Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 99: Arguing With Cohen

Chapter 99: Arguing With Cohen

When Lyra settled into the co-pilot seat of the mecha, Cohen finally started filling her in on the situation outside. The level-nine plants had been snatched by the Mendez, the beast wave was taken care of, and everyone else had made it back to the base.

"Kail mentioned they didn’t find the queen bee’s body in the cave. I’m here to confirm her death. Did you run into her?" Cohen asked while piloting the mecha, his tone serious. "This isn’t a joke. I need the truth."

Lyra leaned back, resting her forehead on her hand. "I wanted to grab her Beast Core, but the swarm got away with it."

Cohen almost couldn’t believe it. Why did that sound so hard to swallow?

Everything she said made Cohen feel like he was losing his mind. After a pause, he glanced over at her. "Are you the Lyra from the Shedd family, who ’died’ decades ago?"

At first, this woman was all about getting those plants, and he felt helpless as she got swarmed. But even after she left the battle, Erin still had it out for her, which made Cohen question Erin later on.

Erin’s reply? "This is a Shedd family matter. Please, Lieutenant Commander Whyte, stay out of it."

Then, thanks to Kogar’s reminder, Cohen finally remembered there was the Miss Lyra Shedd from the Shedd family, a double S-Class talent at that. Once, people even compared him to her.

He’d heard she died during a psychic power rampage, and over time, her name just faded from memory.

But now, eleven years later, this genius somehow reappeared as an orphan from Voidstar.

Cohen waited quietly for Lyra’s response.

"Who knows?" She yawned. "Sorren brought me to Voidstar, and I don’t remember anything."

’Don’t remember?’

Cohen’s suspicion deepened, and he brought up something else.

"Oleg, the Vice Admiral, is dead." His voice was heavy.

But Lyra didn’t react at all. Cohen pressed his lips together. "You were there when he died. Couldn’t you save him?"

No matter what kind of person Oleg was, a Vice Admiral was too crucial to the military.

"Didn’t he have level-nine healing plants?"

Cohen felt a surge of anger. He knew it—she could’ve healed Oleg, just like she healed his severe injuries back then.

It’s just that, she had never planned to save him.

Cohen saw through her cold demeanor. Holding back his rage, he said, "He died because of those damn plants. The healing energy overwhelmed him, causing his cells to multiply until he exploded!"

Unable to hold back any longer, he added, "Do you have any idea what his death cost the military? A Vice Admiral with a legion could defend a small planet, fend off high-level beasts, and save billions of lives."

"You hate him because he executed your parents," he said, his voice raw with pain.

The execution wasn’t a secret; it was public knowledge.

Cohen’s hoarse, tortured voice made Lyra lift her eyelids. This young man genuinely cared about the entire Alliance.

But it didn’t move her at all, so she remained silent.

Cohen snorted and pushed the throttle to full power.

The mecha tore through the night sky, leaving two bright trails of fire in its wake.

Despite its advanced design, by the time they reached the base, dawn had broken—just in time for breakfast.

Lyra headed straight to the cafeteria.

Her entrance turned heads among the Legion Skywalkers and interns.

Her performance yesterday had been nothing short of fierce.

Thierry’s expression was conflicted, while Vivian looked a little smug. The Mendez had secured the level-nine plants, and knowing Lyra wanted them made her even happier.

"Lyra, you’re back! Are you OK?" Zinnia’s fork clattered onto her plate as she rushed over, concern etched on her face. "You didn’t run into the queen bee in the cave, did you?"

Zinnia was probably the only person there who had no hard feelings against Lyra. In her eyes, if someone was trying to kill you, of course, you had every right to fight back.

Thierry stood up as well. "Welcome back, Lyra."

He understood Lyra better than most, seeing her as just more decisive than others—something that made sense, given where she came from.

Lyra wasn’t used to this kind of acceptance. It caught her off guard, but she just nodded. "You guys go ahead and eat. I’m going to grab some food."

After she left, Zinnia sat back down, muttering between bites, "Do you think Lyra’s upset because of that woman, Erin?"

Zinnia then shot a glare at Kail, who was silently eating across from her. She asked him, "Why are you so against Lyra?"

They had all witnessed Erin attacking Lyra when they arrived. It was just a fight over some plants, but Erin was acting like she was take Lyra’s death.

Kail couldn’t give them the real reason, so he just kept his head down and continued eating. He was determined to dig into what really happened back then.

"Let’s just eat," Thierry interjected, hoping to stop Zinnia’s questions. "Lyra knows what she’s doing."

Even after her identity came out, Lyra carried on like nothing had changed, calm as ever.

Erin noticed this and couldn’t stand it. She cornered Lyra in an empty combat room. "You’re really hard to kill, aren’t you, Lyra?"

"Well, you’re still breathing too," Lyra replied, casually wiping sweat from her brow.

Erin looked down at her, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahaha, look at you! What makes you think you can take me on?"

Without warning, Erin launched a barrage of ice spikes and charged at Lyra.

Lyra quickly transformed Schedar into a support stand, dodged the ice spikes and Erin’s punches.

Then, Lyra slipped behind Erin and kicked her hard into the wall.

Erin was stunned. She knew Lyra still had Soul Spike inside her. ’So how does she still have such explosive power?’

Erin attacked again.

Despite using both her powers, she couldn’t even graze Lyra’s clothes.

"Something that doesn’t belong to you is useless, even if it’s dual superpowers," Lyra taunted from a short distance away, her voice cold.

"Fight me without Schedar!" Erin snapped, eyes blazing with fury. "Admit it, you can’t beat me with just your own strength!"

Lyra wasn’t rattled by Erin’s words. "You should be thankful we’re on base."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Erin was fuming, practically grinding her teeth. "This isn’t over yet!"

When Lyra returned to the interns’ dormitory, she bumped into someone familiar in the hallway. The person greeted her with a casual, "Cousin Lyra."

She didn’t even look his way, just unlocked her dorm room door.

"If Grandpa knew you were still alive, he’d be so happy," Robin said behind her, clearly aware of her identity from Erin’s reaction.

Lyra didn’t turn around. "Tell your dear grandpa not to bother me."

With a slam, the door closed.

Robin couldn’t help but smile. He wondered how the Shedd family and the Calvin family would react once they learned she was still alive.

It would be quite the spectacle.

But Lyra couldn’t care less. All she was focused on was how to get those plants.