Above Destiny

Chapter 700 A Rising Star with Fame Spread Across the Seas
The world is changing too fast, so fast that no one can keep up.

The Thousand Islands, which are known for their slow pace and sluggish changes, have become a place where one's vision goes darker and darker in just a few weeks.

The old leader of the alliance died, and the head of the Chopra family followed suit. They had fought each other for so long in life, yet it seemed as if they had died for love, following each other in life and death. It was truly a tragic love story, leaving those who didn't know the details to sigh that they were truly a pair of star-crossed lovers.

Before the typhoon even started, an unseen storm had already enveloped the seven cities and seven islands.

This alliance, forged under strong pressure from the Federation, is facing unprecedented turmoil. They are preparing for war, and friction is constant. Everyone is keeping a close eye on the position of the alliance leader, while secretly on guard... It's like sneaking into a haunted house in the middle of the night; no one knows when something big will suddenly happen.

Then, suddenly, the big one came!
The arrival caught everyone off guard; it was so fast that no one had time to react.

Half an hour ago, everyone received the alarm that the Seven Cities Joint Defense Fleet had set out alone. Half an hour later, they saw the epic victory of the Seven Cities Joint Defense on the television.

With only a meager amount of dilapidated equipment, they actually managed to completely wipe out the Venom Fleet that was ravaging the East China Sea, killing countless bandits and achieving remarkable feats of arms.

Right there in the live broadcast, in front of the reporters, the proud and upright fleet commander Minkler was still recounting the Venom Fleet's countless evils and heinous crimes, showing everyone the horrific state of the rescued victims. At the most heartbreaking moments, he couldn't help but sigh with regret, lamenting that if he had arrived sooner, everyone wouldn't have suffered such a tragedy...

When discussing the results of the battle, Commander Minkler was very modest and did not take credit for himself. He waved his hand repeatedly and said that it was all thanks to the Seven Cities Council's foresight and proper command, the soldiers' bravery and fearlessness, and that he had only done a little bit of insignificant work.

However, when he waved his hand, he inadvertently revealed his family head ring.

In interviews with the officers and soldiers, the entire fleet expressed high praise and respect for the newly appointed commander.

He possessed not only the art of command, a keen sense of smell, astonishing decisiveness, and unparalleled military prowess, but also the ability to love his soldiers like his own children, making him a respected and beloved leader whom everyone swore to follow to the death…

Their passionate and energetic appearance, compared to their previous decadent, lethargic, and lifeless state, made one doubt their own eyes and mind.

Numerous related reports, news, and messages surged in like a storm, from headlines and columns on news websites to constant pushes and guidance from short video platforms... like layers of gold paint being applied to a clay and wooden sculpture, elevating this once-ignored bottom commander to a brand-new altar.

What's with all this talk of 800 defeating 100,000, and rifles shooting down satellites? They're just short of punching the Federation and kicking the Empire.

For a moment, not only the unsuspecting civilians, but even those who knew what kind of person Minkler was, couldn't help but glance in the direction of the Seven Cities Council on Pu Island, unable to hide their doubts...

—You bunch of insects, ask yourselves honestly, haven't you been neglecting other people's children all these years?

Otherwise, how could a war god like Minkler only be appointed to a critical mission and begin to shine now? It must be the vile political suppression, the much-anticipated jealousy of talent, and the ruthless factional struggles that have made a genius like Minkler only belatedly emerge!
The short video already features well-informed people saying that a general in the Empire's Seven Stars Building was shocked and amazed upon hearing about the results of this battle: "A soldier like Minkler is worth an entire Leviathan fleet!"
In less than half a day, this righteous act of suppressing bandits and rescuing the people has spread throughout the East China Sea with the help of the media. Everyone knows about it and everyone applauds it.

It wasn't that no one suspected or mocked the Seven Cities Joint Defense team for coming out to kill innocent people and claim credit again, but after seeing Renut being hung on the bow of the ship in the news broadcast, drooling and crying as if he was going to die, they were speechless.

The proof is like a mountain!

The Venom fleet was completely wiped out.

Not even a dog could escape from top to bottom!

Even the flagship Ivory, once a symbol of power, was reduced to half its original size and dragged behind the fleet as it cruised around, a display intended to deter bandits. The once imposing retired Imperial warship now looked like it had been chewed up by a dog—a truly pitiful sight.

This great victory, combined with his previous clever scheme to eliminate the bloodshed and his skillful capture of the bandit leader, has transformed Minkler, who used to smoke, drink, and get his hair permed, into a rising star.

In contrast to the jubilant atmosphere in the seven cities, the eerie silence of the Seven Cities Council in Pucheng became all the more intriguing.

The news came in the afternoon, and the meeting was to be held in the evening. Representatives from the seven companies sat at the same table with different expressions.

"Minkler did all of this by himself!"

The Chopra family representative, pale-faced, repeatedly protested under many meaningful gazes: "With the patriarch recently deceased and the entire family in chaos, who could have imagined that Minkler would suddenly go mad without a word? We were all unaware!"

"Why should Mr. Chopra be modest?"

Nkominda of Sidonia Island praised with a smile: "There's an old saying in the Federation, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river,' never underestimate a young man's potential. He's quiet until he makes a name for himself, a young man of great promise, a young man of great promise!"

What the hell are you...

The old man of the Chopra family, Mattik, twitched his face, wishing he could stare the old man to death with one glance—no matter how outstanding Minkler's achievements in completely eradicating the Venom fleet were, how could the news have spread throughout the seven cities in just a few hours if there was no one behind him pushing things along?

Of the seven companies, the Sikkim Group, which has the most successful achievements in the media field, deserves immense credit. They spared no expense in promoting Minkler, as if they were afraid that no one would know about Minkler's great achievements...

"That's right, that's right."

The old woman from Macheng grinned and sighed, "After all these years, our Seven Cities have finally produced a great general. It's time to give him our full support. Madi Ke, I'm not trying to criticize you, but as family, we should support each other. How can you hold us back at a time like this?"

The others echoed their agreement, full of praise: "That's right, that's right! To be able to rid the Seven Cities of this great scourge is truly a great achievement!"

"I think Major General Minkler's rank can be raised again; after all, we can't let down the veterans!"

"Not only Minkler, but Chopra House deserves immense credit!"

As the praises continued, Mattik's face grew increasingly grim, especially when he noticed the sinister and ferocious gaze from the other side. He felt as if he wanted to pull out a rope and hang himself in the conference room.

"Hey, what's wrong with Mr. Bomasang? Why aren't you saying anything?" Nkominda, who had just stirred up trouble, turned to look at him. "Such a joyous occasion, why aren't you smiling?"

The Sukarno family representative, Bomasang, twitched his face, then twitched again, and managed a stiff smile. He raised his hand, clapped, and squeezed out a voice through clenched teeth: "Talented people emerge in every generation. The Chopra family has a worthy successor. Tell me, how come I never thought your family was so courageous?"

Now that you've accomplished such a great feat, I think there's no need for you to put on airs anymore, is there?

"Yeah yeah."

The others seemed oblivious, nodding in agreement, their gazes shifting back and forth between Bomasang and Mattik, showering them with praise. Seven cities are one family, why be so formal?

Since Minkler is such a promising kid, we uncles and aunts should definitely come and help him out!

You Chopras can't afford to lose points!
As for Mattik...

Just kidding, anyone who believes a single punctuation mark in what's said in this meeting room is clearly out of their mind.

The more sincere Mattik looks, the more terrified he seems, and the more humble he appears, doesn't that just prove how superb his acting skills are?
And even now, they're still acting, and they act just like it's real!
How come no one noticed your talent before? You're amazing!

Seeing that the old dog was still putting on an act, even someone like Bomasang, who was used to barking, was so angry that he laughed and even wanted to applaud.

Okay, okay, so this is how the Chopra family does things, is it?
You played well, you played brilliantly!

They pretended to have internal strife, but then they chose the heir to the family head, and then, when no one was looking, they jumped out and started a fight, right?!

To the Chopra family, it was Minkler who went alone, but to everyone else, it was clearly a desperate, do-or-die move by the Chopra family!
Decisive, ruthless, and vicious.

At this critical juncture of the family head's recent death, in order to avoid becoming prey and a casualty of war when surrounded by other families, after quickly unifying the internal forces, he took the lead on behalf of everyone and launched a ruthless attack on the Sukarno family, which was the most threatening family at the moment!

Once the knife is stabbed, there's no turning back.

A single, extremely dangerous move in a game of all-in betting can lead to either great success or utter defeat.

They either hold out until everyone else leaves the game, then share the spoils of Luo Cheng with everyone else, or they get wiped out by Luo Cheng in one fell swoop. It can be said that they have already disregarded the life and death of the Chopra family.

If this is really something that kid Minkler could come up with, then that old fox from the Chopra family was truly amazing, managing to raise such a hungry tiger and ferocious wolf without a sound.

if not……

How could it not be?

Otherwise, tell me, how could Minkler, a commander with a disorganized and incompetent army, a joint defense fleet that the Seven Cities used as a chamber pot, a makeshift team that was always short of ammunition, possibly fight against the Venom fleet raised by Sukarno?
It depends on the Eight Characters (of birth).

The head of the family is even wearing his credentials on his wrist. Who would believe that this isn't backed by the Chopra family?
Surely it wasn't just a desperate act to avoid being purged by his siblings that created this miracle?
Haha, that's a really good joke, tell a few more!

Reality is cruel; there is no place for conscience and morality. It's not some prime-time drama. Without bonds or passion, relying solely on so-called determination and backbone, one can only die as a corpse with a certain dignity.

Miracle? There are no miracles!
Now that your Chopra family has done such a good deed, do you expect that if you apologize to the Sukarno family and say that the child was just being silly and didn't mean it, he will understand your feelings and act as if nothing happened?

Let's not even talk about whether Sukarno's family would agree; look, will the other families agree?
Some things, once started, are no longer under our control.

This meeting, which was essentially a waste of time, failed to reach any agreement or consensus.

The fact that they didn't draw their swords against each other already indicates that the seven cities have gradually become more civilized and enlightened after decades of good times. Decades ago, before the old alliance leader, there wasn't even any pretense; it was a fight to the death.

Regardless, everyone at the meeting understood that, at this point, what else could they do besides put on a show?

The only difference lies in how to fight, when to fight, and to what extent...

So much so that when the acting Speaker Fernand, who was attending in place of the late former leader, repeatedly emphasized the impending storm and the importance of the overall situation during the meeting, everyone just treated it as background noise.

The old man talked for a long time until his mouth was dry. Seeing that everyone was unmoved, he couldn't help but sigh wearily and brought down the gavel.

End of the meeting.

The meeting, painstakingly convened, ultimately failed to resolve anything.

Even after everyone had gone downstairs, the sound of Fernand smashing a cup could still be heard in his office.

"Old Fernand has really had a tough time."

Downstairs, the representative from Xicheng sighed with pity, as if expressing his own feelings: "Following the old leader, we worked diligently our whole lives, patching things up between the seven cities, and in the end, we encountered this kind of thing... and not a single person thought about the big picture."

"The big picture?"

The old lady from Macheng next to him sneered, "Whose grand plan is it? Pucheng has been the leader of the alliance for so many years. I'm afraid he's treating the seven cities as his private property. Does he still expect everyone to bow down and kowtow with a single order, just like before?"
When that old tyrant Achilles was still alive, he never cared about the big picture. How come the big picture became so important after his death?

The representative from Xicheng smiled but did not speak.

In silence, the two watched the taillights of the Sukarno family's car speed away in the distance, then turned back to look at each other.

Life in the seven cities is about to get lively.

The Yamen Islands, the garrison base of the Seven Cities Joint Defense Fleet, were filled with jubilation. Nourished by the massive spoils of war, every face glowed with excitement.

Amidst this festive atmosphere, Minkler, the culprit, finally received a visit from his family.

Raise an army to punish the culprit.

　Sorry, the update schedule is unstable again. I've been experiencing writer's block lately, and there's still one plot point I haven't figured out yet.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)