46: "If you hear the Way in the morning, then what happened next?"

...“Dong dong dong—”

The morning session of the first day of the Order Grand Ceremony concluded,

and the attendees gradually left their seats,

and the solemn great hall suddenly became empty.

Just moments ago,

most representatives hadn't even carefully read the detailed proposal documents distributed to them,

choosing immediately to follow suit and agree.

Anyone with eyes could see that

at least three of the Six Great Powers had united, intending to gang up on the Military Alliance.

These small fry only needed to blindly follow,

after all, for them,

offending the Military Alliance

would result in nothing more than a few threats.

Since most of the Military Alliance's military strength

was needed to maintain the Tiankan Seat-Tianjin Seat and Northern Crown Seat-Southern Pavilion Seat defensive lines,

and furthermore, its economic ties with the nations present were not strong.

But if they offended the three Great Powers currently ganging up,

those powers truly had the strength and capability to ensure

that the guys who cast opposing votes 'learned the Dao in the morning and died in the evening.'

That's right,

it was the kind where 'if they know the way to your house in the morning, you'll be dead by night.'

Even without a fleet jumping directly onto their faces,

as long as the regimes behind the five representatives on the stage

enacted even a minor trade sanction against anyone,

that unlucky fellow would cease to exist.

The more than three hundred representatives present were extremely skilled at surviving in the cracks,

when faced with two evils, they naturally chose the lesser.

“These damned fellows...”

“Truly foolish and greedy!”

Looking at the departing crowd,

Lagrange cursed softly, his face gloomy,

“They have no idea what the Military Alliance has sacrificed for all of humanity!”

The referendum just now was almost entirely composed of affirmative votes,

the only dissenting votes came from the few parties bordering the Military Alliance!

Once upon a time,

the Military Alliance was the Imperial Border Garrison Legion,

a Legion that had enjoyed nearly independent autonomy since its formation,

a Legion that bore the great responsibility for the survival of the entire civilization!

Even when the wave of the “Great Revolution” swept across the entire domain of the Second Empire,

they dared not cut the Legion's resources!

When the Imperial edifice was about to collapse,

the great leaders of the Legion severed all external contact,

silently guarding humanity for an entire epoch!

Yet this swarm of vermin below, disguised as civilized people,

showed no gratitude,

not only wanting to cut supplies but also attempting to restrain the Military Alliance and steal its legacy!

Although Lagrange bore the surname Koradilon,

he did not believe he could be as great as his ancestors of that era.

Selflessly dedicating himself and protecting human civilization?

But,

what exactly was he protecting!

A certain idea that had long germinated in his mind,

at this very moment,

was amplified infinitely... Down the long corridor,

was a secluded small conference room.

Representatives from the Cloud Consortium, Xila Republic, and Haivier Federation were seated around a table.

This time, the still-wavering Democratic Alliance was excluded.

“The morning vote passed quite easily,”

“But do you really think the Military Alliance will let this go?”

Verodel (Cloud Consortium Foreign Minister) was the first to break the silence.

Miroslav (Haivier Federation Foreign Minister) said, stroking his beard:

“It's alright,”

“We weren't expecting it to be easy anyway.”

“The expected goal has been achieved for now,”

Verodel nodded and continued:

“With that document passed,”

“we now have the legal right to participate in some of the Military Alliance's affairs.”

“That limping giant should rightfully be a knife wielded by humanity,”

“and we are, without a doubt, the representatives of human civilization.”

The room suddenly fell silent,

as if everyone was startled by these words.

After several minutes of mutual glances,

the representative of the Xila Republic quietly replied:

“What if the Military Alliance just opens the defensive lines?”

Verodel rested his hands lightly on the table, leaning slightly forward, and said:

“They wouldn't dare.”

“Right now, combined, we can still match the Military Alliance.”

“Everyone is gambling,”

“the Military Alliance is betting we won't go too far,”

“and we are betting we can complete our takeover before the Military Alliance can react.”

“This is a long process,”

“I hope everyone can be patient.”

The few people in the conference room huddled closer.

Like overreaching hyenas,

dreaming that their self-serving cooperation

could defeat the slightly aging lion...“Buzzing buzzing buzzing buzzing—”

Although he had already replaced his flagship with a CAS066,

Xi Hai could still feel

the violent shaking emanating from the Warship beneath his feet.

As the fleet drew closer and closer to Ursa Major V12.22,

the bizarre, kaleidoscopic light in the void outside the window

seemed to be stretched into straight lines.

“It's Void Turbulence!”

White Shark had been pulled onto the Bridge by Xi Hai,

after all, when navigating the Void,

White Shark, who had long run smuggling operations, undoubtedly had more experience and authority.

“The closer we get to that breach,”

“the more unstable the space within the Void becomes.”

“Currently, the star marker is still stabilizing the space,”

“so we are only experiencing shaking.”

night lamp, using online data,

continuously educated Xi Hai about issues concerning the Void.

After all, although Void Seepage was rare,

Void Turbulence was quite common.

“Chairman,”

“The area ahead is unsuitable for continued travel in the Void.”

“We will exit at the next navigational stability star marker.”

Leaning on the shaking control panel,

White Shark felt the degree of the Warship's tremor beneath his feet,

and said to Xi Hai.

“Understood.”

Xi Hai nodded,

glancing at White Shark in front of the control panel.

Should he say this guy was worthy of being a top student?

In less than an hour,

he had mastered the instrument panel identification and data recognition of the Lagrange Warship.

He could only conclude that,

once their enterprise grew larger,

he could safely send this guy off to archaeology,

after all,

he still had the “Time Walker” mission pending.

After a period of silent navigation,

“Buzz!”

accompanied by an even more violent shudder,

the fleet utilized the gravitational pull of a roadside star marker,

and was flung directly out of the Void Channel.

After a moment of dizziness,

the sky full of stars once again filled the Bridge windows.

Xi Hai immediately opened the Folded Space,

retrieved the several Warships that had been stored for port maintenance,

leaving only two rubies inside for emergencies.

“Star chart positioning complete.”

“Currently located outside the Kuiper Belt of Ursa Major V12.22.”

The Navigator reported the data.

“Looks like we have good luck.”

In response to White Shark's comment,

Xi Hai did not deny it,

after all, looking at it now, the distance was only a few dozen AU,

perhaps half a day's travel?

It was much better than the examples night lamp had found.

He opened night lamp again to confirm the base's shield status.

Fortunately, it wasn't the neutered version that only lasted eight hours.

Since that was the case,

they should head to Z25 Sentry Post first.

He was very interested in what was there.

“Drop point calculation complete.”

“Activating Warp Drive Module.”

Following the mechanical announcement from the central control panel,

a dazzling white light flashed across space,

and the fleet vanished from space once more.