Under One Person, your rebellious life has reached the heavens?

He must listen to the opinions of his people and not act arbitrarily; this is also his duty as a leader.

Nearly 70% of the elders and councilors expressed their opposition, the remaining 20% ​​supported him, and 10% remained neutral. Even with the empire's highest voting power, it was of no use at this moment.

As the discussion grew increasingly noisy, even escalating into personal attacks, a detached voice abruptly interrupted the crowd.

"Enough, enough, calm down... Ladies and gentlemen, look this way."

Deross, holding a thick projection of a law book in one hand, opened it to a page in the middle, faced the crowd, pointed to the contents, and said word by word:

"According to the Expansion Law, one of the twenty-four original laws of the Empire, whether to accept a new species into the Empire requires a vote of the entire population, as well as consideration of the wishes of the conquered races. The two factors are weighted at 50% and 20% respectively, and the final decision is made by the Parliament."

"The resources of our homeland are indeed abundant and worthy of comprehensive exploration and development. As for the fate of the rest of the creatures, let the citizens of the empire decide."

Dross brought out the classics of law, ending the discussion in one fell swoop. Everyone was speechless and unanimously agreed.

However, among the planets conquered by the Empire throughout history, there have been thousands upon thousands of races, and to this day, without exception, none have been able to join the Empire. This is partly because they do not possess humanoid forms, but more fundamentally because the citizens of the Empire have developed an ideology that prioritizes collective interests.

Within the empire, collective interests extend to every citizen, providing them with abundant material resources and a comfortable life. Conversely, if the empire's interests are harmed, all of the citizens' rights and welfare will be significantly reduced.

Resources are limited and there is a maximum limit to their allocation. Once a certain limit is exceeded, the citizens of the Empire will be unwilling to accept the addition of other races, leading to a comprehensive decline in their living standards. As a result, over a long period of time, the entire human race in the star system has become extremely xenophobic.

Leader Tuvelvis, observing Dross's actions, had nothing to say but nodded slightly, seemingly in approval.

He then turned to look at Zavo, the Imperial Military Elder, and asked in a deep, resonant voice:

How much longer until we reach the solar system?

"3 months."

Zavo said in a lukewarm tone:

"Before the fleet arrives at its homeland, we still have time to launch a virtual network neural optical stream, utilizing the Atalanta membrane of another dimension to bypass the vast distances of real space, achieve a jump between the two locations, and transmit to Earth within one hour for real-time statistics."

"Alright... I'll leave the negotiations with the people of our homeland to you."

"Yes, Your Excellency Viss." Upon receiving the order, Zavo immediately connected his consciousness with the network terminal of the Empire's highest military authority and began to arrange the relevant preparatory work.

About two minutes later, Zavo said again: "The message to the homeland has been sent, and basic information about civilization has been attached to it."

“I gave them two choices: 1. Survive and submit to the Empire’s rule; 2. Resist and become interstellar dust.”

"Everyone, please take a look."

With a "whoosh!" sound, Zavo displayed a huge ultra-high-definition screen. The scene on the screen was a towering tower of the Eternal Mothership, shooting out a dazzling golden beam of light that pierced through the cosmos and opened up a special dimension. The distorted vortex area inside was a vast gray-black color, surrounded by an endless expanse of pale white.

"Boom!"

The golden stream of light, containing billions of messages, roared incessantly before disappearing into another dimension, leaping across countless light-years in an instant.

Soon, blank measurement data appeared on the screen, suspended in mid-air. It would take some time to wait. The screen was divided into left and right areas. The left side was green, which meant survival, and the right side was red, which meant resistance. The data on both sides was temporarily 0.

Seeing this, the leader nodded slightly. He looked around and discussed the matter with the participants in a calm and gentle tone.

"Now, it's time for our imperial citizens to vote."

"Which elder is willing to take responsibility?"

"I."

"I come."

Before the leader finished speaking, a large, short left hand, representing its owner's will, slowly rose.

The speaker was none other than Elder Zefer, who was in charge of the empire's finances and was also of noble birth.

"it is good."

The leader had no objections. Even though the two sides disagreed on political views, he believed in Zeffer's ability and character, and that he would not lie in such a major event witnessed by the whole country.

Soon, Zefro prepared a rough draft of the speech, made over a hundred copies, and distributed them to every senior executive present for review. The content is as follows:

"To all citizens of the Empire, the interstellar migration is coming to an end. We have three months to reach the homeland where our ancestors once lived. This homeland is adjacent to a vast world that awaits our exploration."

"There is a resolution that we request the active participation of the citizens of the Empire in the discussion. Our homeland is inhabited by a race of people very similar to us. Three thousand years ago, we and they all lived on our homeland."

"Later, threatened by supernatural beings, we left our homeland and fled into the starry sky. Some of our people, as well as ordinary humans, were left behind in our homeland forever, becoming food for the supernatural beings."

"After three thousand years, the return is imminent. The Parliament faces a critical choice. There are two contingency plans. We earnestly request all citizens of the Empire to choose one or to submit a more comprehensive suggestion, which will be uploaded to the Imperial Parliament's main network terminal in real time."

"1. Suppress all living beings in our homeland by force, erase all traces of our past civilization, and the world will belong to us again!"

"2. With a gentle strategy, we can make the creatures of our homeland submit to us, join the empire, receive the baptism of wisdom, and achieve evolution; all species other than humans can also be maximized by ruling them, rather than simply being destroyed."

"Detailed information about our homeland has been collected by the subterranean people, who are our close relatives and comrades-in-arms, who are separated from us by billions of light-years. It has been sent to your personal email addresses. Please check it as needed."

"Of course, our comrades and people have been destroyed by the Masters of our homeland. The Council has preserved all their memories and data. When we descend into a more vast world, that will be the time for their resurrection."

"This concludes the message that Elder Zefer, the Minister of Finance of my Empire, has brought to you ladies and gentlemen today. Please allow me to extend my greetings. I apologize for taking up your precious time so abruptly."

The speech was concise and to the point, and the twenty elders and one hundred and twenty-eight members of parliament voted to approve its distribution.

“We can begin,” Leader Tuvelvis said.

Elder Zefer's consciousness was also linked to the Empire's network terminal. With his identity and authority, he used an energy tower towering over the bustling capital city to unleash a vast array of golden particles that swept across the entire Eternal Mothership and even reached 100,000 warships beyond the mother planet.

In an instant, even the elders and councilors in the conference room, though in a secluded room, could not escape the dazzling light that penetrated everything.

All the citizens of the Empire had golden light in their eyes as two-dimensional voting panels unfolded on their retinas and appeared deep within their brains, accompanied by Zefer's speech.

"Drip drip!!"

With almost no delay, countless citizens scattered throughout the empire made an iron-fisted and ruthless choice in an instant, and the number representing Option 1 skyrocketed from 0 to 36034339.

"Drip drip!!"

The high-ranking officials in the conference hall made their choices calmly, while on the side representing Option Two, there was support from hundreds of thousands of data points.

Time passed second by second. There were more than seven billion Star Race people living on the home planet and stationed on the ring-planet warships. Every moment, citizens of the Empire cast their precious votes.

The Twenty-Four Original Laws of the Empire stipulate that the collective power of the citizens supersedes that of the Parliament. In critical moments concerning the survival and prosperity of the race, the Parliament must refer to the most genuine public opinion and cannot arbitrarily govern.

This is an ironclad rule that all members of parliament, elders, and even leaders must abide by.

From the day they take office, chips that can detect brainwaves are implanted in their brains. These chips will not pry into any of their secrets except for interfering with public opinion.

This is also a contingency plan left by many wise men of the empire to ensure that the Imperial Parliament would operate normally and not become corrupt in the future. Every hundred years, the chip will be upgraded. To this day, no high-ranking official has been able to cross this taboo line.

"Drip drip!!"

The data panel projected by Zeffer showed that the rising data on both sides was gradually cooling down and nearing a standstill, and more than half an hour had passed.

Soon, exactly 40 minutes later, when the last citizen of the empire cast his vote, the results were in.

The number of citizens supporting Option 1 was 7126009834, representing 99.999%.

The number of citizens supporting Option 2 was 846621, representing 0.0001%.

The result was obvious: the citizens of the empire were extremely unwilling to let strangers steal their rights and benefits.

Inside the conference hall, Zefer remained silent, but the smile on his lips could no longer be concealed. With the result of this vote, it was simply impossible for those monkeys from their homeland to join the Empire.

As for whether or not to wipe them out, Zefer didn't care; all he cared about was whether the interests of the empire had been harmed.

Meanwhile, the voting process among the twenty elders and one hundred and twenty-eight councilors inside the conference hall was also somewhat delicate.

Only a dozen or so people shared the same political views as the leader. Most of them thought similarly to Dros and Zefer, rejecting the Tianyuan race and wanting to eliminate them to erase the shameful stains in the empire's history.

Just like wealthy people who have risen to prominence always try to distance themselves from their rural relatives from their impoverished days, fearing that the latter might tarnish the former's image.

The leader was not surprised by the vote; he remained calm, smiled, and accepted the result with gentlemanly grace.

He had his own ideas, but more often than not, he was the leader of the empire, and during his tenure, all major decisions had to be based on public opinion and the real interests of the citizens.

It was at this moment that the golden beam of light directed toward the homeland had been emitted for nearly an hour.

Suddenly, Zavo, who was in charge of monitoring the real-time situation, changed his expression slightly, as if he had discovered something extraordinary.

"What's wrong, Zavo? The news from our homeland should have arrived by now, right?"

Dross frowned and asked, gesturing for him to quickly list out the specific data.

But the next second, Zavo brought a bombshell that no one could have predicted.

"The light stream was intercepted and trapped within the solar system, unable to reach its homeland."

Zavo's tone was somewhat heavy, which was not a good sign.

Chapter 586 Global Announcement

Since the other side can intercept the transmission of the optical flow of the void neural network, it means that the civilization levels of both sides are equal or similar.

Who is it?

The people of their homeland? Obviously not.

Zavo's eyes flashed with a cold light as he instantly deduced the true answer: the Dragonkin civilization, which also lived underground.

"What exactly is blocking their way? Is there any possibility of breaking through?"

Dross's face darkened, sensing something was amiss; their homeland might be more troublesome than they had imagined.

"It hasn't been deciphered yet. The distance is too great, and technical support is limited. In other words, we are currently in a passive position. If the other side doesn't allow it, the global light stream won't be able to enter our homeland's atmosphere."

Zavo crossed his arms, elbows resting on the table, hands supporting his chin, his facial wrinkles revealing a hint of apprehension.

"It must have been done by the underground dragon-human civilization."

"They are descendants of Cretaceous dinosaurs who were wiped out by a meteorite impact and hid in the underground world. They evolved into intelligent species over tens of millions of years. They have had many conflicts with our civilization, but the two sides have never had a real war of extinction. Their technological foundation is unfathomable, so it is not surprising that they have such capabilities."

Upon hearing Zavo's explanation, a tall, thin, bald elder in the audience scoffed, saying:

"It's good that they intercepted us. As the most intelligent species in our homeland, especially after realizing the huge gap between us, they will either willingly submit to our rule or abandon their homeland and flee to the stars. I can't think of a third possibility."

These words were particularly arrogant, showing no regard for the Dragonman civilization and no belief that they would fight to the death.

Arrogance requires capital.

And the Starry Sky Humans happen to have this advantage.

There are 12 Tian-class warships, 360 Di-class warships, 5700 Xuan-class warships, and nearly 90,000 Huang-class warships.

Excluding the lowest level, the Level 2 mechs, the Level 1 mechs are divided into three types: Y.7A, Z.8A, and S.9A, with an average strength difference of more than 20 times.

Y7 can hunt extraordinary beings at the third or fourth level of the Homeland King Realm, while the latter two are equivalent to the sixth or seventh level.

The Empire currently has 9,507,200 Y7 mechs, 197,200 Z8s, and 101,528 S9s.

Not to mention that above these three types of mechs, there are also the top-tier K.10, the super-tier L11, and the serial-tier T12, with each level having a combat data difference of more than a hundred times.

Despite the overwhelming metal frenzy, some of the councilors and elders in the conference hall remained calm and composed, not feeling that the dragon people of their homeland could truly threaten them.

However, as the supreme military leader of the empire, Zavo's ominous premonition grew stronger, and Dros, Leyun, and several elders of noble birth, adorned with medals of honor, gradually shared the same feeling.

"Don't forget, our people in our homeland were wiped out by the Xuanzun. During that time, the pawns planted by the Dragon People stole our clan's secrets and learned the secret of our return. They may then take over the capital of the underground human race and study, decipher, and even upgrade the technology we gave them in the past..."

The leader frowned slightly; he took this security incident very seriously, and without hesitation said:

"If these two sides were to unite, even if they were no match for us, they would still create many obstacles for us out of thin air..."

As he spoke, a fleeting determination flashed in Tuvelvis's deep eyes; he seemed to have remembered something.

Before he could give the order, Deross spoke first:

"Zavo, immediately check the condition of the weapons we left on the sun. If the creatures of our homeland insist on resisting, then let them turn into interstellar dust."

Dross said these words expressionlessly, without the slightest hesitation, even though hundreds or even billions of lives would die as a result, he didn't even blink.

The Starry Sky Humans have done this kind of thing countless times.

From their past expansion to their current glory, it was all built upon a foundation of massive natural resources, for which they destroyed no fewer than a hundred ancient life-bearing planets.

Seeing the old man's actions, the leader remained silent and said nothing. Dros spoke for him, saying that if the ultimate star-destroying cannon was still intact, and if the people of the homeland resisted stubbornly, then there was no need to continue the talks; one shot would be enough to destroy it.

"Data analysis is currently underway..."

Zavo's consciousness, linked to the Imperial Network's central terminal, continued to penetrate deeper into a vast cyberspace via a secret route.

The surrounding environment is a one-to-one replica of the interior of that super-giant star-destroying cannon in the distant solar system. Every inch of its intricate structure is clearly visible, everything is operating normally, and the cannon is fully charged.

With the computational support of the network's central hub, Zavo's consciousness instantly split and replicated into tens of millions of identical selves, and he began to examine this special space filled with machinery and networks.

About fifteen minutes later, all the consciousnesses gathered together, and Zavo quickly returned to the real world via the same route.

The elders and members of parliament in the conference hall were all waiting for his news, their expressions varying, some relaxed and casual, others on high alert.

"How is it going?" the leader asked.