69: Chapter 69 The Arrow is on the String
Gilded chandeliers cast warm yellow light, illuminating the Starry Banquet Hall in a brilliant glow.
Hereditary nobles of the Hive City filled both sides of the long tables, the jewels on their fine clothes and the diamonds around the ladies' necks dazzling under the candlelight.
The charred aroma of roasted meat, the richness of wine, and the perfume on the noblewomen blended together, making one feel lightheaded.
"The wine today is actually quite good; it seems our pauper of a planetary governor has spent a bit of money."
Baron Witt, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, raised his wine glass and gestured toward Fu Haoran at the head of the table, his mocking tone undisguised.
"Indeed, this steak is even more tender than the one I had on the Agri-World last time. It seems the Governor has saved up some money from selling canned food lately?"
Laughter immediately erupted from the neighboring tables, filled with blatant contempt.
Fu Haoran held his wine glass, a polite, faint smile on his face, saying nothing.
By a pillar in a corner of the banquet hall, Laelith leaned lazily, watching the farce with amusement.
From the snippets of the nobles' conversation, she had already pieced together the whole situation.
It was nothing more than a new Governor who had climbed up from the bottom, being marginalized and manipulated by a group of old nobles clinging to ancient rules, waiting for him to kneel and surrender his power.
A very common story.
But as she watched those bloated nobles clinking glasses and the servants carrying trays with uncontrollable anger hidden in their eyes, the playfulness at the corners of her mouth grew stronger.
She could even guess what would happen next.
Naive, yet carrying a desperate ruthlessness.
"Interesting."
She turned her head and spoke softly into the shadows of the banquet hall: "Don't be in a hurry to act; let them finish their performance first."
"Let's see what this human Governor can pull off."
A few low chuckles came from the darkness, then silence returned.
...
In the western corner of the banquet hall, Sean carried a silver tray, carefully pouring wine for a table of nobles.
Suddenly, someone bumped into him from behind, and the red wine in his hand splashed out instantly, most of it landing on Baron Klaus's velvet sleeve at the main table.
Slap!
A crisp slap landed hard on Sean's face.
Baron Klaus stood up abruptly, pointing at his nose and cursing: "Don't you have eyes?! Do you have any idea that this garment of mine is worth more than your worthless life!"
"I'm sorry, my lord." Sean ignored the burning pain on his face and hurriedly bowed to apologize.
"A commoner is a commoner; even receiving a slap is so practiced." Klaus sneered, turning to his companions with a laugh, "Look at him, doesn't he look like a dog begging for mercy?"
The entire table burst into laughter.
Sean clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms, but he didn't move.
Klaus wasn't satisfied and kicked him hard in the shin.
Sean fell to one knee, the tray in his hand crashing to the floor, crystal wine glasses shattering everywhere.
"Oh dear, you've broken the Governor's tableware. You'll have to pay for that, won't you?"
"Hahaha, can you even afford it? Even if you sold your whole family to the mines for a lifetime, you still couldn't pay it back!"
Sean silently climbed up, head lowered, picking up the glass shards piece by piece with his hands.
Seeing his pathetic state, the nobles found it boring and sat back down, cursing as they continued their drinking.
After picking up all the shards, Sean carried the broken tray and walked toward the kitchen with his head down.
As he passed Kaimei, the two exchanged a look.
Nothing was said.
But everything was understood.
From the second-floor observation deck, Laelith saw everything.
She swirled her wine glass, her red lips curling into a playful smile: "Endurance, anger... all that's missing is the final spark. Little Governor, when do you plan to flip the table?"
...
When the last noble was seated, the gilded doors of the banquet hall slowly closed.
The nobles continued to chat and laugh, focused only on mocking others and boasting about their properties in other star systems; no one noticed that the servants in the hall were withdrawing in an orderly fashion, their numbers dwindling.
Even less did anyone notice that Fu Haoran, at the head of the table, had left his seat at some point.
Deep within the kitchen, in the passage leading to the underground warehouse.
Sean was among the last group of servants to withdraw. After confirming no nobles had noticed, he locked the passage door behind him and quickly entered the underground warehouse.
The moment the door opened, a dozen hellguns were instantly aimed at the entrance.
Upon seeing it was Sean, the soldiers immediately lowered their weapons.
Who would have thought that the underground warehouse, usually used only for storing banquet ingredients, was now filled with fully armed soldiers.
Everyone had stripped off their servant uniforms, wearing full sets of flak armor underneath, with power packs on their backs and their hellguns already powered up.
A dozen soldiers wearing exoskeleton Powered Armor were doing their final equipment checks.
Kaimei, Ronan, and Hawke stood at the front of the line, their eyes filled with uncontrollable murderous intent.
"The Governor is here!"
Hawke, a veteran with a scar on his face, suddenly growled.
The warehouse instantly fell silent.
Whether new recruits or veterans, everyone instinctively straightened their backs and formed ranks quickly.
Steady footsteps echoed from the passage as Fu Haoran walked in.
He had already discarded his evening attire and changed into his exclusive Jaeger Powered Armor, his helmet tucked under his arm.
He wasted no words, walking straight to a temporary platform in the center of the warehouse, his gaze sweeping over the sea of heads below as he spoke:
"I know why many of you became soldiers."
"For a full meal, for your families to survive, to no longer be beaten and insulted by nobles at will—there is no shame in that."
"But today, I want you to see who is keeping us hungry, who is sucking our blood and eating our flesh."
Fu Haoran raised his hand, pointing at the warehouse ceiling, toward the banquet hall above.
"Those bloated nobles upstairs control the mineral veins, monopolize the factories, and hold everything in the Hive City!"
"The Imperial Tithe hangs over all our heads like a blade, but what about them?"
"They've already transferred their assets to other star systems, ready to flee on starships at any moment!"
"Leaving us to be the scapegoats!"
"They don't care about the Hive City's survival, nor do they care if you or your families live or die. They only care about their wallets!"
Fu Haoran's voice suddenly rose, thundering in everyone's ears, "Tonight, they are on our turf, flaunting their wealth, mocking our poverty, and trampling on our dignity!"
"I ask you!" He suddenly raised his volume, "Can you swallow this insult?!"
"No!" Hawke was the first to roar, the veins on his neck bulging.
"No!!"
Hundreds, thousands of voices merged into a heaven-shaking roar, causing dust to fall from the warehouse ceiling.
Sean also roared with all his might, his voice breaking, letting out all the pain on his face and the hatred in his heart in that single cry.
Fu Haoran raised his hand, and the boiling wave of sound instantly subsided.
Only heavy breathing remained in the warehouse, along with a boiling murderous intent that almost overflowed.
"Tonight, I'm keeping them all here." Fu Haoran's voice was as cold as ice, "I'm going to make them spit out every drop of blood they've sucked from the people of the Hive City!"
"This glory belongs to every one of you. The consequences will be borne by me, Fu Haoran, alone!"
Everyone gripped their weapons and roared: "Loyalty!!!"
"For the Governor!!!"
"For a way to live!!!"