Chapter 1700: Chapter 668: Stellar Guidance

Ren Zhong knew he could persuade Bourbon Louis.

Because he understood this man’s elder brother, understood this man himself, and understood even better the entire Marquis Zhenjiang Mansion under Jin Shi’s command.

Though these displaced remnants were loyal to the Empire, their particular ethnic experience had forged in them a unique consciousness of vengeance and attachment to their lost homeland. Their loyalty to Marquis Zhenjiang Jin Shi ranked even higher than their loyalty to the Empire.

Ren Zhong, having received from the Empire the title of Chosen One, also held an excellent gilt-edged credential; he could use his words to deceive the other party.

Within the Empire, the Chosen Ones possessed many privileges, and a certain degree of autonomous decision-making power was among them.

After all, the process by which each Chosen One came into being was different, the prompts they received from the cosmic consciousness varied, and the paths by which they fulfilled their missions differed as well.

Ren Zhong’s request was already relatively easy to understand.

The other forces in the Far Border Star Domain did not possess the formidable operational capability of the Red Blade Army. Time dragged on until two months later before the various races within the Far Border Star Domain finally complied with the deployment orders from the Marquis Zhenjiang Mansion, dispatching one heavy transport fleet after another laden with energy supplies, converging toward the Southern Nine Star System along the Fold Jump Subspace Channel.

Although the three major frontline Star Domains, including the Far Border Star Domain, had not yet been touched by the flames of war, the rigor with which war preparations were implemented was in no way looser than in other Star Systems.

Items such as energy batteries and nuclear fusion materials were stockpiled in large quantities.

At Ren Zhong’s behest, all the resources within the Far Border Star Domain were mobilized and were now converging from all directions.

In addition, through his conversations with Bourbon Louis, Ren Zhong gained further confirmation that Jin Shi’s situation was indeed grim.

He had already discerned through Sun Ai’s auxiliary brain that Jin Shi had completely lost her personal freedom and was under control.

Yet on Bourbon Louis’s side, Jin Shi had told him that the Empire Core intended to elevate her to the rank of Duke and appoint her as a Marshal of the Empire.

According to the Empire’s military law, every non–Royal Family direct-line Marshal of a different surname must undergo the strictest psychological examination.

This psychological examination would be divided into several phases, each with a rigid procedure, with a total duration spanning several decades.

Most of that time would have to be passed in frozen sleep, but each time Jin Shi awoke, she would be allowed to contact the outside world once.

Not long ago, Bourbon Louis had had a brief exchange with Jin Shi and reported to her the situation within the Far Border Star Domain.

Yet from the intelligence Ren Zhong had obtained, no such matter existed at all.

Thus, Bourbon Louis had obviously been deceived.

Were it not for Ren Zhong, given Bourbon Louis’s complicated feelings toward the Empire and the Marquis Zhenjiang, he would likely have chosen to confront the Royal Family or ministers at the ministerial level directly and demand an explanation.

But his fate would certainly not be good. Marquis Zhenjiang Jin Shi’s strategic capabilities endowed her with greater value, so the Empire had chosen only to place her under soft confinement rather than crudely erase her. Bourbon Louis, and indeed the entire Louis family, were no more than Jin Shi’s vassals; his ill-timed questioning was destined to bring nothing but death.

Fortunately, Ren Zhong’s indistinguishable mix of truth and lies offered Bourbon a new choice.

Ren Zhong told him that within the Empire Core, some highly placed elites had already been infiltrated by the Spirit Demon Race. The reason he was in no hurry to return to the Core was precisely that he needed to guard against the insiders among these high-level figures.

Their true purpose in holding Jin Shi hostage was not in fact to covet the military strength of the Far Border Star Domain; their real intent fell instead upon his own Red Blade Army.

Once he sensed danger and led the Red Blade Army away from the Empire to seek a way out, he had in turn become a major obstacle to their conspiracy to exterminate humanity.

"They will not pass up any opportunity to weaken my Red Blade Army. Even though Jin Shi and I are only friends, they must have analyzed my behavioral patterns and concluded that seizing her would effectively restrain me. I have to admit, their abacus has been well played; I truly do not intend to stand idly by. At present there is only one way to save her, to save the Empire and humanity. As for the concrete method, I cannot yet tell you. You only need to act according to my instructions. Of course, the Empire Core will inevitably question your movements; when the time comes, you should do this..."

Ren Zhong handed Bourbon Louis a detailed written plan.

After reading it, Bourbon Louis nodded and said, "When the Red Blade Army was evading pursuit by the First Mother Empress, it was drawn into the Chaotic Subspace and lost its bearings, and is currently drifting within the Chaotic Subspace. Red Blade Marquis Ren Zhong has established a cognitive anchor point in the Source Star System; if I can establish an enormous signal source within the Source Star System and project the characteristic spectrum of the Source Sun into the Chaotic Subspace, I will be able to guide you back to the Empire. That is all I need to say, correct?"

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