“`
If one word could describe the current state of mind of both King Luman and Gu Ming, it would be this:
Panic-stricken.
When Perbov saw the orange-red tail flame slicing through the night sky, he still didn’t quite dare to confirm what it was. After all, the starship communication equipment he owned had been destroyed in a prior bombing, and he himself had barely escaped with his life, while Leroy had gone deaf in one ear, which was already considered lucky.
The immobile communication equipment certainly couldn’t be saved.
But Gu Ming was different.
He had an open line of communication with the four Chamber of Commerce fleets still under his control, and even had an independent Star Language Tower that could make interstellar calls.
He knew for certain that the Blade Tiger, a starship belonging to the Empire Navy Pegasus Fleet, wasn’t approaching to help him.
Without concrete intelligence, he could roughly confirm that the military aboard that starship was commanded by his cousin’s son.
Upon hearing the news, he was incensed, making numerous calls to many key figures on Flying Wing Star.
However, the three most important calls, those directed to the leader of the star sector Pei Desi, the Tianma Fleet Commander Tilermungs, and the naval aristocratic Fufana Family, all went unanswered.
Clearly, they were deliberately not picking up.
By this time, even if he clung to any hope, he understood one fact: he had been abandoned.
The politics of the star sector had chosen to stand with Wang Qi and Gu Hang, mother and son.
At this point, his mindset began to undergo some… interesting changes.
After rage, hope, and the shattering of that hope, he became hysterical.
He ordered the four Chamber of Commerce fleets to prevent the Blade Tiger’s approach ‘at all costs.’
This was a mad command, one he might not have been thinking clearly about when issuing.
What did it mean to attack the Imperial Navy actively?
Was it a real desire to rebel?
Stay connected with empire
If they won, there would be no chance of doing anything like the Empire Commerce Guild again; they’d all have to run for their lives.
If they were lucky enough to flee and become interstellar pirates, that would already be good fortune.
Fortunately, while Gu Ming had gone mad, the front-line commanders of the four Chamber of Commerce fleets had not.
They listened as the Imperial Navy opened public communications, repeatedly calling in the name of the Imperial Navy and the Tianma Fleet for all interstellar vessels in the region to cease all hostile actions, or else be regarded as traitors to the empire.
These front-line commanders each made calls under the pretext of confirming orders, initially probing the authenticity of the command; when Gu Ming repeatedly emphasized that the orders indeed came from him, they then painstakingly began trying to persuade him otherwise.
Regardless, whether you, Gu Ming, listen or not, we definitely won’t fire.
Following you to cause trouble, with our heads on our belts, igniting a family feud, was all for the sake of a better future. Our own boss becoming the head of the family, so we could earn more and gain a better status…
But to go up against the Imperial Navy was absolutely different.
Whether it was those concerned for their own prospects or those who were loyal to Gu Ming, they were all advising him. Even the latter knew that once they took action, there really would be no turning back.
Otherwise, what? Really become pirates?
If they had that determination, why cause trouble at all?
Gu Ming gradually calmed down, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, no shots were fired.
“`
Not only was naval combat out of the question, but even when the Blade Tiger’s landing craft were flying towards the planet’s surface, they couldn’t be attacked.
The landing crafts were part of the Blade Tiger, which belonged to the Imperial Navy; it was one thing for the troops from Rage Owl Star to be released after landing, but what if they were blown up in midair, utterly annihilated with no evidence left? What would happen if it was claimed that the troops were from the Navy Marine Corps stationed on the starship?
There would be no way to refute it.
There was no choice but to let them land and fight then.
Nes Luman was beside himself with frustration and anger.
“How can the Empire Navy do this? It’s so unfair!”
“What if this is just the beginning? What if the troops from Rage Owl Star are continuously transported to Heijian Star by the Empire Navy? Are we just going to stand by and watch?”
“Do you expect me, with the power of a single kingdom, to confront a whole planet?!”
He kept talking, his expression filled with sorrow and indignation.
Gu Ming sighed and then said to Luman, “At this point, we can only fight to the death. Can you muster more troops? Especially more ‘Knights,’ Knight Titan… I will compensate for your losses in the future…”
At this, Luman pushed him hard.
Gu Ming fell to the ground.
His bodyguards and the guards of the Luman Kingdom all moved, but since no blood had been shed yet, everyone just drew their weapons and pointed them at the other side, but no one fired.
Nes Luman, with eyes reddened, stared at Gu Ming: “I’ve staked everything I have, but the situation is nothing like what you promised before!”
“I will compensate…”
“Compensate my ass!” Nes Luman burst out with a curse, “The question now is whether we can win or not!”
Gu Ming stood up and stared back at Nes Luman, “Don’t talk to me in that tone, as if everything wrong was caused by me! The decision was made by us together, and the main force was your army! Do you think I don’t know that the key issue now is whether we can win? Just now, I was even about to let my fleet attack the Empire Navy to win!”
Having said this, Gu Ming calmed down a bit, “We absolutely cannot afford any discord between us right now, do you understand? I need your strength, or else I can’t win; and you need me too, or else even if you win, you won’t gain anything!”
Luman tousled his hair and let out a reluctant roar of anger.
He really regretted it.
But what could he do?
Blinded by folly.
After a while, he said, “There are still three Knight Titans in the kingdom, but those three marquises… they might not listen to me completely. I will try to persuade them, I will make some promises, and you will have to help me keep those promises in the future.
If they agree to stand with us, in addition to the three Knight Titans, we can muster three hundred Sentinel Knights and two hundred thousand conscripted soldiers…”
“Not enough.”
“I can also contact a few other countries that have put a lot of diplomatic pressure on us recently, essentially because they are dissatisfied that our actions were taken without notifying them and without any promises of benefits to them. I can share some future power to get at least their non-interference, if not their support. This would allow me to call up some more border defense forces…”
“Still not enough.”
“Then you come up with something! Can you pray to The Emperor to conjure us an army of a million?”
At this point, Gu Ming confirmed that he truly had exhausted all resources of the Luman Kingdom.
“Then let’s go with that, but we must be quick, we are running out of time…”
————
Another chapter tonight