should do?” Ricardo asked.

“Break through, retreat.” At this point, Liu Se didn’t hold back any longer, straightforwardly offering his opinion, “Try to preserve mobile forces, save as many lives as possible, retreat to the ships and return to the Wangyue Star Domain. We still have hope, we can resist layer by layer within the Wangyue Star Domain until Lord Tai Shichen returns to aid us.”

Ricardo shook his head slightly: “I’m not going to spout nonsense about being deserters or losing glory. Anyway, the Alliance doesn’t care about that; winning the battle is being a true hero. But I have to say, even retreating doesn’t have much chance of success, most likely everyone will still sacrifice their lives on the retreat path. Rather than that, it’s better to make one last effort while we still have strength, perhaps we can seize a sliver of life.”

“But…”

Ricardo interrupted Liu Se’s words, smiling as he spoke: “Moreover, if I lead the charge, it would better create chances for your breakout.”

“Captain Ricardo! That’s not what I meant!” Liu Se was anxious; he wasn’t afraid of death.

“I know, I know.” Ricardo just smiled, “Relax, just like I understand your suggestion as a rational choice rather than fear of death; but of course, you also have to understand me, not making a desperate move in hopelessness, you have to trust that I have carefully thought this through to make this decision.”

“This is the best choice: In the face of life and death, we inspire the greatest courage, to fight for even the smallest chance of victory, which is better than doing nothing at all. Meanwhile, even if our sacrifice does not achieve victory, at least we must leave seeds behind, and that is your responsibility, Battle Group Leader Liu Se. I highly anticipate you can lead the thirty warriors I’ve selected from three battle groups, to leave the Bright Eyes Star System alive, and in the future defense of the Wangyue Star Domain, minimize human losses.”

Liu Se felt immensely ashamed and responded, “I can take on the duty of drawing the enemy’s attention; you lead the retreat. You surviving carries greater significance than me. You are the leader of the Expeditionary Force at the Wangyue Section of the Unbreakable Defense Line…”

Ricardo shook his head, saying: “No, it won’t be. The fact that this Beastman Army descended upon Bright Eyes in such vast numbers is one thing, but our rapid collapse isn’t entirely without our own reasons.”

At this point, he snorted coldly and continued, “The promised Knight Order from the Steel Flame Furnace arrived less than 60%; the troops dispatched by Mercenary Queen Tristan were inadequately equipped; she claimed that fifteen planets that should have paid her financial dues didn’t, leaving her insufficient funds to arm her forces; Komeir Sisterhood listened to instructions but didn’t follow orders… The Wangyue Star Domain, disappointing.”

Liu Se’s face showed a guilty expression.

He was a Wangyue Person, and the behavior of those fellows made him embarrassed to be associated.

“We’re from the Alliance, not Wangyue People; due to the unique circumstances here, we had no way to enact the Expeditionary Force’s usual subjugation policies to clean up the situation first. Such occurrences were foreseen. But you’re different, Liu Se, you’re a Wangyue Person, it’ll be easier for you to garner support than me. So, promise me, survive, then guard the Wangyue Star Domain with its people. Finally, when the Alliance’s main force arrives, punish those traitors, and don’t spare those who got us killed.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Se could only nod.

Then, he heard Ricardo Lazio sighingly utter:

“I, as Captain of the Third Company of Spear of the Dragon King, once during the war group’s pre-Alliance days, mistakenly followed Iron Armor Battle Group as traitors, it was I alone who persuaded many people, including our Battle Group Leader, to switch sides and join the Alliance. Over many years, I have harbored doubts about this decision. I firmly believe in the correctness of everything the Alliance has done. But what I doubt is whether everything I’ve done aligns with what an Interstellar Warrior should steadfastly hold. At that time, whether my actions carried even a hint of yielding to power just to save my own life?”

“For many years, I’ve struggled to offer myself a definite answer. I desperately wish to say with certainty: not at all, my heart was wholly for the Empire, for humanity, for the future of the battle group. But I can’t quite say it.”

“And now, the present moment is a perfect chance, allowing me to prove all this.”

Unable to hold back, Liu Se said, “You don’t need to prove your loyalty to anyone, Captain Ricardo…”

“No, I need to. At least, at least, I need to prove it to myself.”