By the time the other countries let down their guard, Wilkesa had already taken full control of the Jinming star cluster. They constructed military strongholds that could withstand the wind storms on every planet, each armed with powerful long-range artillery and armor that could be deployed at any time. When the wind storms arrived, they would hide in the buildings waiting for the storm to pass. In any case, during the storm, no other army could get close to the Jinming cluster. After the storm passed, they would begin mining precious metals again and were ready at any time to defend themselves.

At first, the more low-key they were the less likely they would incite suspicion. But now that everyone else was already harboring doubts, they didn’t hide anymore, transferring large numbers of troops from the capital planet and garrison planets to protect the mining and transportation.

The news that Wilkesa had already started mining the precious metals of the Jinming star cluster spread back to the empire and basically led to a national celebration. Even though for now they didn’t know how their country had actually managed to achieve this, this didn’t prevent them from celebrating in euphoria.

The other countries had originally not really believed any of this was actually true. But when they received this exact news and saw through the screen all of the cargo ships filled with precious metals—every day several dozens of ships would transport cargo to the Wilkesa Empire—they were so jealous their eyes almost bled. But they also didn’t understand how the Wilkesa Empire had done it.

“Impossible?! How is this possible?!” John smashed everything breakable in his office to vent his fury. He completely could not accept this reality. In the past two years, they had invested so much human and financial resources into this, and he had only received so much support from the people and the officials by promising that he would definitely make those precious metals belong to the Fetani Empire. But now he was facing a situation. His approval ratings were sure to fall, and he would be blamed. His prestige, which he had managed to raise over the years with much difficulty, would be hit hard.

The soldier who had come to report was hit by the objects that John was smashing. Even though he was in pain, he still stood there, not daring to move an inch.

Avery rushed into John’s office like a gust of wind, roaring even before his feet stopped moving. “Brother! Wilkesa has already started mining the precious metals, what are you waiting for?! Hurry up and bring soldiers to the Jinming star cluster to grab it ah!!”

John breathed heavily and wiped his face, making himself calm down slightly. He said to Avery, “They have already occupied the Jinming star cluster now. If they really are able to make it so that they can stay there during the wind storms, we also have no way to seize it away.”

“Who says that there’s no way!” Avery slammed his hand on John’s desk, his emotions very excited. “Bring the troops directly to rob them and chase them away, isn’t that fine?! Our mechas are so much stronger than theirs, could it be that we are still afraid that we wouldn’t be able to seize it away?!”

“Avery, you don’t understand the current situation.” John tried to explain to him. “If we take the initiative to start a war with other federation powers, then we will become the public enemy of the Federation. Then no matter how strong our mechas are, against the entire Federation, we have no chance of winning.”

“Then just pull the other countries and let them go against Wilkesa together with us, and then give them some benefits after we succeed!” Avery said. “Right now Wilkesa has already started mining precious metals, and even occupied the entire Jinming star cluster. Wouldn’t the other countries be envious? Wouldn’t they want a part? As long as there are benefits, there must be other people willing to support us!”

“This matter isn’t as simple as you think. We can go pull the other countries, and Wilkesa can do the same. And they have already mined the precious metals and can directly give the other countries benefits, but what we can give them, is only the promise of a possibility. Anyone with a brain would choose to support them.” John continued to help analyze the situation to him.

“You’re always this , not moving, how would you be able to do anything?” Avery scolded John. “I don’t understand all this mess between countries, but I used the things I do understand, and helped you create the strongest mechas in the universe, and gave you the leading mechanical level in all the countries. It’s already like this and you are still scared of that person named Denanfry, then that is just you finding excuses for your incompetence!”

“Avery!” John looked in disbelief at his little brother who he spoiled and pampered. “How can you speak to your brother like this?!”

“Is it not true?! If you aren’t incompetent, go seize back the Jinming star cluster!” After Avery finished speaking, he rushed out in fury, completely disregarding John’s ugly expression.

John flopped down onto the sofa, one hand on his forehead and one holding his chest. He had a headache over the current situation, and heartache from Avery’s tone. He really didn’t think that the little brother he spoiled and loved would be like this. Not helping him solve the problem or working together with him to think of feasible countermeasures was fine, but he actually spoke such hurtful words, it really was too chilling.

Tony came back home and had just pushed open the bedroom door when he was met with a vase flying straight at his face. This was already not the first time, so even if he was unprepared, seeing the vase fly over, he quickly dodged. It was just that his speed wasn’t as fast as the vase, so he was still hit on the shoulder, making him suffer from so much pain he thought his arm was going to break.

“Where did you go?!” Avery questioned him furiously. “Why did you only get back at this time today?!”

Avery had already been very angry because of that precious metals matter. He had gone back to Tony’s house yet found that he had not returned on time, and became even angrier, almost losing his mind.

Tony rubbed his shoulder, saying with a wooden expression, “Today the meeting went longer…”

“Meeting?!” Avery glared at him. “You think I don’t know? Your meeting was only for an hour, but you returned over two hours late. Speak! Besides the travel time, what did you do for the other hour?!”

“Don’t I have any personal freedom now?! I went to meet up with some friends, is that not allowed?!” Tony finally couldn’t stand it anymore, yelling, “We are only engaged, why are you managing me to death! Even sending people to watch me! Every day you interrogate me like a prisoner, how would I dare to marry you?!”

“You dare not to marry me?!” Avery’s face, which originally would have been considered relatively good-looking, twisted into an ugly expression. “Don’t forget, your father being able to become the left minister, and you being able to become the deputy financial minister at this age, was all because of me and my big brother! If you dare to not marry me, I will let your entire family have the same end as Skien’s family. If you don’t believe me, just try!”

Tony was threatened and felt extremely furious in his heart, but didn’t dare to really break off with him. He could only say, “You weren’t like this before. Could it be that that gentle and considerate attitude was just faked?”

After that he turned and walked into the room next door, leaving Avery alone in his bedroom.

Tony lay on the sofa, holding his forehead with a hand. He really regretted that he had not seen Avery’s true face at the beginning. They hadn’t even gotten married yet and he was already living a life with no freedom. He truly did not dare to imagine how painful his life would become after marrying Avery.

Thinking of Avery’s twisted face, he couldn’t help but feel disgusted. Then thinking of the already dead Skien, his delicate face, his gentle smile…if only he hadn’t saved Avery, then everything would have been good. Skien’s family wouldn’t have been exterminated, and he would now definitely have been together with Skien, living a happy and blissful life. Unfortunately, everything was already in the past. In this world, there was no more Skien.

Tony recalled his and Skien’s happy childhood over and over again to escape the pain of the present. At that time they had been so happy, he had thought they would always continue to be happy like that, but…, if he had known earlier that he would live so pathetically, he should have just let Avery die!

The Wilkesa Empire rushed to bring large quantities of precious metals back home, their treasuries already filled with the precious metals from several planets. Knowing that the other countries were staring at these precious metals, their eyes red, they certainly needed to give the other countries some benefits. Not only to avoid some unnecessary trouble, but also to have more time to bring more precious metals back home.

Since they now had money, they of course started to spend it in large amounts. They bought goods in bulk from every country, from weapons, rare ore, food, to all kinds of other materials, including things to eat, wear, and many others. And they didn’t bargain at all, making the other countries that had also earned a fortune very satisfied.

And they also took out a significant amount of precious metals for the Federation disaster relief fund, which any country in the Federation who suffered a disaster could apply for.

The status of the Wilkesa Empire in the Federation was instantly elevated a lot. The number of countries who wanted to curry favor with them and receive benefits in the name of disaster relief only increased, so the Foreign Affairs office was very busy at this time. Those countries who had not yet joined the Federation could only stare enviously and drool, but would not receive any benefits.

After John found out these matters, he almost fell ill from anger. He had a splitting headache the entire day, unable to bring up any energy. Everything that Wilkesa had done was all what he had originally wanted to do. He had intended to raise the Fetani Empire’s prestige in the Federation first, and then raise his own prestige. And slowly start to plan out how to create a new federation headed by Fetani, or in other words, by him.

But now these hopes had fallen empty. Not only did he not receive any benefits, but he also had to face domestic criticism. Those were fine and survivable. But previously he had thought that those precious metals would definitely belong to them, because no other country had technology as strong as theirs. Even the other countries had also thought the same, so he had bought many things from the other countries and had not paid yet. He had originally planned to pay them back after they successfully finished mining, but now messages asking for payment came one by one, and they had no way of paying such a large sum of money at once.

It’s not because the Fetani Empire’s treasury didn’t have that much money, but if they paid it all off at once, their finances were be very tight. And if any crisis appeared that needed money, they wouldn’t be able to cope with it.

Those countries that needed to be paid were still quite fearful of the Fetani Empire’s mechas and machinery that was at the forefront of the universe, so they didn’t dare to push them too hard. They didn’t raise a fuss, agreeing to their request to defer the payment.

“Your legs are recovering well. I had thought that with your physical condition, it would have been almost impossible for you to fully recover. But I didn’t think that your physique was very special and the bone recovery was quite fast. As things stand, you can start trying to walk in a few months at the latest.” The doctor looked at Jing Yang’s medical report.

“Thank you doctor. Thanks to you all, or else I wouldn’t have been able to recover so soon.” Jing Yang was concerned that getting better too fast would cause suspicion, so he had controlled the effectiveness of the system. Otherwise, he would have been able to walk now.

“Even though your state is good now, you still need pay attention to rest and recovery. You must not get injured again, especially before or after operations. Otherwise, it’s very possible that you will never be able to recover.” The doctor warned.

“Yes, I understand. I will definitely pay attention.” Jing Yang said.

“How many more operations do you need to perform?” Denanfry, who had always been standing behind Jing Yang, asked.

“Most likely around three or four more, depending on how his state is later.” The doctor responded.

“Whether it’s the medicine during the surgery, or the medicine during his recuperation, you must use the best. There must not be any mistakes during this period, and you must make sure that he will be able to stand up successfully later.” Denanfry commanded.

“Yes General, we will definitely do our best.” The doctor said seriously.

Denanfry sent Jing Yang back to his room.

Jing Yang saw that he had no intention of leaving and said to him, “You can go do your work, I will rest for a while by myself.”

Denanfry didn’t speak, holding up Jing Yang and walking to the bedroom. The wheelchair followed behind them automatically.

Jing Yang’s body was attached to Denanfry’s chest, and Jing Yang could even feel Denanfry’s heart beating. Recently this person kept on making some intimate moves toward him, but his control was very good. The level of intimacy was as if the two were just two good friends who had known each other for a very long time and had a very close relationship.

Jing Yang knew that the possibility that he was his lover was very high. For his intimate actions, he neither prevented nor responded, waiting to see when he would break this balance.

Denanfry carefully placed Jing Yang on the bed, helping him pull up the covers. He sat down at the bedside and said, “Why don’t I send you back to the capital star. There you can receive better treatment, and for the other things, we can wait until your legs are better and then discuss. You can rest assured that I will help you remember your hatred and will definitely complete it for you.”

“Back to the capital star?” Jing Yang smiled. “For me, the Wilkesa Empire’s capital star can’t use the word ‘back’. I have never been to the Wilkesa capital star, and don’t even have a single person I know there. If I go I would have to get used to a new environment again, and it would be very difficult for my emotions to improve, which would not be good for my physical recovery. So I feel like it would be better for me to stay here, recovering while busying myself. Then I wouldn’t have time to think of those unhappy things.”

Denanfry looked at him. “Sooner or later you will have to go.”

“Then we can talk about it later.” Jing Yang looked up at him. “Or are you saying that you can always accompany me while I’m being treated at the capital star?”

Denanfry met Jing Yang’s gaze. His heart was as if it was hit by a wave of emotion. He had never experienced this kind of feeling before, but he also felt like it was very familiar. He suddenly was somewhat glad that Jing Yang had not agreed to first go back to the capital star for treatment, because he wouldn’t be able to accompany him back to the star right now. If he couldn’t see this person for a long time, he didn’t know how much he would miss him.

———

[1] – 血本無歸, idiom, means to lose everything you invested

[2] – 瞻前顧后, meaning to look forward and back, consider prudently