After the imperial army stationed itself in the Crystal Nest domain, time began to rush by swiftly.
This development was somewhat unexpected for the Empire, as the Crystal Nest seemed to shift from offense to defense, no longer initiating fierce attacks.
However, the Crystal Nest was vast, and crystal particles were unpredictably changeable, making exploration work extremely difficult and making it hard to determine the location of the Mother Nucleus.
This feeling wasn’t comfortable – the soldiers had all prepared themselves for bloody battles, each one psyching themselves up with determination, only to step into a vast fog that left them confused and frustrated.
Three months passed this way.
During this time, Old Black Sheep Kenny Gao reunited with his son Gao Long, while Changze also reconnected with his servant Larry and “father” Yuan Zhi in his original form.
Lance – the body carrying both Diana and Audrey’s personalities – established a new rotation schedule. When the sister was on duty, she conducted experiments at the Black Shark base, while the “brother” would support the battlefield when online.
The Black Shark Base leader then revealed her true identity to the entire empire – Empress Dowager Sylph Song.
She frankly stated that back then, when relations between the Empire and the Glorious Autonomous Dominion weren’t as harmonious as now, her special status and youthful vulnerability made it inconvenient to command others, so she concealed her identity behind black armor, hoping for the public’s understanding.
This news caused an enormous stir within the Empire. The contrast between the Chief and Empress Dowager’s images was too great, leaving many people’s worldviews shattered.
Beyond this, more comments on the intelligence network focused on:
[Wuwu, our Empress was so amazing, she’s even more perfect for the Emperor!]
[Can’t believe I can still ship this divine romance 65 years into the New Imperial Calendar…]
[Wait, something’s strange… Her Majesty Sylph said she was brought in by His Majesty to research crystal disorder – was Emperor Kaios already concerned about crystal disorder back then?]
[This… did you really ship them? I thought it was a political marriage turned love story, but the truth is the Emperor recruited a scientist? Think about it, that’s the Chief! The Chief who wouldn’t even give base members holidays during New Year! Can you imagine the Chief turning into a delicate little wife in front of the Emperor?]
[Agree with above, so I’ve always thought, all this talk about divine imperial love is just later generations’ forced interpretation. Political marriage was the tragedy of the era. Not to mention, has anyone ever seen any footage of the Emperor and Empress holding hands? They clearly had no such intentions!]
[Stop joking above, by that logic, Emperor Kaios held the Commander’s hand more times than the Empress’s? What, are you saying the Emperor was in love with the Commander?]
[…Wait, so why did the Emperor hold the Commander’s hand in public?]
[Hey, come back and explain clearly!!]
In the White Jade Palace, Lin Ge gleefully scrolled through these online discussions, laughing uncontrollably.
She skillfully screenshot several particularly embarrassing comments and sent them to Sylph, who was far away in the Crystal Nest.
However, the Emperor hadn’t expected that on this evening, she would receive a communication from Far Star.
It was Jiang Jianming looking for her.
Actually, Lin Ge had already heard from Sylph that Jiang Jianming had undergone mental consciousness projection again and merged with his previous memories – he was now the Commander who had found and raised her.
But perhaps due to homesickness, she had never actively contacted him, and even maintained a formal demeanor in their official correspondence, rigidly playing her role as Emperor.
That night, the projection displayed the handsome, refined face of the young man with black hair.
Jiang Jianming wore a fur-collared coat and held hot tea, sitting casually in his room as he said softly, “Lin Ge.”
As this gentle voice fell, Her Majesty Lin Ge’s face instantly stiffened.
She panicked first but didn’t want to show weakness. With sweaty palms but a smiling face, she said, “Ming Ming, why aren’t you calling ‘Your Majesty’ anymore?”
So Jiang Jianming curved his brows helplessly. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Mm, Zhen is listening.” Lin Ge squinted her eyes, her red lips curving upward as she tried to control her pounding heart and casually said, “If you have something to say, speak.”
“Nothing particular, I just wanted to see you.”
Jiang Jianming just spoke softly, “You’ve become a wonderful Emperor. Your empire is prosperous, even better than I had imagined in my dreams back then.”
“The White Jade Palace… is much more beautiful than before.”
“The Imperial Capital’s library is very spacious, with a rich collection. I like it very much.”
“The military academy is also good. Oh right, I broke your record on the tactical simulation machine during my graduation exam earlier. Sorry about that.”
“…” Lin Ge maintained a smile on her face, but her eyes were already glistening with tears.
She cleared her throat forcefully, but her voice was still hoarse, “Are you praising Zhen?”
Jiang Jianming: “If Your Majesty is willing to accept it.”
Lin Ge: “And if I don’t accept it?”
Jiang Jianming smiled. “Then we can treat it as praise from an ordinary imperial citizen to their Emperor. I can rephrase it to sound more respectful.”
After they chatted for a while, Ryann and Sylph also joined in. Lin Ge felt unsettled – they had three people on their side, while she was all alone in the palace.
So the Emperor, in a moment of impulse, called Old Marshal Chen from his mansion late at night, asking him to bring some wine. Seeing the Emperor acting this way late at night, Chen had already guessed what was going on and immediately brought his best wine.
Soon, the former and current Imperial Commanders met through communication.
Chen also knew that Jiang Jianming’s current state of mind must be complicated, so he kept his emotions in check and avoided saying anything awkward. He mostly talked about the military reforms over the years, heavily hinting that the Commander should praise this old man too.
Jiang Jianming sighed in relief and obediently gave some praise, thinking: if everyone would let him off with just one compliment, his dark future might still have hope.
The five of them chatted about many things, mostly aimless conversation. Lin Ge took advantage of Ryann’s unmerged memories, teasing him with comments like “you used to call me sister,” while Ryann retorted “too bad imperial history will only record: Lin Ge was Kaios’s adopted daughter.”
They also talked about those empire-founding jokes… no, empire-founding gossip.
Chen smiled at Jiang Jianming. “If the Commander doesn’t like those nonsensical comments on the intelligence network, just have Her Majesty ban them.”
Jiang Jianming shook his head with a wry smile. “Let it be. The fact that people can freely gossip about the royal family and high officials is a sign of the empire’s free and equal atmosphere… It would be worse if we reached the point where leaders’ names became taboo.”
Sylph asked suspiciously. “You’re not shipping couples on the intelligence network yourself, are you?”
Jiang Jianming choked. “Chief, Far Star blocks the network.”
Ryann: “But back then, when you were still in school, we did discuss some…mhp.”
Jiang Jianming’s ears turned red as he covered the Crown Prince’s mouth, “Your Highness, let’s not bring up the past.”
After the casual chat, they naturally turned to serious matters. Discussing the current situation in the Crystal Nest, none of them were optimistic.
“This won’t work,” Jiang Jianming said softly. “First time strong, second time weak, third time exhausted. If we drag this out any longer, both morale and resources will be depleted.”
Ryann: “It’s the same within the empire. The longer this wartime state weighs on everyone, the more weary they become.”
Lin Ge, not familiar with the specific situation at the front, frowned and asked, “What’s the current problem? Three to five months should be enough for starships to circle the Crystal Nest. Besides, shouldn’t crystal particles become denser as we get closer to the Mother Nucleus?”
Sylph: “It used to be like that, but the situation has changed.”
As she spoke, she glanced around, and Jiang Jianming knowingly brought over the room’s light computer. The Chief then pointed at the crystal particle monitoring data to demonstrate to everyone.
“Let me give an example like this.”
Sylph pointed at the screen. “Suppose the crystal particle density in the Mother Nucleus area of the Crystal Nest can reach a maximum of 10, while other areas can only reach a maximum of 5.”
“Previously, these values were fixed, so we could certainly determine the Mother Nucleus’s location – we just needed to advance towards areas with higher density.”
“But now that the Crystal Nest has absorbed Gaius’s consciousness, it has learned human concealment and deception, making the situation very tricky. Because the Crystal Nest’s Mother Nucleus might deliberately lower the crystal particle density around itself to achieve stealth. For instance, reducing its value to 4…”
“And at this time, if other areas reach a density of 5, following the crystal particle density would likely lead us in the completely wrong direction.”
Lin Ge exclaimed in shock. “Hiss, then there’s no way to handle this!? Can we really dig through the Crystal Nest meter by meter to find the Mother Nucleus?”
Jiang Jianming pressed his index finger knuckle against his temple, exchanging a helpless glance with Ryann.
Although the current situation wasn’t quite that dramatic, in terms of efficiency, it was pretty much as Lin Ge described.
Since last month, they had been using the Golden Sun Wheel space station’s giant cannon “Pangu’s Axe,” trying to probe the Crystal Nest’s various areas’ limit values through bombardment sweeps, slowly eliminating possibilities.
However, the Crystal Nest was incredibly vast, and although “Pangu’s Axe” was tremendously powerful, it needed a full three days to charge for each shot, making this carpet-search method’s efficiency difficult to describe.
In the blink of an eye, another two months passed. The imperial army had been deadlocked in the outer domain of the Crystal Nest for half a year.
But at this time, a variable occurred.
