Chapter 261

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Lin En's voice fell, and the banquet hall fell into a stretch of silence.

Everyone lowered their heads, whispering privately.

After a while, the Ryan Guild's president was the first to stand up.

"Governor Sir, rest assured! Our Ryan Guild will certainly cooperate fully!"

"Our Meier Guild is the same, we guarantee to complete the military production tasks on time!"

"And our Scavenger Alliance, the soldier source matter, leave it to us!"

Various guild presidents, independent noble groups and the Scavenger Alliance leader, one after another expressed support.

They are all the greatest beneficiaries of Lin En's policies.

After Lin En took office, he struck at the Noble Council's monopoly, improved the treatment of workers and Bottom City, and preserved the independent nobles' family assets.

Now, Lin En is in trouble, they naturally cannot shirk their duty.

The nobles looked at each other, their faces all showing some reluctance.

"Governor Sir, since you have put it this way, our Saint Galus Family is also willing to produce the corresponding grain output!" Lei Ou was the first to express his stance.

But under Lei Ou's unkind gaze, they also had no choice but to stand up one by one, expressing willingness to contribute a portion of grain to support the Governor's Mansion.

Seeing everyone had expressed their stance, Lin En breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you everyone." Lin En raised his wine cup again.

"I guarantee to everyone, this is only a temporary difficulty, once we fully digest Kal II, and retake Dolido Agricultural World"

"Brevicus Star's days will certainly get better and better!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

In the banquet hall, cheers rang out once more.

Although the Tithe's shadow still loomed over everyone's hearts, at least they now had a response plan.

With Governor Sir here, they believed they would certainly survive this crisis.

After the welcome banquet ended, Lin En saw off all the guests.

He dragged his fatigued body back to his own room.

Isud was already waiting for him in the room.

She wore a white nightdress, sitting quietly by the bed.

"Tired?" Lena walked up, gently helping Lin En take off his coat.

"I've drawn hot water for you, go take a bath."

"Good." Lin En smiled.

Just then, an urgent message arrived; after hearing it, Lin En's mood which had just relaxed a little immediately became heavy again.

He hurriedly put on his clothes and immediately went out, heading for Brevis Starport.

Beam after beam of huge light beams shot down from Brevicus Star's orbit, almost illuminating the entire starport.

Immediately after, deafening engine roaring sounds came from the sky.

Lin En had already arrived at the starport's mooring area; he raised his head and looked up.

Only to see countless landing craft taking off from the Tithe Fleet's warships, flying toward the Main Star Port's direction.

And in orbit, more warships were slowly approaching.

Lin En originally thought the fleet's scale no matter how large could not exceed his own Expedition Fleet.

But now, he discovered he was still too naive.

In the sky, at least three Imperial Battlecruisers, five or six Cruisers, and countless Escort Ships and Destroyers.

They formed a steel sky curtain, covering the sky and blocking the sun, enveloping the entire Brevicus Star's starport in shadow.

Lin En's complexion changed somewhat.

He stood on the starport, blankly gazing at the massive-to-the-point-of-despair fleet in the sky, his mind somewhat blank.

This......

Is this here to collect taxes, or to collect them?

Lin En raised his head and gazed at the completely obscured sky.

In the pitch-black space, the massive Imperial Fleet slowly descended; steel hulls covered the sky and blocked the sun, completely isolating what little sunlight remained.

The entire Main Star Port fell into a stretch of cold shadow.

Clearly the steel giant ships' engines were stirring up waves of heat, but the starport's temperature made one feel a chill, even the wind seemed to stagnate.

The flagship battlecruiser was the undisputed core focus of the entire scene.

It was a colossus over eight kilometers long, its hull primarily a luxurious dark gold, accented with elegant wine-red inlays.

Every edge of the hull's armor plates was engraved with intricate scriptures and the Imperial Eagle Emblem; countless perfectly cut gemstones of various colors were inlaid at the hull's key nodes.

Even under the dim starport lights, they still refracted dazzling radiance.

Even across dozens of kilometers of distance, Lin En could clearly see how regular those gemstone facets were, how extravagant the materials used.

This simply doesn't look like a warship that conquers the star sea; it looks more like a moving royal artwork.

But Lin En's gaze was locked dead on the warship's weapon array, his heart accelerating several beats uncontrollably.

This guy, he's no mere vase that looks good but serves no purpose.

On both sides of the hull, a full one hundred and four macro cannon arrays — fifty-two on a single side alone.

And the cannon muzzles were astonishingly large in diameter, each one easily capable of tearing through a cruiser's broadside armor.

While along the hull's central axis, three giant light spears lay dormant, their fiery muzzles seemingly able to pierce an entire planet.

The orichalcum armor on the bow's ram was exaggeratedly thick — even an asteroid could be smashed to pieces by it.

"Retribution-class Battleship... no, a Victory-class Battleship refitted from a Retribution-class hull." Lin En murmured to himself, his five fingers unconsciously clenching into a fist.

The Retribution-class Battleship is one of the Imperial Navy's oldest mainline battleship models.

It is one of the Imperial Navy's treasured assets, but those in the know understand — this model of battleship has become a major problem in both technology and production cost, making it extremely scarce.

However, if those decommissioned Retribution-class Battleships fall into the Machine Cult's hands.

After thorough refurbishment and radical modification, they can be reborn into top-tier battleships that rival any other capital ship.

This kind of refitted ship possesses terrifying mobility on par with cruisers, and even more so a firepower configuration that specially cures all fear of insufficient firepower — the Imperial Navy's ultimate big killer.

A treasure like this isn't something just any Internal Affairs Department Tax Officer can get their hands on.

Without solid connections to the Mars Mechanicus, forget refitting a Retribution-class — even wanting to touch a hull armor plate is a pipe dream.

In Lin En's mind, several noble clans famous in the Imperial star domains for their luxury and martial might flashed through in an instant.

A bold conjecture gradually took shape, and his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

And around this flagship was an escort formation that could only be called luxurious.

Two Mars-class Battlecruisers, one left and one right, like a knight's most loyal attendants, their macro cannons and carrier-based aircraft hangars clearly visible.

Three Moon-class Cruisers, three Gothic-class Cruisers formed the fleet's backbone, all cannon muzzles aimed at the starport direction, carrying undisguised deterrence.

Further out, countless Sword-class Frigates and Storm-class Frigates, like a wolf pack encircling the capital ships, formed an airtight defensive formation.

Lin En shook his head slightly.

This fleet's scale was far more luxurious and powerful than his Expedition Fleet and Luna's clan fleet combined.

Never mind just coming to collect the tithe — even directly flattening the entire Calixis Star System would be more than enough.

And what made Lin En's scalp numb the most was the tail of the massive fleet formation.

There floated a massive transport ship, pitch-black all over, bearing no markings, emitting no light whatsoever.

It was like a black hole, absorbing all light and energy, its inconspicuous exterior exuding a bone-chilling aura that made one's soul tremble.

"It actually came..." Lin En's Adam's apple bobbed, he said in a low voice.

He naturally recognized this kind of ship.

The Star Tongue Court's Black Ship.

Specifically responsible for collecting the Spirit Energy Tithe across the galaxy, hunting wild Spirit Energy Users — a mobile prison cage.

A ship like this inevitably carries the existence Spirit Energy Users fear most in the Empire — the Silent Sisters.

These so-called "Emperor's Claws" are the Spirit Energy Users' natural nemesis.

They are all "Untouchables" (Blanks); their very existence is an anti-Spirit Energy "black hole".

They can poison like a curse, greatly suppress, interfere with, and tear apart the Spirit Energy User's connection to the Warp.

This makes them the ultimate weapon against Spirit Energy and Demons, able to effectively purify Chaos contamination.

At the same time, they are also responsible for piloting the "Black Ships" to collect the Spirit Energy User tithe.