Walk alone in the abyss

"cheers!"

On the second day after the Luofeng Alliance was born, the Sherman Imperial Mission hastily left.

In the Luofeng Palace, in the study of the emperor, a special barbecue dinner is going on.

There were only seven people attending this dinner party. In addition to Yang Ming, Edwan, and Emilia, there were also the two supreme commanders of the Luofeng Empire's military, Gudun Mahal and Leon (Dabic), and an energy tycoon' Uncle Hatton' Kolev, Edwan's confidant female assistant.

The last one can be understood as Edwan's partner.

The seven clinked glasses lightly, and the old Kolev hurried back to the grill, rummaging through the expensive ingredients.

Emilia put on a loose sweatshirt and helped Kolev by the side.

"It went well," Edwan said with a smile. "As we expected, the Foreign Affairs Bureau got the news in advance. They also wanted to suppress us in public, so they deliberately didn't notify us in advance."

Yang Ming curled his lips slightly: "As long as you study their behavior style, you can almost understand their thinking. It is nothing more than wanting to use this meeting to let Luofeng express his absolute loyalty to Sherman."

"Yes," Edwan sighed slowly, "However, if we take this step, it will inevitably arouse their vigilance and fear, and there will be greater pressure on our future actions."

"Since we have already started, there is no reason to stop," Yang Ming said, "Give up your illusions and get ready to fight."

Edwan glanced at the beautiful woman chatting happily with Gu Dunma and Leon, and said with a smile, "How is it?"

"your wife?"

"Not married yet," Edwan said with a smile, "I plan not to get married, and she can understand me."

Yang Ming asked strangely: "Are you still afraid of being divided into family property? Why don't you get married, the emperor of a country."

Edwang looked at Yang Ming, pursed his lips slightly, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were very firm: "For our ideal."

Yang Ming couldn't get around the corner.

"This must be a long and arduous process," Edwan said in a low voice, "If you want to take the word "Empire" from Luofeng, you must pay a heavy price. What I think is that when we achieve this After the goal, we must guard against the restoration of the imperial power, and the biggest threat comes from my heirs."

Yang Ming looked at Edwang: "Are you serious?"

"otherwise?"

Edwan squinted and smiled: "My heirs should not be descendants of my blood, but should be my spiritual and ideological resonators. Not getting married is also to prevent power from changing my lover."

"You...then don't find more lovers."

Yang Ming grumbled.

Edwan was almost pissed off by this guy, and said in a low voice, "Do you think everyone has unlimited physical strength and energy just like you? I can't even keep up with energy now."

"Hey, it's a last resort in middle age. If you have nothing to do, drink more goji berries."

"Goji berries, what's that?"

"The food in my hometown," Yang Ming said with a smile, "the gospel for men."

The two looked at each other, Edwan said a few names of the medicine, and then they laughed non-stop together.

Emilia beside the grill murmured softly: "The two of them always feel like they are muttering something very obscene."

"Haha," Old Kolev laughed, "Leave them alone, these two guys share the same taste, that's a great thing for the people of Luofeng."

Emilia curled her lips slightly: "I still want to chat with him, but I'm already occupied by my brother."

"You young girls."

Old Kolev smiled and said, "I have a daughter who is like you and has an inexplicable affection for him."

Emilia hurriedly said: "I just respect my teacher. This is respect. He gave me a lot of spiritual guidance, making me feel that there is no confusion in life, just like... a mentor, that's right."

Old Kolev narrowed his eyes with a smile, and did not expose this beautiful and generous girl, and continued:

"My daughter doesn't listen to anyone, and she is very rebellious towards me, and she is the only one who speaks.

"I asked my daughter to come and help me and my daughter said she was busy.

"He asked my daughter to help him, and my daughter said, oh, ok, I'll be right there, I've got nothing to do."

"laugh!"

Emilia couldn't help laughing: "If there is a chance, Uncle Hatton will introduce this sister to me."

"Of course, but she's on a long journey now," Kolev glanced at Yang Ming, and muttered dissatisfiedly, "I worked hard for him."

Emilia understood immediately.

That sister should have gone to the Sherman Empire.

"I'm a little worried now that the Sherman Empire will put pressure on us Luofeng."

"It is inevitable, little girl."

Kolev gave a thumbs up:

"The fact that you can think of this is enough to prove that you are not a vase obsessed with cosmetics and bags.

"The Luofeng alliance did not harm the interests of the Sherman Empire, but the establishment of the Luofeng alliance announced a sudden increase in Luofeng's national strength.

"This will create a sense of crisis in the Sherman Empire. Although your brother's speech tried to say that his purpose was to make Luofeng stronger, but this cannot offset the suspicion of the Sherman Empire."

Old Kolev added:

"Moreover, whether it is an imperial system or a federal system, the will of the country will not be shaken by the will of individuals, but the will of the country will only be moved by the interests of the country."

Emilia asked: "Will the rise of Luofeng be detrimental to the Sherman Empire?"

"It is not conducive to the rule of the Sherman Empire over the dependent countries, as well as the stability of the dependent countries and even the Sherman Empire."

"If we are the bridgehead against the new federation, what about this identity?"

"It's the same," Kolev said, "The current new federation doesn't dare to provoke the empire for the time being, so the pressure is all on Luofeng. Now is the best time, because I missed the current window period. Next Luofeng will face triple pressure from the swarm, the New Federation, and the Sherman Empire."

"It felt like, it wasn't an out-and-out victory."

"This is just the beginning of this battle... These are edible, send them to the two big bosses."

"okay!"

Emilia picked up the plate, and excitedly ran to Yang Ming and Edwan's side.

Yang Ming thanked him with a smile, and Emilia was holding a plate by the side, and took advantage of the opportunity to join in the chat with the two.

Of course, the three of them were talking about serious political issues.

...

On the border of the empire, in the imperial escort formation resting between successive jumps.

Rona sat in the weightless massage chair with a mask on her face, enjoying the slight pleasure brought by the vibration.

There was the sound of pattering footsteps, and Madam Margot came to the side, gave a noble salute to Princess Lorna, and said softly, "Your Highness."

"Well, how's the investigation going?"

"The other three participating countries of the Luofeng Alliance have been completely controlled by Luofeng."

Madam Margot said softly:

"Although I don't know how His Majesty Edwin did it, he is indeed very capable. Luofeng annexed these three small countries in the form of an alliance, which can not only make the original citizens of the three small countries less disgusted, but also avoid us. The influence of the Man Empire.

"Of course, this form of alliance also has disadvantages, and it is easy to form a situation where the tail is too big to lose in the future.

"But Your Highness, if we turn around and think about it, they continue to absorb countries that are physically adjacent to the alliance in this way and enter this alliance... Luofeng may soon be out of our control."

Rona asked, "Is it serious?"

"Yes, Your Highness, this is serious."

"But I read their alliance letter, and it is true that they have more considerations about dealing with insect plagues."

"That's just the surface." Madam Margo folded her arms and leaned against the edge of the table. "Your Highness, you probably haven't read the history of the empire carefully. This history, which is tens of thousands of years thick, is the source of our good governance strategies."

Rona nodded slightly, motioning for Madam Margot to explain clearly.

Madam Margot sighed:

"I admire Edwan very much, out of personal admiration, and I also like General Yang Ming very much. If the two young men are the rising stars of the Sherman Empire, it must be a very lucky thing for us .

"I said too much off topic.

"First of all, we need to understand why the empire needs a dependent country."

"More helpers in interstellar politics?"

"This is just one of them," said Mrs. Margot. "Economically, the annual silver system of the dependent country can effectively transfer and cover up our domestic conflicts. This system allows us to have an income independent of normal finances. If there is a problem in any aspect of the empire, use this brick to fill it. It's not just to maintain military expenses."

Rona asked, "What else?"

"The second is a military strategic buffer and a helper in an all-out war.

"These vassal states are all over Sherman's borders. They may not be large in scale, but the existence of each can help the Sherman Empire defend an area.

"I'm not just talking about fighting against the human fleet, but mainly for fighting against a real large-scale insect swarm."

Madam Margot pushed her glasses:

"The third is the political level. It's not just as simple as adding a few helpers in the interstellar world. Their existence is unified by the name of the empire, so that the Sherman Empire will not appear so conspicuous in the interstellar political group. .

"It must be admitted that our country was founded by the army, and the great founding emperor conquered a large area of ​​territory and created this great country.

"But the system of the empire is indeed not suitable for the current interstellar environment. The interstellar political environment is in a spiral and changes periodically."

Lorna nodded slowly, took off the mask on her face, and asked in a low voice, "And then? Why do you say that their formation of an alliance is very serious."

"Oh," Madam Margot sighed in a low voice, "You should study more about the materials we handed you."

Her Highness Rona shrugged: "Anyway, my job is to make a strong voice to the outside world according to the speech script you gave me."

"Your Highness, you are also part of the empire."

Madam Margot continued:

"The empire's dependent countries are constantly changing. Since the empire was founded, it has had more than 600 dependent countries. There are dozens of dependent countries in each period, and the average life expectancy is longer than other regimes.

"Most of the dependent countries implement a reign of terror, restricting the freedom of the people, and transfusing blood for the empire.

"A small number of affiliated countries have seen the ideological awakening of the leadership, and there is almost only one way for this type of affiliated countries to evolve backward.

"Betray us."

Lorna was taken aback.

Madam Margot smiled wryly: "Edwang and Yang Ming, as well as Gudun Maha and Leon, they thought that their decision-making was extremely correct, they used the form of an alliance to expand their power, and then transformed the Luofeng Empire into the Luofeng Alliance. Then use the same method to seek a larger regional alliance, and eventually develop into a large political body with dozens of administrative stars, and then unite with other powerful countries, change the ideology, and add a word 'country' after the alliance."

"Luofeng, the Allies?"

"This should be their plan, a perfect plan," Madam Margo said indifferently, "as long as they can influence the domestic politics of the Sherman Empire through other means, like now, using money to buy our officials—I don't Investigated, but almost certainly so."

Rhona asked, "Are these just your guesses?"

"It's not speculation, but the system, the hidden system of the Foreign Affairs Bureau."

Madam Margot looked at the starry sky outside the window:

"After I go back, I must fully report the matter of the Luofeng Alliance to my superiors.

"After I heard the news, I rushed here to save them... You don't have to laugh at me, I am a peace lover, and I don't want to see a large number of human beings sacrificed because of war.

"Luofeng's outward expansion by way of concluding a covenant happens to be one of our hidden red lines, and this is a red line that will never be announced to the public.

"These young people suffer from a superficial understanding of the empire. They always feel that this huge empire can exist for tens of thousands of years. It is a fluke of history and has no inner strength."

"war……"

Princess Rhona bit her lips lightly: "Can't this war be avoided?"

"It's unavoidable. They chose to sign the covenant directly," Madam Margo sighed. "However, the specific form will definitely be negotiated later. The empire will not directly bully a loyal follower, it should be to let other dependent countries Do it, we secretly help."

Luo Na said: "Tell them this, let them take the initiative to admit their mistakes, and take the initiative to retreat..."

Madam Margo looked down at Lorna and said in a low voice: "Politics is not a child's play. Your Highness, since they choose to break free from the chains, they will have to endure the pain they must go through when they break free from the chains."

"Why?"

"Change kills people, there can be no moderate change, and our interests are damaged."

Lorna was unable to answer the call for a while.

"I can tell you one thing that has been completely sealed internally," Madam Maggot said, "The old emperor of Luofeng Empire was replaced by us with an omnic, and his funeral was actually an omnic recovery ceremony .”

Rona said: "I know this, and then?"

"This is actually our countermeasure. Edwan's father, the old guy who is completely obedient to us on the surface, has been in close communication with the United States of Freedom secretly, trying to find a way to break away from the treaty of the suzerain.

"We sensed that he was going to direct and act a revolution by the fifth executive star.

"It was us who stopped him at the most critical moment."

Madam Margot said softly:

"In that turmoil, we only sacrificed Edwan's father and saved tens of millions of Luofeng people. If we can't solve it, it is our fleet that will solve the Luofeng Empire.

“That was a great achievement for us.

"But the Luofeng Empire was listed as a replaceable vassal state by us at that time."

Lorna pursed her lips lightly: "Does Edwan know?"

"I don't know," Madam Margot said, "That Yang Ming knew, but he chose to keep it from his best friend."

Lorna leaned on the massage chair and was silent for more than ten seconds: "Maybe he guessed it."

"Don't think too much, Your Highness, you are the imperial family and the beneficiary of all the imperial privileges. Don't let your personal subjective feelings affect your judgment. At this stage, let Luofeng immerse himself in their dreams."

Madam Margot said in a low voice:

"We are all loyal to our country."

Rona turned her head to look at the location of the first star of the Luofeng Empire.

The porthole is very narrow, and only a spot of light can be seen.

Bright and small.