Chapter 78
The streets were all silvery white. The weather was so cold that if someone poured a basin of water outside, it would freeze into ice before it hit the ground. Cars were shuttling back and forth, and occasionally one or two pedestrians could be seen walking by the roadside, wrapped up tightly, leaving a trail of deep footprints behind them.
But there is an automatic constant temperature system in the room, and the open balcony is actually covered by a bubble-shaped protective layer, making the interior warm as spring. Alpha also installed a Landia suspension system at the bottom of his body, and was floating around in the house at this time, placing pots of flowers on the balcony to bask in the sun, and watering the flowers carefully. Rong Yuan, who was originally sitting on the balcony reading a book, was surrounded by all kinds of flowers, and the flowers were so colorful that the people inside looked lively.
Rong Yuan looked at Alpha helplessly. After watering the flowers, the robot turned to clean up, while playing a melodious piano piece, not realizing that its owner actually didn't like the feeling of being surrounded by the fragrance of flowers.
Pea rubbed his eyes and crawled out of Rongyuan's pocket. Seeing the many flowers around him that could fit him whole, his little face showed real joy. He sat on Rongyuan's shoulder, holding his cheeks with both hands and admiring them seriously, exuding an emotion called "happiness" all over his body.
Rong Yuan smiled, closed the book, tapped the bracelet twice, and placed it on the table. A layer of light appeared in the air, and a beautiful woman dressed exquisitely was speaking in it:
"...A few days ago, the Imperial Government and some enthusiastic people from the society went to inspect the Barbina Project on the Imperial Guard Five Stars. The spaceship Yongbing that His Majesty was riding on suddenly exploded when it was about to land. The spaceship lost control and crashed into the uninhabited area of Dadar Plain on the Imperial Guard Five Stars. The wreckage is still burning. The Imperial Guard Five Stars, the Imperial Guard Three Stars and the Imperial Capital Star have all sent teams to search and rescue..."
"It is reported that Her Majesty Serinda survived the accident and is currently receiving treatment. The number of casualties on the spacecraft has not yet been counted. The confirmed dead are: Imperial Admiral Wen Wola, Wink Star Governor Fielding, Ming A Luo Qua Enterprise Chairman Klenklin... Royal Butler Lance..."
"This explosion is most likely caused by hostile forces against Her Majesty Serinda's accession to the throne. General Leopold, the spokesman of the Empire, said that the Empire will investigate to the end and will not tolerate any leniency... General Leopold expressed deep condolences to those who died in this accident... General Leopold announced that the Empire will enter a state of emergency, and some star regions will be prohibited from passing through spacecraft... The borders will be closed... The Imperial Capital Star and the thirteen satellites will enter a state of high emergency, and all traffic will be restricted. Some areas will be closed, and all forces that can be mobilized will be mobilized to launch a comprehensive search..."
In the screen, General Leopold's expression was sad and angry when he spoke, full of determination to carry out revenge to the end. The scene of the burning spacecraft was repeated many times, and photos and influential information of the deceased also appeared in the screen one after another.
The explosion of the Yongbing shocked the whole country. In the past two days, the news headlines were all about this incident, even in the Star Network. Especially in the list of deaths that is increasing every day, each name represents a well-known figure in the Empire. It is not an exaggeration to say that the death of these people has directly changed the political and economic structure of Landia.
Because the Imperial Capital was on full alert, most of the cars on the streets belonged to the military, and ordinary people had to reduce the number of times they went out. Many people were praying and mourning for the dead. In this atmosphere, Rong Yuan's flower shop was temporarily closed, and it was a rare period of leisure in these days.
But for Rong Yuan, this major event that shocked the entire Interstellar Alliance was not as important as the fact that the spreading branches around him restricted his space for movement.
Wandou listened for a while, then suddenly turned around and asked, "Are they acting, Rongyuan?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Why?"
"Well... think about it, [On the observation deck of the Holy Light Ceremony held by the Imperial Royal Family, dozens of important figures were assassinated by a mysterious man. The royal butler committed suicide out of fear of the crime. Not only did the Empire not pursue the mysterious killer, but it began to investigate the assets and crimes of the deceased], and [In an unfortunate accident, many important figures died. The surviving Queen launched an investigation and counterattack in grief], which of the two statements would the people be more willing to accept?" Rong Yuan said softly with a faint smile on his face.
"Of course it's the latter." Pea said without hesitation, then paused for a moment and asked again: "So, this is called [for the overall situation], right?"
Rong Yuan said: "Yes, that's right."
Pea thought for a long time and said sullenly, "I don't like this."
It jumped onto the table and fiddled with the bracelet twice. The scene on the screen changed, showing a man calmly and steadily speaking in the blood-stained ground:
"In the 3384th year of the Imperial Calendar, in order to occupy the Red Rock Mining Planet, Evelyn and Rundar secretly released the white virus on the Red Rock Mining Planet. A year later, most people on the planet suffered from white eye disease, which had a mortality rate of up to 75%, and no fetus was born safely that year. Evelyn instructed the Imperial Testing Agency to prove that the mineral resources mined from the Red Rock Mining Planet carried natural viruses, and anyone who came into contact with them would be infected, forcing the Empire to abandon the Red Rock Mining Planet, and the residents of the mining planet were forced to move to a nearby modified planet that was not very suitable for living."
"Afterwards, Lundar only arranged for people to symbolically treat the sick residents. In order to avoid paying high treatment costs, he sent people to replace the injection, which not only had no therapeutic effect, but also stimulated the lethality of the virus in a short period of time. This move caused the original population of 23 million on the Red Rock Mineral Planet to drop sharply to only 1.7 million two years later. The survivors once reported this matter, suspecting that there was something wrong with the treatment medicine, but the people sent by the Empire to investigate were also our people, so in the end, it had to be left unresolved."
"In the year 3388 of the Imperial Calendar, in order to solve the problem of product backlog on the planet and to alleviate the pressure on his administration caused by the dissatisfaction of the people on the planet, Fielding instructed Ferge to secretly launch several attacks and provoke a war with the Monksha Federation..."
"In the year 3393 of the Imperial Calendar, Wen Wola went to wipe out the Ashes, a group of space pirates that were rampant on the Lake Route, and massacred 200,000 innocent people of the wandering race... The Ashes was actually a force secretly controlled by Kronklin. He used this group of space pirates to send his competitors to hell several times, and then seized a lot of profits..."
"In the 3340th year of the Imperial Calendar, the organization began to promote the Lamibchu Treaty, also known as the Great Power Alliance Treaty. The twenty-seven major powers of the Interstellar Alliance formed an alliance to increase their voting rights within the alliance, strengthen political and economic exchanges between countries, exempt tariffs, open up free trade in goods, jointly develop the dark star field, etc. The intention of the alliance treaty is good, and it does not harm the empire, but there are three contents in it that are problematic."
"Article 12 states that the allies share criminal databases and conduct interstellar cooperation in combating criminal activities, including extradition, recovery of property obtained through crime, judicial cooperation, law enforcement cooperation, etc. Allied countries cannot shield or conceal criminals from other countries. If a criminal who commits a serious crime escapes, the nearest ally is obliged to dispatch troops to assist in the capture. On the surface, this article is fine, but only a few of us know that the pursuit of criminals is only temporary. When the alliance matures, this article will become our excuse for invading other planets."
"Article 19 requires the Allies to reach a unified opinion on important decisions and adopt the principle of qualified majority when implementing common foreign and security policies. In short, with the power of our 27 countries and the weak forces attached to these 27 countries, if we can reach a consensus, we will be able to manipulate the direction of the Interstellar Alliance to a large extent in the future and control most of the star regions in the Milky Way."
"There is also Article 23, which stipulates the division of responsibilities and distribution of benefits for exploring the dark star region, especially for newly discovered habitable planets. There are a full thirty pages of subsequent supplementary treaties in this regard in the supplementary clauses. For example, under what conditions can a species be called a 'human' with intelligence and basic human rights, how to resettle, protect, and guide the development of civilization for the planet's natives, etc. But in fact, overly detailed regulations mean that species that do not meet the standards will not be considered 'humans' even if they have high intelligence and the same emotions as humans, so they can be legally bought and sold, slaughtered, their land occupied, and their bodies sent to the table..."
"We know that some species, such as the Neads, although they have low IQs and many of the same physical features and behavioral habits as wild animals, are very likely to evolve into true Homo sapiens in just a few thousand or tens of thousands of years. However, according to the provisions of the Treaty of Lamibutsu, the Neads are still considered 'wild animals' and are not protected."
"The universe may be infinite, but the Milky Way is finite. Most of the space in the Milky Way is occupied by empty darkness, and most of the planets are rocky and gaseous stars of no use. There are too few resources that can be used by us humans. Under the protection of the Interstellar Alliance Law, there are still many low-level civilizations that occupy far more resources than they deserve. It is a huge waste and a crime against humanity that limited resources cannot be used more reasonably and efficiently! That's why we proposed the Treaty of Lamibutsu..."
Even under the effect of the truth serum, the man continued to defend their actions. I don't know if he really meant it or if he just used this reason to excuse his actions. I have to say that such words are still very convincing - as long as this "other" is not the species that needs to be sacrificed in their plan.
"You see, he's also doing it for the greater good." Pea said, pointing at the man.
"Sacrificing others for personal gain and avoiding sacrificing more people are different in nature," said Rong Yuandao.
Wandou looked up at him, and after a while, he said, "But Rongyuan doesn't like this either, right?"
Rong Yuan touched its head and said nothing.
Pea looked at the man who was beginning to talk about their Prison Star Plan on the screen, and said softly, "I actually understand it. The evil deeds of this organization in the past have basically been well covered up. The victims may have died, or they may just think that they have a bad fate. If all of this is suddenly announced now, the anger, confusion, and resentment of the people may overthrow the rule of Landia... At least the trust in the Landia royal family and the trust in judicial justice will drop to the freezing point. In addition, these people are involved in various forces behind them, and they are enough to overthrow an empire when they unite. Their sudden death itself has made the situation in many places less stable. If people know what they have done, the consequences will become even more uncontrollable."
Wandou looked at Rong Yuan and said, "I heard what you said when Serinda contacted you before."
"She said that although everything has been covered up now, in the subsequent investigation, General Leopold will 'discover' that the attacker was taking revenge on someone in the organization, and then 'investigate' their past actions, and then selectively reveal the truth step by step."
"She also said that some things were destined to be buried in darkness. This was not what she wanted, but she had to do it. The two chancellors and government officials who knew the truth believed that this should be done. However, regardless of whether the victims' grievances can be made public, the empire will make sufficient compensation to them, and their families will receive the best care."
"I know what she said might be the best way. Perhaps even those who have been hurt would be more willing to accept compensation from the empire rather than let the truth be known to the public. You also agreed with her, but--" Its little hand gently rested on Rong Yuan's hand, and its five fingers fell on the tip of Rong Yuan's index finger. The gentle weight was like a feather falling on Rong Yuan's heart.
"Rongyuan, you are unhappy." The little person said bluntly, his big eyes full of undisguised concern.
"Some injuries cannot be made up for no matter how much compensation is given; people who have died cannot be restored by any means. Although it may be more important for the living to have a better future, it is too sad for the dead to have no repentance or explanation for why they have suffered such a bad fate."
"You feel sad for them, and you don't like Serinda's change." Wandou grabbed Rong Yuan's finger and said seriously, "So, just do whatever you want to do. Rong Yuan, you are the contractor of the Merit Book and my master. You don't need to worry about anything."
