Chapter 1492: I Want His Majesty to See My Loyalty

Xierta said.

"So I intend to mobilize an elite assault company from the border defense forces outside the eastern city. No matter how strong the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance delegation is, they only have a dozen or so people inside the capital. The assault company has two thousand men and is equipped with heavy suppression weapons, enough to control the situation."

"As for that Mars-class Battlecruiser at the Spaceport berth, we need to dispatch a separate fleet to block the exit channel in orbit and prevent them from taking off."

The Minister of Finance's brow furrowed into several lines.

"You are pushing the entire Kesi Imperium's relationship with the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance to the point of confrontation. If this matter gets out, how will the Ash Star Alliance and the Yinsan Alliance react?"

Xierta said.

"The Ash Star Alliance and the Yinsan Alliance have both been refused military support by His Majesty; they are now dying to see the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance stumble in the Kesi Imperium."

"If we detain the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance delegation, those two powers will only be secretly pleased; they will not speak up for the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance."

After a moment of Silence, Gelun finally spoke.

"The thing you are about to do carries too much risk. If you succeed, His Majesty might thank you for resolving his predicament. But if you fail, once the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance fleet arrives and sees their delegation detained, how will they treat the Kesi Imperium?"

"Even if they don't go to war directly, they will sanction us on other levels."

Xierta looked at Gelun and said in a solemn tone.

"If I fail, I will bear the responsibility alone. All transfer orders will bear my signature, and all operational directives will be issued by me."

"When the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance comes knocking, I will say this was a personal act, unrelated to His Majesty's policy. His Majesty will only need to hand me over at that time."

The Minister of Finance said.

"Are you trying to make His Majesty treat you as a sacrificial pawn?"

Xierta said.

"I want His Majesty to see my loyalty; I am removing the shadow deep within his heart for him."

"After the matter is over, regardless of whether the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance retreats or negotiates, His Majesty will understand that the Kesi Imperium does not need to rely on any outsiders."

"The things he fears have already been proven not worth fearing."

The carriage was quiet for a while, and all four cast looks of admiration at Xierta.

The hovercar slowed down at the end of the street and turned into a narrower alley.

Xierta looked at his four colleagues and spoke.

"After you return, each of you must do three things."

"First, lock up all documents and files currently in your possession related to the Eastern Star Sector border defense fleet so that no one can inspect them."

"Second, do not discuss the content of today's meeting privately with any colleagues."

"Third, meet behind this door again at this time tomorrow night. By then, I will bring the specific schedule and troop deployment for the operational plan."

Gelun nodded first, and the Minister of Finance followed suit.

The two young officials hesitated for two or three seconds before also expressing their agreement.

At this moment, the hovercar stopped; Xierta opened the door and stepped out, and the door closed behind him.

He walked into a gray-walled building. The first floor was a small lobby with gray stone flooring. Several topographical maps of the Kesi Imperium's Eastern Star Sector hung on the walls; on a few of the maps, patrol routes and garrison points of the border defense fleet were marked with red lines.

Several clerical staff in dark blue uniforms walked through the corridor; seeing Xierta enter, they all stopped and stood at attention to salute. Xierta nodded once and walked straight toward the office at the end of the corridor.

The office door closed, and the soundproofing layer cut off the sound of footsteps outside.

Xierta walked behind his desk and sat down, opening the data terminal on the desktop. A real-time deployment map of the Eastern City border defense fleet popped up on the screen.

His fingers swiped across the touchscreen, enlarging several areas one by one. He circled three garrison points marked in dark colors on the deployment map; these three locations had the highest number of ships and the most complete personnel staffing.

Xierta mentally calculated the total number of callable troops, then opened a blank transfer order document and entered his own name and service number in the signatory field.

He wrote the wording of the order very quickly.

Xierta named it the "Eastern Border Defense Fleet Temporary Exercise Operation Order," with the content being a surprise drill in a designated area, codenamed "Sweeper."

Afterward, Xierta encrypted the order, uploaded it to the internal command network of the border defense fleet outside the Eastern City, and set it to be sent at a scheduled time.

Imperial City East Side, Waijiaoqu.

Lu Zhenda sat at the table in the outer room, holding a Data Pad in his hand. On the screen was the list of attendees for today's imperial meeting and the record of the adjournment time.

Gewanuosai remained standing on the inner side of the door and spoke.

"Just received a report: Xierta and the four ministers left the Imperial City in a hovercar, heading toward the official residence district in the east of the city."

Lu Zhenda looked up.

"The five of them left together? They didn't split up?"

"No, the car drove straight out of the Imperial City East Gate without stopping along the way."

Lu Zhenda put the Data Pad down completely, rested his hands on the desktop, and his gaze fell on the edges of the papers on the table.

"The five of them leaving in the same car after the imperial meeting adjourned suggests they were still talking in the car. The content of the discussion won't be anything simple."

"Xierta was overruled at the meeting today."

Gewanuosai said.

"He left with his four colleagues; either he is pacifying their hearts, or he is discussing the next move."

Lu Zhenda said.

"The latter is more likely. An Alien like Xierta doesn't seem like the type to give up just because he was overruled."

Gewanuosai did not respond, waiting for him to continue.

Lu Zhenda shifted his gaze to the ceiling and said slowly.

"That Minister of Military Affairs is a minister who controls quite a bit of military power. The actual power in his hands has not been touched by Kesi until now."

Gewanuosai said.

"Xierta's people are embedded in the command system of the border defense forces. If Xierta were removed, those officers might not recognize a new commander, which could easily lead to greater chaos."

"Right, so Xierta still has cards in his hand, and since he was overruled at the imperial meeting today, it is impossible for him to do nothing."

Gewanuosai spoke.

Perhaps they will make a move against us.

Lu Zhenda tilted his head to look at Gewanuosai, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

You think so too?

He has quite a few troops at his disposal, and many of those units are stationed in the outer orbit and near-Earth airspace of the Capital Star. Our Mars-class ship is docked at the Spaceport; if Xierta wants to stir up trouble, the range of targets is very narrow—it can only be something right under his nose that is capable of causing enough of an impact.

Lu Zhenda said.

On the Capital Star of the Luoke Imperium, the only external factor capable of causing enough of an impact is the diplomatic mission from the Xiuluo Holy Star Alliance. If Xierta truly intends to do this, he will have to mobilize the armed forces of his troops to execute it.