Chapter 506: Pick the softest persimmon
In the Star Alliance conference room, Gutierrez and the other two gathered again, their faces gloomy enough to drip water from them.
"The three great masters are truly of the same blood. None of them is willing to reveal anything." Gutierrez's face was grim.
Antigo couldn't help but snort coldly: "Qinglong is fine, but Reynolds and Mikhail still have a lot of business in the Star Alliance."
"Especially Mikhail. He's a notorious bully, but this time he risked offending us and refused to say anything."
"So, this also means that what they are hiding may be even bigger than we imagined. The disappearance of Gonzales and Crow is likely related to some core secrets."
Sieg nodded in agreement. "Yes, we are already far behind in this matter."
"Let's just go for it." Antigo's eyes were fierce. "Before, I was worried about Reynolds and Mikhail, so I didn't do much to their business. This time, let's just take it over."
"Let me see, how long can they hold out?"
"No." Gutierrez shook his head. "Doing this will only make them mortal enemies."
He spoke clearly, "Our goal is to find out the secrets hidden by the Empire and the Federation, not to do anything to them."
"They're not saying anything now because they're concerned about the Empire and the Federation. They don't really want to be our enemy."
Antigo frowned upon hearing this: "That being said, the Imperial Federation can't possibly tell us what exactly happened. Not many people know."
"Compared to the two major civilizations, it's easier to take action against these three divine craftsmen. Qinglong doesn't have any business in our territory, so it's difficult to control him. We can only take action against Reynolds and Mikhail."
"Wrong..." Gutierrez said coldly, "It's also because Reynolds and Mikhail have businesses in our territory, so we can't take action against them."
"If we do this, it's equivalent to forcing them to choose between the Imperial Federation and us. If it were you, what would you choose?"
Antigo couldn't help but pause. It seemed to be true. The Empire and the Federation must be the leaders of the affairs within the Red River Star Stream.
These three great master craftsmen were just insiders, and later reached some kind of deal with the empire to make them shut up.
If they were forced to choose between the two, they would definitely choose the Empire and the Federation.
"Besides, these two are not easy to deal with. Their years of accumulation cannot be underestimated." Zig couldn't help but add,
"Their business network is vast. If we issue a decree, we don't know how it will be implemented by those below us, and the results may not be good."
"This won't work, and that won't work. We don't have time to waste." Antigo frowned and said irritably.
"Yes, we must get a chess piece that is important enough to force someone to surrender," Gutierrez said.
Antigo stared at him in confusion for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Your target isn't the Azure Dragon, is it?"
"But didn't he say that no one went? It shouldn't have much to do with this matter."
"Whether it's a serious matter or not is not up to him to decide." Gutierrez nodded calmly. "If we must start with the three great craftsmen, it's better to offend one than two."
"The relationship between Reynolds and Mikhail is very complicated. Qinglong is a latecomer and has no vested interests with the other two, making it easier for him to take action."
"That's true." Antigo didn't react much, frowning and saying, "Although the last time we defeated Ryan, the impact was huge, his own strength wasn't that great."
The battle with Ryan was Qinglong's last public battle in the interstellar space.
Calculating the time, only two or three years have passed, so based on this analysis, it is normal.
"That's not the case." Sieg shook his head, disagreeing: "That battle was strange. Qinglong's victory over Ryan didn't mean he was only slightly stronger than Ryan, but because Ryan's strength was only at that level."
"Furthermore, Qinglong is very mysterious. He was even promoted by the Empire as one of the ten founding members of the Higher United Organization. Many people suspect that he is actually one of Adam's men."
Antigo sneered, "Heh... those so-called founding ten are just the Empire's own amusement. Only Gustav and Anatoly are decent, but the rest are nothing."
"Besides, it would be even better if he really is Adam's man."
"Be careful," Sieg said cautiously. "Qinglong's range of activities is far away from us. We know very little about him. It might be inappropriate to act rashly."
"Besides, we don't even know where his base is. That Mechanical Royal Court seems like bait."
"I'm not going to attack Azure Dragon," Gutierrez said, shaking his head. "Every X-level lifeform is no simple creature. If we don't have absolute certainty, it would be very risky to act rashly."
"Our goal is just to find out what happened in the Red River Star Stream. As long as we achieve this goal, it will be fine."
Zig's eyes suddenly darkened. "You mean, Li Ming?"
"Li Ming?" Antigo was stunned, then looked at Gutierrez suspiciously: "Are you simply coveting his development potential?"
The Holy Silver Civilization where Gutierrez is located has a special evolutionary path. It can promote its own evolution by devouring other life forms. The higher the level, the greater the potential and the more benefits.
Gutierrez frowned, but did not explain, and just said:
"Li Ming's development potential is rare in the entire galaxy, and he must be very important to Qinglong. Using him as a threat is just to get an answer, and Qinglong should not refuse."
Ziggy thought about it and felt that Gutierrez's proposal was reasonable.
Li Ming is indeed a good target. He is only an A-level life form and is extremely easy to control, but he is also very important.
The risk of taking action is much less than directly confronting Qinglong. Even if Qinglong is unhappy afterwards, he has to hold it in and it is impossible for him to break off relations with the Star Alliance.
Moreover, by that time, Qinglong should have revealed the hidden news of the Empire and the Federation, which is equivalent to having one foot on their ship.
More importantly, Qinglong couldn’t find it, but Li Ming could.
"The Mechanical Royal Court is in a chaotic chasm... If we want to take action, we must be quick, accurate and ruthless." Sieg added.
"It's just a deserted area that no one cares about. Just send a few X-level life forms there to capture people." Antigo said simply and roughly.
The Star Alliance should have the largest number of X-level life forms in the universe.
However, although these Class X life forms nominally belong to the Covenant, in reality, they will only obey the orders of their own civilization.
"We can't be too reckless about this. If we fail in one strike and Qinglong reacts, we'll have no chance." Gutierrez said, "We need a perfect opportunity to strike."
…
"I can't feel the four thousand times gravity anymore. I have to adjust it to five thousand times." Li Ming stretched his body, making a crackling sound, and glanced at the [Magnetic Crystal Heavy Domain] next to him.
He casually increased the gravity a thousand times, and once again felt the sense of urgency coming from all sides, then he nodded in satisfaction.
But he did not continue to develop the gene seeds. Instead, he went out and went straight to the reception room.
In the reception room, Ulrich was waiting with two beings in yellow robes, who lowered their heads and revealed that they were Anatoly's followers.
"Sir Li Ming..." The two of them walked forward together and took out a long wooden box from their arms.
Li Ming took a quick look and found that it was basically the same as the box he placed in the display cabinet.
"Another invitation?" he couldn't help but ask.
One of the believers answered, his eyes white as if they were dancing with bone fire. "Yes, because the number of people attending the banquet exceeded the Lord's expectations, he changed the location of the banquet and postponed it for three months to make better preparations to welcome all the distinguished guests."
"The number exceeds expectations?" Li Ming was surprised. How many people were going?
Because of that star beast?
Li Ming subconsciously judged others by himself, but soon felt something was wrong. There shouldn't be many X-level life forms that have this need.
"Yes, currently, seven people from the United Organization of Higher Life Forms have agreed to go, including the chairman and another vice-chairman." The other party responded in a low voice.
"Seven?" Li Ming was slightly surprised, and then realized that the star beast had a great attraction to people like Gustav.
More than half of the higher life forms will go, and it will almost become an offline gathering, and more people who want to join the joint organization of higher life forms will naturally flock to it.
Under the agglomeration effect, the scale will naturally grow. And Anatoly and others may also be planning to gather momentum.
It can even be said to be a demonstration.
It has been almost two years since the establishment of the United Organization of Higher Life Forms, and it will not be long before more members can be admitted.
"Due to the current special circumstances, the invitation has been slightly changed. Please check it yourself, Lord Qinglong." The two believers said briefly, nodded, and left.
Ulrich followed closely behind.
"Changes?" Li Ming watched them leave, then turned around and opened the box. It still contained the same invitation as last time.
After the light on the surface slowly faded away, it revealed some neatly written words that seemed to be written by Anatoly himself.
The general meaning is to invite him to attend the banquet on time four months later, and the banquet was originally scheduled to start one month later.
In another half month, Li Ming was ready to set off, but he didn't expect it to be delayed for another three months.
At the end, he added a paragraph stating that if he wanted to go, he needed to indicate it as a notification.
In the past, for the evening banquet, after the invitations were distributed, there was no need to tell Anatoly whether to go or not, because the scale was not too large.
Those who are willing to go are basically on good terms with Anatoly, and there are no conflicts between them.
But this time it’s different. It’s a hodgepodge and the relationships among them are much more complicated.
Just the simple issue of seating arrangements requires a lot of energy. Maybe there is a life-and-death feud between the parties, so arrangements must be made in advance.
"Hmm..." Li Ming thought for a moment, and the Tanwei attached itself to him in an instant. He then wrote a few words at the end of the invitation: "Li Ming will go on my behalf. I may have an entourage."
After writing these words and waiting for a moment, the edge of the invitation paper in his hand twisted and burned with green flames.
Ripples appeared in the air, and the traces of burning did not dissipate, but condensed into crystal fragments, gradually outlining a vague human figure, who bowed slightly to him, and then entangled with each other, passing through the metal wall and disappearing.
"This Twilight Hermit has a strong sense of ritual." Li Ming couldn't help but sigh, and thought to himself, "I remember that he seemed to have some connection with Heckler. Last time, he even wanted to lure me out."
"But it seems that they only made a little effort. Their relationship should not be very good. As for this time..."
Thinking in his mind, he left the reception room and casually flipped through the smart terminal on the way back.
A day ago, the Covenant responded to the joint decree of the Empire and the Federation, claiming that it was not aware of the decree and would not support it.
But the Interstellar Alliance has always been a place where the minority obeys the majority, and the incorporation of the Mechanics Association is a foregone conclusion.
However, the division of the Mechanics Guild did not stop within the Star Alliance.
The Mechanics Guild had not yet completely taken root, and the attitude of the Star Alliance on this matter gave confidence to many neutral civilizations.
The butcher knife has been picked up. If you put it down again, you might hurt yourself.
However, there are currently many civilizations that support the incorporation of the Mechanics Association, which is enough for the Mechanical King's tentacles to extend.
It would take a long time to take over these markets, so he didn't care about the Star Alliance.
After returning to the room and making some preparations, he continued to produce genetic seeds.
His development progress climbed to 33%, but after returning from the Red River Star Stream, it only increased by 3%, which really made him sigh.
………
In Heckler's office on the Imperial Capital Star, his face was extremely ugly, and his eyes were cold, as if he wanted to devour anyone.
"Adam, Adam!" He suppressed his voice and roared in a low voice, "An X-level lifeform disappeared for no reason, and he actually acted as if nothing happened!"
John, who was standing nearby, was shocked and asked in astonishment, "The parliament doesn't agree to your request?"
"More than disagreeing." Heckler gnashed his teeth. "Adam even said that Ivan might just be out for some fun and would be back soon. He's an X-lifeform, not a dog!"
Adam was not humiliating Ivan, but humiliating him.
John's heart trembled slightly, and he asked cautiously, "Could it be that the rumors are true, and Qinglong is really the Holy Emperor's man?"
Heckler snorted coldly. He was more inclined to believe that Adam was cautious because of the corpse incident, so he was reluctant to attack Qinglong.
But he was being too cautious. There was a possibility that what John said was true.
He didn't respond, but instead asked in a deep voice, "Have you figured it out? Who is killing our people?"
"This..." John hesitated, and suddenly felt a cold murderous intent.
"How long has this been going on?" A cold voice reached his ears, and Jon broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly explained, "We've found some clues. The perpetrators are quite diverse, including members of the Free Knights, the Sleeping Horns, the Red Armor Army, and even the Holy Revolutionary Army..."
"They're not our own?" Jon frowned, looking a little surprised. He then said in a deep voice, "They're all hostile forces to the Empire. Who brought them together?"
Jon's throat rolled. "Intelligence speculates that it might be... a pioneer."
"Pioneer?" John was stunned when he heard this strange yet familiar name.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
