From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 686 Do You Look Down on Me?

"Your Highness, please believe me, I am considering this matter from the perspective of our entire group."

Amber ignored Agnes' complicated look and said very seriously:

"As you know, Your Highness, our group first cooperated with His Excellency Perseus and the Regent, and some projects are still in the cooperation period. So if my client wants to meet with me, I should meet him no matter what. Please rest assured that this meeting will not have any impact on the cooperation between me and you."

Amber's words were very official, which not only explained the rationality of his meeting with the Regent and reassured Perseus, but also gave Agnes a reassurance, telling her not to worry about the cooperation between the two parties.

In order to deepen Agnes's 'sense of peace of mind', Amber thought for a moment and added: "In my personal opinion, this meeting can be regarded as an explanation and conclusion to the cooperation between me and Mr. Perseus. After all, the strategic direction of our Atlas Group will also undergo major adjustments soon."

After saying that, Amber looked at Perseus again. The latter's eyes were full of regret and helplessness, and upon closer inspection, there was a hint of sincerity and pleading.

Through her ability, Amber could feel that Perseus' emotions at the moment were real and not an act, and Perseus did not deceive him.

In addition, he was really curious about what happened on the Regent's side. Otherwise, when something really went wrong, Atlas might not have time to react.

Although Lilith and Isabel's intelligence center has been trying to infiltrate the Regent Party, the other party is indeed very vigilant in this regard, especially the core layer which can be said to be an iron plate. Lilith has not been able to invade the Regent's fiefdom planet until now.

Therefore, in Amber's view, this meeting can be regarded as an intelligence activity of "no venture, no gain".

As for Agnes's reaction, he naturally understood it very well. After all, she had finally negotiated with a force that could help, but then her biggest enemy came to contact her again. Anyone would feel uneasy.

But Amber also knew that although Agnes was smart, she probably didn't understand the Regent's current situation, let alone the reason for the Regent's drastic change in temperament.

As the regent's aide, Perseus' words should have a certain degree of credibility.

At least, he noticed the changes in the Regent, which was an indisputable fact. So, Amber decided to trust Perseus once.

He walked over to Perseus, patted him gently on the shoulder, then looked at the princess and said firmly, "Your Highness, based on my previous experience with Baron Perseus, I believe in his character. Don't worry, I know what I am doing, and I will take care of the meeting with the Regent."

Agnes frowned upon hearing this. She looked at Amber deeply, as if trying to read something from his eyes, but Amber's eyes were extremely firm, without the slightest wavering. She could only sigh helplessly, and just as she was about to say something, she heard Amber continue:

"Besides, this is in the imperial capital, nothing will go wrong."

Hearing Amber's last words, Agnes' eyes suddenly lit up. It seemed that she was inspired by Amber's words. She regained a confident look on her face and said to Amber:

"Since Mr. Amber has made his decision, I will not stop him. However, as one of my most important partners, I hope Mr. Amber will allow me to send the Royal Guards to escort you to meet the Regent. Only in this way can I feel at ease."

At the end of her speech, Agnes's eyes also turned to Perseus, and her face was full of distrust.

"That's all right." Amber hadn't finished speaking when Agnes interrupted him.

"Mr. Amber, the matter of escort is not negotiable. Otherwise, I will not let you meet the Regent at ease."

Agnes' tone was firm and left no room for doubt.

"Then I'll have to trouble Your Highness the Princess." Seeing that she couldn't persuade Agnes, Amber could only nod and agree.

On the other side, Perseus noticed Agnes' hostile look and could only smile bitterly and nodded: "I will obey your will, Your Highness."
-
The next morning, when the first ray of morning light penetrated the dawn mist and gently brushed the glazed tile roof of Amber's residence in the Princess Villa, Amber, neatly dressed, walked out of the door of her residence.

When he looked around, he saw that the princess's guards outside were already on high alert, with a large amount of heavy equipment filling up the front yard that was the size of two football fields.

Amber took a quick glance and quickly realized that this was the strength of two full armored infantry battalions. Judging from the numbers and emblems on their tanks, they should be the 1st and 2nd Armored Infantry Battalions under the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the Princess' Guards. They were truly elite troops.

Although Agnes's guards were called the 'Princess's Guards', in reality the size of this guard was much larger than a regiment, and it was just a tradition that passed down this name.

Amber knew that there were at least two armored brigade combat teams, three mobile brigade combat teams, and four to five infantry brigade combat teams.
These were just ground forces, not including a small strike fleet in space that was directly under the command of Agnes.

These guards are clad in the Star Dragon Empire Army's iconic combat exoskeletons. The surface of the silicon carbide armor plates has been matte-treated, giving them a murderous aura. The Imperial Guards emblems and royal emblems painted on their heavy equipment also highlight their identity and loyalty.

The entire guard corps was not only well-equipped but also well-trained. They stood straight, with firm and cold eyes beneath their lifted tactical visors, revealing an inviolable majesty.

After seeing Amber coming out, the troops began to board the vehicles quickly under the commander's order. The clanging sounds of equipment colliding and rubbing were like a war song. Everyone seemed to be acting as a whole, demonstrating extremely high discipline and combat effectiveness.

Looking up and into the distance, one can occasionally see HCPs passing by at high speed. Judging from their frequency and general trajectory, there should be more than 20 HCPs performing tactical alert missions.

Amber took a deep breath, said goodbye to Isabel who came with her, adjusted her dress, and strode towards the special car waiting for him.

Since the Regent specifically wanted to meet him alone, there was no way to bring Isabel with him at this time, and the latter could only wait in the villa.

In front of the special car, the commander of the Princess Guard, Natalia, was standing quietly. Next to her stood another fully armed guard officer. After seeing Amber approaching, this confidant of Agnes also stepped forward and said:
"Mr. Amber, according to the order of His Royal Highness, the Princess's Guard will be responsible for your escort on this trip. This is Lieutenant Colonel Wittelsbach, the commander of this operation."

The lieutenant colonel whose name was mentioned also stood at attention and saluted Amber.

Amber returned the greeting, then smiled and said, "Thank you, Princess and the two officers for your concern. Don't worry, I think nothing will go wrong today." The huge team quickly set off towards the Regent's residence. To Amber, this didn't seem like an escort for him, but rather like the Star Dragon Empire's royal family had approved the arrest of the Regent and were now heading out to arrest him.
Such a large-scale deployment naturally could not be hidden from others. The nobles in the imperial capital now knew that Amber would go to meet the Regent under the escort of the Princess's Guards.

As for this big businessman who was so popular between the two big men, these nobles were also very curious about what would happen next.

Since the route to the Regent's Palace passes through the expressway outside the Grand Palace, Amber took this opportunity to use the observation equipment in the car to carefully observe the perimeter of the Grand Palace under the pretext of "viewing the scenery" and prepare for possible actions later.

Not long after, the escort team arrived near the Regent's residence, and the guards immediately deployed into an attack formation, as if to say "negotiation failed, attack immediately".

Seeing this, Amber got off the car and gave some instructions to Lieutenant Colonel Wittelsbach, who was in charge of the command, telling him not to act rashly. If she posed any threat, she would send out a very obvious signal. If no signal was seen, it meant everything was normal.

After giving the instructions, Amber walked towards the gate of the mansion. Perseus and another middle-aged man whom Amber had never seen before were waiting for him.

"Mr. Amber, you look a little scary, hahaha." Baron Perseus smiled and introduced the middle-aged man next to him to Amber, "This is Earl Astral, the most trusted aide to the Regent."

"It's an honor to meet you, Count Astral." Amber continued to perform the imperial chest-touching salute and greeted him with a smile. No matter what, she still had to maintain a 'cheerful and generous' attitude.

"I am honored too. I have heard of your great name, Mr. Amber, and today we finally meet." Astral's tone was very calm, as if he did not see the troops behind Amber who were ready for battle. "Your Excellency is already waiting for you. Please follow me in."

Amber nodded, and without further greeting, the two men led them into the only residence of Regent Norton II in the imperial capital.

The scale of this mansion compared to Princess Agnes's huge villa is like the difference between a river fish and a giant whale. The overall style does not have the extremely gorgeous architectural style of the Star Dragon Empire royal family. Instead, it takes a low-key and simple approach.

When he finally walked into the solemn and mysterious reception room, he saw the Regent wearing a pure black traditional imperial aristocratic costume, sitting upright on a high-backed chair, his face as stern as a sculpture, his eyes revealing unquestionable authority.

"Welcome, Mr. Amber. We finally meet." The Regent's voice was low and powerful, breaking the silence in the room.

"Thank you for your invitation. It allows me to have a glimpse of your elegance, sir."

Amber was not nervous at all. She found a seat on the sofa in the reception room and sat down like a regular customer.

Perseus and Astral, who were standing at the door, couldn't help but eyelids twitching at the same time when they saw this scene, but after seeing that the regent did not say anything, they also left the reception room and closed the door.

"Mr. Amber, I called you here today because I do have something important to communicate with you. I won't keep you in suspense, and let's get straight to the point." After the door was closed, the Regent spoke first.

Amber: "That's perfectly fine. Time is money, sir."

"Mr. Amber, I hope you understand that the internal affairs of the empire are our own affairs. I don't want outsiders to interfere too much."

The Regent said it bluntly without any concealment.

After hearing his words, Amber was stunned for a moment by his straightforward words, but she quickly came to her senses, and then there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Interfere? Sir, you are really joking. What has our Atlas Group done? Aren't we just conducting normal business activities? Our group has brought advanced communication technology to the empire. Continuing cooperation in the future will bring more benefits to the empire. On this basis, is there any problem for Atlas to charge such a small amount of "hard work fee"? "

Amber paused, staring directly into the eyes of the Regent, and tentatively began to use her psychic powers to sense if there was anything unusual, then continued:

"In fact, it's all because you're worrying too much. Atlas Group has always upheld the principles of respect and cooperation. We know our position very well and have never overstepped it. We just hope to make money while contributing to the prosperity of the empire."

The Regent nodded slightly, but the coldness in his eyes did not diminish: "Mr. Amber, I understand your sincerity, but I want to remind you that sometimes, too much power can also become a threat. The rise of the Atlas Group has caused a lot of anxiety in the empire."

Amber did not react to the regent's words or the chill in his words. He still kept a polite smile on his face, but his tone of voice gradually became more serious:
"Sir, we have cooperated before. You must be well aware of the Atlas Group's style of doing things. The development of the Atlas Group is inseparable from the support and love of the Empire. We always put the interests of the Empire first and have never done anything that harms the interests of the Empire - even if you are the first to breach the contract and try to dismantle our important encryption equipment!"

"."

"What, you're speechless?"

At the moment Amber opened his mouth to sneer, his psychic power sensed that something seemed to be wrong with the Regent. His heart seemed to be in a fierce struggle, and his face began to turn a sickly pale color.

This change made Amber immediately devote part of his mind to try to capture it, and it also made him believe that what Perseus said was indeed correct, that the Regent of the Empire seemed to be a little bit abnormal.

After a moment, the Regent spoke again. His entire demeanor seemed to have changed, and there was a hint of warning in his tone:
"Mr. Amber, I admit that some of our previous actions were not very friendly, but that was also because your Atlas Group expanded too fast and mastered this monopoly technology. As the regent of the empire, I must be on guard. I don't want the empire to be controlled by your Atlas Group because of this. Do you understand what I mean?"

“It’s not like these things can’t be discussed.”

Amber stopped pretending and asked directly:

"I am a businessman, and Atlas is a company that puts profit first. As long as the conditions are good, there is nothing that cannot be discussed. It is you, the Regent, who have repeatedly turned a blind eye to our goodwill.

Hey. I just want to ask, how much do you think of our strength and technology?
Now I went to cooperate with Her Royal Highness the Princess, but you guys essentially forced me to leave, and then you guys came out and made irresponsible remarks. As the regent of the Star Dragon Empire, do you think this is appropriate?"

(End of this chapter)