Prince Conspiracy Star Map Draftsman I: Federation War

Meanwhile on the Orion Arm, princes hear that a new Star Map Draftsman has appeared.

What happens in the vast universe is just like the daily picture in the office on a Monday afternoon. The two-day weekend has exhausted a week’s worth of anticipation; the tired body sits at a loss in the chair, probably from sleeping on its back the first night, with the rise and fall of breathing and a slight pressure in the right side of the chest. The legless and wingless creatures outside are rooted in the soil, half dead and baked by the sun. Most of the two-legged creatures are curled up indoors with electronic music pounding in their eardrums, and apart from that there is only the sound of keyboard tapping, sometimes like a shower falling on the heart, and sometimes like a few drops of water brought by the north wind from the south. On the edge of the planet, a meeting was about to take place, and even though they were meeting for the first time, it felt like there was some kind of tacit understanding pulling them both together.

“You’re here early.” One man stepped down from the shuttle boats, and he spoke loudly as he walked over to another man on the ground.

“I didn’t expect that you would dare to come.” The other man on the ground smiled a little, his hand still behind his back as he spoke.

“What is there for me to be afraid of? Moreth Federation’s Star Bridge is still so fast.” As he spoke, the man coming down from the shuttle boats walked up to the man who had been waiting for him.

“I had only heard of Prince Carlson’s reputation, but today you kept our appointment without bringing your entourage over, and showed me your courage.”

“Unfortunately, my father cannot see my courage. You, on the other hand, Moreth Steader of Moreth Federation, do not have this trouble.” Yes, the man who came down from the shuttle boats was Carlson, the eldest prince of Strath Federation, with a big clean head on a burly body; his martial figure was betrayed by his two gentle eyes.

“How do you know I don’t have such troubles?” The young man who had been waiting on this planet early was named Jonathan, the Moreth Steader of Moreth Federation. He sneered and then continued. “Let’s get down to business. I came to you this time to work with you. You take down Ashton Federation, and all their technology will be yours.”

“Moreth Federation’s Moreth Steader is so generous? You know what I want.” Carlson sounded mild.

“I know.” Jonathan looked at Carlson, moved both hands from behind his back to the front of his body, clasped them together, and then put them behind his back again. Jonathan continued. “Strath Federation has always wanted White Crystal technology, the poison that makes people immortal. Didn’t your old chief already hint to you two brothers that whoever can take it from Ashton Federation in his lifetime can become the new chief of Strath Federation? Just as you set out to come here, your brother, the second prince Burt, was already getting ready to attack Gyaly Planet.”

“Doesn’t the Moreth Federation want the technology?” Carlson leaned closer to Jonathan.

“Who doesn’t want it? You know, on Orion Arm anyone with a little money is consuming White Crystal, and some people have even lived on White Crystal for thousands of years. In the three main administrative units of Moreth Federation, all the leading gangs are hoarding White Crystal; they want to go on ruling these departments for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.” Jonathan said this while staring at the land, his back teeth clenched tightly.

“What about you?”

“To tell you the truth, my purpose is to take back Moreth Federation’s power. Since I am Moreth Steader, all the subjects of Moreth Federation should listen to me instead of treating me as a mascot, and the decisions I make should not need a vote by the three major institutions of the Federation. White Crystal is what lets them keep dominating Moreth Federation’s power. If you get White Crystal technology, you just need to not sell it to Moreth Federation for the next few decades. When this pile of stubborn old men dies, I can let the people in my camp take over the three institutions. This way, Moreth Federation will be the Moreth Steader’s Federation.” The more Jonathan said, the more excited he became, and the hand that had been behind his back had long since been jabbing at the air.

“That, I agree with.” Carlson began to applaud, and after stopping he raised his voice. “As for White Crystal technology, I will choose to destroy it when I get it. Strath Federation has put too much galaxy coin into buying platinum, and those elders who ate White Crystal have nothing but young bodies; they never brought Strath Federation any new technological innovation. Only when people know their life is limited will they cherish it and try to create; even if they are interstellar dust, they try to create stars, try to create planets. Our old chief has eaten so much White Crystal that he has become muddled. This time, no matter which of Burt and I grabs White Crystal technology, he will not give up the position of chief. He wants to rule Strath Federation forever, and even if Strath Federation is slowly decaying, he turns a blind eye.”

When Carlson finished, Jonathan reached out and patted his arm. After speaking, the two ambitious children looked out at the deserted planet, which had a beauty of its own.

The planet was located at the edge of Moreth Federation’s star field. There was no wind, and clouds of different shapes hung lazily in the clean blue sky. Low but broad mountains were scattered near and far; the large vegetation had been artificially cleared, and only yellowing grass was embedded in the land, as if the Creator had left a mat of grass. The most conspicuous thing on the mat was a polygonal building with at least fifteen triangular faces, a silvery gray metal frame, and transparent glass inlaid between the frames; it was empty. Beside this large building, two smaller ones were scattered around, similar in shape to the largest one, and one of them was half buried in the earth. Jonathan brought his cronies to walk around the side of the building; in front of such a building, people looked no bigger than the nuts on its metal frame.

The sun in this galaxy was coming up from behind the mountains, the intense light dissolving the side of the mountains into a fog so strong that the human eye could hardly catch the contents. Jonathan was so absorbed in watching that he didn’t notice that the temperature was starting to rise. Carlson’s vision was to bring back the importance of technology to the Strath Federation, so that the Strath Federation’s vehicles could carry Strath people to travel freely in the universe.

“Then it’s settled.” Jonathan said as he suddenly came out of his thoughts and looked at Carlson.

“Okay, I’ll act on the plan.” Carlson smiled.

Jonathan’s eyes were half closed and he tilted his head slightly and took a deep breath. After exhaling slowly, he spoke. “I like the feel of it.” Carlson did not say anything; he also liked the feeling of alliance. The two men had the same interests, and both had an ambition to achieve.

“By the way, I heard someone mention a strange thing on my way here. May I ask you about it?” Carlson asked as they neared the shuttle boats.

“What strange thing?” Jonathan gave Carlson a quizzical look.

“Here’s the deal.” Carlson paused and waited for Jonathan to stop as well before he continued. “The soldiers under my command heard from the merchants that Orion Arm’s new Star Map Draftsman had shown up and that it was being secretly arranged. Have you heard about it?”

“You believe something so outrageous, Prince Carlson?” Jonathan hesitated for a moment and began to laugh in reply. He continued after he stopped. “Star Map Draftsman is chosen by Datheon. As to how, we don’t know; what we do know is that it is the duty and responsibility of every Federation on Orion Arm to provide any help to Star Map Draftsman. As for Datheon, no one except our grandfathers’ generation has seen them. They are high level life forms, and from the descriptions of the older generation, Datheon should be energy bodies, right? Who can arrange Star Map Draftsman?”

“That being said, what if someone does find a way?” Carlson explained, undeterred.

“I really don’t believe this one.” Jonathan shook his head.

“Think about it. We never saw how Datheon picked Star Map Draftsman; Star Map Draftsman just appeared and disappeared out of thin air. Chances are they are not machines but modified people. If they are modified, there must be some kind of high technology.”

“Alright Prince Carlson, Star Map Draftsman is not something we need to worry about. Remember our plan. We won’t be in touch again. I’ve already told you about the Star Bridge and the information; get to the designated location on time, okay?” Jonathan finished and stepped into the shuttle boats. After the doors closed, the shuttle boats ignited and flew toward another large ship in the planet’s near earth orbit. Carlson did not leave; he watched as the engines of Jonathan’s ship ignited, adjusted the angle, and opened the Star Bridge. This is Moreth Federation’s unique interstellar highway technology, and Star Bridge brings Moreth Federation a lot of revenue. Compared with highways on Earth, people can likewise choose to spend more time taking the ordinary road and not pay for the highway. But the importance of shortening space travel is something that not only the people of Earth know well, but also the businessmen on the long Orion Arm. They are willing to pay a lot of galaxy coin to use the Star Bridge and shorten the time spent on the journey; time and goods are the most important things for the businessmen of Orion Arm.

“Prince, do you believe Jonathan’s words?” The person who asked was Carlson’s adjutant, named Felix, who was originally the strategic officer of the Ashton Federation and who designed the military and financial structure of the Ashton Federation, but the ruler of the Ashton Federation, Madam Winifred, was afraid that Felix had overstepped his authority and killed all of Felix’s family after trumping up a series of charges of treason. Felix escaped and joined Prince Carlson, who had been trying to attack the Ashton Federation.

“Do you think I should believe him or not?” Carlson asked rhetorically.

“Prince, I think his plan is too convoluted.”

“Why?” Carlson asked, looking at Felix with interest.

“Prince, the goal of our war is to take Ashton Federation quickly. Ashton Federation’s five main administrative functions are on five different planets. Think about it: the Interior Sector is on Visadio Planet, and Madam Winifred and Lord Winifred live there. To catch the thieves, catch their king first; we can give priority to attacking Visadio Planet. Once we control the ruler, the star field under the Federation can be controlled.”

“The purpose of fighting the war is to weaken the military power of the other side as much as possible and to keep them from gathering their army again after defeat. Why don’t we go and attack Cavnos Planet first? Their Defense Sector is set there, and all the military training is on that planet. As far as I know, the vast majority of Ashton Federation’s military is currently on this planet, right? If we take down Cavnos Planet, won’t we be able to stop Ashton Federation from resurrecting itself?”

“But Prince, our fleet can’t go head to head with Cavnos Planet’s military power in terms of strength. You know, Duncan is on Cavnos Planet right now, and he’s the best general Ashton Federation has.”

“And oh yeah.” Carlson turned to look at the buildings in the distance and continued after a brief pause. “We can’t go at them head-on; we’ll lose our main force. Then how about we go attack the Innovation Sector? Malea Planet’s defense force is definitely not as strong as Cavnos Planet’s, and I also heard that Malea Planet is run by their chief scientist, a person who is good at building all kinds of flying machines and loathes war. What’s his name?”

“Hamilton,” Felix replied.

“Yes, that’s the one. Ashton Federation’s most advanced ships and weapons are there, and maybe, ah, White Crystal technology is there too. After we defeat Malea Planet, we may also be able to control White Crystal technology, and then, ah, Orion Arm will be under our control as well. Wouldn’t that be better?”

After Carlson finished, he looked at Felix. Felix seemed to realize the problem and slightly bowed his head, apologizing and reflecting at the same time. His hatred of Ashton Federation made him rush his decisions, and decisions made in a hurry are often flawed and not conducive to the long-term development of things. He had chosen to follow Carlson back then because he valued Carlson’s composure and his trait of long-term vision. Carlson seemed to see what he was thinking and went up to him and patted him on the shoulder, and then they had more conversation. In fact, the difficulty for Strath Federation in attacking Ashton Federation was not the strength of Ashton Federation; the main difficulty was the hidden forces attached to Ashton Federation’s White Crystal. Neither Jonathan nor Carlson knew whether, once the real war began, those hidden forces would jump out. The optimistic scenario was that these forces would slow down Strath Federation’s defeat of Ashton Federation; the pessimistic one was that Strath Federation would instead be wiped out by Ashton Federation.

“Felix ah.” Carlson took a deep breath, as if to build up strength for making a long speech. He put his fist to his lips, thought about what to say, and then opened his mouth to add. “You know better than I do the distribution of Ashton Federation functions. The Interior Sector of Visadio Planet is the seat of the political group, and the defense force is the Royal Everlasting Army. Malea Planet’s Innovation Sector, apart from a large number of engineers, has almost no army. It can be taken by sending a small force, and its large number of fleets and weapons would allow us to attack further into the stars. As for Cavnos Planet’s Defense Sector, the challenge is that it has a large army and Ashton Federation’s best general Duncan sitting on it. We better be well prepared before engaging with it, don’t you think?”

Felix nodded.

“Well, that leaves the two most important places, and the ones you’ve overlooked.” Without giving Felix a chance to speak, Carlson continued. “Ashton Federation’s stupid political struggle has harmed many people, and these people are imprisoned in Sivastia Planet’s Justice Sector. Your family was also killed on Sivastia Planet back then. The person in charge of the Justice Sector is named Jarvis. This old turtle’s greatest pleasure is devising all kinds of criminal laws. Ashton Federation pursues a perfect system, and those so-called imperfect people end up as souls on Sivastia Planet. We can understand it this way: all the prisoners on Sivastia Planet are our friends and our army. As long as we send a small team over, defeat the guards’ army, and release all the prisoners, can’t they then go with us to attack any place in Ashton Federation?”

Having said this, Carlson took a deep breath and did not continue; Felix could understand the rest. Ashton Federation’s five political functions were on five different planets. The four planets Carlson spoke of each had their own characteristics, but there was an obvious problem: the food of these planets depended on supplies from the fifth planet, and this planet was Yasies Planet. Yasies Planet was a fertile planet that produced almost 80 percent of the Ashton Federation’s food, and it had a functional department called the Energy Sector, headed by Ashton Federation’s famous conservative scholar Lewis. Felix would not be where he was today without Lewis’s frame-up; thinking of this, Felix grew so angry that the muscles of his back tensed. Then, thinking of Carlson’s words, Felix relaxed. In fact, Strath Federation could also give priority to attacking Yasies Planet. If they held it, Ashton Federation would soon run out of food, and with time, Ashton Federation would break.

Ashton Federation’s separation of the different functions really could bring a lot of benefits in peacetime. Felix was also involved in designing this plan to solve two thorny problems that Ashton Federation had always had. The main problem was maintaining the solidity of Madam Winifred’s ruling power. If these political groups were placed in the same place, the friction and struggle between them would spill over onto the supreme ruler’s power; once the groups were separated, they were instead more willing to work for Madam Winifred. Ashton Federation had a large army, and without a war to consume their attention, the soldiers would have become marauders. The outskirts of Visadio Planet had often been looted, and the concentration of troops on Cavnos Planet did reduce the risk of mutiny or even a seizure of power. In fact, Madam Winifred had always been afraid of soldiers seizing power. After all, the ruling power of Ashton Federation would eventually be handed over to Lord Winifred, but unfortunately, Lord Winifred’s mind had long since sunk into the depths of the endless pool of wine and meat, and in the army, there were already people eyeing this position.

Ashton Federation’s political groups were laid out in a way that was disadvantageous in times of war. There was no flexibility in collaboration, and some political groups might even hope for other political groups to be destroyed, let alone reach out to assist them. Carlson had calculated this, so he was not in a hurry to attack Ashton Federation. In the long run, only by ending the rule of Ashton Federation and eradicating White Crystal’s power of control as far as possible would he have a chance to conquer Ashton Federation.

“Prince, what’s Jonathan’s motive for joining forces with us?” Felix asked in disbelief.

“Haha.” Carlson laughed as he patted Felix on the back and continued. “Felix ah, you have to pay more attention to human nature. What Jonathan wants is nothing but power. What he clearly told us is that he wants all of the Moreth Federation back in his own hands, but power is tempting; I just fear that he wants more than that.”

“He is the Moreth Steader of the Moreth Federation, in theory, isn’t the power of the whole Federation concentrated in his hands?”

“Not necessarily.” Carlson shook his head and continued. “The Moreth Federation’s power is fragmented; ostensibly, Jonathan is the center of power, while in reality, the power of the entire Moreth Federation is scattered among three political groups. And political decisions have to be made by the Administrative Department, whose entire staff is on Kunek Planet. Jonathan is also there, but although he is there, he takes no part in political decisions, big or small. If you were him, neglected day after day, wouldn’t you want to take back the power that should belong to you, the power written tightly in your heart, and hold it tightly in your hand?”

“That’s true.” Felix nodded.

“I think Moreth Federation is also very fragmented. The layout of its political departments is the same as Ashton Federation’s. The political group in charge of military operations is called the Military Department, mainly concentrated on Maniya Planet, and the political group in charge of finance and monitoring is called the Finance Department, with personnel concentrated on another planet called Cunzani Planet. I don’t even know what they were thinking.” Carlson shook his head, raised his finger and pointed to the shuttle boats. Felix understood his meaning, and then he and Prince Carlson walked toward the shuttle boats one after the other.

“Prince, you just said that Jonathan’s ambition for power, I’m afraid, is not only to rule the Moreth Federation. Does he also want to rule Orion Arm?”

“Who’s to say, but we have to be prepared for that.”

Felix nodded. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks and exclaimed, “No.”

“What’s all the fuss about?” Carlson asked. Startled by Felix’s sudden scream, he turned around rubbing his forehead.

“We can’t ignore Prince Burt. Ah, I heard he set off early. Will he attack Ashton Federation ahead of us?”

“Hey, I say, my strategist, have a little composure. I know my second brother has departed. Fair play is fine.” As Carlson said this, a smile full of confidence hung on his lips, as if he had known all along what Burt went to do. Carlson waved, and Felix quickly followed him into the shuttle boats. When they sat down on the ship in near-Earth orbit, they immediately began discussion and deployment; Carlson still had a lot of work to do to synchronize with Jonathan’s plan.

Every planet with living organisms must revolve around its own sun, which not only provides the planet with heat and gives it an atmospheric temperature suitable for the development of life, but also provides a different landscape for life on the planet at each sunset and sunrise. Look, the planet is at sunset, the sun is reluctantly sinking towards the horizon, the clouds closer to it have been burned red. In the middle of the sky, there are several distinctly shaped clouds blown into strips by the west wind, the places close to the sun are as white as freshly ground wheat flour, while the places far from the sun are slightly darker. At this sunset hour, all is quiet, except for the two black buildings stuck upside down in the ground, which look busy. This is Malea Planet of Ashton Federation.

The building is carefully streamlined throughout, with the very top cut diagonally into a triangle. From the highest point, a bright strip of lights hangs down the building, stopping at the middle of the building where it thickens and where there are multiple lighted spaces. From here down to the bottom entrance, few lights are on in this section of the building. On the outside of the building, there is a circular fence, built as thick as a levee, and above the smooth slope, on the edge of the fence, there is a faint strip of lights that seems to mark the location of the fence. Inside the building, Malea Planet’s principal Hamilton is busy meeting with the various principals of the Ashton Federation, a meeting chaired by Madam Winifred.

The meeting started some time ago, and someone in the hologram was whispering to someone on the side. Even though the people in high positions of power had been taking White Crystal for a long time, and had grown unperturbed faces after centuries of trivialities and battles, at the moment, everyone looked uncomfortable, as if they had woken up with a hangover and found themselves in a string of big troubles, their faces bloodless. The pleasant room temperature did not allow them to relax; cold sweat had long since plowed furrows into the skin of their backs. Some people tried to scratch, but their hands stopped halfway and went back to their knees in embarrassment, or simply clenched into fists.

“But madam, if we do not increase the army on Visadio Planet and the Strath people strike here directly, this will endanger the safety of you and Lord Winifred, ah, and thus plunge Ashton Federation into a huge crisis.” The person who spoke was Jasper, an important person of Visadio Planet. He was one of the old guard of Ashton Federation, with a slim figure, vertical wrinkles in the skin of his face, and a treacherous, slippery look. Then several people followed and agreed.

“You’re worried about your own little life.” Even if it was a holographic meeting, the sneering tone of the person speaking was obvious in the electronic message, it was Samuel, the leading figure of Ashton Federation’s Reform Party, who had been agitating for changes in the decrees and in the rules for selecting talent, wanting to make Ashton Federation richer. Unfortunately, in this system, as soon as he had a plan for improvement, countless plans to hinder his plan jumped out of thin air.

“How can you talk like that? Instead of worrying about Madam Winifred, you’re here spouting nonsense.”

“All right, shut up.” Madam Winifred said angrily, and only then did the chattering, arguing crowd stop. She raised her hand to point at Hamilton. “What do you say? What does the monitoring show?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Hamilton cleared his throat and threw out the data and pictures he had compiled beforehand. There were too many urgent matters for him to discuss with the senior officials of Ashton Federation, and if he didn’t take reasonable and effective action quickly, then Ashton Federation might be overthrown in a matter of moments.

“Hamilton, pick out the important ones.” Madam Winifred said, pointing to the dense information in the hologram.

“Yes, ma’am.” Hamilton rearranged the information and there were two images in the hologram for comparison, like some kind of data. “Here’s the thing. Three days ago, Malea Planet detected an instantaneous emergence of dark matter near an incipient galaxy, and this phenomenon matches the data that we recorded many years ago for a certain person, or a certain creature; anyway, it is the same data that we recorded then. And that emergence always accompanied this creature, and Malea Planet’s science team believes that this creature can manipulate dark matter.”

“I’ll interrupt you for a moment.” The treacherous Jasper forced two dry coughs from his throat and continued. “What is this creature you speak of?”

Hamilton did not rush to answer. He scanned the crowd in a circle, took a deep breath, lowered his head and threw out five words: “Star Map Draftsman.” The Ashton Federation’s top political group was all there, but no one spoke up.

“All right, Hamilton you go on.” Madam Winifred said after a sweeping look around.

“Yes, ma’am.” Just as Hamilton was about to go on, Samuel spoke in an uncharacteristically humble tone.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you.” Samuel nodded slightly in the direction of Madam Winifred, then looked at Hamilton and continued. “How do you know it’s Star Map Draftsman?”

“That’s right.” This time Hamilton didn’t wait for anyone to ask, or for instructions from Madam Winifred before continuing to answer. “When Star Map Draftsman appeared in the last generation, he had his mission, but we and the Moreth Federation did not see it that way; after all ...... never mind.” Hamilton did not finish the “after all,” but went on to add more about the previous generation’s Star Map Draftsman. “Malea Planet’s team then began to study how to monitor Star Map Draftsman’s course of action. We tried to monitor his ship, but that kind of ship is beyond our known body of knowledge, and cannot be monitored. Later, after various attempts, someone on our team discovered that whenever Star Map Draftsman appeared, dark matter would emerge near him, as if he were a special magnet for dark matter, and wherever he went, the density of dark matter in that vicinity would increase dramatically.”

“Dark matter?” Samuel asked, puzzled.

“Yes, there is a high percentage of dark matter in the universe, and the current known data shows that dark matter is eighty-five percent of the total matter of the universe, but where Star Map Draftsman appears, the dark matter content is even close to one hundred percent, and it is always such a high percentage.” Hamilton replied.

“Understood. But ......” Samuel had new doubts, and he continued to ask questions. “What we know is that dark matter is like water, and galaxies in the universe are like fish in water, but what is the specific use of this dark matter?”

“This ......” Hamilton continued with an apologetic smile. “We don’t know, perhaps, it’s also the secret of Datheon’s highest technology.”

“So ......” Samuel wanted to continue to understand, but he hadn’t had time to finish.

“Well.” Madam Winifred interrupted Samuel’s questioning and continued. “Orion Arm has been peaceful for thousands of years, and it is no coincidence that several things have come together now: first the detection of Star Map Draftsman’s appearance near a distant level zero civilization, and then the Strath people making a big show of attacking the Ashton Federation. Could it be that Star Map Draftsman is one of the Strath Federation’s people? I want you all to figure this out for me, or you can all quit.” Madam Winifred was angry. Even though she did not slap the table, the air was surprisingly quiet. The crowd of managers did not dare to answer, half bowing their heads like children who had made a mistake, and Madam Winifred continued. “Also, pass the order to the Defense Sector: even if Duncan has to go out himself to gather information, you have to find out for me whether Moreth Federation is involved in the Strath people’s attack on Ashton Federation. What is the relationship between them, in the end? Do not let it come to the point where they play the pig to eat the tiger while we are still foolishly in the dark.”

“Roger that, ma’am.” Jasper was the first to respond, as if the first person to speak up were the one qualified to take command of the whole situation, and he continued to add. “But Ma’am, at the moment General Duncan’s father is not very friendly to the Federation, and there are even rumors again in the military that General Duncan and his family are planning to go independent, take their loyal army, find a new planet to live on and start their own.”

“Alright.” Madam Winifred exclaimed, breaking the air around her the moment she stood up. She pointed at Jasper and continued. “Do your thing, you don’t need to worry about the rest, that’s all.” After Madam Winifred closed the hologram, one by one, the crowd turned off the image and exited the meeting.

Hamilton was about to follow up on Star Map Draftsman’s whereabouts when Samuel reached out to him. “Thank you for being able to provide such valuable information, but as you can see, Ashton Federation has always had a hard time coming together, and I do have some radical words on reform, but as you know, my goal is still for the Federation to last forever.”

“So what is the purpose of you contacting me?” Hamilton asked with a smile.

“I want to team up with you to get to the heart of why the Strath people attacked Ashton Federation and then see if we can fix that.”

“Haha, Samuel taking the initiative to ask for cooperation, that’s rare.” Hamilton started laughing.

“Come on, don’t make fun of me, get down to business.” Samuel looked a little embarrassed at Hamilton’s smile.

“Okay, down to business.” Hamilton straightened up and continued. “You know, it’s not just Strath Federation that covets Orion Arm’s White Crystal technology. Including our own Federation, who doesn’t want to master White Crystal technology? It is the most effective means of controlling Orion Arm, ah, more effective than any ship or weapon. The controller does not need to travel to distant places, nor does she need to pull the trigger or give the command to fire any weapon. She just needs to put the White Crystal at the door, and Orion Arm is the plaything in her hand.”

“This I know; that’s why I came to you to discuss it. All along, only Madam Winifred has known White Crystal technology. If the Strath people attack, the many forces that take White Crystal will certainly come out to protect Ashton Federation, or in fact, to protect Madam Winifred, because only then will these forces have the opportunity to continue extending their lives. Even if the Strath people say they just want to fight the Ashton Federation, they are not stupid, ah. What we can think of, their two princes, with their degree of intelligence, could not fail to think of.” Samuel explained half-heartedly; he himself was also puzzled.

“No need to guess; the Moreth Federation certainly can’t escape involvement here.” Hamilton sneered. He fiddled with the projection equipment in front of him and called up Cavnos Planet’s thermal imaging; there were no signs of military activity. Hamilton hesitated for a moment. Could it be that his suspicions were really true? If that was really the case, then Ashton Federation probably really could not be saved. At this thought, his throat tightened unnaturally a little.

“How do you know that?” Samuel pursued.

“It’s simple.” Hamilton pulled up another set of data maps, pointed to a conspicuous yellow track within it and replied. “Star Map Draftsman appeared at the edge of the solar system, and before that, Moreth Federation’s Star Bridge had a port that was frequently active in the vicinity of the solar system. It can’t all be such a coincidence, right?”

“And does Madam Winifred know about it?” The worry on Samuel’s face increased, his brow squeezing into a frown.

“She definitely knows. I told her when I first noticed the sign.”

“Then isn’t it strange that she still organized a meeting and then asked you to report the information?”

“Gee, I say, Samuel, don’t you get it? Madam Winifred’s intention is for me to speak out, since we are all subordinates of the same level, so that we can unite to solve the problem, rather than her giving orders and each of us acting separately. Then Ashton Federation would be in danger. Don’t you even understand this?”

“Ohhh.” Samuel nodded his head as an afterthought and continued. “Understood, then. I, ah, will go back and mobilize more people from the Reform Party, and have everyone gather the people at home who can fight and be ready to deal with the Strath people. This is really hell. Are they so idle that they have to attack the Ashton Federation?” said Samuel, slamming the fist of his right hand heavily into the palm of his left hand.

“I’ll give you a suggestion.” Hamilton looked at Samuel, and only when the other man’s eyes returned to him did he continue. “Samuel, you know that Madam Winifred has always been afraid of the army gathering, if you really want to organize a volunteer army, then you’d better give a word to Madam Winifred first and get her permission before you act, otherwise, I am afraid that it will not bring good results to resist the Strath people, but will bring you new trouble.”

“Hey.” Samuel sighed heavily, nodded slightly in acknowledgment and exited the hologram. The disarray on Orion Arm all started with the Dawn ship on Earth.