TCPUAAV Chapter 147

 

The war against Sijialan progressed far more smoothly than anyone had anticipated.

 

The merfolk, proud and arrogant, had once enjoyed the allegiance of neighboring planets, who were willing to flatter and follow them so long as there was profit to be gained. But over the past year, under Siyan’s administration, while the Empire faced relentless invasion from the Zerg, its full military force was instead focused on bombarding Sijialan. The protracted tug-of-war had severely drained Sijialan’s strength. And with their interests intertwined, their allies began to lose confidence.

 

Many planets once loyal to Sijialan started wavering. Even Tutar, whose interests were deeply tied to Sijialan’s, began seeking alternative paths.

 

During Siyan’s rule, his policies were plainly aimed at suppressing the Four Great Ancient Clans. This had forced the Nine-tailed Fox Clan to ally with Sijialan. But now that Rong Heng had returned, and the Ymir bloodline had not yet been extinguished, it meant the imperial line—thus, control over the Four Great Clans—still remained. That revived the ambitions of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.

 

Shortly after Ruan Yuebai and Nota’s team arrived in the star system near Sijialan, they received a communication request from the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.

 

The emissary, full of enthusiasm, proposed a collaboration—an internal-external pincer movement to take Sijialan. In exchange, the Nine-tailed Fox Clan asked only to retain their current status and prestige.

 

The one who met with the envoy was Ruan Yuebai. After patiently hearing them out, he politely but firmly refused.

 

“If you wish to avoid war, trade us the position of Tutar’s Governor and the title of Clan Chief of the Nine-tailed Foxes,” he said, gesturing to Nota beside him with a smile. “She has been personally appointed by His Highness the Crown Prince as the Governor of Tutar and will also be taking up the mantle of Clan Chief. If you agree, the transition can begin immediately—Tutar will be spared from war. If not…” He paused meaningfully, then said with certainty, “then we’ll hold the ceremony after we take Tutar by force.”

 

Nota would assume the position of Governor of Tutar and Chief of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan; Ruan Yuebai would become the new Governor of Sijialan and head of the Merfolk Clan.

 

This was the joint decision they had made with Rong Heng before setting out.

 

Rong Heng hadn’t dispatched his fleet to annihilate Sijialan, Tutar, or their affiliated planets. His aim was to lay the groundwork for the next stage: de-nobling—the dismantling of aristocratic rule.

 

Of the Four Great Ancient Clans, only Rong Heng remained of the Ymir bloodline. The Dragon Clan’s chieftain, Garland, had always remained aloof from politics. That left only the Merfolk and the Nine-tailed Foxes to deal with.

 

These two clans posed the greatest resistance to the de-nobling reforms.

 

The Merfolk controlled Sijialan; the Nine-tailed Foxes held Tutar. But on both worlds, the majority population wasn’t pureblood nobles, but mixed-race commoners of lower status.

 

Thus, the young leaders’ mission wasn’t just military conquest—it was to incite rebellion among the mixed-blood population and seize discourse power from within. Nota and Ruan Yuebai, being members of the Nine-tailed Fox and Merfolk Clans respectively, were the ideal candidates to take over as governors and clan leaders, easing the transition and consolidating public support.

 

The emissary’s demand to “preserve the clan’s current honor and status” directly contradicted their objective.

 

And so the first negotiation ended in failure.

 

What choice the Nine-tailed Fox Clan would make remained uncertain. But once the brief talks ended, the young leaders moved into action.

 

Nota led a primary warship and twenty fighter escorts toward Tutar.

 

Meanwhile, the battlefield at Sijialan was left in the hands of Ruan Yuebai and Heli.

 

Over the course of the next two months, wave after wave of good news arrived from both the Sijialan and Tutar fronts. As he reviewed the incoming reports, Rong Heng made his way to the Military Weapons Research Institute in search of Ruan Shiqing.

 

Ever since Rong Heng took control of Sikkim and established the provisional government, Ruan Shiqing—backed by his full support—had assumed command of the research institute.

 

Ruan Shiqing, still young and not widely known due to his years spent on Planet B3024, was a relatively obscure figure. The few who had heard of him only did so thanks to his appearance at a past academic exchange hosted by the Association of Mech Engineers.

 

Because of this, when he first took over the institute, many of the researchers did not accept him. Despite having long grown complacent, they still resented a young newcomer taking the lead.

 

Ruan Shiqing paid no mind to their resistance. To him, science and research were about ability, not age or seniority. He believed he had the strength to lead the institute, and he wouldn’t let politics or sentiment interfere.

 

He meticulously reviewed every project and outcome produced by the institute in recent years, then swiftly began a sweeping purge—removing a number of idle, deadweight researchers.

 

He promoted those with talent, brought in new blood, and in the shortest possible time, restructured the entire team. The new research division was now fully focused on developing antimatter battleships and weapons.

 

A batch of antimatter ships and weapons had already been manufactured back on Planet B3024, though at the time, Ruan Shiqing had been unconscious and missed the chance to optimize their design. While those early models were powerful, they still had numerous flaws.

 

Now, with the research team rebuilt, he was finally able to push forward. Leveraging the institute’s resources, he led the effort to refine and upgrade the antimatter technology.

 

And as the team saw the impressive results of the earlier designs, their initial disdain quickly evaporated. One by one, they accepted his leadership and began devoting themselves fully to the work—eager to maximize the effectiveness of these new weapons.

 

After all, the Military Weapons Research Institute had long been a symbolic body that produced nothing of real value. For years, the Empire had relied on arms purchased through the Four Great Conglomerates, like the Naxi Group.

 

But Ruan Shiqing’s arrival had reignited the researchers’ passion.

 

When Rong Heng arrived with the war reports, he hadn’t even asked a question before a researcher warmly greeted him: “Master Ruan is in the testing center.”

 

Nodding slightly in acknowledgment, Rong Heng made his way through the familiar corridors toward the testing center.

 

Over the past few weeks, Ruan Shiqing had been buried in relentless work—so much so that whenever Rong Heng wanted to see him, he had no choice but to come to the research institute in person to “catch” him.

 

As he approached the testing center, he caught sight of the young man through the tall, transparent observation window. Dressed in a white lab coat, Ruan Shiqing was bent over, calibrating an instrument. His time in the lab had clearly taken a toll—he’d grown noticeably thinner, his facial contours more defined than before.

 

Rong Heng had tried persuading him to rest a few times, but to no avail. All he could do now was seize moments like this to make sure the man ate properly.

 

He waited outside without disturbing him. Only when the young man finished adjusting the instrument did he press the doorbell.

 

The sudden interruption made Ruan Shiqing instinctively frown—but when he turned and saw who it was, his expression softened instantly. His eyes curved with delight as he smiled.

 

After exchanging a few words with the test center staff, he strode out. “Why are you here at this hour?”

 

“I’ve got new battle reports.” Rong Heng naturally took hold of his wrist and guided him around the corner. Seeing those smiling, amber eyes, he couldn’t help but lean in and rub his nose gently against Ruan Shiqing’s, murmuring, “It’s been fifty-six hours since we last saw each other.”

 

Sikkim was nothing like Planet B3024, where the repair shop and armory were barely ten minutes apart. The capital star was vast—Palka Palace and the institute were separated by a considerable distance. Even with a land-cruiser, the trip took at least two hours. So, for convenience, Ruan Shiqing often slept at the institute rather than returning home.

 

Rong Heng also had his hands full with governmental duties. Time alone between them had become rare and precious.

 

The report could easily have been sent to Ruan Shiqing’s neural core, but Rong Heng had come in person—for no other reason than he missed him.

 

“I was just wrapping things up. I planned to come back tonight,” Ruan Shiqing said, gently kissing his chin in reassurance before naturally taking the report from him and reading through it.

 

“Tutar is secured now—so Sijialan’s the only one left. The war shouldn’t last much longer, right?”

 

“Mhm. With Lansing working from the inside, everything’s gone smoothly. We should be able to take Sijialan within half a month,” Rong Heng replied, leading him to sit down and opening the thermal lunchbox he’d brought, laying it out on a small rest table.

 

He handed the chopsticks to Ruan Shiqing and urged, “Eat it while it’s hot.”

 

He knew all too well that when Ruan Shiqing got absorbed in his work, he’d often forget to eat. Without someone keeping an eye on him, he’d rely solely on nutrient packs and supplements to get by.

 

The lunchbox contained two dishes and a soup. Though not particularly beautiful to look at, the food was steaming warm—clearly homemade by Rong Heng himself. After his disastrous first attempt at cooking, the Crown Prince had taken the matter to heart and diligently practiced. While he was still not at the level of Ruan Shiqing or 09, his food had at least become edible.

 

Ruan Shiqing took a bite and offered sincere praise. “You’ve improved again.”

 

Under Rong Heng’s watchful gaze, he cleaned his plate, and the dull ache in his stomach finally eased. After sipping the last of the soup, he hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, “Any news about Siyan…?”

 

The question was asked with noticeable restraint.

 

Ever since they had moved into Sikkim and discovered Siyan’s disappearance, neither of them had brought up the topic again.

 

But Ruan Shiqing knew Rong Heng must have sent people to search. Now that two months had passed, he assumed there might be some leads—thus, he asked.

 

But to his surprise, Rong Heng shook his head. “Nothing.”

 

It was as if Siyan had evaporated into thin air—not only him, but also the twenty thousand participants of the so-called “Divine Reconstruction Program” had vanished without a trace.

 

Ruan Shiqing sighed. “Keep looking. As long as he’s still within Imperial space, there’ll be clues eventually.”

 

That’s what he said—but both knew the truth: with Siyan’s cunning and skill, if he didn’t want to be found, it would be nearly impossible to track him down.

 

What they didn’t know was that at this very moment, the man they were speaking of had already left the bounds of the Empire and was heading for an unknown coordinate.

 

Inside the warship’s cockpit, Siyan’s expression was solemn as he studied the star map before him.

 

After countless calculations, he finally set his data pad aside. Using his index finger as a stylus, he drew a long line on the star map, starting from Sikkim and stretching outward into deep space.

 

“This is it.”

 

His tense features relaxed slightly, and a cold smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Adam, proceed to the target coordinates at full speed.”

 

“Affirmative, sir,” came the reply in a cold mechanical voice.

 

The battleship surged forward, accelerating toward its destination.

 

Siyan kept his gaze fixed on the progress bar along the star map. Only when the gap began to narrow did he finally relax his posture and sink into his chair.

 

He closed his eyes lightly. The thought of the twenty thousand modified humans aboard the ship brought a faint smile to his lips.

 

After years of planning, it was finally about to end.

 

He would kill every last one of his enemies—and then go to Farah, free and unburdened.

 

 

---

 

 

adksjskdjskjdsj I wanted so much to see Nota’s bastard father’s reaction to see “who” exactly is going to become the new governor of his precious planet sadge lol

 

I also wonder what Siyan is going to do, I’m guessing he’s hunting down the Holy Legion now?

 

Thanks for reading!

For every three ko-fis, I will upload a bonus chapter~