Chapter 283: The Emperor's Declaration
Most Star Alliance residents believed that the Garden Planets, known as the "Jewels of the Universe," had almost become extinct after the Apocalypse.
But that wasn't entirely correct.
Outside the Star Union Space, the capital of the Super Democratic Empire, Morning Star, had gradually completed climate restoration and terraforming over the past 300 years.
Seasonal lakes, rivers, grasslands, and even forests appeared on the planet, and ground settlements with populations exceeding 100 million once again emerged.
Such settlements were called "medium-sized cities" during the golden age.
The Super Democratic Empire practiced a constitutional monarchy. On a hill in the city center stood the pure white Parliament Building, where the Emperor delivered his televised speech, broadcast across the entire Star Alliance via superluminal communication.
The Emperor was a very tall, middle-aged man with golden hair. Dressed in military uniform and a cape, he strode through the elaborately decorated corridors of the Parliament Building and came before the camera.
"Greetings, people of the Star Alliance!"
The simultaneous translation was completed the moment the Emperor spoke.
"Everyone knows that today, our interstellar civilization is an ember civilization that survived the great catastrophe known as the Apocalypse.
"We know very little about the pre-catastrophe world, that desirable golden age.
"So most of you probably don't know that humanity's first interstellar spaceship was launched by Cangyuan Future Technology in 2095 AD!"
At this point, the Emperor paused, looked at the camera, and showed a meaningful smile.
"Oh, yes! I cannot help but notice that recently, in the Star Union Space, there is such an emerging force, actually using the name of the great Cangyuan Future Technology, wantonly spreading slaughter and violence! Attacking the peace-loving Galan Republic!
"Tsk tsk tsk. In response, the Super Democratic Empire has no choice but to reveal a secret hidden for centuries to the people of the Star Alliance."
The Emperor spread his arms upwards at a 45-degree angle, forming a Y-shape in front of the camera.
"The legitimate descendants of the Cangyuan Future Technology family, as well as all the crew of cangyuan one, have been under the protection of our royal family for the past few hundred years. The true lineage of Cangyuan lies with the Super Democratic Empire!"
At this moment, a golden-haired girl who looked no older than 18 walked over from a distance and stood beside the Emperor.
The girl in the picture had an indifferent expression and said nothing.
With her hands behind her back, she wore a silver-white one-piece suit that highlighted her perfectly proportioned figure, and she glowed in front of the camera.
Undoubtedly, it was a generation more advanced space suit than those in the Star Alliance, requiring only a thin layer of fabric to resolve the internal and external pressure difference, while also providing insulation and blocking harmful high-energy cosmic rays.
The Emperor slightly moved aside, introducing this mysterious girl, who had never appeared in public before, to the audience.
"Please look, everyone, this is the daughter of that Cangyuan Executive Officer who set sail with the colony ship in 2095! We recovered her hibernation pod one year ago!"
His damn daughter—
If Lu Yuan had been drinking water at that moment, he would definitely have choked.
He could feel the gazes of the branch employees around him, piercing like needles.
Nonsense—
Setting aside the age issue, could you at least get the race right first?
And who told you we have a hereditary system?
The old Emperor continued:
"To trace back to the source and tear off the disguise of the villains! I will appoint her as the General Commander of Actions, leading the great Imperial Fleet to the Star Union Space to recover humanity's first colony ship!
"At that time, this priceless artifact will tell you all the truth! The spreaders of lies will have nowhere to hide!
"During the operation, all Star Alliance vessels appearing in the Imperial Fleet's line of sight, whether warships, merchant convoys, or archaeological salvage ships, will be considered hostile with the intent to obstruct our actions and will be subjected to indiscriminate fire, with all risks borne by themselves!
"Now, I announce the risk advisory zone for the mission period—"
A star map appeared on the screen.
This was, in fact, a no-fly zone unilaterally designated by the Empire.
Several important transportation hubs leading to the grand loop line drawn by Old Jia were listed as no-fly zones by the Super Democratic Empire, and they were precisely located at the edge of these zones.
Such precise control over key points was definitely not a coincidence.
Old Jia was not wrong; the Super Democratic Empire had also calculated the route of cangyuan one, and intercepting it was only a matter of time.
The news footage cut back to the studio.
The host, Larry, rested one forearm on the desk, leaning forward, looking at the audience across the camera with a wise and serious gaze.
"The no-fly zone designated by the Empire largely overlaps with the actual control areas of the Human Exploration Federation. So far, the latter has not made a public statement."
"They have no shame!"
After watching the news, Male God expressed his indignation.
"No, what does this mean? Find a pretty girl, spark public curiosity, and then turn a fake corporate heir into a real one? If they want to damage Cangyuan's prestige, wouldn't using force directly be more effective?"
The most prestige is often lost in a defeat. "Oh?"
Qun Qing looked at Male God.
The two were not familiar with each other, but it was interesting to see a three-meter-tall monster engaging in intelligent thought.
"I'm not as keen on political topics as you guys, but I think the Empire is either too busy or has its own concerns."
"Or both," Ma Lou added.
Male God: "You mean the fleet sent by the Empire to find cangyuan one isn't particularly strong?"
Ma Lou: "I think so. You see, the Empire's hostility towards us is already very obvious, having moved past the previous stage of observation and probing.
I estimate their general staff and domestic think tanks have already made a relatively accurate assessment of our true strength, after all, we've been active for some time.
"In this situation, if they were confident in overwhelming Cangyuan, they would have sent troops long ago. The content of the television speech is purely superfluous."
Lu Yuan shook his head.
"Don't rush to conclusions, and especially don't underestimate the enemy's fleet strength."
He reminded the employees.
"The Empire might have other, stronger motives. I think we should focus on observing the Human Exploration Federation's reaction. If even this largest Star Alliance council member avoids confrontation, it likely means the Empire is serious."
Indeed,
Recovering the colony ship would help Cangyuan further confirm its identity, enhance its prestige, and win over more small and medium-sized forces.
Recovering the jump drive could also greatly increase Cangyuan's troop deployment speed.
But the Empire didn't know that they had already recovered the 'Deep Sea' at their end. In their eyes, the above two points were minor skirmishes, unable to change the tens of thousands of times difference in direct firepower between the Empire's main battleships and Cangyuan's patrol frigates.
From this perspective, wasn't the Emperor's public speech a bit too high-pitched?
Logically, the reaction shouldn't be so great. Lu Yuan realized that the Empire's sudden high-profile public announcement of salvaging and recovering cangyuan one was definitely not as simple as it seemed,
It was more than just a seemingly overbearing act of seizure.
There must be a great secret behind it.
"Then, Executive Officer, our departure plan—"
Ma Lou came to his side, lowering his voice.
"Proceed as normal."
Lu Yuan said resolutely.
"All of Cangyuan's future plans will not be canceled because of two threats from the enemy. And," he looked at Ma Lou with a smile, "since the Emperor has publicly issued a harsh warning, even if it's just to maintain the value of the cangyuan coin and the confidence of Star Alliance investors, we absolutely cannot back down."
"Oh—yes!"
The Executive Officer's words reminded the players.
Prestige is a double-edged sword.
The more benefits you enjoy from it, the greater the responsibility you must bear.
Cangyuan had too much hot money.
When issuing electronic cryptocurrency, all it took was a flick of a finger, and then people would come with star alliance credit points that could buy various goods to exchange for it, then wait for it to appreciate.
From Lu Yuan's perspective, it was quite satisfying.
However, if they failed to live up to the Star Alliance's expectations during a critical period of economic construction, leading to panic selling of cangyuan coin in the interstellar foreign exchange market, an economic and credit crisis could easily arise.
At that point, they would either bleed heavily, using credit points to buy back cangyuan coin, making the previous few months' efforts for naught and incurring a mountain of debt, then continuing to "sell themselves to pay off debts."
Or they could act like Galan, shamelessly giving up, throwing caution to the wind, and squandering all accumulated credit and prestige.
Lu Yuan clearly wouldn't choose that path.
And the former situation, if it truly happened, would quickly deplete Cangyuan's foreign exchange reserves, posing an immense danger.
Losing the credit point foreign exchange reserves used for Crazy shopping , the company's own development speed would be greatly reduced, leading to a vicious cycle of continuously plummeting currency value.
Aside from the difficulty in fleet deployment due to overexpansion, Cangyuan's other weakness lay here.
Too much economic froth!
This situation would need to continue for at least two to three more months, until Cangyuan's industrial output doubled several more times, before it would truly ease!
The significance of cangyuan one was too great. Originally, no one equated it with a "ghost ship," which was fine.
Now that it was public, and everyone knew this ship had been drifting within the Star Alliance, cangyuan one would inevitably attract a great deal of attention from various Star Alliance powers, and even have to bear people's unrealistic fantasies about the golden age and human glory.
This directly meant that Cangyuan's mission could not fail; they had to recover the colony ship before everyone else!
Otherwise, if the right to interpret fell into other hands, the consequences would be extremely severe.
"Um, Executive Officer Sir—"
Ran Ge, who was staring at the monitor, interrupted Lu Yuan's thoughts.
"There's a strange person standing outside."
Everyone crowded around his screen and indeed saw a suspicious person wearing a baseball cap standing in front of the warehouse's rolling door.
The person seemed to notice the gaze from the other side of the camera and lifted their head.
"Ah!"
After seeing the face clearly, Qun Qing let out a gasp.
That pretty face had appeared on the TV news not long ago.
It was precisely the General Commander appointed by His Majesty the Emperor, the so-called legitimate heir of Cangyuan.
What the hell!
Lu Yuan also looked a bit bewildered.