"The Star State wants to stick its nose in everything." Chen Gu sneered coldly. Qing Ruyan also said, "The relationship between the Freedom Alliance and the Star State has always been delicate. The Star State always thinks the Freedom Alliance is its subordinate, but the Freedom Alliance cheers when there's benefit and goes perfunctory when there's none."
"Just like this time, it was originally the Freedom Alliance's issue, but now that the Star State jumped in, things have turned somewhat bizarre. The Director-General says the Star State is now the one negotiating with us, while the Freedom Alliance people are on the sidelines cheering."
Chen Gu couldn't help but frown, "The Star State wouldn't be so kind, they must have other motives..."
Before he finished speaking, Qing Ruyan's phone rang, it was Aviloya calling: "The Star State has completely lost face. They're using the excuse that this time the [Beast Emperor Showdown] was interrupted by bugs and hasn't ended, so the results don't count—unless Chen Gu is willing to help the Freedom Alliance handle the Thaistar situation, otherwise they refuse to acknowledge the impact of this result on the treaty between the two major Star Nations."
Chen Gu immediately understood: the Star State wants to default.
Earlier it was agreed that the disputed part of the treaty would be decided by this [Beast Emperor Showdown], but now that the Star State lost, they're finding excuses to default, and the bugs have conveniently played into their hands.
"The Star State being so shameless is a historical tradition." Qing Ruyan gritted her teeth. Aviloya said on the phone, "Put Chen Gu on."
Even now, the Director-General has some grudges and rarely actively asks to speak with Chen Gu.
Chen Gu took over the call, and Aviloya said sternly, "The Principal and I are planning to go into the Star State to seek some justice; you're the party involved and already at the Eighth Energy Level, will you dare to come with us?"
Chen Gu immediately understood the intentions of the two Ninth Power Levels and couldn't help but laugh, indeed they are the mighty lords of our Confederation.
"Of course, no problem." Chen Gu immediately agreed. This is a tradition passed down, in the future, if the Principal and Aviloya pass away, and Chen Gu can successfully advance to the Ninth Energy Level, then the honorable tradition of the Confederation's lords frequently "strolling" through the Star State's territory will be inherited by Chen Gu.
"Good..." Aviloya was pleased.
But Chen Gu interrupted Aviloya, "But I want to stay and solve the Thaistar issue first, then we go to the Star State!"
Aviloya paused: "You actually don't need to do this, the Freedom Alliance people are not our Confederation's people."
"But we're all humans." Chen Gu quickly explained, "Among the ordinary citizens of the Freedom Alliance, many lean towards the Star State and are not friendly to our Confederation—I know all this. But among the countless citizens on this planet, they are our kind.
Moreover, if the bugs occupy this planet, their strength will further grow. This is very detrimental to the overall human battle situation.
Also, the most important point: these bugs are very unusual this time, we need to gather firsthand information. These bugs will attack our Confederation sooner or later, I hope our army can know ourselves and the enemy."
Ultimately, it's still for the Confederation. Moreover, Chen Gu vaguely felt that this bug's mutation might involve some mysteries of life levels.
Aviloya gritted her teeth, "Do you know the risks involved?"
Chen Gu laughed heartily, "Of course I know, but the path of a professional is always accompanied by risks, haven't we already gotten used to it?"
Aviloya seemed to sigh deeply, "You now... have really changed."
Chen Gu didn't want to address that, he couldn't shake off the original body's baggage, he just hoped from now on, the Director-General would change her perception of him, and not make things difficult.
"Alright," Aviloya said, "We will continue negotiating with the Star State and Freedom Alliance, the condition for you staying on Thaistar to help is that they must pre-sign that agreement, not let them find other excuses!"
Chen Gu rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "We can test them like this, but the agreement, well, it doesn't have to be signed in a hurry."
"Hmm?" Aviloya sounded a bit puzzled.
...
On Thaistar, the civilian evacuation had already begun. If it were a war within humanity, the warring sides might leave some 'blank zones' for civilians to have a chance to flee.
But once the bugs gained ground warfare advantage, they quickly transported a large swarm of Star Sea bugs using void cocoon worms, and with the Freedom Alliance's support fleet arriving, a great battle broke out in the Star Sea outside Thaistar. Without military ships for cover, civilian ships trying to escape faced a less-than-ten-percent survival rate akin to moths trying to fly through flames.
In human society, the Freedom Alliance's military strength was already the weakest, facing a fully prepared massive invasion, along with the newly supported bugs, the Star Sea bugs soon started to lose ground in the Star Sea battle.
At the resort Chen Gu was at, the Alliance's staff had already evacuated. According to the subsequent news, the well-connected Alliance had secured the escort of a fleet, three of the departing ships were destroyed by bugs, but the other two escaped.
In those two were the star players of the Beast Emperor Showdown and high-ranking officials of the Alliance; they escaped unharmed. The three ships that were destroyed contained bottom-tier Alliance staff—resulting in substantial compensation payouts, the Alliance indeed felt the financial pain.
Chen Gu didn't wait long, less than an hour later, Aviloya called again to say, "The Star State has agreed." A hint of cold laughter appeared on Chen Gu's face, "Very good, I understand."
"Let's not rush into signing, because once we really sign, in the future we won't have any excuse to visit those admirable and amiable politicians inside the Star State!" Chen Gu said through gritted teeth.
This was actually just a test, and the Star State's urgent attitude precisely confirmed Chen Gu's suspicions.
Qing Ruyan stood by, utterly confused, not understanding what Chen Gu was trying to do.
Chen Gu hung up the phone and, while preparing, explained to Qing Ruyan, "Why are the Star State and the Freedom Alliance so eager for me to join this battle? An Eighth Energy Level individual sounds powerful, but even a Ninth Power Level person would likely find it hard to turn the tide in the current situation."
Qing Ruyan nodded, if it were Aviloya or the principal here, all they could do was kill a few big bugs in the Star Sea and help evacuate a few more civilians.
"The Star State could have used this opportunity to renege on that agreement, but now they are willing to sign it just to keep me on Tai Star. This indicates that they certainly have a conspiracy we don't know about, and this conspiracy requires my presence."
Qing Ruyan asked, "What conspiracy?"
Chen Gu certainly had some guesses, but it wasn't time to explain them to Qing Ruyan. Chen Gu gently shook his head and said, "You should evacuate immediately, there will be a warship coming to pick you up."
"I..." Qing Ruyan very much wanted to say she wouldn't leave and would stay with him, but the young girl knew staying would only hold Chen Gu back. Milgray stayed to help Chen Gu, but if she stayed, Chen Gu would be distracted having to protect her.
Chen Gu gently pinched her cheek, smiling, "Go back and wait for me, I've always heard there's a world-famous food street on Capital Star, you treat me when we get back, we'll eat from one end of the street to the other."
Qing Ruyan nodded vigorously with teary eyes, "Okay, it's a deal, you better not stand me up."
Chen Gu laughed heartily, "Why so somber, like we're parting forever. Don't forget, I have the power of Myriad Forms Heavenly Dragon, even if there's real danger, I can pull Milgray into the rift between the real world and the Endless Realm, and no one can touch me."
Only then did Qing Ruyan feel at ease, leaving while turning back every few steps.
Milgray asked mildly, "Have you figured out what the Star State and the Freedom Alliance intend to do?"
Chen Gu chuckled, "Of course, but they clearly don't understand me well enough yet."
…
A Freedom Alliance unit quickly arrived at the resort, taking Chen Gu and Milgray away. Milgray continued to use her [Psychological Invisibility] skill, making the Freedom Alliance soldiers completely unaware that someone was with Chen Gu.
They then reached the nearest airport, took a surface high-speed shuttle fighter straight to the frontline.
There, a Freedom Alliance marshal was waiting for them. Upon seeing Chen Gu, he immediately extended his hand: "Thank you for your support, I am Ken, the ground forces commander of the Freedom Alliance on Tai Star."
Chen Gu shook hands and said, "I have one last personal request: the Freedom Alliance must immediately make a public announcement, explaining the causes and effects of this catastrophe to all humanity in detail, and severely punish the local governance officials on Tai Star who concealed information and tried to cover it up!"
"This..." Ken was a bit troubled. The local officials couldn't escape, but revealing the truth would greatly impact the image of the Freedom Alliance.
After all, they're called the "Freedom" Alliance! And this incident, from every angle, was not very indicative of "freedom."
"I need to consult on this."
Chen Gu made a gesture of consent, and Ken went to make a call. About three minutes later he returned: "No problem, we agree."
Chen Gu nodded slightly, confirming further that the conspiracy between the Freedom Alliance and the Star State was significant. In fact, these two Star Nations didn't plan to let him leave Tai Star alive!
"What do you need me to do?" Chen Gu posed an attitude of "cooperation."
Ken opened a holographic map: "This location, the southern Constantine Coast, one of Tai Star's most famous resort beaches, is the outbreak spot of this insect disaster. We need you to lead a team and infiltrate to find the insect general commanding the attack."
In recent months, human military forces have increasingly discovered in battle that the Insect Race has evolved a new "class" - the insect general.
Their role is between the Insect Queen and the regular insect swarm, often replacing the Queen to conduct on-site command; they possess extremely high independent intelligence.
The insect swarm's previous battles were always remotely directed by the Insect Queen from afar, causing delayed information relay.
Evolving insect generals was also a move out of desperation; the Queens have always tried to avoid having independently intelligent individuals in their race, as it could greatly threaten their status. Insect generals may challenge the Queen, attempting to replace her.
However, recently, the Insect Race has been continually at a disadvantage in wars, forcing the Queens to take this risk.
