Yi Lian claimed that the orbital light-cannon launch system would be unlocked within two minutes. Leaving the cluster of officials behind, Li Ji walked straight toward the primary command seat.

Song Jin checked his personal terminal and said with mild surprise, “There’s actually a network connection up here.”

“An EMP bombardment of this magnitude is nothing to the military core,” Li Xiao explained smoothly.

Song Jin nodded with grand, mock solemnity. “As expected of the Danse Imperial Military. I haven’t actually seen an orbital light-cannon fire before. I wonder if it looks pretty?”

Li Xiao gently took hold of Song Jin’s hand. “Let’s go watch the show.”

The two of them bantered back and forth in perfect harmony, walking hand-in-hand toward the primary tactical deck. They left the cluster of officials behind, who felt as though they were sitting on a bed of scorching needles.

Several officials belonging to the Meng faction stealthily exchanged uneasy glances before casually opening their personal terminals.

“Wow, there really is a network connection.”

“To cause such a massive scene out there… they’re truly courting death. Did they honestly think the military was a toothless tiger?”

“I told you, those rogue terrorist organizations could never hope to overpower the regular army.”

While trading superficial, half-hearted remarks aloud, their fingers flew across their screens, rapidly composing encrypted text to relay the latest intelligence. They desperately needed the Qi family to deploy immediate reinforcements to wipe out the Third Legion.

They had reached the absolute point of no return. If the Emperor and the Second Highness successfully slipped out of this trap, the Crown would inevitably begin settling scores. Bureaucrats like them, who maintained close, illicit ties with the Qi family, would be the very first to face execution.

_

[Orbital Light-Cannon Activation: One minute and thirty seconds remaining.]

Yi Lian instructed his adjutant to broadcast a fleet-wide notice, ordering all active combat units to pull back to a secure baseline distance.

[Attention all units, this is the Third Legion Command Deck. The primary orbital light-cannon array will deploy in one minute. Upon hearing this transmission, initiate immediate tactical withdrawal to a secure radius.]

[Repeating transmission, this is the Third Legion Command Deck…]

The moment the broadcast concluded, Yi Lian’s personal terminal began to vibrate relentlessly. With every pulse, his heart sank a little lower. He felt a potent mixture of cold fury and profound disappointment.

[Orbital Light-Cannon Activation: Thirty seconds remaining.]

Li Xiao stood right next to the primary control console, his peripheral vision sweeping across every single personnel member stationed inside the command hub.

[Orbital Light-Cannon Activation: Fifteen seconds remaining.]

Across every battleship of the Third Legion, the specialized internal security detachments operating under secret protocols moved out simultaneously.

A patrol squad leader on duty had just tucked his terminal away when he spotted a heavily armed platoon marching aggressively down the metallic corridor toward him. Before the squad leader could even open his mouth to question their presence, the leading Second Lieutenant lunged forward, grabbed his collar, and smashed a brutal fist directly into his jaw.

“Secure him!” the Lieutenant barked.

Two robust soldiers instantly flanked the dazed officer, pinned his arms behind his back, snapped high-grade alloy suppression cuffs onto his wrists, and dragged him away.

The remaining members of the patrol squad stood entirely frozen in bewilderment. One of them summoned the courage to ask, “Lieutenant, on what charges are you detaining our squad leader?”

The Lieutenant didn’t break his stride, leading his platoon toward the next coordinates. “Treasonous collusion with the enemy!”

The entire patrol squad: “…!!!”

Holy hell!

On another capital ship, a Major was meticulously cross-referencing logistical data inside the armory. Spotting an armed detachment entering the secure zone that clearly didn’t belong to the local sector patrol, his face darkened. “Whose unit do you report to?! Unauthorized personnel are strictly barred from entering the armory without direct clearance from the bridge! Vacate the premises immediately!”

The leading First Lieutenant stepped up to him, offering no verbal reply. He suddenly delivered a vicious punch to the Major’s abdomen, followed by a swift, crushing elbow strike to the side of his neck.

The Major’s hand had barely brushed against his sidearm before he was violently thrown to the deck and pinned down by the accompanying soldiers.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the Major roared, struggling against the weight.

The Lieutenant looked down at him coldly. “You are officially under suspicion of high treason against the empire. If you cooperate fully, you will be granted an opportunity to present a defense at court. Resist, and you will be executed on the spot. Move out!”

Across every single vessel in the fleet, regular soldiers stationed along the corridors watched in utter bewilderment as their fellow officers were systematically disarmed and hauled away in cuffs. They exchanged uneasy glances. What in the world is happening?

The automated automated audio system echoed through the speakers:

[Five… Four… Three… Two… One… System Deployed!]

An eerie, absolute silence blanketed the ships. There was no massive shudder, no blinding flash of light. Unless one was stationed inside the primary command deck with access to the external optical arrays, the average crew member had zero visibility of the outside airspace.

Inside a designated staging bay, an active combat platoon had just finished forming up, waiting for their superior officer’s next tactical directive.

Suddenly, an Alpha soldier in the ranks let out a horrific, curdling shriek, clutching his head as he collapsed violently onto the deck.

“Old Qian! What’s wrong with you?!” The platoon captain rushed over, kneeling beside him.

The Alpha named Old Qian looked as though he were enduring a wave of excruciating physical agony. His face was flushed crimson, the veins along his neck bulging violently as he thrashed on the floor. “The noise! The noise is tearing my brain apart!”

The surrounding soldiers exchanged baffled glances, listening intently. The air was perfectly quiet. They couldn’t hear a thing.

The captain was about to order two men to carry him to the medical bay when a direct, high-priority flash directive from the primary command deck cut through the internal system:

[Attention all personnel. Initiate immediate detention of any individual exhibiting violent physical distress or adverse reactions to high-frequency audio spikes. These individuals are confirmed enemy moles. This directive applies regardless of rank, station, or military division. Every successful detention will be rewarded with a meritorious Second-Class Commendation.]

[Repeating directive, initiate immediate detention of any individual exhibiting violent physical distress…]

Hearing the word ‘mole,’ the platoon captain’s gaze instantly turned ice-cold. He instinctively drew his alloy cuffs, snapping them onto Old Qian’s wrists before he could recover. “Haul him away!”

The two nearest soldiers immediately grabbed Old Qian by his shoulders, dragging him out of the staging bay. The captain turned, waving an arm toward the rest of his subordinates. “Move out! Let’s go secure some free military merits!”

“Sir!”

In less than ten minutes, the Third Legion completed a flawless, internal purge.The Confrontation in the Command Deck

Inside the primary command deck of the flagship, the heavy blast doors remained sealed tight. The detained politicians and the regular Imperial Guard details locked inside had absolutely no idea what was transcribing across the rest of the fleet.

Yi Lian approached the central tactical table, presenting the secure feedback reports from the various ship divisions to Li Ji and Li Xiao.

Li Ji shifted his gaze toward Li Xiao. “You authorized this?”

Assuming his father was displeased with the breach of protocol, Li Xiao offered a brief explanation: “You were completely unreachable at the time, so I was unable to brief you beforehand.”

Li Ji didn’t offer any criticism. Instead, he turned his cold gaze toward the cluster of trembling politicians huddled in the corner. “While we are at it, clear out this trash as well.”

Yi Lian saluted. “Understood, Your Majesty!”

Yi Lian personally led a squad of heavily armed security forces across the deck, systematically detaining nineteen specific individuals whose names had been verified through intercepted transmissions—including the Captain of the Imperial Guard.

These corrupt bureaucrats held immense political power within the capital, but their physical conditioning was pathetic. Pinioned by the robust military personnel, they trembled violently, their fragile frames creaking under the pressure. They possessed zero capacity to resist.

“Your Majesty! The Third Legion dares to lawlessly detain imperial officials right under your nose!”

“Release me this instant! You’re breaking my arm!”

“What is the meaning of this?! Could it be that the Third Legion has long since defected and colluded with the insurgents?!”

The detained Meng-faction officials were absolutely terrified, shouting frantic, baseless accusations in a desperate bid to shift the blame onto the military.

The Captain of the Imperial Guard thrashed against the three soldiers attempting to restrain him, roaring toward Li Ji, “Your Majesty! The Third Legion is compromised! You must vacate the deck immediately!”

Yet, Li Ji didn’t offer him so much as a passing glance.

Seeing that the soldiers were taking too long to subdue the trained combatant, Song Jin’s patience ran thin. He casually swept a heavy, steel-reinforced tactical folder off a nearby console and hurled it across the room. The sharp, weighted corner of the folder struck the Guard Captain squarely against his carotid artery with pinpoint accuracy.

The Captain’s vision instantly went black, and in the next heartbeat, he was slammed face-first onto the deck and securely cuffed.

Yi Lian’s eyes widened as he recognized the object. He scrambled forward to retrieve the bent, slightly dented tactical log. Losing this operational journal would have been an absolute nightmare for my paperwork.

“Your Majesty, do not let them deceive you! The Third Legion never fired the orbital light-cannon array!” the Guard Captain spat, glaring viciously at Yi Lian through the strands of hair falling into his eyes. “They have been fabricating lies from the very beginning! They are undoubtedly maintaining illicit ties with the invaders!”

Li Xiao stepped forward, looking down at him calmly. “And how exactly do you know the orbital array wasn’t fired?”

“They don’t possess the clearance capacity to deploy it!” the Captain barked.

“And how do you know that?” Li Xiao countered smoothly.

The Guard Captain suddenly froze, realizing he had walked straight into a blatant verbal trap. He turned his head to glare at Li Xiao, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Second Highness, aren’t you stepping a bit too close to the Third Legion? His Majesty the Emperor is standing right here. Since when do you have the authority to speak over the throne in a setting like this?”

The blatant attempt to sow discord between father and son was so poorly veiled that even a simpleton could read through it.

Taking the cue, the other detained officials quickly began to echo his sentiments. In their desperate situation, they had no choice but to throw everything at the wall to see what stuck.

“This entire affair is highly abnormal! Your Majesty, you must order a thorough investigation into the prince’s actions!”

“The Second Highness has acted with extreme arrogance ever since his return to the palace. He clearly harbors dark ambitions!”

“Your Majesty, do not let him blind you!”

Throughout the entire display, Li Ji merely watched the unfolding drama with an icy, detached composure, completely unmoved by their transparent manipulation.

Standing nearby, Wei Feng caught the rhythmic, subtle tapping of Li Ji’s fingers against his side. He isn’t completely unmoved, Wei Feng noted silently. It looks more like his fists are itching to break someone’s jaw.

Having safely tucked his precious tactical log beneath a stack of secure documents, Yi Lian turned back to address the room. “We indeed did not fire the primary orbital array. A collection of treasonous moles within our ranks managed to infect the launch core with a localized virus, temporarily disabling the primary light-cannon array. The entire countdown was merely a psychological trap engineered to force you to expose your handlers.”

“Conveniently phrased!” the Guard Captain snarled. “The Third Legion cannot even neutralize a petty star pirate syndicate! Isn’t that an absolute embarrassment?!”

Li Xiao countered flatly, “Then what does that make you, the Captain of the Imperial Guard, who failed so utterly to protect the physical person of the Emperor? Isn’t that an even greater embarrassment?”

“If His Majesty had been surrounded exclusively by my personal elite details, he would never have sustained a single injury!” the Captain bellowed.

“If he had been surrounded exclusively by your men, His Majesty would be a corpse by now!” Old Liu could no longer restrain his rage, stepping forward aggressively. “I hold irrefutable, hard evidence of every single illicit transaction you have processed!”

The Guard Captain opened his mouth to retort, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a sentry stationed near the primary security column quietly shifting his heavy assault rifle. The barrel was slowly aligning with the back of Li Ji’s skull. The Captain deliberately increased the volume of his shouting to draw the room’s absolute attention.

Seeing that everyone’s eyes were locked onto the Guard Captain, the rogue sentry suddenly lowered his posture, locking the sight onto the Emperor’s head, his finger tightening against the hair-trigger.

Wei Feng caught the subtle shift in movement instantly. He drew his sidearm, spun on his heel, and fired a high-grade armor-piercing round dead at the rogue sentry’s head.

Bang!

The thunderous gunshot echoed violently across the sealed command deck.

Struck square by the heavy kinetic round, the sentry’s head violently burst into fragments, spraying dark crimson blood across the metallic floor and consoles.

“Ahhhh—!” The delicate bureaucrats had never witnessed such raw, visceral violence in their lives. Several of them turned completely pale, their knees buckling in sheer terror.

Capitalizing on the sudden chaos, the Guard Captain violently threw his weight backward, breaking free from the grip of the startled soldiers. He drew a hidden sidearm, aiming it squarely at Li Ji.

Before his finger could depress the trigger, a high-velocity round tore cleanly through his right wrist.

“Gah!” The Captain hissed in agony, his gaze flying toward the source of the shot. He locked eyes with Li Xiao, who already had his weapon leveled. The Captain threw his body sideways to dodge a second incoming round, drawing a backup blade with his left hand to launch a desperate counterattack.

Bang!

Li Xiao squeezed the trigger calmly, shattering the Captain’s left wrist, followed by a rapid double-tap that blew out his left and right kneecaps.

“Ugh!” The Guard Captain collapsed heavily onto his knees. He watched a pair of pristine military boots walk toward him with a slow, measured cadence. The next second, the cold, unforgiving barrel of a pistol was pressed firmly against the center of his forehead.

Seeing the chaos unfold, two remaining deep-cover moles among the sentries raised their rifles, aiming toward Li Ji.

Song Jin drew Yi Lian’s sidearm from his hip, and within the span of a single heartbeat, executed two flawless headshots, neutralizing them instantly.

“Your Majesty!” Another Alpha Second Lieutenant scrambled toward Li Ji, his face twisted in performative panic. “Watch out!”

The moment he neared the Emperor’s physical space, the Lieutenant violently unleashed an oppressive wave of combat pheromones, drawing a tactical dagger to plunge it deep into Li Ji’s throat. “Don’t move—ugh!”

Wei Feng intercepted the strike flawlessly, locking the Lieutenant’s wrist and forcing the blade downward. With a single, brutal twist, he dragged the edge cleanly across the man’s throat.

The Lieutenant fell heavily to the deck, clutching his severed jugular as his body went into violent spasms before turning completely still.

Yi Lian’s brows knitted tightly together. He stepped forward to form a physical shield around the Emperor, turning to ask Wei Feng, “Are there any other compromised units?!”

Wei Feng had no intention of drawing unnecessary suspicion onto himself. He stepped back, resuming his posture as a silent, detached bodyguard. “No idea.”

Yan Qing shifted his position, standing directly in front of Li Ji, his sharp gaze raking across the remaining soldiers on the deck. “None detected for the moment.”

Li Ji took note of the seamless coordination between Yan Qing and Wei Feng. A mountain of burning questions swirled within his mind, and his expression turned increasingly grim.

Over by the main console, the crippled Guard Captain finally felt the cold grip of absolute terror. His voice trembled violently as he looked up at Li Xiao. “I was forced into this! They threatened me! If I didn’t comply, my entire family would have been executed!”

“Who is ‘they’?” Li Xiao demanded coldly.

The Captain’s eyes darted erratically. “If you guarantee my absolute safety and immunity, I will tell you everything!”

Li Xiao’s finger tightened against the trigger. “You do not possess the leverage to negotiate with me.”

Bang!

The Guard Captain’s pupils dilated before turning blank as the round punched a clean hole between his brows. His body fell backward, hitting the deck with a heavy thud.

The sudden execution completely broke the remaining politicians. They had never imagined the Second Highness would casually execute a decorated Major General right inside the command deck without a formal trial!

Li Xiao tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping across the remaining cowering figures. His tone was entirely flat and indifferent. “During an insurgent invasion, it is perfectly normal for a few high-ranking officials to lose their lives in the crossfire.”

Song Jin stepped up beside them, casually twirling the heavy service pistol around his finger, a bright, dangerous smile gracing his lips. “These old bastards all operate out of the same pocket anyway. If they are going to die, they might as well go down together.”

They truly intend to slaughter us all right here?!

The politicians’ eyes turned bloodshot with terror, and they scrambled over one another to scream out their compliance.

“I’ll talk! I’ll confess everything!”

“Whatever information you want, I will give it to you!”

“Please spare my life! I will do whatever you ask of me!”

Catching the subtle wink Li Xiao threw his way, Song Jin let out a disappointed sigh, clicking his tongue. “Spineless cowards. How boring.”

The officials pulled their heads down, not daring to utter a single word out of fear that a single wrong syllable would prompt the erratic youth to put a bullet through their skulls.

Once the entire command deck was brought under absolute control, Yi Lian ordered the security details to drag the prisoners down to the brig. He then issued a fleet-wide command to pulse a high-frequency localized acoustic wave every two minutes to ensure no deep-cover moles remained functional within the fleet.

_

Li Ji returned his attention to the primary tactical display. While they had successfully cleared the structural rot within their own ranks, the tactical pressure on the frontline remained unchanged. Without the deployment of orbital weaponry, they couldn’t rapidly bring this engagement to a decisive conclusion. The longer the stalemate dragged on, the higher the operational risk.

Sensing Li Xiao approaching his flank, Li Ji asked quietly, “What other arrangements have you put in motion?”

Li Xiao gestured toward a rendering display on the secondary monitor. “While the enemy fleet’s tracking arrays remain crippled by the EMP interference, I had Yi Lian dispatch a specialized vanguard strike group to execute a wide flank. They have already initiated heavy artillery bombardment against their rear guard.”

The invading fleet’s radar was completely blind, meaning they couldn’t immediately detect the arriving Yi Army detachments. Furthermore, their raw tactical coordination was vastly inferior to regular imperial legionnaires. As long as the Yi Army combat ships maintained a safe position right outside the active boundaries of the EMP interference zone, they could utilize their heavy light-cannon arrays without issue.

However, to ensure no stray artillery rounds impacted the civilian population centers on the planetary surface below, the strike groups were ordered to throttle their output, methodically dismantling the enemy capital ships one by one.

Li Xiao added, “The enemy fleet has already initiated a full retreat. The further they are pushed from the atmosphere, the greater our tactical advantage.”

Li Ji nodded in clear appreciation. “An excellent tactical deployment. But we must ensure the source of the EMP bombardment remains entirely under our operational control.”

“Song Jin is managing the parameters,” Li Xiao replied smoothly.

Li Ji blinked in genuine astonishment. He cast a long look at the stunningly beautiful, incredibly arrogant youth standing across the deck. A sudden realization struck him, and he lowered his voice. “09… is a machine belonging to the Shenya Empire, isn’t it?”

Li Xiao offered no denial. “It belongs to me now.”

Li Ji narrowed his eyes slightly. This boy… has he been laying his chess pieces from such an incredibly early stage?

Shifting his focus, the Emperor called Yi Lian over. “Before the local planetary garrison can mobilize their assets to interfere, order our primary capital ships to pull back beyond the active radius of the EMP dampening field.”

“Understood, Your Majesty!”

Li Xiao turned to his father. “What are your intentions?”

Li Ji watched the altitude indicators of the flagship steadily climb. “A blade has been delivered directly into my hands. It would be an absolute waste of leverage not to swing it.”

Seeing that the Emperor had already formulated a definitive political counter-strategy, Li Xiao guided Song Jin toward the secondary hangar to verify the status of Jiang Hao and the rest of the academy students.

Wei Feng made a move to follow them, but Li Xiao raised a hand, stopping him in his tracks. “You stay beside my brother for the time being.”

Wei Feng blinked. “…To what extent?”

“Even if he goes to the washroom, you follow him step for step,” Li Xiao ordered flatly.

Wei Feng: “…”

Talk about an exceptionally dedicated bodyguard detail.

_

Meanwhile, back on the Imperial Capital Planet, inside the Military High Command.

Yi Yongning had just finished a fierce shouting match with Zheng Kang’an. Grand General Gao Wanxin, acting as his usual neutral self, offered zero concrete input, leaving the meeting entirely deadlocked. Yi Yongning returned to his private office, his chest heaving with suppressed rage.

His adjutant stepped forward, his expression exceptionally grave. “General, can we not simply authorize a unilateral deployment of our personal forces?”

Both the Emperor and the entire Third Legion had vanished from the communication grid. This clearly indicated a catastrophic crisis on the ground. They could no longer afford to be bound by bureaucratic red tape. If the Emperor met his end in that sector, the political balance of the entire empire would disintegrate.

“If we move our armada across the border right now, do you honestly believe Meng Jian will sit idly by?” Yi Yongning’s voice was heavy and ominous. “Every single primary hyperspace jump point leading toward Sector S1301 has likely already been locked down by his personal fleets. If we march in blindly, we will simply be delivering our heads on a silver platter.”

The adjutant knitted his brows. “What if we coordinate a joint deployment with the other military divisions?”

Yi Yongning let out a cold, mocking laugh. “That plays perfectly into his hands. Meng Jian will simply mobilize his two loyal lapdogs to launch a direct, decapitation strike against our headquarters here in the Tianjiang Constellation. We would be looking at a one-against-three engagement. Even if the Gao family mustered the courage to assist us, we would be utterly overwhelmed.”

It was precisely because the strategic landscape was heavily stacked against them that he had consistently chosen to swallow his pride and endure. If they pushed Meng Jian into launching an open, military coup right now, they would lose everything. For Meng Jian, the only difference lay between a clean victory and a messy one.

The adjutant was sweating profusely. “I dispatched our deep-cover scouts in Sector S1301 to verify the coordinates half an hour ago. To this moment, they have failed to report back. The Hemin Sector has undoubtedly deployed a massive, planetary-scale EMP shroud.”

Yi Yongning fell into a long, heavy silence. “In a scenario like this, no news is the best possible news.”

Suddenly, his personal terminal vibrated violently. Yi Yongning flinched, his heart leaping into his throat. Seeing the caller ID display his youngest son, Yi Lian, he answered instantly. “Lian! What is the situation?!”

Yi Lian’s face appeared on screen, his expression stiff and formal. “During the tournament matches, we sustained a massive assault by an insurgent armada. Their operational scale far exceeded our initial projections. The local garrison deliberately withheld support, and we uncovered a massive network of deep-cover moles within our own ranks. We very nearly walked straight into their trap!”

Yi Yongning’s brows locked tight. “Where is His Majesty?!”

“Both His Majesty and the Second Highness are perfectly unharmed. The tactical situation has been brought under absolute control.” Yi Lian pivoted the visual feed slightly. “His Majesty wishes to speak with you directly.”

Catching sight of the heavy medical gauze wrapped around Li Ji’s forehead and the dried blood staining his formal robes, both Yi Yongning and his adjutant felt their chests tighten. They could easily deduce just how harrowing the struggle on the ground had been.

Yi Yongning bowed deeply. “Your Majesty, I deeply regret that you had to endure such peril.”

Li Ji waved a dismissive hand. “Keep the news of my survival strictly classified for the time being. You are to immediately mobilize your elite internal security detachments and place Grand General Qi Shoude along with his entire immediate bloodline under absolute arrest.”

Yi Yongning’s spirits surged. He intends to move directly against Qi Shoude?!

The veteran general rapidly evaluated the operational feasibility of the command. “Meng Jian will absolutely not sit idly by and watch Qi Shoude be dragged into a cell.”

“Avoid an open military conflict with his core fleets for now,” Li Ji instructed coldly. “If any complications arise, bridge a direct line to me.”

“Understood, Your Majesty!”

The moment the transmission terminated, Yi Yongning stood in silence for a brief moment before turning to his adjutant with a sharp gesture. “Deploy our elite guards immediately. Secure the entire military district and the High Command headquarters!”

“Sir!”

_

Unlike the composed Meng Jian, Grand General Qi Shoude was currently pacing across his private office, consumed by an intense, agonizing anxiety. If today’s operation collapsed, even if the Qi family managed to avoid absolute execution, their political foundation would be shattered beyond repair.

His adjutant offered a low, reassuring murmur from the flank. “General, our operational parameters were flawlessly calculated. Even if they possessed miraculous capabilities, there is absolutely no avenue of escape for them.”

Qi Shoude stared at the intricate holographic chess grid resting on his desk, his fingers unconsciously rolling a glass game piece. He couldn’t bring his mind to settle.

The sudden sound of rapid, heavy bootsteps echoing from the outer corridor made Qi Shoude violently snap his head up. Seeing his chief assistant sprint through the doorway, he demanded hoarsely, “Is it done?!”

The assistant breathed heavily, his face pale. “We have received zero operational feedback from the sector yet, sir! However… Yi Yongning has suddenly mobilized his personal legion and completely surrounded the High Command headquarters!”

Qi Shoude violently hurled the chess piece across the room, taking three rapid strides toward the massive floor-to-ceiling viewport.

An immense armada of dreadnoughts and armored transports hovered silently across the upper atmosphere, completely blotting out the natural sunlight. The sheer, overwhelming scale of the deployment stretched as far as the eye could see, creating a suffocating pressure that made it difficult to breathe.

“What kind of madness is that old bastard trying to pull now?!” Qi Shoude hissed, his mind racing to decipher Yi Yongning’s strategic intent.

Boom!

The heavy reinforced doors of his private office were violently blown off their hinges.

An elite, heavily armed internal security platoon flooded into the space, their weapons instantly locking onto Qi Shoude from every angle.

The platoon commander stepped forward, his voice cutting through the smoke like a whip: “Hands above your head! Drop to your knees immediately!”

“Presumptuous bastards!” Qi Shoude roared with practiced authority. “Do you have any idea whose office you have dared to breach?!”

“I am the one who authorized their entry.”

Yi Yongning stepped into the ruined office, flanked closely by his personal elite guard. He looked Qi Shoude dead in the eye. “We hold irrefutable, hard evidence linking you directly to high treason against the empire. If you attempt to resist arrest, you will be executed on the spot!”

Qi Shoude’s jaw twitched violently, his posture rigid. “What utter nonsense are you spouting?!”

Before the exchange could escalate further, an irritated, cold voice drifted in from the ruined corridor outside. “What is the meaning of this?! Are you staging a coup?! Out of my way!”

Meng Jian stepped into the office. Taking in the hostile standoff, his cold gaze settled directly onto Yi Yongning. “What is the meaning of this, Old Yi?”

Yi Yongning turned slightly. “Old Meng, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with you. I strongly advise you to stay out of it.”

Meng Jian’s expression turned remarkably icy. “Old Qi is a decorated Grand General of the empire. What kind of crime could he possibly have committed to warrant this kind of theatrical display? You are pushing this joke a bit too far!”

“Qi Shoude has engaged in treasonous collusion with hostile forces, engineering a deliberate assassination plot against the person of the Emperor.” Yi Yongning met Meng Jian’s sharp, piercing gaze, emphasizing every single syllable: “We have been comrades-in-arms for decades, Old Meng. I, too, wish with all my heart that this was merely a joke!”

“Pure fabrication!” Qi Shoude maintained a fierce, unyielding posture. “You are merely capitalizing on His Majesty’s temporary absence to launch a lawless political purge! Who exactly is the one committing treason here?!”

Yi Yongning let out a tired, weary sigh. “Since you insist on taking this stance… why don’t you explain yourself to His Majesty directly?”

Both Qi Shoude and Meng Jian froze, the color instantly draining from their faces.

“What’s the matter? Have you forgotten the Emperor’s private frequency?” Yi Yongning casually opened his personal terminal. “Allow me to dial it for you.”

The visual link connected almost instantly, and a massive holographic screen materialized in the center of the room, displaying Li Ji’s face.

Qi Shoude’s hands, tightly clasped behind his back, clenched into white-knuckled fists. He realized with absolute certainty that the situation had devolved into the worst possible scenario. Yet his mind was entirely short-circuiting trying to understand why it had failed! According to their calculations, such an outcome should have been statistically impossible!

Li Ji sat calmly within his command seat, his sharp gaze shifting from his local monitors to look directly at the transmission feed. “Qi Shoude, the signal interference in this sector has been exceptionally severe, so I haven’t had the opportunity to ask you until now… what exactly was that ‘urgent intelligence update’ you wished to present to me earlier?”

Qi Shoude’s lips trembled for a fraction of a second. He took a slow, deep breath, forcing his posture into a posture of deep reverence. “The captured members of The Raven syndicate confessed under interrogation that they intended to launch a massive, unprecedented terrorist assault today. My sole intention was to urge Your Majesty to vacate the sector immediately, but I deeply regret that my warning arrived a step too late.”

“Ah, so that was the intelligence you possessed,” Li Ji nodded with slow, deliberate precision. “And here I thought you had intentionally guided me into that designated lounge specifically to allow the assassins waiting in ambush to have a clean shot at my life.”

Qi Shoude feigned absolute horror. “Your Majesty survived an assassination attempt?! How exactly did the Third Legion manage their security details?! This is an act of gross, unforgivable negligence!”

Meng Jian smoothly cut in, “Your Majesty, I believe it is of paramount importance that we immediately replace the royal security assignment. Ever since your tour commenced, the number of security breaches has been entirely unacceptable.”

“Whether the Third Legion has engaged in negligence is a matter I will investigate thoroughly in due time,” Li Ji replied, his tone perfectly even, betraying neither fury nor warmth. “However, Qi Shoude… since you possessed prior intelligence that The Raven would launch a massive assault, care to explain to me exactly what defensive counter-measures you put in motion?”

Qi Shoude lowered his head, his voice tight. “I immediately attempted to coordinate with the local planetary garrison to deploy reinforcements, but the communication network was completely severed. I subsequently transmitted high-priority orders to the Thirteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Eighth Legions, but as they were currently executing deep-space patrols, navigating back to these coordinates requires time.”

“I can perfectly understand the failure to establish contact with the garrison due to the signal shroud,” Li Ji’s voice suddenly dropped, turning into a thunderous roar as he slammed his fist violently against his desk. “But when the arena base was actively sustaining heavy mortar fire, the local planetary garrison units sat perfectly still like corpses! Is that something you can explain away?! I could invent ten thousand excuses for you, and not a single one would absolve you of this failure!”

Qi Shoude’s gaze shifted slightly. “It is highly probable that the local garrison suffered from a severe delay in intelligence processing.”

“A delay?” Li Ji let out a cold, mocking laugh. “They certainly moved with exceptional efficiency when it came to clearing out the civilian crowd, yet they remained entirely blind to the active insurgent mechas tearing through the airspace. Tell me, is there something wrong with the eyesight of every single soldier under your command?”

Qi Shoude’s jaw tightened into a rigid line. “I will ensure a thorough internal audit is conducted immediately.”

“When the incident on planet S80 transpired, I already granted you a final opportunity to redeem your standing!” Li Ji roared. “My patience possesses strict boundaries, and I will absolutely not permit an incompetent fool to occupy the seat of a Grand General! Yi Yongning—”

Yi Yongning stepped forward. “Present, Your Majesty.”

“Initiate immediate detention of Qi Shoude! Place him in maximum security until my return for formal tribunal!”

“Understood!”

“Hold your hands!” Meng Jian stepped into the path of the guards, turning his gaze toward the holographic screen. “Your Majesty, Grand General Qi is physically stationed here at the Capital Planet; it is statistically impossible for him to maintain real-time operational oversight over a distant sector. He has executed his duties to the absolute best of his ability. Even if the local garrison failed to respond in time, that remains an internal failure of the garrison branch.”

“Oh? Since when has the seat of a Grand General become such an easy cushion to rest on?” Yi Yongning countered sharply. “When the garrison branch under his direct chain of command suffers a catastrophic structural failure, the commanding Grand General bears zero accountability?”

Meng Jian shot him a venomous look before returning his focus to the screen. “Even so, a comprehensive audit must be conducted before any formal arrest is processed. If you throw Qi Shoude into a cell right now, who exactly is going to manage the vast expanse of the Xuyang Constellation? Your Majesty is currently in the middle of an imperial tour; if another crisis erupts due to a sudden vacuum in the chain of command, who will shoulder the blame?”

Yi Yongning sneered, “Even with Qi Shoude active in his seat, the crisis erupted regardless!”

Li Ji fell into a brief, calculated silence. “Old Meng’s argument possesses merit.”

Hearing this, the immense tension locking Qi Shoude’s muscles instantly dissolved. As expected, the Royal Family still lacks the stomach to launch a direct, frontal challenge against the combined leverage of the Meng faction.

Within the span of a single heartbeat, Meng Jian’s posture relaxed as well. The gaze he directed toward Yi Yongning was laced with smug, triumphant provocation.

Yi Yongning took in their reactions, his hands clenched tightly behind his back.

Li Ji spoke once more, his tone smooth and measured. “Let’s proceed this way then—Meng Jian, your operational capabilities are exceptionally outstanding, and among the five Grand Generals, I have consistently placed the highest degree of trust in your judgment. Until a permanent replacement can be formally vetted and appointed to the seat, the administration of the Xuyang Constellation will be temporarily placed under your direct oversight.”

The atmosphere inside the ruined office underwent a sudden, violent shift.

Meng Jian froze in absolute disbelief, his gaze locking onto the Emperor. “Your Majesty… intends to hand the administration of the Xuyang Constellation to me?”

Li Ji nodded slightly. “Yi Yongning practically works himself to the bone just trying to maintain order within the Tianjiang Constellation. Zheng Kang’an has grown increasingly sluggish and bureaucratic over the years, and Gao Wanxin is far too careless in his oversight. You are the only individual possessing the necessary competence to anchor both sectors.”

Qi Shoude’s face turned completely white, his mind turning into an absolute vacuum.

Impossible! Where did Li Ji find the sheer leverage to pull a maneuver like this?!

By transferring the territory directly to Meng Jian, the Emperor was effectively offering the Meng faction a massive administrative prize while completely cutting the Qi family out of the loop.

Sensing the shift, Yi Yongning barked an immediate order to the security platoon: “Secure the prisoner!”

Meng Jian took a rapid step forward, attempting to block the guards once more. “Your Majesty, I believe this arrangement is highly improper!” His tone was remarkably heavy—though phrased as a recommendation, it carried the distinct weight of a command.

Li Ji’s expression turned remarkably cold. “To speak plainly with you, Meng Jian… the throne has received a massive volume of verified whistleblower documentation detailing Qi Shoude’s direct involvement in treasonous collusion. The hard evidence currently resting in my files is more than sufficient to mandate a lifetime of maximum-security imprisonment. Tell me… do you intend to openly harbor a confirmed traitor of the Crown?”

Meng Jian’s jaw locked into a rigid, straight line.

If he chose not to interfere, he would successfully absorb the vast administrative territory of the Xuyang Constellation, and the Crown would refrain from digging further into his own personal operational liabilities for the time being. If he chose to interfere and shield Qi Shoude, he would instantly find himself slapped with a charge of harboring a traitor.

This was the explicit, binary choice Li Ji was presenting to him.

Most importantly, he was currently standing right down the barrel of Yi Yongning’s elite security platoon. A single directive from the Emperor could end his life right here in this office.

Suppressing the white-hot fury roaring within his chest, Meng Jian slowly stepped aside. He could only watch in silence as Qi Shoude was securely bound in heavy alloy shackles and marched out of the office. It felt as though Li Ji had violently ground his boot directly into his face.

The moment he saw Meng Jian step back, Qi Shoude knew his political life had reached its absolute end. The only question remaining was whether Meng Jian would find a way to quietly break him out of prison later.
_

Out on the S1301 battlefield.

While Li Ji was locking horns with Meng Jian across the holographic link, Li Xiao and Song Jin accompanied the primary fleet as it advanced toward the local garrison headquarters.

Reading the real-time text updates forwarded by Wei Feng, Song Jin let out a low chuckle. “Well, that’s one major problem permanently crossed off the list.”

Li Xiao shook his head gently. “It won’t be that simple. Qi Shoude was the most fiercely loyal hound in the Meng family’s kennel. Meng Jian will absolutely not allow him to fall from power so easily without a fight.”

The two of them sat side-by-side, leaning comfortably against the massive mechanical foot of a parked mecha.

“What do you think his next move will be?” Song Jin asked, tilting his head.

“There is a high probability he will completely throw off the mask and launch an open rebellion,” Li Xiao replied after a brief moment of reflection. “Although the current strategic landscape isn’t the clean victory Meng Jian had originally envisioned, the overall military leverage he commands across the empire remains immensely formidable.”

Song Jin murmured, “If he truly mobilizes his core legions for an open war, the entire Danse Empire will disintegrate into absolute chaos.”

Li Xiao nodded. “Which means your student delegation will likely have to cut your trip short and return home ahead of schedule.”

Song Jin had originally viewed the internal power struggles of the Danse Empire with absolute detachment, but hearing those words, his expression soured instantly. “Doesn’t that mean we’re about to enter a long-distance relationship?”

Li Xiao replied with mock seriousness, “An open military campaign against a veteran commander like Meng Jian isn’t something that can be resolved in a matter of weeks. It could easily drag on for years. It is highly probable that the next time we see each other, years will have passed.”

Song Jin: “…”

Noticing the prominent, frustrated furrow forming between Song Jin’s brows, Li Xiao chose to press his buttons further. “Who knows? Perhaps after a few years apart, we won’t even recognize each other anymore.”

Song Jin’s voice turned dangerously quiet and chilly. “Oh? So that means you’ll have the perfect opportunity to find yourself a gentle, soft-spoken Omega partner who smiles a lot and knows exactly how to cater to your every need?”

Suppressing a smile, Li Xiao nodded with solemn gravity. “Well, statistically speaking, it isn’t an entirely impossible outcome—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Song Jin violently lunged forward, sinking his teeth firmly into the shell of Li Xiao’s ear. Li Xiao let out a sharp gasp, gently patting the youth’s back. “Alright, let go, let go.”

Song Jin soothingly licked the faint teeth marks he had left behind before leaning in close to murmur right against his ear, “I will absolutely never grant you that kind of opportunity.”

Li Xiao wrapped his arms around Song Jin’s waist, looking up at him. “Do you have a solution then?”

Song Jin looked dead into his eyes. “If a structural rot cannot be resolved cleanly from within, then we simply bring in external leverage to clean it out.”

Li Xiao burst into a soft laugh. “Are you claiming you can convince your brother to authorize a foreign intervention?”

Seeing the bright smile return to Li Xiao’s face, Song Jin instantly realized the devious prince had been teasing him all along. “As long as you serve me well and keep me perfectly satisfied, there is absolutely nothing in this universe I cannot procure for you.”

Li Xiao offered a remarkably solemn expression. “I am a prince who sells his strategic talents, not his physical person.”

Song Jin: “…”