by <unknown>
Scratching his nose, Li Yao was deep in thought. "You do have a point. I believe that we should accelerate our progress. It will be best if we can make it to the Heaven's Origin Sector earlier with an excuse. We should arrive at the heart of the federation before all the schemes break out!"
…
That night, Li Yao spent a lot of time in Long Yangjun's room. The two of them deduced the future plans of the federation and the Black Wind Fleet.
Sometimes, Li Yao played the Black Wind Fleet and Long Yangjun represented the federation. Other times, they swapped their roles.
However, the information they grasped was too little for them to infer the unpredictable situation in the upcoming month precisely. Their deductions were mostly groundless empty talk.
It was not until three o'clock in the morning that Li Yao returned to his own room and fell asleep in many bizarre dreams.
He did not sleep very well that night. He first dreamt that the Black Wind Fleet tore apart the sky and directly showed up in the sky of his hometown in the federation. He then dreamt that bizarre-shaped devils crawled out of the Spiritual Nexus and laughed hideously above everyone's head. Finally, he dreamt the uncanny dreams that had not visited him for a long time, where he returned to the seemingly peaceful and quiet Earth that was devoid of spiritual energy or Cultivators.
But the Earth was enshrouded in a layer of thin mist. However hard he searched, he could not find the thing that the Vulture Plan asked him to destroy…
When Li Yao was woken up by noise outside the window, he thought that he must have slept for half a day. But after he raised his wrist, he realized that only three hours had passed, and it was not even seven o'clock in the morning yet.
Even in a city where day and night were not classified clearly, this should be the time when everybody was still sound asleep.
What's going on?
Li Yao opened his window and looked out, only to be shocked by the rabble of people.
More than a thousand people had crowded outside their hotel. Hundreds of shuttles were floating in the sky, too.
Judging from the recording and camera magical equipment in their hands and the powerful, mobile data transmission bases on the shuttles, they seemed to be the reporters from the major media outlets.
"Crack, crack, crack, Crack!
"Hello, we are reporters from 'Uranian Ring Today'. May I ask if you are a member of the delegation of the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic? Would you care to comment on the scandal?"
"We're from 'Latest Military Observation'. Will the incident affect the military cooperation between the Star Ocean Republic and the Star Glory Federation? Can the two parties still join hands in competition against the Imperium?"
"We're from the 'People' website. Were you aware of the incident before? Does it mean that you will absolutely support Ding Lingdang in the election to come and you will be reluctant to see Jin Xinyue go to the office?"
The reporters were like vultures that were hovering in the sky and searching for the carrion. Hardly had Li Yao, the rightful Vulture, opened the window when he was discovered by them.
Despite the protection of two entire teams of agents from the Secret Sword Bureau and the local police, countless reporters were still pushing forward and trying to throw the floating broadcast magical equipment toward Li Yao.
What was thrown toward him at the same time were the surprising questions that Li Yao did not know how to answer at all.
This was rather strange!
The delegation of the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic's trip to the Star Glory Federation was not a clandestine infiltration but an open and friendly visit.
Naturally, there were spokespersons in the delegation. Press conferences had been held a few days before, too, to explain the mission and the purposes of the visit… of course, only the open ones.
The reporters and the general public of the Star Glory Federation knew that the delegation had come, but they did not consider the visit to be of much importance. At the very least, compared to the heated election for the Supreme Speaker in the federation and the imminent threat of the Black Wind Fleet, news about Firefly was certainly not popular.
Days ago, some reporters had expressed their interest to interview the members of the delegation, but none of them had acted so crazily. The regular press conferences once every three days were enough to handle them.
What had happened exactly?
Scandal? What scandal?
The moment Li Yao shut the window and blocked all the noise and liveliness behind him, his mini crystal processor began buzzing rapidly.
He received a message from Long Yangjun, which was quite short.
"It's happening."
The rest of the messages were a series of links to the greatest news websites and military forums in the Star Glory Federation. Billions of people browsed them every day.
Li Yao opened a few websites randomly, but they were all the same. The same news had entirely occupied all the homepages!
"Nefarious scandal of the Dim Moon Fund!
"The whole time, the Dim Moon Fund, under the lead of Jin Xinyue, has been in a subtle relationship with the CFIA, headed by Lu Qingchen, in order to build up its own strength. Jin Xinyue even secretly asked Lu Qingchen to launch an insurgency with the Immortal Cultivators on Firefly, hoping to overturn the parliament of the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic, our dear ally, without staining her hands with blood.
"According to her plan, the Dim Moon Fund would clean up the mess later and clear the last obstacle for the Star Ocean Republic to join the Star Glory Federation. It would have been the greatest feat for Jin Xinyue to run for the Speaker!
"Jin Xinyue has betrayed our ally, the federation and the belief of the Cultivators. She is a second Lu Zui, and she does not deserve to be the leader of the Star Glory Federation!"
Li Yao read all the news reports, only to discover that the source of the articles was the same anonymous report letter.
The letter was written by one 'Moonfall', who sent it to quite a few highly influential and trustworthy media companies in the federation at the same time the previous night.
What was described in the latter was almost identical to the earlier speculations of Li Yao, Long Yangjun, and the rest of them.
The letter did not insist that Lu Qingchen worked for Jin Xinyue, but it did offer certain seemingly believable evidence to prove the connection between the 'CFIA' and the 'Dim Moon Fund'.
For the development of the Dim Moon Fund, the second intelligence agency of the federation, Jin Xinyue intentionally kept outlaws free and indulged the expansion of the CFIA so that she could ask for more funding from the parliament to expand and upgrade her Dim Moon Fund. In the meantime, she established communication with Lu Qingchen.
There was no need to talk about the incidents of the past, and her crime this time was enough. Jin Xinyue asked Lu Qingchen to instigate the Immortal Cultivators on Firefly to launch an insurgency so that the Immortal Cultivators and the diehards in the government-in-exile would both suffer losses. Then, her subordinates could show up and take advantage, controlling the situation on Firefly.
If the plan had worked out, not only would the techniques and secret treasures on Firefly from the center of the cosmos be brought into the federation's system smoothly, Jin Xinyue's personal prestige and capability would also soar, and she would be a sure winner of the election!
The letter from 'Moonfall' was not made of groundless assumptions but attached with many documents, files, and even videos as proof.
As someone who had experienced the whole incident in person, Li Yao examined the proof with the most suspicious attitude, only to discover nothing that could have been faked.
The whole thing was probably a trap that Jin Xinyue had set up, as described in the letter.
Of course, as for whether her connivance with the CFIA was a way to build up her personal influence or bait intentionally released to dr
aw out the Immortal Cultivators so that they could all be fished up together, different people might have different opinions.
"In any case, Jin Xinyue's plan failed," 'Moonfall' concluded in the letter. "The rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic saw through the scheme of the internal Immortal Cultivators before, and it was only their trick to attract and arrest all the possible criminals! Not only did they suppress the internal rebellion neatly, they also saw right through what Jin Xinyue was up to!
"As the leader of Ministry of Equality and Development, president of the Dim Moon Fund, and a strong competitor for the next Supreme Speaker of the Federation, Jin Xinyue has done such despicable things to our dearest ally just to ascend to the throne of ultimate power, which has caused an irrecoverable wound between us and our ally! What's the difference between her disregard of boundaries and the things Lu Zui, the director of the Secret Sword Bureau a hundred years ago, did in the past?
"Right now, the issue has raised the serious dissatisfaction of the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic. If Jin Xinyue is elected, it is possible that the cooperation between the two parties will fall!
"Jin Xinyue is a traitor and a second Lu Zui. As a member of the Dim Moon Fund who still has a conscience, I'm obliged to reveal her real face even at the cost of my life!"
Chapter 1676: What Do You Want Exactly? |
Li Yao held his breath and read through the original letter from 'Moonfall' word by word.
The fury and indignation between the lines were too obvious to be overlooked.
The signature 'Moonfall' was also obvious. There was a 'moon' in Jin Xinyue's name as well as the name of the 'Dim Moon Fund'. Wasn't the signature implying that the guy was trying to overthrow Jin Xinyue no matter the cost?
Li Yao did not expect the game to be pushed forward to such a fatal extent when he and Long Yangjun had just talked about the upcoming storm the previous night. It was happening so fast that he was almost overwhelmed.
But the question remained, whose move was it?
Thinking for a moment, Li Yao entered a communication room next to the suite that was specially prepared for him.
Inside the communication room was a super crystal processor with a particularly high power. Through a private route, it was able to contact the Speaker's office on Firefly directly.
As Cui Lingfeng's special representative, naturally, he was allowed to report to Cui Lingfeng anytime.
When the light beam was turned on, he could tell that there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the Speaker's office on Firefly.
Cui Lingfeng was frowning gravely and deep in thought.
"Have you read the information that Moonfall exposed?"
Li Yao had no time to bother about whether or not the route was monitored now. Even if it was, it would not be a big deal, because what mattered most right now was explaining everything properly in case of deeper misunderstanding. "Was it done by us?"
"Of course not. How could we have done such a stupid thing?" Cui Lingfeng denied assertively. "We might have been suspicious that Jin Xinyue was manipulating everything behind the curtain. But firstly, we cannot accuse one of the leaders of our ally without concrete proof, which may lead to unpredictable consequences. Secondly, this is also very precious leverage and could have been thrown to her to trade for more practical benefits if she is truly elected as the Speaker of the Federation!
"This is exactly how the game is played. I know you know it. You know I know you know it. But I pretend that I don't know you know it, and you also pretend that you don't know I'm pretending that I don't know you know it. This is politics! While the Star Glory Federation tries every means possible to infiltrate Firefly, haven't we sent a lot of intelligence personnel to sneak into the federation? An ally's business is an ally's business, integration's business is integration's business, and infiltration's business is infiltration's business. They must not be confused! We are all professionals here. There is no way that we would've done such an absurd thing as to put the game that should've been played under the table in front of the public!
"Besides, you've seen how detailed the exposure is. A lot of internal details about the 'Dim Moon Fund' are involved in it. Such information could never be grasped by us!
"Therefore, it is absolutely impossible that we did it. 'Moonfall' is somebody else!"
"Got it." Li Yao nodded. "Then, what should the stance of our delegation be?"
"In short, no comments," Cui Lingfeng said. "At this moment, the exposure is still mostly made of assumptions. It lacks real-life evidence. At the very least, we do not need to show an attitude toward the general public of the federation in case matters get worse.
"I have spoken to Captain Xie of the delegation and asked him to hold an emergency meeting with the federation as fast as possible to relieve the possible misunderstandings and concerns so that the issue will not affect our cooperation.
"On the other hand, I will speak to Speaker Wan of the Star Glory Federation directly later. I'm afraid that you'll have to accelerate your pace now. I have a feeling that the exposure will not be an independent event. If there is indeed a scheme, it will break out very soon!
"Jin Xinyue is the focus of the scheme. She is now in the capital city of the federation in the Heaven's Origin Sector!
"You must reach the capital city as quickly as possible. I will arrange for you to meet Speaker Wan of the federation soon. Remember, however much we might've disagreed in the past, unity and cooperation come first! We are Cultivators and brothers. Brothers may fight in the house, but they should resist the enemy together if somebody breaks down the door. Do you understand what I mean, Captain Lin?"
Li Yao knew that the words were not necessarily meant for him to hear, but he still nodded quickly and said, "Understood!"
"If the federation has any requirements when they are searching for this…'Moonfall'," Cui Lingfeng said, "I command you to offer any help possible to the federation and try to cooperate with the federation's work!"
"Understood!"
After concluding the conversation with Cui Lingfeng, Li Yao noticed that the noises outside the window were more and more obstreperous. Somebody was walking loudly on the corridor inside the hotel, too.
Li Yao was not affected by the noises. Knowing that the incident had not been exposed by the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic, he was greatly relieved. Also, it was great that Cui Lingfeng thought that brothers should fight against a common foe despite the internal conflicts they might have.
He then turned back and carefully read the reactions to the event on the major websites and forums.
Naturally, the Spiritual Nexus was already on fire because of the news. But perhaps because the content was too flabbergasting, it was somewhat impossible to comment on it. Most of the neutral netizens were waiting for the follow-up news and for the federal government to provide a clear conclusion, but a tiny proportion of them, Ding Lingdang's and Jin Xinyue's hardcore supporters, were cursing each other aloud.
Ding Lingdang's hardcore supporters said that Jin Xinyue was a second Lu Zui and a traitor of the federation who had committed such wrongdoings just in order to become the Speaker. Not only was she unqualified to be the Speaker, she should also be sent to prison.
Jin Xinyue's supporters, on the other hand, accused Ding Lingdang's supporters of fabricating such a shocking scandal just for Ding Lingdang to ascend to the throne of the Speaker despite the great enemy up ahead. The dirty water on Jin Xinyue was merely a setup, which was likely to tear the federation apart.
Holding his nose, Li Yao read them for a long time. He then scrutinized the letter of 'Moonfall' again and realized that, while his diction was rather sloppy and certain phrases such as 'traitor of the federation' were a bit too extreme, implying a low education, the specific details of the letter were rather logical and errorless. Nobody without abundant actual work experience would ever be able to write it.
Was it possible that he was speaking the trut
h and was actually a member of the Dim Moon Fund who only exposed the information because of his conscience and indignation?
Li Yao was no elementary school student. He would never believe such cr*p!
Therefore, the most critical question right now was who exactly 'Moonfall' could be. Also, as for his good disciple Jin Xinyue, who had inherited the essence of all his acting skills and even… the knowledge of his dark side, where was she, and what was she up to?
Li Yao scratched his nose and suddenly grinned.
It was highly unlikely that Jin Xinyue—who had been educated by himself and Jin Tuyi, two great experts of acting, and gone through so many difficulties in the past hundred years—would just be tripped by a tiny tip-off, right?
How will you respond, Jin Xinyue? I can't wait to appreciate it closely now!
…
In the capital city of the Heaven's Origin Sector, in the central square on July 20, the Memorial Day for the Deceased in the Uranian Ring War was underway. As the first large-scale expedition of the New Federation after it was established, and the war of rise that really built the new federal army into shape, the war had always had a special meaning to the federal government and the people of all social classes.
On July 20 every year, enormous parades and memorial ceremonies would be held in the capital city as well as the major worlds. The big shots nationwide would gather before the 'Monument for Heroes of the Uranian Ring War' in the capital city and pay tribute to the warriors who sacrificed themselves.
The two Speaker candidates who had been running about across the nation giving speeches and attracting more votes were no exceptions. Ding Lingdang and Jin Xinyue both returned to the capital city and appeared before the monument.
The memorial ceremony this year, however, was particularly weird and depressed.
