VAP - Chapter 134
Chapter 134: The Marshal's Journey is the Sea of Stars (End)
While the outside world celebrated, the new president was sitting in her room, having afternoon tea with her beloved.
The room had excellent lighting, with vibrant potted plants arranged by the window. A deer and a cat paced peacefully beside them.
On the small, black and gold round table, the desserts were exquisite and fluffy, and the coffee emanated a rich aroma, its surface topped with a circle of rose-patterned milk foam.
Even the most tightly wound nerves would unconsciously relax in the face of such a scene.
President Sheng Xuejiu and the newly promoted Major General Yue Du sat on opposite sides, each holding a small saucer, so at ease it was as if that series of developments had nothing to do with them.
And indeed, that was the case.
A day ago, the Main System had issued the final mission: for Sheng Xuejiu to conquer the Spiral Star Empire and unify the Spiral Star System.
The time limit—five years.
In truth, given the current situation, the Empire had no advantage whatsoever against the Federation. Their old emperor still hadn't managed to get his second son back.
For Sheng Xuejiu, leading an army to break through the central star, annihilating the imperial royal family, and revealing her own royal bloodline to stabilize the people of the Spiral Star System... forget five years, the whole process wouldn't even take half a year.
Yue Du could finally be a salted fish with a clear conscience.
The Empire's secrets were easier to find than the Federation's high-level secrets, so she didn't need to worry about it at all. As for decisions on offense and defense, she didn't need to consider them either; leaving it all to her host was no problem.
With this in mind, Yue Du took a bite of a pastry. The soft cream melted on her tongue, and she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as she swallowed the rich, sweet flavor.
Sheng Xuejiu watched her, her pure black eyes filled with a gentle smile, and suddenly put down her saucer.
“Want to go out and have some fun?”
Yue Du: “Where to?”
Sheng Xuejiu listed them one by one: “The Rainbow Forest on Bitz Star, the Reverse Waterfall on the Fifth Affiliated Star, the Platinum Sea on Cloud-Top Star... The Spiral Star System is full of beautiful and fun places.”
“What about your duties? Being able to make time for afternoon tea doesn't mean you can make time for a vacation.”
“Leave it to Xi Zhou, or the State Council.”
Yue Du was actually a little tempted. She had been in this small world for nearly seven years but had never properly explored it, which was quite a shame when she thought about it.
“The Speaker will cry,” she said with a smile.
Sheng Xuejiu shrugged, showing no collegial sympathy. “What's he got to cry about? Isn't this his old line of work?”
Yue Du: “He was the Speaker before, not the President.”
Sheng Xuejiu: “They're more or less the same.”
Yue Du: “Alright, I guess so.”
Holding the title of Speaker, doing the work of the President, and having to worry like a mother hen. When Xi Zhou voluntarily withdrew from the presidential candidacy, he probably never expected this outcome.
Yue Du sympathized with the Speaker in her heart for a second, then cast him to the back of her mind and began enthusiastically pulling up information on those scenic stars to plan their future trip.
The next day, the new president ran off with her fiancée.
The official reason was her first tour of inspection after taking office. In reality, everyone in the high command knew the two of them were just going on vacation.
The moment the news reached Xi Zhou, the Speaker nearly smashed his optical computer bracelet.
In fact, Speaker Xi Zhou was already in a state of semi-retirement.
The Zerg Broodmother was dead. Having lost the core of their species, the one responsible for procreation, the extinction of those bugs was a foregone conclusion. They wouldn't last another ten years.
Xi Zhou had hated the Zerg for most of his life. Now that his lifelong wish had been fulfilled, he had not only given up on the presidential election but also planned to step down from the Speaker's position in a few years.
But who would have thought that things would get even busier after the Zerg were wiped out?
The unscrupulous president dumped everything on him while she ran off to tour the star system with her partner. Could she be any more carefree!
Xi Zhou endured it as best he could, but when he saw the continuous stream of messages from the heads of various Federation departments on his optical computer, he couldn't help but curse. A vein throbbed on his temple, and in the end, he had no choice but to rub his temples and reply to them one by one.
The only message with a different tone came from the State Council, sent by the Premier.
The content was roughly: It's okay, so the leader ran off, big deal. We'll all help out. Let's encourage each other, Mr. Speaker.
Xi Zhou: “...”
He thought about how slow and dull-witted this Premier had always been.
A lot of help you'll be!
Life is hard, and there are a million things to do every day.
Don't even ask. I just want to resign.
There was another person who also felt that life was worse than death.
That was the Empire's Second Prince, Terence, who had been locked in the military prison for a long time.
As a prince of a nation, he should have been one of the first to learn of the Zerg Broodmother's death and the Zerg's great defeat. But being in a military prison in another country was like being deaf and blind; he had no way of knowing anything.
Until one day ago.
“The Zerg have been defeated. You didn't know, did you?”
Outside the metal door, Sheng Xuejiu held an intercom, speaking with a half-smile.
Terence tilted his head to listen. He had been locked in silence for so long that the sound of a normal speaking voice felt jarring and strange.
It took him about half a minute to understand what she meant. He asked with difficulty, “The Zerg... are completely defeated?”
Sheng Xuejiu: “That's right. The Broodmother is dead, so of course the Zerg are finished.”
Terence murmured, “My father...”
Before he could finish, he shut his mouth.
At this point, Terence held no hope for the old emperor. He didn't even expect his father to be willing to negotiate terms to ransom him back.
His only hope now was for a swift release from his suffering.
Sheng Xuejiu: “You really want to die, don't you?”
Terence: “...”
Sheng Xuejiu raised an eyebrow, gloating, “Don't worry, you won't be dying. You can still hang on for another five years.”
Five years.
This overly precise timeframe jolted Terence's numb spirit. He forced himself to ask, “What do you mean by that?”
Sheng Xuejiu said lightly, “Haven't you already guessed? The Empire. Once the Empire is destroyed, you'll be useless.”
Terence: “Impossible—”
“Why is it impossible?”
“My people will never allow an outsider to rule them! Destroy the Empire? Do you really think the gap in military strength between the Empire and the Federation is that large?”
Sheng Xuejiu paused deliberately before smiling. “I never said I was a complete outsider.”
Terence's eyes slowly widened, as if trying to see the person standing there through the heavy door. “You...”
Sheng Xuejiu picked up a strand of her light-gold hair and twirled it nonchalantly.
“A princess of the Empire, lost to the neighboring Federation as a child, grows up there to become the hero who destroyed the Zerg, then returns to the Empire to take up the burden of her suddenly deceased father and brother, vowing to bring prosperity and unity to the Spiral Star System—sounds like a pretty good script. It's easy to achieve, too. A bloodline test is all it takes.”
“My father won't agree!”
“Does a dead man's disagreement matter?”
“The old fossils in the Parliament won't agree either...”
“Oh, I think they'd rather have me than your incredibly simple-minded older brother.”
Terence was speechless. He found it absurd, and what was even more absurd was that he instinctively felt that Sheng Xuejiu would succeed with ease.
Sheng Xuejiu: “Well then, I won't disturb your quiet contemplation. See you next time—no, perhaps this will be the last time we see each other.” Her smile widened slightly as she turned and walked away.
Her sensitive Sentinel hearing caught a faint sound from the other side of the soundproof metal wall. It sounded like someone was pounding the floor, perhaps hard enough to draw blood.
Sometimes, Sheng Xuejiu really enjoyed this feeling of backing someone into a corner.
Anyway, this was a military prison with an almost entirely automated guard system. Terence could only interact with robots here; he had no way to get the word out.
Let him suffer until he dies.
The second year.
The Federation had recovered from its previous special mode of relying heavily on the military. Soldiers who retired from the battlefield were properly taken care of, and the proportion of military academy students was appropriately reduced.
In the same year, Yue Du and Sheng Xuejiu were married.
Many high-ranking Federation officials muttered in private about how a Sentinel could not have a Guide. Not daring to voice their opinions in front of the two, they could only wait for the day the President's mental state neared its breaking point and then push their own Guide children forward.
They even had their excuses ready: Your Excellency the President and Major General Yue have a good relationship, but you can't rely on feelings to overcome the difficulties of a Sentinel's mental instability. Isn't it perfect for each of you to find a Guide and establish a spiritual link? It doesn't even need to be a deep link.
However, a few words from Ms. Elenda extinguished everyone's ideas.
She said: “Major General Yue is the only known case of a Sentinel who possesses a Guide's spiritual power. Although machines detect her as having a Sentinel's constitution, she can also use her own spiritual power to link with Her Excellency the President. There is no need for any of you to worry about this.”
The budding little ideas were thus nipped in the bud, and the high-ranking officials all fell silent.
After Ms. Elenda's public statement, she received a communication from Major General Yue.
Yue Du said gently, “Thank you very much.”
Elenda: “It's nothing, I just said it casually.”
She paused and shook her head. “Besides, didn't Her Excellency the President specifically transfer my daughter to the Presidential Palace for this very reason?”
Yue Du smiled without speaking.
The third year.
The Federation welcomed a peak in cultural and economic development, and the public's happiness index soared.
It's worth mentioning that the best-selling book of the year was a biography written by a Capital Star reporter named Elda, titled Trials and Glories—The First Half of the Silver Lion President's Life.
Yue Du: “...” It sounds like there's a lot to complain about.
What Sheng Xuejiu cared about was: “What do you mean, 'the first half of my life'? I'm only eighteen this year!”
The fourth year, the fifth year.
Humans are a species adept at forgetting and recovering. After a few years, the shadow of the Zerg seemed to have completely vanished, and the Federation developed better and better.
In comparison, the Empire, which was also developing but at a slower pace, showed increasing signs of decline.
Yue Du had originally thought the old emperor would at least propose having his second son return to the country, even if it was just a token gesture. But as it turned out, the emperor was truly that cowardly; he never even made a tentative inquiry.
Of course, the Empire's First Prince's interference was likely also a factor. After all, having his biggest competitor sent far away was truly beneficial and harmless for him.
At the end of that year, Sheng Xuejiu launched a military operation against the Empire with lightning speed.
But her target was neither the entire Empire nor the royal parliament, but the big shot with the most misdeeds that Yue Du had uncovered in private, the emperor's confidant—Imperial Admiral Harris.
This was a brilliant entry point.
The military operation ended with the news of the deaths of the Imperial Emperor and the Admiral. The official announcement stated that the emperor died of a sudden illness, while the general was stabbed to death by the emperor himself. It was said that the expression on his face before death was one of great pain.
The emperor's eldest son, Dax, suddenly developed an irreversible fugue state, thereby losing his right of succession. Meanwhile, the other legitimate prince had already met a silent end in the Federation's military prison.
For the ordinary people of the Spiral Star System, this was an utter tragedy—those outsiders from the Human Federation must be held responsible!
Worse still, some radicals believed that the Federation President had to pay with her life to quell their grievances.
It wasn't that they necessarily loved the emperor that much; it was more out of a desire to uphold tradition and fight with the outsiders for dominance.
But.
All dissonant voices vanished without a trace after Sheng Xuejiu publicly released the results of the bloodline test.
This was where the excellent adaptability of the Spiral Star people showed. Not only did they immediately stop their objections, but they also thick-skinnedly switched to supporting the new leader's ascension.
The strongest Sentinel with royal blood, who destroyed the Zerg Broodmother and became the supreme leader of the neighboring Federation—where could you find such a good emperor?
Rounding up, that meant the Federation was now under the Empire's rule!
The higher-ups in the Imperial Parliament also changed their attitudes one after another, offering their support. They thought more deeply than the common people—
Sheng Xuejiu, a president who was once a marshal.
Being able to fight a war didn't mean she could govern a country. The Empire had long heard of Sheng Xuejiu's unorthodoxy and her laziness when it came to managing affairs. Even as president, she spent her days wandering around, delegating all matters of state to her subordinate officials.
What power-hungry parliamentarian wouldn't want such a superior?
But all their assumptions were shattered the day before Sheng Xuejiu's enthronement.
“Hello, everyone. We'll be colleagues from now on. Please give me your guidance.” Xi Zhou extended his hand with a smile, shaking the stiffly raised hand of the Parliament's representative.
Thanks to the interstellar era's physical condition restoration technology, he didn't have to meet his future colleagues with dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep.
Behind him, the Federation's Premier from the State Council, who always looked slow-witted, was showing a simple and honest smile. He Yin was frowning at her optical computer. A man named Zhan Lingqi was impatiently straightening the creases on his military uniform. Admiral Samo—with another star on his shoulder—was looking over curiously, his expression identical to that of his Samoyed quantum beast.
Sheng Xuejiu had brought the Federation's entire team.
No, to be precise, the Federation's political team had forcefully inserted itself into the Empire's center of power, dismantling the originally stable structure of imperial authority beyond recognition.
In the future, the unified body of the Federation and the Empire would still be called the Empire on the surface, but its internal political system would be completely reformed to follow the Federation's model, with separation of powers and mutual checks and balances.
The new constitution had already been drafted, and the Empire's side couldn't even voice an opinion.
After integrating into the Federation's political system, the position of emperor was destined to be unable to hold absolute power, but this did not apply to Sheng Xuejiu.
As long as she remained in this position, the Spiral Star System was destined to be her one-woman show.
The next day, Sheng Xuejiu, dressed in the traditional formal attire of the Spiral Star System, ascended the throne step by step.
The gold gemstones on her crown, the matching patterns on her sash, and the gold trim on her robes all shone in harmony with her light-gold hair. When she finally sat upon the gilded throne, she was like a brilliant sun suspended in the sky above the Spiral Star System.
This scene was broadcast live on all major platforms of the StarNet via numerous flying camera drones, reaching every viewer.
They held their breath, their eyes reflecting the cold curve of the empress's lips, clearly recognizing what kind of leader she was.
In fact, people originally had the chance to admire an empress who would be smiling, casting flirtatious glances at the audience below, and sparing no effort to exude her charm.
...If not for the fact that Yue Du was leaving today.
They both knew very well that the completion of the final mission meant that Yue Du, as a System, had to leave this small world soon. There was no room for compromise.
In the last world, Yue Du had experienced a departure with no time for goodbyes, so this time, she had already said her farewells in advance.
The consequence was being pinned down and “educated” in various corners of the room, hmm. The specific content of this education will be skipped for now.
Returning to the present.
Yue Du stood by the curtains in a corner, out of the camera drones' view. Her white deer, however, was behind the tall throne, gently licking the long-haired cat's ears. They were hidden by shadows, also safe from the prying lenses.
The moment Sheng Xuejiu sat on the throne, a mechanical voice rang out in both their minds, just as expected—
“Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing this world's final mission. You have received 3,000 points. Bonus for completing the entire mission chain: 3,000 points.”
“Please select items to redeem with your points. Time limit: ten minutes.”
Sheng Xuejiu did not respond.
Across the neatly seated crowd below the high platform, she watched Yue Du quietly. Only when the ten minutes were almost up and the final countdown began did she speak coldly in the mental space: “I am transferring all my points to Yue Du.”
Main System: “Request received, now processing... Request approved. Point transfer complete.”
Main System: “Host's points have been cleared. System 0996 will detach from this small world in five minutes. Please be prepared.”
Another five minutes of silent gazes.
Before the final moment arrived, Yue Du forced the corners of her mouth up and waved to the Empress of the Spiral Star System on the high platform.
Immediately after, her figure began to fade, as if being erased by a rubber eraser.
Along with her disappearance, the white deer behind the throne also shattered into light and shadow, dissipating on its own.
The live broadcast cameras recorded the astonishing scene at that moment—
Sheng Xuejiu's quantum beast, that fantasy species of a giant cat-like beast, suddenly soared into the air from behind the throne. Its massive wings nearly covered the entire ceremony grounds, stirring up a biting wind with each flap.
It threw its head back and let out a beastly roar.
—Later scholars believed that the empress's quantum beast's action was a stroke of genius at her enthronement ceremony.
This was the first appearance of a fantasy species quantum beast before all the Sentinels and Guides, and even among the rare fantasy species, this giant beast was uniquely stunning.
By leveraging people's instinctive awe of strange and enormous creatures, along with the most direct pressure from the foremost Sentinel, this act had an absolutely intimidating effect. It was considered one of the reasons why no one dared to challenge the empress's authority for the next two hundred years.
On the other hand, the potential of mixed-bloods, represented by the fantasy species, was displayed to the public for the first time, directly promoting the achievement of equal rights for mixed-blood individuals.
The rate of intermarriage between humans and the people of the Spiral Star System was also affected, rising almost linearly.
Many, many years later, the two races gradually merged, becoming indistinguishable. Some schools of thought even regarded this enthronement ceremony as the beginning of their racial integration—
Truly worthy of being the most legendary ruler in the history of the great Spiral Star Empire!
Every generation of students in later years couldn't help but sigh with emotion when they learned about this part of history.
But the true state of mind of the person involved at that time would never be known.
Meanwhile, in the System Space.
The Main God's office was still as ordinarily furnished as ever, currently illuminated by huge light-screen panels on all sides.
One Main God and the Boss were both staring intently at the light screen in front of them, watching the data chart on it change in an instant.
The Main God said quickly, “Detection shows that Her energy is gradually approaching its peak value and is about to break through the small world's limits. The world consciousness is also trying its best to raise the limit level, but it will soon reach its own critical point and be unable to prevent Her eruption.”
The Boss: “Get to the point!”
Main God: “...As you wish, this small world will meet its end.”
The Boss revealed a smug expression, looking just like a capitalist about to close a big deal—a workaholic capitalist at that.
But soon, their expression changed.
“What's going on? Why are the values dropping?!”
The Main God frowned deeply. “This one is attempting to investigate—”
The values on the light-screen panel were still falling. In just a few seconds, they dropped back to the normal range, which was an energy level that couldn't be observed by the System Space.
The Boss: “...”
Well, now they were a capitalist whose big deal had fallen through.
The Main God said, “This one was unable to investigate the cause in time, but based on speculation, it should be that Her psychological changes caused the energy values to fall back.”
After all, the sharp rise in energy values was due to deliberately induced psychological changes.
The Boss said grimly, “Nonsense. Besides Herself, what else could possibly stop Her?”
After thinking for a moment, they added through gritted teeth, “Absurd, unreasonable. How could She control it? That's Her nature.”
Main God: “If that nature were effective, this one would not be here.”
The Boss, feeling like they were dealing with an incorrigible subordinate, said, “You don't understand. Nature cannot be defied.”
The Main God thought to himself, Aren't you also cheerfully defying your nature right now—
But the Main God was wise enough not to say it out loud.
After a long moment, the Boss sighed.
With the sigh, the surrounding light screens flickered and went dark, leaving only the one in front of them still lit.
The Boss asked, “Is 0996 back?”
Main God: “Yes, but she just left again. According to the feedback, she used her points to return to her original world.”
The Boss: “Hmm, turn on the real-time surveillance of that small world.”
The Main God acknowledged the order.
But a few seconds later, the Main God's expression suddenly turned strange. “The surveillance has failed.”
The Boss: “!”
“How could it fail? Isn't that just an ordinary, low-end, technology-based small world?”
The Main God said, “...If the world itself didn't suddenly ascend to a higher level, then there is only one other possibility.”
It's Her.
Her fragment is there.
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