The royal capital, Adelaide.
A month has passed, and the city has largely returned to normal. The relocation of the capital is proceeding in an orderly manner, as per the late Duke Ryan's dying wish. Adelaide will become an uninhabited planet so that the "star core" at its center can be extracted and returned to its rightful owner. This is a massive undertaking that cannot be completed within the year.
The funeral of the Duke of Ryan was held a week ago. In accordance with his wishes, everything was kept simple, and his ashes were scattered at sea after cremation.
Inside the council chamber of the Ryan Palace, Alice Ryan, the first queen of the Principality of Ryan, who was wearing a golden crown and a rhinestone-studded dress and sat on the throne, still felt like she was dreaming.
The ministers reported on state affairs one by one below. Alice felt her ears ringing and couldn't understand what they were saying at all. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on Zhang Fan's hand, who was standing next to her.
Zhang Fan could only smile bitterly; Grand Duke Ryan had dug a huge pit for him before his death.
Alice's royal lineage is indisputable because Qiu Wanyan changed the father of the fertilized egg, and the father was none other than Grand Duke Ryan, which can be corroborated by an authoritative genetic report from the Central Hospital.
Alice is 19 years old, which fully meets the legal age requirements for succession to the throne in Ryan.
Alice, through her final display of kindness, earned the approval of Grand Duke Ryan.
That horrible woman!
Zhang Fan kept reminding himself that he must remember that the more beautiful a woman is, the less he should mess with her!
Alice's mother, the eldest daughter of the Qiu family—or perhaps we should now call her mother-in-law—exercised a special right granted to the king by the Ryan Constitution before her death:
An arranged marriage.
Unable to refuse, unable to refute, and unable to appeal, the authority of the Constitution is beyond question. Regardless of whether the two agree or not, legally speaking, Zhang Fan and Alice are already a legally married couple.
That's fucking ridiculous!
Zhang Fan had no way to escape, because the "Star Core" was right there, and he reluctantly became the "Regent" behind the scenes. This was exactly what Grand Duke Ryan had hoped for; the debt owed by the Ryan royal family had finally been paid off in one go.
...
The Khanate of Fazkhan.
The Great Khan was furious over Udinese's death. In just a few years, he had lost two commanders of his elite legions. The death of "Eagle of Fas" Domir Khan could be considered an accident, but "Wolf King" Udinese had indeed been beheaded by Huangfu Qingyi in battle.
"Grand Duke Ryan is dead, Zhu Yifu has stepped down as marshal of the National Army, and Erwin has also retired. Now, the throne of Ryan belongs to a little girl who smells like a dried-up baby!"
"Pass on my order! The entire Faskha army is to be mobilized immediately!"
"The space fleet is on high alert and is assembling at the border!"
"We will launch a full-scale attack on Ryan!"
...
Xiliang Star, Lingshan Imperial Mausoleum Area.
The Qiu family patriarch, Elder Qiu Qingquan, is holding a sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. All the clan heads of the Qiu family, including all the collateral branches, are participating in this ceremony because there is another important part to this sacrificial ceremony:
The succession ceremony for the new head of the Qiu family.
At the altar in the center of the imperial mausoleum area, Qiu Wanyan, the eldest daughter of the Qiu family, Qiu Wanlan, the second daughter, and the butler Yu Yingnan were all present.
At the end of the sacrificial ceremony, Mr. Qiu Qingquan handed the "white jade flute," symbolizing the head of the Qiu family, to Qiu Wanyan.
"Are you ready?" Mr. Qiu Qingquan asked with a smile, his face full of prosperity, always giving the impression of a kind and approachable neighbor.
"We're ready." Qiu Wanyan took the white jade flute, pointed to the sky towards all her people, and declared, "We will leave Xiliang and restore the glory of a matriarchal society!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
People around the altar bowed down in layers like waves of wheat, and the clear sound of flutes spread outwards layer by layer through the reflection of the altar. Small mounds of earth rose up from the ground around the imperial mausoleum area, and "Yaksha demons" emerged from the ground.
A seven-spotted cockroach with a transparent scythe flapped its colorful wings and landed in the center of the altar. Then it tilted its head and looked at Qiu Wanyan, seemingly listening quietly to the flute music.
When the music ended, Qiu Wanyan put away the white jade flute, and the Seven Star Cockroach Queen bent down, carried her on her back, and flew into the sky.
Today, the "Zerg Queen" will fly into space!
...
Charlie Star.
This place was originally just a harsh asteroid on the edge of the Duchy of Ryan. It was only due to the rise of the Charles family that this asteroid became known to the world. However, due to the harsh conditions, even most of the Charles family members have moved away, and Marquis Charles only returns once a year for ancestral worship.
But today is clearly different. It's still far from the day of the ancestral worship ceremony, yet Marquis Charles has already returned with all the clan heads.
Inside Charlie's ancestral home, a dense crowd of people knelt down. A circular hibernation pod slowly opened, and a young man dressed in a white shirt with a distinctive hooked nose sat up inside.
"Why did it take you so long to wake me up?" The young man glanced at the atomic clock on the hibernation pod and said coldly to Marquis Charles, who was kneeling on the ground.
Throughout the millennia of history, successive patriarchs of the Charlie family have taken meticulous care of this sleeping youth, and the hibernation pod has been updated countless times.
"We only found a cure for your illness two years ago." Marquis Charles prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to breathe.
The young man stepped out of the hibernation pod, smiled, and helped Marquis Charlie up with both hands. Then, in front of everyone, he suddenly slapped Marquis Charlie across the face.
Snap!
"Two years! You wasted two years of my time!" The young man glared fiercely at Marquis Charlie.
Marquis Charles's face was swollen on one side, but he dared not resist, nor show the slightest disrespect to the young man before him. For the young man was the ancestor and first patriarch of the Charles family:
Hussein Charlie!
"Did you wake me up because of a war?" Hussein sat down in the central chieftain's seat.
"No, it's because our family is facing a life-or-death crisis, and we have no choice but to wake you up."
Hussein listened quietly with a somber face as Marquis Charles recounted the history that had occurred after he fell into a deep sleep.
“Go to this place.” Hussein wrote down a coordinate on Marquis Charles’s hand.
“There is no life in this place…” Marquis Charles stared blankly at the palm of his hand.
“Yes,” Hussein said sinisterly, pinching his hooked nose.
“There is silicon-based life there.”
...
Blue Star, Qiongzhou Island.
The 20th International Multilateral Symposium on Mars Rescue is currently being held.
The meeting was attended by leaders from all member states of Blue Star, or now more accurately, "regions." This was the highest-level seminar currently held on Blue Star, equivalent in status to the former "United Nations General Assembly."
At the conference podium, Su Muran, the newly appointed director of the teaching and research office of the Space Center, was delivering a keynote report.
Sitting behind the conference stage, Xiao Yimin was somewhat lost in thought. What was originally just a casual get-together where people sat on small stools and ate melon seeds had turned into the highest-level seminar on Earth.
Even though humans have already colonized Mars, the name of the meeting remains unchanged. According to the highest level, the name should not be changed as the rescue operation has not yet succeeded.
The small rest room at the Wenchang Space Center, which bears the sign "Site of the First Meeting of the Mars General Assembly," has surprisingly become a first-class cultural relic protection unit.
That's fucking ridiculous!
...
Mars synchronous space orbit.
A task force is assembling, and MS mech units that have completed tactical training are returning to their motherships one after another.
The young pilots of the First Mech Squadron emerged from the cockpit, chatting and laughing, their faces beaming with excitement.
"Captain Ishihara is here!"
Someone shouted, and all the soldiers immediately stood still and saluted in unison.
"salute!"
Yui Ishihara walked through the group of team members and raised her hand in return.
"Wow, Captain Ishihara is so handsome! His looks are totally my type." As the captain walked away, some of the young drivers whispered among themselves.
"What are you doing? What are you doing!" The veteran in the squad gave each of the new recruits a sharp tap on the head. "Don't let Captain Ishihara's cute appearance fool you, she'll crush you greenhorns on the battlefield!"
...
Bridge of the "St. Petersburg" interplanetary aircraft carrier.
"Captain, our ship is ready! We are ready to set sail at any time!"
When the adjutant reported, he held his head high and stood tall, but his gaze was downward, and he dared not look directly ahead.
Katerina sat languidly in the captain's seat, exuding charm even in her military uniform.
"Reporting to the flagship, our ship is ready."
"yes!"
...
Inside the bridge of the flagship of the Blue Star First Task Force, the "Zhu Rong," a holographic display screen of the fleet command system shows the location and detailed information of each warship in the fleet, which stretches for thousands of kilometers.
"Reporting to Political Commissar Liao! All warships are ready and can begin warp jump at any time!"
"Good." Liao Changtian, political commissar of the First Task Force of Blue Star, nodded and turned to say, "Commander, the fleet is ready."
At this moment, the fleet commander of Blue Star's First Task Force was having a private call with Blue Star.
“Father-in-law and mother-in-law, I have to go on a long trip. Please take good care of Sifan for me. If anything happens, please ask Grandpa Yang. He will help you handle it.”
"Don't worry, sister-in-law, we're doing fine here, so you don't need to worry..." an old woman said in a rambling voice.
"If you see that brat, give him a good beating!" an old man said angrily. "He's abandoned his wife and children for years and hasn't even sent a message home, you brat!"
"Okay, I'll bring him back this time. Goodbye, parents-in-law." Ivanka smiled and turned off the communication screen.
Let's go.
"yes!"
...
Attention all personnel!
"The fleet is now embarking on a super-long-distance spacetime jump!"
"Everyone back to your posts!"
"30-second countdown!"
30, 29, 28, 27... 3, 2, 1, 0!
"Planetary engine activated!"
"Forward four!"
...
At this moment, the rooftops of every building on Earth are filled with people, who are looking at the sky with all kinds of telescopes. Even though these low-powered civilian telescopes could not possibly see the man-made spacecraft in Mars' geosynchronous orbit, which is 200 million kilometers away, this did not diminish people's enthusiasm in the slightest.
The simultaneous stellar leapfrogging of thousands of interstellar warships creates a truly spectacular phenomenon:
A red band of light, hundreds of light-years long, appeared at the edge of the solar system, like a blood-red tide stretching hundreds of light-years long, surging into the deep space of the universe.
Ancient memories seem to have been ignited at this moment.
From the moment apes first looked up at the stars, this memory, though passed down through millions of generations, remains so vivid and unforgettable in the minds of every citizen of Earth!
Our goal is the stars and the sea!
(The End)
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