The Devoted Second Male Lead Decided to Favor Someone Else Chapter 37.1

Scarlet Rose [ABO] – What Happens When the Villain Dies at the Beginning? (38)

Payne didn't even have time to say “don't go” before Lu Shijin hung up.

Payne collapsed onto his chair, his mind replaying the words Lu Shijin just said to him.

“Although I'm an Omega, I want to prove that I'm not inferior to any Alpha, which is my life-long wish. Your Majesty, if you really love me, then please respect and support my decision.”

In the end, Payne didn't call Lu Shijin back.

He immediately went to the military headquarters, preparing to personally lead the battle against the Zerg invasion.

Most Zerg were large, born with hard, steel-like shells, and had extremely tenacious vitalities. With their sheer number and fast recovery abilities, they often fought recklessly.

Although the Imperial army was the elite, the people who controlled the mechas were still made of flesh and blood. The moment their mecha broke, they would most certainly die.

In the huge war council room, the atmosphere was solemn, generals on both sides of the conference table staring at the screen with tense expressions.

The screen displayed the central area of where the battle with the Zerg was happening. Green represented the empire's forces, red represented the Zerg.

Although the green and red dots disappeared at about the same pace, every time a green dot disappeared, everyone would feel their hearts sink a bit further.

The green dot would never come back up. This meant that the Empire had sacrificed another elite soldier.

The Zerg prepared fully for this invasion and sent out “Destroyers” as their frontline.

This type of Zerg looked like huge cockroaches. Not only were they difficult to kill, they would also continuously spawn eggs.

When these eggs were attached to the mechas, they would explode after a certain time and do severe damage on the mechas.

Slowly, the red dots became advantageous and continuously pushed further in.

“We can't continue doing this. This time, the Zerg pulled out all their forces to completely decimate us. We can't afford to lose, we have to ask other planets for help!”

“But all friendly planets are at least 1000 light years away, and reinforcements would only arrive after a day at earliest, I'm afraid that the situation would already be past the point of no return by then!”

“It's still better than sitting here waiting for death! I'm going on a mecha right now. Killing one will be a fair trade, and killing two will be a profit!”

Everyone turned to the person sitting at the head of the table, “Your Majesty, what should we do?”

The young Emperor was calm in the face of danger. “How much combat power does each troop have left?”

“All the troops have been assembled. Other than the ones who are already on the battlefield, there are fifty thousand soldiers left.”

“And how many battle mechas?” Payne asked.

“Not enough . . . five thousand!”

Everyone felt their hearts chill. This meant that the remaining forty-five thousand would have to fight hand to hand with the Zerg.

Even steel-plated mechas had trouble fighting against the Zerg. Without any protection, sending anyone there would just be sending them to death.

“Admiral Li, immediately send a distress signal to the Western planets and ask them to send reinforcement troops.” Payne stood up, straightening the brim of his commander's headwear. “Then select five thousand from the fifty thousand soldiers left to form a squadron who are willing to die to flank the left wing of the Zerg, where their forces are weakest, to open up some space for the main force. Remember, this assignment is highly likely to be a suicide mission, so it must be of their own volition, not forced.”

“Yessir!” Admiral Li saluted him, then hesitated and asked, “If I may, who will be leading this five thousand people?”

Payne put on white gloves, his blue eyes filled with resolve, “Me.”

The war room immediately sounded with objections.

“How could this be!”

“You're our Emperor! You can't do that!”

“Your Majesty, I am willing to go! Please let me lead the flanking team, I promise we will succeed!”

“Stop talking.” Payne smiled and looked over each military leader. “All of you here are heroes who are loyal to the Empire. I understand your loyalty, but how could we have an Emperor if we can't even keep our Empire? We all know that the reinforcements won't arrive in time, so these five thousand people are our last hope. All of my comrades are fighting on the front line. I can't let myself stay here and just wait for news. That's why, please give me a chance to fight with them.”

Everyone in the room had experienced hundreds of battles and received countless achievements to achieve their current place.

Some of them had doubted Payne's ability, or were dissatisfied with Payne, but at this moment, all of them felt respect for their new Emperor.

“Your Majesty! We are willing to go with you!”

“Yes, I want to go! Even if I have to fight with these old bones, I still want to blow off a couple of Zerg heads!”

“Better to die in glory than to live in guilt!”

“Stop arguing.” Payne interrupted their shouts and said in a low voice, “Everyone here are important ministers who have made significant contributions. The Empire will still require your support in the future, so just leave the chance to be a hero to the younger generation.”

Hearing that the Emperor would be leading them himself, the morales of the fifty thousand soldiers were boosted and almost all of them signed up to be part of the five thousand suicide squad.

The generals quickly picked out the five thousand Alphas who had the best physical and mental strength to await the Emperor's instructions.

The battle situation at the front was at a stalemate. They desperately needed an opportunity to tear open the frontline to make a counter attack.

Having changed into a combat suit, the Emperor appeared powerful and heroic, standing tall upon the commanding platform with his head held high as he made his final pre-battle speech.

“Soldiers, going will mean almost certain death, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Very good. Remember this, you are not fighting for the Empire, nor for me! If our home is destroyed by the Zerg, then none of us will live to see tomorrow, so you are all fighting for yourselves and your families! Understood?”

“Understood!”

“This operation is called 'Dawn,' hoping that we will bring the dawn of victory onto the Empire! Get on your mechas!”

The voices of the five thousand people were impassioned and they shouted, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Victory! Victory!”

Maupay was also in the expedition. Just before he boarded his mecha, Payne asked him, “Do you still have nothing from him?”

Maupay shook his head, “I've already checked all the people operating the mechas, I didn't find Blood . . . I mean, any information that matches with Major Lu.”

Operation of any military mechas needed authorization from the military. If Lu Shijin was already in battle, they should have some record of it.

But ever since that day, Payne has not received any news of Lu Shijin.

Chapter end