Last Z Story Episode 3

Alliance Shadow War: Rebirth and Embers

On the day Husnain joined C137, G Morty personally pinned a new alliance badge to his chest. The cold metal of the badge pressed against his skin, yet it made him feel more secure than holding his old fountain pen—here, there was no manipulation, only warriors standing side by side. He volunteered to take charge of the space station's defense modifications: during the day, he disassembled usable parts from spaceship wrecks; at night, he deduced battle tactics while staring at star maps. The scar on his arm glowed faintly pink under the light, a mark that kept him alert.

Peace didn’t last three months. A encrypted message suddenly arrived in C137’s command room. The sender signed off as "V," and the attached file was a blurry video: deep in the interstellar ruins, several warships marked with LDE’s old logo were being assembled, and the figure leading the work looked remarkably like VixentheFox. G Morty stared at the screen in silence for a moment, then turned to Husnain: "Do you want to go confirm this with me?" Husnain’s fingers tightened around the edge of the console, and finally, he nodded: "I’ll go. It’s time to settle this."

The two piloted a stealth warship into the ruins and found LDE’s secret base in an abandoned mine. Through the porthole, Husnain saw VixentheFox lecturing a group of subordinates. Her hair had been cut short, her gaze sharper than ever before, and in her hand was no longer a fountain pen, but a silver pistol. "C137 holds the core authority over the interstellar routes," her voice came through the monitoring device, cold and devoid of any warmth. "As long as we get it, we can take back control of the alliance."

Suddenly, the base’s alarm blared. VixentheFox immediately turned to the monitor, her eyes locking directly with Husnain’s inside the warship. In the split second their gazes met, Husnain saw a flash of panic in her eyes, quickly replaced by ferocity. "Capture them!" she ordered sharply, and the base’s defense cannons immediately locked onto the stealth warship.

G Morty activated the defense system at once and maneuvered the warship to escape the mine. But Husnain suddenly spoke up: "Wait, I want to talk to her." G Morty frowned: "Are you crazy? All she can think about now is power." Husnain shook his head: "I just need to know—when you said you were 'acting for the alliance,' was that ever true?"

He opened a communication channel and connected directly to VixentheFox’s terminal. "Vix, stop going down this wrong path," Husnain’s voice carried a hint of weariness. "RVX is already dead. Is power really more important than everything else to you?" There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, followed by VixentheFox’s sneering voice: "Important? Where were you when I was abandoned by RVX, when the entire alliance mocked me? It was power that helped me stand back up, and I’ll never lose it again."

"But what’s the difference between you and RVX now?" Husnain raised his voice. "You’re using people and hurting them in the same way he did!" This sentence seemed to hit a nerve. VixentheFox’s voice suddenly turned shrill: "Shut up! I’m not like him! I’m just taking back what’s mine!"

Just then, an explosion rang out from the direction of the base. Husnain and G Morty turned to look—several neutral alliance warships were firing at the base. It turned out G Morty had long anticipated that VixentheFox wouldn’t turn back, so he’d contacted the neutral alliance in advance, ready to eliminate this threat once and for all.

VixentheFox’s base descended into chaos in an instant, with subordinates fleeing in all directions. She looked at the chaotic scene, then at Husnain on the screen, her expression complicated. "You won," she said suddenly, a barely noticeable tremor in her voice. "But I won’t surrender—not until I’m dead." With that, she cut off communication, piloted a small warship out of the base, and flew toward the interstellar route.

Husnain chased after her immediately. The two warships raced through the stars, the glow of laser cannons slicing arcs through the darkness. In the end, Husnain’s warship blocked VixentheFox’s path. He opened the hatch, stood on the gangway, and looked at VixentheFox inside the opposing warship: "Stop, Vix. You can’t fight the entire alliance."

VixentheFox stared at him, silent for a long time, before finally lowering her weapon slowly. "I lost," she whispered, a trace of vulnerability finally showing in her eyes. "I knew this path wouldn’t work, but I was too scared to turn back." Husnain looked at her; the hatred in his heart gradually faded, leaving only a touch of regret. "It’s never too late to turn back—if you’re willing."

In the end, VixentheFox was brought back to C137 to face trial by the neutral alliance. She took the initiative to hand over all of LDE’s resources, asking only to be allowed to leave the alliance’s conflicts behind and live on a planet where no one knew her. On the day the trial ended, Husnain went to see her one last time and handed her a new fountain pen—not the old one from before, but a silver one engraved with the word "Rebirth." "Start over," he said.

VixentheFox took the pen, her fingertips brushing gently over the engraving, her eyes reddening slightly. "Thank you," she whispered—the first time she had ever thanked Husnain.

As he watched the spaceship carrying VixentheFox disappear into the stars, Husnain turned and boarded C137’s warship. G Morty patted him on the shoulder: "It’s all over." Husnain nodded and looked up at the starry sky outside the window. Starlight fell on his face, and he finally broke into a long-lost smile—the betrayals and pain of the past had all become marks of growth. And for the road ahead, he would walk toward the light, together with his comrades in C137.