ALSACW – Chapter 133

Compared to Yun Chuji’s concern for his body, Yun Xuan himself didn’t seem to care much.

If not for his omega constitution making it impossible to lift his much taller younger sister, he wouldn’t have even minded carrying her to the car.

But now, that task could only be left to the AIs.

With an absolute advantage, Lucia’s nine AI guards were quickly captured. Only after their power sources were removed did their relentless, frenzied behavior cease.

Yun Xuan knew what tricks Lucia had pulled, because he had pulled the same ones.

This kind of program wasn’t hard to buy on the black market, just not easy to use. After all, attempting to make an AI bypass its moral monitoring was a serious crime in the Empire.

Lucia was acting out of desperation, with nothing left to lose. Yun Xuan, on the other hand, had so many transgressions to his name that one more hardly mattered.

The things he had done that were far worse than this required two hands to count.

Outside the door lay Lucia’s unconscious body.

She looked half-dead, breathing out more than she was breathing in. If left alone, she would likely bleed to death within ten minutes.

Yun Xuan beckoned an AI over and had it smash its iron fist down on Lucia’s wound.

The narrow wound expanded into a bloody crater.

Lucia’s breathing stopped.

A smile appeared on Yun Xuan’s face. He wiped the blood that had splattered onto his cheek and walked toward the car with a light step.

Of course, the unconscious Yun Chuji was also in the car.

So far, everything was still going according to his plan.

It was just that Lucia had gotten off too easily with her death, wasting the prison cell he had prepared.

Still, having found his sister, it wasn’t too bad.

Several cars levitated, one after another, and then headed for the outskirts.

Waste Star.

A knock came from outside Chu Meng’s camp. She put down the report she was halfway through, assuming it was someone from the beta side again, and was about to say she wasn’t seeing anyone.

But the person outside seemed to have anticipated her reaction and spoke urgently through the door’s communication device: “It’s Her Majesty. Her Majesty has summoned all three parties for a meeting.”

Finally.

Chu Meng breathed a sigh of relief. She had no intention of breaking off the negotiations completely. The reason the Empress had been able to deceive her was that she had spoken the truth.

She had merely concealed a part of the important truth.

And the reality was, against the backdrop of rising omega rights, the fact that betas—who made up the majority of the population—lacked influence in any sphere of the Empire was particularly ironic.

They had no irredeemable flaws. On the contrary, when it came to flaws, alphas and omegas were more like the defective groups, yet the scepter of power was passed between their hands.

Of course, there were historical factors behind this, and the martial prowess of alphas and the inspiration of omegas did indeed hold certain advantages over betas.

But this advantage had been maintained for over three hundred years. In the current era dominated by technology, for such a myth to persist for so long was already quite remarkable.

Chu Meng knew the reason betas hadn’t completely revolted yet was because the alphas and omegas had tampered with the photon network. The information cocoon mechanism, which could easily organize resistance groups, had been deliberately designed to filter out elements containing beta complaints and dissatisfaction.

But this method had more or less reached its limit. They would eventually have to give the betas an explanation.

At the same time, omegas couldn’t continue to be slowly bled by these subtle tactics. Chu Meng clenched her fists. Over the past few days, she had suddenly come to a realization: perhaps it was the existence of the starships as a fallback that made omegas so fearless in surrendering their power. We always seem to assume the alphas wouldn’t dare go too far.

So, government positions were given up just like that. Those few omegas who went into heat at the office had brought shame upon the Empire. If there was no way to control their heats, staying in government was simply too dangerous—unaware that the trouble caused by alpha ruts was no less significant.

Then, those strange protection laws were passed. After all, not every omega could afford the cost of removing a permanent mark, and without a law forcing an alpha to marry an omega they had violated, how was that omega supposed to get through their heats for the rest of their life if the alpha wanted to be irresponsible? But no one ever considered that perhaps the victim shouldn’t be the one to bear the consequences while the perpetrator was completely absolved.

There were many similar incidents, each one pushing omegas into the position they were in today.

Even if someone sensed something was wrong, there would always be an omega who would confidently say, “What’s there to fear? If worst comes to worst, we’ll just use the starships.”

But could omegas who were unwilling to endure even the inconveniences of life truly accept the tragic outcome of mutual destruction?

So now was the best time. The omegas of today had the most fight in them, and Chu Meng planned to use a sense of crisis to further ignite their spirit.

However, the prerequisite was that she had to win back a ticket for these spirited omegas to compete on a level playing field.

Chu Meng pushed open the door. The highest-ranking commanders of the alphas and betas were already seated on opposite sides of a long table. Chu Meng paused for a moment, then led her people to sit on the beta’s side.

The expression of the alpha opposite them instantly darkened.

However, the Empress on the light screen seemed not to notice the meaning behind this gesture, or perhaps she noticed but didn’t care. Her smile remained gentle as she greeted Chu Meng, “Marshal Chu, good afternoon.”

Chu Meng nodded in response, her voice calm. “Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”

“Alright, I’ve called everyone here today because I’ve heard that the starship handover has not been going smoothly these past few days. I imagine you all have some concerns, so I am willing to help resolve this issue.”

At that moment, no one questioned how the Empress, on the distant Imperial Capital Star, had received news from the Waste Star, where communications were cut off.

Neither the alpha nor the beta party spoke; both turned their gazes to Chu Meng.

Chu Meng looked at the blond man among the beta military leaders, smiled, and said, “I require an agreement stipulating that the Howard family will never be involved in starship affairs and will withdraw from the military.”

The blond man’s face flushed red, and he glared at Chu Meng.

The other alphas and betas were completely bewildered. They wondered if the Howard family had secretly planted a sonic bomb on Chu Meng’s hovercar. Marshal Chu seemed to have been targeting the Howard family from the very beginning, and now it had reached the point of open confrontation.

The Omega Legion was already aware of the Howard family’s connection to the imperial family. At this moment, they remained silent, expressing their approval of Chu Meng’s stance.

The Empress looked as if she had already guessed this outcome. She wasn’t surprised and even nodded in agreement. “The Howard family is indeed too close to the imperial family. Marshal Chu’s concerns are understandable. Let’s have a vote now. If the majority is in favor, then we will agree to Marshal Chu’s proposal.”

With the Empress’s endorsement, the alpha side naturally had no reason to object. It didn’t concern them anyway; they were just here for the show.

As for the beta side, even more so. The moment the Empress finished speaking, several people on bad terms with the Howard family immediately raised their hands.

One less person to share the cake with—they couldn’t be happier! The Howard family had always looked down on everyone, relying on their marriage ties to the imperial family. Now they would finally learn their lesson.

The others also raised their hands one by one.

In the end, only the blond man remained frozen in his seat. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something. He subconsciously looked at the light screen, only to find the Empress watching him. Beneath her gentle expression was a warning only he could recognize.

He lowered his head fiercely.

This was his sister.

How ridiculous.

The Howard family was cheerfully expelled from the military by the assembly. The Empress announced the result, then offered some words of comfort to the blond man, stating that they would be compensated.

As for what that compensation would be, the Empress did not elaborate.

“However, to ensure no more trouble like this arises during the upcoming handover, I believe we need to resolve some lingering concerns.”

After she spoke, another light screen lit up above the conference table, covered in dense text.

After a few minutes of silence, Chu Meng looked at the Empress in surprise. These terms seemed even more lenient than what they had negotiated before.

At that moment, more light screens lit up, displaying high-ranking officials from the Empire’s political scene.

“I’ve heard from the Academy of Sciences that traces of an alien civilization seem to have been detected several dozen light-years away. Although the old men at the Academy always like to startle us with such news, no one can guarantee it isn’t real this time. I believe the Empire’s internal conflicts should cease. We need an enterprising Empire, not one mired in internal strife.”

“Alpha, beta, omega—regardless of our gender, we are all people of the Empire and should fight for the Empire’s future.”

“Therefore, today will be a historic day. Today, the ABOs of the Empire will cast aside past grievances and walk hand in hand toward a truly peaceful future.”

The Empress was clearly painting a grand picture; this agreement alone couldn’t deliver the results she described.

But it offered the hope of bringing about such a result.

The discussion lasted a long time. The three ABO parties went back and forth over the details of the treaty, finally arriving at an agreement that satisfied all sides.

After Chu Meng signed, she recalled the Empress’s sudden and rapid change of heart. A rare curiosity surfaced—how had the Empress turned from an alpha supremacist into a pacifist without any warning?

Therefore, before the Empress turned off the remote projection, Chu Meng asked, “Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

Hearing this, a flicker of amusement appeared in the Empress’s eyes. She smiled and said, “I was threatened by your granddaughter. She forced me to look at this matter from a different perspective.”

Chu Meng let out a small sound, unsure how to respond.

She knew Tang Jianxi had always been bold, but she hadn’t expected her to be this bold.

“Mm, Marshal Chu, you have a very fine granddaughter, and a very fine granddaughter-in-law. It seems your grandson is quite excellent as well.”

“I wonder if you have any intention of a marriage alliance with the imperial family? My alpha children are all married, but I still have a few nieces and nephews who are not engaged.”

Chu Meng hesitated, wondering if she should remind Her Majesty, who was only five years her junior, that this would be a marriage between different generations. In the end, she managed a polite smile. “Your Majesty, let’s let the younger generation decide their own affairs.”

With that, she gave a salute, then turned and left with her subordinates.

The generational gap was one thing, but being too deeply involved with the imperial family always brought a lot of trouble. Besides, good people in the imperial family were indeed quite a rarity.