192: We decided to give them a good beating.

After the meeting, in a private office within the Peak of a Thousand Faces,

Just moments ago, Kelaifu had sent a request for an online meeting to the Secretary-General of the Military Alliance's leader, and the time was almost here.

Watching the blue light gradually brighten, Kelaifu let out a quiet sigh—

Even thinking with one's toes, it was obvious that the destruction of Cetus V66.66 was The Consortium's doing.

And among the men of the military department, almost every single one of them had assets in Cetus V66.66.

Thus, this time, the Imperial Military Department, which was usually prone to bickering, was surprisingly unanimous in its attitude toward The Consortium—

They were going to give The Consortium a hard blow.

Originally, he had been thinking about how to propose this matter reasonably, but at today's regular meeting, His Majesty had brought it up directly.

Kelaifu's heart immediately felt at ease—

It seemed His Majesty also thought of using this incident to scrape something off The Consortium's hands.

So, what would it be?

It was obvious: the portion of star systems within the entire Balaena Sector V66 occupied by The Consortium.

To be able to sit firmly in the top seat of the Imperial Military Department for decades, there was no doubt that the seemingly unreliable Kelaifu actually had his own methods.

To rise step by step in an absolute imperial monarchy, the most important quality was not talent, nor ability, nor efficiency,

But to always understand what one's Emperor wanted to do, and to firmly place one's backside in the right position—

This was more like a talent,

And clearly, Kelaifu possessed this talent.

Moreover, compared to others, he had something unique—luck that was unnaturally good.

This was why a fellow who was greedy, corrupt, and lazy could survive in an Empire surrounded by both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Inquisition, and even thrive quite well.

"Beep beep!"

The holographic projector in front of him emitted two notification tones; it seemed the time for their scheduled meeting had arrived.

The ghostly blue light particles rapidly scrambled, reorganized, and then flew into the air, slowly forming a human figure—

It was precisely the Secretary-General Kelaifu had requested to see.

"Respected General Randall Koradilon, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me."

The projected figure appeared to give a slight military salute in acknowledgment, then spoke in a slow, measured tone:

"I'm not that busy."

"A rather promising junior has emerged from the Koradilon Family recently."

"I sent him out to gain some experience earlier, and that kid ended up charging straight into the aliens' base and dragging out the Alien Governor of that sector."

"Now, the pressure across the entire Military Alliance's Tianjin-Tiankan Seat Defense Line has lessened considerably."

Kelaifu nodded after hearing this.

He understood what Randall was telling him: nothing more than the fact that a portion of the Military Alliance's fleet had been freed up.

"Then congratulations are in order."

Randall remained expressionless as he looked at Kelaifu.

"No need for your side to worry. If you don't cause trouble in the rear, the Military Alliance will already be grateful to you."

"Tell me, what is your purpose for requesting a meeting with me this time?"

"What do you want from the Military Alliance now? And what will you give in exchange?"

Seeing Randall ask so bluntly, Kelaifu also got straight to the point:

"We want your support and notarization."

"As for an exchange? I believe that for the survival of humanity, justice cannot be exchanged."

"We should call it funding and assistance."

"The batch of pre-era engines in your hands is running lower and lower, isn't it?"

"The Empire recently tinkered with a new engine technology. It's slightly slower than a Gravity Conduit, but it's much faster than conventional speeds."

"How about it?"

Randall thought for a moment and asked:

"Much faster? How much faster?"

Kelaifu smiled:

"One-fifth the speed of light."

Randall shook his head.

"Too low. The Military Alliance still has some production lines from the fourth era."

"Under extreme navigation conditions, our fleet can barely reach that value as well."

"If you want the Military Alliance to step out and support you, this bargaining chip is not enough."

Kelaifu raised his hand to interrupt Randall's projection. He took a storage drive from his pocket and plugged it into a nearby transmitter.

"Wait a moment,"

"As far as I know, your so-called one-fifth light speed engine is built upon a whole host of prerequisites: the entire ship being immersed in Deep-sea Fluid, strictly calculated navigation routes with no obstacles... and so on."

"Furthermore, it can only crash forward like a cannonball, right?"

"Take a look at this recording—"

"Unlike your engines, the true use of this 'Warp Engine' the Empire recently tinkered with lies in—"

"Allowing Warships to enter a state similar to Void Navigation."

On Randall's end, he listened to Kelaifu's explanation while playing the video that had just been transmitted—

When he saw a flash of white light, followed by a Warship suddenly appearing in mid-air with a 'whoosh',

Immediately, his breathing became rapid:

This effect... it's exactly the same as the Void Bubble Engine!

How could this group of religious lunatics have replicated it?

"You're giving us the technology?"

"No, no, no, that's impossible. We are still in the testing phase ourselves."

"Then what was that exchange you mentioned?"

"We can provide the finished products."

"How many?"

"..."

...After a long period of haggling, Kelaifu finally hammered out an agreement with Randall, representing the Military Alliance—

Namely, the Military Alliance acknowledged that The Consortium's anti-human actions were intolerable and would show an attitude of supporting the Empire during the 'small-scale' military conflicts between the Empire and The Consortium.

In return, the Imperial side would install Warp Engines for three of the Military Alliance's fleet groups free of charge,

And also provide after-sales service.

After organizing the documents for the 'strategic research cooperation' that the two sides had reached once again, Kelaifu pinched the bridge of his nose and completely shut down the communication equipment.

The issue of installing Warp Engines was easy to solve. The Empire and Grand Duke Chu Xiluo were in a state of semi-cooperation; he could just send it over as an order—

Things that could be solved with currency and resources were the easiest matters of all.

When the time came, he could even act as a middleman for that Grand Duke, letting him skim a bit more off the order.

After all, the money belonged to the Empire, but the goodwill generated by spending the Empire's money belonged to himself.

A business deal with a hundred benefits and not a single drawback.

With calculations running through his mind, Kelaifu stood up and stretched his limbs.

Now the Military Alliance was settled, and the military department had long been prepared.

So now—

A sinister smile appeared on his face.

It was time to give The Consortium a lesson they would never forget!

This time, if they didn't bite off a huge chunk of meat from them, how could they live up to the perfect opportunity that the Marshal had personally delivered to them?

Hahahaha, once that whatever-it's-called Joint Disposal Fleet of theirs enters the Empire's territory,

They shouldn't even think about leaving...