Poverty makes me capable of anything.

“If we don’t deal with them harshly, they might escape to a planet with life and get out of control,” Christopher asked An Ran, puzzled.

An Ran smiled slightly.

"It's alright. This is an opportunity for those outsiders to hone their skills and become stronger, and it's the same for me. If I seize it well, I might be able to touch the lower limit of the Star Domain Ruler!"

"what?"

Christopher was startled.

What did he just hear?

Starfield Ruler?!

At this moment, An Ran's image in his eyes suddenly became much more impressive!

Despite being only 1.6 meters tall, he seemed to have suddenly grown to 16 meters, forcing him to look up at him.

Oh well, Anran is wearing a skirt today, so never mind, I won't look up at her.

An Ran left the monitoring room with an air of profound mystery.

The older generation all say that we need to pursue sustainable development, and Enron is simply putting this strategy into practice.

Feed Aila with metal, feed the panda with void energy...

These are nothing.

Scientific tree planting is the real focus right now.

Why kill them before they're fully grown? That's not worth it.

If she doesn't squeeze every last drop out of this tree, can Anran still be considered a master at harvesting韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting people)?

Let the monster grow a little longer!

Judd's sabotage delayed the arrival of reinforcements, which suited Anran's tastes perfectly.

Please intensify your efforts to make them arrive even later!

Chapter 07 An Evenly Matched Opponent

In a garrison near the Exiled Empire's War Court.

Having changed into a festive red outfit, Judd struck a flamboyant pose in front of the mirror, flipping his hair, before suddenly forcing out a bright smile.

During this time, he felt like he had become hundreds of years younger, and he was back to the days when he ran in the sunset.

Ah ~

That was his lost youth.

Youth is truly wonderful.

Judd sighed and pulled his collar up. With a flick of his right hand, the mirror disappeared into the wall, and Judd stepped out of the room.

The people waiting at the door were taken aback.

Something feels off.

Judd rarely wears clothes in this color scheme, right?

"You even wore perfume?"

"I feel like I look a lot younger."

That's a change in temperament!

"I understand!"

A slightly chubby Starkiller chuckled: "Jard, you remarried?"

Judd's expression changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal.

Today is a joyous day, so let's not dwell on those sad stories.

Judd shook his head and said, "Let's not dwell on the past. What we need to focus on is the happiness in the present."

"The happiness right before your eyes?" the chubby Starkiller asked in confusion.

Judd spread his arms wide: "What we're about to do is contribute to the prosperity of the empire, isn't that the joy we're experiencing right now!"

"..."

I bother!

They've lost all sense of shame!

Round and slightly off-center.

He would believe anyone else if they said that, but if it was Judd, then it's fine.

Just treat it as a lame joke.

How clean can someone who secretly supports pirates be?

But Judd seems to be already immersed in the new persona he just created.

He smiled at everyone he met, as if he were truly celebrating the bright future of the exiled empire.

"How's the situation at Dawn Camp?"

In the conference room, the Star Killer, who was presiding over the meeting, asked.

Judd, who had been shaking his leg, immediately sat up straight. Wasn't he patiently listening to this boring meeting all for this moment?

The person in charge of intelligence stood up, bowed to the people in the conference room, and then pulled out a star map.

"The intelligence we have gathered so far is still from a week ago. I contacted the Dawn Camp before boarding the spaceship, but they haven't replied yet."

The meeting chair nodded: "Let's start by talking about what happened a week ago."

"it is good."

The intelligence personnel unfolded the star map.

"We need to look at the effects of that magic tree in two parts."

Judd listened intently, his hand supporting his cheek, his smile impossible to hide.

"First, let's look at the situation at Dawn Camp."

Okay, now for the main topic.

How much money did the Church of the Mechanical God lose this time?

It would be interesting if that trading port were vandalized.

Ideally, he should be able to drive the Mechanicus out in one fell swoop, so that Judd would have a chance to find the half of his savings that he had hidden away.

"According to An Ran's report, everything is normal at Dawn Camp. Although some merchants have fled for fear of being affected, the situation is gradually easing over time."

"Hmm." The meeting host nodded. To be honest, the news was a bit unexpected, but it was still good news.

With the battlefield in the outer regions, they can have far fewer concerns.

Just then, a sentence suddenly rang out in the conference room—

"That's it?"

Ok?

A group of people turned their heads, their eyes fixed on Judd, who had asked the question.

After a moment of hesitation, the intelligence officer said, "Actually, there was some other information, but I didn't think it was very important, so I didn't mention it."

Judd frowned and said, "I'll tell you everything at once. Don't worry, even if it's terrible news, we've already prepared ourselves mentally."

"?"

The clueless intelligence officers could only agree repeatedly.

He slid across the star map repeatedly, eventually locking onto the trading port built by the Mechanicus.

Has something happened at the trading port?

Judd's eyes lit up.

"This matter is somewhat related to the trading port." The intelligence officer said, drawing a line on the star map with his hand. This line went directly out of the Dawn Camp and connected several planets in the outer realm.

The host asked, "What's the explanation for this?"

The intelligence officer bowed and said, "The prophet of the Cult of Machines has decided to open a new sea route. The route is roughly the line I just drew, and it's called 'The Trauma Inflicted by Monsters, A Tourist Route to Remember the Rise and Fall of Humanity ①'. She said that since it's a commercial route, the route must be reported to the Empire. Also, she wants to ask if the current situation complies with the Empire's tax exemption policy."

"..."

The host was dumbfounded, and so were everyone else.

The name is really unique, it even has ① in it.

Ow.

That's not the point.

Even if someone were to open such a sea route, I haven't seen anyone report it to the Empire.

"She's probably doing this to get the Empire to advertise for her for free," the host said uncertainly.

Otherwise, why would Enron specifically mention the tax exemption policy?

Bao Cai, the Exiled Empire has picked up a ghost!

What did you say

Judd asked anxiously, "That's it? That's all?"

The intelligence officer shook his head: "That's all."

"What about the other half of the message, which was told separately?" Judd asked.

The intelligence officer said, "That's what I was about to say. According to An Ran's report, perhaps because everyone worked together to hurt that demon tree last time, after the Empire's first group left, the demon tree changed direction. Although we don't know what its purpose is, it seems to have lost interest in the Dawn Camp."

puff--

Judd pressed his hand to his chest.