Chapter 191: Push and Pull

After Dennis's communication was cut off, the conference room fell into a deathly silence.

After a long pause, an elderly Tianyun general slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Damn it, Beihe has a death wish! I'll raze Beihe to the ground!"

A younger politician nearby whispered, "But our Holy Spirit is still in their hands. What will happen to our Holy Spirit if they don't withdraw their troops?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old general slammed his fist on the table, shouting, "Are you out of your mind? If we take a step back, they'll take ten or a hundred steps forward! Back, back, back, I'll have my head knocked off!"

As soon as the veteran spoke, the meeting room became lively, with everyone offering their opinions.

Sevier put her arm around Anno and sat down at the conference table, her gaze fixed on Cangmiao.

Cangmiao slightly raised her chin at her, and the two communicated silently.

Anuo stared blankly at the star map in the center of the conference table, oblivious to the noise in the conference room. Memories of what had happened since Beihe stole the star map flashed through her mind.

Finally, the scene of Karina seeing her off on the sea is frozen in time.

Her cold hand was held in Sevier's hand, and she slowly took her mother's hand in hers.

She would never be coerced by Dennis!

As she regained her senses and her consciousness began to flow again through her mental network, she heard her mother and Cangmiao talking.

Cangmiao: "I think Firefly Star is nice, and my queen will definitely like it. However, you insectoids prefer the night, and Firefly Star has little sunlight, so I'll give it to you."

Sevier: "Melu Star is their most beautiful planet, and I can give it to you. Twilight Cloud Star is a mineral planet, and I can use it as a base for my people."

Cangmiao: "Canghai Star co-governance? Although it is a desert planet, the Queen has been telling me these days that she wants to explore the underground world of Canghai Star."

Sevier: "Canghai Star's geographical location is suitable for co-governance, but the people of Tianyun need to divide the area with my people, otherwise even if we co-govern, the territory will eventually all belong to our Zerg."

Cangmiao: "We don't need to give them any more of the Sun. Just leave them a piece of land on Canghai Star. I don't want it, and they'd be too embarrassed to accept it either. Just give it to Tianyun."

Sevier: "I can give you one, and you can take one too. That's enough."

Anuo was stunned by what they were talking about. In the conference room, everyone was arguing noisily. His mother and Cangmiao were discussing how to divide up Beihe.

Sevier sensed that Anno's consciousness was nearby and immediately pulled her into the group chat as well. "Honey, do you like Vast Star? It's all ocean with no land, and there are some fierce mermaids there. I see you seem to be a little interested in mermaids."

Anno: "...You like it?"

Sevier: "Okay, then it's for our Anunu."

"Mother......"

Sevier pulled Anno into her arms and kissed her forehead. "Don't be afraid, my darling, Mommy has a way."

Anuo nestled in her mother's warm embrace, her icy hands and feet slowly warming up.

Dennis's series of actions did indeed make her anxious.

Dennis now has his adoptive parents and Karina, the little Holy Spirit, in his hands. He can kill them if he wants to.

Anaya shared the same worries. She sat with Cangmiao, her face full of concern. Cangmiao gently patted her back, her eyes full of reassurance.

After a brief period of noise in the conference room, a video feed lit up in the center of the conference table.

Upon seeing the people in the video, the noisy crowd immediately quieted down.

It is the chief executive officer of the Tianyun Galaxy, Erimos.

Erimos's gaze lingered on Anaïs for a moment before shifting to Sevier.

“Your Majesty, I am aware of Beihe’s negotiation terms. Tianyun will not retreat a single soldier before conquering Beihe. Please rest assured.”

Severus nodded slightly to Erimos. "In that case, it would be best. I will also help you preserve the Holy Spirit and the seed of the Holy Tree."

Erimos nodded, then looked at Anaïs, smiled gently at her, and exited the communication.

He had just exited when another screen mirroring popped up.

Anno looked at the person on the screen. He was extremely handsome, and most importantly, he looked very similar to Anaya. Beside him was a boy who looked almost exactly like Anaya.

The man's stern expression softened when he saw Anaya. "My precious daughter."

Anaya paused for a moment, then said, "Father."

The boy beside him looked delighted to see Anaya and asked, "Sister, when are you coming back?"

The man gave him a look, and he shrank back and immediately fell silent.

Anno glanced at Anaya, then at them. It seemed that this was Wang Liuguang from the Sunrise Galaxy.

The boy next to him who looks almost exactly like Sister Nai should be her younger brother, Alemanshuan.

Liu Guang said succinctly to Sevier, "The sun will not recede."

Seeing that the highest leaders of the Tianyun and Yaori star systems had spoken, the people in the conference room had nothing more to argue about.

The Styx will definitely not back down. Even if all the other star systems in the alliance back down, the Styx will not back down. The Styx and the Zerg are the most steadfast allies.

Just as everyone's hearts were about to settle down, they heard Cangmiao speak, "Everyone, step back and wait on the perimeter."

Splat!

Everyone's hearts shattered on the ground.

Why is this different from what they expected?

Tianyun and Yaori just stated that they would not back down, so why is Minghe going to back down?

"Why is the River Styx retreating?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Cangmiao raised her eyes and swept them over, "It's not Styx retreating, it's everyone."

Everyone immediately looked at Sevier.

Sevier: "The Zerg will not retreat."

Immediately, everyone began to whisper among themselves, wondering what Cangmiao was up to.

“Tianyun will not back down. Our chief governor has already spoken. Even though you are the king of the Styx River, you have no right to interfere with Tianyun.”

"Same on Sundays."

Cangmiao didn't speak, but fiddled with a small black sphere on his wrist, which was his personal terminal.

A minute later, Erimos and Streamlight reconnected and ordered them to withdraw their troops.

Anno didn't miss the look in their eyes as they gazed at Cangmiao, a look that seemed to be filled with gritted teeth.

It felt like he had tricked me.

Afterwards, Cangmiao selected a few key generals from several star systems to stay behind, while the others left.

Sevier also led Anno and her entourage out of the conference room.

Everyone else was completely confused, not knowing what they were trying to do, but they could only follow orders.

Anno did not probe into Sevier's consciousness; she knew her mother had her own plans, which concerned the battle situation on the front lines.

Now that their adoptive parents and Karina know where they are, only their eldest brother Hicks and fourth brother Ota remain.

In the following days, apart from the Zerg, all other Allied forces gradually withdrew from the front lines.

As expected, the North River did not hand over the Holy Spirit directly. This was because the Zerg had not retreated. They would only hand over the Holy Spirit if either the Zerg retreated or other star systems broke their alliance with the Zerg.

Sevier and Cangmiao were not in a hurry. They would first push and pull at any conditions offered by Beihe, making it seem like they had no choice but to accept them, and then delaying the process little by little.

If they readily agree, Beihe will become suspicious.