Chapter 187: Queen of Purgatory
Purgatory is a famous landmark on New Hope.
Nightclubs, bars, clubs, intelligence hubs, talent markets—different people have different understandings of this place's function.
Young Sailors come here for fun, gang members gather around their bosses, and adventurers prefer the secluded booths, quietly exchanging information in private.
And in a private room, a 'wealthy businessman' indulging in pleasure might just be a pirate who recently pulled off a big score and became instantly rich.
Purgatory brings an unforgettable time to everyone.
Unlike Paradise Island, which also offers alcohol, hallucinogens, and android sex dolls, here, guests at least don't have to worry about dying from murder.
As long as they don't step outside Purgatory's doors, everyone gives the Queen face.
In the luxurious private room in the middle of the second floor, Anya stood up and slowly walked to the platform overlooking the entire venue.
"Dear friends."
The noisy music and drumbeats immediately stopped, followed by other noises, and all movement ceased instantly.
Humans, mutants, androids, aliens—all kinds of guests turned around, looking up at the Queen of Purgatory.
"The Space Station Council of New Hope brazenly claims that they are managing this place."
Anya's voice was not loud, nor did she deliberately alter her naturally sweet tone to sound more authoritative.
She didn't need such trivial tricks.
"What's even more ridiculous is that they always say behind our backs that they are maintaining order on New Hope Space Station."
A burst of wild laughter erupted below.
"Ha! Those officials don't know a thing!"
"Only an idiot wouldn't see that our Anya is the true ruler of New Hope!"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, we will definitely elect the next council that you approve of!"
"Long live the Queen!"
A heavily intoxicated, obese old man raised his glass, let out a loud belch, and drew a chorus of laughter.
He was a customs official bribed by Anya.
"You useless lot, you'd better do exactly as I say," Anya muttered to herself in a low voice.
She elegantly held a stemmed glass and saluted the crowd.
"Have fun everyone! All drinks are half price tonight!"
"Eek eek eek eek!"
A group of uniformed guests on the dance floor let out piercing monkey-like screeches.
They were scrawny, arm-in-arm, reeking of cheap perfume, staring intently at Anya's dancers, one hand reaching into their crotches and making vulgar gestures as if no one else was around.
Those were Galan Commonwealth Soldiers.
Anya tried her best to control her expression; she was truly fed up with these Galan people.
Whenever the Galan people appeared in groups, the establishment would receive numerous harassment complaints from female guests, and fresh faeces would appear in corners.
The crucial point was that these faeces appeared not in the corners of the restrooms, but in the corners of the corridors! Directly on the carpet!
This was simply unbearable, leaving the cleaning lady slumped to the side, heartbroken.
Did these Galan people have no sense of shame about public defecation and urination?
"Ms. Anya."
Her female assistant stepped forward, interrupting Anya's inner monologue.
She had purple hair and a youthful face, but it was hard to determine her true age because all her body parts below her head had been replaced with metal prosthetics, clanking as she walked.
"The reason for the large presence of Galan Soldiers here has been found out."
"Speak."
"Mr. Sang invited them to jointly go to a remote star system to combat the Barbarians, you know, those Li Star natives who previously drove off the Apollo branch."
The Mr. Sang mentioned by the assistant was the number one figure of Apollo, Chairman and Executive Officer, a well-known Hero in the Star Alliance domain.
At the same time, he was also the true mastermind behind the Dark Sun Pirate Group, known as the "Interstellar Tumor."
"Of course I remember, they claimed to be descendants of Cangyuan, I remember it very well," Anya nodded, "And then, did Galan agree?"
"They agreed. They will dispatch a fleet, arriving at Li Star in about a month. The Sailors stationed at New Hope have already received the war notification, which is why they are so excited."
"Additionally, the Galan Embassy is already conducting victory speeches, expected to last until the end of this punitive strike, after which it will transition to a full celebration."
Extravagantly proclaiming victory before the start of an operation is a characteristic of the Galan Commonwealth.
Anya could already imagine that soon, throughout the streets and alleys of the space station, there would be massive GG (presumably referring to propaganda or advertisements) that Galan had purchased at great expense.
"This is normal. Their Prime Minister Nadi is seeking re-election and needs a victory to increase his political capital. I believe this is also the main reason for agreeing to Apollo's request."
Anya sneered, her aversion to Galan deepening a few more points.
As the second most powerful force in the Star Alliance Council, Galan always liked to engage in actions that were out of character and not 'decent' enough.
They often bullied and plundered weaker forces, only actively initiating war when they were certain their military strength far surpassed their opponents'.
This kind of cheap habit particularly annoyed Anya.
Although in these apocalyptic times, it's unrealistic to demand that every faction loves peace, the relatively weaker factions often undertake various specialized businesses, such as trade, mining, or academic research, and are indispensable components of interstellar society.
Due to Galan's unsightly behavior, more and more smaller factions in the Star Alliance became afraid to expand their merchant fleets, develop permanent ground colonies, or invest in building space stations.
This had already harmed everyone's interests, especially Anya's construction engineering company.
Undoubtedly, the Star Alliance domain was a place where the strong preyed on the weak.
But most people could actually understand that, often, cooperation was more profitable than simple aggression and exploitation, and more conducive to humanity's overall survival.
However, Galan lacked this awareness.
Many people, like Anya, were annoyed by Galan, but the other party was a first-tier Star Alliance power, with immense financial resources and a powerful fleet, so there was no good way to sanction them for the time being.
"Do we have a way to help those Li Star people? Like commissioning a merchant fleet to send them a warning?"
Anya asked her assistant.
"It's not easy to operate, Madam. There are already signs of Dark Sun activity on that route. Unless it's a warp merchant ship, it's very difficult to avoid those pirates' high-speed interceptors."
"Then add more money and commission a warp merchant fleet for me!"
"Okay, I'll go right away... But why are you so concerned about those Barbarians? Is it because they claim to be Cangyuan, and you're deciding to take a gamble?"
Anya smiled.
"There are countless fraudsters in the Star Alliance who use that name to bluff people. Rather than believing you can coincidentally stumble upon the 'real deal,' you might as well buy 100 lottery tickets!"
She took a deep breath.
"That's why you still have much to learn. The other party currently seems very capable in combat and has already made enemies with Apollo. In the future, they might become a useful chess piece. We might as well send them some small gifts first to try and leave a good first impression."
On the open ground outside Devil Mountain Camp on Li Star, employees about to embark on a long journey stood in neat formation, undergoing inspection by the Executive Officer.
They were about to travel to New Hope Space Station aboard the "tianwen" , which possessed warp travel capabilities.
This ship had undergone a second modification and was no longer what it used to be.
The hull was cut in the middle, then lengthened, adding a 15-meter living section, an additional fuel compartment, and double the number of Jubian reactors, as well as electric propulsion engines.
At the same time, the Engineers also completely changed the exterior of the "tianwen" from a smooth streamlined shape to a tough geometric polyhedral shape, without affecting its stealth capabilities.
This was to prevent intelligence collectors from immediately recognizing it as a luxury warp yacht produced by Paradise Island upon entering the Star Alliance, and subsequently deducing it was the personal vessel of the missing Apollo branch manager, Omar.
Currently, all players realized that the NPC and "humanoid monster" reasoning abilities in "Star Sea" were equivalent to normal humans.
They absolutely could not harbor any shred of lucky mentality, otherwise, it would lead to a grave mistake and irreparable losses.
Xian Yu was responsible for leading the team of 15 players.
He was steady, meticulous in thought, loved this game enough, and cherished everything Cangyuan had achieved through hard work, making him the ideal choice for team leader.
Ran Ge, the fastest-leveling 'Liver Emperor' among the new generation of players and a highly praised strategy video creator, was responsible for serving as the scout.
Then there was A Touch of Ultramarine, whose combat power was basically zero. As for how much use he could be in business, that depended on this mission.
In addition to these three and some relatively old, powerful combat players, Lu Yuan specifically called on Loulan and his three civilian airline colleagues.
These four were proficient in aircraft piloting and had served in the military, ensuring their discipline.
"I'll emphasize one last time, when you go to New Hope this time, everyone's 'persona' is that of 'Barbarians' entering space for the first time with Lao Yu leading the way."
"You have no aerospace knowledge, you don't know which direction your home planet is in, and after being captured as slaves, you only know that you were taken to a strange planet and held for a period of time, but you don't know where the planet you were held on is. You must pretend to be foolish, even if your acting isn't good, you must try your best."
"Understood!" the players responded in unison.
This kind of secret operation, hiding their true identities and strength, greatly appealed to them.
Twelve hours later, the "tianwen" passed through Li Star's No. 1 wormhole jump point.