“Gena, what you did with His Highness… do I need to spell it out for you?”
Gena suddenly went pale.
His expression twisted into something extremely ugly. After a moment, he finally regained his voice, gritting his teeth: “What do you mean by that?”
Erwen’s tone carried pity: “Accept this file.”
He inserted a date storage card into the communicator. The light-brain filled with dense text, accompanied by clear photographic evidence. The documents were arranged chronologically, from the initial craft accident, to secret collusion with foreign factions, even tampering with the emperor’s food. Every single case was shocking, enough to ruin anyone’s reputation and career.
Erwen looked at him calmly: “I’ve already submitted the evidence to the major military regions. Are you still going to resist?”
If before it was just political maneuvering, the moment the evidence was laid out, the nature of the situation completely changed.
The commanders of the major military regions might not care who sits on the throne, but they couldn’t ignore whether the person on it was a scoundrel. After all, serving such an emperor meant they had to weigh the risks: if the emperor, driven by his own selfish desires, colluded with foreign powers, framed commanders, and even killed his own father, would he not one day do the same to one of them?
Gena’s face was grim; he remained silent.
Erwen said, “Delaying serves no purpose…”
He wanted to persuade him to surrender, to take the main star with minimal cost and avoid unnecessary casualties.
But before he could finish, the light-brain flickered and went completely silent.
Gena had cut the video.
Erwen drew a deep breath.
The scenario he least wanted to see had arrived.
If Gena refused to surrender, he would undoubtedly fight to the death. And the prince, having committed a capital offense, would never yield either. With forces far weaker than Erwen combined with the major military regions, the only option left for Gena and the Prince was one:
— Hostage the ordinary residents of the capital star and delay the rebellion.
Erwen picked up the communicator he had taken down earlier. After arranging all matters, he went to a secluded spot and opened the light-brain. The topmost message was from Qu Xia: 【 Admiral, Admiral, have you arrived?】
Qu Xia had been idle for days in the mine, doing nothing after gathering the data. He’d even assembled an old game console from the parts he scavenged, played a couple of rounds, got bored, and spent the rest of the time staring at the piles of trash.
The trees in the primeval forest were tall and dense; Qu Xia couldn’t even see the sky or the horizon, nor did he know where Erwen’s fleet was.
Erwen’s expression softened slightly: 【 I’m 50,000 kilometers away, along the line tangent to the capital star from your position. 】
At starship jump speed, fifty thousand kilometers was nothing more than a blink of an eye. Qu Xia said,【Then when can I come out? 】
Erwen shook his head slightly: 【 You cannot come out. 】
His face was a bit stern: 【 The Capital Star is about to descend into chaos. 】
………………
At the moment Gena cut off communications and refused to negotiate, seventeen or eighteen aircrafts slipped out from hidden locations, avoiding satellites from different directions and disappearing into the dense primeval forest.
On these ships were Erwen’s loyal inner circle left on the main planet, including Sylph and several major generals from the First Army. They had held back before to avoid alerting the prince, but now that the two sides had fully broken, they each moved to prearranged hiding spots, staying out of the prince’s reach in case he acted rashly.
Among them were also two individuals who seemed to be Qu Xia’s hometown buddies.
Qu Xia had observed them for a long time: one was making games with a strong Earth-style, while the other was online consulting about relationships, showing an unusually loyal view on love, very un-zerg-like.
So he created a small chat group, adding these two, and then made another tiny group containing only himself and the two potential hometown buddies.
He quietly popped a message in the group: 【 Heavenly King covers the Earthly tiger?】1 This phrase stems from a story about a gang leader questioning an undercover agent in a 1950s Chinese novel. — Phrase: “天王盖地虎” = Heavenly King covers the Earthly tiger — Response: “宝塔镇河妖”= Pagoda suppresses the River Demon
Chu Ci replied: 【 The prince is a fool. 】
Although the answer wasn’t the standard response, zergs had no concept of fool like this, so he knew they were definitely countrymen.
He tapped the other one: 【 And you? 】
Chu Xiu didn’t reply, silently changing the group name to 《 Otherworld Hometown Buddies. 》
They exchanged information and status updates, then returned to the larger group to join the intelligence sharing. Yi Xi saw a large number of troops gathering at the port from the Stellar Group building, while Chu Ci noticed that communications on the main planet had been switched to the intranet, with the external game top-ups dropping to zero and no signals able to get out.
Sylph nodded in agreement: 【 And have you noticed that the forums have been deliberately slowed down recently? Every section is experiencing lag or cuts. 】
Qu Xia froze. He didn’t visit forums often and had no idea this was happening. Logging onto several of the busiest websites on the main planet one by one, he was shocked to discover that all forums and social media sites were down.
The relationship boards wouldn’t open, the casual chat sites were inaccessible, and even when Qu Xia tried accessing the backend, he found the servers cut off and the databases deleted.
He frowned in surprise. 【 What’s going on? Is someone trying to block certain information from spreading? 】
Although the main planet was surrounded, Erwen hadn’t ordered an attack. The planet’s infrastructure was intact, and the citizens’ daily lives weren’t disturbed. Except for the strict control of information, Qu Xia couldn’t imagine any other reason.
From the moment Gena cut the communication to the total shutdown of websites, less than twenty minutes had passed. Their speed was extraordinary.
Lin En frowned thoughtfully. 【 Feels like there’s a huge conspiracy at play. 】
He tagged Qu Xia: 【 Can you restore the connection? I think Teacher Qu should be skilled at this, right? 】
It was the first time Qu Xia had been called “Teacher,” yet he felt no happiness at all. His forehead veins bulged. 【 I can only restore things digitally. But they pulled the cables and cut the power in the server rooms. I can’t deal with this kind of physical attack. 】
While everyone worried and speculated, the main planet indeed began to show signs of trouble.
Sylph had left tiny robots on the streets. Through the cameras, they could track part of the crowd’s movements. Ever since Erwen deployed troops to the border, the main streets had been deserted, with passersby in a hurry. But today, for the first time, the streets were crowded, shoulder to shoulder, so packed that a few cameras were even crushed.
Through the dim, dirty glass and poor resolution, they could barely make out that the crowd seemed to be marching, holding banners high, chanting in unison.
The micro-cameras didn’t have audio, so Sylph painstakingly read their lips. Frowning, he pieced together fragments: 【 It seems they’re shouting… ‘Traitor!’ and ‘Get out!’? 】
Lin En brightened. 【 They know the Prince betrayed the country and colluded with outsiders? Are they protesting against him? 】
Qu Xia pressed his lips together, silent. A bad feeling gnawed at him. Sylph pinched the bridge of his nose.【 Think carefully! The Prince cut off all communication sites, pulled the power and cables. He did that to cover something up. Why would you assume the march is aimed at him? 】
As soon as he said this, everyone in the group chat turned pale.
Lin En realized it too, stammering: 【 You mean… the protest is aimed at the Admiral? 】
He suddenly recalled the aftermath of the failed expedition.
Those once hailed as heroes had been branded traitors. First Army comrades were dragged to the tribunal, electric currents coursing through their mental fields. Outside, the crowds were no different: people waving banners, smashing First Army posters with small stones, streaming down the long streets in an overwhelming tide, chanting in perfect unison: ⟬ Strict interrogation, harsh punishment for the traitors.⟭
Lin En’s face went pale.
Sylph sighed. 【 It seems the Prince intends to fight to the bitter end. 】
Erwen hovered in his starship above, while the Prince held the ground below. The troops in the sky naturally lacked supplies and couldn’t hold out long, and the kind of starships available were heavy weapons. If the masses kept blocking the landing ports with their protests, Erwen could not descend without taking on the guilt of a butcher.
Even a stalemate like this could buy him considerable time.
And if the blockade loosened even slightly, the Prince could find a way to break through, disappearing into the vastness of space. Then not only would it be a case of letting a tiger return to the mountain, he would escape the punishment he deserved.
Silence fell over the group.
They held the evidence, but the events had unfolded too quickly for it to be released. The moment negotiations collapsed, the Prince acted, leaving them entirely on the defensive.
Above in the starship, Erwen watched the surging crowd, also silent.
The throngs at the landing port made a direct assault impossible. The Prince hadn’t taken ordinary civilians as hostages, but he was already outnumbered. If he had provoked the main planet’s population, it would have been his own grave. Instead, he wisely incited them, letting them voluntarily move to the landing ports and block the starship’s descent.
He called over his adjutant. “How much longer can we maintain the blockade with our current energy reserves?”
“Three days and four hours, Admiral.”
Erwen frowned.
The timing was critical. The other major military regions would take three days to arrive, leaving only four hours of overlap. Any unexpected events during that transition would allow the Prince to slip away, and an emergency landing could result in casualties.
At the round table in the command room, the strategy team and technical staff debated strategies at lightning speed, yet could not come up with a workable plan. Meanwhile, Erwen’s light-brain kept buzzing incessantly, and the members in the group chat were discussing matters with intense energy.
【 We need to find a way to let the people in the march know the truth. 】 Lin En’s fingers practically sparked on the keyboard as he frantically tagged Qu Xia: 【Technical expert, is there really no way to restore forum access? 】
Qu Xia’s forehead vein twitched. 【 Brother, no one can restore forum access when the server room has been powered down and the cables physically pulled out! 】
Not even a technical expert could manage it.
Nuo Wei asked,【 Could we infiltrate the server room and restore the power and network? 】
He scanned the female soldiers present. 【 We have two major generals, seven captains, and other officers. Forcibly entering and maintaining access for five minutes shouldn’t be impossible. 】
【 No. 】 Chu Ci refused decisively.
Sylph frowned. 【 Doing that would be certain death. 】
The Prince was no fool; he had undoubtedly stationed troops to guard the server room. Nuo Wei and Lin En had only just stepped down from the tribunal, they could not risk such a move.
Nuo Wei’s cyan eyes met Chu Ci’s for a moment before quickly shifting away, his expression as cold and detached as ever. 【 At this point, there is no better solution. 】
He paused briefly, then said slowly, 【 This is my mission. 】
As the atmosphere began to edge toward a bleak, heroic resolve, Qu Xia, who had been silent until now, suddenly made a sound of realization and then raised his hand.
All eyes in the room turned toward him, but Qu Xia’s gaze fixed on Chu Ci. His stare burned hotter than Nuo Wei’s, making Chu Ci’s spine chill.
Chu Ci: 【 …What’s wrong? 】
【 Hometown buddy! 】 Qu Xia’s eyes sparkled as if he were looking at treasure. 【 I remember you had that nationally hit game on your hands, right? 】
He approached closer.
【 The real-time online player count is over ten million in the main planet, right?】
【 And you even broadcasted the wedding ceremony server-wide, didn’t you! 】
Qu Xia slammed a fist on the table: 【 A server-wide broadcast in a game with over ten million online at once! Who needs a data center’s power for that? We broadcast directly! 】
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