The young officer remained enthusiastic, while even seasoned officers like Wolfgang, with their extensive experience, now clearly showed signs of doubt.
I believe...
Von Palen paused again after saying "I believe," and then Gustav only heard him say:
"Sorry, I'll have to interrupt for a moment."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gustav saw Von Palen walk quickly down from the podium. Then he saw the Storm Fighter Captain Bowerman walk quickly to Von Palen's side and seem to be whispering something to him.
"This is the first time I've seen His Majesty interrupt his speech. Is something wrong?" Gustav stroked his chin and muttered to himself unconsciously.
A few minutes later, Gustav saw that the two seemed to have ended their conversation. Bowerman left with a stern face, and Von Palen's expression seemed to have become even more serious. This made Gustav realize that something important must have happened.
'Could it be that those Kosovois are plotting something again?'
Gustav could only think that the Kosovos lurking in the shadows of the empire were causing trouble again. Although the empire had unified the continent of Salisno, as the largest country on this continent, the Kosovo Empire still had some malignant tumors left after its collapse.
These Kosovo-majority rebels established an organization called the "Assafin Party" and have been trying to overthrow the federal government. However, in the recent two years of crackdowns, they have weakened and have no strength to overthrow the empire and restore the Kosovo Empire. Even so, these remaining rebels have cunningly hidden among the people and are always trying to assassinate the emperor.
Not long ago, they organized an assassination attempt that almost succeeded. Fortunately, one of the assassins reported it at the last minute, which is why this assassination attempt was discovered. Although all the assassins were executed in St. Marienplatz afterward, the organizer of that assassination attempt was reportedly never caught.
According to the whistleblower, the organizer of the assassination was hiding inside the Royal Castle, and there was a high probability that he was a high-ranking military officer, but he did not know the person's specific identity. Inside, they all called this person Nemesis.
If Nemesis is not brought to justice, His Majesty the Emperor's safety cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, the Security Bureau has been secretly conducting investigations, and the scrutiny is particularly strict in the days leading up to the New Year's celebrations. Gusterford had thought that these rebels would plan an assassination on the Emperor's way to St. Marienplatz, but no unrest occurred until the end of the celebrations.
Now, the urgent news brought by Bowerman even made the Emperor interrupt his speech. Gustav guessed that something very serious must have happened, and it was very likely about the Kosovos.
Gustav guessed that von Palen had returned to the podium, but his expression was unusually serious.
Those in the audience realized something was wrong, and everyone's face turned serious as they waited for Von Palen to explain.
Von Palen, who had returned to the podium, leaned on the podium and remained silent for a few seconds. He stepped off the podium, looked around, and then fixed his gaze on Gustav's face.
Gustav shuddered under that cold gaze, the lingering dizziness in his brain vanishing. He looked at Von Palen nervously and nervously, and involuntarily swallowed.
'It seems to have something to do with me,' he thought.
“Just now, I received an urgent message,” Von Palen suddenly said.
"Our naval forces stationed on the Star Islands discovered the Yan Kingdom's fleet. That happened on December 25th."
After the words were spoken, the square was silent for a moment, but two seconds later, an uproar broke out.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with astonishment. If it weren't for the fact that these words came from Von Palen himself, they would have thought it was a jarring New Year's joke.
But the Emperor never makes such a jarring joke.
Of all the people present, Gustav reacted the most. His heart pounded, and sweat beaded on his forehead almost instantly. As the commander-in-chief of the navy, he could glean a great deal of information from that concise and clear sentence.
The most crucial question is why the Yan Kingdom people were able to come to the Star Islands at this time.
Didn't Edman lead a fleet and a coalition of other countries to attack Yan Kingdom? How could the people of Yan Kingdom appear in the Star Islands with their fleet while being attacked by a multinational coalition?
They should be scrambling to deal with the impending crisis in their territorial waters. No, that's not right. It's already January, and the Yan Kingdom's territorial waters should have been completely occupied long ago.
The Second Fleet that Xia Liyang led should have already set foot on Yan Kingdom's land with its army troops, and it would be reasonable for them to deploy and fight on Yan Kingdom's territory now.
But how did the Yan Kingdom's fleet inexplicably arrive at the Star Islands?
How did they get here? Did they bypass the Allied fleet's attack and come stealthily? Or did they abandon their homeland and come directly with their fleet? The moment this thought crossed his mind, Gustav immediately rejected it, because it was completely impossible, even absurd.
Could it be that the allied forces were defeated by the Yan Kingdom's fleet, and Xia Liyang's army was also routed, and then the Yan Kingdom launched a counterattack with its fleet, which is why they came to the Star Islands?
That's impossible... That's ridiculous.
Not to mention that the fleet that Edman brought was the strongest naval fleet in the Empire, the forces organized by the countries led by Sa Ri were powerful enough to overwhelm the Yan Kingdom. Not to mention the combined forces, it would be harder than climbing to heaven for the Yan Kingdom to defeat them all under these circumstances.
A storm! It must be a storm! The allied forces encountered a storm on their way!
The Lord has sided with the Yan people; there is no other possibility.
While Gustav was lost in a flustered and chaotic train of thought, Von Palen, standing on the podium, continued with a composed expression:
"If you calculate the time, it was about ten days ago."
"As for the current situation of our Star Islands in these days, I think the communications soldiers will soon send information; they are on their way."
"But whatever the next message brings..."
At this point, Feng Paron suddenly raised his voice and said:
"Those damned Yan people dare to invade our borders! Let them never leave alive!!"
"Destroy them!!!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately roared in anger, "Destroy them!!"
Gustav, who joined in the shouting, was pale-faced. Although he shouted enthusiastically, his heart was filled with fear.
'Could our naval fleet really have been defeated?'
'The Yan Kingdom has arrived at the Star Islands; they must be coming with great force and have made ample preparations. The Star Islands should... be alright, right?'
Thinking of this, he cautiously looked at Von Palen, whose gaze was precisely on him.
As their eyes met, Gustav's heart skipped a beat.
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