Chapter 1137: Let a Third Party Deliver the Message

Back in the rear detention cell, Kalaier curled up on the cold bunk, his Third Eye flickering faintly in the darkness.

Choice has always been a luxury.

Prisoners of war have no power to choose.

There is only the instinct for survival and the torment of conscience.

Kalaier remembered what the old professor said many years ago, when he first entered the Diplomatic Academy.

"Diplomacy is the continuation of war; it is a game of strategy between civilizations. But remember, children: when the chips in the game are billions of lives, there is no simple right or wrong, only cruel calculations of gain and loss."

At that time, he did not fully understand.

Now, he understands.

It is too late.

Yingzhou's office in the core region of the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance.

Yingzhou stood by the desk, his fingers lightly touching the holographic projection; one by one, planets magnified, rotated, and displayed detailed information at his fingertips.

When Guilliman's encrypted communication request came through, Yingzhou made a gesture of approval.

A hologram emerged in the center of the Jingsishi, presenting the image of Guilliman.

"Father."

Guilliman bowed his head slightly.

"Guilliman, I am already aware of the outcome at the Ningjing Huilang. Olaf is dead, and the 'Oathkeeper' fleet has been completely annihilated. But the Fengqi delegation is still in your hands."

"Yes. Kalaier is currently detained on my flagship. I have just had a... conversation with him."

Yingzhou looked up and asked.

"The result?"

"He is shaken, but has not yet yielded. I have given him three days to consider."

Guilliman pulled up Kalaier's psychological assessment data.

"His survival instinct is strong, his moral bottom line is flexible, and his political sense is sharp. He could become a useful... bridge."

"A bridge."

Yingzhou repeated the word and walked to the star map table.

"A bridge between the surrender faction of Fengqi and us. A good idea. But it is not enough."

Guilliman's brows furrowed slightly.

"What does Father mean?"

"Kalaier is a hostage, a potential bargaining chip. This is useful, but limited."

Yingzhou's finger swept across the star map, lighting up the entire Southern Theater.

"What we must achieve is not just a military victory, but a political victory, a victory of public opinion, and a victory of morality."

Yingzhou turned to face Guilliman's hologram.

"The Fengqi Star Alliance is not the only civilization in the Bode Star System. The Canaan Star Alliance, the Ash Star Alliance, Daikong... and countless small and medium-sized civilizations and trade powers are all watching.

What is the picture they see? An emerging Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance using force to annex neighbors, detaining diplomatic delegations, and destroying resistance fleets."

"We are acting in self-defense..."

Guilliman wanted to explain.

"Self-defense requires evidence, requires a narrative, and requires making bystanders believe.

And right now, all the 'evidence' is in the hands of the Fengqi: their destroyed fleet, their detained delegation, their occupied planets.

If I were a bystander, I would sympathize with the weak and be wary of the strong. This is the nature of intelligent beings."

Guilliman was silent.

The expansion of the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance cannot rely solely on force; it also requires legitimacy and at least a superficial justification.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Change the narrative. Turn 'the Star Alliance's counterattack' into 'the Star Alliance was forced to defend itself.' Turn 'detaining the diplomatic delegation' into 'protecting the delegation from insurgents.' Turn 'destroying the resistance fleet' into 'quelling a military coup to maintain the negotiation process.'"

Yingzhou marked several key nodes on the star map.

"We need a disseminator, a neutral, credible third party to tell our version.

And this version cannot be stated directly by us; it must look like the truth that the third party 'discovered' themselves."

Guilliman raised an eyebrow.

"The Tramir."

"Correct."

Yingzhou nodded.

"The Flowing Ring Chamber of Commerce currently has limited trade rights within the Star Alliance-controlled zone. They are not members of the Star Alliance, not even Human, but they do business among many civilizations and have a good reputation.

More importantly... they are greedy, but cautious. They will weigh the pros and cons."

"You want to make the Tramir our mouthpiece?"

"Not exactly."

Yingzhou walked to the communication console and connected to another channel.

"Luojia, come see me."

A few minutes later, the office door slid open.

Luojia walked in wearing a white robe, holding a Data Pad in his hand.

"Father, you summoned me."

"Luojia, I need your expertise."

Yingzhou pointed to the holographic star map.

"The Quiet Corridor Incident needs to be repackaged. We need a complete narrative: the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance negotiated with peaceful sincerity, the pro-war faction within Fengqi launched an attack attempting to hijack both delegations, and the Star Alliance was forced to counterattack to protect the safety of the mission, ultimately and unfortunately destroying the fleet controlled by the insurgents."

Luojia's eyes lit up.

He liked this kind of work.

"Father, we need details. Vivid details. For example, how the insurgents tried to sabotage the negotiations, how they threatened to kill their own people and ours, and how we tried our best to protect everyone in the chaos... First-hand testimony would be best."

"Guilliman's fleet has complete combat logs and communication intercepts."

Yingzhou looked at the holographic projection.

"Guilliman, can you provide them?"

"I can. We have evidence of the Sele'en rebellion, recordings of Olaf refusing to surrender, and records of the Fengqi Fleet attempting to ram our flagship during the battle. But... this still looks like our one-sided account."

Luojia took over the conversation.

"So we need a third party to 'accidentally' discover this information. The Tramir of the Flowing Ring Chamber of Commerce are currently conducting limited trade within Star Alliance territory."

"According to the agreement, they can only operate in designated areas and must not come into contact with military facilities. But if... a 'technical malfunction' were to occur, causing some encrypted data to leak onto the civilian network, and the Tramir merchants 'happened' to discover these fragments while analyzing trade data..."

Guilliman took over from Luojia.

"Then they will piece together the 'truth' themselves. And by the time we 'discover' the data leak, it will be too late."

"Not only that."

Luojia said with a smile.

"We must also display appropriate 'annoyance' and 'worry.' We will publicly acknowledge the data leak incident, express our apologies to the Tramir, and even be willing to provide compensation."

"But at the same time, we must emphasize the 'sensitivity' of this information and request that they do not disseminate it, which will instead stimulate their desire to spread it."

Yingzhou nodded.

"The psychology of Humans, and most intelligent beings: the more forbidden the information, the more valuable it is perceived to be."

"When we request confidentiality, the Tramir will believe they have grasped a major secret and will be impatient to share it with their trade partners to demonstrate their intelligence-gathering capabilities."