Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1394
Dragon Abyss slowly sailed into the planetary fortress that was known as "Dragon Palace". Activating his eyesight to the maximum, Li Yao saw that hundreds of starships were docked in the space neatly, and the highly-rising command towers looked like the fins on the back of sharks.
A lot of starships and crystal suit groups were practicing cooperative battles on the orbit. Their remarkable performance and tactics were as good as the Burning Prairie Fleet, the top-tier deep-sky fleet in the federation.
"The Deep Sea Fleet is not made of common mobsters. Even in my most difficult times, I never considered recruiting the infamous space bandits to increase my power. Just like my attitude toward Li Lingfeng, what matters is quality and not quantity. I would rather fight on my own than to recruit a bunch of 'pig teammates' to hamstring me!"
Faced with her army, Queen Li Linghai couldn't help but feel proud. "More than 80% of the commanders in the Deep Sea Fleet in various levels came from the elite fleets in the Imperium's army. One might even say that the most distinguished talents in hundreds of Sectors of the Imperium have been gathered here!"
Chapter 2182: Power of the Reformists! |
According to Li Linghai, while the Deep Sea Fleet was a "rebellion army" that had not surfaced yet, it had quite a roster of great talents and generals. The abilities of the commanders at every level were far better than those of the deep-sky fleets of the Imperium at the same level.
It was especially so for the bottom-level commanders in the frontline, who were definitely the elites that had survived hundreds of battles.
The elites joined the Deep Sea Fleet for various reasons. But getting to the bottom of it, it was mostly because the channel of ascension had been blocked and because of the injustice caused by the monopolization of nobles and magnates.
The injustice had been enlarged by countless times in the fierce war. On many occasions, it even concerned the life and death of the young officers. Naturally, it raised fierce resistance.
Incapable and self-righteous, the superiors treated the precious lives as worthless cannon fodder in order to earn military credits for themselves and their families without caring about the life and death of the officers and soldiers at the bottom level. They even drove the soldiers into the burning battlefield to get killed when there was no hope of winning at all, just to get themselves the reputation of "valiance". Such things were not rare at all in the Imperium's counterattack in the past ten years.
The young officers at the bottom level and the low-level Immortal Cultivators who had no connections, after going through blood battles where only one-tenth of them could survive and returning from the hellish battlefields with broken bodies, might not be greeted by medals, contribution points, cheers, and flowers, but more likely the blames that their fellows and their superiors pushed to them.
If they were unwilling to plead guilty dutifully and take the blame for their fellows and superiors who were powerful, the cold and heartless military court would open its bloody mouth and swallow the promising future of countless young officers.
All in all, in the Imperium of True Human Beings that was reigned by nobles and warlords, medals, honors, and military credits did not depend on the accomplishments on a battlefield but one's backgrounds and patrons.
For the low-level Immortal Cultivators who did not have any background or person they could count on and who were unwilling to kneel before the nobles, they would never have a day to distinguish themselves no matter how much blood they shed and how many people they killed on the battlefield.
It was exactly the story for Tu Zhengdao, the deputy leader of the Deep Sea Legion.
He used to be the highest commander of a very famous crystal suit legion in the expedition army of the Imperium. Without any background and reliance, he made his way to the vice marshal of the Imperium's army through all the bones he broke and all the blood he vomited on the battlefield.
He was a legend of the expedition army, and he once received the olive branches from the four Kurfürst families too.
But at that time, he was loyal to the Sector Master of his hometown, and he thought that the Sector Master would remember his "loyalty" and shelter and support him no matter what.
But he was wrong.
In an extremely dangerous battle, the whole defense line completely collapsed because of the downfall of another crystal suit legion on his flank. He covered the retreat at the risk of his life, and his entire troop was almost wiped out before he finally managed to keep the allies' forces as much as possible.
The crystal suit legion, which collapsed and ran first, turned out to be a subordinate of the Yun family of Wuchuan, one of the four Kurfürst families, and its commander was a descendant of the main bloodline of the Yun family.
Naturally, as the pillars of the Imperium, the four renowned Kurfürst families never had any cowardly people in the families.
The commanders of the troops that were saved by Tu Zhengdao, intimidated by the power of the Yun family, did not dare to speak the truth.
Besides, the military committee who was responsible for the investigation was mostly made of the nobles and the descendants of traditional families. Even if they told the truth, who would hear it?
Eventually, Tu Zhengdao was the one to blame for the collapse of the entire defense line.
The Sector Master of his hometown, who had promised to support him before, was angry that he wasted the soldiers that he brought from his hometown, which significantly reduced the capabilities of his Sector. Also, the Sector Master was not bold enough to go against the four Kurfürst families, and thus, offered him no help at all.
Just like that, as a legend and one of the youngest vice admiral in the Imperium's army, Tu Zhengdao fell from the promising path to an infinite abyss. He was forced to lead a daring team made of criminals to launch a suicide charge at the most heavily guarded military stronghold of the Covenant Alliance, only to be obliterated into nothingness by the overwhelming bombardments of the Covenant Alliance. At the very least, if it weren't for the help that Li Linghai offered, it would have been Tu Zhengdao's only outcome.
After he was secretly rescued, Tu Zhengdao immediately joined the Deep Sea Fleet with the surviving members of the daring team without any hesitation.
Tu Zhengdao's story was just a common one among the soldiers of the Deep Sea Fleet's history of blood and tears.
Countless officers had similar experiences, or even a hundred times more wronged and miserable ones.
Those people were determined to overthrow the reign of the four Kurfürst families and to establish a new Imperium as well as a powerful army!
Not just the soldiers, there were also scholars, specialists, and civilians such as Master Jin Tianzong who were disliked by the nobles.
Some of them could not see the channel of ascension, some of them had worked hard on their projects for decades only to be robbed by other people, and some were attacked openly or clandestinely in the seemingly fair competitions, eventually losing their reputations or even their families. They were all forced to walk on the desperate path that was "reform".
"The whole world is already seething with fury and discontentment, which may burst out at any moment, because of the nobles' reign over the Imperium of True Human Beings."
Li Linghai said to Li Yao, "The more greatly the noble families expand and the more interests they monopolize, the less room of survival there will be for most of the people. The majority will be pushed to their opposite side, thereby forcing a powerful alliance of resisters.
"When you are cursed by too many people, you will die without a disease. Right now, the noble families led by the four Kurfürst families are exactly being cursed by too many people.
"However, with a hundred years of preparations, the forces of the reformists are much more than the 'Deep Sea Fleet' that you are seeing right now!"
According to Li Linghai, the forces that the reformists could make use of could be divided into five parts.
The most important armed force of all was naturally the Deep Sea Fleet. In a world of Immortal Cultivators where the strong prey on the weak, no ideas could be spread without a powerful armed force.
Secondly, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, which was the main source of intelligence and capital for the reformists.
Li Yao was no stranger to the name of "Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors" because Di Feiwen, his nominal right-hand man and the deputy commander of the Black Wind Fleet, was a merchant and had a lot to do with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors.
According to Di Feiwen, before he left the Imperium, the merchants and the alliance of the small businesses who had been active at the remote areas of the Imperium were already gradually awakening, hoping to compete with the monopolies supported by the noble families and even participate in the politics of the Imperium.
When there were too many coins in their pockets, it was only natural that they wanted to forge and grab sharper swords to protect their pockets.
Money was itself a bloodthirsty beast. The power of capitals was sometimes even greater than the power of the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators. At the earliest chance, the clinking coins would come to life and seize the entire world.
A hundred years ago, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was still relatively weak and could only infiltrate the remote worlds or the independent worlds that were in the middle of a war and had a complicated environment such as the Black Wind Fleet.
But as it turned out, after a hundred years, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors had already teamed up with the queen from the Imperium's center of power. The ambitions of the organization were obvious.
The third force was the "Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils" based in the Empyreal Terminus Sector.
What the slightly weird name denoted was a terrifying organization that awed countless people hundreds of years ago.
As its name suggested, "Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils" was a special troop that was designed to deal with the invasion of extraterrestrial devils.
It was said that the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils raised a batch of "devil huntresses" who had been trained using cruel secret techniques since childhood. They had very sharp senses and natural-born countermeasures against extraterrestrial devils. The organization was similar to the "Devil Slaying Division" in the Secret Sword Bureau in the Star Glory Federation.
About seven hundred years ago, the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils had a ghastly history of expansion. The targets of their hunting were no longer restrained to the extraterrestrial devils or those possessed by the extraterrestrial devils, but also included the Immortal Cultivators who were involved in corruption, embezzlement, or other schemes. They became the bloody tool with which the emperor used to compete with the nobles who were growing too huge to be rid of.
"The real Immortal Cultivators should be loyal to His Grace and contribute their everything to the Imperium and the civilization!
"The guys who are corrupted and greedy about wealth and power have all been invaded by the extraterrestrial devils. Their heads have been polluted by the devils, and they must be purged in the most complete way!"
In the past, countless "devil huntresses" once galloped among different Sectors and implemented the most ruthless "purge" on the emperor's enemies under such slogans.
If those people's heads were entirely burnt up, there would naturally be no residues of any extraterrestrial devils, right?
With such a "dark history", it was not hard to imagine how the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils was suppressed and diminished in the second five hundred years of the Imperium's history when the emperor was eclipsed by the nobles and the four Kurfürst families dominated everything.
Today, the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils had already been reduced to a bureau as insignificant as the cecum in the enormous and redundant political system of the Imperium.
Had it not been for the need of tremendous cannon fodder to die together with the extraterrestrial devils when they occasionally arrived, the organization would've been disbanded a long time ago.
However…
No matter how distressed they were, there were still abundant loyal "devil huntresses" who were raised and trained with the cruel secret techniques lurking in the darkness, protecting the secrets and the dark forces that they had earned after a thousand years of fierce battles against the extraterrestrial devils.
Li Linghai discovered the value of the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils and invested a great number of resources, awakening the dangerous beast that had lurked for hundreds of years into her great cause.
Just like Guo Chunfeng's Secret Sword Bureau, Jin Xinyue's Dim Moon Fund, and Long Yangjun's Ghost Character, it was her sharpest blade in the darkness!
Chapter 2183: You Are a Good Sign |
Besides the Deep Sea Fleet, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, and the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils, the fourth force that was inclined to the reformists were the relatively radical young officers in the army.
At this moment, the young soldiers from hundreds of Sectors were gathered in the frontline, devoting their youth and hot blood together to the flowers named ambitions and hope. The magnificent and cruel space war in the past ten years had completely shaped them into machines of slaughter and destruction.
It was absolutely impossible to ceasefire with the Covenant Alliance and stop the running war machine with just an order while making sure that the young officers who were as ravenous as hungry wolves did not cause any trouble.
However, the army was the most sensitive place after all. The nobles and the warlords certainly had a high control over their fleets. Li Linghai did not dare to extend her hands into the army too deeply either. Although she had been rescuing the dissidents in the army and inviting them to join the Deep Sea Fleet, she had never infiltrated the army on a large scale.
The fifth force, on the other hand, was more or less out of Li Yao's expectation.
It was the opposition within the four Kurfürst families.
But on second thought, it did make sense. The most solid fortresses were always broken from inside. Wasn't Li Linghai herself one of the oppositions from within the Kurfürst families?
There was also her biological brother Li Lingfeng, who had been well-acknowledged as the next leader of the family and Kurfürst. He did not believe in the fancy words of the leadership of the family either, and he established his own force through whatever means possible and came up with his enormous, clandestine plans.
It couldn't be helped. The rule of "survival of the fittest" did not just work between the noble families and the poor families, but also the aristocrats and the civilians. The power struggles and secrets within the noble families were anything but unusual. They were even gorier than the competitions in the outside world.
When there were competitions, there were losers. Many losers who had lost everything, for their own ambitions and interests, would not hesitate to sacrifice their entire families.
The Deep Sea Fleet provided military support, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors provided capital and intelligence, and the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils was responsible for the dark deals that were best not exposed. They were the three pillars for the queen of the Imperium.
Together with the young, bottom-level officers who were discontented and inclined to, or at least sympathetic for them, as well as the guys who failed the internal competitions in the four Kurfürst families and who craved for a comeback, they made up the fundamental forces of the reformists.
"There's more to it. Besides the five forces, there are sharp contradictions among the nobles and the warlords that we can take advantage of."
Li Linghai explained, "The four Kurfürst families are not a united piece. Their conflicts of interests are very intense too, especially those between the three families including the Li family and the Dongfang family as well as the biggest and wealthiest family known as 'First Family'.
"When the Imperium of True Human Beings was just born, the traditional noble families including the four Kurfürst families were still hugging each other to warm each other up and check the powerful emperor at that time.
"At that time, none of them were very strong, and the emperor was their greatest opponent. They could only survive through unity.
"However, as the royal authority declined, the four Kurfürst families rose prominently. The emperor no longer a threat, they naturally grew vigilant of each other.
"It was especially so in the recent two hundred years, when the Dongfang family's influence continued to expand. It has laid its fingers on the critical fields of the Imperium such as finance, transportation, energy, military industries, etc., and monopolized many of them. It poses a threat not just to the emperor and the low-level Immortal Cultivators but also to the other three families.
"While the other families haven't said anything on the surface, they are naturally very dissatisfied in their hearts. There is even a trend that the three families will unite against the Dong family, just like how the four families united to check the emperor in the past.
"After the triumph in the war, dozens of important industrial worlds have been taken back, which will likely change the balance of the four Kurfürst families. So, nobody will give in regarding how the worlds should be divided. It is possible that they will end up on bad terms.
"If the enemies start to bite each other, it will be a great opportunity for the reformists to develop and flourish!
"For us, while we have to lay low for a while longer, we need to call for the army, the small nobles, the Sector Masters in the remote worlds, and all the other forces that can be united. We will expand the capabilities of the oppositions until the contrast of the two parties' strengths is reversed.
