All in all, the few most capable forces of the Imperium of True Human Beings, including the "New Imperial Guards" that had been reorganized by Blackstar the Great and centered around the Deep Sea Fleet, the expedition army that cooperated with the Thunder Fleet remotely, and the elite troops made of the core descendants of the four Kurfürst families who would never abandon the honor of their families, were either holding back or holding each other back. It was unlikely that they would be mobilized to the edge of the Imperium easily.
Therefore, the protagonists on the battlefield at the edge of the Imperium were the second-rate fleets of the four Kurfürst families, the fleets of their vassal families, the new warlords and local magnates of the peripheral worlds, and the mercenaries, space pirates, assassins, and so on who were attracted by money.
Those complicated, ill-intentioned, and disunited warlords were not exactly two sides that were as incompatible as fire and water. The hundreds of Sectors were clearly divided into two sides that were determined to fight each other to the death. That was something that only happened in games and movies.
The civil war in reality was a hundred times more complicated than in novels, games, and movies.
It was true that the four Kurfürst families had to annihilate the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists to defend their monopolized interests, but the "four families" were not made of four people but of countless living individuals who had their own ideas and would consider their own interests first instead of the interests of their families.
The Four Great Families had plundered immeasurable benefits through their power, but these benefits had never been evenly distributed to all the family members. Between the direct descendants and the branch descendants, and between the low-level family members and the high-level family members, the benefits enjoyed were as different as heaven and earth.
The unfairness of the distribution of interests was enough to fill the hearts of the members of the secondary bloodlines and the low-level families with resentment. When the resentment was combined with the Immortal Cultivators' law of "every man for himself", it was enough to obliterate all their loyalty to the family.
Many members of the four Kurfürst families had been in a complicated business relationship with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors in the past hundred years.
It was even safe to say that a lot of people in the four Kurfürst families had made great "contributions" for the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, a small, unattractive business organization in the past, to develop to such an extent that it was capable of influencing the politics of the Imperium!
Zuo Tianying, the former manager of the Blue Sky Market, once said to Boss Bai that even if Boss Bai wanted the latest warships of the four families, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors would be able to smuggle them over. It was not a bluff.
The Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and part of the four families colluded with each other. The traitors of the four families would take out the cutting-edge warships and fabricate a nonexistent "cosmic storm", resulting in the failure of the cutting-edge warships. Then, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors would get the cutting-edge warships, and the traitors of the four families would receive high profits and the friendship of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. The profits and the friendship could significantly improve the strength of the traitors, allowing them to distinguish themselves in the cruel competitions between families. It was almost a perfect "win-win".
Even the cutting-edge warships could be smuggled from the territory of the four families to the territory of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, not to mention the Crystal Suit, intelligence, and resources.
After all, no matter how big the cake was made by the family, the descendants of the secondary bloodlines would only get so little. They and their descendants would not be able to become Kurfürsten in ten thousand years. Why should they be so stubborn?
Besides, it was not like they were being asked to betray the family but to pick a few fruits from the deep-rooted family. What did it matter? Could the four Kurfürst families collapse abruptly because a cutting-edge warship was missing or a few pieces of unimportant intelligence was leaked? Hahahaha. Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
That was the general mentality of the descendants of the secondary bloodlines of the four Kurfürst families.
Even some of the descendants of the main bloodlines who were frustrated and frustrated thought so, too.
Although their position in the family was low, they had the advantage in numbers. They controlled most of the jobs that were of a lower level but highly practical. They were the cornerstones of the family.
The cunning, black-hearted merchants of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were best at attracting and corrupting the descendants of the noble families. In the past hundred years, they had won the favor of a lot of people in the four families through all kinds of approaches. They were already a force that could not be underestimated. The "cornerstone" was already riddled with holes.
Right now, at the bottom level of the four Kurfürst families, there was even such a weird theory that the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists were actually forcing the leadership of the four families to see the strength of the bottom level, which would prompt the leadership to distribute more interests to the bottom level. Therefore, the more trouble the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors caused, the better it would be for the secondary bloodlines of the four families.
It was sort of another form of "self-respect", wasn't it?
That was one side of the coin.
On the other side of the coin, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was also not a united, determined group of people who would rather die than surrender. Instead, it was made of countless cowardly, greedy, and boneless individuals.
Merchants were the most audacious and reckless guys in the world. For 300% profits, they were bold enough to wave their sabers at Blackstar the Great without any hesitation.
But in the meantime, merchants were also the weakest and most capricious guys. As long as Blackstar the Great or the four Kurfürst families could offer 301%, say, the temptation of a certain franchise, the merchants would sell their parents without batting an eye.
Perhaps, the business leaders who were far-sighted and clear-headed such as Jin Yuyan would understand the consequences of asking a tiger for its skin, but most of the members of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors could barely resist the temptation of interests right before their eyes.
Therefore, the four Kurfürst families had planted a lot of spies within the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, winning the secret loyalty of countless members of the Business Alliance.
In short, the four families and the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were not black and white. In fact, they were chaotic and ambiguous grayness. Everybody was mired in the enormous swamp of grayness willingly for interests. The only difference was that they were in deep grayness and light grayness.
A member of the four families could be like Marquess Yongchun Li Wuji, whose fatal secrets fell into the hands of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, and they had to compromise and work for the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors.
But in the meantime, they could be entrusted with great responsibilities by their families to tempt and coerce certain members of the Business Alliance, and they could really receive the secret letters of loyalty that the members of the Business Alliance wrote to the Kurfürst.
The members of the Business Alliance who wrote letters of loyalty to the Kurfürst, on the other hand, could also be actively roping in the descendants of the four families, dragging them into the mess and engaging in clandestine deals for all kinds of interests.
Both the descendants of the four families and the members of the Business Alliance, when they ran into weak enemies, passersby, or even friends on starships, it was possible that they would change their attitude instantly and pretend to be space pirates, eating the enemy from skin to bone.
That was exactly the absurd and chaotic war that was taking place at the periphery of the Imperium right now.
Of course, all the messy forces that were calculating for their own interests and did not have any loyalty or credibility would eventually sort out the clues in the chaos and find the final wind vane, which would be the result of the battle of the Seven Seas Grand Market.
When the battle of the Seven Seas Grand Market was over, both the descendants of the four families and the members of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors would immediately understand the roles that they should play.
As a matter of fact, the selfish Immortal Cultivators had only played two roles since the very beginning.
They were either the victors or the followers of the victors.
On that day, the losers would deeply understand the feeling of a landslide and the collapse of a behemoth.
In the training field of the Blue Sky Market, Li Wuji confessed everything that he knew dutifully.
Not only did he accomplish the mission that Li Yao and Boss Bai entrusted to him perfectly, but he even got in touch with some of the people in the four families who had ill intentions or whose secrets were in his hands in secret. He compiled a list and instigated Li Yao and Boss Bai to win those people over and drag them into the mess together.
That was the weirdness of human psychology. It was certainly a shameful thing to eat sh * t by oneself, but if more people could be dragged into the mess, no, into the septic tank, and even those who were in higher positions than themselves would taste the same thing, it would not seem so unbearable anymore.
By then, it would even be something to brag about to be the first to eat sh * t!
Li Yao and Boss Bai naturally accepted all of Li Wuji's "kindness".
"My lord, if our cause succeeds, you will make the greatest contribution in the world!"
Li Yao patted Li Wuji's shoulder with a smile.
Since Boss Bai was playing the good cop, he could only play the good cop and let Li Wuji see hope. "You are only a marquess right now. What's the big deal? You still have a promising future ahead of you! "
Li Wuji did not necessarily believe Li Yao's words, but he had to pretend that he was "flattered". He did not even dare to wipe his shoulder that had been patted by Li Yao with his handkerchief. After hesitating for a long time, he summoned his courage and asked, "Fellow Cultivator Li, I wonder … what is' our cause 'exactly? I … I don't know what it is at all!"
"It doesn't matter what our cause is specifically. Does it matter whether we are on the four families' side or the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors' side?"
Li Yao waved his hands. "What's important is that we have such a magnificent fleet right now. This is the foundation for us. It is the greatest reliance for us to roam in the sea of stars and for our glory and wealth! With such a reliance, the four families, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, and any other forces will have to think highly of us, right?
"Of course, for both our cause and your position, the scale of the fleet right now is far from enough. Only by further expanding and strengthening ourselves in the battle of the Seven Seas Grand Market can your position rise and your future be more secure. Only then can you be promoted from a marquess to a marquess, from a marquess to a marquess, or even … a Kurfürst!"
Bulging his eyes, Li Wuji mumbled, "Well …"
"Trust me."
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