Chapter 110: Fuck! |
Virtual Network world.
Personal Space.
The big-headed Yuwen Sa sat in a reclining chair.
Before him, Toran Xileng of the Multieye Clan wore an expectant look. "I wonder what Brother Yuwen needs me for?"
Not long ago, Toran Xileng had spent ten million Azure Surge Coins.
He hired the strategist Yuwen Sa to take action against the Blue Star civilization.
To avenge the painful loss of his son.
Captain Ao Qu was his biological son, someone he had nurtured for many years. How could Toran Xileng resign himself to letting him die so pointlessly on Blue Star?
However, Toran Xileng was no fool. Under the Patriarch's orders, he did not dare attack Blue Star directly. Instead, he sought the help of the strategist Yuwen Sa.
This way, no matter the outcome, his family would not be dragged into it.
"The operation against Blue Star has already begun,"
The big-headed Yuwen Sa stated flatly, his gaze utterly calm.
"It has?" Toran Xileng's spirits lifted.
"May I ask what method you used?" he probed carefully.
When a strategist made their move, it was always a Subtle and Pervasive Influence, pushing the general trend to achieve their goals without leaving a trace.
Therefore, even though Toran Xileng had been keeping a close eye on Blue Star, he had not noticed any signs of the big-headed Yuwen Sa's intervention.
"I had my friend from the Treemother Civilization, President Qing, contact the High-Ranking Officials of Blue Star at this crucial moment. He made them heavy promises and offered to sign a Mining Agreement with their civilization."
Yuwen Sa explained.
"Huh?"
Toran Xileng stared in bewilderment.
He knew of the Treemother Civilization; it was far stronger than the Multieye Civilization.
And the Treemother Civilization was making heavy promises to sign a highly favorable Mining Agreement with Blue Star?
How was this targeting them?
Wasn't this just handing Blue Star free benefits?
Seeing Toran Xileng's confusion, the big-headed Yuwen Sa smiled. "These so-called heavy promises are merely verbal. The Treemother Civilization has no real intention of signing any Mining Agreement with Blue Star."
Upon hearing this.
Toran Xileng became even more perplexed.
Even so, Blue Star wouldn't suffer any actual losses, right?
"You must understand, the Imperial Emissary has already arrived at Blue Star."
Yuwen Sa chuckled. "The Imperial Emissary dispatched to Blue Star this time is named Audis. He holds a deep loathing for Deceptive Practices, as well as those who are Fickle and Inconsistent and Go Back on One's Word..."
"Audis..."
A thoughtful expression crossed Toran Xileng's face.
"Since Audis has arrived on Blue Star, it will be very difficult to hide anything that happens there from him."
"That includes my friend President Qing's communication with Blue Star's High-Ranking Officials."
The big-headed Yuwen Sa paused for a moment before continuing.
"During their conversation, President Qing will promise as many benefits as possible. If that Blue Star official wavers even slightly and expresses a desire to abandon their Contract with the Empire in favor of the Treemother Civilization..."
"In fact, they don't even need to waver. Just a moment of hesitation is enough to ensure that Emissary Audis will give them a terrible score on the Cultural Assessment portion of his evaluation."
Yuwen Sa explained calmly.
"I see." Dawning comprehension lit up Toran Xileng's face.
The so-called Cultural Assessment was essentially a subjective metric, entirely dependent on the Emissary's attitude toward the life-bearing planet.
And Emissary Audis detested nothing more than people who would Go Back on One's Word and act Fickle and Inconsistent.
Blue Star's High-Ranking Officials had clearly already submitted an application to the Empire. Wanting to turn around and embrace the Treemother Civilization at the last second would completely trample over Emissary Audis's Bottom Line.
In that case, their Cultural Assessment rating would undoubtedly be abysmal.
"With an abysmal Cultural Assessment, Blue Star's overall evaluation definitely won't be high. The final Contract they sign will inevitably be of a low grade, and the Empire's investment in them will drastically shrink. Consequently, Blue Star's losses will be measured in the billions of Azure Surge Coins."
"An extremely poor Cultural Assessment might even force Blue Star into signing the lowest-grade Contract. If that happens, the moment Blue Star's Mineral Vein resources are fully excavated, the Contract will be terminated."
"When that time comes, you can directly take action against Blue Star."
The big-headed Yuwen Sa looked at Toran Xileng and shook his head. "However, you should brace yourself. The probability of Blue Star signing the lowest-grade Contract isn't very high. After all, you only paid me ten million Azure Surge Coins."
"If you multiply that amount by a hundred, I can guarantee that Blue Star will absolutely sign the lowest-grade Contract."
"A hundred times?" Toran Xileng's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly replied, "I am already highly satisfied with Blue Star facing this current outcome."
A hundred times ten million meant one billion Azure Surge Coins.
Given Toran Xileng's wealth, he could technically scrounge it up, but it would cripple him financially.
Captain Ao Qu's death certainly enraged Toran Xileng, but as a Starry Sky Lifeform, rationality still governed his actions. He could not afford to pay such a devastating price for a dead son.
"Brother Yuwen, this scheme of yours is truly brilliant..."
Toran Xileng thought it over carefully and could not help but marvel.
From beginning to end, the big-headed Yuwen Sa never struck at Blue Star directly.
Instead, he exploited the rules of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire and the personality of Emissary Audis to silently dig a massive pitfall for Blue Star.
Even if this matter were exposed, there would be no repercussions. Even if Emissary Audis discovered that President Qing had deliberately said those things to Blue Star's High-Ranking Officials, it wouldn't change a thing.
The mere fact that Blue Star's leaders exhibited a wavering stance would be more than enough.
That alone would suffice for Emissary Audis to conclude that the humans of Blue Star lacked firm Will, ensuring that their final Cultural Assessment rating remained low.
This was an Overt Scheme.
Unless Blue Star's High-Ranking Officials knew about it beforehand or received guidance from a superior expert, it would be incredibly difficult for them to dodge this trap.
After all, in the face of sufficiently massive benefits, anyone would pause to reconsider.
The Great Xia Imperial Capital.
Director Zhou's office.
Director Zhou stared at President Qing on the screen.
"Director Zhou, our Treemother Civilization understands the hardships faced by a newborn civilization, which is why we made this decision. As long as you sign a Contract with me and provide that specific Mineral Vein resource, my Treemother Civilization is willing to invest one billion Azure Surge Coins into your planet every century. All revenue will belong entirely to Blue Star."
President Qing looked at Director Zhou with a gentle smile. "My Treemother Civilization is indeed far inferior to the Empire, but if you sign a Contract with us, you will receive our full and undivided support."
"Whereas signing a Contract with the Empire? You will merely be one of countless life-bearing planets they cultivate. Director Zhou, you should be very clear on the difference between the two."
President Qing locked eyes with Director Zhou.
There was zero chance the Treemother Civilization would ever agree to the Contract conditions he just offered.
But it was just empty talk anyway. If he wasn't afraid that Director Zhou would find it too absurd to believe, President Qing would have dared to invite Blue Star to directly take control of the Treemother Civilization.
"Agree to it, Director Zhou. This kind of opportunity is Rare and Sought-After. As long as you agree, I will return immediately to draft the Contract."
President Qing urged.
Director Zhou remained silent.
However, the instructions Su Yuan had given him several days ago surfaced in his mind.
Back then, Su Yuan had already described the exact situation that was unfolding today. What President Qing would say and what promises he would make were all entirely within Su Yuan's predictions.
Su Yuan had also provided detailed instructions on exactly how Director Zhou should respond to President Qing's offers.
Given that Director Zhou had climbed to such a high position, his ability to execute orders went without saying. Combined with the countless mental rehearsals he had done over the past few days...
Bam!
Under President Qing's watchful gaze.
Director Zhou suddenly shot to his feet, staring at President Qing with immense disappointment.
"President Qing, I never expected your Treemother Civilization to view my Blue Star civilization in such a light!" Director Zhou declared heavily, enunciating every word.
"Although my Blue Star civilization is weak, although we have only just made contact with the Universe, and although we are far inferior to your Treemother Civilization, we still understand the most fundamental concept of integrity! Since we have already applied to the Empire, we will remain loyal solely to the Empire from now on. The direction of the Empire's Will is the direction of my Blue Star civilization."
"Sign a Contract with your Treemother Civilization? How is that any different from betraying the Empire?"
Director Zhou took a deep breath. Then, he raised his hands and cupped them respectfully toward a certain direction in the depths of the Starry Void, performing Blue Star's highest gesture of courtesy. "I hope your Treemother Civilization never speaks such words again. My Blue Star civilization swears to stand with the Empire until death."
The direction Director Zhou respectfully saluted was precisely the direction of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire's Imperial Star.
The look in President Qing's eyes as he stared at Director Zhou transitioned from initial bewilderment to disbelief, and finally to utter shock.
Was this Director Zhou genuinely this loyal to the Empire?
Before President Qing could utter another word.
Director Zhou hung up the call. This was also one of Su Yuan's explicit instructions: he absolutely could not give President Qing any chance to voice doubts or ask questions.
Somewhere on Blue Star, Emissary Audis retracted his gaze from the Great Xia Imperial Capital.
As a mid-tier Starry Sky Lifeform, his Psychic Domain enveloped the entire globe. Naturally, not a single detail of what transpired on Blue Star could be hidden from him.
The conversation between Director Zhou and President Qing had also occurred under Audis's watchful observation.
Initially, upon hearing the conditions proposed by President Qing, Audis had a nagging feeling that Director Zhou would waver.
After all, the terms were far too generous.
Of course, generosity aside, given Emissary Audis's personality, as long as Director Zhou hesitated even slightly, his rating for the Cultural Assessment would absolutely plummet.
If Director Zhou had not only wavered but actually shown intent to abandon the Empire, Audis would have instantly handed down an abysmal rating.
However, what Audis hadn't expected was for Director Zhou's performance to be so... so completely beyond his expectations.
He hadn't just outright rejected President Qing's terms; he had displayed a sublime level of loyalty to the Empire.
Countless factions within the Territory of the Azure Surge Universal Human Empire had received the Empire's grace, yet they spent their days fighting over personal gain, completely ignoring the Empire's interests. Some even went as far as selling out the Empire for their own benefit.
Did those old monsters who had lived for millions of years possess less loyalty and awareness than the ants of a Native Planet that had barely made contact with the Empire a few days ago?
The more Audis thought about it, the angrier he became. He was a staunch imperialist who believed the Empire should dominate everything.
Yet, amidst his anger, his evaluation of Director Zhou and Blue Star skyrocketed.
With a High-Ranking Official possessing such profound awareness, how could Blue Star's culture possibly be lacking?
'However, that President Qing couldn't possibly make such a decision on behalf of the Treemother Civilization. So why did he act like that...'
After a moment of thought, Emissary Audis realized that something was amiss.
As an Imperial Emissary, he was far too familiar with the posturing of these civilization factions. When dealing with a newborn civilization like Blue Star, refraining from enslaving them to death was already considered merciful. Favorable treatment? Impossible.
'Is this a trap designed for the Blue Star civilization? Is someone targeting them?'
Emissary Audis instantly figured it out.
However, upon realizing this, Emissary Audis's estimation of Blue Star elevated yet another notch.
Faced with a trap set by an unknown enemy, the Blue Star civilization hadn't just survived it; they had performed exceptionally well.
'Excellent! No, it is outstanding!'
Emissary Audis made his final judgment regarding Blue Star's Cultural Assessment.
Outstanding.
Although the Cultural Assessment relied heavily on subjective opinion, an Outstanding rating still required a sufficient amount of objective evidence.
But Emissary Audis didn't consider evidence to be an issue. He had already recorded the conversation between Director Zhou and President Qing. That recording would serve as the ironclad proof justifying Blue Star's perfect rating.
Hundreds of kilometers Underground.
Su Yuan learned of Emissary Audis's final decision through the gray mirror and gave a slight nod.
Naturally, Su Yuan had known about the big-headed Yuwen Sa's scheme against Blue Star for a long time.
This was one of the inevitable hidden dangers left behind from confronting the Interstellar Colonial Ship.
The deaths of Captain Ao Qu and the other Multieye Second Generation members were bound to provoke retaliation from their elders.
Due to the Empire's presence, this revenge wouldn't play out on the surface but rather on a much deeper, hidden level.
Su Yuan had learned all of this in advance from the gray mirror, including the entirety of the big-headed Yuwen Sa's master plan.
Armed with this complete picture, Su Yuan hadn't proactively interfered with Yuwen Sa's scheme. Instead, he simply rode the current, completely reversing a situation that was originally meant to cripple Blue Star.
If Yuwen Sa could weaponize Emissary Audis's personality, Su Yuan could do exactly the same.
If Director Zhou had wavered, it would have dragged down the Cultural Assessment rating.
But if Director Zhou stood firmly by the Empire with unyielding Will, it would propel the Cultural Assessment rating to new heights.
Under these circumstances, Su Yuan was perfectly capable of piggybacking on Yuwen Sa's scheme to achieve his own desired goals.
Virtual Network world.
Personal Space.
The big-headed Yuwen Sa sat in his reclining chair, his expression utterly relaxed as he awaited a reply from his friend, President Qing.
Toran Xileng sat nearby, a look of deep satisfaction etched across his face.
According to Yuwen Sa's description, under the machinations of his scheme, Blue Star would, at best, suffer disastrous losses and see the Empire's future investments violently slashed.
At worst, they would be forced to sign the lowest-grade Contract. Once the term of that Contract expired, the Blue Star civilization would permanently lose the Empire's protection.
"When strategists like us kill, what need is there for a blade?"
Yuwen Sa mused, thoroughly pleased with himself.
Whoosh!
Right at that moment.
A figure materialized not far away. It was none other than President Qing of the Treemother Civilization.
"My friend has arrived."
A wide smile spread across Yuwen Sa's face at the sight.
"President Qing."
Toran Xileng immediately stood up as a show of respect.
"Brother Qing, how did Blue Star react?"
Yuwen Sa asked eagerly.
In his view, there were only two possible reactions from Blue Star.
One was hesitation and wavering, and the other was a resolute decision to defect to the Treemother Civilization.
"Baffling. That Director Zhou is absolutely baffling! Who is he even putting on an act for? Loyalty?"
President Qing looked utterly exasperated.
He was entirely unaware of Yuwen Sa's scheme; he had simply spoken those words as a favor to a friend.
"What do you mean?"
Yuwen Sa sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.
"See for yourself."
President Qing immediately forwarded the call log.
His expression turning grim, Yuwen Sa rapidly watched the recording from start to finish.
"This..."
Watching Director Zhou's performance in the log, the corner of Yuwen Sa's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
It was especially agonizing when he realized that, thanks to his own meticulous setup, Director Zhou's stellar performance had definitely landed right in front of Emissary Audis's eyes. Not only had his brilliant scheme failed to harm Blue Star in the slightest...
It had actually helped them, massively boosting their Cultural Assessment rating.
All of his masterful maneuvers had merely paved the way for another's success.
Yuwen Sa could no longer hold it in.
"Fuck!"