At the same moment, on the other corner of Aslan Star City, which was in turmoil.
The Prime Minister’s mansion was brightly lit. Laurent’s New Year’s Eve banquet had always lasted until the break of dawn the next day. During this time, the entire courtyard was open to the public, allowing people to come and go as they pleased.
At this moment, the crowd that had run to the streets shouted and surged towards this place. Some of the faces in the crowd wore expressions of anger, some of confusion, and some of anticipation. Clearly, they were placing their hopes on His Excellency the Prime Minister, who had always been kind and friendly to the people, hoping that Laurent could intercede for them and guide them.
Laurent was dressed in a dark formal suit, standing on a raised platform.
Dozens of guards surrounded him, armed with guns, and they were shouting loudly, trying to calm the crowd.
“Your Excellency Laurent!” someone shouted, though it was unclear who.
“Your Excellency Laurent!!” more people joined in.
Under the bright lights, Laurent’s eyes were slightly red, and upon closer inspection, there were still faint traces of wetness. With such a tearful and aggrieved face, His Excellency the Prime Minister walked step by step up to the center of the high platform and came to the attention of the people.
He raised his hand without saying a word, but the agitated crowd began to calm down, like receding waves.
“I am already aware of the situation,” Laurent said, placing a hand on his chest and lowering his brow deeply. “I must admit that this is a very regrettable and heartbreaking news.”
“I deeply understand the pain in your hearts at this moment, and I… I dare not say that I am suffering the same pain as you,” he sighed, looking up. “Because I have a prosperous life and a privileged status. If I were to say here, ‘I suffer the same pain as someone who barely makes five hundred coins in a month,’ it would be the most laughable hypocrisy in the world.”
Laurent’s voice echoed, and the crowd looked up at him, with eyes of different colors reflecting the same restless night.
A young man with a pale face pushed his way to the front of the crowd – it was Kevin.
“But at least, at this moment, I feel the same anger as everyone else.”
Laurent raised his arm and exclaimed with a passionate voice and a mournful expression. “The problem with this situation is not just the rejection of the proposal itself. It’s that the hard-earned results of your blood, sweat, and tears have disappeared into the shadows like this without open and transparent discussion, without the inspection of Her Majesty the Emperor!”
His call was met with a hundred responses from the crowd below, and people began to be ignited with emotions. Several individuals raised their fists and waved them in the air.
“Yes!”
“That’s right, it’s unfair!”
“They are oppressing us!”
“But we should not despair, everyone!” Laurent continued to shout, “Looking back at the glorious progress of the New Empire in the sixty-three years since its establishment, I am more inclined to believe that tonight is just a minor mistake. Since people make mistakes, nations can too.”
“So, what should we do? Should we give up and turn our backs on our homeland?”
“——No, self abandonment is never the solution. When mistakes happen, we should work together to correct them and get the Empire back on the right path it should be on!”
People looked at each other, whispering among themselves.
“This…”
“Right.”
“His Excellency is rational.”
Gradually, more people began to nod in agreement. At the same time, someone asked, “So what should we do then?”
Laurent waited a moment until the murmurs subsided, and then he spoke again.
This time, he lowered his voice, sending shivers down the audience’s spines. “Tomorrow is the New Year’s festival, a time to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. As you all know, Her Majesty the Emperor will go on a royal progress, visiting the four districts of Aslan Star City.”
“And I will take this opportunity to petition directly to Her Majesty the Emperor.”
The entire crowd erupted in cheers, with shouts coming from all directions. The atmosphere resembled boiling water, with excitement making up for 70% of the total.
Laurent’s eyes shone brightly, and he spoke loudly, “Of course, I alone am not enough. Fortunately, Archbishop Margaret of the Crystal Church is compassionate. She will lead the congregation of the Grand Cathedral to accompany me in meeting Her Majesty.”
“At the same time, tonight’s church will be completely open to the public. If any of you wish to join me, then at that time, the radiance of the crystal particles will be with all of you!!——”
His resounding last words were completely drowned out by the overwhelming response from below. The crowd raised their hands high and chanted the Prime Minister’s name.
Kevin was pushed around by the people around him, and his clothes became wrinkled. He staggered along, the lights making him feel dizzy.
What…
It happened too fast, and he couldn’t keep up.
How did things turn out like this in the blink of an eye?
“Brother Kevin!”
Suddenly, Kevin heard someone calling his name. He turned around and saw a few of his civilian friends from the military academy in the midst of the crowd.
The chubby boy, who had squeezed his way through, patted Kevin’s shoulder and said with righteous indignation, “Kevin, we’re all here. We’ve heard the cause and consequence. Tomorrow, let’s go and petition together!”
The girl with twisted braids whispered, “If His Excellency the Prime Minister Laurent could become Emperor, then we would definitely…..never be bullied again.”
“Right, Brother Kevin…Brother Kevin?”
However, Kevin was absentmindedly staring into space, only snapping out of it when his friends called him twice.
“Huh? Uh…yeah.” The young man lowered his head in a daze.
He quietly clenched his hand, the same hand that had just been shaken by His Excellency Lance.
He had just realized with his own eyes that His Excellency Lance, who was once known as the leader of the noble faction, might not be a villain after all. He had just begun to think that perhaps there were no insurmountable “high walls” of division in the world…
Kevin gazed blankly at the boiling crowd. Just a few hours ago, the world had been peaceful and stable. Why did it turn into this in the blink of an eye?
****
Inside the Golden Sun Wheel building, the elevators went up and down continuously. Officers walked back and forth with faces as heavy as water, and a subtle sense of unease was seeping out from the shadows.
The atmosphere had not been like this just a moment ago.
While the leak of imperial policy was indeed strange, it shouldn’t have escalated so quickly. There might be a few hotheaded individuals who would run to the streets, but the regular patrol officers should have been sufficient to handle them.
Until a large number of people began to converge systematically in one direction.
“Lieutenant General, it seems that more and more people are gathering towards the direction of the Grand Cathedral. Her Majesty is scheduled to go on a royal progress in the star city at daybreak, and traditionally, will pass by the cathedral’s entrance. Look…”
A young officer wiped the sweat from his forehead and nervously reported to Lieutenant General Luther.
“I heard it was His Excellency Laurent who called for their gathering. He said… he said they are going to petition directly to Her Majesty. This…”
Lieutenant General Luther’s face darkened, and he furrowed his brow for a while before standing up and saying, “Alas! How could His Excellency Prime Minister Laurent do such a confusing thing?”
Several senior officers around were wearing anxious faces. One of them couldn’t bear it and said, “Lieutenant General, should we seek Her Majesty’s approval to change the route of the royal progress?”
The one who spoke was immediately elbowed by someone nearby. “Nonsense! Seek approval for what? Do you want to tell Her Majesty the Emperor that we’re scared of a bunch of commoners? That if a crowd gathers there, even Her Majesty will have to avoid it?”
Lieutenant General Luther remained silent and turned to look in another direction—
Jiang Jianming, dressed in a platinum military uniform, had just arrived but had not participated in the discussion. Instead, he sat alone in a relatively quiet corner, contemplating the layout of Aslan Star City.
The old general shook his head inwardly, thinking that this young officer, while intelligent and brave, was still quite young. He might be formidable against enemies, but in the face of civil strife among their own people, he seemed lost.
With this in mind, Lieutenant General Luther put aside the idea of asking for the other party’s opinion and stood up, saying, “Forget it, lead the way. I’ll go see the situation myself.”
The lieutenant general quickly left, and the other officers who had been huddled around also scattered in haste.
Jiang Jianming remained in his seat, and upon closer inspection, one could see an earpiece connected to the wrist device, hanging under his black hair.
There was no heavy emotion on his face, instead, it seemed like he was waiting for something.
Until his wrist device rang.
Jiang Jianming unexpectedly glanced at the caller’s ID. It wasn’t the person he had been waiting for, but he immediately answered the call.
“…Jiang!”
The voice on the other end was trembling, and Kevin nervously swallowed and lowered his voice, “Can you hear me? We’re… we’re at the Grand Cathedral…”
The young man stammered, “They said that at dawn, we’re going to… we’re going to petition Her Majesty the Emperor together, but…”
“I don’t know, I don’t know how it turned out like this. Something’s terribly wrong. It started with a few people speaking fiercely, driving more people to go crazy, and getting out of control.”
“Someone has…has a knife. He said… he said that if Her Majesty doesn’t take their side, he’ll cut his own throat.”
Jiang Jianming said calmly, “Calm down, Kevin, calm down.”
Kevin choked up and said, “I want… I want His Excellency Laurent to come and persuade everyone, but I can’t find… I can’t find him.”
“Jiang!” The young man’s voice took on a tearful tone. No matter how stubborn he might be in normal circumstances, he was still just a regular fifteen or sixteen-year-old kid.
Trembling, Kevin whispered, “Where are you…will you come over?”
“I will. Listen to me, don’t use the communicator anymore, and don’t draw attention with your words and actions.”
Jiang Jianming glanced around and spoke in a low voice, “I’ll come over, wait for me.”
After ending the communication, Jiang Jianming sighed softly. The night was deep, and the light smeared his lonely shadow on the white wall.
As Jiang Jianming gazed at the map of the star city, his eyes seemed to become deeper and more invisibly profound.
At this point, he could already outline the enemy’s intentions in his mind.
At daybreak, the Emperor would pass by the cathedral. At that time, if a large crowd of people rushed uncontrollably towards the Emperor’s imperial carriage, the guards would inevitably block them, leading to a likely conflict.
However, this was only the first layer of the crisis, and the real focus lay elsewhere.
The key to everything was, in fact, the batch of stolen real crystal ores that had not yet been located.
These seemed to be two unrelated events.
But as long as the conflict between the military and civilians erupted, and the enemy secretly released crystal particles inside the real crystal ores, a tragedy would occur, and the sky in Aslan was destined to be stained with blood.
Because crystal chaos was contagious, and crystal particles had a direct frequency conductivity. One person’s crystal chaos could lead to ten people’s crystal chaos, and ten people’s crystal chaos could lead to a hundred people’s crystal chaos.
Triggering crystal chaos in a gathering of people would be no different from a brutal, indiscriminate massacre.
At that time, both the petitioning citizens and the soldiers attempting to maintain order would not escape the fate of being slaughtered on the spot.
However…at this moment, the event of hundreds or thousands of deaths was merely the surface and, at best, the second layer of the crisis.
Jiang Jianming sighed inwardly. He felt cold and tugged at his military coat, feeling a sense of dread.
He would never forget that the issue of the stolen real crystal ores had been discovered by chance when he had saved Major Zheng Yue from an assassination attempt..
If they hadn’t pursued it further back then, what would this night have looked like?
Chaos and darkness would become a fog, and the moment the tragedy of crystal chaos unfolding, no one would immediately realize what had happened.
The overwhelming sense of fear of the unknown would overshadow everything. When they witnessed their comrades bleeding from every orifice and dying in crystal chaos, human instinct would turn their terrified and vengeful gaze toward the group standing opposite them—
And then thought to oneself, oh my god, they did it.
In the eyes of the military, these petitioners would be seen as rebels attempting to assassinate the Emperor using an unknown weapon.
In the eyes of the petitioning crowd, the Empire’s top officials would be seen as the brutal regime using an unknown weapon to massacre civilians.
How long does it take to split a thriving country?
Is it just a matter of a few hours from one night to the next daybreak?
Beep beep—
The wrist device rang again, bringing Jiang Jianming back to reality.
This time, he answered the call without any surprise and couldn’t help but chuckle before saying a word, “Your Highness, are you alright?”
There was silence on the other end, followed by a deep intake of breath, as if someone was trying hard to control their overwhelming emotions.
“…a thing that’s pushing it’s luck.”
The icy and annoyed tone of voice made Jiang Jianming effortlessly imagine the look of Prince Garcia, with a hint of redness at the corner of his eyes, while grinding his teeth. This only deepened the smile at the corner of his lips.
…He wasn’t surprised that he could still find amusement in this situation. He had known for a long time that no matter how terrifying the conspiracy or how dark the struggle, it could never cast a shadow over his heart.
Because the light he had lost and regained was right here.
****
At the same time, in outer space outside Aslan Star City.
The starship belonging to the Black Shark Base, which had brought Jiang Jianming and Prince Garcia into the Empire territory, was still hovering in outer space outside the star city.
Just twenty minutes ago, Prince Garcia, piloting the mecha Slash Comet, entered this starship and requested an audience with the leader of the Black Shark Base.
The core members of the Black Shark Base who witnessed this scene were all amazed.
Everyone knew that Prince Garcia had a strong dislike for the Black Shark Base, especially for its leader. The fact that His Highness had come voluntarily was an unprecedented event.
On the bridge of the starship, two figures stood.
Garcia leaned against the porthole, and the integrated screens inside the starship, along with the starry sky outside, illuminated half of his stern yet graceful facial features.
“…I am warning you, Jiang Jianming.”
The Prince’s temple veins throbbed, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “Me helping you without any limits like this… only this once, the last time.”
With that, Garcia closed his eyes with bitterness.
— Yes, at the moment when Jiang Jianming embraced him with a smile amidst the interplay of night and fire, he admitted to being possessed, thinking he could give up his life and everything for this person.
But when Jiang Jianming calmly said, “Ah, really? Then, could you do me a favor and go contact the leader of the Black Shark Base for me?”
…Then that feeling of being possessed came to a sudden halt.
The chief in a black robe and a black mask stood beside them, standing tall. A synthesized electronic voice came from beneath the mask at just the right moment.
“Your Highness, in my humble opinion, it would be wise to leave some room for yourself when you speak.”
— In times like these, the emotionless synthesized electronic voice had an even more mocking effect.
Garcia turned away in avoidance. He pressed his fingers against his temples and said bitterly, “Shut up.”
The chief continued, “Your Highness, it seems that the time spent with this individual has made you much more docile and adorable. That’s a good thing.”
Garcia: “…”
“All right, in that way.”
The chief took a step forward. The high-tech mask they were wearing did not seem to obstruct their vision. They approached the communication projection.
“I have a rough idea of the situation. Tomorrow is the festival, and I haven’t seen Her Majesty in years. I also want to have a good holiday with Her Majesty and reminisce about the past…”
The chief said slowly, “If it requires the power of the base to eliminate the civil strife and rebels, please don’t hesitate to command.”
