265: Chapter 263 Did you deafen yourselves?

A strange atmosphere permeated the frontline base, making the wait feel incredibly long.

After Gaius and Char's secret conversation ended, representatives from the Haivier Federation and the Military Alliance's Loyalist Faction arrived at the scene one after another.

As for the Empire's side...

Like that "I'm almost there" teammate you get in every alliance war, they stalled on the road for a full six hours, barely arriving just as the scheduled departure time began.

Consequently, the strategy meeting was forced back by over three hours.

It couldn't be helped; although most representatives were dissatisfied with the Empire's actions, having just annexed The Consortium, the Empire was—if not at its absolute zenith—at least incredibly powerful.

Its abundant martial prowess and massive scale made it impossible for the representatives and the powers behind them to easily ignore.

"Yo~ Everyone's here?"

A sarcastic voice drifted in from the doorway, causing the gathered representatives to frown in unison.

Then, a man wearing an Imperial Navy Admiral's uniform but carrying himself with no sense of decorum walked in—

Indeed, he was the Empire's representative for this joint operation, Admiral Roy von Auroran, widely recognized by everyone as a "nuisance."

"Why so quiet? No reaction at all?" Roy entered the conference room, spotted an empty seat, and sat right down.

"Could it be that you've all pricked your own ears deaf?"

"Ahem—"

Gaius coughed lightly and countered calmly:

"Admiral Roy, my apologies, but we have been waiting for your arrival. You and your fleet were a full three hours late, causing our strategy meeting to be delayed by just as long."

"It's only natural to be a bit sluggish after sitting around for so long, isn't it?"

Roy simply spread his hands and said:

"So what?"

"The Democratic Alliance's transportation system is beyond trash. Under such circumstances, getting lost for a few hours is perfectly understandable, right?"

Char, the representative of the Democratic Alliance, glanced at him, took a breath, and then nodded, playing along with his words.

"My sincerest apologies. Our traffic control department has long suffered from funding shortages, leading to your disorientation. We deeply regret this. Now, shall we get down to business?"

Roy watched Char stand and bow, his brow twitching slightly.

"If the transportation system is no good, then tell your people to fix it! Maintain it! Apply for funding!"

"If military opportunities are missed because of you, allowing those rebelling slaves to continue destroying our property or even gain momentum, you will be the chief culprits!"

Char remained expressionless, merely continuing to bow.

"Apologies, but that is an internal matter. I will do my best to relay your insights to my superiors."

Roy's frown deepened.

Seriously, man, you can even endure this?

Are you a tortoise or something?

Exactly—Roy's mission, or rather the Empire's goal, was originally to provoke these coalition generals into taking "actual military action against the Empire."

Then the Empire would have a righteous casus belli.

To put it simply, he was acting like a Han envoy.

However, there was a slight difference: even if the coalition members gave him no opening at all, he was ultimately aiming for a backstab anyway—

It would just be much more troublesome that way.

So, with such a plan in place, what was the Empire after?

Naturally, the victory against The Consortium had been too easy, successfully fueling the Empire's ambition to unify all of humanity.

In plain terms, while attacking The Consortium alongside other regimes, the Empire discovered that those regimes' armies were about as capable as the already fragmented Consortium—sometimes even worse.

Much like the historical Jin and Song dynasties joining forces against the Liao; when the Jin saw how weak the Song was, they decided they might as well give the Song a thrashing too.

The Empire had developed the same idea: to thrash all its "allies" and take everything for itself.

Moreover, the current situation was incredibly favorable for the Empire—the Military Alliance had split, and there was no longer any regime with military power far superior to the Empire's!

Previously, the Military Alliance had been like a supreme, automated machine of judgment hanging over all humanity; the moment an internal war broke out, it would intervene forcefully to mediate.

But now, this judgment machine had developed a problem: it had sentenced itself to death and then proceeded to chop itself into two.

Consequently, its current deterrent power was like that of the collapsed Soviet Union, far from what it used to be—perhaps even worse, since the Soviet Union didn't immediately plunge into a civil war upon its dissolution.

"Hmph," Roy finally snorted coldly. "With your damn efficiency, go ahead and report it then."

"What were we doing again? Discussing how to suppress those rioting slaves? Or dividing the spoils in advance?"

The people from the Federation and the Military Alliance's Loyalist Faction watched Roy without comment. Char shrugged, while Gaius corrected him expressionlessly:

"No, we are here for one final discussion on combat deployment and planning to avoid any 'unexpected situations' or anyone failing miserably once the suppression begins."

Gaius specifically emphasized the words "unexpected situations."

"Tch," Roy sneered. "Failing miserably? Against a bunch of slaves who barely have any anti-air capabilities?"

"If your armies really can't beat an opponent like that, you might as well just slit your own throats."

Saying this, he adopted a rare serious expression and said:

"Listen, the Empire's orders to me are very clear: suppress all arrogant fools who dare to challenge order. Faced with those thugs and rebels, just crush them!"

"You want a plan? Then I'll tell you the plan—for the slaves involved in the riot, punish the ringleaders; for all natural persons in the affected areas, carry out decimation; then break them up and reassign them to other places in need of Slave Laborers."

"Understood?"

"That's not a combat plan," the Haivier Federation representative countered softly. "We don't need to discuss post-war planning right now."

To this rebuttal, Roy's answer was simple—

"This war itself doesn't require a plan."

"Let's hope so. So, did I waste three hours waiting for nothing?" Seeing Roy's attitude, Gaius stood up in boredom and dusted off his trousers.

"It's because you are too hesitant, too cowardly—" Roy also stood up. "Such a simple matter, yet you've held so many meetings without reaching a conclusion."

"Fine—I'm heading back to my flagship. If there's nothing else, then let's just move out."

"May the lord of ten thousand changes be with you. Perhaps."

With that, Roy ignored any remaining business and walked straight out, leaving the representatives of the other regimes with only a view of his back.

It grew more distant and smaller until it vanished around the corner.