Through the thick metal wall, one could hear the noise from the bar on the upper floor and the casino next door. Through the window, the merchants could vaguely see the forward base floating in the dark universe far away. Due to the distance, this spherical base, which was even larger than an ordinary asteroid, seemed to have turned into a blue golf ball.
In order to deal with the threat of the Empire, especially the terrifying future after the other party grasped the law of the giant warp holes, the Federation government began the forward base plan decades ago. After President Pabre took office, the plan received a strong boost. The government allocated a lot of resources and money, and with the full effort of the Shell Motor Company, the base finally presented itself perfectly in front of the people.
This was the space station closest to the forward operating base. It was responsible for the entertainment of the soldiers during their shifts. It had all kinds of well-equipped entertainment venues, and there was even a legal casino. On the outer corridor, many soldiers of the Federation could be seen chatting casually with glasses of wine in hand. But at this moment, in the quiet cafe, other than a few groups of officers gathered together, most of the people looked like businessmen. And when they talked, it was obvious that they had a Bermudian accent.
It was an incredible scene for merchants from Bermuda to appear in the Federation military space station, which was very close to the frontline, especially when not far ahead was the boundless space passage of the Night Scorpion Nebula. The appearance of these merchants here definitely had something to do with the Empire's smuggling channels. But for some reason, the Federation officers who were drinking tea in silence did not show any signs of shock.
There was a saying in the Federation: Money is everything. But the fact that the Federal military tolerated the appearance of these foreigners without microchips in the military space station had little to do with this saying. The reason these Bermuda smugglers had this privilege was not only because of their connections with the big families of the Federation, but more importantly, because of certain reasons, the Federation government had been tacitly allowing and even condoning this kind of smuggling all these years.
Soft music floated in the quiet café, but the atmosphere was not very relaxed. Whether it was the Bermuda merchants waiting for the arrival of the smugglers or the silent Federation officers, their expressions were extremely solemn and depressed. The Federation officers were worried about the situation at the frontline, and the merchants were worried about what kind of damage the situation at the frontline would bring to their goods.
"The battle at the frontline is getting more and more desperate. The fleets on both sides are competing with each other to clear out the enemy. In the past three months, the two sides have been doing business for seventy years. The result is that the Empire's detection of the warp holes is getting more and more accurate, but the loss of goods is unprecedentedly high."
A curly-haired middle-aged merchant shook his head and refused the gesture of his companion to pour him a cup of coffee. He said gloomily, "You are all in the hard currency business. You can still go to the mineral planets to find backup supplies. At most, the cost will be higher. But you all know that my master has been in the silk business for many years. If the supply runs out, he is very worried that he will not be able to recover."
The so-called Meng referred to the unmanned spaceships of the Empire. Because of the lack of the technical ability of large fleets to pass through the warp holes, the smuggling trade between the two sides for the past few decades had been carried out through this clumsy and even gambling method. Fortunately, the terrifying profits of smuggling goods were enough to offset more than forty percent of the loss of the space channel.
The merchants in the café knew each other very well. They knew which interests of Bermuda this curly-haired merchant represented. They were just small people who were pushed to the most difficult frontline work. In this Federation military space station, far away from Bermuda, it was natural for them to speak more freely.
Someone comforted, "Although Bermuda has never found a suitable environment for those little meat worms to live in, artificial cultivation can always be substituted. By the way, I heard that S3 has a companion star that is very suitable for planting mulberry trees. Has your master ever considered that?"
"Raising mulberry trees in the Federation? He didn't even think about it. You also know that although our partner in the Federation has some power, if he really wanted to do such a big thing, how could HTD Bureau agree? "
The curly-haired silk smuggler lit a cigarette and shook his head with a bitter smile. "Actually, it doesn't matter to me. Instead, it's the Li Ban Star. I heard that the economy is getting worse and worse. I'm really worried that those aristocrats will destroy the mulberry trees and move back to the Tianjing Star in a fit of anger. How expensive will the goods be next year and the year after?"
His companion said with a gloomy expression, "The Li Ban Star is sending us a lot of Meng Mang, and we can't get enough goods back. In addition, the royal family is promoting some kind of new lifestyle movement and is strongly suppressing the consumption of luxury goods. Those aristocrats on the Li Ban Star will definitely leave. Not to mention next year, I dare say that the price of the next batch of goods will be doubled."
People who did business were still businessmen. The prospect of higher costs, lower profits, and even losses was like a leather whip with steel wires, lashing out at their cold hearts until they were dripping with blood. All the businessmen were silently thinking about their future prospects, and the sounds of discussion suddenly became softer.
The wine bottle in front of a businessman was already half empty. Probably under the dual effects of the alcohol and the bleak prospects, he slammed the table heavily and shouted angrily, "Damn it, it's all because of the war!"
Just as he finished speaking, he noticed that the silent Federation officers at the table in front of him to the right seemed to be listening to the conversation. His heart suddenly trembled, and he sobered up. He remembered that he wasn't in a bed in a Bermuda brothel, but in a Federal military space station. With an extremely unnatural expression, he coughed twice and said, "I really hope that the Federal forces win quickly."
Seeing that the businessmen around him were looking at him with half-smiles, he awkwardly explained, "No matter what, the Federation and Bermuda are still a family. Although we do business with the orcs of the Empire, it's only to earn their money. Our feelings and standpoint will definitely be on the Federation's side."
These words were not hypocritical. Whether it was in terms of race, language, or culture, the Federation and Bermuda were like two brothers, and the Empire was an evil neighbor across the street.
The silk smuggler looked at his awkward expression and helped him out of the situation. He said, "How can it be so easy to win? I don't know about the military deployment at the front line, but the Federation's internal political situation is already so chaotic. I don't think that the Federation can achieve a decisive victory in a short time."
"Isn't the Federation's political situation very stable?" Someone asked in surprise. "Last month, the Parliament Hill passed the inheritance tax bill, the limited information disclosure bill, and the regulations to clean up the foundation. Even the Sanlin United Bank has now fallen into silence. Who dares to go against President Pabre?"
"The president's faction won the election of the Federation's Management Committee this time. Who could have predicted that these bills would be passed? But that Crown Prince suddenly did such an earth-shattering thing. I don't believe that he really just wants to give back to society and has no other thoughts. I think that President Pabre is now facing a real problem."
"Which … Crown Prince?" Someone frowned and asked in confusion.
The coffee shop suddenly fell into a dead silence, as if that person had mentioned a name that should never be mentioned. The silk smuggler put down the coffee cup in his hand and explained with a bitter smile, "Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about the Crown Prince of the Tai family."
After hearing the explanation, the atmosphere in the coffee shop suddenly relaxed a little. The buzzing sound of discussion started again. The merchants who didn't know the latest information all asked what the Crown Prince of the Tai family did.
The smuggler, who almost said the wrong thing because he was drunk, weakly laid on the chair. He looked at the people around him and said with a sad face, "If the silk is out of stock, the most we will have to pay is some money. If the important people don't wear a few pieces of silk underwear, it's not a big problem. But my boss wants to buy ultra-hard graphite, and he wants to buy Nutshell Mobile. But there hasn't been any goods for 42 days. What do you think I should do?"
After hearing this sentence, the smugglers next to him were stunned. Supplying Nutshell Mobile was equivalent to supplying the Federal military. In the past, this kind of smuggling business was undoubtedly the most profitable and the most secure type of business. It wasn't even an exaggeration to say that when he went to pick up the Nutshell Mobile, the Federation government would send a combat team from the Whitewater Company to escort him for the whole journey. But if he couldn't supply the goods and caused losses to the Federal military, then no matter what kind of power this person's boss had in Bermuda, he would instantly become ashes in the Federation's anger. No wonder this person was so sad, drinking one cup after another.
"Filter-grade ultra-hard graphite? That can only be found on the Empire's Ink Flower Planet, and those few mines seem to be under the control of the Empire's military. "
After hearing the words Ink Flower Planet, the coffee shop fell into silence again. The expressions on the faces of the merchants became extremely strange. Shock, sorrow, and fear mixed together, as if they had heard the name of hell. Even the Federation officers at the front table who had been silent all this time couldn't help but slowly straighten their bodies.
Ink Flower Planet, an ordinary administrative planet of the Empire near the L Galaxy. Because of its important strategic location, and also because of one of the most powerful declarations in this space war, it had now become a hell on earth, a cruel and cold-blooded meat grinder.
On the surface of the planet, which was hundreds of millions of square kilometers, the Federation and the Empire valiantly and without hesitation, launched an unprecedented military force. Under the cold gaze of hundreds of space battleships outside the atmosphere, millions of ground troops, hundreds of thousands of various equipment, and thousands of the latest military mechas were like two giant waves of different colors, silently and tirelessly crashing together, shattering, gathering, and then crashing together again, leaving behind countless blood-stained corpses and charred mecha remnants on the battlefield.
This was the bloodiest and cruelest battlefield in the seventy years of war between the Federation and the Empire. There was only victory and defeat, survival and death, and there was only one way to put these words into practice, and that was to kill.
The Federation needed to stabilize the jump point of the L Galaxy, and they needed to protect the crystal mining of the X Galaxy in order to obtain the final victory. The reason why the Imperial armies fought so fiercely, other than the opposite reason, was more importantly because the Empire had retreated in order to obtain strategic space. After that princess controlled the peach blossom and violently killed the commander of a certain Federation army, she had once announced to the entire universe in the twilight:
At this point, the Empire would not retreat a single step!
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