The old emperor glanced at the Ninth Prince's impatient look, a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he turned around and stepped into the matrix hibernation chamber.
The metal hatch slowly closed, completely isolating him from the outside world and plunging him into endless silent sleep.
At this moment, the Ninth Prince was staring intently at the live broadcast of the scene in which the First Prince was receiving the homage of hundreds of officials. His knuckles turned white from the force.
He, the eldest prince, and the secretive seventh brother are the only three princes whose memories have not been erased - but the seventh brother has not made any move so far. Is he really going to have to watch his eldest brother sit firmly on the throne?
"No, absolutely not!"
The Ninth Prince intentionally slapped the control console, with a probing look in his eyes, and quickly dialed up the encrypted communication channel.
He issued an order to the fleet stationed near the imperial capital: "Immediately initiate space jump and rush to the imperial capital at full speed. Objective - eliminate the eldest prince!"
Just as the order was issued, the fleet's jump engine had not yet warmed up when there was a knocking sound outside the door.
"Who?" The Ninth Prince suddenly thought, "As expected."
"It's me, Lao Qi." The voice outside the door was calm, but it was like a piece of ice thrown into boiling oil.
The Ninth Prince pretended to be calm, his brows furrowed. After a moment's deliberation, he finally stepped forward and unlocked the door. The Seventh Prince pushed the door open and locked the heavy alloy door behind him, shutting out all sound from outside.
"Old Nine, you're still so impatient."
The Seventh Prince approached slowly, his eyes lightly sweeping across the lit control console behind the Ninth Prince, his tone filled with understanding.
"Big Brother's throne is unstable. Repatriate the fleet near the imperial capital and don't do such a foolish thing that will cost more than the gain."
The Ninth Prince was struck by lightning. He suddenly looked up and glared at his Seventh Brother, his voice trembling. "How...how did you know I mobilized the fleet? Have you been spying on me?"
He suddenly remembered something, and his pupils shrank. "The monitoring network left by our father...are you in charge?"
The Seventh Prince did not answer directly, but simply tapped the edge of the console with his fingertips.
There was still the residual energy of the fleet's mobilization. "The entire imperial capital's star track coordinates are under Father's nose. Do you think the energy fluctuations of space jumps can be hidden?"
He raised his eyes to look at the Ninth Prince, his gaze as deep as the night sky. "It's not wise to rush to give your life away."
The Ninth Prince's pupils suddenly shrank, and his fingers subconsciously clenched the edge of the console beside him, his knuckles turning white.
He stared at the Seventh Prince intently, his voice trembling slightly: "How...how did you know?"
The Seventh Prince walked slowly to the center of the room, his eyes sweeping across the fleet mobilization order on the screen that had not yet been closed, leaving traces of it.
The corners of his mouth curled up in a smile that seemed to be neither smile nor laughter. "The energy fluctuations of the entire imperial capital are all recorded in the monitoring system left by my father. Do you think you can hide the coordinates of mobilizing the fleet's space jump from anyone?"
He paused, his fingertips tapping lightly on the cold metal tabletop. "Old Nine, have you been the eldest brother in the Central Court for all these years in vain?"
"He holds the secret orders for half of the Imperial Guards left by our father. If you charge in with such a small force, you won't kill him, you'll be sending yourself to death."
The Ninth Prince's face turned pale and blue, his chest heaving violently. "What should I do? Am I just going to watch him ascend to the throne? I don't believe my father would be so biased!"
"The emperor never favors anyone,"
The Seventh Prince turned around, his back to him, and gazed out the window at the starry sky. "It's 'steady'. My eldest brother's temperament is most like our father's; he's very patient, and you..."
He glanced back at the Ninth Prince and said, "He only knows how to use brute force."
"What about you?" The Ninth Prince asked through gritted teeth, "Are you willing to accept this?"
The Seventh Prince smiled and took out a dark golden token from his sleeve. The star pattern engraved on the token glowed faintly under the light. "I have been waiting for an opportunity."
"When Big Brother erased the memories of the other princes, he left out the two of us. Do you think it was a coincidence? Old Nine, call the fleet back. The fun is yet to come."
The Ninth Prince stared at the token and suddenly understood - the Seventh Prince must have set up the plan long ago, and his previous actions were a pretext.
It was just a chess piece on the opponent's chessboard that almost went off the track.
He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, raised his hand and entered the command on the console, withdrawing the transfer order.
"That's right,"
The Seventh Prince put away the token and his tone returned to his usual gentle tone.
"Be patient, Old Nine. The battle for the throne is never about who strikes first, but who has the last laugh."
After the Seventh Prince finished speaking, he turned and left. The heavy door closed with a click behind him, leaving the Ninth Prince alone in the room.
But after a moment, crackling sounds were heard in the room - as if a console was overturned, or as if an ornament was smashed to the ground. The dull sound of shattering could be heard clearly through the door.
The Seventh Prince did not stop, a mocking arc appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he sneered "idiot" in a low voice, then disappeared at the end of the corridor.
He didn't notice that the sounds of smashing and looting in the room behind him gradually subsided.
The Ninth Prince slowly stood up from the ground. There was no trace of dejection on his face, but instead a strange smile.
He raised his hand to wipe the dust off his face, and his fingertips ran across the secret screen that was still lit after being "smashed" just now, with lines of complex codes jumping on it.
"It is indeed so."
He muttered to himself, a sly glint in his eyes.
"Big Brother, Seventh Brother, do you think you've figured out my true identity? The show has just begun. I just don't know how you'll fight back."
At this moment, the eldest prince, who was wearing golden black armor, returned to the hall. Immediately, one of his subordinates came to report that there were unusual movements in the fleet near the imperial capital, but they soon stopped.
The eldest prince sat on the chair and smiled: "It must be the ninth prince, I know."
"You can step back and continue monitoring. Oh, and focus all your attention on Old Nine. Old Nine is very smart, but Old Seven isn't quite as good."
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