Chapter 345: Ch

His own parents had been suffering—one from last-stage cancer, the other from a heart disease while waiting for a transplant for a long time. It was only because of the grace of the Void Fleet that they had not only survived but had been completely revitalized.

Deep gratitude shone in his eyes. This was a favor he could never forget, even though he had paid for the treatments. He knew this would not have been possible without the Fleet, and so he defended them fiercely.

“No, they are our saviors! Therefore, I propose that we immediately activate the Safeguard Protocol! Arrest the primary agitators, seize the benefits given to them, and throw them into one of the asteroid belts to mine for our Federation until there is no life left in their bodies!”

“What?!” Dorktna and Vane, along with no more than forty others, stood up with terrified expressions on their faces.

Vane’s face turned a deep, angry red. “How dare you suggest such a thing! What crimes have those people committed for you to punish them so severely? There are millions involved in this case—would you dare arrest them all?”

He leaned forward, his voice dripping with venom. “Do you think you have the power and capability to do that? Do you even have enough room to imprison them? Yes, your hands are free, but I dare say: how many hands in the Federation are actually free right now with those ’projects’ and the management of the Seven Domains going on?”

“I am warning you,” Vane continued, his eyes scanning the room. “If you people dare touch any of us or our people, the Domains and Earth itself will not remain as calm as they are now! We will turn Earth into a war-torn place without a shred of peace. You can forget your dreams of traveling into space!”

He slammed his hands down, taking a bold stand and threatening the whole Federation to its face, utterly disregarding their power in front of the highest leadership.

The dignity of the Twelve was severely damaged for as of now they were the face of federation !!.

The debate spiraled into a cacophony of accusations, becoming more exaggerated and heated by the second.

“How dare you be so arrogant in front of us, Vane! Who do you think you are?!” Governor Kaolin’s voice cut through the air. “Do you think we still live in the past? Your time as a ruler is long over. Accept it, and remember your standing before you speak another word!”

Kaolin was a young yet talented woman who had stabilized the equatorial continent and part of the Northern Mountain Range—the Meridional Domain—in a mere twelve days(not completely). Only the regions beyond the northern peaks remained outside her control, solely because of the continuous interference of local lords who incited the people there to cause problems for her advancing forces.

Knowing that her troops could not harm the public, men like Vane continuously utilized such tactics to prevent her or her colleagues from infringing on their regions. It was incredibly frustrating.

She had tried every method to woo the people, but they would say one thing after accepting her generous offers and do another the moment her back was turned. This ordeal had left her and the other six Domain Governors deeply frustrated; it was a problem they couldn’t solve, even though they now possessed sufficient manpower.

And beyond that, this person dared to issue a warning to them in a place that was their own seat of power? Their hegemony? How dare they!

Does he really dare say he will make Earth a war-torn place? Does he think he actually has that capability? Kaolin thought, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the roughly forty people shouting the words Vane had just uttered.

Does he think we are too indecisive to take action against his people—those who can’t even use common sense now that they are dominated by this man and his ilk? She felt her anger burning more fiercely with every passing second.

“You think we can’t do it just because you say so?” she suddenly shouted, her voice echoing through the chamber. “Who the fuck do you think you are, Vane?! Huh?!”

She stepped forward, gesturing to the holographic displays. “A month might not seem like a lot of time for major infrastructure to rise in the past, but this is not the past! We have superior technology to support such things. If you’ve forgotten that, then let me remind you right now!”

“Don’t bullshit us, Governor!” Thorne shouted. “You talk about your superior tech and blah, blah, blah—yes, we know it exists, but so what? Do you have the hands to operate it? No, you don’t! All of this talk about your ’hands being free’ is nonsense.”

Thorne’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he looked at the seven Domain Governors and the five Senior Officials of the Federation. “The truth is something we all know: even now, your hands are so busy with your so-called ’plans’ that you have nothing to stop us with—unless you halt your entire operation and focus solely on us.

But you won’t do that, will you? After all, that would cause delays. And who knows? Perhaps the lords above you—the ones you all grovel in front of—might feel dissatisfied with your slow progress, no?”

He leaned back, a smug grin forming. “As for the ’Lords’ of the Void Fleet… hmph. Even they can’t do anything to the people, for we all know they need our population. Perhaps not right now, but in the near future, they certainly will! So, I dare you: try us. See what we do to the whole Federation. If you push us, you can kiss your hopes of reaching the stars goodbye!”

The forty people behind him—and even a majority of the three hundred—thumped the tables in front of them in support of Thorne. He was a lord from the equatorial continent, one of the few who stood in the way of Kaolin’s total control over the region.

What he said could potentially spiral out of control; if the Federation failed to reply and a conflict broke out, it would result in a massacre that would dampen the belief of the remaining “good crops” throughout the Federation.

Hearing Thorne’s words, the faces of Maximus, Jiang Wu, Donvas, and David twisted into expressions of boiling anger. This was nothing more than spitting in their faces.

These were people who could not be reasoned with; after all, who would dare to bluntly threaten a tiger in its own den? Yet these people dared, which meant they had already prepared for the worst before even coming here.

As Thorne spoke of unstable chaos and war, the four leaders felt that something would likely happen to these idiotic people. They truly wanted to deal with them right then and there, but doing so would only spiral things out of control. Without knowing the exact position of the Void Fleet, they could not be decisive—and so, they found themselves feeling utterly helpless.

But one of them didn’t feel that helplessness, and that was Star Fleet Supreme Leader Bai. He shook his head, looking at the reactions and the faces of his colleagues.

“Sigh… all of you, what are you thinking? This isn’t as hard to deal with as you think,” Bai said calmly. “I don’t know why you even worry about the Void Fleet’s position on this matter. If anything, they would be furious with these people for creating such a scene around the world—it is nothing short of damaging their reputation! And do not forget: this group and the people behind them have already been cast aside by the Void Fleet. They are of no use to them.”

He looked toward the rebels with a cold, piercing gaze. “They might have been of use to us once, but seeing how these so-called ’leaders’ have become a headache for the Federation—and specifically for you four, as well as the people of Earth—one could say they are beyond saving. Thus, they are beyond our use, much less the Void Fleet’s.”

Bai leaned forward, his voice dropping an octave. “And if I remember correctly, during our last meeting with Imperial Commander Kallus of the Void Fleet, he did say he won’t be requiring any more people from Earth. He also added that Federation matters are for the Federation to handle; his fleet will not interfere. And as you’ve seen, they haven’t interfered for the last month.”

“So we can definitely make our decision right here, based on what we think is right,” Bai Zenmi added. He felt a slight chill as he watched the argument unfurling down below.

The seven Domain Governors argued fiercely about the savage display of the local lords, as well as their own citizens on the net who were causing intentional harm to the relationship between the Void Fleet and the Federation. It was only by maintaining a close relationship with the Void Fleet that they saw any hope of becoming a Tier 3 power and civilization.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep