Other than the Deep Sea Fleet, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, and the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils, the fourth force that was inclined to the reformists was the young and radical bottom-level officers in the army of the Imperium.
At this moment, the young soldiers of a hundred Sectors were gathered in the frontline and sprinkling their youth and blood together, hoping to water the flowers named ambition and hope. The magnificent and cruel universal war in the past ten years had completely molded them into machines of slaughter and destruction.
It was almost impossible to stop the war with the Holy League and stop the rumbling war machines so that the young officers who were as hungry as wolves would not cause any trouble.
However, the army was the most sensitive place after all. The nobles and the warlords naturally had a strict control over their fleets. Li Linghai did not dare to infiltrate the army recklessly, either. Except for rescuing the discontent in the army and making them join the Deep Sea Fleet, it was not the time to infiltrate the army on a large scale yet.
As for the fifth force, it was somewhat out of Li Yao's expectations.
They were the opposers within the four Kurfürst families.
However, it did make sense on second thought. The most solid fortresses were always breached from the inside. Wasn't Queen Li Linghai herself an opposer from the four Kurfürst families?
There was also her biological brother, Li Lingfeng, who had been acknowledged as the next leader of the family and even the Kurfürst, who did not believe the fancy words of the leadership of the family, too. He established his own forces through whatever means possible and had an enormous plan that nobody knew about in secret.
It couldn't be helped. The law of "survival of the fittest" did not just cover the noble families and the poor families, the nobles and the civilians. Within the noble families, the fights for power and profit were nothing unusual, if not even more gory.
Where there was competition, there would be losers. Many losers who had nothing and had nowhere to go would not hesitate to sacrifice their entire family for their ambitions and interests.
The Deep Sea Fleet provided the military support, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors provided funds and intelligence, and the Tribunal of Extraterrestrial Devils was responsible for the clandestine deals. They were the three pillars of Queen Li Linghai.
Also, together with the alliance of young and bottom-level officers who were dissatisfied, inclined to the reformists, or at least rather sympathetic to them, and the guys who had failed in the internal conflicts of the four Kurfürst families and craved a comeback, the basic lineup of the reformists was made up.
"That's not all. Apart from these five forces, the nobles and warlords also have very sharp internal conflicts that we can use to our advantage."
Li Linghai explained, "The four Kurfürst families are not united either. Their conflicts of interests are very serious, especially the three families including the Li family and the Dongfang family, which is the richest and most powerful family right now.
"When the Imperium of True Human Beings was just born, the old nobles and magnates, including the four Kurfürst families today, were still in the same boat. They worked together to keep the emperor at that time in check.
"At that time, everyone's strength was not considered strong. His Majesty the Emperor was our biggest opponent. Only by working together could we survive.
"However, as the royal power declined, and the four Kurfürst families rose unstoppably, His Majesty was no longer a threat. Naturally, there was a gap between them.
"In the recent two to three hundred years, the Dongfang family's influence has been expanding. Its tentacles have pierced deeply into the critical fields such as finance, transportation, energy, and military. It has monopolized many fields and posed a threat to the emperor and the low-level Immortal Cultivators as well as the other three families.
"Although the other three families, including the Li family, did not say anything on the surface, they were naturally very dissatisfied in their hearts. It is possible that the three families have joined hands to resist the Dongfang family, just like the four families joined hands to keep the emperor in check in the past.
"After the glorious victory of the Imperium's counterattack and the retaking of dozens of important industrial worlds with profound heritage, the balance of strength among the four Kurfürst families may be reversed. Therefore, nobody will give in easily on how to divide the spoils. It is very likely that they will end up on bad terms.
"The dogfight within the enemy is a great opportunity for the reformists to develop and grow!
"For us, on one hand, we have to hide our claws and teeth for a while longer, and on the other hand, we have to summon the army, the smaller nobles, the warlords, the Sector Masters of the remote worlds, and all the forces that can be united to expand the strength of the opposition until the comparison of the two parties is completely reversed.
"On the other hand, before we accumulate enough strength, we might as well make some deals with the other three families. Let's work together and bring down the Dongfang family together!
"The Dongfang family is the leader of the four Kurfürst families. Many people claim that the Dongfang family is the 'first family' of the Imperium and that the leader of the Dongfang family is the 'uncrowned king' of the Imperium. Hehe. If we can bring down the Dongfang family, it will be the first shot to the collapse of the old order. As long as the shot explodes at the center of power brutally, nothing can stop us from renewing the Imperium anymore!"
Li Linghai slashed his hand down brutally, as if he were chopping an enormous family that had lasted thousands of years into pieces.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Li Yao, full of expectation. "I didn't know that you were such an excellent master of refining besides fighting. The heavens are truly on my side!
"I vaguely have a feeling that your arrival is a great omen, which symbolizes that the reformists and the new Imperium are both unstoppable and dazzling like the rising sun!
"Right now, 'Li Lingfeng', the only loophole, has been completely erased. Everything is moving forward according to my plan. Now that you have joined us, we are like a tiger that has grown wings. Our glory will arrive very soon!"
Li Yao hesitated. "Well …"
Li Linghai frowned. "Why? Are you still hesitating about your beliefs?"
"Not exactly."
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "I'm just slightly flattered by the word 'omen'. To be honest, nobody has ever called me a 'omen' in my entire life. Also, every time I hear other people say that 'everything is under control' or 'everything is going according to plan', I feel that accidents are going to happen very soon …"
"Huh?"
Li Linghai was slightly dazed. Right then, the crystal processor on her wrist buzzed crazily.
It seemed to be a very private communication channel, because Li Linghai did not turn it on in front of Li Yao and Li Jialing until she pondered for a moment.
A moment later, Li Linghai's ambitions were all frozen, and an icicle seemed to be poking out of her every pore.
"Something's wrong."
She gritted her teeth and squeezed out three words from between her teeth.
…
Let's go back to three days ago.
In the fourth arm of the second quadrant of the Imperium of True Human Beings, in the Green Wind Sector …
The Green Wind Sector was one of the Sectors closest to the frontline before the magnificent strategic counterattack of the Imperium.
Naturally, it became the base of the expedition army in the early phase of the war as well as the transfer base of supplies.
As the army of the Imperium won more and more victories, the frontline was pushed forward nonstop. Right now, the base of the expedition army had been moved to the Sector that had just been recovered.
However, the logistics base of the enormous expedition army of the Imperium that boasted hundreds of thousands of starships was still established in the place.
Every day, billions of tons of assets were shipped from the resource planets in the corners of the hundreds of Sectors of the Imperium to the place. After they were sorted and counted, they were delivered to the fleets in the frontline.
The special location and the demands of the war made the Green Wind Sector abnormally prosperous. Most of the natives of the Green Wind Sector had made some money from the war. Their lives were much better than before the war.
Therefore, it was not an exaggeration to say that the natives of the Green Wind Sector were the ones who supported the Imperium and the war most from the bottom of their hearts.
At this moment, to celebrate the recovery of an insignificant resource planet in the frontline, an enormous ceremony of triumph was held in the capital city of the Green Wind Sector again.
The mystic rays dyed the entire sky into the appearance of the lightning trident flag. Balloons that depicted eagles and iron fists were everywhere. The streets and alleys were decorated with lanterns. Both the true human beings and the hominoids were standing on their tiptoes, waiting for the magnificent Exos of the Imperium and the assault starships to show up. Everybody was shouting desperately, "Long live the Imperium! Long live the Imperium! Long live the Immortal Cultivators! Long live the civilization of mankind! "
When Dongfang Tuo stepped on the podium on one side of the main street at the center of the square in the capital city, he was immediately drowned by the overwhelming cheers.
Before the war broke out, faced with such a zealous and 'valiant' crowd, Dongfang Tuo was as excited and proud as any other Immortal Cultivator.
However, now that the war had come to this point, when he heard the roars such as' great victory 'and' long live the Imperium ', as a big shot of the Dongfang family, one of the five hundred elders of the Council of Elders of the Imperium, the CEO of the Expansion Bank of the Imperium, and the chief of the Armament Division of the base of the expedition army of the Imperium, could only sigh helplessly and slightly frown.
Great victories. Great victories. One great victory after another. When will such great victories come to an end?
Dongfang Tuo thought to himself.
For the general public or the bottom-level officers in the frontline, great victories meant military credits, medals, and the infinite glory of the Imperium.
However, only the big shots who were in charge of the resources and equipment of the expedition army such as Dongfang Tuo knew that every great victory meant that more troops had to be dispatched to defend the newly recovered territory, which meant longer and more vulnerable supply lines, and which meant that another 'black hole' that swallowed infinite resources had appeared. Such a black hole could never be filled.
From every perspective, the army of the Imperium had reached the limits of expansion and could not afford such 'great victories' anymore.
However …
"Everyone can decide when to start a war, but not everyone can decide when to end a war!"
For some reason, Dongfang Tuo thought of this sentence, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.
Naturally, he did not let the bitter smile that represented his real feelings stay for more than half a second. Instead, he simply coughed and put on a solemn expression. Holding his head high, he swaggered to the middle of the leadership of the government and the military, who were in full armor and wearing medals and ribbons on their chests, welcoming the arrival of the victorious army.
In the sky not far away, the rumbling sounds of the assault warships tearing apart the clouds were already echoing.
The earth began to tremble softly. The iron hooves of the Imperium of True Human Beings that could stomp on everything were drawing closer and closer.
At this moment, the one of the five hundred elders of the Imperium did not know that he only had thirty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds left to live.
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