That night.

The Palace of Embracing the Moon in the Nine Heavens.

Lin Feng was processing a preliminary exploration report on the newly discovered territory when suddenly, a palace attendant with a strange expression came to report.

"Your Majesty... Her Majesty the Queen requests an audience outside the palace."

Lin Feng frowned slightly.

Su Wanqing?

He hadn't seen this woman for almost two years. He assumed she had long since resigned herself to her fate.

"Let her in," he said calmly, wanting to see what tricks this restless woman was up to this time.

A moment later, the palace doors slowly opened.

A figure, bathed in moonlight, walked in.

Lin Feng's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

The woman who walked in was no longer the one dressed in plain clothes with a face full of despair.

Instead, she was a radiant, true queen.

Su Wanqing wore the exquisitely beautiful "Phoenix Robe," its long skirt trailing on the ground like a burning flame.

She wore a phoenix crown and had exquisite makeup. Every step she took was graceful and dignified, exuding the majesty of an empress.

A perfectly timed, gentle smile graced her face.

She walked to the center of the hall, slowly knelt down, her voice soft yet carrying an undeniable strength.

"Your Majesty, I, Su Wanqing, pay my respects. It has been two years since I last paid my respects to Your Majesty, and I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."

Lin Feng leaned back on the throne, squinting as he sized her up.

He had to admit that the woman before him was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

Her beauty is not just her appearance, but also a kind of nobility and pride that comes from within.

"Get up." His voice remained calm. "What are you doing here?"

Su Wanqing stood up, but unlike before, she didn't talk about power or succession.

She simply looked at him quietly, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions: nostalgia, admiration, and a perfectly balanced hint of grievance.

"Your Majesty, I just miss you," she said softly, her voice like a sigh. "The moonlight is so beautiful tonight. It reminds me of many years ago, when Your Majesty was not yet the emperor, and I was not yet the queen. Back then, Your Majesty also enjoyed eating barbecue under this moonlight."

Her words stirred something within Lin Feng.

He thought of the past.

"The past is the past," he said calmly, not wanting to dwell on it any longer.

"Yes, the past is gone." Su Wanqing smiled sadly. "However, I have been confined to Fengyi Palace for two years, and every night I am lonely. I can't help but think about it. I wonder, what did I do wrong to make His Majesty so disgusted with me?"

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Is it because I failed to bear Your Majesty a prince? But... but was that my fault?"

"Your Majesty, I am not reconciled..." She took a few steps forward, tears finally streaming down her face. "I do not ask to be like the Imperial Noble Consort Xihuang, bearing Your Majesty a divinely blessed child. I only ask... Your Majesty to give me another chance. Let me serve you one more time. Even if it is only once. Even if, in the end, we still have no children, I will accept my fate."

Her words were sincere and heartfelt, so humble they bordered on the mundane.

A proud queen, in this manner, begs for a chance to sleep with the emperor.

Looking at her tearful appearance, Lin Feng's long-dormant male desire for conquest was quietly stirred.

He remembered the report.

His physical condition has indeed changed.

He looked at Su Wanqing, the woman who had been with him the longest, the nominal mistress of the empire.

Perhaps, giving her another chance wouldn't hurt.

Consider it a... verification of the changes in my bloodline.

“Come here.” He held out his hand to her.

A hint of triumphant joy flashed in Su Wanqing's eyes, but it was quickly covered by endless tenderness.

She lifted her skirt and walked step by step up the high steps, placing her soft hand in his large palm.

That night, the lights in Fengyi Palace remained lit all night long.

One month later.

Su Wanqing experienced pregnancy symptoms.

For the first time, a team from the Imperial Academy of Sciences moved into this palace that had been deserted for two years.

Two more months passed.

A test report was secretly delivered to Su Wanqing.

When Su Wanqing saw the unmistakably clear "male" label at the report's conclusion, this woman who had been strong and patient her whole life finally couldn't hold back her tears of joy.

She covered her still-flat stomach, laughing until tears streamed down her face.

She won.

She finally won!

Meanwhile, Tang Bao, Qian Xiaoxiao, and the other former concubines went completely mad upon learning of the Queen's "return to glory." As if injected with adrenaline, they unleashed their full power and resources in a final assault on the Nine Heavens Moon-Gazing Palace.

The empire's harem is experiencing its second and final baby boom.

Just as the empire was immersed in the joy of the continuous birth of princes and the impending flourishing of its bloodline, a top-level intelligence report from the border was delivered to Lin Feng's desk.

"Your Majesty! High alert at the border!"

Qin Lan, dressed in black military uniform, strode into the Taiji Hall.

"Our 'Sky Eye' satellite system has discovered a new super-civilization cluster on the other side of the western continent of the kingdom, across a vast inland saltwater sea!"

Lin Feng was enjoying a new variety of fruit from the southern rainforest that Meng Yao had peeled for him. Upon hearing this news, he slowly put down the fruit.

"Oh?" A glint of interest flashed in his eyes: "Another pillow that's delivered to your doorstep?"

"I'm afraid this pillow might be a bit uncomfortable to hold." Qin Lan's expression remained serious.

She waved her hand, and a huge map, drawn by satellites and high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, appeared on a holographic projection in the center of the hall.

On the map, a vast continent was clearly marked.

"According to the intelligence analysis department, a three-month-long continuous analysis and decryption of the city size, industrial system, and leaked electromagnetic signals in this area was conducted..."

Qin Lan took a deep breath and stated her conclusion.

“We are 99 percent certain that the civilization of this suddenly appearing land is highly consistent with the ‘Eagle Federation’ of the old era.”

"Oh, those guys who call themselves 'lighthouses of the world'?" A playful smile appeared on Lin Feng's lips.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Qin Lan pointed to two points on the map. “According to our key analysis, this region contains two of the most famous megacities of the old era. One, we call ‘Megastone City,’ whose characteristics are exactly the same as the ‘First City of the East Coast’ of the old era. The other, we call ‘Gold Coast,’ whose geographical and urban characteristics are exactly the same as the ‘West Coast Economic Zone’ of the old era.”

"Interesting." Lin Feng stood up and walked to the map. "What is their level of technology?"

“Very…contradictory.” Qin Lan’s face showed a puzzled expression. “Judging from the signals and reconnaissance images we intercepted, their basic technological level is still at the peak of the old era. In terms of energy, they are still highly dependent on chemical fuels and fission nuclear energy, and there has been no breakthrough in materials science. But…”

She zoomed in on a video.

In the footage, a massive fleet is sailing on the ocean, with dozens of warships weighing tens of thousands of tons surrounding more than a dozen huge, flat-deck "floating island aircraft carriers," their scale and structure imposing.

Footage also shows thousands of sleek, futuristic fifth-generation and even sixth-generation fighter jets roaring through the sky, forming an impenetrable air defense network.

"Their technology tree is entirely focused on 'conventional warfare'," Qin Lan explained. "They lack anti-gravity technology and energy shields. However, they have perfected the warfare techniques of the old era. Our preliminary assessment is that their fleet and air force, in terms of size and coordinated combat capabilities, are no less than a standard joint fleet of ours."

"Very good." A sinister smile, like a shark smelling blood, appeared on Lin Feng's face: "I was just worried that the Empire's weapons testing grounds haven't had a decent opponent for a long time."

"Relay my orders!"

His voice echoed in the hall, carrying an unquestionable authority.

"Under the pretext of 'searching for our lost kin from the old era,' assemble the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Joint Expeditionary Fleets! Order Li Yuanchao's engineering corps to build me a super highway that leads directly to the 'Golden Coast' on the western continent!"

"This time, I don't want their minerals, I don't want their land."

A greedy flame burned in Lin Feng's eyes.

"I want their...technology! Their industry! And their people!"

"I will sink their entire fleet, which they are so proud of, to the bottom of the sea, and turn all their warplanes into scrap metal!"

"The war has begun!"