When the generals heard this, all of them revealed looks of panic.
Even the ones that had looked at Angela with disdain when she walked in couldn't help revealing looks of panic.
That was because even if they looked down on her, they had no choice but to acknowledge her skills. Her command and intelligence was on a completely different level compared to them.
Even the veteran generals had no choice but to yield to Angela when it came to abilities.
So if she were to suddenly leave their Lin Astral Empire's army…then it would be safe to say that it would completely collapse under the attack of the Beast Race.
Even if they wanted to act tough and say that they could handle it, they knew that they wouldn't be able to do so.
So even if they didn't want to, they had no choice but to ask the Lin Astral Emperor to deny this request.
But before any of the ministers or generals could say a thing, the Lin Astral Emperor gave a nod and said, "Alright, you're free to go."
When the ministers and generals heard this, they all revealed shocked looks.
It didn't take long before the room was filled with protests towards this decision.
The ministers and generals couldn't hold themselves back since they knew that this would be a disaster for their Lin Astral Empire.
"Your majesty, it is one's duty to serve the empire. How can we let someone resign just like this?"
"Your majesty, you should know the situation of the battlefield. We can't let her resign just like this, we still need her help."
There were many different methods of trying to convince the Lin Astral Emperor, but it didn't seem like he listened to them at all. It was as if all of their pleas went in one ear and then went out the other.
After letting them go on for a bit, the Lin Astral Emperor raised his hand to silence them before saying, "From the very beginning, this was how it was supposed to be, so there's no changing it now."
When the ministers and generals heard this, all of them couldn't help revealing shocked and confused looks.
Not a single one of them was able to understand what the Lin Astral Emperor meant.
But the Lin Astral Emperor just waved his hand and said, "Fan'er, you and Angela can leave now."
Lin Fan nodded before standing up and walking out with Angela.
The ministers and generals had been too stunned to react to this…but when the door closed, they suddenly came back to their senses.
All of them looked at the Lin Astral Emperor with shocked and disappointed looks. After all, they all knew how dire the situation for the Lin Astral Empire was, but the Lin Astral Emperor was making these decisions without consulting any of them.
Not only did it make them feel not valued, it also made them worry about the future of the Lin Astral Empire.
Seeing the way that these ministers and generals looked at him, the Lin Astral Emperor suddenly released his pressure on them.
All of the ministers and generals shrank down in their seats the moment that they felt this pressure fall onto them.
Then the Lin Astral Emperor said, "Look at all of you, you can't even compare to a bunch of kids and you're begging them to bail you out. Aren't you supposed to be the top officials of the Lin Astral Empire? Yet all of you are acting this way!"
When the ministers and generals heard this, all of them couldn't stop their faces from turning red.
That was because the Lin Astral Emperor's words hit them right where it hurt.
He was right, they were trying to depend on Angela's intelligence and Lin Fan's new power as a Ruler Realm Expert to bail them out instead of finding their own solution.
But that was just how desperate the situation was…
The Lin Astral Emperor then said, "Instead of trying to let others cover for you, you should all think about what you can do!"
All of the ministers and generals lowered their heads in embarrassment again, but this time, there was a bit of determination in their eyes.
The Lin Astral Emperor's words had inspired them in the end.
That's right, they were the top officials of the Lin Astral Empire. It was their duty to step up when a crisis appeared and there was no crisis that was as pressing as the one that they were currently facing.
Instead of whining and trying to push the responsibility to someone else, they should be the ones that thought of the solution.
After all, the ones that they were protecting weren't just the people of the Lin Astral Empire, but…they were also protecting their families.
If they didn't stop the Beast Race, they couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen to their families.
After a long silence in this room, all of the ministers and generals suddenly looked up.
There was a much more determined look in their eyes now.
It started with one minister, but it didn't take long before they were going over the reports on the table and trying to figure out how to defend against the Beast Race coming at them.
As they discussed plans, they couldn't help feeling surprised by the innovation that was in this room.
Many of them pitched plans that they had never heard of before, but they had seen examples from.
Namely, they had seen it be done by Angela.
With this, it didn't take long before they were filled with different plans to take care of the Beast Race forces.
Seeing this, the Lin Astral Emperor couldn't help revealing a faint smile.
One would think that no one would be able to predict this, but the Lin Astral Emperor knew better.
That was because when Angela had first taken the role of general, she had made a promise with him.
It was a promise that when she left, all of the ministers and generals of the Lin Astral Empire would become better than before.
All that she wanted in return for this was for the ability to return to Lin Fan's side when she wanted without being restrained at all.
The Lin Astral Emperor would have agreed to this even without the promise of making the ministers and generals much more competent than they were. After all, he knew that her place was by Lin Fan's side.
He had been prepared to take the heat, but now…it seemed that he didn't need to.
Even the words that he had said were told to him by Angela.
She told him that when the time was right, all he had to do was say these words to trigger their transformation.
It seemed that she had been right and she had already seen how everything would go.
This kind of intelligence…was almost terrifying.
But it was a good thing that she was Lin Fan's woman and was on the side of their Lin Astral Empire.
Otherwise, it would be scary having her as an enemy.
Still, the Lin Astral Emperor couldn't help feeling sorry for Lin Fan.
He knew that this great grandson of his would definitely suffer under her thumb.
…
After they had left the meeting hall, Lin Fan didn't waste any time in getting ready to leave.
Even though he had been gone for so long, the guards and ship that had been assigned to him were still there. They were paid and maintained by the Lin Astral Family, so they were available to him at any time he wanted.
While the guards and crew of the ship were surprised to see Lin Fan back after all this time, they were well trained and didn't waste a single second in preparing everything for his departure.
At the same time, Angela summoned her forces as well.
Even though she had just resigned as the general, these were people that had been trained by her and followed her orders alone, so they wouldn't leave her now.
These were the troops wearing the special armour that had come to pick Lin Fan up at the store earlier.
Lin Fan couldn't help being surprised to find just how well they had been trained by Angela.
But he was happy that they were coming with them since…they weren't weak at all.
The weakest among them were still in the Sun Realm, so all of them could be considered top experts.
Lin Fan also learned later from Momonga that the reason that they were so feared by the people was because of their conviction in following orders.
They had found several spies in the capital of the Lin Astral Empire.
When they found the spies, they dragged them out into the streets and then burned them alive for everyone to see.
Yet even after doing all that, they weren't punished at all by the military command.
They didn't even have to give any evidence as to why they had arrested and burnt these traitors.
So when people saw them, they were afraid that they would be the next victim of their witch hunt.
But in reality, they only went after people that they had conclusive evidence against.
Since there was conclusive evidence, there was no reason for them to show any mercy to these spies and traitors.
Once everyone was packed up, Lin Fan's ship set sail and headed off in the direction of the Mu Stellar Kingdom.
As he was traveling through space, he couldn't help worrying about the friends and family that he hadn't seen in all these years…
At the same time, he couldn't help wondering just how much they had changed…
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