Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 154

Chapter 154 – The Same Method Again

The irritated expression and slight redness on Lin Jingheng’s face immediately vanished as he shifted his numbed fingers: “Report in.”

Zhanlu: “General Turan sent another message to General Duke last night regarding the second troop increase near the Heart of the Rose, but the latter only gave a very hasty response. And just ten minutes ago, the First Galaxy Border Patrol cut off the mutual connection with us from their end–the Ninth Squadron is already gathered up and on standby outside the wormhole area right now.”

Lin Jingheng picked up the stack of clothes Zhanlu left for him by the door and quickly changed into them. By the time Zhanlu was done speaking, he had already put on his clothes and buttoned up his shirt: “Tell them to remain on standby, don’t worry.”

Lu Bixing’s gaze subconsciously followed him and asked: “Have you determined that General Duke doesn’t have any ill intentions?”

“For now at least, he has no reason to bear any malice toward us,” Lin Jingheng said. “The natural wormhole area is easier to defend than to break into. Have Turan guard the area with 30 small mechs; as long as they have enough fire power, they’re as strong as an iron wall even if the entirety of the First Galaxy’s border troops flood the wormhole.”

Despite looking quite disheveled and procrastinating on cleaning himself up, Lu Bixing’s brain was still following the conversation: “As the top commander of the First Galaxy border patrol, General Duke should know that the vanguard on the other side of the wormhole is the Silver Ninth Squadron. I’m sure he also knows Turan; even if the Union’s spacetime traveling technology developed leaps ahead within the last few months to the point where they can pass through the wormhole safely, there would be no reason for them to offer their heads to the Ninth Squadron. If he did have a conspiracy behind our backs, he would have lured us out of our base instead of purposefully creating this hostile atmosphere…in other words, it’s very likely that something happened over there, right? Do you think it may have something to do with the 306th Decree?”

Lin Jingheng shot him a glance: “Possibly. The first troop increase could be understood as appropriate self-defense, but a second time is almost crossing into the territory of paranoia. If I were Duke, as the top commander of the First Galaxy’s border troops, I’d also be annoyed at this…besides, it’s only a matter of time before the conflict between the Union government and Central Militias arises again.”

Lu Bixing asked as he absorbed himself in deep thought: “Why?”

“Do you think there’s ever an end to power-hungriness?” Lin Jingheng responded, “During wartime, the Central Militia took the opportunity to gain control of their respective territories through force. It’s like how Ankur was in the Seventh Galaxy: they’ve actually already formed their own system of authority as they claimed the title of warlords. It was only due to later circumstances that they were regathered by Woolf to fight against their common enemy, but once this all settled down they soon realized that they’d been demoted back to sub-organizations under the Union, despite feeling like they’d gained military autonomy. These Central Militias had lots of complicated relationships with the Union in the past and were never truly unified with the central government. Now that they have military autonomy in their hands, they are more likely to nourish their ambitions. Besides…”

Lin Jingheng paused slightly as he struggled to finish the rest of his sentence: “Besides, the Freedom Corps is still around. Lin…Lin Jingshu is mingling from within, so perhaps the conflict was brought out in advance.”

“……Or there’s another possibility. “ Lu Bixing picked up the tie that had rolled to the corner of the room and shoved it into a ball. His expression fell grave as he handed the tie over to Zhanlu’s robotic arm. “If we go back to the issue earlier, which is that Duke…perhaps someone is purposely using him to create a misconception that something went wrong on the other side. So they would send someone over and ask for our help in order to lure us out of the wormhole, then send a Trojan Horse into the Eighth Galaxy in the midst of everything. Of course, it’s all hard to say for sure since the situation in the Union is too complicated–didn’t they use this same method back when the Eighth Galaxy was forced to close itself off? To be honest, we’re a bit scared of being bitten by this snake again.”

Sixteen years ago, Woolf used Ankur as a lure and the lives of the Seventh Galaxy’s billions of residents as a bait for his plot to kill two birds with one stone. He almost succeeded in destroying the Eighth Galaxy back then, and now, history seemed to be going down a familiar path.

It was a lesson with an incredibly painful price.

Lin Jingheng didn’t respond and walked toward Zhanlu expressionlessly, pulling that tie out of Zhanlu’s hand without a word.

Lu Bixing: “……”

Lu Bixing suddenly realized something and jumped out of that little circle of pain he tied himself around in his mind, his face flustered into a bright red shade. As a proper man of culture, the Prime Minister still needed to keep that tiny bit of shame after walking out of his personal space.

Zhanlu questioned, confused: “Headmaster Lu, did you need me to dry clean this tie?”

Lu Bixing let out a timid mumble: “Don’t worry about it, I’ll clean it up myself.”

Lin Jingheng pretended not to hear this and ordered Zhanlu sternly: “Call up Lee, I want to hear the First Squadron’s military report on the situation.”

“Understood,” Zhanlu responded. At the same time, a little drawing popped out from the staircase with a few small icons flashing above. The little symbol indicated that it was a storage space for household items that needed to be cleaned: everything from utensils to dirty clothes and towels could be shoved in as the AI automatically sorted each item based on their material and filth level. “The household cleaning storage system has just been upgraded, it can answer all your summons at any time and even be customized to return all cleaned belongings back to their designated locations, for example, the attic…”

Lu Bixing: “……Zhanlu, bro, please read the room.”

A vein popped on Lin Jingheng’s forehead as he straight up banned the AI from talking: “Zhanlu, shut up.”

The secret headquarters of the AUS—

Hope, now known as Prophet Harris, listened to his subordinate’s report on the rumors surrounding the Eighth Galaxy and rewatched the footage that had been brought back multiple times. He finally stopped at the part where Chief Woolf mentioned the ‘Night Empress’ to the reporter with a smile. It was easier to tell the subtle differences in people’s expression through a recording, and the old prophet noticed that the smile on Woolf’s face through the screen was almost completely out of character.

“Prophet, we believe Woolf suspects that the Eighth Galaxy already built a superhuman armed forces fleet behind the Union’s back. Also, the Central Militias throughout the galaxies seemed to be coaxed by the independence of the Eighth Galaxy and are looking to do the same; it’s possible that Woolf wants to destroy the Eighth Galaxy before these armed forces can make a move.”

Hope frowned as he locked his eyes on Woolf’s seemingly at-ease expression.

The subordinate noticed the expression on his superior and asked: “Prophet, didn’t you say that you would risk anything to stop another outbreak of total war? What should we do now?”

Hope looked at him in deep thought and still felt something was off about the footage. He used to think Woolf carried the spirits of the of White Tower and had stepped up the ladder to power within the organization thanks to the old Chief. At the same time, he had also played the role of a puppet used by Woolf for his ambitions, only to be trapped by the old Chief like a chess piece on a game board. He had mixed feelings toward that old hand pressing down on the chessboard, but also felt that he could understand the motives behind those powerful hands.

For some reason, Hope felt that Woolf wasn’t someone who was obsessed with centralizing the power of the Union government in his hands–he was already close to 320 years old, how long could he hold onto that power? He was unmarried all his life with no family, who was going to inherit this absolute authority from him?

The last time he saw Woolf was when he heard the shocking news that Lin Jingheng had appeared before the Union with the Silver Ten in the Heart of the Rose. Woolf secretly requested to meet with Hope, but hadn’t spoken too much about the current political climate. Instead, he only made a comment without any logical context: “Both of you—you and Lin Jingheng, must think that the Union is built on lies and conspiracies. Even if neither of you are willing to break the peace now, you both don’t think much about this kind of peace…but both of you are wrong. This whole world was built on conspiracies and lies, but it doesn’t make the world ugly because at least one person fell victim to these lies. They appease the anger of the public and lead the shaped world to the future; this is the uncontested law of certainty…here’s a present for you, take a look at it when you return.”

Right– the present that Woolf had given him was a pack of seeds of the Night Empress.

What did that pack of seeds mean?

“Prophet!” Someone suddenly barged in at the moment and interrupted Hope’s train of thought, “General Duke of the First Galaxy’s Border Patrols was assassinated on the way back from Wolto, they’ve claimed it was our doing!”

Hope was startled by this news: “What!?”

“What!?” Wang Ailun felt as if he had been struck by lightning. “Say it again, who got assassinated?”

“It’s from a reliable source–General Duke was struck by an AUS ambush this morning on his way back from Wolto and was assassinated!”

Cold sweat rolled down Wang Ailun’s face; Duke was the head of the Central Militias and was essentially the commander among those old veterans spread throughout the galaxies. How could the Union possibly find an excuse now that he died in the First Galaxy? Wang Ailun wanted to hold the emperor hostage to control the nobility, using Woolf to maintain a stronghold over the Central Militia; however, this plan would only work if these ‘nobles’ remained loyal to their ‘emperor.’

A siren rang inside his head. Panicked, he almost forgot that nobody else besides himself and Woolf knew who was behind the AUS.

At that moment, a secret message was sent to his personal device. Wang Ailun waved off his subordinate and walked into a secret chamber to pick up the call: “I heard that Duke just……”

“I’m the one that killed Duke.” Lin Jingshu interrupted him calmly, “No need to worry.”

Wang Ailun could feel cold air freezing down to his bones as he struggled to speak through his gritted teeth: “Are you crazy?”

“Duke left his post without giving proper notice earlier this morning and brought an armed fleet that contained a heavy mech over. If I remember correctly, any armed fleet that is equipped with warping systems were not allowed to sail near the capital planet of Wolto; even Commander Lin Jingheng was forced to sail on an unarmed starship back then and pass through all checkpoints one by one.” Lin Jingshu lowered her gaze. “Are you saying that Duke is more arrogant than him and didn’t know the law? He was doing it on purpose and if I didn’t stop him on the way, he would’ve already brought his guns up to the Parliament on Wolto by now. If that happens, what do you plan on doing? Are you going to play the nice guy and talk him out of it with kind words, Mister Secretary General?”

Wang Ailun’s slightly tanned skin looked paler than usual: “What will the Central Militias think if they hear…”

Lin Jingshu chuckled lightly: “Duke brought an armed fleet near Wolto, what do you think the Central Militias will think if they hear about this? You have to take the initiative in this situation. Besides, since when did the honored body of the Secretary General voluntarily sit on the same bench as space pirates? General Duke was killed by the AUS, what does this have anything to do with you? All you need to do is to rile up the anger and feed the hungry birds.”

Wang Ailun’s guilty conscience finally settled down as he realized the situation and let out a sigh of relief. The frown on his face remained unchanged as he shot a cold gaze at Lin Jingshu: “You make it sound easy, but Duke died less than one sailing day away from the Union Troop’s headquarters. Even if he really was ‘killed by the AUS,’ how could the Union government possibly come out of this mess unstained? Are you doing it on purpose!? Besides, you were the one who told me that as long as Woolf exists, as long as the threat of the Freedom Corps exists, the Union and the Central Militias would still maintain a stable relationship; so why did this situation with Duke happen?”

“Perhaps impulse is a demon; or maybe Duke’s loyalty towards Lu Xin was much stronger than we thought? I’ve never carried cannons in my arms and fought wars before, how would I understand that kind of silly admiration and idolization?” Lin Jingshu responded, unfazed. “The ambush was chosen at that location because the further out it went, the further we would be trudging into the patrolling range of the First Galaxy’s Border Patrol. Secretary General, did you really think my little lackeys are any match against a properly trained military fleet? If that was the case, I would’ve already taken Wolto down; why would I waste my time and listen to your unreasonable accusations right now?”

Wang Ailun’s expression relaxed slightly at this explanation.

From his perspective, the Freedom Corps certainly didn’t have the power to stand in the spotlight. As the two major pirate forces, the AUS and Freedom Corps had suffered through wars and battles throughout these years. Only the Freedom Corps still continued their little conspiracy games under the table today, like poor peasants trying to make ends meet through illegal trades. Lin Jingshu was still a terrorist at the end of the day, no matter how much chaos she could cause; she could launch terrorist attacks, but still needed his help to truly cause a storm within the political stage of the Union.

Lin Jingshu said coldly: “If you don’t believe me, then I’m not obligated to help you clean up the mess afterwards. Goodbye.”

“Wait, Jingshu!” Wang Ailun’s expression softened up within a blink of an eye. “How do you still have this kind of attitude at your age? I thought I was still talking to that little girl with the flying unicorn in General Lin’s house back then.”

Lin Jingshu clenched her fist slightly, but her expression became slightly relieved.

“The news came too suddenly, you should’ve informed me beforehand. I was just panicking a little and didn’t really mean what I said.” Wang Ailun’s attitude changed like the flip of a page as smooth talk rolled off of his tongue. He spent about ten minutes ‘opening up’ to Lin Jingshu, finally seeing a slight bit of change on that ice cold statue-like face through his personal device. He then let out a long sigh of relief at last, as if he had understood everything. “People are like this all the time. They keep a mask on in front of strangers, and after wearing it for extended periods of time, they would even act quite distant towards their closest friends and family.”

Lin Jingshu seemed to be moved by these words of ‘friends and family’ and lowered her voice: “To be quite honest, Duke’s death could potentially be a good card in our hands if we know how to play it right—don’t forget how Woolf managed to unite the Central Militias back then. The central government should put out an announcement immediately and prepare itself in front of the camera…..”

Wang Ailun: “I’m afraid being prepared on the outside won’t be enough.”

“Composure certainly isn’t enough.” Lin Jingshu lifted an eyebrow. “The Union wants to share a common enemy with the Central Militias, so they would at least need to face the same amount of loss and damage to make it believable, right?”

Wang Ailun understood her unspoken words and trembled: “You’re saying……”

Lin Jingshu lifted a finger and pressed it to her lips: “Uncle Ailun, you need to step out of the box to look at the situation. You have to be able to toss away all your old cards that are losing value over time and adapt to the ever-changing situation with new methods in order to maintain a strong foundation for your authority.”

Wang Ailun stood dumbly as layers of cold sweat covered his body. He felt as if he was standing at the edge of a cliff. He walked down this crooked path under the temptations of power and ambition, but still hadn’t mentally prepared himself to completely betray his former master. After working for almost 200 years under Woolf, servitude was silently beaten to his nature. Despite hating this part of his character with all of his heart, that cursed part of his personality would occasionally arise and enchant him.

“I’ll think about it, let me……”

“Duke’s corpse is already cold,” Lin Jingshu said calmly. “Uncle Ailun, you don’t have time left. Fate will only give its chosen victim one chance, and this chance could only last one minute—do you know how Waterloo fell into the hands of Grouchy?”

Wang Ailun: “Then……what about the Eighth Galaxy?”

“My spy has just cut off the mutual communication channel between the Border Patrols and the Eighth Galaxy and made it seem like something happened over here. Now take a guess: what would the Eighth Galaxy that has already once suffered at the hands of Ankur think of the situation over here, now that they’re completely blind to what’s happening? And what would happen if Duke sent someone to ask the Eighth Galaxy for help at this time? Would the generals of the Eighth Galaxy think the Union was using the same method twice to insult their intellect?” Lin Jingshu smiled. “The best case scenario is if that ‘anti-war prophet’ of the AUS freaked out over the sudden accusation and sent more information to the Eighth Galaxy in a panic; that would make things even more believable. Don’t worry, Uncle Ailun, the Eighth Galaxy will close their doors on it all.”