Chapter 35
◎The Special Lan Family◎
Regas left Vinoren Palace. During his time there, he did not meet with Leo VI, which was clearly inconsistent with the public's perception of a harmonious relationship between father and son.
In fact, those in the inner circle of Viñolens Palace knew that the relationship between His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty the Emperor had long been tense. Previously, Leo VI could still feign a benevolent fatherly demeanor, but as Regas came of age and gained full control of the army, gradually weakening the Emperor's power, their relationship had reached a freezing point. Only during major festivals and celebrations would the two appear together in public, maintaining a tacit facade of harmony.
After Regas's disappearance, King Leo VI appeared deeply grieved, rarely appearing in public, but in reality, he was making numerous behind-the-scenes moves, though with little success. Even with Regas's death, Leo VI could hardly shake Regas's power and influence. However, Leo VI was not in a hurry; since Regas was dead, he had plenty of time to slowly reclaim and erode Regas's power. However, Regas's return shattered his illusions.
*
Regas received news of the visit of the fourth prince, Riel, on his return journey.
"Brother!" Riel waited listlessly for his brother. When he saw Regas, he stood up and happily went to greet him. Only in Regas's palace could he not address Regas as "Royal Brother" in such a formal manner as he did outside.
During the years his brother was missing, he lived a life of misery. He clearly had no interest in the throne and only wanted to be a carefree prince under his brother's wing, but after his brother's disappearance, wave after wave of people put him in a very difficult position! The key point is that these people were completely invisible when his brother was alive, but after his brother's disappearance, all sorts of monsters and demons suddenly appeared.
He grew up following his brother around, and his father and mother always treated him like dirt. Annoyed by the harassment, he went directly to the Royal Starfleet, which was his brother's territory. Even though many people had their eyes on the fleet after his brother went missing, no one could take down this tough nut, and he was able to find some peace and quiet.
Now everything's back to normal, and he's back to being the adorable guy with someone to protect him! So he quickly packed his bags and returned to the capital planet from the fleet. After all, military life is tough, nothing beats the carefree life of a wealthy and idle person.
"You're so heartless, you won't even let me visit you while I'm recovering." Riel pretended to cry while giving Regas a bear hug. "You have no idea how anxious I was."
No one would believe it if you told them, but this was the first time he'd seen his brother since he came back! He was his own brother, his own flesh and blood! How could he be treated like that guy Dusao and Ouse?!
“Anxious?” Regas smiled. “I’ve heard that your fleet life is quite colorful, apart from training.” As he spoke, Regas tore Riel off his body.
"Ahem." Riel gave a polite but slightly awkward smile and said, "I was just trying to distract myself from my worries about your disappearance."
Riel caught up with Regas and said, feeling wronged, "But why didn't you see me while you were recovering? Don't you love me anymore?"
“Hmm, I don’t like it,” Regas said.
Lille stood there, stunned. "You've changed your mind? Which vixen has bewitched you? I'll fight her to the death!"
"You can't beat him."
Lille: "..."
Is something really going on with his brother? Rilder's curiosity was piqued. But he couldn't figure out when his brother would be involved. Before his disappearance, everything seemed normal, with no unusual activity. And between his disappearance and his return, his brother's serious injuries and recovery were only recently, especially during his recovery period when almost no one could get close to the Pelles Palace. So when did they get involved?
"Wait, I can't beat him?" Riel finally realized, "He shouldn't be a woman, right?" Although his fighting ability was far inferior to his brother's, he was still much stronger than the average person.
Regas nodded, confirming Riel's guess.
"Who is it?" Riel asked, scratching his head with curiosity. He thought his brother was a hopeless romantic, someone who might marry for profit but wouldn't have any real feelings.
You'll find out later.
Riel: "Between brothers, let's be more sincere and less calculating." Hurry up and say it! He gestured to Regas with his eyes. Unfortunately, he was behind Regas and could only see the back of Regas's head, so the meaning conveyed by his eyes naturally couldn't be understood by Regas.
When Lil saw that Regas was heading towards the conference hall, he wisely went to the waiting room next door. He waved his paw at the door of the waiting room and smiled "obediently": "I'll wait for you." Even if he had a hundred thousand times the courage, he wouldn't dare to disturb his brother's business.
*
Regas entered the meeting hall. Before leaving, he had made arrangements for the affairs of the Empire. During his absence, most things progressed as he had expected, remaining within the established framework. His time recuperating from his injuries provided an opportunity to reorganize and handle these matters.
This meeting concerns the fleet. In the interstellar age, the main force of an army is its fleet. The Silver Empire has five interstellar fleets, belonging to the Royal Fleet and the Four Domains respectively. Nominally, the Royal Fleet represents the main force of the Silver Empire's army, while the Four Domains Fleets are responsible for guarding the empire's territory. Among them, the strongest are the Royal Interstellar Fleet and the Southern Domain Interstellar Fleet; the combined starships of the other three fleets do not even amount to half the number of starships of either of these two fleets.
After humanity ventured beyond Earth and established a firm foothold in the universe, they united to form the Earth Alliance to defend against unknown cosmic threats. However, with technological advancements, population growth, and the expansion of territory and power, the Earth Alliance had long since become a behemoth. When external beings and forces ceased to be a threat, numerous internal factions began to stir and act independently. Ultimately, the Earth Alliance collapsed, and various factions, large and small, established their own independent nations.
The Gamondon family is one of the most powerful families among these forces. The Gamondon family was once a long-established political family within the Earth Alliance, with the Alliance Parliament and the judicial system traditionally under their influence.
The Royal Starfleet was founded by Emperor Thelèse Gamondon and was originally the Gamondon family's private army. As Thelèse Gamondon conquered the universe, which was then filled with numerous fragmented forces due to the collapse of the Earth Alliance, he created the Silver Empire, which was invincible.
At that time, the only formidable enemy was the Lan family's army. The head of the Lan family at that time, Lan Xuan, was the marshal of the Earth Alliance Army. After leading his army to a great victory against the Gorgon people, he discovered that the Earth Alliance was gone. He simply retired and returned to the Lan family without any hesitation or reluctance, and had no intention of "summoning the soul" of the Earth Alliance.
The military was within the Lan family's sphere of influence. Of the fifteen marshals who served in the Earth Alliance military, twelve were surnamed Lan. Rumors circulated that the other three marshals were originally surnamed Lan, but changed their surnames for love… All factions wanted to win over the Lan family, but the Lan family was wealthy, powerful, and influential, and their eccentric personalities made them impossible to sway. All those who tried to recruit the Lan family failed. The undercurrents within the Earth Alliance in its later stages did not escalate into a full-blown war, partly due to the military's deterrent effect.
While other major powers were establishing their own kingdoms, the Lan family did not follow the trend and establish its own. However, the Lan family was one of the few forces that the Gamondon family feared. All the other powers believed that the Lan family would be the biggest obstacle and the toughest nut to crack for the Gamondon family to realize their ambitions, and that the two equally matched forces would eventually engage in a life-or-death battle.
But to everyone's surprise, the two families did not engage in the great war that everyone had assumed they would see. The Lan family, with an almost indifferent attitude, acknowledged the Gaimon family's royal status, and the Lan family's sphere of influence was incorporated into the newly established Silver Glow Empire. However, the Southern Region, to which the Lan family belonged, was highly autonomous, and the Gaimon royal family could not exert any influence in the entire Southern Region. The Lan family also had a series of privileges that the other three regions did not have. It could be said that their submission and vassalage were only nominal.
The other three domains were the three major powers besides the Lan family, but they were all subjugated after being defeated by Seloe Gamondon's army. Therefore, even though the other three domains all had their own fleets, the number and type of starships in their fleets were subject to strict regulations and restrictions.
The Royal Starfleet is nominally under the Empire's command, with command resting with the current Emperor. However, the Royal Starfleet can never truly escape its status as the Gamondon family's private army; publicly, it remains part of the Gamondon family, but actual command rests with the family patriarch.
Originally, the positions of Emperor and Head of the Family overlapped, but the current Emperor, Leo VI, was not recognized by the Gamonton Family Council of Elders, and the position of Head of the Family was temporarily held by Prince Morde, a member of the Council. After Regas came of age, the Council of Elders bypassed Leo VI and made Regas the newest Head of the Gamonton Family. Command of the Royal Starfleet naturally also fell into Regas's hands.
Only Regas was physically present in the conference room; everyone else was a projection, their real bodies residing within the fleet. Regas was already aware of all the fleet's previous communications and had taken appropriate action. Besides summarizing previous information, the most important aspect of this meeting was the unusual activity detected by the AI assisting in monitoring the fleet's central control room's core AI during Regas's recovery.
The core control AI was created during the reign of Seloe Gamondon, copied and modified from the founding emperor's personal computer. The data and control of the control AI ultimately resided within Seloe Gamondon's personal computer. He initially did this to facilitate more convenient and flexible control of the fleet. With Seloe Gamondon's passing, the fleet's core control AI resumed independent operation, residing in the central control room at the fleet base, and is monitored by a later-installed artificial intelligence; the two operate independently and are mutually constrained.
Initially, when the core control AI first detected the anomaly, the relevant personnel assumed it was just a routine anomaly. However, when this anomaly occurred repeatedly and the source could not be found, the head of the fleet security center reported the anomaly directly to Regas.
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