Taking a deep breath, Li Yao walked forward and stared at Lei Chenghu across the cold metal desk. He declared, one word after another, “I do not want to see the people at the center of the cosmos to be reduced into a state of misery. I am unwilling to face a shattered, collapsing civilization of mankind. I cannot tolerate the puppets of flesh and blood who do not have feelings and free will from the Alliance of the Holy Covenant sweeping across the entire universe, forcing my compatriots and my offspring to kneel before the Pangu Clan or any other deities in the universe!

“If the queen can stop them from happening, I will stand on her side unwaveringly and try my best to support her.

“If the queen cannot stop it and will bring even greater catastrophes to the center of the cosmos, then, I will side with whoever can stop her and terminate the chaos.

“Getting to the bottom of it, I am not loyal to the queen or the Imperium, but to the civilization of mankind itself!

“General Lei, are you satisfied with the answer?”

Lei Chenghu stared at Li Yao’s eyes where gold brilliance was shining vaguely and nodded his head. “Got it. It seems that you and the queen are indeed not exactly the same, which makes me very curious about your origins. How exactly did the queen raise such a… unique and unconventional person like you?”

Li Yao smiled and did not reply. He simply changed the topic and asked, “General Lei, what do you think are the odds that the queen’s gamble grows too wild? However ambitious she is, she cannot expect to fight the entire universe, right? Even if she can swallow the four Kurfürst families on her own, the fleets of the Covenant Alliance are still lurking and watching in the dark. Is she idiotic and insane enough to not see that?

“If she usurps the highest power of the Imperium through all trouble, only to be taken advantage of by the Covenant Alliance in the end, wouldn’t she be the greatest joke?”

“I don’t know where the queen’s confidence comes from. Perhaps she has even more trump cards that other people are unaware of, like you.”

Lei Chenghu said casually, “I only know that, for a gambler, the odds that their gamble grows too wild are a hundred percent. ‘Bow out’ does not enter the dictionary of the gamblers. Whether they win or they lose at the beginning, gamblers will only wager more and more chips on the game, until they lose everything.

“I am such a hopeless gambler myself, but the queen is playing an even greater game than mine. Now that she has tasted the delicious fruit of victory, will she stop in time? I… highly doubt it.”

Li Yao and Lei Chenghu both fell silent, deep in thought.

But the two of them were obviously thinking about different things in their heads.

The universe was vast, but the ambitions of mankind were too exuberant to be accommodated by even the biggest stars and worlds. They were destined to overflow.

Right then, the battlefield communicator on the metal desk was triggered by the signals from Dragon Abyss, the flagship of the Deep Sea Fleet.

The image of a white-haired woman appeared between the two of them like a ghost.

“Bodyguard Li, you’ve been troubled. Your remarkable performance far exceeded my expectations. It seems that I need to reevaluate your role in the tide of reform and your position in the new Imperium.”

Queen Li Linghai smiled at Li Yao thoughtfully, before she turned to Lei Chenghu and said, “General Lei, I have fulfilled my promise and won the full support of the Li family on behalf of the reformists. The sacrifices that you and all the soldiers made are now worth it, aren’t they?”

“With Your Grace’s wisdom, everything is naturally under control.”

Lei Chenghu said expressionlessly, “However, what I’m more curious about is how exactly did you convince ‘Silver Fox’ Li Jiande. If my guess is correct, Li Jiande is still the director of the Li family, right?”

“Very simple.”

Li Linghai said casually, “I told Li Jiande that all the reformists, as well as you and the Astounding Thunder Fleet, had been manipulated by me and that the Li family could totally use the reformists, General Lei, and the Astounding Thunder Fleet as knives to stab the Dongfang family. When the reformists and the Dongfang family both suffered heavy losses, the Li family would be able to take advantage and rise unstoppably.

“What has been motivating the old fox Li Jiande to live on for a hundred years? The decline of the Dongfang family, of course. How could he not be tempted?

“Besides, we are such a gigantic thorn that has pierced into the Li family’s abdomen brutally, and we will cut their guts out if the negotiation falls out. Now that we are clearly determined to die with the enemy, is there any doubt how he would choose?”

“Sounds fair enough.”

Lei Chenghu said, “Then, how do we know if they are just your lies and not your true thoughts, and that you are tricking Li Jiande on behalf of the reformists instead of manipulating the reformists as a representative of the Li family?”

“Of course I am manipulating you. Aren’t you manipulating me too, General Lei? We have common interests, and we manipulate each other to achieve the same purpose. Isn’t this the most steady and trustworthy relation that is more reliable than any blood bond?”

Li Linghai said matter-of-factly. With a smile, she said again, “Rest assured, General Lei and Bodyguard Li. I sincerely believe in the renewal of the Imperium and swear to clear all the corrupted forces and systems.

“I have no affection or interest in the Li family at all for a simple reason. Today, when the technologies are so advanced, the civilization is so developed, the low-level Immortal Cultivators are larger and larger in number, and the people are more and more enlightened despite all the suppressions, while the four Kurfürst families’ way of governance is simply too underdeveloped, shabby, and vulnerable.

“Governing the world with one family could barely be implemented on one planet in the age of the ancient Cultivators, let alone right now when every family rules over dozens of Sectors. Suppressing more than 99% of the population with the biological descendants of the family that often take up less than one percent of the population, how can such a government be long and steady?

“From that point of view, even the current system of the Imperium is more advanced than the system within the four Kurfürst families. The Imperium boasts a Council of Elders after all, and the interests of different parties have to strike a balance in it. The decline of the royal authority also leads to the rise of the secondary families. Many people are able to utter their voices more or less, with a narrow, rough, but hopeful road to the sky.

“Under the dominions of the four Kurfürst families, as long as your surname is not Li, Yun, or Dongfang, you will never be able to distinguish yourself. As to the conspiracies, fights, and stinky rules within the family, there are simply too many to count.

“Such a system that feels like a ten-thousand-year-old zombie constrains the combat ability and creativity of everybody in the dominions. How can those families lead the Imperium to the future? They are just abnormal freaks and a retrograde of history. Despite their momentary splendor, they will be crushed and eliminated without any mercy.

“My ambitions are very huge; so huge that even the entire Imperium and the universe might not be enough to accommodate them. Why would I bind my fate to such a family that is doomed to decline and be destroyed?”

Lei Chenghu looked at Li Yao, and after pondering for a moment, he said, “Great. Of course, I am willing to believe in and support Your Grace to cooperate with the Li family for now.

“Now that we have the full support of the Li family, what are we going to do next? It’s not like we can ask the troops of the Li family to attack those of the Dongfang family, right?”

“Of course not. Li Jiande will never agree to such a simple and straightforward approach either. We are seeking a reform, not a civil war.”

Li Linghai said confidently, “Rest assured, General Lei. I know what I am doing very well regarding the issue. Our goal is very specific right now, which is to try our best to take down Prime Minister Dongfang Wang and crush his cabinet!”

Lei Chenghu shook his head and said, “Di Feiwen has been the Prime Minister for twenty years, and his associations are everywhere in both the capital and the powerful industrial worlds. With the triumph of the Imperium’s counterattack, he is also respected as a Prime Minister of iron and blood. How is it possible to ask Dongfang Wang to resign and even remove his entire cabinet?”

Li Linghai said, “If the other three families oppose the Dongfang family together, it will be possible.”

Lei Chenghu said coldly, “Leaving the Li family aside, the other two Kurfürsten are also cunning and clever. Why will they go against the Dongfang family?”

Li Linghai said with a smile, “If we can find a way to shatter the reputation of Dongfang Wang and his family, to the point that everybody in the country curses them and the powerful persons within the Dongfang family are rising to object to him, those ‘cunning and clever’ Kurfürsten will certainly throw away their masks of hypocrisies and reveal their real faces of brutality and greediness, hoping to chop off a piece of meat from Dongfang Wang.”

Lei Chenghu’s eyes flashed. “How can you shatter Dongfang Wang’s reputation?”

“The incident of the Blood Oath Alliance.”

Li Linghai said, “Everything began with it, and everything should end with it. It was 100% Dongfang Wang’s scheme. As long as we can completely unveil his crime, showing the public that Dongfang Wang planned the assassination of an elder from the Dongfang family, he will be screwed forever both in and outside of the family!”

Lei Chenghu was amused. “Even if the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance was truly planned by Dongfang Wang, with his wisdom and meticulousness, would he have left any evidence for us to catch?”

“If there is no evidence, we can create it. After all, he is absolutely related to the issue. We will not be wronging a good guy.”

Li Linghai said, “Of course, it will be a cutthroat move that must not be performed easily unless we are 100% sure of the mission. Before we expose the truth of the ‘incident of the Blood Oath Alliance’, I have prepared a lot of ‘cannonballs’ for the Dongfang family. With the support of the Li family right now, the media and the network in the entire Imperium are no longer our obstacles. We can shoot the cannonballs one by one first, blowing the Dongfang family into dizziness and giving them no time to bother with anything else.

“General Lei, Bodyguard Li, get yourselves prepared. We will go back to the capital openly for the final battle.”

Both Li Yao and Lei Chenghu were slightly stunned. “Already?”

“Is it fast? I have waited long enough that I’m almost losing patience.”

Li Linghai grinned. With the dancing white hair on her head, she looked like a vengeful female ghost. “Besides, the little gift that I have prepared for the Council of Elders and the Prime Minister in the capital is about to be served!”

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