(PS: I polished the end of the last chapter a bit more for smoothness.)

...

"Has Major Yang Ming not returned yet?"

Edwan, dressed in a vintage robe, frowned as he asked.

Through the thick doors, he already heard the huge and noisy cheers from outside.

The calendar projection on the wall displayed the Sherman Empire's calendar.

It was now the second day of the new year in the New Calendar 728, also the day when the Luofeng Empire was about to welcome its new emperor.

The ministers behind Edwan exchanged glances and finally bowed their heads in silence.

An intelligence officer stepped forward to report, "Major Yang Ming sent a message saying that the transport ship's jump point had a problem, and it will take half an hour to reach Ilando Star. To land, it will take at least another hour, your majesty, you should pay attention to the national broadcast timing..."

"Then let's wait a little while."

Edwan replied in a deep voice, walked back to the center seat in the hall, and said softly:

"Everyone, please sit down and rest."

"But Your Majesty, if we miss the broadcast time..."

"Let the TV broadcast a ball game first," Edwan laughed, "On a day like this, Major Yang Ming cannot be absent."

"Yes, Your Majesty," a minister smiled with a meaningful look, "Major Yang Ming's influence in the military is too great."

Edwan lowered his head with a smile, picked up his network terminal, and looked at the latest Luofeng economic index.

For this minister's remark, Edwan chose to ignore it directly.

Moreover, Edwan decided to reassign this minister to a post as a local governors on the Second Administrative Star later, otherwise, such remarks reaching Yang Ming's ears might easily upset him.

Don't these ministers understand who truly calls the shots in Luofeng now?

Although he was about to ascend the throne and become the new emperor of the Luofeng Empire,

Edwan always felt that he was more of a finance minister, primarily responsible for the national economy, maintaining Luofeng's international political environment.

This was just a small step towards his life goal.

Edwan also knew why Yang Ming was late today.

In the past two years, Yang Ming had spent less than four months within the Luofeng borders in total.

This guy would constantly run off and vanish without a trace.

Edwan's father had "died" a week ago, and after a grand funeral, Edwan, according to imperial law, had to ascend the throne directly as the new emperor.

When Yang Ming received the news, he was likely outside the Luofeng Empire, perhaps up to no good somewhere in the Milky Way.

Thinking of this, Edwan sighed inwardly.

In the past two years, Yang Ming had contributed so much to the country of Luofeng.

Yang Ming's support for Luofeng was all-encompassing.

First, the unification of the military was achieved effortlessly, merging the six main fleets into four; Gudun Mah and General Leon each controlled two fleets.

In the following year, three small and medium-sized neighboring countries to Luofeng took the initiative to show goodwill, inviting the Luofeng military to conduct joint military exercises.

Yang Ming had revealed to Edwan that he easily settled the military key figures of the three nearby countries.

In other words, thanks to Yang Ming's orchestration, Luofeng and its neighbors formed a regional military alliance.

This greatly enhanced the security of the Luofeng Empire.

However, this was only in military terms.

In recent two years, every three to five months, a batch of new tech companies would appear in the Luofeng Empire, rapidly applying for a large number of international patents and energetically starting production, opening up markets at all costs.

These tech companies were involved in various fields and were already beginning to show their value.

If Edwan's guess was correct, the patents of these tech companies were stolen by Yang Ming from the New Federation, though it's unknown what methods he used to make modifications and innovations.

Whatever Luofeng lacked, Yang Ming would steal from the New Federation.

To cover up for Yang Ming's behavior, Edwan launched a series of activities like "全民科研" (national research) and "高薪挖人才" (high salary talent recruitment), advocating a planet development concept based on technological advancement.

Initially, Edwan indeed broke out in a cold sweat.

What if the New Federation noticed the abnormality in Luofeng's technological development and imposed sanctions on Luofeng's multinational groups?

But soon, Edwan found out...

The New Federation simply didn't have the time for Luofeng.

War.

Continuous war.

The Sherman Empire's valiant noblemen continuously triggered localized wars against the New Federation.

Of course, the intensity of these subsequent wars could not compare to the Battle of Ao Star, but two years of ongoing local wars led to the New Federation losing the territories of six administrative stars directly. Internal political parties slandered and accused each other, public sentiment was high, and the situation was extremely chaotic.

The Sherman Empire thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of maintaining a state of war with the New Federation.

The Little Nobles found promotion channels, the Great Nobles had the opportunity to restore family honor, and the Sherman royal family regained popular support, with the national economy rapidly improving due to the military industry boost.

The once declining Sherman Empire seemed to come alive in the past two years.

Every time he thought of the economic and military benefits Luofeng Empire gained by following in Sherman's footsteps, Edwan couldn't help grinning.

Edwan was extremely grateful to the White Ghost.

It was this White Ghost who exposed the New Federation's parasitic insect plot, thus allowing the Luofeng Empire to have a window for rapid development at such an opportune time.

Sometimes, Edwan even felt that Yang Ming and the White Ghost might belong to the same organization.

They had chosen Luofeng and wanted to build it into a new regional power to change the situation in the Milky Way.

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