Chapter 28: Starch Never Feels Insufficient

Night fell, and there was no moon overhead, only the glittering Star Sea and the Great Rift emitting an eerie glow.

At the Tower Top, towering buildings stood densely together; the black walls, once magnificently lit, now seemed like an endless, dead, silent graveyard.

Only the boundless, pitch‑black Nest Area beneath the Tower Top occasionally emitted strange, eerie screeches.

The entire Tower Top was shrouded in darkness, with only a searchlight sweeping across this world.

The light lingered over the passages leading to the Nest Area; most of the passages had been blown up, and the few remaining ones were heavily fortified.

At this moment, looking at the gate warped by successive explosions and the recent muffled sounds from behind it, the soldiers behind the gate were merely curled up behind sandbags, tightening their Rifles, too lazy even to lift their eyelids.

On the cold night, the undersupplied soldiers exhaled breath that was noticeably thin.

Now, beneath the towering black tower of the Nest City, only a few crucial junctions remained brightly lit.

Sandbags and steel plates formed a series of circular guard posts, filled with black soldiers armed with loaded Rifles; on a higher point nearby stood two machine guns, their dark barrels aimed outward.

The refugees huddled together among the buildings, their trembling bodies sharing the little warmth they could.

In their state of lacking clothes and food, the night offered only indoor shelter for mutual warmth; venturing outside was tantamount to suicide for the refugees.

Yet the refugees silently hoped to survive the night, when a few silhouettes appeared at the guard post beneath the building.

After a round of document exchange and flattery, the obstacle was removed, allowing the silhouettes to enter the deeper area.

At this moment, the Core Area, tightly guarded by soldiers, housed a National Church Cathedral—once the bishop's Prayer Room, now serving as Xisi's office.

Lights were off; to concentrate all energy on the troops, Xisi even lit only a single candle at night.

In the quiet night, only the Thousand-battle Veteran of the Xisi Guard remained vigilant around the Xisi Office.

The whole night seemed to freeze everyone in place, with only the searchlight intermittently sweeping across, following the side glass of the Xisi Room and scanning the entire room.

A burst of footsteps sounded outside the door.

Clack clack clack~

A light knock on the door, followed by a faint creak, and the main door opposite Xisi slowly opened.

"Sir, two nobles request an audience,"

Bunoke stood at the doorway, whispered the report, then stepped aside, allowing two tall, slender nobles in splendid attire to walk in.

The candlelight illuminated a short distance; as the two faces entered the glow, the expressions they showed Xisi were a level of flattery he had never even dared to imagine.

After all, one was a noble perched high atop the Tower Top, the other a cannon fodder beneath the tower; not only flattery, but even being allowed to see Xisi was considered a great 'favor' to Xisi by the nobles.

But the current scene showed Xisi seated at the front, the two great nobles smiling flattery, cautiously watching the actual ruler of the Tower Top before them.

Bunoke followed in, standing behind the two nobles; Xisi gave no response, nor did he speak further.

The scene fell silent, and the two nobles instinctively began to assess Xisi and his surroundings.

They wanted to learn as much as possible about the 'Sir' they were about to face, what kind of person he was.

Only a pair of eyes darted around; the vast Prayer Room in the darkness was mostly concealed.

Looking around, the only things visible were the faint outline of a Giant Emperor Portrait behind Xisi and, beside the candle, a young face half illuminated by firelight and half swallowed by darkness.

At this moment the space was tranquil, with only the 'scratch' of Xisi's pen as it moved across various reports.

Reluctantly withdrawing his gaze, the two nobles glanced at each other, and finally the higher‑ranking one forced himself to speak:

"Squad Leader Xisi, per the Nobles' Council's order, Imperial Troops everywhere should immediately escort nobles to a safe zone,"

"The rebellious Governor has now been executed, and Lord Kaerjia has arrived at the Alert Star. May I ask when you will arrange escort forces to take us away from here?"

The senior noble spoke, and the other noble, gaining courage, quickly added:

"Please be sure to assign the most elite forces; we have a large entourage and property that need protection,"

The two nobles were anxious, for they knew the situation was far from the rosy picture the Military Affairs Department had advertised, indeed it was harsh.

If they didn't seize the moment to flee now, they might truly die outside.

Just as the two finished speaking, Bunoke behind them furrowed his brows, showing unmistakable disgust toward them.

Because they not only refused to protect the civilians who had once generated great wealth for them, but also demanded that Xisi pull the most elite forces to escort them away.

Beyond that, the most intolerable thing for Bunoke was that these nobles even intended to take away their 'property.'

If it were truly their property, that would be one thing, but who knows how much plundered supplies are inside?

Removing the supplies now would cripple the already strained logistics completely.

Bunoke's eyes were full of displeasure, and Xisi, who had been buried in paperwork, finally halted his pen.

The scratching sound vanished instantly from the room, and at that moment another searchlight swept in; Xisi looked up, his face briefly illuminated by the white beam.

There was no resentment or opportunistic greed as the nobles imagined; under the brief white light, Xisi's face was only calm.

He glanced at the two, then returned to his work, and the scratching sound resumed:

"No,"

Those simple two words made the nobles' faces turn pale instantly; they tried to speak again, but Bunoke had already stepped forward, blocking them.

Staring at Bunoke's exaggerated build and the pistol at his waist, the two nobles swallowed hard, bowed their heads to hide their faces in the darkness, and turned to leave.

After another burst of footsteps, the huge room fell silent again, and after a moment, Ana in the darkness beside Xisi voiced some doubt:

"You aren't satisfied with these nobles?"

Nobles, the National Church, the Mechanical Church, even the Astat, always have various conflicts of interest among them.

So Ana wondered whether Xisi, like her, also despised the nobles' massive meaningless waste.

But Xisi, faced with the question, didn't lift his head, continuing to bury himself in official work.

Until, looking at the supplies finally allocated before him, Xisi, while checking the report, said plainly:

"Starch never feels insufficient."

After speaking, Xisi finally signed his name at the end of the list and handed the report to Ana in the darkness.

"Your Blue Starch should be allocated to the nobles first; the remaining starch is to be distributed to soldiers and refugees according to this list,"

Ana looked at Xisi's list, even more puzzled.

She couldn't figure out why Xisi, who clearly disliked the Nobility, would still prioritize giving his great invention to the Nobility.

Shouldn't good things be used by oneself first?