From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 827 Traitor
As soon as Amber uttered this request, Jacques Cole immediately sensed something was amiss. Although he hadn't had much contact with Amber, he was quite familiar with some of Amber's ways of doing things.
"Speak, what do you want me to do? They're all gathered together now, are you sure you want to attack them?"

"Of course~ we also have to thank them for their help in gathering everyone together, saving us the trouble of going to you one by one, Uncle. We need to prepare a manifesto denouncing the two dukes for colluding with rebels and attempting to overthrow the empire. I'll give you access to a database on 'noble scandals' for reference, and this article will come in handy in three days~"

Jacques Cole paused for a moment, sensing something unusual in Amber's calm tone.

Based on his understanding of Amber, he knew very well that it wasn't a political maneuver, but something more direct and primal.

"Amber, what do you want?"

"We need to cut the Gordian knot; we don't have that much time to play 'house' with them now."

“I understand.” Jacques Cole asked no more questions; he chose to trust this man who always managed to create miracles in crucial moments.

After ending his communication with Jacques Cole, Amber found Natalia, who was organizing the Imperial Guard. Natalia had a furrowed brow and was clearly thinking about how to break the deadlock.

“Mr. Amber, are we really just going to watch them succeed?” Her voice carried a hint of resentment.

"Watch them succeed?"

Amber turned around, walked to the huge porthole, and looked down at the dazzling planet below.

"Then, after they've made a mess of the empire, they'll turn their guns on us 'His Majesty's confidants.' Or should we wait until the pioneers come knocking on our door and expect these bloated, fat guys to fight off the foreign invaders?"

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.

"Duke Soren and Duke Duke want to use 'fair and square' political means, using the laws and rules of the empire, to play a game of slow, ruthless bleeding. They think we can only passively respond, and that His Majesty, representing imperial power, must uphold these rules. But they've made a mistake."

Amber's gaze pierced through the boundless starry sky, as if she could see the faces of the nobles celebrating behind the scenes, and her tone suddenly turned cold.

"I do not belong to their rules."

He turned around, his gaze falling on Natalia. His eyes were sharp as knives, making even the battle-hardened commander of the Imperial Guard feel a chill run down his spine.

"In the face of an absolute survival crisis, any individual who hinders human unity and attempts to profit from national disasters is a traitor."

Natalia immediately understood. She suddenly realized that Mr. Amber was the real master of 'using an excuse to make a scene,' and he continued, emphasizing each word:

"Therefore, they are not nobles of the Star Dragon Empire, nor are they His Majesty's political enemies. From the moment they decided to use this crisis to seize power, they were 'traitors' who betrayed all mankind."

"Do we need to reason with traitors?"

Natalia's breath hitched; she instantly understood Amber's meaning. A shiver, accompanied by a secret thrill, rose up her spine.

Yes, you never need to reason with traitors.

“Sometimes, violence may not be the best option,” Amber said with a kind, even somewhat harmless smile, “but it is often the most effective.”

"The objective of the Imperial Guards' operation was..."

"Your mission is not to go to the ground. Three days later, when their meeting begins, I expect Commander Natalia to lead the Imperial Guard fleet, in conjunction with the Crowned Fortress, to keep both Dukes' fleets firmly on track."

Natalia's pupils contracted sharply, which meant that she was about to fire first at the fleet of fellow imperial nobles.

“This is not a rebellion, Natalia.”

Amber seemed to see right through her, and her words, amplified by psychic energy, were like a demonic whisper entering her mind.

"This is a suppression of a rebellion. Their fleet is illegally lingering in the capital system, and their masters are engaging in illegal activities to overthrow the imperial authority! You, as the commander of His Majesty's Imperial Guard, have the responsibility and obligation to disarm the rebels!"

These words instantly dispelled the last trace of concern in Natalia's heart.

Yes, she is His Majesty's sword and shield; anything that threatens His Majesty's authority is her enemy.

“What you need to do is not to annihilate them, but to contain them,” Amber continued. “Once the battle begins, all their attention will be drawn to you. The fleet will frantically try to contact the ground, but will not receive any response. They will fall into panic and chaos, which will create the perfect window of opportunity for ground operations.”

"The ground?" Natalia asked. "And who will do it?"

“Me.” Amber’s answer was simple and direct.

"Three days from now, the moment the meeting begins, I will find a way to cut off all communications within a ten-kilometer radius of the Imperial Parliament building, and then personally deal with these nobles."

Natalia gasped when she heard that Amber was going to do it herself.

Whether in the previous 'Battle for the Throne' or the recently concluded battle in Eldaram, she had fully witnessed the power of Amber, this high-level psionicist.

Now, this 'humanoid catastrophe' is going to deal with a group of unarmed nobles and their guards. That's not a battle, that's slaughter.

"Does it really have to be that extreme?"

Because Agnes was unconscious, which made Natalia somewhat reserved, she still asked the question.

"Perhaps we can control Soren and Duke Duke before the meeting starts, which would minimize the impact."

"Do not."

Amber shook her head, a cold glint in her eyes.

“If we only deal with the two of them, those opportunists will immediately distance themselves and go back to hiding, waiting for the next opportunity. This time, we need to nip it in the bud. In this crisis, we must let everyone know that there are some bottom lines that cannot be crossed.”

"you"

Looking at the man before her, Natalia felt a chill that seemed to originate from the depths of her soul for the first time.

He had no intention of following any rules; what he wanted to do was to flip the table on everyone's poker table.

“Go and prepare, Commander Natalia,” Amber’s tone softened. “A grand banquet is about to begin; someone has to be in charge of setting off the fireworks, doesn’t he?”

Looking at the faint smile on his face, Natalia suddenly felt that the two seemingly invincible Duke fleets on orbit had become two cold corpses.

She turned and left, her steps firm. There was no longer a trace of hesitation in her heart, only a burning fighting spirit about to ignite.

Amber nodded and then arrived at the medical section of Crowned Fortress. The corridor at this point was completely silent.

He first glanced through the observation window at the still numb and listless elven survivors, their eyes vacant, as if their souls had died along with Eldaram.

Then, he pushed open the door to the special monitoring room and walked to Agnes's life support pod.

Inside the cabin, the empress slept peacefully, her face pale, yet still bearing that unique stubbornness and pride.

Amber reached out, her fingertips lightly tracing the cold, transparent shield, her gaze complex.

"Get a good night's sleep," he whispered, as if talking to himself, or perhaps making a promise to her.

"When you wake up, all the annoying flies will have been cleaned up."

After saying that, he turned and left. The corridor lights cast a long shadow of him, the end of which seemed to connect to a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.
-
Three days later, in Saint-Sonière, the capital, at the Imperial Parliament building.

The sky was clear and the sunlight gilded the magnificent building, a symbol of imperial power and glory, with a golden edge.

One after another, magnificent shuttles descended from the sky and landed smoothly in the square in front of the Parliament Building.

The well-dressed imperial nobles disembarked from the shuttle in twos and threes, exchanging smiles and knowing glances.

Duke Soren and Duke Duke walked at the forefront of the crowd, like triumphant generals, enjoying the awe and flattery of the crowd.

Everything went as they expected, no, even more smoothly than they had anticipated.

Amber, whom they greatly feared, dared not take any real action beyond uttering a few harsh words, while Commander Natalia, who was extremely loyal to Agnes, was also firmly bound by the shackles of imperial law.

Clearly, they lacked the awareness to confront the powerful aristocratic forces.

After today, this empire will have a new master. The two dukes exchanged a glance. After that bitter defeat, they never imagined the situation would turn out this way, let alone that they could regain control of the game in such a short time.

Agnes's unexpected coma was a golden opportunity for them.
Inside the council hall, the dome is adorned with epic murals depicting the founding heroes of the empire.

The nobles took their seats and chatted in hushed tones, creating a lively yet relaxed atmosphere, as if they were attending a grand social party.

"quiet!"

As the speaker's voice rang out, the hall fell silent instantly. After a lengthy and hypocritical opening, the agenda was formally presented.

"Given Her Majesty's poor health and inability to handle state affairs, and in order to maintain the stability of the Empire, it is hereby proposed that a Provisional Regency Council be established to act on behalf of the monarch. Now, members of the council, please begin the vote on this proposal."

Duke Soren leaned back in his comfortable chair, a victorious smile playing on his lips. He had even already planned out the menu for the evening's celebratory banquet.

However, just as he was about to press the voting button...

A sudden change occurred!

On the tracks of Saint-Sonière, the fleets of Dukes Solon and Duke of Duke, while still maintaining a standoff with the Crowned Fortress, began to relax as the ground meeting proceeded.

Most of the fleet's high command knew that once the meeting on the ground ended, the two dukes would be able to truly control the Empire, and their own power would naturally rise accordingly.

On a heavy cruiser on the outskirts of the fleet, two crew members at the radar station were whispering about the figure of the new female communications officer.

Suddenly, several signals on the workbench screen caught their attention.

"Is that the infrared signature signal of HCP directly above?"

"Huh? Is there HCP training scheduled for today?"

The captain soon noticed their whispered conversation.

"What are you two talking about? Report back immediately if there's anything going on!"

"HCP infrared signature detected at a 90-degree angle directly above!"

"HCP?!"

The captain was immediately alarmed, because he knew very well that no HCP offensive and defensive training exercises would be scheduled for any of the warships today, and that someone could appear in this position at this time.
"Enemy! Sound the alarm! All ships to combat readiness! Anti-aircraft fire ready!"

However, the hesitation of the two radar operators caused them to miss the already precious window of opportunity, not to mention that at this moment, there was not just a group of HCP attacking forces above them.

"boom!"

A fireball suddenly appeared outside the panoramic porthole of the bridge. A nearby light cruiser had been hit, and judging from the ever-expanding plasma fireball, it was the effect of a plasma torpedo attack.

The captain of the heavy cruiser turned pale instantly, because he knew very well what it meant to be silently attacked from above by a plasma torpedo.

At the same time, the hundreds of heavy particle cannons on the attack hemisphere of the Crown Fortress, which had been in a stalemate, suddenly began to charge, and the Imperial Guard fleet, which had been quietly gathering, also suddenly leaped out from the shadow of the Moon Guard.

"All ships, commence attack according to the battle plan!"

Natalia's icy voice boomed through the Imperial Guard fleet's communication channel.

The Crown Fortress and hundreds of Imperial Guard warships, like awakened beasts, unleashed a deadly rain of fire upon the two Duke fleets not far away!

"Warning! We are under attack!"

"It's the Imperial Guard! Has Natalia gone mad?!"

Chaos erupted instantly on the bridge of Soren and Duke's flagship. The acting commander in charge of the fleet never dreamed that Natalia, as the commander of the Imperial Guard, would actually dare to break off relations and initiate war!
Caught off guard, a large number of warships on the periphery were instantly turned into burning fireballs by dense artillery fire.

"Counterattack! Counterattack!" the two fleet commanders roared hoarsely.

A brutal civil war broke out again without warning on the tracks of the capital.

Although the two dukes' fleets had a numerical advantage, the Imperial Guard fleet was well-equipped and well-trained. In addition, the Crown Fortress had terrifying firepower even without using the 'Focusing Rainbow Modified'. For a time, they were forced to retreat steadily and had no time to spare.

Meanwhile, on the ground, at the San Pera Parliament Building.

The moment the first cannon shot rang out on the tracks, the lights in the entire parliament hall flickered briefly before going out.

The emergency backup power was activated, and a dark red light illuminated the terrified faces of all the nobles, making them appear ghostly.

"What happened?"

"Communications are down! All equipment is malfunctioning!"

"guard!"

Panic spread like a plague, but their cries were destined to go unanswered.

"boom--!"

The alloy doors to the hall were violently broken open by a powerful external force.

A figure walked in against the light.

An invisible wave of psychic energy swept across, and the guards brought by the nobles didn't even have time to raise their weapons before they collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads in pain.

The entire process took only a few seconds, and all resistance forces in the hall were completely wiped out.

The nobles trembled with fear, huddled in their seats, and stared in terror at the dark figure at the doorway that resembled the Grim Reaper.

He wasn't wearing any armor, just a simple black psionic combat suit. His steps weren't fast, but they felt like they were treading on everyone's hearts.

Amber.

He ignored the terrified minor nobles, walked straight through the hall, went up to the speaker's platform, casually pushed aside the speaker who was already terrified, and looked around at the pale faces below.

Finally, his gaze fell upon the ashen-faced Soren and Duke Duke.

"Are the two dukes satisfied with the fireworks on the track?" Amber's voice was soft, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.

As he spoke, he also connected to the holographic projection system in the hall, which simultaneously projected the battle scenes on the track.

"What...what do you think you're doing?!" Duke Soren roared, his voice trembling with fear. "Amber! This is the Imperial Council! You're committing treason! You're making an enemy of the entire Empire!"

"Treason?"

Amber smiled, picked up the gavel from the podium, and curiously weighed it in his hand.

"I'm not even a citizen of the Empire, so why would I betray my country?"

He looked at all the nobles below the stage and slowly said, "Gentlemen, I apologize for interrupting your wonderful plan to usurp the throne. Now, I will give you a new topic."

He fixed his gaze on Soren and Duke, his eyes cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Those who agree to define Duke Soren and Duke Duke, along with all their core supporters, as traitors who colluded with the rebels to overthrow the empire and should be executed, please press the green button in front of you."

"As for those who disagree."

A cruel smile curled at the corners of Amber's lips.

“I will go over there myself and massage him.”

(End of this chapter)