Poverty makes me capable of anything.

Meanwhile, Maggie, in another room, also received the message.

That bastard.

She stared fiercely at the photos of Anran and Ella.

"Come with me to see Master Yin Shengping!"

"Miss, you are..."

“That’s right!” Maggie said. “I need him to make me a more advanced combat suit. I must capture Anran myself!”

The follower's face immediately froze.

It's not that I'm criticizing you, but if someone can overturn a Queen Beetle, you shouldn't meddle in it. Going up there would just be suicide.

“But Miss, the Governor has ordered that you are not allowed to run around,” the attendant advised.

"I'm just going to Minglan Star next door, my dad won't say anything." Maggie left in a hurry.

"..."

On the third day on Kleber, Anran received another message from Nadia. At the same time, news came that the Empire's exclusive cargo route had been attacked and an important military member had been killed in action.

Chapter 40 A Long-Awaited Physical Examination

News of the attack on the cargo shipping route spread quickly, which embarrassed the Sixth Expeditionary Force, which had not yet officially set off.

The war hadn't even started before they lost a battle, which dampened the spirits of some who had initially been filled with confidence.

It's so humiliating. Enemy spies are everywhere. Who can guarantee that those who oppose imperial rule haven't already infiltrated the upper echelons of the empire? Or that there are still many people waiting for the Night Owl's army to attack so they can don the banner of rebellion?

That's right, the cargo route was attacked because there was a traitor within the organization.

A transport officer from the centrally administered region actually defected to Night Owl, and what's even more outrageous is that he escaped unscathed. The expeditionary force's high command immediately ordered the arrest of the transport officer's family, only to discover that he was a great magician who had no parents or children and had been single for thirty-four years.

"..."

The situation is already very serious.

Everyone who attended the meeting knew this.

运输官瑟维斯，中央直辖区奥伦多星人，出生于帝国历8069年11月1日23点01分。

His parents were local small business owners who died in a traffic accident. The investigation showed that he had a clean background and simple social connections. In 8087 of the Imperial Calendar, Servis entered the Imperial's famous "Evansch Military Academy" to major in naval gunnery. He studied at the academy for 5 years and graduated with excellent grades. He was assigned to the Sixth Expeditionary Force.

"Current rank is Lieutenant in the Sixth Expeditionary Army of the Empire."

Report complete.

"Lieutenant?" The blue stick that Padula was holding in his mouth fell to the ground.

"Is there a problem, Major General?"

“There’s no problem.” Pardura quickly shook his head.

This was not a live meeting, so General Reed, the highest-ranking officer of the Sixth Expeditionary Force, was also seated at the head of the table.

The troops transferred this time were commanded by Lieutenant General Kipling.

"Just listen patiently," Pardura's friend whispered a word of advice.

Padula nodded.

He is 32 years old this year, but he is already a major general. In addition to his excellent grades at the military academy, the biggest reason is that his family has strong connections in the military. He is a newly emerging nobleman who has risen to the upper echelons of the empire through his military achievements.

Of course, he was still far inferior to Vesa of the Ninth Expeditionary Force.

Being promoted to major general at the age of 26 is rare in the entire empire, given that the Boyle family is one of the empire's top powerful families. In addition, Vesa had made great contributions in the anti-piracy campaign, so even though the Ninth Expeditionary Force suffered a crushing defeat, he was only demoted to major and assigned to the Nagria Border Region to fight pirates. He will probably be back in the capital soon.

In comparison...

Pardura's gaze fell again on the photograph of Servis floating in the center of the conference table.

She was only two years older than him, and actually only one grade ahead of him.

Pardura still had some recollection of Servis; the Evench Military Academy was a military academy on par with the Royal Military Academy Ignaz, which he attended, and Servis was among the top twenty graduates of his class.

Logically, he should have been a second lieutenant upon graduation.

However, after 11 years in the Sixth Expeditionary Force, he only rose to the rank of lieutenant, and despite majoring in naval gunnery, he was assigned to logistics and transportation.

This is very wrong.

Pardura touched his chin.

"What's wrong? Does Major General Padura have any thoughts?" Kipling, sitting in the second seat, asked Padura with a smile.

"..."

Ha ha.

Pardura rolled her eyes almost imperceptibly.

He and Kipling had never gotten along well, mainly because they belonged to different factions.

Kipling was an Imperialist, representing the emerging aristocratic class. Admiral Reed placed him under Kipling's command as a way to maintain a balance of power.

"I'm just lamenting that a top student who received patriotic education at Evench Military Academy would commit such a treasonous act. It's truly regrettable, and he must be arrested immediately."

Kipling nodded without saying anything more.

"Servais's betrayal of the Empire has served as a wake-up call for us. Besides their incompetence, the higher-ups have long suspected that Night Owl's spies infiltrated the command center during the Ninth Expeditionary Force's failure. Although there is no conclusion yet, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the Ninth Expeditionary Force. We must investigate thoroughly!" Lieutenant General Reed set the tone for this meeting.

The investigation was to be thorough and rigorous. Key positions became the targets of the military police's relentless crackdown.

“We’re about to set off, and this is going to cause a lot of problems,” Padula said, frowning.

His friend said, "Although it will have some impact, it's not a big problem. Even if only half of the fleet is sent, our strength is no weaker than Night Owl, after all, we have the Starhawk."

The Starhawk was an EUS-class mothership deployed by the Sixth Expeditionary Force. It was 7831 meters long, and even as an older type of mothership, it was still larger than the current Night Owl.

Pardura bit the blue stick.

That's right.

……

The officer who died in the attack was a major from the transport fleet.

The name is not important.

The important thing is the news that came out later: the transport fleet was attacked because of a traitor.

When this message matched Nadia's words, An Ran knew what they were trying to say.

If taking down the high-ranking officials of Kleber Star wasn't exciting enough, then this time let's go all out.

"The war hasn't even started yet, aren't you worried that this will expose more hidden spies?" Anran retorted.

“This is also part of the plan,” Nadia said mysteriously.

Okay, since you all know what's going on, then I, who don't know much about war, will accept your statement.

This truly demonstrates the strength of the Night Owls intelligence agency.

Therefore, the cooperation can proceed very smoothly.

"We can handle matters related to the Sixth Expeditionary Force ourselves. Besides the Sixth Expeditionary Force, the Governor's Mansion is also an important target for us. Once we defeat the Sixth Expeditionary Force, we will soon move into the Blue Forest. Until then, we hope Miss An Ran can cause more trouble."

"It just so happens that I have some connections with a pirate crew, so..."

Anran began acting as a go-between for the Other Shore Pirates and Night Owl's intelligence organization.

This is really great.

She happened to be short of money recently.

Purchasing equipment for the base reduced Anran's initial investment of over 8 million pesos to less than 2 million.

This amount of money is far from enough. She may look like she's from a moderately wealthy family, but she's actually still a pauper.

The money should be saved to buy equipment.

The supplies need to be transported to the base on Enron-α.

Judging from the current situation, there are only twelve robots there, which is too meager and far from three digits.

We can only ask Guan Xiupei and the other side pirates to work harder, and we can only trouble Feige Mining Company to bleed money.

After all, they took away nearly 10 billion yuan worth of goods, and Anran got back less than half of it.

Although they could cooperate with the Freshwater River Company to sabotage Fitch Mining Company, it was still unsafe. What if the Freshwater River Company turned around and reported the Other Shore Pirates one day? That would be disastrous.

However, cooperating with Night Owl is different. In the face of the Empire, Night Owl is still just a small flying insect. It must unite all forces that can be united, even the Empire's mortal enemy, the Star Free Alliance, a regime whose feud with the Empire is so deep that experts can study it until they foam at the mouth. Even the Zerg, if it can be utilized, is not an option.

The Night Owl's ultimate goal is to overthrow the Elimerian royal family's rule over the empire's territory.

Therefore, the possibility of it deliberately framing a small pirate crew is extremely low.

She then spoke to Guan Xiupei about the matter, and An Ran no longer had any urgent matters to attend to.

The main task now is to focus on developing that base, first by building up a mechanized force, and if the opportunity arises, to build an even larger spaceship.

"Wow, it's An Ran!"

"Is that Anran's younger sister over there? She's so cute!"

As An Ran walked peacefully by the roadside, she was surprised to find a local NPC excitedly calling out her name.

They didn't crowd around; their faces were all beaming with joy.

The reconstruction of Kleber has not yet officially begun, mainly because the pest control operation under the leadership of the provisional government has not yet ended, but ordinary people who have taken refuge in shelters are gradually returning home.

Being looked at with admiration and gratitude by strangers made An Ran feel secretly pleased, even though she felt a little awkward at first.

Even if it's Ella.

"Although I feel very uncomfortable being watched by so many people, I don't know why there's some kind of fluctuation here." Ella stood close to An Ran's side and back, her right hand tugging at An Ran's clothes, looking genuinely shy.

Anran clearly remembered that the "here" Ella was pressing with her left hand was the "heart" area, the place where the ancient essence was located.

Speaking of which, Ella is now level 36 and has undergone nearly 20 evolutions. What has become of her internal body structure?

What exactly is this ancient essence that she has never heard of in either of her two lifetimes?

The race is listed as Omnic, but Ella could probably take on at least 20 Omnic NPCs of the same level with her bare hands. That's incredible.