A is in StarCraft, just disembarked from the Zerg Prince spaceship.

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......

Speaker Invika looked at the Grand Palace.

The palace remains magnificent, but an invisible war has already begun outside the palace and throughout the entire empire.

The Insect King is a useless piece of trash, while the Crown Prince is incredibly courageous.

He dared to declare war on all intractable diseases, at any cost.

This war will either end with the complete submission of the nobility or with the empire falling apart.

Regardless of the outcome, he must do everything in his power to protect his family.

......

The Speaker's estate was shrouded in silence late at night, with only a sliver of light shining from the study window.

Speaker Vika was still awake.

Speaker Invika stood by the window, holding a cup of coffee that had gone cold.

It's raining again on Central Star.

It always rains a lot during this season in Central Star.

I wonder if it's raining on the planets in the constellation Flame.

The constellation of fire is the ancestral territory of his fire ant clan. That territory has belonged to the Serenhopenos family since the time of his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, and now, it may soon be taken from his hands.

On a rainy night, the servant lit the fireplace in the Speaker of Parliament's study.

The flames flickered in the fireplace, casting a warm, dim light that projected his shadow onto the thick tapestry embroidered with the family crest on the wall.

Outside the window, the lights of the imperial city still shone brightly, but that was nothing more than a false embellishment for the game of power.

Speaker Invika stood alone by the window, holding a cold cup of coffee.

How can we protect our family and preserve our power?

Is it useful to lose your self-respect?

Is it possible to surrender to the Crown Prince?

Crown Prince, or a nobleman.

He has to make a choice.

The Crown Prince has taken control of the Central Army and has even begun to court neutral families on the border.

If he succeeds in unifying the empire, then the rebellious nobles will simply be purged.

Because the Vika Parliament Speaker's family has been prominent for generations, and he himself has superb political abilities, bowing down now might be able to secure future political favors.

War means attrition. No matter how strong the private armies of nobles are, they cannot withstand regular legions for long.

Once war breaks out, the territory's economy will collapse.

The Crown Prince's approval rating among the common people reached its peak. Knowing that the head of the family had rebelled, the people might be dissatisfied and riot.

Even among the other nobles, none were trustworthy; they were all opportunists, swaying whichever way the wind blew, and could defect at any moment if the situation turned sour.

The Crown Prince has a significantly greater chance of winning.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince is neither a madman nor a god; he still needs his ministers to stabilize the empire.

If the Speaker of the Invika Parliament were to defect, he would be the most useful politician, and might be able to secure a cabinet seat, tax privileges, or even retain some autonomy over his territory.

If the Crown Prince successfully consolidates power, the first group of nobles to pledge allegiance to him will become the core class of the new empire, as exemplified by Bishenmantis.

Bishenmantis's status may be unmatched, but while he has many talents in the military faction within the Crown Prince's ranks, he is currently lacking in political talent.

Speaker Vika is confident that if he goes, no one can surpass him in administration.

He could use this opportunity to weaken his rivals, become the political leader in the Crown Prince's camp, and even have the chance to annex the territories of those nobles who had been purged.

However, seeking refuge with the Crown Prince was not without its dangers.

The first thing is the Crown Prince's attitude.

The Crown Prince is known for his ruthless attitude towards nobles. Will he eliminate them one by one after using them, leaving none behind?

History is replete with examples of the saying, "When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked."

Will the Crown Prince trust him?

Will the Crown Prince really make him a key minister in the new empire?

The second was the retaliation from other nobles.

If he betrays the council, the other nobles will never let him off the hook.

Even if the Crown Prince wins, the Fire Ant family may be isolated in future political infighting.

He can no longer serve as the speaker of parliament.

No one will trust a leader who betrayed them again.

The third question is whether they will completely lose their autonomy.

Even if the crown prince allows nobles to retain their titles, their power will inevitably be weakened.

The fire ant family's thousands of years of independent rule will come to an end, and they will become vassals of the royal family.

This bet is a bit too big.

It sounds like we're going to lose no matter what.

So, is it okay to continue resisting?

If the council of nobles could unite, they might be able to force the crown prince to compromise.

As long as they retain their territorial autonomy, the fire ant family can continue to be the true rulers of their own territory, just as they have been for the past few centuries.

So, do the nobles have a chance of winning?

Yes, brother, yes.

The neutral families on the border have an ambiguous attitude, as they have not yet sided with the Crown Prince. If the nobles can win their support, or even incite all the noble forces within the empire, the Crown Prince may not necessarily win.

He was, after all, just an insect, while they were almost the entire empire.

Even if in the end we still can't compete.

If the nobles demonstrate sufficient power, the Crown Prince might be willing to negotiate rather than engage in all-out war.

He could then use this to negotiate more favorable terms, rather than surrendering unconditionally.

However, if the resistance fails, their fire ant colony will be uprooted, their territory confiscated, and all family members exiled or executed.

The family's wealth, assets, and even bloodline were destroyed in an instant.

What should we do?

Seek refuge with the Crown Prince?

It's safe in the short term, but in the long term it may turn them into puppets.

Continue the resistance?

It's possible to retain power, but the risks are extremely high.

Is there a third way?

some.

On the surface, they are loyal to the Crown Prince, but in secret they support the power of the nobility.

Let both sides wear each other down, and then he will decide which side to side to align with at the right time.

Suspend the action and wait for the right opportunity.

Speaker Invika walked toward the family portrait on the wall of the study.

The portraits of the successive heads of the red imported fire ant family gaze upon him in the candlelight.

At the very center is the first-generation head of the red imported fire ant family.

It's hard to say which generation of ancestors it was. It fought bravely alongside the first queen and was later granted this territory.

"What would you do, former patriarch?" Speaker Invika asked the portrait softly. "Would you uphold tradition until death, or adapt to change to survive?"

The first head of the Fire Ant family in the portrait simply smiled silently, with the sword that had won dignity for the empire's expansion across its territory resting horizontally on his lap.

Prince Callorius, the young female insect prince who was once disregarded by all insects because of the early death of the queen and the indifference of the emperor, has now grown into a future queen that insects fear.

When they treated him like nothing back then, no one expected that the philandering insect king would have no more offspring. The royal family only had one little prince, and there was no rival at all. The unfavored little female insect was directly made crown prince.