Chapter 263

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Dominic seemed not to have noticed Lin En's ugly expression; he stepped aside, revealing the Silent Sister Ralph behind him, and introduced in a flat tone:

"And this one beside me is Lady Ralph, End Hunter from the Star Language Court Black Ship Alliance."

"She is also this Black Ship's 'Black Ship Lady', responsible for collecting the Spirit Energy Tithe from Brevis."

Ralph dipped her head slightly, not speaking.

Those gray eyes of hers locked dead onto Lin En, as if to see through his very soul.

That "Untouchable" cold aura surged toward Lin En like a flood, making the spirit energy inside him contract wildly.

Although Lin En could not use spirit energy, due to the Yellow Weasel and Lena, there was indeed more or less some spirit energy existing in his body.

Dominic's gaze fell on Lin En again, his tone carrying an unquestionable hardness:

"Governor Kerry·Feng, recently the Menglong Star Domain has been extremely unstable due to the Chaos Fleet's large-scale invasion."

"The front-line war is pressing; the Empire needs more resources and soldier sources to fight against the Chaos Great Enemy."

"I hope you can cooperate well with our work and understand the strict standards of this tithe collection."

Lin En's face had darkened to the extreme.

This is asking for understanding? This is clearly putting a knife to his neck and directly shouting "give me the tax"!

But facing this Wen Tu Li Ya noble before him who held heavy troops and had a deep background, he had no capital to tough it out.

Once they fall out, the other side only needs to give an order, and this massive fleet could turn Brevis's Nest Capital into a piece of scorched earth in a few hours.

He suppressed the anger in his heart, bowed slightly, and his tone remained respectful:

"Lord Dominic rest assured, I have always been loyal to the Emperor, loyal to the Human Empire."

"Regarding the matter of tithe payment, I and the Brevis government will certainly cooperate fully with Lord's work."

This reaction actually made Dominic somewhat surprised.

He had gone to many remote planets to collect tithes; those governors either cried poverty and acted pitiful, or stalled and made excuses, and some even dared to secretly collude with Chaos, attempting to resist collection.

This was the first time he had seen a governor indicate willingness to cooperate so straightforwardly.

But he did not lower his guard because of this; on the contrary, he marked a question mark in his heart.

The more obedient on the surface, the more likely there are shenanigans hidden behind the scenes.

Governors of this kind of remote planet are most skilled at outward compliance but inward opposition.

He wanted to see whether this Kerry·Feng was truly sensible, or just putting on an act.

"Very good." Dominic responded faintly.

"Since Governor Sir is so cooperative, then let us not waste time here."

"Regarding the specific details of the tithe, let us find a place to discuss in detail."

"Of course." Lin En immediately stepped aside and made a "please" gesture.

"The Starport's VIP reception room has already been prepared for you Lords, security is tight, absolutely will not be disturbed."

Dominic nodded, and strode forward.

Lady Ralph followed close by his side, not leaving a step; a dozen elite guards fanned out in a wedge formation, protecting the two in the middle, vigilantly scanning everything around.

Lin En walked at the side, half a step behind Dominic, his posture placed extremely low.

On the way to the reception room, Silent Sister Ralph's gaze never once left Lin En.

That "Untouchable" cold aura clung to Lin En like a maggot in the bone, tightly sticking to him.

Lin En's heart grew increasingly vigilant.

These Silent Sisters, truly live up to their reputation.

Merely standing beside her, spirit energy would suffer such strong suppression.

If a conflict really occurs, Lena's spirit energy attacks would probably be heavily discounted in front of her.

More troublesome is, on that Black Ship that came this time, no one knows how many Silent Sisters are on board.

The Bug Race traces on the Brevis Icefield, hope they have been cleaned up clean enough, absolutely cannot leave any handle.

A few minutes later, the group arrived at the Starport's VIP reception room.

This is a luxuriously decorated room, originally prepared for visiting Imperial nobles and high-ranking officers.

But in front of the James Tong's luxury, the decoration here appears somewhat shabby.

Outside the room's door and by the windows, Wen Tu Li Ya's elite guards and Silent Sisters instantly stood guard strictly.

Ralph stood in the corner of the room, gray eyes still dead staring at Lin En, like an emotionless monitor.

The room door closed, isolating all sounds from outside.

Only Lin En, Dominic, and Ralph remained in the room, the atmosphere instantly becoming oppressive.

Dominic sat in the main seat, without any pleasantries, directly pulled out a thick roll of parchment from his bosom and threw it on the table before Lin En.

"This is this time's tithe collection list, you look at it yourself." His tone was cold, without any room for negotiation.

"Within ten days, everything on the list must be fully prepared and delivered to the James Tong."

"Missing one item, missing one person, all counts as you resisting tax."

Lin En silently picked up that roll of parchment, slowly unfolding it.

Line after line of collection categories written in High Gothic densely covered the entire parchment.

The further down he looked, the tighter his brow furrowed, and the uglier his expression became.

The demands on the list could no longer be described as harsh; they were simply intent on sucking Brevis dry, down to the bone and marrow.

Under the soldier source category, it was written in black and white: thirty percent of Brevis Planet's total population in able-bodied men and women must be handed over, to be assembled within seven days and sent aboard transport ships.

Thirty percent? Are you kidding me?

This one clause alone would cost Brevis half its life.

After experiencing the Green Skin Invasion, Brevis's total population had already plummeted to around ten billion, and the proportion of able-bodied men and women was just over three billion.

Taking thirty percent at once was equivalent to draining all of Brevis's future soldier sources and primary labor force.

However, this part still had some room for maneuver; after all, slipping in some old, weak, sick, and disabled was quite normal.

As for the military equipment category, it required thirty percent production of standard laser guns, bomb guns, Leman Russ tanks, Chimera armored vehicles, as well as matching ammunition and parts, to be fully prepared within seven days.

This part was actually the simplest.

First, Brevis's own positioning was a Hive World, its main role being to provide soldier sources, so the demand for military equipment was not considered high.

But what made Lin En despair was the grain category; the quota listed was so high that even emptying all of Brevis's grain stores would not cover it.

It was very obvious that the other party had also factored in Dolido Agricultural World's grain production.

Dolido was nominally an Agricultural World, but due to its small size and proximity to Brevis.

On the Imperial map, it was directly assigned under Brevis's jurisdiction, so Brevis's Planetary Governor actually managed two planets.

But Brevis had already lost Dolido Agricultural World two years ago; grain production had long since plummeted, and currently it could only barely maintain Hive operations.

If these grains were really handed over, Brevis would immediately erupt in large-scale famine; never mind the Bottom City, even the Upper City would suffer famine.

And at the end of the list was the Spirit Energy Tithe handled by Ralph.

It required handing over one thousand Spirit Energy Users who had undergone Spirit Energy Rating and met Star Language Court Standard, regardless of age or gender, to be delivered to the Black Ship within ten days.

If there was concealment, or harboring of wild Spirit Energy Users, it would be treated as Betrayal of the Empire, and the Tribunal would intervene to investigate.

Lin En set down the list in his hand, took a deep breath, and raised his head to look at Dominic.

The respect on his face had vanished completely, leaving only cold calm.

He looked at this arrogant Noble Major General before him and said lightly:

"Dominic Adult, the demands on this list, the current Brevis, cannot fulfill them."