186: Chapter 186 Winning Over

Commander No. 24 watched as the fleet actually refused to provide support, ordering them to launch an assault relying solely on their existing forces.

That meant they would have to keep throwing the flesh and blood of their soldiers into the fray, one wave after another.

At that moment, Commander No. 24 truly realized that from top to bottom, no one in the entire Lux Civilization regarded those ordinary Lux soldiers as actual living beings.

In their eyes, they were merely tools—perhaps even less than tools.

Commander No. 24 didn't know why, but this thought had suddenly popped into his mind.

At that moment, he walked out of the trench and looked up at the explosions in the starry sky and the distant stars.

Commander No. 24 felt a bit lost; he suddenly didn't know where he truly belonged.

In fact, Commander No. 24 also understood that he, too, was likely just a tool—only a more advanced one, and therefore more valuable and durable than the ordinary Lux soldiers.

Commander No. 24 touched his bald head, now devoid of antennae, and suddenly realized that since losing them, he seemed much clearer-headed and had begun to think more deeply about many issues.

Just as Commander No. 24 was feeling lost, a purple Lux Alien approached him.

"Respected Commander, I am very glad to see you."

Commander No. 24 turned his head and immediately saw the purple Lux Alien, which looked vastly different from the other Lux Aliens around them.

"I recall that you are the King's Royal Guard. Why aren't you guarding the King, and what are you doing here?"

Commander No. 24 quickly recognized them; purple Lux Aliens like this were basically the King's Royal Guard, who protected the King and rarely deployed, with only a small number holding positions in the Lux military.

Commander No. 24 looked at him and recalled for a good while before remembering that this guy in front of him seemed to be their army's Quartermaster.

"Quartermaster, if there's nothing else, go back. Tally up everything the army needs; we need more..."

Commander No. 24 had originally wanted to say they needed more supplies, but that was impossible; the higher-ups wouldn't send them any resources at all, and everything had to rely on themselves.

"More rational allocation."

Commander No. 24 immediately corrected himself, changing the word 'resources' to 'allocation'.

"Commander, I believe you must have many doubts."

"What do you mean?"

Commander No. 24 instantly realized that something was wrong with the person in front of him.

"Who are you?"

"Commander, I have no name. Like you, I only have the designation 10773."

Upon hearing this, Commander No. 24 immediately called out his designation without hesitation.

"10773, who do you serve?"

10773 replied immediately,

"I naturally serve His Majesty the King. I was created by His Majesty the King, after all."

Commander No. 24 heard this and immediately retorted,

"The entire Lux Alien Civilization should be led by Her Majesty the Queen, therefore all Lux Aliens must serve Her Majesty the Queen."

Commander No. 24 was right; the sole core of the entire Lux Civilization was Her Majesty the Queen, and the entire meaning of the Lux Civilization's existence and service was to fulfill Her Majesty the Queen's every will.

This was also what was taught in the schools.

The Quartermaster before him just smiled upon hearing this, then stared fixedly at the Lux ground commander, Officer No. 24.

"Is that really the truth?"

When Commander No. 24 heard this and looked at the person before him, he felt as if he could see right through his thoughts.

"Stop playing games."

Commander No. 24 was clearly angry; he looked at 10773 and said,

"Say whatever you want to say."

Seeing that the Commander had said this, 10773 stated straightforwardly,

"The Lux Civilization has never needed you, and in their eyes, you are merely a ridiculous tool that could be discarded at any moment."

Commander No. 24 naturally understood after hearing 10773's words.

Even though he was the exalted commander of the ground forces, once he failed in battle, the Princes would never let him off.

A tool is only used if it is handy; a tool that is not handy will simply be cast aside.

"What's the use of saying all this?"

Seeing this, 10773 understood in his heart that Commander No. 24's loyalty to the Queen had clearly been shaken.

The reason they chose Commander No. 24 as their inside man was entirely because he was not easily affected by psionic interference, and the Queen's mental control over him had weakened to the extreme.

"His Majesty the King looks forward to meeting you, and I believe he can offer you a brand new future."

Commander No. 24 was silent for a moment after hearing this, then looked at him and said,

"The King?"

Commander No. 24 thought for a moment; in fact, he was very unfamiliar with the King of the Lux Civilization, as his direct superiors were, in the vast majority of cases, the Lux Queen and the Princes.

The King was more like a proxy mascot.

Although for ordinary Lux Aliens, the King was equivalent to the Queen, for a high-level commander like No. 24, the King was merely a titular commander, and in reality, they would never listen to the King's orders.

"His Majesty the King said that as long as we can seize power, it will no longer be a one-man show by the Queen and the Princes; ordinary Lux Aliens, from generals down to civilians, will all have the right to participate in government."

Commander No. 24 heard this and immediately stopped him, saying,

"Shut up. Do not speak these words again."

Commander No. 24 looked at the audacious 10773 in front of him,

"These matters must be known only to Heaven and Earth, and to you and me."

10773 heard this and knew he had been a bit too hasty, so he smiled and said,

"Yes, Commander."

10773 did not feel frustrated or dissatisfied from being reprimanded; on the contrary, he was exceptionally happy, because the Commander before him had not openly rejected him.

Telling him to shut up was one thing, but according to normal logic, betraying the Queen was something that should be dealt with by summary execution.

Now that Commander No. 24 only told him to shut up and act as if nothing had happened, it was clear that the ajar door in his heart had already been pushed open; it only needed someone to give it another hard push, and the Commander would be able to stand on their side.

10773 immediately secretly conveyed this news; he wanted to mobilize all the Aliens in the army who were loyal to the King to work together and win Commander No. 24 over to their side.

10773 looked up at the sky, then turned to look at the entire battlefield.

As the alarm sounded once more, 10773 left only one final sentence:

"All we have to do is wait."